< Table of Contents

Chapter 1

"I love you," Kevin whispered against Nick’s mouth. He swallowed the gasp that resulted and smiled against Nick’s lips.

"Iloveyoutoo." Nick said quickly before kissing Kevin again.

Nick sighed as his mind drifted in and out of consciousness. The burst of fireworks startled him out of the same daydream he’d been having for almost two months. It wasn’t a daydream so much as a memory, one that he knew he would hold on to for the rest of his life. It was the day that all of his dreams came true. It was Lincoln High’s Convocation day where Kevin Richardson had taken him aside, under a giant tree on the school lawn and confessed that he felt for Nick what Nick had already confessed to him, love.

For the first few weeks, Nick had walked around in a bit of a daze. He couldn’t believe that Kevin had been serious about them being together, and each time Kevin touched or kissed him, he still expected the older teen to pull away and admit that it was a mistake and they couldn’t go any further. There was nothing comparable to the feeling of being in Kevin’s arms, holding Kevin’s hand, or just being able to kiss him without worrying about when it would stop or when it might happen again. He hadn’t realized how much Kevin’s constant rejection had affected him until now. It was just a natural reaction for him to expect Kevin to stop what they were doing and apologize, rather than for Kevin to allow himself to enjoy Nick’s attention, which was so greedily lavished upon him.

"What’s wrong?" A voice whispered into his ear. The hot breath on his neck illicited goose bumps and Nick snickered at the chill that resulted. He turned to look his best friend in the eye and shook his head.

"Just thinking," Nick confessed with a guilty smile. His eyes flickered to where Kevin was sitting on a blanket with Joey and Brian and he felt his stomach flip a few times. He focused his attention back onto Justin who cocked an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Just thinking? About...?"

Nick sighed. He didn’t want to complain because he knew it was going to sound stupid, but he couldn’t keep it bottled in any longer. The faster the summer passed, the more depressed he was getting. It had been, by far, the best summer he could ever remember having. He’d spent most of it with the gang, going to movies, having pool parties and sleep overs, and playing basketball at the courts downtown. He’d even gone to his grandparents house for two weeks like he did every summer, which he thought would be torture, being away from Kevin that long, but had turned out to be more fun than he’d anticipated. The first week it had just been him and his siblings, but the second week, his parents had come up to visit and brought Justin and Lance to spend the week while they took the rest of Nick’s brothers and sisters home to start summer camp. The three had spent every night camping outside in the Carters’ giant back yard, which was heavily wooded since they lived in a remote country side.
 They’d had camp fires every night where they roasted marshmallows, made smores and gorged themselves on every type of candy and sweet food they could get their hands on. Although he’d gone the whole two weeks without seeing or talking to Kevin, it had gone by so fast that he’d barely even felt that he’d been gone. And truth be told, being away from Kevin and at his grandparents had afforded for him to miss Kevin enough that he was even happier to be back in his boyfriend’s arms when he returned. It was great practice in surviving without Kevin always at his side, since he knew that soon enough they would be hundreds of miles away from one another, but Nick refused to allow himself to think too much about that before it was necessary.

It was now already the middle of August, which meant that they’d be going back to school in a few weeks. Which, in effect, meant that summer was almost over. Which also meant that Kevin would be packing up his SUV, getting his things ready and driving to UCLA, where he would be starting his first year studying Environmental Resource Studies. Away from Middletown. Away from Nick.

Nick was miserable.

He hadn’t told anyone that he was feeling this way because he’d known when he and Kevin had finally gotten together that their time together was limited. It was exactly what Kevin had been trying to tell him all last year, that he didn’t want to have to leave Nick behind when he went away to school. That Nick would still be stuck at Lincoln High while he went off to bigger and better things. Nick was fifteen, Kevin was turning eighteen, and Nick wouldn’t let himself think about all of the other, older girls and boys that Kevin would not only be going to school with, but also living with in the dormitories while he lived on campus.

"Nicky?" Justin asked, concerned. "What’s wrong?" He could see that Nick was getting worked up about something and despite how calm the blonde tried to appear, his eyes kept flickering to Kevin as a sad, longing expression would cover his face. It had to do with Kevin leaving, Justin knew that much, but he still hated to see his best friend in such turmoil.

