Conner stared up at the wall of televisions, images flashing on each screen to demonstrate—Conner looked at a tag, saying, “Life-like displays, ultra HD and smart capabilities.”

Erik peered over his shoulder. “How much is it?”

Conner flipped the tag, saying calmly, “Only five-thou—”

“FIVE-THOUSAND?” Erik gaped.

Conner blinked up at Erik. “I don’t know about technology. Is five-thousand a lot?”

Erik’s mouth dropped open. “For a forty-inch?! Yes! Yes, that is ridiculous!”

They looked at each other, laughing. Conner hunched over, unable to stop the hysteria. He dropped the tag, looking around the store, still chuckling. “Okay, let’s find a better one.”

Erik had his hands in his pockets as he said, “By 'better' do you mean more expensive?”

Conner turned to look at him, unable to stop grinning. “No, I mean one that’s more reasonably priced. That size was good, though.”

Erik nodded. “Yeah, something that size that doesn’t cost us an arm and a leg would be preferable.”

Conner’s face fell as he awkwardly said, “You know…I could just pay for it. I don’t mind.” He didn’t look at Erik. He could feel his eyes on him, wondering if he would be offended by the offer.

“Nah, let’s split it,” he said. He leaned down so that Conner had no choice but to look at him. He straightened once he had Conner’s attention. “I can’t let you spoil me.”

‘I want to spoil you,’ Conner thought.

Conner felt his phone buzz, seeing a text from Jannet. He didn’t bother opening the message, putting it back in his pocket as soon as he’d seen the name.

“Who was that?” Erik asked, absentmindedly checking prices of possible televisions. He whispered to himself, “God, they all have so many features. Why? Who uses all this stuff?”

Conner gulped. “Yeah...it's a lot.”

Erik looked at him, repeating, “Who was it?”

Conner felt irrationally nervous as he said, “Oh, it was just Jannet. She was wondering where I was.”

Erik nodded, turning back to the televisions. “You didn’t tell her?”

“No.”

“How come?” Erik asked, a slightly worried look on his face. “Did you have another fight?”

“No,” Conner said, feeling his heart skip. “I just didn’t want her to join us.” ‘I want you all to myself,’ Conner thought.

Erik shrugged, dropping the subject as he pointed to a television. “What about this one?”

Before Conner could answer, a news report caught his ear. He turned towards one of the televisions behind him, watching a blonde woman in a skirt suit saying, “In other news, the recent violence against primes has shaken the world. Even elite university, Silverside Academy,” there was an aerial shot of the damaged science department after the fire, “allegedly suffered a targeted attack, aimed at prime students. While the school claims that it was a wiring malfunction that caused the fire, the public remains unconvinced.”

Erik stood beside Conner, breathing, “Holy shit,” as he watched the report, both of them stunned their school had made it onto the news. “People must really be complaining.”

Conner grimaced, spitefully gritting his teeth as the woman said, “Here to comment on the hate crimes, President and founder of Prime Industries, Theodore Voss.”

The image of a bald man, with a short white beard, appeared on screen. It was only a moment before Conner bent down and turned it off, the news report disappearing.

As Conner went to walk away, Erik caught his hand, stopping him. Conner couldn’t look at him, humiliation filling him to the core.

“Hey,” Erik said gently, “What’s wrong?”

Conner’s arms were stiff at his sides. “He’s always on the news,” Conner muttered.

“Your grandfather?” Erik pulled Conner to look at him, shaking his head, concerned. “It doesn’t matter—”

“Yes, it does!” Conner shouted, his face turning red as customers looked over at them. He frustratedly snatched his hand away from Erik. “You don’t get it.” He didn’t want to cry. Not in front of Erik, in the middle of the tech department.

Erik put his arm around Conner’s shoulders, pulling him off into a more secluded corner. Erik kept Conner close to his side. “Is this…about your dad?”

Conner hissed, turning to face the wall, head in his hands. “See, even you know. My whole freaking life is on the news.” 

Erik pulled Conner into his chest, hugging him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it. But, I'm here if you want to.”

What Conner wanted was to wrap his arms around Erik’s waist and grip the back of his jacket.

