AN: Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter! Please enjoy (:

Sonny and Joel had stayed at the restaurant for hours. At least two. Joel had ate two stakes and a pound of very buttery mashed potatoes. All that talk about school and family made him bored and surprisingly hungry. Sonny had just frequently watched him eat and mentally patted himself on the back for getting Joel to finally eat something other then Jell-O and hash browns.

Rudy would often bring up his family and riches by mistake, and every time he did, Joel snapped him a look which made him quickly change the subject. Joel also learned that the rest of his friends were rich with happy families. He ordered another pound of mash to distract himself from their stupid discussions. Sonny was slowly being lured into their popularity grasps.

Joel's seen people like Rudy before. The guy who thought he could get all the chicks and all the guys wrapped around his fingers and control them. Joel knew their little mind games. He knew Sonny would be pulled in and spit out. Joel's been friends with popular people before. He actually wasthe leader of popular. He used to use people and throw them away like candy wrappers. He knew the pain they must've felt being so betrayed. Joel wasn't going to let that happen to his boyfriend. No sir.

"So after the party, my uncle passes out on the deck and the dog starts liking the spilled champaign!" Lawrence announces and starts laughing.

Everyone else joins in a chorus of laughter except for Joel, who was looking down at his iPhone and playing Temple Run under the table. Sonny nudged him hard with his elbow and Joel looked up. Everyone was staring at him. He started laughing.

"That was good," He laughed some more, "Hey Sonny, tell them about the time when you got drunk at the club and some milf was rubbing all up on you and you didn't know what to do! Hilarious!" He laughed humourlessly and went back to his game.

Sonny blushed and glared at Joel. Everyone else was looking at him. Sonny knew Joel didn't want to be there, but he didn't have to be such an ass about it all. It wasn't like Sonny's been to a place Joel suggested and absolutely hated it. Sonny was about to explain himself but luckily enough, Rudy changed the subject, seeing as it was hard for Sonny to be shot up like that.

"So, has anyone heard about the party Sandra is throwing next Saturday? I heard it's going to be awesome," Rudy said, raising his eyebrows at Sonny and sipping his diet soda.

"Oh yeah! I heard she's going to have a chocolate fountain, a huge bubble machine and she also has an enormous pool with a three-story slide! She's inviting you, Sonny!" Lilah exclaimed happily, "And you can come too, Joel,"

"I'll pass," Joel mumbled.

"Sounds great!" Sonny smiled happily and elbowed Joel again, giving him a distinct look that only Sonny and his mother could ever give, "Why aren't you coming, Joel?"

"Because quite frankly I'm busy that day, Sonny," Joel looked up at Sonny with warning eyes.

"Doing what?" Sonny almost growled back.

"Stuff," Joel barked back.

"It's okay, Sonny, if Joel can't come, he can't come," Rudy gave Joel a displeasing sideways glance and then smiled at Sonny.

The rest of the night Hannah was complaining about her parents not giving her allowance. It was a huge sob story that everyone needed to comfort her for. Even Sonny offered his comfort, even though he didn't find it a big deal at all. Joel pretended to care, but was doing obviously a terrible job at it.

After dessert, Sonny announced that he had to go. It was around 9 PM and if he wasn't home by 10, his mom would shoot him. Joel willingly scootched out of the booth as soon as he heard the phrase "Sorry guys, but we..." and was almost at the cash. Sonny sighed as he edged out of the booth as well and began to walk toward his boyfriend after saying his goodbyes to his new friends. Rudy quickly jumped out of the booth and put a hand on Sonny's shoulder. Sonny's cheeks began to burn when he heard the chorus of giggles and "Ooooh"'s from Rudy's friends. Sonny got confused as he looked into Rudy's eyes. Rudy shot them a look and then looked back at Sonny with a chuckle.

"Thank you so much for coming tonight, I hope you had fun," He smiled, "Because I know your little friend didn't," He threw his head back at Joel who was paying for the meal at the cash.