"I don’t want to lose him," Nick said softly. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to know how insecure he was. It would only prove that Kevin had been right, that they were too different and Nick was too young for him. Not once had Kevin ever made it a big issue, but there were times that Nick felt that he should be more mature for Kevin, and in being more mature, he was forced to analyze his feelings as to whether or not he should make an issue out of something that could possibly be nothing. But in this case, Nick had tried so hard to pretend that Kevin’s leaving wasn’t bothering him, he found that it was bothering him more. And he couldn’t talk to anyone about it. Or he thought he couldn’t. His gaze met Justin’s and Nick saw sympathy in his best friend’s eyes. Nick’s resolve to not talk about it to anyone crumbled and he couldn’t stop the outburst of emotions.

"You’re not going to lose him Nicky. He loves you so much."

"But ...he’s going to be so far away. And what if he meets someone else? What if he realizes I’m just some dumb kid still in high school and there are so many better, cooler, older people out there for him to be with." Nick took a deep breath and looked up as the sky exploded with bright orange, blue and red lights. "What if he decides that he doesn’t really like boys, that I was some experiment he wanted to have to pass the last summer before college? He’s not gay, J, he’s bi. Bi. Meaning that he likes girls, he dated Gretchen for ages and they were so happy together. Not at the end, at the end they were miserable, but that doesn't mean he doesn’t like girls. What if he finds one? That would totally kill me. It would be better than him finding a guy though. I don’t want him to find a girl, but I’d rather it be a girl and not a guy."

Justin could see Nick’s pain and discreetly he motioned for Christina to join them. She crawled from the blanket she’d been sitting on with Josh and curled up next to Nick. Justin knew that by himself, he might not be able to help ease Nick’s troubled mind, but between him and Christina, they’d definitely know what to say. She was his other best friend. Actually, they all had about a dozen best friends, as everyone was considered on the inside of their friendship, but whenever Nick had a problem, the first two people he went to talk to was Justin and Christina.

At first, Justin had been slightly jealous of how close Christina and Nick had gotten over the past year. She had been there for Nick when Justin himself hadn’t, she’d picked him up when it had been Justin who had nearly broken him. It had been a mutual thing, he’d saved her and she’d saved him, and from their simultaneous crisis, they’d formed a friendship that went far deeper than most people realized. The moment Justin observed the bond between the two, he’d immediately jumped to the conclusion that Christina was moving in on his territory and was trying to take Nick away from him. But as time went on, Justin realized that she wasn’t competing for Nick’s attention, that it wasn’t an issue of him versus her. One particular night when Justin couldn’t keep his fears of losing Nick to Christina inside any longer, the two boys had talked about it at great lengths and Nick had shown Justin that Christina was to Nick, what Josh was to Justin.

This brought upon a conversation regarding Justin and Josh’s friendship. Whenever Justin had a problem so big that he didn’t know what to do or who he could talk to, Justin went to Josh. It started the night that Justin had been at a party in West Hill, stranded by teammates he’d thought were friends of his. They had tried to pressure him to drink and have sex with girls he hadn’t even known, and in the midst of a panic attack, Josh was the first and only person Justin could think of to call. He’d swallowed his pride, called the older boy and confessed everything he’d been so afraid to tell anyone during his fight with Nick. From that night on, Justin had viewed Josh on a pedestal, and he knew that no matter what he said or did, no matter how hard things might seem to him, he could go to Josh and everything would turn out okay. Josh was his mentor, a type of idol for Justin and although Justin wouldn’t admit it to anyone except Nick, Justin had a slight case of hero worship with
 Josh. There was also the issue of the slight crush Justin harboured, but they’d both understood that was better left unsaid.

Christina was that for Nick and Justin couldn’t begrudge his best friend that type of confidant. Although they always told each other everything, there were times when they needed someone on the outside, who wasn’t as close to them as the other was. This was most definitely one of those times. Nick needed some outside assistance and Justin knew that the only other person Nick would feel comfortable talking to was Christina.

"What are my two favourite boys talking about?" Christina asked. She smiled as Nick’s arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder and snuggled up against his side.

"You better not hear Josh hear you say that," Nick teased.

Christina stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. "What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him." She looked at Justin who was watching Nick closely. Judging by the creases in his forehead and the slight frown to his lips, Justin was worried about Nick. "Seriously though, you look like something’s wrong."

Nick looked at Christina and then Justin. He leaned back so that he was lying down with his head on the hooded sweatshirt behind him. Christina followed his lead while Justin turned to his side with his head propped by his elbow. The three laid in silence among the loud commotion going on around them. The words wouldn’t come out and Nick didn’t know where to begin.

