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It's the night of the end of the Awake-a-thon and Noah is absolutely restless.
Noah's mentally kicking himself for what he did, cause he actually thought he could have a friend in Cody. They had the most engaging conversations about the latest video game and about mean kids at school and about how the island sucked and he was having fun for once and he just had to ruin it by kissing Cody in his sleep. It kept him awake. It made him sick. He had to apologize to Cody.
And so he goes, getting out of bed and out of the cabin to look for Cody. He sees the lights on in the communal bathroom. He trots over to the bathroom, hoping to find who he’s looking for so his walk outside wasn’t for nothing.
Lo and behold: one Cody The Geek in his pajamas doing nothing but staring at his reflection in the mirror. He doesn’t even notice the figure at the door until it knocks, startling him back to reality. There’s a pause as they make eye contact for the first time since the incident. Silence. A beat passes.
“Hey.” “Hey.”
Noah doesn’t let Cody say another word before he blurts out a fast “I’m sorry”. He lets another beat pass. He doesn’t know how to do this. Still he tries, saying he has no idea why he did it and how he’d understand if Cody never wanted to even look at him again because of it. He doesn’t admit how the conversation they both had was the highlight of his stay at Camp Wawanakwa so far, or how guilty he feels knowing that having the incident televised could potentially ruin his life.
Not out loud, anyway.
Yet another beat passes by as Cody takes in Noah’s apology. He stares at Noah, who’s gaze has moved to fixate on the floor. He smiles. Despite everything, Cody smiles. Noah doesn’t understand how. Cody says it’s “all good” with the confidence he so desperately pretends to have. He wants to be able to hang out with Noah again without the air of awkwardness between them- it was an accident, after all. He doesn’t admit he’s spent all this time in the bathroom figuring out how to talk to Noah again, or how being kissed by someone for the first time made him feel something he’s never quite felt before.
Not out loud, anyway.
Noah manages to look at Cody again. He smiles with him. They leave the bathroom considering each other friends. They couldn’t be happier.
So they talk over breakfast in the mess hall. They hang out in the free time before the next challenge. Cody hears Noah laugh for the first time. What a beautiful sound. Noah sees Cody loosen up and swing his hands around as he talks for the first time. The motions are mesmerizing. They talk into the night, enough that the Gopher boys kick them out of the cabin. They gladly leave- who needs them?
They settle just outside the mess hall. They’ve gotten so comfortable around each other in such little time, it’s almost sickening. What’s even more sickening is Cody absentmindedly admitting the kiss on his ear felt nice.
…There’s that all too familiar beat again.
Noah raises an eyebrow in curiosity. It did?
Cody wants to explode for the slip-up, but stands his ground instead. So… maybe it did feel nice. Maybe… he wouldn’t mind feeling it again. He wants to at least try to save face, say he wants to feel it with Gwen instead.
Noah, shockingly, doesn’t let him voice the thought.
It was quick, but it was there. It was real. That glittery feeling of being kissed. Noah must be out of his mind to have kissed Cody again- on his lips, no less. A million different thoughts crossed Noah’s mind, but none of them were louder than the stars in Cody’s eyes. Or the redness of his cheeks. Or the shakiness of his breaths.
The beat that passes this time is full. Full of questions asked with a look and answers expressed in a movement. It’s hardly even noticed as they both lean in to feel that spark again.
Cody tastes sweet. Kind of like candy.
Noah tastes like mint. Maybe he knew this would happen.
For a first kiss, it wasn’t bad. Maybe because they had nothing to compare to. Maybe because they liked each other more than they thought. Maybe because the feeling was exhilarating and they both so desperately wanted to feel it again.
Not that they’d ever admit it out loud.