The two of them arrived at school, and of course, they had the same class first up. Rei tried to avoid Ryan by letting him sit down first, and with just his luck, every other seat had by taken. all except the one next to Ryan.

'Why did I have to make things awkward? Why did I bother talking to him?' He thought while making his way over to the empty seat right beside the very person he was trying to avoid.

He looked at Rei for a split second and gave him a small smile as he did. Rei wasn't sure if he wanted him to see it or not, but his smile disappeared the moment he looked away. He was acting quite odd around Rei and definitely wasn't like this the other day.

The day went on rather normally, except the fact that Rei was now anxious about being with Ryan - especially now that Ryan seemed to know that Rei had a crush on him.

Once their first class had ended, the two boys walked out of the suddenly noisy and fast moving room. Rei sat back and waited for the class to become empty as he always did when the class was like this. Ryan, on the other hand, disappeared within the crowd of students who were rushing to go to their next class. Once everyone was gone, Rei grabbed his bag and slowly walked to his photography class. The more he went to that class, the more he fell in love with the possibilities that came with snapping a simple photograph.

Rei's teacher told the class their task: to capture a photo of a moving object. Rei grabbed a camera and started walking around, taking photos of every bird he saw that was flying or just about to take off.

As he was taking a photo, Ryan walked passed, carrying a box of art supplies. He spotted Rei and smiled, putting his hand up slightly as he called out, "Rei!"

Rei jumped and looked over at him then sighed in relief and walked over in a hesitant way, not entirely wanting to talk to Ryan. "What are you up to? I thought you did drama, not art." He said, biting gently onto his small, light pink lip.

Ryan looked at him then at the box. "Oh, I'm just grabbing these for an assignment we were doing. Well, kind of assignment... We're making the set for an upcoming play. You should come to see it, I can get you a ticket" he smiled softly, making him seem more relaxed, causing Rei to blush lightly and look away. He shook his head as he thought for a second, realising it's just an offer to see a play. Nothing more.

"I would love to, but you don't need to get me a ticket. I'm sure my father can get me one." He said then sighed softly. "You should probably get going. You don't want to hold your class up, now do you?" He said, not really wanting him to go, but he was beginning to feel awkward and was scared to do something stupid.

Ryan looked at him and nodded, lifting the box up a bit. "Yeah, Well. I'll see you later then?"

Rei looked back at him and gulped, slowly nodding his head "yeah? I suppose we can hang out at recess. I usually sit by that tree near the back of the school, over there." He said, pointing to a specific tree. It was quiet there and no one ever bothered him, so it was the perfect spot.

Ryan looked at Rei's arm then looked over to the tree and gave him a small nod to show he understood. "Okay, I'll meet you there then." He smiled and headed towards his class. Rei watched him leave then looked down at his camera and waited for Ryan to be more distant before taking a photo of him. He looked at it and squealed quietly to himself. He managed to take the most beautiful photograph he could imagine: a clear view of Ryan's face with the sun going through his hair, making it look almost golden. He quickly covered his mouth and shook his head.

"No, don't do this to me!" He thought, knowing that he'd just get teased and picked on for liking another male. Would it even be possible for them to be together? Would Ryan even be okay with the kind of attention that resulted in a gay relationship? His popularity would fade away into nothing within the blink of an eye. He must have worked so hard to achieve that level of popularity.

After Rei had headed back to his class and put away his camera, he left to go to his tree, forgetting that Ryan was going to be meeting him there. He sat against the trunk and closed his eyes, taking long, deep breaths.

He was just about to pass out before Ryan came over. "Hey, you haven't fallen asleep yet, have you?" He chuckled and sat down causing Rei to flinch slightly, reopening his eyes to look at the other male.

"N-no. Not yet anyway." He mumbled before sighing and looking away from him, nibbling his lip, he glanced back to Ryan, watching as the other took out his food.

"You want some?" Ryan asked, handing him half of his chicken wrap. Rei hesitantly took it from Ryan and gave a small smile "thanks." He said softly and started taking small bites from it, feeling awkward whenever he ate around others. Ryan smiled lightly, glad to see the smaller boy eating as the other's slight underweight was concerning him.

"You want to walk home with me after school? We obviously go in the same direction, so why not?" Ryan suggested with a small grin.

Rei looked at Ryan and gulped down the rest of his food, causing him to chock a bit. "n-no, it's fine!" He said, coughing and gasping.

Ryan gasped slightly in surprise and quickly patted the other's back. "Rei! Are you okay?!" He asked, seeming to panic a bit. He wasn't sure how to help and so just did what he had seen in movies and TV shows - pet their back until something happens.

