Saturday, around noon

When Noah woke up, he was again by himself, and felt rather disappointed that Santino had snuck out yet again. Then again, as he laid in bed, staring at his ceiling, memories came rolling back in, he knew it didn’t matter whether Santino was still there or not. He had willingly decided to ditch Karen and go with them. He had willingly decided to bring him home, and to come upstairs with him.

Santino wanted to be there with him, he just didn’t stay.

Which made sense, since he too had a father who was waiting for him to return home.

But Noah still felt stupid for allowing it to happen again. It should’ve been a one-time thing. Meaningless sex. But now things felt ten times more complicated because apparently, it wasn’t. It happened two weeks in a row.

And his feelings towards the other boy were growing, while he knew there wasn’t anything else between them than just that, friends with benefits. Sex-buddies. Whatever people called it. Santino wasn’t going to dump Karen to be with him.

And still, he couldn’t tell anyone about it. He wanted to talk about it with someone so, so badly. But even though he knew Layne and Julia would both understand, he wasn’t allowed to tell them. It was the deal he made, the week before. Nobody could know.

As long as they’re not in our school.

Noah bit his lip, wondering if it was even something he should want to discuss with Colin. But who else could he tell, who he knew wasn’t opposed to gay people, and not in their school? Really, there was nobody.

Noah: I did something stupid

He sighed deeply, rolled to the side of his bed and sat up, instantly becoming dizzy. Maybe he still hadn’t sobered up completely. No headache, dizzy, heavy movements. Maybe he was still slightly drunk.

Colin: what did you do?

Noah: for starters, I’m still drunk atm

Colin: Oh dear, haha

Colin: what happened?

Noah stared at his phone, contemplating on just telling Colin about the pool and chicken out. Or should he pour his heart out for once? It felt suffocating to hold back a secret like that. Back in the days when he was still closeted and crushing on Colin, at least he had been able to vent to Simon about it. And when Simon screwed him over, he suddenly had Colin. And he owed him nothing in that department. They were just back on friendly terms. A friendship was all he wanted from Colin, right? He didn’t trust him with his heart any longer. But this secret was safe with Colin; he didn’t know Santino, or Karen, or any of his friends here.

Noah: I slept with this guy. Twice.

Colin: and how exactly is it bad?

Noah: I can’t tell anyone, because he has a girlfriend. It’s fake, it’s complicated.

Colin: sounds like he’s using you

Noah: he’s really using her. And she’s using him. They have a deal, and she knows he isn’t true to her. Really, it’s complicated

Noah: It’s also really suffocating, and I just needed to vent, srry

Colin: no problem, vent away

Noah smiled at his phone, jumping in his spot and accidentally launching it through the air when someone knocked on his door.

“Noah, honey?” his mother asked with worried voice.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, you are home. We didn’t hear you come in. Can you please wake us up next time? I didn’t know if it was okay to check on you or not, but I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t know if you were here or not and—”

“It’s fine, mom. Sorry. I didn’t want to wake you guys up. I was home five minutes late, sorry.”

She smiled, her shoulders relaxing a little. “I made breakfast. Though its more of a lunch now.”

“I’ll be there in five.”

She nodded and left him behind to get dressed and reply to Colin with the whole story, and everything he felt about Santino, and the situation he had gotten himself into. It felt liberating to be able to freely talk about it, even if Colin probably wasn’t the right person to talk to.

But he took it well, and he even told him he could always talk to him about it if he needed to vent. But he also asked if it meant they were just going to be friends, no chance of more. Noah hadn’t expected him to blatantly ask something like that, causing him to try and put a finger on what he felt for Colin, compared to what he felt for Santino.

But there wasn’t a clear and honest answer. For starters, they were two completely different people, with completely different lives. Whereas it was safe to explore his lasting feelings for Colin, knowing what he’d go back to, everything about Santino was new and exciting. How was he supposed to compare the two?

Which was why he replied with a simple and honest ‘I don’t know’. There was still the issue of trusting either of the boys with his heart. He probably wouldn’t show any vulnerabilities around Santino, knowing the guy wouldn’t ditch Karen for real while also not knowing what their nightly meetings meant to him. For all Noah knew, the guy was simply a player with a fake girlfriend.

He was also not too keen on showing his true feelings to Colin since the guy hadn’t even been willing to try a long-distance relationship. Why now?

