Peter couldn't really remember Kindergarten, or how long he had known Karl, but he definitely knew that somewhere along the way of their youth, he had fallen in love. He knew for the most part that it had been at least three years. He had been living in pure agony for such a long time, it was almost all he knew, but whenever he saw Karl’s wonderful, awestruck face, he knew it was worth it.

Peter had known that loving another man was wrong. However, how could he stop himself when, every time he saw that beautiful face, he fell in love all over again. Telling Karl about these feelings he harbored would just cause chaos, especially in their friendship, so Peter kept his feelings all to himself.

The year was 1942, and Adolf Hitler had recently taken over Germany, and Peter knew that many others like him were being taken away. Peter had no other choice but to keep his feelings under lock and key. If any one found out, he would be done for. Oh, what would he do if they took Karl away too? He had to keep this secret for Karl's sake.

“Peter!” yelled a familiar voice that always filled him with joy.

“Coming, Karl!” He shouted back, sighing at his optimism. Karl ran and hugged him, while Peter patted his head softly.

“Guess what! Guess what!” said the excited fifteen year old.

“What? What?” he said excitedly back.

“My parents are having a dinner party tonight, and you can come if you want!” Karl announced eagerly. Karl said this as if Peter didn't come to his house every Friday for dinner.

“What? Really? That sounds delightful! When should I come?” Peter smiled.

“4:30, you get special privileges because you are a close friend,” The smaller teen said to him, almost sadly.

Peter noticed the sad tone and couldn't help but worry. Had he done something to upset Karl?

“Wonderful,” said Peter, “I will be over at exactly 4:30.”

Karl sat on the floor by the door, eagerly awaiting his best friend's arrival. It was 4:28 and he sat there, getting ready to open the door. He had yet to see the day his dear friend was a minute too early or a minute late. He waited for the doorbell to ring, but it was still too early, just by thirty seconds. 

It was agonizing to wait for that wonderful sound, mostly because it meant Peter was finally there. Karl found he usually got excited when the doorbell rang either way. 

The string of notes finally came at exactly 4:30, and Karl pulled the door open so fast, he almost fell onto Peter. Instead, he fell face first onto the welcome mat.

“Excited, aren’t we!” Peter chuckled slightly, but clasped a hand over his mouth, trying to muffle the sound.Karl felt his face heat up. He did not want to seem over-eager to see his friend. He quickly stood, turned and brushed his pants off, refusing to let his best friend see him in this state.

“I was not!” Karl said in a bratty voice, but only jokingly. He grinned at Peter, grabbed his hands, and practically dragged him up the polished stairs, excited to have some fun with Peter. He pulled Peter into the bedroom and with a devilish smile, he pushed open the window. He began scanning the terrain, looking for new things to do, and new adventures to be made. Peter sighed and sat down on the bed.

“What’s the plan for tonight?” He inquired of Karl.

“Well, I’m certainly not going to tell you yet,” He grinned and turned back to his friend, “That would spoil the fun.” Peter groaned.

“Let’s just say, this is going to be an adventure.” Karl finished as Peter got up and walked towards the door.

“Lets just go and do this already.” He was already out the door while Karl smiled deviously, the first sign that this wasn’t going to just be an “adventure”.

Peter was glad that he got to walk through the quiet woods with this short, brown haired, optimistic sixteen year old next to him. The smell of the trees, as well as the cool temperature were calming. Karl obviously had something maniacal planned, but Peter was prepared for anything his friend did. They pushed through bushes, with Karl leading the way. Peter had no clue as to what they were going to do, but he was looking forward to it.

“Wait here,” Karl said deliriously. So Peter waited, for what seemed like forever. He was starting to wonder if Karl had left, or wandered off, when suddenly Karl burst out of the bushes and thrust a snake into his hands. Peter almost screamed, but held it in and turned away, gasping at the sight. 

Karl held at least four snakes in his arms. He laughed viciously and stared right at Peter with a scary grin. Peter knew Karl's latest prank was going to top all of his others.

“Oh no…” Peter sighed and followed the bouncing teenager in front of him, who was always so oblivious and carefree, which frustrated him. He may not be prepared for this after all.

Karl’s plan was worse than Peter thought it would be. They put snakes in places all around the house and Peter knew this wasn’t going to be good. 