Eventually, Rei stopped choking. "T-thanks Ryan..." He said shakily. Ryan frowned and looked at him with a concerned expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Rei." He said softly and quietly.

Rei stared at him for a moment, trying to think of any reasons for the other to apologise. "For what?" He ended up asking before he frowned. "It wasn't your fault, don't worry. I'm just stupid is all." He said with a small giggle.

Ryan frowned more and hugged him close, causing Rei's eyes to widen. he wasn't expecting a hug, and he was now right up close to the male which caused him to blush darkly. "You're not stupid. I should've just waited until you were finished eating. It's dangerous to talk and eat at the same time." He chuckled and pulled away from the hug. "But yeah. If you don't want to walk with me, that's fine." He said with a small smile, causing the smaller boy to blush and look away.

"Ok." Is all he said, not daring to even glance at the other. His face was burning red and he felt embarrassed about it. Ryan noticed the change in his face. "Rei..." He mumbled then chuckled and sat back, not wanting to embarrass the male more than he already had... "This is a pretty nice spot."

Rei looked back at him and smiled hesitantly, his blush starting to settle down a bit. "Thanks." He said quietly then sat back as well and closed his eyes again. The two just went silent, but it didn't feel awkward. This was a nice kind of silent. It felt peaceful and calming. Just what Rei needed.

----

Once the class bell rang, Ryan got up and held his hand out for Rei who opened his eyes and looked up at him, biting his lip and taking his hand, using it to pull himself up from the ground.

"What class do you have?" Ryan asked, smiling calmly. Rei looked at him then quickly looked away, blushing because of his smile. "M-maths, I think."

Ryan nodded then smiled even wider until his lips wouldn't be able to stretch any more. it was kind of, well, cute. At least to Rei, it was. "I'm pretty sure we have that class together."

Rei looked at him then frowned, not in a sad way however, more in a disappointing way. "W-we do? I didn't see you there last time, I don't think." He felt bad for not noticing the boy he loved, but he paid no attention to that class. Neither to the work or the other students.

Ryan gave a small laugh, which seemed to calm Rei, but at the same time make even more anxious. "Yeah, well, I barely ever attend that class due to personal things..." He gently nibbled down on his bottom lip, indicating he was nervous which wasn't like Ryan - not the Ryan Rei knew.

"Oh, well, now I don't feel as bad for not noticing you." He giggled before letting out a soft sigh of relief. He didn't want to bring up the 'personal things' subject since the other was obviously not going to willingly talk about it. Not yet at least.

----

At the end of the day, the two met up at the gates. Ryan had been absent for most of the day after being taken out of maths, so Rei wasn't even sure if Ryan would show up. But, at long last, the boy of his dreams showed up with the greatest smile he's worn yet.

"Hey, Rei!" He called out to him, walking up from where the office was. Rei couldn't help but smile at the other's happy expression. "Hey, Ryan... How are you doing?"

"Oh, uh... I'm all right, I suppose?" He replied, looking away and scratching the back of his neck. "That's okay then." Rei smiled softly, again, not wanting to pressure the other into talking about his problems even though he wanted to know what was going on.

----

The two boys walked home together, remaining pretty quiet the whole time until Rei decided to break the silence. "Would you like to come around to my house for a bit? My dad might be making some food for me and I can never eat it all myself..."

Ryan looked at him then looked to the ground. "Ah, maybe. I'll have to head home quickly to check if my parents are okay with it. But you can go straight to your house. I don't want to drag you along just to say you have to walk back to your house alone." He sighed softly. Rei replied with a small nod and a frown. "okay, well, do you have a phone? If you end up not being allowed over, I can easily just put some food away for later so that I don't waste the food."

It wasn't the best excuse for getting the other's number, but it still seemed to work. Rei ended up writing his number on a piece of paper for Ryan and the two soon split off, heading back to their own house.

Rei was just happy he managed to be able to get the other's number - even though he now had to wait for Ryan to call or text him in order to receive his number. Still, he was happy.

It was only twenty minutes later that Rei received a message from Ryan which read:

'Hey, my parents said I could either go over and sleep the night, or not come over at all so, is it alright if I slept over?'

Rei stared at the message for a while before going to his father. "Dad! Can i have someone over for the night?"

He looked over at the boy from the couch and nodded. "yeah sure, you have to look after the house though and cook and all that for your friend though."

Ryan nodded and smiled. "Okay." He went to his room and sent Ryan the okay.