The darker it got, the more worried the pair became. Their clothes were almost completely dry, but they'd probably been walking for another hour. Every so often Nate would check to see if his phone would spring to life, but no such luck. He let out a sigh.

Both their stomachs were growling. They were starting to get tired of walking over rocks and through the mud.

Nate leaned against a fallen tree. "Let's break."

Simon watched him, arms wrapped around his torso for warmth. They were both fairly cold. However, Nate had stripped down to his boxers. The wind was still cold, but at least he was shivering and wet. Not like Simon, whose clothes were still a little damp.

He leaned against the tree with him. "What does it sound like?"

"Huh?" They both looked at each other. "There's a frog croaking."

Simon grinned. "Any crickets tonight?"

"Not right now."

They stayed quiet for a moment. Nate continued to listen to the sounds around him. He'd never paid so much attention to it all before, or thought about how taken for granted all of that was.

"Why did you jump in after me?" Simon asked with a frown. "I thought you hated me."

"I wasn't going to." Nate admitted, turning to face him. "I thought you weren't moving because you were hurt."

"Oh."

"Hey, uh, can I ask you something personal?"

"What?"

"Are you… really gay?" He watched as Simon's face contorted. He immediately turned away. "It's fine if you are." Nate said, but Simon was sinking into his seat.

Nate sighed, poking Simon's shoulder. "Hey. Hey…" he couldn't get Simon to look up, so he assumed everything Adrian and Kelly said easy true.

If that was the case, he wondered what his relationship with this Sal guy was. Was he the same as the other two? Or were they together?

"Hey, you know, I'm gay too, actually." Nate confessed, but Simon was not paying attention. Still, Nate went on. "The two of us seem to have a lot in common. How annoying is that?"

He flinched. In the distance, he heard the faint sound of a car whooshing by. They were close.

"Simon!" He grabbed his shoulders, forcing his attention. "Cars."

"What?"

Nate got to his feet and took Simon's hand. They took off in the direction of the sound. Very shortly, they reached pavement. "Oh, thank God!" Nate fist pumped the air.

He turned to Simon, who was still a bit pink in the face. Had he not jumped in after him, he wondered if Simon would have found his way out.

"Should probably dress." He quickly got his damp, wrinkly clothes on.

He turned back around to see the sun setting directly behind them. Based on it's position, he guessed the cliff was to their right. The road should lead them out of the park if they walked along the road long enough. Or they'd get picked up by someone.

"Let's keep going." Nate said, taking Simon's hand and walking up the road.

This also seemed like it was going nowhere. The sun was completely set behind them, now. The moon was only a crescent, too, barely lighting their way. He'd of turned the flashlight on his phone on, but it still wouldn't turn on.

Carter must be furious with him. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but if the sun was completely gone already, it had to have been either nine or passed nine.

"What's the story with you and Sal?" Nate wondered. He had Simon walk in front of him, but he knew he probably wouldn't have answered even if he'd seen his lips. "I had a boyfriend in highschool, too. Not anything great. I only agreed to go out with him because I was curious. He found out I was gay after this guy I really liked told everyone." He paused. "Damn… we really do have a lot in common."

He turned around, seeing the headlights of a car passing down the street. He grabbed Simon, who already gathered that based on the light, and stepped to the side together.

The car came to a creeping stop.

"You guys okay?" A young man asked, rolling down the window.

"We're lost." Nate yelled back. He couldn't see with the light who exactly was driving, but the voice was familiar.

"I'll give you a ride to town."

"Great!" He nudged Simon forward into the car with him. "Nate?"

He finally got a good look at the figure once they were safely in the back of his car. "William!" Nate immediately felt better. He didn't know the guy too well, but they had biology together. Will was an entire grade higher than him, however.

"What were you two doing out there?"

"Some asshole friends of mine wanted to go cliff diving. They pushed him over and I went in after. Then they bailed!"

"That...sounds pretty shitty."

Nate snorted. "No shit."

"Who're you?" Will asked, looking at him throw the rearview mirror. "Nate and I are kinda friends."

"What do you mean, kinda?" Nate grinned.

Simon didn't reply.

Will let out an awkward cough. "U-uh...nice to meet you?"

"He can't hear you." Nate explained. "When he fell, he damaged his hearing aids."

"Oh. He's deaf?"

"No. Just significant hearing loss."

Without Nate, would Simon have made it out? The only reason Nate figured out where the road was, was because of the sound of a car.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Nate asked, pulling his out for reference. "Mines soaked."

"Sure." Will handed his back.

He wondered just how furious Carter would be, at him. There was even a momentary debate in his head over calling him at all, but things would likely just get worse the longer he waited.

The phone rang.

"Hello, this is Carter."

"Carter… this is Nate."

"Nate! Nate, where the hell have you been? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine. I got lost in the woods, but I found a classmate of mine. Simon's with me."

"Simon?"

"Yeah. My crazy ass friends thought it would be funny to push him off a cliff the residents do rock jumping from. His hearing aids are damaged. My phone won't turn on."

Carter sighed on the other end. "Just come home. I'll try to get in contact with Alice."

"Okay." He assumed that must have been Simon's mother. "We'll be home in a few hours."

"Alright." He hung up, handing it back to Will. "Thanks."

"No problem. Where am I taking you?"

"Kings Island. We'll catch a late night ferrie."

"Okay." He paused, glancing at Simon in the mirror. "Did they really push him off a cliff?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Nate adjusted uncomfortably. He knew there was no possible way, unless Simon started paying attention, that he'd never hear them. But still, talking about someone didn’t sit right with him. He disliked Simon, that was for sure. He hated the way that Simon seemed to be so suddenly involved in his life, calling him out for every little thing. But giving away secrets wasn’t cool “They’re assholes.” He decided to say. He glanced over at Simon.

“Here we are.” Will stopped at the harbor. “You two will be okay?”

“Should be. Thanks.” Nate tapped Simon’s leg and got out of the car.

As they walked down the hill towards the boats, Simon kicked a few rocks. “Did you talk about me?” He asked.

“What?” Nate stopped and turned to him.

Simon looked directly at him. “Did you tell your friend about me? You seemed like friends.”

“He’s an upperclassman. We have biology together. And no, I didn’t tell him that you're gay.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s none of my business. Unlike some people, I don’t get involved in other people's private life.”

“I never got involved in-”

“You keep telling me how I should feel or how I should act. You’re the same as Carter. Can I not just scream without you both getting on my case?”

Simon glared at him. “Screaming is how I became deaf. You acting out hurts the people around you. How is this any different from how your mother treats you?”

That stung. “What do you want me to do? Just live with it? Accept everything that’s happening? I don’t want to blindingly follow it.” He stepped forward. “I had a family. Even after dad died, at least I still had my mom. But she had to drag me down with her problems. Why don’t I have the right to be upset?”

“You can be upset.” Simon turned away from him. “Just don’t take your anger out on other people. Or else your just as bad as Adrian and Kelly.”

Another hit right to the gut. He hated this most about Simon. The boy made sense and knew the exact words to piss him right off. “Whatever.” He spun quickly around.