As the boys got older, Emil went to the school that Lukas and Arnesen had gone to, while Lukas and Arnesen stayed home and helped Na. As they had more time, they spent it by taking walks together and playing old children's games. Since Emil was gone during the day, they cleaned, tutored and baked with Na, which led to both of them gaining respect from the younger children, and Emil having a better relationship with Na.
Emil's homework began to increase in this time, causing him to stay up later. This just meant that Arnesen and Lukas stayed up for an even longer amount of time. One night, when Emil couldn't sleep, he listened to the two talking. He smiled as he heard their hushed conversation, withholding a sigh. If only they weren't so blind to their own emotions, he thought, rolling onto his side so that his eyes faced Lukas and Arnesen. He opened his eye so that his eyelids were only cracked open to a sliver and he saw them lying on their backs, staring at the ceiling as they talked. Lukas's eyes were shutting and his head was falling, his attempts of staying awake obvious from how his eyes would shoot open every now and then. Emil both heard and saw Lukas's heard turn slightly as he fell asleep and smiled to himself. He slowly pulled his blanket up and over his face, concealing his smile behind the comforting fabric.
It was at this point that he saw Arnesen stand up and stretch before he pulled Lukas's blanket up for him. Emil had seen this occur countless times before, but most of the time it was Lukas. Every now and then Arnesen was able to stay awake longer than Lukas and was the one who pulled up the blanket. As Lukas's body curled inward from sleep Arnesen looked down at Lukas. Emil frowned due to the moon casting light in all of the wrong places for him to be able to clearly see anything. But Emil did see Arnesen reach down and pull a few strands of hair off of Lukas's face before he bent over and kissed Lukas's cheek.
Emil had to withhold a squeal, which caused his body to suddenly jerk inwards on himself. Due to the jerking, his small bed cot made a few strange noises which Lukas sat up and looked at. Drat, he's awake now, Emil thought, still able to see shadows through his blanket. Lukas furrowed his eyebrows at Arnesen, who was next to Lukas's bed still. Arnesen sat down next to Lukas and ran the back of his fingers across Lukas's cheek before cupping his palm under Lukas's chin. As Arnesen pulled in, Lukas pushed himself forward slowly, shutting his eyelids.
Emil couldn't contain it any longer.
A small, high pitched squeal that one should not expect to come out of a boy Emil's age, well, came from Emil. Lukas jerked his head to where Emil laid, stood up and walked over to Emil's bed. Emil didn't try to hide the fact that he was awake when Lukas yanked back the covers of Emil's bed. Lukas leaned over and stared into Emil's eyes for a few moments before lying down next to Emil, pulling his blankets over both of them.
Emil protested to a degree, but Lukas stated that if he had been asleep there would have been no need for him to come over.
In the following evening Arnesen and Lukas took a walk when the sun was barely visible above the horizon. Arnesen grabbed Lukas's wrist and pulled him into the tree line of the town, and they quickly climbed a tree, though they stayed in the lower branches.
There they stayed as the sun cast its shadows across the clouds making shades of purple, orange and red brush across the sky. Lukas leaned on Arnesen's shoulder as the sun sunk behind the hills and the world began to get darker. Once the light began to disappear at last, Lukas pulled himself up and away from Arnesen's shoulder before quickly swinging back and kissing Arnesen's cheek. Lukas held his lips on Arnesen's cheek for a moment longer, then slid from the branch they sat on, landed firmly on his feet and ran back to Na's house. Arnesen stayed where he was for much longer after that, holding a few fingers to the cheek Lukas had kissed.
They did this often, almost every night, meeting in this tree. Lukas would try to show Arnesen his Troll, but no matter how many times he summoned the creature Arnesen wouldn't see it. Not only did Lukas try to show Arnesen his Troll, he also tried to conjure fairies and other such creatures, and Arnesen could only see the simple, non-complex animals and beings that appeared. That evening, when the sun was just about to set, Lukas was leaning against Arnesen's shoulder again, but this time Arnesen's arm was wrapped around Lukas, his head resting against the top of Lukas's. When the sky was only slightly more beautiful than the most intricate painting, Lukas pulled his head off of Arnesen's shoulder again, but he soon had his free hand wrapping around Arnesen's neck. Bringing his face to Arnesen's, he lightly pressed his lips to the other's. Lukas's eyes were closed, his eyelashes brushing Arnesen's cheek. Arnesen was surprised for a second, but quickly melted into the kiss, pulling Lukas closer. Arnesen put his hand on the back of Lukas's head, running it through his soft blonde hair. Arnesen and Lukas smiled as they kissed, and neither of them cared that the darkness was setting in.
Later on, when they had broken off and it was dark, Lukas began to create a masterpiece of a light show. That was when one of the old gang boys from all those years ago walked by underneath the branch they were on and looked up, seeing the magic that poured from Lukas's hands. The old bully screamed, making every living thing cringe and any happy mood immediately darkening. It was not the scream that was so disturbing as what he screamed, however. What he screamed was even worse.
He had screamed "w-witchcraft!" and began to run away from the two. Lukas sent a panicked look to Arnesen, knowing there was no denying the fact that Lukas could perform witchcraft. Lukas slid off of the branch and when he hit the ground, he sent a last glance to Arnesen.
"Arnesen, please. Stay away from me and keep Emil safe." Arnesen furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion.
"What are you talking about? Na can hide you," but Lukas shook his head.
"No, I won't put her life in danger too." And with that, Lukas set off running.