7

In the end, the day that I fear so much arrives. I am nervous for both the game and my timer, that is bound to run out in a few hours. Will I find the answer tonight?

'Want some coffee?' Ezra asks me for the third time in an hour.

'Jeez, Ezya. I'd hoped you would be able to stay awake this time!' I laugh.

'Shut up, dumbass,' he sighs while walking towards the kitchen. I grab some blankets and turn on the sports channel.

Ezra returns with a cup of coffee in each hand. 'Ezya! Join me!' I say, holding up the blanket I'm under. He sighs, putting down the cups on the table, and then sits next to me, though not as close as I asked him to. 'Come on, Ezyaaaa, I'm colddddd!' I whine.

'That's your own problem, shithead,' he frowns. I pout, but quickly turn my attention to the TV.

At last, the match starts. Naturally, Ezra and I scoot closer every time Russia scores a point. Isaiah kind of got us attached to the Russian volleyball team, as he has been a fan of theirs since he was a kid. We scream out in joy as Russia finally hits their 25th point in the first set. They won 25-22. Since it is the finals, at least 2 more sets will be played, but it can get up to a total of 5 sets.

The second and third set go to America, with 27-29 and 20-25. A break of thirty minutes starts. I excuse myself to the toilet to look at my timer. 1 hour, 57 minutes, 33 seconds. I swallow; it's coming closer with every breath I take, every second passing pushing me closer to the moment of truth.

I walk back to a very, very sleepy Ezra sitting on the couch. 'You okay, Ezya?' I ask, trying not to laugh as I see him try his hardest to keep his eyes open.

'Yeah. I'll make it through. I just can't stand the break..' His sleepy voice is barely audible.

I laugh silently and crawl under the blankets again. 'Should I wake you up when the break ends?' I ask as I go sit right next to him.

'Hmm. Going to sleep now is worse than staying awake,' he yawns. After scrolling through Instagram for 20 more minutes, the game finally starts again. Ezra's somehow still awake, but just barely.

When the fourth set ends, won by Russia with 26-24, Ezra is pretty much asleep. 'Ezya, you there?' I ask softly. He hums as a sign that he is indeed awake.

'Good,' I say, 'the fifth set is about to start.' And my timer is about to run out.. The thought crosses my head and I shiver.

'Are you cold?' A sleepy voice sounds from right next to me.

'Y-yeah...' I say, just going along to hide my nerves. Within a second, without any warning, I suddenly feel Ezra's warm body slump against me as he puts his arms around me. I feel my face color all kinds of red, but luckily he is too sleepy to notice.

The final set starts. The game is captivating, but my thoughts and fears keep disrupting it. Both teams are on par with each other, not letting the other score without scoring a point back. They quickly reach 20-20. It's like they're water, flowing naturally along the court, making place for each other, but also claiming their own. Especially the over 2 meters tall ace of Russia is absolutely breathtaking.

The score goes up to 26-26. Russia brings out their pinch server; a pretty average looking guy. But as soon as he serves, I was in awe. 'Service ace!' the TV commentator screams out. I hopefully watch as the server picks up the ball again. He bounces it once. He bounces it twice... Just as he is about to serve, I feel Ezra stir next to me.

I look at him, and find his sleeping face very, very close to mine. I feel my face turn red. 'Ezya? Wake up..'

He just groans, seemingly not willing to. I softly shake his arm, which does make him react. He opens his eyes slightly. 'Hmmm... What are you staring at me for, pretty boy?'

Normally, Ezra only calls me bad names. So when I suddenly hear such a blunt compliment, I freeze. This makes him giggle. 'I'm glad that I met you, you know?' He smiles, putting a hand on my head.

And at the exact same time, a bright light fills the room. Brighter than any light I've ever seen. It makes me jump, which accidentally makes me push off Ezra. At the same time, I feel a weight being lifted from my heart, adrenaline and relief pumping through my veins. As soon as the light fades, I look down at my chest. The timer disappeared, and my chest is empty. Tears fill my eyes as all nerves leave my body. I start sniffing, shaking, relieved that I am still okay. Nothing happened. I still feel the same.

'Ari... What's up?' Ezra's voice sounds, extremely close to my left ear.

'Ezra! Look! They won!' I tell him as if it was the reason for my tears.

'Huh... Huh?! I fell asleep?!' He suddenly sits up straight.

