One shot.

Casper was usually relatively good when it came to expressing his feelings. He had an incapability of holding his tongue when he wanted to, especially about matters he was passionate about. But, recently, it seemed like he simply couldn't get the words out. Not to the person that it really mattered, anyway.

His pen scribbled down some notes as he tried to listen as intently as possible to what the teacher at the front of class was saying, eyes behaving themselves by remaining focused on the board instead of the girl sitting beside him - the girl that had caused so much chaos and confusion in his head. Barney was someone that Casper enjoyed spending his time with, someone who helped him when he had problems with his work, someone that made him smile, even after having a tough day. She may not have realised it, but she'd become a part of the group of few people that Casper felt he could trust and that he couldn't help but feel protective over. Barney was just so wonderful to him, be it with her actions towards him or just the general way about her. He could never pinpoint exactly what it was that drew him closer to her, until he figured that it was pretty much everything.

Biting against his lower lip, the teen stared down at his notes, glancing over them hazily. He had barely been paying attention to what he was writing, just letting whatever words apparently glided through his ears be scribbled down on the page. It was obvious that he was distracted, especially as the margins on his pages were filled with mindless doodles and the occasional few words that didn't seem to make any sense. Oh god, this was stupid. He needed to tell her. Tell her properly, not whilst he was tipsy and not over text.

Casper could remember that day when Luke had told him to just get it over and done with, to accept whatever she had to say back to him once he revealed his feelings to her. But, fear of getting rejected by her, letting her know just what went on in his head, took the teen over the moment his eyes had settled upon her, standing just outside of her dorm. The smallest of smiles curled onto his lips as he thought about it. She'd looked so sweet, so wonderful, and it didn't take any effort on her part for that. There was so much about her that he admired, not just her looks, but how she generally was. He'd never asked her to help him keep up with his studies, but she did. He'd never asked her to look after him after he'd passed out, naked, near the girl's dorms, but she did. And he'd never asked her to so effortlessly rope him in, but she did.

The male's pale blue eyes flicked up towards the clock at the front of the class as a bell sounded to signal the end of the lesson. Had it really been an hour already? Crap. Another lesson wasted as he sat with the definite answers to his questions, but lacked the courage to carry out the actions described by them. Sighing, he began to pack away his things, sliding his chair out from under him as he stood himself up. At least it was the last lesson of the day, at least now he could try and find something to distract himself from his thoughts, instead of trying as hard as he could not to look over towards the centre of his affections.

Casper typically got quite wrapped up in his mind and the many things streaming through it. He may have been one that usually said what he was thinking, but this was one of the matters where he simply couldn't say anything aloud about it, not yet. But, he'd become so engrossed in the words filtering about within his cranium, that he simply didn't notice the girl leaning towards him, and it took several moments before he realised just what was happening.

Eyes widened slightly as the girl drew away, the sensation of her lips against his cheek still remaining, even seconds afterwards. His head turned to one side, gaze settling upon Barney's form, noting the sweet smile upon her lips. Confusion started to rope itself around the boy, a curious expression taking to his features as a sort of side smile tilted itself onto his face. It took a moment or two for the words to form, the only words that he could really think to say.

"Um, what was that for?" It was probably just a friendly gesture. She'd probably heard him sighing as he'd started to put his books away, supposing that maybe he was feeling a bit down. Yeah, that sounded logical. But even with a logical answer settled within him, he still couldn't not ask why she had decided to kiss his cheek.

"Because I like you."

She said it quite simply, only taking a brief pause between his question and her response. Her voice was calm and, to Casper, it could have sounded like she'd just decided what she wanted to do and did it. It didn't sound like she'd been debating such a thing for ages and only just got the courage to do it, like he had. After she had spoken, Barney turned slightly to pack away her books, placing them nicely and neatly into her bag.