Karl obviously wanted to scare all the people at the dinner party that his father was holding. Despite Karl’s mother being part Jewish, his Aryan father had joined the Nazi party. It wasn’t that he hated Jewish people, or anyone for that matter, it was more that he needed to support his family, and the only way to do it was joining the hateful people and going along with their values. 

He had quickly become a lieutenant which gave him copious amounts of income for his family. It also gave him enough to host dinner parties often, in which Peter was always invited. Herr and Frau Kraus absolutely adored Peter and his wonderful behavior. They certainly loved their son, but it was only a matter of time till they shipped him off to his grandparents, and Karl knew it too. 

Karl's grandparents were not very nice people. They had very traditional values and believed that children had no feelings, so discipline was strong in their household. Karl had stayed there a few times for Weihnachten. Lets just say, the family favorite holiday was cut short by one of Karl's infamous pranks that year.                                     

His pranks had become more vigorous lately, and Peter had the feeling that this was the last straw. If this prank worked, then Peter and Karl would be done for. He looked over at his best friend and frowned.

“I haven't the slightest clue of how much trouble you are going to get yourself into, but I'm wishing you luck.” Peter looked at Karl and sighed sadly.

Karl scurried around the room, grabbing food from the plates and running back and forth from person to person, engaging in conversation like a hurricane. He noticed as Peter watched him from across the room, and occasionally would smile towards him. Sometimes he wondered how Peter kept up with him. Even though Peter was a lover of adventure and was reckless at times, which Karl loved to see, he usually kept to himself and was polite to everyone. Karl got scolded by his parents daily, they always told him to be more polite, use his manners, and for god's sake stop bouncing. But Karl couldn't help it, something inside him just made him move and it wouldn't stop nagging him. Peter never told him to calm down, or stop bouncing, He just smiled and followed Karl around happily. Karl was grateful to have a friend like Peter.

Part way through the evening, someone screamed and few of the women fainted. Karl grinned and started to make his way towards the door

“Get ready to run.” Karl whispered in Peter's ear. He noticed the taller boy shudder just a little, curious as to what made him do so. When they heard loud feet stomping towards them, they bolted out of the door and into the woods. 

Karl and Peter had a little shelter made, just for events like these,so they rushed into it. The small space was very cramped and they had to be right up against each other. Karl knew he had screwed up on the design, as it was only tall enough for himself. He felt bad as Peter shifted uncomfortably. 

He noticed that Peter was making a big deal to cover the area below his hips, and Karl obviously knew why, but didn't mention it. The wind had probably caught wrong on his black dress pants and caused the phenomenon. He smiled at Peter and said a small apology under his breath. Then, they waited.

Peter was mortified as he sat in the cramped space. He couldn't believe his body had betrayed him like this. He was too close to Karl in this space, too many things were happening in his brain and he wanted it to be over before he did something stupid. All he could do was stare at the boy, while he stared back at him. Peter felt himself start to redden. Oh no, oh no! 

Peter helplessly stared at Karl then tried to turn his head, but found he was incapable of doing so. Why did this have to happen here? Why did looking at another person have to have this affect on him? Peter squirmed around slightly, staring blankly, thinking that, maybe they had been caught. The footsteps moved on and Karl said it was okay to go. Peter had never tried to get out of a space as fast as he had then in his entire life. Karl just stared, oblivious to the whole situation, as usual.

The last time something like this had happened was about a year ago, when they were both fifteen. Karl had pulled another of his renowned pranks that everyone knew so well. On this event, he decided to put the creature that his sister hated most in her sock drawer. Frogs. They had found some at a small pond near the house and brought three back to put in her drawer. They tucked them away in her favorite pair of socks before rushing to Karl’s bedroom and crammed themselves into the closet (how ironic). As Peter pressed up against Karl, he quickly became red faced and tried to move away from his friend, but to no avail. Luckily, during this event, Karl hadn’t noticed.

Peter walked fast ahead of Karl, hoping the boy hadn't noticed, praying he hadn't. They rushed towards Peter's house, and walked through the front door and up the bland stairs into Peter's room. Peter told Karl that he had to go tell his parents that he was staying the night, again. He wasn't really going to do that, he had to go to the bathroom of course. He also couldn't just spring this on his parents, especially since it was past his bedtime, so he was going to keep Karl’s visit tonight a secret from his family.

