It was another unnecessarily long day at school. The students of class 3-C all sat in the classroom praying for something, anything to get them out of this boring lesson. Even their teacher, Ms Livia appeared to be exhausted of her own lesson as she no longer even bothered to wake up the students who had fallen asleep sometime during the course of the class.

17 year old Noah Carter sat absentmindedly at his desk somewhere near the middle of the class, not too close to the front where he'd be the teacher's center of attention, but not too far back either where he'd be too distracted by the things that usually went on back there. He was currently chewing on the end of his pen and trying but miserably failing to pay attention to the seemingly endless drawl of words that spewed from his teacher's mouth, and then it happened.

The interruption the whole class so desperately prayed for, and it had come in the form of the principal as he walked into the classroom and whispered something into the the ear of the teacher, Ms Livia, whose facial expression went from calm to absolutely shocked and then somewhat confused in a matter of seconds as she scanned the classroom with her eyes.

Ms Livia struggled to keep her compusure as she quickly followed the principal out of the classroom, leaving the students, quite confused.

The students chattered amongst themselves, wondering what could possibly have happened, a few showing concern, while others couldn't be bothered, and most were just overall relieved that they had finally been saved from what seemed to be the most uninteresting lesson of all time.

"Good morning everyone,"the principal began. "As I presume most of you have noticed, your classmate and fellow student Jason Williams, has been absent for the past few days and will not be returning to school for a while either as he has fallen seriously ill. You're all welcome to visit him in the hospital to convey your best wishes and encouragement in groups of three at most, so as not to overwhelm him."

Noah paused for one, two, three seconds before it clicked in his brain. Jason...Jace - the somewhat strange kid who usually sat behind him. He looked around and noticed for the first time the currently empty desk behind his and that truthfully, Jace wasn't in class. In fact, it had only just then occurred to him that he really hadn't seen Jace in class all week and it was already Thursday. Noah felt bad but tried to brush it off. It wasn't his fault he didn't notice Jace's absence, they weren't exactly close friends and it wasn't like he was obligated to look after Jace anyways.

A few others looked around and had also just noticed the vacant desk while the rest were confused, murmuring something about having no idea that there was even a Jason Williams in their class.

Noah looked around and observed his classmates' reactions. Everyone's attention in class was grabbed by the announcement but nobody appeared to be particularly shaken up. Honestly speaking, Ms Livia seemed to be the person showing even the slightest bit of emotion other than curiosity and confusion. What kind of sickness would require Jace to be out of school for days and possibly even weeks? Was he terminally ill? Was it contagious? What if he has infected the class with whatever mysterious ailment had plagued him as well?

And soon, the chatter had changed course, from slight worry about Jace to full concern about their own health. Selfish brats, Noah thought to himself but he couldn't figure out why he cared in the first place.

The rest of the school day had passed by in a blur for Noah who's mind kept drifting to Jace throughout and eventually, it was time to go home. Noah headed towards his locker to pack his things in preparation to leave for the day. As he stood there in the hallway, he could hear the murmuring of students again.

"My cousin says her friend lives next door to Jace, I heard he attempted suicide."

"Whatttt??? No way."

"Then again, who can blame him? It's not like anyone really liked him to begin with."

"You're right though, and I've always thought he was quite a wierdo anyways."

Noah ignored the two girls and tried not to be bothered by their words, settling to brush it off and nonsensical and baseless teenage gossip. He didn't even have a reason to be bothered, he told himself as he exited the school premises.

^^^\~Kyra^^^

Noah was assigned with the task of visiting Jace in the hospital. He wasn't exactly upset, he just felt mildly uncomfortable about it given the fact that he barely knew this boy.

The teacher suggested that the class pay a visit but was met with unenthusiastic groans and responses. Even with the promise of a day off from school, they were all still unwilling. It was nothing personal against Jace, nobody just felt close enough to him to go out of their way to visit him all the way in the hospital. Ms Livia then changed her proposition, instead saying that a representative could go rather than the entirety of them. No one else had volunteered to do it though so Noah would've felt bad if he declined.

Groups of three my foot, he thought. There wasn't even one person willing to go, the principal had been worried about the wrong thing.

The class raised a total of 16.50 dollars, out of which 10 dollars had actually come from Noah's own pocket. It was honestly quite pitiful when he thought about it, which is exactly why he decided not to do so. Noah knew in his heart that surely the entire class of 30 students could put together a sum that amounted to more than pocket change, they just couldn't be bothered enough to do so.