"Is it about Kevin?" Christina asked. Justin nodded and Nick closed his eyes.

"I don’t want him to go," Nick said softly. He held onto Christina tighter and tried to make his stomach stop fluttering.

"You knew he was leaving babe, why are you upset all of a sudden?"

Justin wasn’t so sure that this was all of a sudden. There were times when he’d look over to find Nick clutching onto Kevin for dear life, or just watching him with a twinkle of sadness in his eyes, as if he was just waiting for the older boy to leave him. It wasn’t anything that had caused for him to worry, but maybe he should have. Maybe Justin should have noticed that Nick was worrying about Kevin’s leaving for UCLA and forced Nick to talk about it. "You’ve been worried all summer." He said, without question.

Nick turned to look at his best friend and gave a weak smile. "Not all summer.. There are just times when I remember that he’s leaving and that I’ve got such a short time with him before he goes. I want to freeze time, but at the same time I want him to go so he can be happy. I’ve been trying to remember everything but the summer is just going by so fast and he’s going to leave and be so happy without me and forget all about me." Nick tried to calm the butterflies in his stomach, he took a few calming breaths. "I mean, most of the time I’m okay. I don’t think too much about it, but when I do, that’s when I start to freak out. It really hits me that he’s going, that he’s just going to leave and not be here every single day and I won’t get to see him or talk to him or touch him. And then I start to panic."

Christina clucked her tongue and shook her head. She looked over to where Kevin was watching them, a hint of concern in his eyes. She flashed him a smile and a nod to let him know that Nick was okay. He smiled and nodded back, but she could tell that his mind was still on Nick.

"He won’t forget about you," she assured Nick. "He’s sitting there right now, worried that something is wrong and sending me very clear death glares."

Nick sat up to see Kevin watching them. Their eyes met and he felt a surge of electricity overwhelm his body. Kevin’s lips curled into a grin and he grinned back, the butterflies in his stomach getting worse. "He’s not giving you death glares," Nick assured Christina. "He knows that he’s got nothing to worry about."

"Now Josh, those are death glares," Justin commented, nodding to where Josh was watching them with slitted eyes.

The three teens giggled and all waved at Josh, blowing him kisses. His eyes narrowed even more and they could hear him growling. "Keep your paws off her Carter," Josh warned.

Nick could tell that Josh was teasing and so he shrugged. "She came over here to me man. All over me. Get used to it."

Josh pretended to think and finally shrugged. "Okay, you can keep her. There’s a new crop of freshmen coming in anyways..."

Christina was up on her feet in an instant and she ran the few feet to where Josh was sitting on their blanket. She pounced on him, play fighting with him. They both broke out into laughter and when Josh could finally retaliate, he flipped her over and held her down.

"You take that back Joshua Chasez."

Josh leaned down and kissed the tip of Christina’s nose. "Take what back?"

"That you’re going to replace me with some new freshman skank."

"I never said she’d be a skank."

Christina growled and everyone laughed as they watched the scene unfold. The fireworks had been forgotten for the drama on the baby blue blanket. "Take. It. Back." Christina tightened her legs around Josh’s hips, squeezing as hard as she could. She smiled when he winced at the pain.

"I was kidding. Of course I’m not going to replace you, Baby." Josh sat up and allowed for Christina to do the same. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "And of course he can’t have you, you’re mine."

"Then why did you say it?" Her eyes were still narrow and she was growling at him.

"Got you back on my blanket, didn’t it?"

Christina kissed Josh on the lips and then smacked him upside the head. "You’re such a jerk." She kissed him one last time before moving back to Nick’s blanket and curling back up with him. "Maybe I’ll stay here, Nick’s nicer to me."

Josh only responded by sticking out his tongue. Christina’s raspberry was drowned out by a fresh wave of fireworks.

"You guys are so cute," Nick commented as he got comfortable with Christina once more. She was lying with her head on his chest and their hands clasped at his navel. Their legs were tangled together and Justin was stretched out right next to them, his legs mixing with Nick and Christina’s.

"I know." Christina sighed and tried to focus on something other than the feel of Josh pinning her on the ground and his body hovering over her seductively. Her pulse was racing and she wanted nothing more than to ask Josh if they could go back to the car and make out for a bit. She didn’t though, because she knew that he was having fun hanging out with the guys and Nick really needed her right now. But later. There would definitely be making out before he drove her home. Lots of it. With groping and touching and kissing. She really needed to focus on Nick before she crawled back over to where Josh was sitting and attacked him immediately.

