Upon seeing the sign in front of them, Cliff’s face lit up with joy. He looked at Gowan with a smile and yelled “Come on! I’m so excited to show you around!” 

He said before grabbing the black haired man’s sleeve and running. “W-wait! Slow do-” Gowan noticed Cliff laughing as he ran through the streets. 

He felt the strange feeling again and just shook his head with a smirk and ran along with Cliff.

They ran through the main street, which was lined with stores and few people wandering in the streets. Cliff saw two familiar faces at the store ahead “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Laurence!” “Oh, you youngsters bettah not do somethin’ rowdy now, ya hear me?” the elderly man said, 

“Mr. Lawrence! It doesn’t mean that if a group of teenagers egged your house once you can blame all teenagers! A-also I’m an adult now!”

The old man grumbled,

“I-I’m sorry, sugar, he’s a bit grumpy today...”

 “It’s okay, Mrs. Lawrence, I was just showing my um…” 

He looked at Gowan who had been witnessing everything go down. “My friend…around town, that’s all” Cliff said while trying to hide his blushing face. 

“Well, if ya two don’t mind. Y’all can drop by our house for some pumpkin pie sometime!” The old man retaliated with“Margaret, I don’t want these little rascals roamin’ around my lawn!”.

 “I-I’ll consider it...haha...welp BYE!”. Cliff and Gowan ran off while the elderly couple were still battling about pie and teens.“Long time no see, Jeremy!” “Nice seeing you again, Daisy!”. Following Cliff, Gowan became starstruck…

It seems like Cliff knew everyone in the small town and everyone looked friendly and nice. This is also the first time he’s seen so many different people at one day.

Cliff navigated further ahead to a park at the center of the town. At the center of the park is the town center which was a white building with red brick and greek columns. The architecture was magnificent, combined with the serene park, the place almost felt ethereal.

The petite male finally stopped his running, he panted like a dog in front of Gowan but he did not care.  Gowan placed his hand on Cliff’s shoulder, which caused him to let out a little “Eep-”

“Cliff...I think you need a little break, we still have lots of time to reach your house.”

“Ha...ha...S-sure” 

The petite male bent down and laid on the patch of grass behind him, facing the blue hue of the sky. Gowan sat beside him and gazed at the partly cloudy sky as well. Birds flew above the two in a calm motion and they both just admired the moment.

“Isn’t this nice?” Cliff said, breaking the silence. 

“What do you mean? It’s relaxing but I find sitting down and doing nothing...quite boring and unproductive”

Cliff looked at Gowan with a perplexed look and gazed back at the sky.

“I mean...parties, sports, exciting adventures are fun and exciting...but I realized that at the end of the day, we always go back to the normal and mundane.”

He moved his body and faced Gowan with one hand  supporting his head whilst the other was playing with the grass.

“When all the glitter is gone...you’re just left with the normal. I think I really like the normal and boring moments.” 

“How can you not like parties? The champagne? The hustle and bustle? I noticed you enjoy being quiet and the boring stuff, Cliff.” The smaller man giggled at what he heard and looked down at the grass at his hand.

“Y’know...life is not the things that you do...it’s who you’re doing them with…and I um...like doing things with...you, Gowan”

The black haired man’s eyes widened. His chest began to heat up and his stomach started to flutter. “Wh-why am I feeling this way? ” Gowan thought. 

Gowan looked at Cliff below him. He couldn’t help but notice Cliff’s red hair and cute small freckles. “Could I possibly like him? N-no...I’ve only felt this way to women...but...why him? I-I don’t understand...”. 

Gowan looked up at the sky again, and a memory came to him.  When he was a child, his parents gave him everything, not only that, they did not condone anything feminine when it came to the boys in the family.

Walk in a certain way, talk in a certain way, express in a certain way. All of Gowan’s actions and reactions have been adjusted to become more “masculine” in his parent’s eyes.

Once he turned 18, he was allowed to take any woman he wants, he felt nice yet...something always lacked and he always felt empty. His collection of plush dinosaurs is the only thing he kept hidden and preserved from his childhood.

His memory was interrupted because he felt something on his left hand. Gowan looked down and could not help but smile.

He saw Cliff's hand on his own.

“Let’s get going, Gowan. My home is just around the corner!”

“A-ah...yes…wait where are our body gua-”

“SIR!” All three guards said in unison watching the two males from behind.

Cliff immediately let go of Gowan’s hand and just looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

“Ah, we’ll be going to Sir Jen- I mean Cliff’s house. Please be at your best behavior.”

“YES SIR!” The three guards said once more.

They both stood up from the grass. Cliff tried reaching for the black haired man’s hand but Gowan reeled it back to adjust his watch.

“Um...let’s just...go” cliff said disappointingly before walking off.

Gowan’s heart is still racing from the situation he just witnessed. “Surely I don’t like him...I like girls!...right?”. Gowan looked back at Cliff who was already ahead. “ I-I cannot fall for a guy…it’s just not right...I think...” He thought before catching up with him.

Cliff walked briskly ahead of Gowan and the guards. “D-does he like me? Wait but I’ve only ever seen him with girls before…Maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up...”. Although he was doubting Gowan’s feelings, Cliff couldn’t help but daydream of a night where they are alone together under the night sky, gazing upon the stars.

He’d hold Gowan’s hand on his own and they’d have nothing but them two in the whole world. This is a daydream of course, Cliff knew that, but he loved to hope that one day...the black haired man could finally be called his.