The next issue was what to get. What could he possibly like? Noah had barely interacted with him before and his mind was blank on what to get him. He thought about pocketing the money and just going to see him to get it over with but he knew he'd feel awkward just showing up empty handed.

Noah spent his Saturday afternoon wandering around the mall for almost 20 minutes, thinking about what would be a suitable present for Jace, silently cursing out Derek who was supposed to be helping him but had ditched him at the last minute to go on a date. He also felt bad for the whoever the poor boy that would be Derek's next victim was.

Derek was one of Noah's few friends and when he had come out as gay a few months ago, Noah had taken it well. What Noah didn't approve of however, was the way Derek changed partners on an almost weekly basis. Last week he wouldn't shut up about a Jerry he was sure was his soulmate, and now he was going on about a Frankie that was definitely 'the one'.

Derek was honestly just a hopeless romantic at heart, intent on finding his 'match made in Heaven', oblivious to his growing reputation as a player who broke hearts left, right and center. Frankly, Noah though he was just dumb and too impatient to wait till he actually did find 'the one'.

Noah let out an exasperated sigh as he cleared the thoughts of his friend from his head and decided to focus on the task at hand. He eventually settled on a stuffed animal that he thought was cute, hoping that Jace would share his sentiments as well. He paid for the present, got it wrapped and headed back home with it while having serious second thoughts about the whole visiting Jace thing.

Eventually, the next day came around and Noah groaned internally, wishing the night would draw on forever so he could avoid the impending awkwardness that was sure to come. He tried to sleep in but his conscience kept eating at him so eventually he willed himself to get out of bed and get dressed for his visit to the hospital.

Noah's visit to the hospital was uncomfortable to say the least.  The young boy stood in front of the door of Jace's hospital ward as he still seriously considered ditching the task at the last minute. His classmates wouldn't blame him if he did anyways. None of them had wanted to go in the first place, surely they'd understand if he said he didn't want to either.

Just as he decided that he was going to make a run for it, the door opened and out walked a nurse holding a tray of empty dishes in her left hand. She paused and examined the teenage boy before asking, "Are you here to see Master Williams?"

It was too late to turn back now. Noah took a deep breath before nodding his head in affirmation and the nurse broke out into a smile as she ushered him quickly into the room, practically pushing him in with her free hand.

Jace heard the commotion by the door and raised his head up, looking around a bit before his eyes zeroed in on Noah. The look of confusion on Jace's face was almost comical and Noah might have burst out laughing in any other situation but he knew his facial expression right then wasn't any better.

Noah stood awkwardly at the entrance, fiddling with the package he held behind his back, while Jace was seated on the hospital bed, picking at his fingernails just as awkwardly, each one waiting for the other to speak first.

Jace eventually decided to break the silence, "Sooooo..."

"Ummm hi, I'm Noah Carter. We go to the same school and I uhh...heard you were sick so I decided to pay a visit," he said, walking over to Jace and handing him the box in his hands.

"I know who you are, I've sat behind you everyday in class for the past seven months. Anyways, why are you here? You don't look very happy to be here either, were you forced?" Jace asked flatly as he eyed the box up and down before finally accepting it.

Noah bit his lower lip to prevent a rude remark from slipping out. For someone who was basically an outcast in school, he sure has quite an attitude, Noah thought to himself, regretting the thought almost as soon as it passed through his head.

"Jason, you had better be nice to your friend. He came all this way to see you and he even got you a present," Mrs Williams scolded her son as she walked out of the room to give the boys some space.

"Oh right, the present," he said as he fumbled with the box and unwrapped it to reveal a light brown stuffed teddy bear wearing a black blazer with a small 'Get well soon' card attached to the navy blue bow tie on its neck. He looked at the stuffed animal in his hands before looking up questioningly at Noah who seemed to be looking everywhere else but at Jace.

"I uhhh...I didn't really know what to get you cause I wasn't sure what you liked and then I saw this and I thought it looked cute so I got it but if you don't like it, I could take it back and exchange it for something else," Noah babbled on nervously.

"No kidding, this is the first time you've spoken more than two words to me in a row," he replied, holding back a small smile. Jace disliked a lot of the people in his class, in his school even because they all seemed fake and annoying to him but this rambling kid however, something about him had captivated Jace right from the very beginning, and he definitely seemed alright.