It was all too confusing, and Noah decided to just have fun in the meantime. Catch up on things he missed out while he dated Colin. Go on adventures with his friends and live. Because he had felt lonely and locked up ever since they moved, and now that they were showing him another side of life, he started realizing how much he had felt isolated during his last two years in Pine Hill. Which wasn’t Colin’s fault, really. He himself decided to stop being outgoing, to stop making friends everywhere he went, and to focus solely on Colin, and his friends. It had been his own choice, and now it was his choice to change that part of his life. Whatever would come onto his path.

Saturday, afternoon

Noah was surprised by how fresh Julia seemed, when she stood on his doorstep with Layne around three in the afternoon. Layne looked more like his own reflection he met in the mirror after he took a shower. Pale face, tired eyes, unable to contain a yawn every so often.

“Did we agree to meet?” Noah asked with a frown, after letting them into the apartment. It was very likely he had forgotten some details from the night. After their swimming session in Mr. Ferris’ backyard, things had become a bit of a blur, and only Santino’s visit was still clear as ever.

“No, but we wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out with us. We’re gonna grab McDonalds and do whatever.”

“Oh, sure. Fast food sounds great, to be honest.”

“Hangover?” Julia giggled while Layne just sent him a knowing look. He too was hungover and craving greasy food.

“How come you’re so fresh and alive? I look like a zombie.”

“Oh, I looked like that this morning too. But then I worked at the food bank, and then I had dancing class and Lacy always makes me these smoothies that are the best cure for a hangover. That, in combination with a cold shower? I’m good.”

“What smoothie?” Noah asked with a frown, suddenly very interested in fresh food. As long as it would cure his hangover, he was willing to try anything. “If it contains Brussels sprouts though, don’t tell me.”

“I have no idea what is in it. It’s just… not bad and it gives you an energy boost.”

“And why am I hearing this now?” Layne wondered, sending her an annoyed look, “I got drilled at hockey practice this morning for nearly falling asleep. Give me one of those smoothies, seriously.”

“Well, if you want, we can head over to Lacy and ask her to make you guys a smoothie?” Julia suggested with a shrug.

Which was how Noah found himself on the back of her scooter with Layne following suit, not even five minutes later.

She drove them to Perton, close by the park they had spent a portion of their time the night before. During the day, Perton looked like your average neighborhood. The houses were small, most not that well looked after, and the streets were narrow. But the daylight hitting the mainly warm yellow walls made it look a lot better than it had looked during the night.

They stopped in front of a two-story home with messy front yard and a bench on the porch that had seen better days. The yellow paint on the walls was chipping, the wooden windowsills were rotting away, and the swing on the tree in front of the house was hanging from one chain, unused for what looked like ages.

Still, it looked warm and inviting, with tons of colorful flowers and plants in decorated pots.

“Hey girl!” a brown-haired girl around their age—maybe slightly older—had opened the door as soon as Julia had knocked on it. “What’re you doing here?”

“I have two zombies who wouldn’t stop pestering me about the smoothie,” Julia waved her hand at them casually, “could you make them one, so they’ll stop harassing me?”

“We did not harass you,” Layne mumbled, his face turning beat red as soon as he saw the girl—Noah assumed it was Lacy—in the door opening. “We just politely asked if we could have one.”

“Sure, I’ll make you guys a smoothie. Wanna come in?”

They followed her into the tiny home, filled with old furniture and Noah spotted at least three cats scurrying out of the living room as soon as they entered. Everything screamed old people’s home, and Lacy in her fancy clothes looked rather out of place.

“This is Lacy. She’s a friend of Frey’s and we dance together—”

“I’m your friend too, hon,” Lacy interrupted her, taking them to the tiny kitchen in the back of the home, gesturing for them to sit down. “Where’s San?”

“Working.”

“Ah, and these are…”

“Noah,” Noah introduced himself, waving a hand, “and this is Layne,” he added when Layne was just staring at Lacy with flushed cheeks. He was clearly impressed by her, and Noah thought it was funny to see him that way. The ever so funny and present Layne fell silent in the presence of someone like Lacy.

For the rest of the afternoon, they sat in Lacy’s kitchen—Noah learned she lived with her grandmother—and talked about the previous night. Lacy just kept repeating how Layne was too much influenced by Santino, and Julia looked too much like her brother.

“What’s your excuse?” Lacy asked him amused.

“Uh, I don’t know. I had really boring friends back home so they can’t be the reason.”

“Where’re you from?”

“Pine Hill.”

“You’re from Pine Hill?” Layne asked surprised, suddenly forgetting about the fact he was too impressed by Lacy to speak up, also causing Noah to realize he probable never told him where he was from.

“Yeah, I’m from Pine Hill. Why?”

“Dude, we’re playing against Pine Hill in the opening match.”