So, she liked him.. like he liked her? Or did she mean that she just liked him as a friend? But then, how many friends kiss someone on the cheek to simply demonstrate that they think of them as a friend? Casper couldn't help but just stand there, silently dumbstruck for a few moments as he thought everything over. But then it occurred to him.. he'd been over thinking everything about this. Barney had just kissed him on the cheek and told him that she liked him, and he was too busy deciding how to take it instead of really reacting. Surely that was worse than doing something like admitting that he liked her, too.. allowing her to know just how much he liked her. Within a small second, Cas knew that he had to go for it. He simply couldn't lose this chance.

Nibbling softly against his lower lip, a hand reached out, fingers tugging gently on the side of the girl's school shirt, repeatedly doing so until she turned to face him again, noting how she slid her back upon her shoulder. Without taking a moment, Casper leant down slightly, this time, instead of feeling her lips against his cheek, he felt the same sensation upon his own lips. The hand that had been tugging on her shirt remained where it was, loosening only slightly, able to partly feel her skin through the material. He was kissing her. Casper Summers was finally kissing his crush, finally letting go of the reluctance he felt for letting her realise his true feelings.

Leaning back from the kiss, Casper managed the smallest of smiles, trying as hard as he could to maintain some kind of a calm exterior.

"I like you too," he murmured, teeth once more biting against his lower lip briefly, his nerves shining through in one simple action. "I really, really like you."

-to be completed-

Heels over head.

Casper had a crush. Oh god, he had a crush. He didn't want a crush, but there it was. There it always was, lurking about in the back of his mind.

Sipping gently on his cup of hot chocolate, his worried eyes stared over at the person sat in front of him, both hands clasping about the warm mug as if it were some form of life support. It had only really dawned on him that morning that he had a crush on someone, led on mostly by a sweet little dream he'd had the night before, involving things he didn't feel comfortable speaking aloud about. The more he thought about it, the more undeniable it became. He hadn't had a real crush on someone for ages, and it spurred a dreadful feeling in his chest every single time that he tried to think of ways to possibly get around it. And that was how he ended up at Starbucks.

Casper hadn't been at the school for very long. A mere couple of weeks, really, seeing as he hadn't attended the school until after a week of arriving in France. And in that week, he had found that one of the best places to spend his hours was the small, comfortable coffee shop, especially as he had met someone there that seemed to have a wonderful insight into what people should do with their troubles. And that someone was the person sat in front of him, a questioning expression upon his features.

"So, you have a crush on some dude called Barney?"

"Yeah. I mean, no. Barney's a girl, Luke."

"Ohhh." Luke had been sat with Casper for the past ten minutes or so, still in his work uniform whilst the teen before him wore a pair of jeans and a royal blue t-shirt, his jacket rested over the back of the chair. "So, um.. what's the problem? Has she got a boyfriend or girlfriend or something already?"

Casper had never really thought about whether or not Barney was already seeing someone, and it was obvious as he began to look more contemplatively at his drink. He'd never seen her with anyone else.. but then, he hadn't seen her that much outside of their classes together. Not that he hadn't wanted to.. he just seemed to seize up every single time he attempted to bring up the topic of them maybe hanging out outside of class, or every time that he did see her outside of the classroom. He found it almost impossible to gather up enough courage to speak to her and, for anyone who knew Casper, this was a quite strange thing.

It was possibly one of the reasons why Luke and Casper had become relatively good friends in a short space of time - neither of them usually struggled to say what was on their mind, and they didn't usually mind all too much as to how others perceived them. But, it seemed that Casper just couldn't get this across with his new-found crush.

"I don't think she does. I mean, I hope she doesn't," the teen frowned down at his hot chocolate as he spoke, appearing almost disheartened by the fact there was a possibility of it. "Well, I mean I don't hope she's lonely or anything and I'm sure if she did have a boyfriend then he'd probably be amazing because she seems like the sort of person who makes good decisions. Not saying I'm a bad decision, bu-"

"Cas, you're babbling," Luke smiled, watching his friend from the other side of the table. "I get what you mean. So, what's this girl like, then?"