"It’s disgusting," Justin growled. Both Nick and Christina looked at him, then each other before bursting out into laughter. Justin snarled at them which only made them laugh harder. "What?" He asked.

"You," Christina laughed, punching Justin’s shoulder. "You don’t think you and Chris are worse? God... You two are horrible sometimes."

Justin looked at Nick who only nodded. "You are." He looked over at the rest of their friends who were all curled up with their respective boyfriends and girlfriends and shrugged. "You all are. All a bunch of horn dogs."

"Well, I’m not tonight." Justin had desperately wanted Chris to join them that night but his band had a show somewhere in LA. True to his word, the record executive who had gone to see Anarchy for Everyone at the Underdog months earlier had put them in touch with a few other people in the music industry who were looking for new music. Chris had gotten them a new manager and now, in addition to doing shows in Middletown and the surrounding cities, they were getting gigs all the way in LA and in bigger cities too. Justin was proud of Chris, pleased that the band was doing so well, but it was cutting into their weekend time.

Chris worked Mondays to Fridays at the newspaper, a job that Mrs. Renado had helped Chris get to earn extra money for school. Most nights, Chris was baby-sitting his brothers and sisters, and while Justin spent a lot of time helping, it didn’t give him and Chris any alone time together. They’d taken to spending time together on weekends, but lately, Chris had been going into the city for gigs and shows, which Justin wasn’t allowed to do. Chris had promised that he’d be able to go to the fireworks show down at the marina with them that night, but a few days earlier, their manager had called and said they’d gotten them a pretty big gig, which was actually paying real money, and the band had agreed that it was best they do it.

Chris had phoned Justin that same night to break the news that he wouldn’t be able to go to the fireworks with him, and although Justin had told Chris he understood, it still hurt. He knew all too well what anxieties that Nick was having regarding Kevin, because he was having the same ones with Chris. Once school started, Chris would be starting college, which meant he’d be having to spend much more time working on assignments and school work. Not to mention he was contemplating still staying at the paper to keep earning extra money. All of that, with his familial responsibilities and the band, left very little time for Chris to spend with Justin. The last thing Justin wanted was for Chris to forget about him now that his real life was starting, especially since Justin was so in love with Chris it hurt him to be apart. Justin had been hurting a lot lately.

"Oh J.." Nick breathed. Before he could say anything else, Justin shook his head.

"No. Don’t worry about it. I’m just really pissy because he said he’d come and he didn’t. He’s always canceling plans or too busy or just too tired. He has this whole other life and I’m not a part of it. He doesn’t have time for me anymore, and pretty soon he’s just going to realize that he doesn’t need me anymore."

"I think you guys just need to look at the bigger picture," Christina said softly. Both Justin and Nick looked at her curiously and she smiled. "You both have these two older, mature, boyfriends who love you. Hell, they both worship you."

Justin exchanged a look with Nick. They both rolled their eyes. Christina pinched both of them to get their attention.

"I’m serious. You should see how Chris looks at you Justin. When you’re together and you’re not paying attention, he just watches you with this look of awe on his face. He loves you so much and you can so tell. The same with you Nicky. Kevin hasn’t stopped watching you since I came over here. He’s been watching you all night, and I know that he misses Joey and Brian, which is why he’s sitting over there with them, but he can’t keep his eyes off of you."

Nick blushed and looked down at the blanket. "Yeah?"

"He’s going to go away, and you’re going to miss him and he’ll miss you, but at the same time, you’ll both be living your own lives. Kevin is going to have school and football and college, and yes there are going to be tons of beautiful girls and guys there, but he knows he has you here for him, waiting for him. Or he might be waiting for you. But you know that he’s not going to cheat on you, and he’s not going to find anyone he loves more than he loves you. Look at all the trouble you guys went through to be together. He’s not going to forget that, and neither are you."

"But..."

"But what? Do you think you’ll be sitting at home, pining for him?"

Nick nodded. "Yes. That’s exactly what I’m going to be doing."

Christina laughed and smacked Nick’s arm. "So you’re not going to be playing basketball?"


Nick was silent.

"And you’re not going to be doing the set for the play?"

Nick was still silent.

"Oh, and what about the other million extra curricular activities that you were involved with that didn’t include Kevin? You’re not going to do those?"

"But..." Nick said, realizing what Christina was saying. "I ....yeah, of course I’m going to be doing all that."

