"Come on Hortie, I want to get in the swing!" A little blond boy, around the age of eight, was running around the shrubbery of branches in a high speed.
Not so far behind was a short petite brunet, around the same age, "Kenny, not fair. Wait for me!"
"Run faster!" The blond cried out in joy as they reached the place where they always used to come when they were on vacation together.
It was a beautiful sight.
There was a small lake crossing the land, and just in the coast there was a big single tree which had a little simple house above of it, and there was a single swing hanging from the roof, that when you swing on it, your feet got hanging just above the lake.
The blond got there first, but when he turned around he saw his little friend pouting at him. He raised an eyebrow, and then sighed in defeat.
He motioned his friend to go forward.
The little genius squealed in happiness and the blond smiled at his adorable friend.
"Push me, Kendall!"
Kendall did.
The brunet was giggling happily at the wind brushing his hair back but then, the feeling stopped.
He turned at his side and saw how one red head boy who was bigger than them, even that Kendall -who was big for his age- came towards them and stood right in front of them.
"Move out of the way, turd." Both boys looked at him with strangeness in their faces. "I want to swing. Keep off!" He screamed, and then faster than they thought, never saw it coming, the big red head boy pushed the little brunet to the ground, making him fell on the patch, wetting his clothes staining them with mud.
The brunet felt the panic ran through his body. It wasn't that he was dirty -something which the little genius always hated-, but it was the fact that with the fall, he hit his back with something hard.
Then, he felt the pain running through his small back, and then felt a stitch on his spine.
Tears started to come out of his big brown eyes.
"What did you do, you moron!" Was the impulsive react the blond boy had when he realized what the red head did to his best friend.
"Pushing a nerd out of the way!" The red head replied biting his lip in an attempt to hold back his laughs.
Kendall frowned. The big boy watched the scene amusedly. The big brown orbs were letting out an amount of tears to fall, he was sniffing and his button nose was starting to get red.
"Wow, look. I made the idiot cry. He's such a baby." He said, this time not trying to hold back his laughs.
That broke one cable on Kendall's brain. No one messed with his baby.
Because that was what Hortense was. Not in an offensive way, but Hortense was smaller than him, and he was so innocent sometimes, that made Kendall's insides wanted to protect him all the time.
Above everything.
The blonde raised his fit and punched the bigger boy right on the nose. The red head stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.
"Don't talk that way about Hortense again! Never!" The other boy nodded in fear and with the poor force he had, he got up and ran as far away as possible from the furious blond and his little friend.
When he saw the other boy far away, Kendall turned around and dropped to his knees, beside his friend.
He frowned when he saw the little fragile shoulders shaking. Then he heard a sob.
That broke his heart.
"Hey Hortie, it's ok. He's gone. You're safe." He whispered tenderly.
The brunet nodded his head.
"I lost my glasses, Kenny." The genius whimpered in between his sobs.
"Don't worry Hortie. I'll get them for you." Kendall ran a hand through the raven hair he fantasized so much and then left in search of his friend's object.
It was in about more than five minutes, when he found the glasses dropped over some branches which seemed to cushion the fall.
He examined them and left a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no damage done.
He walked towards his best friend and sat beside him.
"There you go. They're completely fine." Kendall smiled at his friend and couldn't help but run a hand through Hortense's hair, again.
The brunet sobbed and Kendall's heart ached. He hated seeing his best friend in pain.
Hortense kept crying and Kendall didn't know what to do. He tried everything. He ran a hand through his hair -which always seemed to work, until now-, but got no result. He tried to squeeze his cheeks, nothing. He tried to make a joke but it seemed as if Hortense was crying more. He tried making a fool of himself, but that earned a sob from the genius. He tried to rub circles on his back, but nothing.
Then he thought of something, but he didn't know if it was going to work.
Well, he could try.
He grabbed the genius' chin and without hesitation, the blond pressed his lips with the brunet's in a simple but significant kiss.
Hortense's eyes widened comically at his best friend's actions. When they separated their lips, Hortense's cheeks started to burn and an adorable blush was creeping over them.
Kendall didn't know what to say or what to do. His friend was still quiet.
Well, at least he stopped crying. Kendall thought.
"W-Why did you d-do that-t?" The genius stuttered and Kendall shrugged.
"I don't know." He blushed. "But my dad used to do that to my mom when she was crying." Kendall's voice was almost a whisper at the end of the sentence. Hortense bit his bottom lip, and his eyes lit up in adornment.
He was about to smile at Kendall's show of affection, when he noticed that his best friend wasn't blushing anymore, his face seemed sad, in pain.
Oh.
He stepped forward and pressed his lips with Kendall's.
The blond's eyes widened, just the same way as Hortense's did before, but when they separated, this time, they were both looking intensely at each other's eyes.
Green eyes met brown ones.
They smiled and got up from the ground. Kendall offered his hand for Hortense to take, and he did.
"Let's go home, Hortie." Kendall said without letting go of the genius' little hand.
They both walked happily through the branches, just as how they came, but this time it was different.
They were holding hands.