Karl sat on Peter's bed, staring aimlessly at the wall. Silently awaiting Peter's return. He knew Peter hadn't gone to talk to his parents, as this system was routine. Karl had to stay the night and not let Peter's parents know, most likely because he had forgotten to mention it to them earlier.

Karl soon realised that releasing his bladder would soon become necessary. He quietly stood up, then slinked towards the door. He opened it quietly and peeked out to make sure nobody was in the hallway. It was all clear in the hall, so he snuck towards the bathroom and opened the door slightly, but stopped when he heard a strange sound. It sounded, muffled and bizarre. He peeked into the bathroom and almost gasped. Peter was in there, releasing his tensions, while softly saying Karl's name. Karl didn't know what to think, all he could do was watch his best friend's face with awe.

Karl turned and rushed back to Peter's room and quickly made his way back to the bed. He sat down, putting a hand to his temple. He had so much to think about. Clearly Peter had been keeping this from him, but why? They were best friends and Karl was sure he had made it clear that Peter could tell him anything. This was amazing, Karl thought his feelings were unrequited. It all made sense now! All those smiles, all the stares, how Peter kept up with him. It was all because of this! Karl was very happy, as he had never taken an interest in girls. Everyone said that liking another man was immoral, but girls just never caught Karl’s eye. Karl had kept his secret from Peter because he was sure the other boy would be utterly disgusted. He now knew that was not true.

Karl decided he was going to tell Peter tonight.

Peter walked back to his room, feeling a lot better. He opened the door to find Karl just where he had left him, sitting on the bed. Karl stared at the wall until Peter sat down on the bed next to him.

“You may want to change out of those clothes.” Peter said quietly to Karl.

“Okay.” Karl smiled and Peter blushed.

“There may be some clothes that will fit you in that drawer.” Peter pointed at the bottom drawer on his dresser. He watched as Karl made his way over to it and pulled out some sleep pants and a comfortable button up shirt. Karl unbuttoned his vest and then the blue dress shirt he wore under. The shirt slipped off his shoulders and onto the floor, where it lay in a heap.

Peter admired Karl's chest, it looked soft and had some muscle. His chest led down to a perfect torso, that was not too big, but still had a slight muffin top. Peter looked away when Karl looked up at him when he put the shirt on. He turned and pulled his dress pants off, jumping slightly to pull them off his foot. 

Peter stared at Karl’s breathtaking legs, the legs that were so pale yet so gorgeous. He groaned in disbelief as he felt his pants growing far too tight. Karl pulled the soft pants up quickly, clearing the sight from Peter's eyes. Karl quickly made his way to the bed and sat down next to Peter. Peter quickly stood up and walked over to the dresser, hiding his groin. He changed at an inhuman speed and sat down on the bed, covering his legs with the soft comforter.

“We need to talk about some things.” Karl said softly, smiling.

“Of course, what is it?” Peter said nervously, very worried of what this conversation would lead to. The outcomes were endless, he could have somehow upset Karl, or maybe Karl knew. Oh god, if Karl knew, he would be done for. He persistently waited for Karl to talk, dreading this conversation.

Karl shifted his position on the bed impatiently as he tried to prepare the small speech in his head and hide his situation. After a few minutes, he finally looked up at Peter and smiled.

“So, I have noticed a few things...like the constant stares and smiles,” Peter’s expression was horrified, but Karl continued.

“I’m almost positive that I know why you do this,” Karl said, his smile gleaming. All Peter did was mutter something like “oh no,” but Karl kept talking.

“I’m pretty sure I understand how you feel about me.” Karl sighed, still smiling slightly.

“And what are those feelings?” Peter said softly, his voice breaking at the end. Somehow Karl had screwed up in his wording, Peter seemed on the verge of tears.

“I’m pretty sure you’re attracted to me,” Peter’s face contorted as he stared back at Karl. Peter stood up and started to walk away. Karl couldn't let him leave like this, so he grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the bed, noticing the issue. He ignored it and stared into Peter’s eyes.

“Please don’t go.” Karl said softly pulling Peter closer, and leaned up to his ear.

“I feel the same way.” Peter gasped and looked at him with huge eyes.

“Wait, what?” Peter said, his eyes round.