"And what about our weekly trips to the Shake Shack? I know, Kevin’s not playing football for us this year, but we’re still going to be going to games, right?. Brit’s totally going to be making the squad this year, so we have to go and cheer her on."

Nick’s eyes narrowed and his lips curled into a scowl. Only the twinkle in his eyes and the smug grin on Justin’s face told Christina that Nick wasn’t *really* mad. "Shut up."

"What?" Christina leaned in and ruffled Nick’s hair affectionately. When he didn’t speak, she giggled. "So, it sounds to me that you’re going to be as busy as he is when school starts. Did you ever think that he’s just as scared as you are?"

Justin snorted causing for both Nick and Christina to look at him questioningly. "Kevin? Richardson? Scared?"

"I don’t think he’s as strong and confident as you always think he is, J." Christina said softly. She knew from various conversations with Nick that Kevin was as insecure and self conscious as anyone else. Kevin just seemed to hide it a lot better. But Christina figured that was because he’d been taught at a much younger age not to show his emotions or weaknesses. She also knew from watching Kevin that Nick was one of Kevin’s main weaknesses, something that she didn’t think even Nick realized.

Justin exchanged a look with Nick who simply nodded. "She’s right. He just doesn’t show it as much." He then turned to Christina and shook his head. "I don’t think he’s worrying about me at all."

"Of course he is. He knows how popular you are. He knows how many girls have crushes on you..."

"But I don’t want any of those girls. I don’t want any girl." Nick stuck out his tongue and giggled as Christina tickled him.

"But you might..."

"I don’t think so," Nick said seriously. "I don’t want anyone but Kevin. I’ll never want anyone but Kevin."

"So why can’t he feel the same way? Maybe he doesn’t want anyone but you."

"But... He could have anyone he wanted."

"So could you," Christina pointed out honestly. She saw the look of disbelief in Nick’s eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "You could. You could probably name ten people right now and if you went up to them and asked them out, they’d fall at your feet in an instant."

"You’re just saying that." Nick was grateful for the dark night so that no one could see the way his cheeks were pink from embarrassment at Christina’s compliments. She shook her head and Nick shrugged. "What about you?"

Christina narrowed her eyes and frowned. "God, I would have done anything ...anything last year to have you ask me that." Secure in her friendship with Nick, Christina could confess her feelings for the blonde without being as embarrassed as she thought she should have been. Her unrequited crush on Nick wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t something she often spoke freely about.

"Yeah? Even when you were going out with Josh?"

The breath escaped her lungs and Christina tightened her hold on Nick. Her eyes met Justin’s and she hoped that he would understand how private their conversation was. The way his eyes softened and he smiled, almost in embarrassment, told her he understood.

"Yeah. At the beginning anyways. He would look at me and I would wish you looked at me that way. Or he would touch me and I would wonder how different you would touch me." Christina reached up and gently touched Nick’s face, memorizing every indent, every inch of skin and she smiled. "Now, it’s different. If things were different, I’d be with you in a heartbeat, but they’re not. I love Josh, you love Kevin."


"Plus he doesn’t like girls that way," Justin said softly causing the three of them to giggle.

"And that," Christina agreed. "But yeah Nicky, last year I wanted so bad for you to like me back. But there are dozens of girls who had the biggest crush on you last year. Not to mention there were probably guys who were hot for you too."

"You think so?" Nick asked. He’d never really thought about other people in their school being gay or bisexual, but now that Christina had pointed it out, he couldn’t help but think about it.

"I know so, Sweetie." Christina sat up and glanced at Kevin who was still watching them with interest. With a look over her shoulder, she could see Josh keeping an eye on them as well. "So talk to him, tell him how you’re feeling. You might be surprised."

"But..."

"No buts, Nicky. I think you should talk to him. Maybe he has a few things he needs to get off of his chest too. He’s probably as afraid of you being happier without him as you are afraid of him being happier without you. But don’t think that you’re going to be sitting home alone, pining away for him. This year is going to be so cool, we’re going to do so much and you’ll barely have time to miss him."

Nick was about to protest when Christina covered his mouth with her hand.

"I know you will miss him, but you’ll be able to talk to him every night if you have to, and you can e-mail him. And you both have web cams for your computer, so you can see him any time."

Nick sighed. He knew that Christina was right, but something still felt off. It was most likely just his need to discuss it with Kevin and get everything off of his chest. He had gone to Kevin with a million other things that he was uncomfortable about or worried about and Kevin always had a certain way about him that could calm him down immediately and make him realize that things weren’t as bad as he thought them to be. As much as he always tried to be mature and responsible, Kevin had always managed to worm his fears and insecurities out of him. "You’re right."