The younger male sighed as that question was asked, a brief silence filtering between them before he allowed himself to speak.
"She's wonderful." A small side smile spread itself across his lips, blue eyes flicking upwards to finally look back across to the older man in front of him. "She's smart, sweet.. she's really friendly, but not in a pushover kind of way. I could imagine her standing her ground against pretty much anyone." It seemed that the more he talked about her, the more that feeling in his chest seemed to swell. It was crazy. He'd only really realised that he had a crush on her that morning and it was already becoming unbearable, but he knew that there was almost no chance that he'd be able to act on these feelings..

"Why don't you ask her out then?"

"Because I'm a bumbling moron." Cas closed his eyes, head tilting back down at his cup, his fingers going to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Whenever I try to properly talk to her, I end up over thinking everything I say and.. then I start worrying that she thinks I'm an idiot, so I pretty much try to abruptly stop the conversation. Guh, I'm such a retard." He groaned under his breath, eyes remaining firmly shut as his mind simply rolled in the self pity he was creating for himself. Casper wasn't typically the sort of person that sat hand-in-hand with his pessimistic views, but there he was.. and it made him feel even more pathetic. He was glad that he was there with Luke, though, knowing that his friend would sympathize on some level with his troubles..

"Oh, come on, man up, dude." Eyes flicked open. Wait, what? "Casper, you're a nice guy and you're pretty easy on the eyes. The worst that can happen is that she can say no."

"No, the worst that can happen is she feels sorry for me, so says yes and then gradually starts to hate me. And then some day I find out that she's actually engaged to some big, tough guy that could snap me like a twig. Then I'd end up emotionally crushed and living on the streets because I started drinking at work and got fired for trying to have a brawl with the office shrub an-"

Smack.

"Ow! Why'd you slap me 'round the back of the head?"

"One, because I thought it'd be too mean to slap you 'round the face. And two, because you were babbling again. Seriously, man, just go and ask her out. The more time you spend worrying about it, the more anxiety you're going to build up for yourself. Just get it over with. If she says no, you can start on the road of recovery. If she says yes, then we can talk about how you're a bumbling moron with a wonderful girl on your arm." Luke smiled over at Casper, a reassuring tone to his features. "Come on, you can do it."

The teen nodded his head as he took in the older male's words, processing them gradually in his mind. He was right.. maybe he should just try and do this. Maybe everything would work out. Standing up from his chair, Casper grabbed a hold of his jacket and slipped it over his arms.
"You're right. I'm gonna do this. I'll go and see her right now." With that, and a short nod, he headed out the door of the coffee shop.

"Okay. I guess I'll pay for your hot chocolate, then!" Luke grinned and shook his head, deciding that he should maybe get back to work.

---

It took barely five minutes for him to be standing outside of Barney's dorm, fist held just a few centimetres away from the door in preparation to knock. He stood there, staring. Oh god, was he really about to do this? What if she said no? What if she wasn't there? What if some random, hot French dude answered the door, mumbling something unintelligible about screwing a purple and green dinosaur? Eyes widened and breath hitched in his throat, his arm acting of its own accord as his fist knocked against the wooden door before him. Crap. He'd knocked. Crap crap crap crap.

Mere seconds later, the door swung open, revealing the girl that made his heart thump harder in his chest, almost threatening to break out past his ribs. Over her legs were a pair of dark jeans whilst a simple purple shirt covered her torso. She looked just.. so cute, and her light smile made his mind swim with thoughts.
"Hi, Casper. What's up?"

"Buh.." Oh god, his words were failing him already. He needed to talk properly. He needed to manage those simple few words. "Bu-erm.. um, I.. I was, um.." 

'Oh, spit it out, you idiot.'

"Y-you, maybe.. I.." He breathed out of his nose after his failed words tumbled from his lips, brows coming together before.. he just gave up. Turning on his heel, he began to walk away from her dorm, hands slipping inside his jean pockets, feet ever speeding up the further down the corridor he got. Ignoring any questions that followed him, he simply rushed away, making his way down the main stairs until he was finally out in the fresh air. Sighing, he closed his eyes as his body faced out to the rest of the school grounds, hands going to rest at the back of his neck. He just couldn't do it. He didn't want her to find out he liked her.

He didn't want her to reject him.

I wish to be free, to be you and me.

