The doorbell rang early on the Saturday morning, and Arthur hurried to answer it.

He expected their neighbor, Vicita, coming over for help on her homework like she'd been doing recently. She was doing poorly in her sixth grade math class, which Arthur had done well in. D.W.' kept complaining, because Vicita doesn't really need help; she just like's to flirt with Arthur. He never noticed it; he simply liked helping her out, now that her Brother was gone to school.

But Vicita wasn't standing at the door when he opened it, clutching her books close to her chest, looking disheveled and in need of help. Instead, it was Buster, tapping his foot nervously, looking about to jump out of his skin.

"Can we go upstairs?" He asked, right away. Buster was never awake, let alone out of his house, this early on a Saturday. He was hardly awake for the first hour of school. Something urgent was on his mind. Arthur realized this, and it started to make him nervous too.

"Sure." He said simply, and they went inside, up to his room.

"We're friends, right?" Buster asked, as soon as Arthur shut the door.

"What kind of a question is that?" He pulled the chair out from under his desk, and motioned for Buster to sit in it, then sat down carefully on the end of his bed.

"Right, I knew that." He paced around a little bit, wringing his hands together, itching his ear. He continued on like that for a long moment, until he finally collapsed into the chair, his head in his hands. He looked up earnestly. "Friends keep secrets, don't they?"

"Of course! Why do you even have to ask that?" Arthur said, leaning forward. His mind rushed to everything that could be wrong. He could have stolen something, his mom could be hurt, maybe he killed someone...

"I- Sorry. I just- I need to tell you something, and I don't know how you're going to react." He paused, taking a second to regain his composure, trying to pull his racing thoughts together.

"You can tell me anything, Buster." He held up his right hand, and put the other across his heart. "I swear, I won't tell."

Buster stared straight into Arthur's eyes, and Arthur stared right back. They stayed like that, trying to read each other, until Buster broke his eyes away, and looked at the ground.

"...I'mgay." He mumbled, his voice so low Arthur couldn't be sure of what he heard.

"You're... what?"

"I'm gay!" Buster shouted, then stood up quickly. "Sorry, I should've told you sooner. I'll go before you can catch it or anything."

"Wait!" Arthur called out, reaching for him although he was across the room.

Buster turned around, his expression meek and beaten.

"You can't catch it. It's not like chicken pox." Arthur said, and smiled.

Buster couldn't help it; he smiled back. They started laughing, relief flowing through them both.

"So you don't hate me?" Buster asked as the laughter died down.

"How could I?" He asked, only half serious. "Besides, we've been best friends since we were three. You think I didn't know already?"

Buster stared at him, stunned. "You knew?"

Arthur laughed. "Yeah, of course. I mean, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. How long have you known?"

"Since we were old enough to put two-and-two together, I guess. Around third or fourth grade I could see it. Still can," he laughed again, noting Buster's odd sense of style. It wasn't a generic boys style, that's for sure. "How long have you known?"

He sighed, then smiled. "Around then, too."

"So, are you going to tell everyone else?" Arthur leaned back on his bed, more relaxed now that all the tension was gone.

"Everyone else? You mean like Muffy and Binky and Brain and Francine and all of them?" Buster shuddered. "Do I have to? It was hard enough to tell you..."

"Well, I guess you don't have to, but it'd be good. There are no other gay kids in school, and you're on top! It'd be perfect!" Arthur cheered, but Buster wasn't as enthused.

"Yeah, or I could plummet to the bottom and get killed." He slumped back in the chair, Arthur's excitement lost on him. "Doesn't sound like a good risk."

"Oh, come on, Buster! Stop being such a downer!"

"I'm not being a downer, I'm being realistic!"

"Since when have you ever been on bottom?"

"Never, yet. That's why I don't want to go down there!"

Arthur stopped pushing him, deciding it simply wasn't worth it.

"So, you gonna keep hiding it forever? Marry a girl, have a nice little family one day?"

Buster shook his head. "No, none of that. I don't want to keep hiding it, just..." He sighed. "Just give me some time, alright?"

Arthur nodded.

"So, you want to go get something to eat? I think my dad's cooking breakfast downstairs."

"Naah, I'm gonna head to the park, run some laps or something." He stood up, and Arthur noticed how his pants nearly fell off, but he cinched it tight with a belt around his waist. It was almost funny, he used to love food. Now Arthur rarely saw him eat.

"I'll see you at school, I guess." Arthur said, as Buster started to leave.

"Yeah. Promise not to tell, right?"

Arthur nodded, and Buster flashed a smile before he left. He'd changed a lot since third grade.