I tell him about the amazing fifth set and how the pinch server was absolutely awesome. Meanwhile, Ezra looks at me, completely silent. I know this. He's scanning me. 'Ezya?'

'I don't know what was bothering you, but you're feeling better, no?' he says. I'm totally taken aback by this statement.

After a few seconds, I smile at him, and for the first time in a month or so, I honestly tell him, 'Yes. I'm fine. Now let's get you to bed, shall we?'

And so, we go to his bedroom. Ever since we were twelve, I've shared a bed with Ezra, but tonight I feel nervous for some reason.

'Good night.' Ezra yawns, and he quickly falls asleep. I, however, couldn't even close my eyes. The adrenaline was still rushing and my heart was beating twice as fast and loud as it normally would. It must be because Russia won and because my timer finally ran out, I tell myself. But every time Iwaizumi's foot accidently touches mine, every time he turns around, every time he makes one of those cute little sounds, my heart skips a beat. Must be because my head is in the clouds. Stop scaring me, Ezya! I think to myself.

In the end, I was unable to sleep for even a single second. Until Ezra finally wakes up at 3 PM, I find myself staring at the ceiling.

'Mornin, Ari,' he grunts.

'Good morning, Ezya! How did you sleep?' I ask him, pretending to be energetic instead of fully drained.

'Very good. What about you?' he says as he turns around, showing me a small, sincere and sleepy smile. My heart starts racing. God damn caffeine... I blame it on something else again.

'Not bad,' I lie. 'Feeling hungry?'

After lunch, it's time to leave. Never have I wanted to escape Ezra instead of see him. 'See you, Ezya!' I say as he waves me goodbye.

3 days until Tama's wedding.

I wake up and immediately notice that I haven't slept this well in ages. Nothing happened yesterday, and all my nerves seem to have calmed down. Though I'm still unsure of what the future holds, I'm simply happy to be able to live my life normally. Luckily, Ezra didn't notice. His timer is still running. I wonder how he's doing..?

I think of the night before, the sound of him giggling coming back to me. In all the years we've been friends, he's barely ever smiled; he only does that when he's really happy, or when he's sleepy. But giggling? That's something even I haven't heard him do before.

My heart starts beating faster and my face is getting warm. I mean, that's completely normal if your best friend suddenly giggled and called you a pretty boy while he was still half asleep. Right.

School passes by as normal, though I find myself taking a lot more curious glances at Ezra's timer. After all, my being fine means nothing. He may still be in danger. I don't feel as nervous anymore, but still..

The day goes by without anything interesting happening, and all I can think of at home is Tama's wedding and how good Ezra must look in a suit.

2 days until Tama's wedding.

Ezra and I can't stop talking about how amazing the volleyball match was. Even though Ezra didn't see it all the way through, he acts like he did. I can't help but laugh about it.

'What, you ass?' He shows a small pout. How damn cute...

'Hey! No stealing my signature pout, Ezya!' I say. He flicks me in the forehead. 'Owwww! Mean, Ezya!' I show him the real pout. He gives a small laugh and continues talking about the match with Isaiah and Elijah, while my stomach flips around.

1 day before Tama's wedding.

Tomorrow, my cousin Tama will finally get married. Ezra's timer will run out. Both things make me nervous. I can't really concentrate at school, so I begin to stare at nothing. Surely, after a while, my gaze lands on my best friend.

I study all of his features; the small shine in his eyes, that are a color that you would describe the word 'life' with, the way his soft-looking hands strike down his dark, spiky hair every now and then, how the muscles in his arms move when he writes. His beauty captivates me, makes me unable to take my eyes off of him, until the teacher calls out to me. 'Now, Ari, I know we're in biology class, but don't you think it's a bit weird to study every muscle of Ezra's body?'

I watch, ashamed and terrified, as Ezra turns to look at me, a slight shade of red on his cheeks. I begin to stutter, not being able to bring out any comprehensible words.

'Now, if you could shift your attention from Ezra's face to the chalkboard, please,' the teacher says as he continues his lesson. I don't dare to even think of looking at Ezra for the remainder of the day.

I go home and finish my day, though sometimes getting distracted by the haunting memories that today have created. I eat dinner with dad, finish my homework, shower. I fall asleep pretty quickly, despite my nerves. Tomorrow, everything will change, for better, or for worse.

0 days until Tama's wedding.