"Is this exclusive, or can anyone join the party?" Kevin was standing over top of them, looking slightly hesitant. He didn’t want to interrupt, but he’d barely gotten to speak to Nick all night and he was paying so much attention to what the blonde was doing, Joey and Brian kicked him off of their blanket and told him to go to his boyfriend. Under normal circumstances, if anyone else had been all over Nick the way Christina and Justin had been all night, Kevin would have been over in a heartbeat, declaring his territorial rights over Nick. But because he knew the extent to which Christina and Justin were permanent fixtures in Nick’s life, Kevin had nothing to be worried about. Nick had assured him at great lengths that Christina nor Justin were any serious competition. They were his rocks, his foundation, and that Nick’s heart lay with Kevin and Kevin alone.

Justin shrugged and pretended to think about it. "I don’t know ...what can you bring to the blanket? I mean, where’s our incentive..."

"I’m your ride home?" Kevin said with a straight face. He watched as Justin fought back a laugh and gave a half shrug. "Just something to think about, seeing that it’s a good hour and a half walk."

Within seconds, Nick found himself sprawled on the grass next to the blanket and Justin was patting Nick’s vacant seat.

"Oh look, a spot has just become available. Here, join us. Can I get you anything?"

Kevin broke into laughter, accepting Nick’s now empty spot. Nick dusted himself off before jumping on Justin and starting to punch him playfully. "What the hell was that? Ass."

"He’s my ride home. If he wants a spot on the blanket, he’s surely getting a spot."

"Perhaps you could have given him yours," Nick suggested with a growl. "Seeing that you’re not welcome on my blanket anymore." Nick took that opportunity to shove Justin off of the blanket, sprawling him out on the grass.

Kevin snickered and pulled Nick to his lap. He spread his legs and settled Nick down between them. His arms wrapped around Nick’s waist and he snuggled his face into the crook of the blonde’s neck. "Hey, baby," he drawled. Feather light kisses decorated Nick’s jaw and Kevin relished the feel of Nick’s whole body shuddering with pleasure.

Nick blindly grasped for Justin’s arm and pulled his best friend in. They were nose to nose and his eyelids fluttered open. "You’re damn lucky." Nick then turned his attention to his boyfriend and grinned as his lips were captured in a sweet, delicious kiss. Nick’s whole body was humming with pleasure and he moaned softly as Kevin’s tongue pressed against his teeth.

"You okay?" Kevin asked softly. Christina had gone back to her blanket to snuggle with Josh and Justin was lying beside them, his head resting on their laps. Kevin watched as Nick’s hand rubbed idly over Justin’s short curls and wondered why it wasn’t weird that his boyfriend was stroking someone else’s scalp. It was mainly because he knew how much Nick loved him, how much Justin loved Chris and despite how close Nick and Justin were, it was a purely platonic love that would never go any further than a bond comparable to brotherhood.

Nick gave a nod, although his eyes said something else. "Not really."

"You want to talk about it?"


Justin could hear the conversation happening over his head and knew that he should extract himself from the situation. He slid out from Nick’s attentive grasp and winked at the two. "I’m gonna go bug AJ and Lance."

"You don’t have..." Nick started to say, relieved that Justin was giving them time alone, but panicked because he wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk about this. Justin simply smiled and kissed Nick’s forehead.

"They’ve been alone over there for too long. I wanna go talk to them, it’s been ages. ‘Sides, I have to talk to Lance about this book he lent me. He said I’d like it, but I can barely understand what’s going on."

"Thanks," Kevin said with a smile. When they were alone, Kevin felt his stomach flip at the serious expression in Nick’s eyes. "This looks serious," he said softly.

"It ....kinda is." Nick confessed. Flashes of bright lights illuminated Kevin’s face and Nick couldn’t help but wonder if Kevin had ever looked more beautiful. His hair had been getting too long, so he’d recently cut it all off into a short, spiky cut, which only made his cheeks more defined and his jaw more striking. Kevin’s emerald eyes were piercing through Nick’s heart, as if searching for answers within his own gaze. Finally, Kevin spoke.

"Will I like what you’re going to tell me?"

Nick’s pulse was racing and his heart was palpitating. He held onto Kevin’s arm tighter as he forced himself to follow Christina’s advice and tell Kevin what was bothering him. "I don’t know."

End Chapter 1


Chapter 2 >