The sweat-ridden skin of two stuck lightly together as heavy breaths were exchanged, one body lying next to the other, close enough for hips to be touching. The moments before had been so passionate and heated, and these seconds were taken to bask in the feelings of it all, taking in the sensations of pleasure running through both of their muscles. Josh's mind was almost a blur, his thoughts entirely focused on what had just happened, along with the attempts to control his steadily lightening breaths. His eyes drifted from the ceiling to gaze at the woman there beside him, a sort of side-smile spreading over his lips as he couldn't help but lean over once more and press a small kiss to her's before collapsing back down against the mattress.

A smile of her own drifted onto Ari's lips as she began to shift a little beneath the sheets, leaning over so that her cheek rested against his shoulder and her leg hooked over his own, enjoying the gentle sensations against her bare skin as Josh pulled her closer.

"I love it when we get to spend evenings like this.." She kept her words quiet, softly speaking against his neck and let her nose nuzzle against the teen's jawline. The pair had managed to arrange it so that they got to spend the entire evening together, both hoping that the Friday night hours would pass slowly. Josh couldn't help but admit that he enjoyed the time they spent together, too, especially the times when they had more than just an hour or two to themselves. He wasn't sure what it was that had made him grow so attached to Ari but, when they were apart, his mind refused to stop wandering back to her. He could sit there for ages, just thinking about her hair, her smiles, her laugh.. her expression when she attempted to be stern with him in class. They were things that he could just sit and recollect without growing bored, without really wanting to divert away from them.

"Me too." No matter how he felt, though, the male struggled to express all of these feelings that he had bubbling around in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't tell her that he thought about her so much, and he couldn't really tell her that he was growing more attached to her than he had first thought. After all, what they had was, at the start, more of a simple little student-teacher fling. That had been the plan in Josh's mind, at least.. but even after just a few weeks, these plans had changed. However, the teen still couldn't allow himself to grow too comfortable.. just in case.

Before starting the indescribable relationship with Ari, he'd gotten used to having that feeling of rejection stirring about in the back of his mind. It wasn't as if he never managed to charm girls around or anything like that, if anything, it was something he was particularly skilled at. The rejection he experienced was just from one thing, just one time, but it was something that mentally dragged him down more than anything. His ability was something he had grown up with, as with his sickness. But just that one experience of someone freaking out over it in the morning after spending the night with him.. it had stuck with him, and it had been a good few years since he fell asleep in someone else's bed, or allowed someone to witness just how sick he got every single morning after waking up.

And it was something he was dreading to let Ari know about.

Sighing softly, Josh pressed a small kiss to the top of Ari's head before moving himself a little beneath her, causing the woman to lift her head from his chest.

"I should probably get going," he gently said, steadily sitting himself up until his back was straightened up against the headboard, palms rested either side of him. He could tell by her change in expression that she had half been expecting those words to pass his lips, but also that she had been hoping that maybe they wouldn't.

"You know, you don't have to leave so early," the woman said quietly, also now sat up fully as her gaze followed Josh's movements to the other end of the bed, where he began to pick up some of his clothes. "You can always.. stay, if you want." For a few weeks now, she had toyed with the idea that maybe the reason that he always left before they could fall asleep, curled up in each other's arms, was because he wasn't sure if she was okay with it. After all, what they had was risky.. something that he knew she worried about frequently. The consequences of what they had if they were caught were.. well, it'd probably ruin what she had worked so hard for in the past few years. And she guessed that might be part of the reason why he always left.. that, or he just didn't want to fall into that comfortable relationship state with her.

Josh's eyes wandered over to Ari as he pulled up his boxers to his hips, and then began to pull his jeans up over his legs to follow.

"Um.." He hadn't really had to come up with an excuse for leaving before, and his mind struggled to quickly manifest something moderately believable. But then, the small white lie filtered past his lips, "I would, but.. Lend has been, um, struggling with nightmares a bit the past couple of nights. Like, nearly in tears kind of nightmares." A light smile couldn't help but emerge itself across Josh's lips no matter how hard he tried to control it as he spoke and, even though it wasn't true, that boy got scared often enough that it could be.

"I probably shouldn't leave him on his own until he gets over it."

