"I'll get back to you on that or whatever."

That was the very last text Earl got from Marcus Vansten before never seeing him again. It was weird to think that the Scout leader of Night Vale was dating? (Earl never knew if they were dating or not. He wanted to believe they were) Anyway, dating the richest man in Night Vale, which was like a huge deal to the community.

The story about how they met was very…normal actually. Well, what is even normal to begin with, right?

About a year ago, before Earl ever knew what all was going on in Night Vale while he was away on his annual camping trip; he finally decided that he needed to get his lost love back. He needed to get the love of his life back in his life and make sure he stayed with him. He needed his childhood best friend that was more than a best friend to him. He needed his Cecil Palmer.

Once he got back into town, that night, he decided to pay Cecil a visit.

"Okay, Earl, you got this." he thought to himself as he walked up to his friend's house. "You just need to tell him how you feel. Be honest and be strong."

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Moments later, he is greeted with the smile he had missed for such a long time.

"Earl? I didn't know you were back in town." Cecil said, his dark blue eyes looking into his own emerald green ones. "You should have called me or something! Come in!"

"Thanks." Earl said, walking in, hoping his face wasn't glowing bright red like the sun when it did actually set in the west. He looked over to Cecil and bit his tongue. He had changed tremendously. True, after high school, they both kinda went their separate ways in life. Cecil had his radio show and Earl had his boy scouts to take care of, but, damn, he wished he didn't miss as much as he did.

Cecil was beautiful. His short brown hair what was gelled back in such a professional way, kind of looking like one of those old time radio host that Cecil dreamed about being, made it very easy to see his big mysterious eyes. It was like when you looked into them, they pulled you into an abyss and never let you go. You couldn't look away from him. His light skin was covered in tattoos that he has had for years, yet some looked to be quite new. His light blue button up and black dress pants looked sex- very nice on his tall, lean form. It was weird. Before, Earl was taller than him, but now he didn't have to look down to him. He actually had to look up to him a little. Cecil wasn't the little Boy Scout that always got in trouble. He grew up.

Earl could say he grew up too, but probably not as handsome. His face and arms and well, his whole body was covered in more freckles now from being out in the sun all the time. His ginger hair now longer; he had to run his rough fingers through his soft hair to pull his bangs out of his eyes. He grew a little muscle from camping over the years though it didn't really show it. He tried to find shirts that would help him show it, like today, but he knew it would never work. Mostly, he still looked like the boy with the braces ready to earn yet another patch.

"So what have you been up to?" Cecil asked, sitting down on the couch, Khoshekh jumping onto his lap.

"Oh you know, being outdoors, trying to live off the land and all that nature shit." Earl replied, sitting down next to him. He held his hand out, letting the small creature sniff him. Khoshekh suddenly jumped on his lap and nuzzled close, purring loudly.

"Once again, you always find a way to make animals like you." Cecil teased. He was right though, growing up Earl would bring home animal after animal, asking and begging to keep it. At one point, he had a small zoo in the back of his yard.

"Well, he is a sweet cat and if he is anything like his owner-" he stopped himself from saying more. He looked down and petted the small kitten quietly, not noticing the small color that appeared on Cecil's cheeks. "S-So what about you, Mr. Radio Host?"

Cecil chuckled and shrugged. "You know how it is, just reading what they give to me. Mostly there has been nothing new. I mean, you have listened to my show, right?"

"Every time you are on I try to." Earl said, blushing brighter. He wasn't lying. He always listened to his friend's show, mostly just to hear his voice.

"O-Oh, um, that is very kind of you." Cecil stuttered, not thinking he would say something like that. "Well, I do have some news I want to tell you about! I haven't really told anyone yet and since you are my good friend I want you to be the first to know."

Earl looked up at him and smiled a little. "I have something to tell you too." He placed Khoshekh down and scooted a little closer to Cecil on the couch. "Do you mind if I go first?"

Cecil looked at his old friend and smiled sadly. "Sure. You know I could never say no to you."

Earl sat there for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Cecil, I know I haven't been around a lot. After graduation, I didn't get to see you as much as I wanted. I understand that we both had to do what we were assigned and work and responsibilities, but," he nervously took a hold of Cecil's hand, his rough one wrapped around the other's soft and warm one, "I don't care about those anymore. I have been thinking and I hate being alone. I hate me waking up to no one and having no one around with me during the day. When I get lonely, I think about when we were children, us being together all the time. You are my best friend and I don't want to lose that, but…but we can't stop fighting it."

Cecil raised his eyebrow and looked confused. "Earl, what are you talking about? Stop fighting what?"

"Us! Us being something! More than friends! Cecil, I can't stay this way anymore. I need you in my life. I need you in my life. I-I love you, Cecil Palmer!"

Before he could think of anything else, he leaned in and kissed Cecil deeply on the lips.

Hi guys! It has been a while since I have wrote anything I have noticed so I thought why not give it another shot, right? So um, yeah. Gonna put up more soon and hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!