Ryan couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he followed Jake off the bus. Their mid-afternoon meal had been a blast, not in the least because the restaurant hadn’t been busy enough to make him nervous. He didn’t have any past experiences to compare the date to, but he knew that it was more fun than he had ever imagined he could have with another person. He hoped that the fact they had re-traced their route back to the school didn’t mean it was about to end.

“How are your creative juices flowing today?” Jake asked, a sly smirk on his face.

Ryan raised an eyebrow at the expression. He gave a shrug and moved his hand in a wobbly fashion.

Jake grinned. “Come on.” He took Ryan’s hand and led him away from the bus station. When they reached the road where they would have turned to go back to Ryan’s apartment, they kept going straight, following the edge of the campus.

They stopped in front one of the student residence buildings. “Are you okay to come up to my room?” Jake was hopeful.

Ryan appreciated that he had asked instead of just pulling him inside. He nodded.

Jake lived on the third floor of the building. His room was right at the end of the hall, and they passed several other students on the way. Some of them greeted Jake, but Ryan was convinced that all of them were watching him. Were they wondering why he was there?

He was relieved when they reached the isolation of Jake’s room. Ryan relaxed a little.

“It’s a double.” Jake told him, nodding at the two bedroom doors as he went to the kitchen. “But I don’t have a room mate. It’s just you and me.” He started rummaging around in cupboards.

Ryan nodded, trying not to think about the implications of that statement beyond the fact that there wouldn’t be a stranger around. He looked around and noticed that there was newspaper spread out on the kitchen table. He went over to look at it. Had Jake been following something in the news?

“Which one do you want?”

Ryan turned to see Jake holding two decently sized pumpkins. Confused, he looked for a clue as to what they were for. That’s when he spotted carving tools on the far side of the table.

He almost burst out laughing. He stepped aside so that Jake could put the pumpkins on the table.

‘It’s November!’

“So what?” Jake rapped his knuckles on one of the pumpkins. It made a very appealing sound. “Pumpkins are a fall thing, not just for Halloween.”

Ryan shook his head in bewilderment, but he still took a seat behind one of the pumpkins. Jake passed him a sheet of paper and a pencil to plan a design, and they worked in silence for a bit. When they were done drawing, they exchanged papers to see what the other had come up with.

‘Not just for Halloween, huh?’

Ryan wanted to laugh. Jake had planned out a traditional jack-o’-lantern face with maybe slightly more detailed eyes. It wasn’t scary, but it still screamed Halloween.

“Yeah, well…” Jake shrugged. “I’m not much of an artist.” He tapped Ryan’s drawing. “This is really neat, though.”

Heat rose to Ryan’s cheeks. He had done a simple sketch of a wolf howling at the moon. He intended to use the shaving tools more than the knife to get a bit of detail on the wolf’s fur.

“Shall we cut the gourds?” Jake picked up a large knife and drove it into the top of his pumpkin. In sure, fluid movements, he cut around the stem and popped the top off.

Ryan tried to do the same, but he struggled to push the knife through the hard flesh. He was scared he would cut himself until Jake offered to help. He didn’t take over, just placed his hands over Ryan’s and guided him, giving just enough extra power to get the job done.

The next part was where Ryan got his chance to contribute. Jake produced a large plastic bowl and they started scooping out the innards of the pumpkins. Ryan’s hands were smaller, and he could maneuver his arm to the far reaches of the cavern. It didn’t take long for him to take over the last bit of Jake’s as well.

“Bah!” Jake yelled, holding up his goopy hands like monster claws.

Ryan felt his body vibrate with the force of the laughter he was holding in. If there was one negative thing about spending time with Jake, it was that he had to be extra careful about laughing out loud.

“You’re cute when you laugh.”

He stopped laughing and stared at Jake. The older boy was looking at him with the gentlest, most caring eyes Ryan thought were possible. For a moment, he wanted to describe them as loving.

He felt his face heat up again and turned to his phone. Then he realized that his hands were covered in pumpkin guts. He looked between the phone and Jake, not sure what to do.

“Here.” Jake took his hand and pulled him over to the sink. He stood behind Ryan as the water ran, scrubbing both of their hands clean. When the water no longer ran orange, he still didn’t let go. “Better?”

Ryan turned his head to nod and Jake caught him in a kiss. It was a wonderful moment and Ryan could hardly believe that he was part of it.