"Oh, okay. Um, don't worry about it. I just thought I should.. let you know." That small smile Ari had sent him just simply made his heart drop in his chest, the obvious uncertainty that glimmered beneath her eyes. He could tell that.. well, maybe she was beginning to think that the only feelings he had for her were feelings of lust, and that was possibly the only reason he persisted in seeing her. Maybe he simply put up with those times when they'd just sit and have a few laughs together because he knew that they would fall into bed at some point or another. Because he always left, he could understand why it could flit through her thoughts.. and he wanted to so badly tell her that that wasn't it at all. Josh truly cared for her, more than he wanted to admit, he'd even bought her a gift to try and show this, but had yet to work up the right courage to give it to her. But, it was because he cared for her that he continued to tear himself away from her each night.

He just couldn't tell her. Not yet.

It was at that moment that an idea formed in Josh's mind, one that quickly brought his lips into a brighter smile than what he'd had before. Placing down his shirt upon the end of the bed, he crawled over to lay back beside Ari, noting the slight change in expression as he settled down.

"I'm sure Lend can wait long enough for you to go to sleep, though." A grin spread to match his own as she leaned up to press a small kiss to his lips before settling down with her back to him beneath the covers, whilst Josh rested beside her, one arm sliding to pull her closer to him. Despite the slight distance the duvet put between them, the comfort was still there, and it didn't take long for slumber to overtake the twenty-one year old.

And that was when he decided to get his present ready.

---

Alarm clocks were possibly one of the worst inventions in the history of anything. That was the thought that drifted through Ariana's mind as her ears picked up on that horrible beeping noise that she had grown so familiar with.Sliding her hand out from beneath the covers, eyes still closed, she attempted to slide the switch on her clock. However, as she felt about where her alarm usually lay, her mind clicked. It was Saturday. Why did she turn her alarm on last night? And it was then that she felt a different sensation beneath her fingertips, a soft velvety casing. Sliding her eyelids open, briefly allowing her eyes to adjust to the sunlight seeping through the curtains, her hazy vision fell upon a long, yet small, blue box on her bedside table. Brows furrowed partially as she stared at it questioningly, not entirely sure what to make of it with her mind still quite dazed from sleep.

Reaching over, she first turned off her alarm which rested just behind, before allowing his fingers to drift to the box, legs sliding out from beneath the covers until she sat entirely upright. Though her gaze was focused upon the case upon her bedside table, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something else.. two post-it notes had been stuck to her lamp, sat one on top of the other. Tilting her head slightly, Ari reached with her left hand, peeling off the first little note which read, "Go on, open it." in a familiar script. There had been a little arrow drawn in the corner, pointing towards the box. With a curious smile, she tilted the lid open, wondering just what it was that was waiting inside. It was another note, with a small smiley face drawn first. This time it read, 'Look down.' And as she did, Ari couldn't help but notice a slight difference about her neck, a difference that she wasn't that unfamiliar to her. Her gaze fell down to see the end of a thin, silver chain with a pendant hanging down to just above her chest. It was a small heart with a clear stone in the centre, quite simple yet elegant in how it looked.

Ariana's smile broadened as she looked at it, eyes only flicking upwards once she recalled the second post-it note on her lamp. Slipping it off with the tips of her fingers, she skimmed her eyes over the words. 'I hope you like it. I saw it and thought of you.'

Just seconds after reading that note, there was a knock at the door and Ari couldn't help but jump slightly, having been immersed in her happy little world.
"One second!" she shouted, sliding herself fully out of bed and grabbing her dressing gown to wrap around herself. It didn't take too long before she was standing behind the door to her home, fingers going to unlatch the lock to see who it was that had come to visit her quite early in the morning. Her heart soared as those brown eyes of her's fell to look upon Josh's deep blue irises, soaking in that wonderfully cheeky grin of his as he leant against the door frame?

"That wasn't too soppy or anything, was it?" he inquired, his grin not faultering, especially as Ari, instead of replying, simply leant upwards and pressed a delicate kiss to his lips, that usual worry of risks and consequences just melting away.