Chapter 20: Connection

When Cailen first saw Asher come out of the bathroom the first day he came back, he was surprised and very pleased with who Asher had turned into.

Now, seeing him nearly naked, jogging into the water, took his breath away.

Asher had a defined chest with a growing six pack abs, his arms were muscled but nicely toned and that's all Cailen could see in the faint light the moon offered but that's all he neede- or could handle because he was fairly certain- anymore, and his brain might short-circuit.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Asher asked, grinning at Cailen as he approached but he wasn't capable of speech right now. "Hmm?" Asher encouraged and frowned when all Cailen could do was stare. "Cai? Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I? Cai?"

"Hm, what? No! No, I'm fine," Cailen said quickly but Asher continued to frown at him, probably worried that Cailen was pissed at him now. "Just pissed that I now have to ride home in soaking wet clothes."

Cailen glared playfully at Asher trying to make sure he knew he wasn't really mad while simultaneously trying not to stare at the god-like body standing in front of him.

"You could go take them off and they might be somewhat dry by the time we leave," Asher offered shyly, ducking his head.

Cailen figured Asher was still worried about his possible anger.

"Yeah, okay," Cailen mumbled and trudged out of the water, stomping up to a still laughing Matthew. "Shut it," he grumbled and he fiddled with the button on his own shorts.

Cailen glanced out at the water again, only seeing three figures mucking about in the water. He was only able to tell them apart from William's height, Asher's bulkiness and Noah's lankiness.

He was a little self-conscious about taking off his clothes in front of them. Well... if he were honest, it was Asher he was nervous about.

He had that professional athlete look to him and did things to Cailen he wasn't willing to address at the moment, because this was Asher and Cailen had this tiny frame and flat tummy and it was just a bit intimidating.

"You okay?" Matthew asked, cutting his laughter off as he noticed Cailen's shaking fingers trying to get his shorts down.

"That water is freezing," Cailen answered quickly.

"Just stay here," Matthew said worriedly.

Cailen chuckled, finally getting his shorts down and kicking them off, then laying them out.

"He'll just come for me again," Cailen muttered.

Because although he put up a fight, he didn't want to miss out on this. He was already having fun. Matthew snorted and took a swig of his beer, silently agreeing with him.

"Why did he not throw you in?" Cailen asked grumpily, starting on his shirt.

"Cause he knows I'll kill him," Matthew said immediately.

"What, and I won't?"

"We all know you wouldn't even think about harming him," Matthew said almost as quickly.

Cailen frowned, mostly because of Matthew's comment but also because getting a wet shirt over your head was incredibly difficult.

"You've always been very protective of him," Matthew said as if reading Cailen's thoughts and really, he couldn't argue with that.

He kind of has. It was a bit odd. You'd think after the bullying Cailen had endured when Eden had first adopted him that Asher would be protective over him, but that's not how it turned out.

Cailen had gained more confidence after he actually obtained a family, when he knew he had people who actually wanted him and he started to come out of his shell a bit.

Somewhere along the way, Asher had started to shut down and Cailen began to notice and started questioning the boy. Asher of course brushed him off and said it was nothing but he knew better than that.

When he found out that Asher had actually been getting bullied, he sort of took it upon himself to return the favor and protect Asher. Granted, he didn't beg Asher to tell someone. That was more Asher's style.

Instead, he threatened to beat the shit out of the kids bothering Asher, and almost did, but a teacher stepped in and resolved the whole thing. Resolving the issue meant Cailen got suspended for a week and the other kids got detention everyday after school for just as long which Cailen thought was totally unfair.

But the teacher hadn't caught them threatening to shove one of their heads up the other's ass. It's not like he actually meant it. That's pretty impossible, but he was still punished all the same.

Ever since, Asher had followed Cailen around, apparently seeing Cailen as a permanent protector or something, and Cailen didn't find that he minded.

"Yeah, well, now I think my bigger concern is the fact that he could probably throw me in the water from here if I tried," Cailen grumbled, still struggling with getting his shirt off.

Asher obviously didn't need Cailen protecting him anymore. Matthew snorted, and sipped his beer again.

"Yeah, he's gotten quite big, huh?" Matthew commented.

Cailen glanced over his shoulder, wiggling his elbows to get the shirt that was sticking to his body to move, to see Asher's figure facing them.

Cailen smiled at him in case he could see them, letting him know he had nothing to worry about and that they weren't planning some big scheme to get back at him for carrying him into the water, though Cailen should really consider it.

"He took up boxing when you left, surprised us all," Matthew said.

Cailen had successfully got the shirt past his shoulders but it got stuck again and now he was standing there with his arms over his head, unable to move them.

"He boxes?" Cailen questioned as he felt finger tips slip under the shirt and then Matthew was helping him pull it off his head, laughing to himself as he nodded at Cailen's question.

"You better get back in there before he comes for you," Matthew teased, taking Cailen's shirt and laying it out for him.

Cailen looked at the water and saw Asher halfway on the sand, watching them with a frown. He groaned and slowly made his way back to the water where he was welcomed with shouts of joy and William jumping on his back and pulling them both under water.

*****

Swimming was fun.

The boys played a short game of water tag but quickly got bored since they were no longer ten years old and switched it over to just wrestling in the water, seeing who could pull the other under first.

Cailen's main goal was to get Asher under water since he was the biggest but he wasn't succeeding very well.

Whenever Cailen would pull on his arm, Asher would just pull Cailen towards him and dunk him. When Cailen jumped on him, he would either fling Cailen off or dunk them both underwater.

He was going to need to recruit someone to help.

"Hey, Noah," Cailen called as the group decided to take a breather, William sprawling out on the water and floating around and Asher playing with some sand he had brought up from the bottom.

Cailen motioned him over, keeping his eyes on Asher to make sure he didn't see the boys plotting against him.

"I'm gonna jump on Ash. I need you to like... hold his legs or something so he can't fight back," Cailen whispered.

Noah grinned and slowly made his way over behind Asher. Noah gave Cailen a quick look then ducked under water as he got ready to jump. He knew Noah had a hold of Asher's legs when his head snapped up in confusion, then back down to see what was going on.

Cailen took the chance to lunge himself at Asher, wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck as Asher stumbled, tripping over Noah and they both went under water.

There was a lot of limbs flailing and water rushing but somehow, Cailen made it up again before Asher and got to see Asher jump up from the water, spluttering and gasping for air. His eyes met Cailen's and Cailen couldn't help but grin at him, happy with victory.

"You cheated!" Asher called and dove for Cailen.

Being in water made it difficult to run so Asher got to him easily enough, grabbing him around the waist and picking him up. Cailen let out an involuntary squeal, something he tried to play off by just being more dramatic and screaming some more.

He started flailing around, making it difficult for Asher to keep his hold on him but he did manage. He was carrying Cailen back to shore, as to why, Cailen had no idea but he didn't really want to find out.

Before they could make it there, Cailen's flailing caused Asher to trip and they both went tumbling to the ground in the shallow water. The water didn't even cover Cailen's body as he got squished between the sand and Asher.

It covered his legs but got shallower as it went up his body, leaving his waist and up exposed. He felt more than heard Asher laughing since he was lying on top of Cailen and he couldn't help but join in, lifting himself up on his elbows but not able to move much more than that since Asher prevented it.

"Oops," Asher mumbled, lifting his head and looking Cailen in the eye.

Cailen's laughter died off slowly as he looked at Asher. His eyes just looked so brown and deep, like Cailen could dive in and get lost for days. They shone with a silent laughter as Asher's own laughter was dying off as well and they continued to stare at each other.

Asher was now hovering over him, and to be honest, it was hard to pull away.