He didn’t move as he said, “My whole life has just been swallowed up by this stupid business and politics.” Conner couldn't stop the words from falling off his lips, his sudden fury blindsiding him, “It doesn't make a difference if no one knows who I am. I know that every person in the world has seen into my life. I hate all this dumb tech.” Conner pushed himself away from Erik, shaking his head. “I’m sorry; it’s stupid. I didn’t mean to ruin our day.”

Erik whisked away a stray tear off of Conner’s freckled face, smiling as he said, “You don’t need to apologize. And you didn’t ruin it.” He laughed lightly saying, “You could have purchased a five-thousand-dollar TV. Then I’d really be pissed. We’d be only 1K shy from that deep-soaker tub.”

Conner laughed, rubbing his eyes as he and Erik returned to the TV displays. “You just think you looked so damn cool.”

Erik grinned, putting on his sunglasses. “C’mon, you can’t deny it.”

Conner shoved him lightly, blushing. “Okay, okay.” He glanced at Erik, giving his fingers a quick squeeze as he said, “Thanks…for listening to me.”

“I’ll always listen to you…” Erik took his hand for a moment before he let go, pointing to a flat screen. “Let’s check out that one. I think I saw a sale sticker.”

~~~

“You sure you’re okay getting the earlier bus?” Erik asked, carrying the boxed flat screen television under one arm.

Conner smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m kind of tired anyway. We got up early.”

Erik smirked, “We really did.”

As they made their way towards the bus terminal Erik caught Conner’s sleeve. “Hey, it’s the plant store,” he said, pointing towards a large glass-front store that had lush and exotic looking flowers in the display.

Conner looked at the time, sadly shaking his head. “It’s okay, I don’t want to miss the bus. Besides, you’re carrying the TV—”

Erik ignored Conner, walking into the store.

“Hey!” Conner shouted, hurrying after him. He looked at Erik, watching him talk to the store clerk at the counter.

“I’m looking for a…what was it? Oh! A selaginella moss fern,” Erik said cheerfully, placing the TV by his feet. “Do you have any in stock?”

“We do! I’ll have to go grab them from the back,” the clerk said cheerfully, “I’ll just be a moment.”

“No problem, I’ll wait here.” Erik turned to look for Conner, giving him a thumbs up. “They said they have some in the back.”

Conner could feel a lump in his throat as he walked towards Erik. Though there were only a few feet between them, he felt like he couldn’t bridge the gap fast enough. “You…remembered the name?” he asked, stunned. 

Erik’s smile softened. “Of course, I did,” he said tenderly, “It’s important to you.”

Conner had a hand pressed to his chest, trying to calm his heart. The store clerk returned with several ferns.

“Wow, how are you going to choose one? They’re so different,” Erik said, scanning them.

Conner looked them over, deciding on a smaller one with delicate leaves.

“You sure you want that one? It’s really tiny,” Erik said, gently poking a leaf.

“Yeah, I want to see it grow.” Conner handed the clerk his card, watching her put the plant in a specialized box for safe travel.

As the two of them exited the store—Erik carrying the TV and Conner carrying his plant—Erik leaned in asking, “Are you happy?”

‘Happy?’ He was anxious and tormented by Erik, upset after talking about his family…no, he wasn’t happy. “Thank you for stopping at the greenhouse for me,” he muttered. He took a breath as he looked up at Erik. “I had a fun day. We took some great pictures.”

Erik laughed. “You have to send them to me.”

Conner smiled, saying quietly, “It was nice taking a break from all the research—”

“Hey, you don’t need to think about that right now,” Erik said quickly, “and the day doesn’t have to be over. I can set the TV up and we can watch a movie when we get home.”

Conner flushed, thinking about what Erik had said in the furniture store. “Sure.”

Erik cleared his throat, “And, we can always do this again.”

“Yeah?” Conner asked, hopefully. He smiled to himself. “I'd like that... Whatever 'this' is.”

“What?” Erik frowned at Conner. “What does that mean?”

Conner hadn't meant to say it out loud. He was silent, staring at Erik, wondering how he could back-track.  

“Conner...?” Erik stopped walking, looking at him. “What do you mean?” 

Conner opened his mouth to respond but still had no words; his mind completely blank in panic. 

Erik's cheeks and nose were red as he looked over Conner's face. This time Conner was certain it couldn’t be the cold. Erik took a deep breath, as he looked at Conner. There was a new kind of determination on his face as he said, “...Come to the dance with me.”