^^^\~Kyra✨^^^

The following Saturday, Noah decided to pay Jace a visit again, this time of his own accord. He had actually gone back again on Wednesday evening and had fairly nice and less awkward experience than the first time and the two boys had bonded a bit more. This time home ever, Noelle, his sister, had offered to come too and he obliged. Jace said his own younger sister would be around as well so he didn't mind.

He got dressed and packed a basket of vanilla cupcakes along with a carton of apple juice (his favorite, and if Jace didn't like it then he could just drink water) then headed out to the bus stop with his sister. Normally, he would ride his bicycle and enjoy the breeze as it played with his hair but he couldn't because his sister was with him this time.

***

"Reya!!!", Noelle screamed the moment she burst into the door.

"Andrea?" Noah asked in confusion, walking in behind his sister and shutting the door after. He'd seen her before, she was Noelle's best friend and she'd had more than a few sleepovers at the Carter house. Noah had seen her almost as often as he saw his own sister. "You're Jace's sister?"

Noelle gasped dramatically before turning to face him, "You didn't know!? You've dropped me off at their house like a million times and aren't you classmates with Jace?"

Jace stifled a laugh as he watched the scene in front of him play out.

"Noelle, this is a hospital ward not a night party. Stop screaming before the nurses kick us both out," Noah groaned. It was obvious that the poor boy was getting exhausted. "How was I supposed to know? I don't go around asking your friends and my classmates for their family trees to if they overlap or something. It's only a coincidence and I bet Jace didn't know that we're siblings either."

"Of course I did" he replied simply. He had always sat by the window in his room upstairs, watching Noah whenever the boy came around to drop off or pick up his sister. Frankly, he'd been watching Noah from afar for a much longer time than the latter could've imagined.

Noelle huffed at her brother before turning to face Jace. "Hi Jay, how are you doing?"

"Well, other than the fact that I'm you know, in the hospital," he said with a laugh, "I'm fine."

Noelle talked with Jace a bit before heading off to the other side of the ward where Reya was seated on a couch placed there. The two girls began chattering away, leaving the teenage boys alone to discuss whatever matters they had.

"I brought some cupcakes and apple juice if you'd like," Noah said quietly.

"Oh um, you didn't have to but thanks. I know a great place we can go and enjoy them if you wouldn't mind."

The two boys decided to give their sisters some room to catch up and headed to the garden located somewhere near the center of the hospital. There were beautiful flowers of different kinds all around and a fishpond in the middle. They chose a bench that had a great view of the pond and watched the fish while they are their own snacks.

Noah spotted two fish struggling over a piece of fish flake out a small giggle before quickly slapping his hand over his mouth at the sound he'd made. It was a very unmanly sound and Noah felt somewhat insecure the way he laughed, he'd received his fair share of bullying about it and really wasn't ready for what Jace would think of it either.

"No don't," Jace said when he saw Noah covering his mouth. "You have a beautiful laugh."

To Jace, it was honestly the most wonderful sound he'd heard. It made his heart flutter and the butterflies in his stomach come to life, he wanted to hear it over and over again.

"It would be even better if I could be the reason he laughed so beautifully," he thought to himself.

"Oh ummm...It's er... g-getting late now and Noelle and I sh-should probably start going so our p-parents don't worry," Noah said, looking down in an attempt to hide the blush that threatened to stain his cheeks.

The two boys packed up their basket and headed back to the ward to rejoin their sisters, both trying to ignore the air of awkwardness between them.

***

"Bye Jace, see you tomorrow," Noah said as he waved.

"Tomorrow?" Noelle asked once they were out of the hospital.

"Umm yeah, I plan on bringing him a few more snacks then I'll probably help him catch up on some school work," Noah shrugged. "Don't," he said, sighing when he caught sight of his sister wiggling her eyebrows. She was making fujoshi eyes at him and he knew exactly what she was implying. "He's just a friend. You know I'm straight as a rod and he most likely is too."

"Sure sure. I'm just saying, don't think I didn't see the way your eyes lit when you were talking to him. You don't know that but even then, it's still possible straightest of people to still get bent." And with that, she skipped away and hopped into the bus that had just arrived.

Noah spent the rest of the bus ride in silence, unable to stop himself from thinking about what his sister said. Damn her and her suspicions, she'd definitely read one too many BL novels and now she'd filled his head with questionable thoughts.

^^^\~Kyra✨^^^