"Yeah I did! And I'm really sorry about him, I'll have a little talk with him about that as soon as we get out of here," Sonny glared at Joel who popped a free mint into his mouth.

Rudy looked over at Joel and then sighed, he turned back at Sonny and gave him a little smile. He wrapped his arms around him and gave Sonny a squeeze. Sonny was beginning to get used to hugging this stranger, so he willingly hugged him back. When they parted, Rudy pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. Sonny pulled away from him quickly and stared at him wide-eyed. Rudy choked a laugh and then looked at his shoes, he rubbed the back of his neck as his face turned red. Sonny tried to say something, but the words got caught in his throat.

"Sorry about that, I get a little too friendly around people I like," Rudy looked up through his lashes at Sonny. Big blue eyes.

"I-it's fine," Sonny squeaked and then cleared his throat, "I'll... see you at school tomorrow,"

Rudy smiled with his teeth, "You bet,"

Those eyes. That smile. That kiss... It finally made sense to him now... Shit. Sonny knew it. Rudy was gay.

When Joel began rambling about how annoying everyone was being, Sonny couldn't pay attention. He was staring out the dashboard into the dark night as he thought about Rudy. His heart raced when he thought about Rudy smiling. His gestures. Everything made sense now. Why he was so huggy and talky and everything led to the fact that Rudy liked Sonny. He should've seen this one coming! Even in elementary school Rudy seemed to be very clingy to Sonny. He just thought it was what friends do, but Rudy was still acting like he was lovestruck. But why would he be in love with Sonny? There were tons of cute boys at the high school they went to, though Sonny would never admit it to anyone. Why would such an attractive, built, kind and outgoing guy want him? But then again, Joel, who in Sonny's eyes was the perfect man in the history of men, was so in love with him.

And that kiss. And the oooh's and awww's from his friends... have they known about Rudy having a crush of him? Sonny shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts.

"So I shouldn't have had that extra order of mash? But it was so good," Joel mumbled.

That's impossible. Rudy just said he did that to people he likes... exactly, so maybe he didn't have a crush of Sonny. He probably kisses all of his friend's cheeks. They do that in Italy, don't they?

"Earth to Sonny Moore, you're home babe," Joel interrupted Sonny's thoughts.

Sonny looked at his boyfriend, almost terrified and then out the car door window. There it was. Home sweet home. Sonny felt sick to his stomach. Either he ate too much, or because of the encounter with Rudy. Either way, he needed to lay down. He quickly opened the door to leave.

"Uh, don't I get a kiss goodnight? What is this?" Joel opened his arms and rolled his eyes.

Sonny paused. That was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He just needed to lay down and rest his aching head. He sighed and then turned to look at his boyfriend under the faint glow of the truck light. He leaned back into the car and kissed the corner of Joel's mouth weakly. Joel snorted and grabbed Sonny, tugging him back into the truck and kissing every inch of his face he could get. Sonny swatted him away and pushed himself out of the truck. Joel opened his mouth, slightly started at Sonny's reaction.

"What has gotten into you? Besides my dick?" Joel asked angrily.

"N-nothing," Sonny sighed, "I'm sorry, I'll text you later, okay?" Sonny said, wrapping his scarf tighter around his neck as the wind picked up.

"Let me walk you upstairs, you don't look too good. Hop back in, I'll park," Joel motioned his hand for Sonny to come and then put the truck in reverse.

Sonny shook his head, "I'm fine, don't worry," He took a step back, "I love you. I'll text you later," He said and closed the door, turning around and running toward the front of the apartment building.

"I love you too..." Joel mumbled and put the truck in forward. He breathed into his hand and then took a whiff. He shrugged and drove off.

That was strange. Sonny usually loved it when Joel kissed him like that. Joel was having a hard time trying to figure out what was wrong, but his stomach ached. He hasn't eaten that much for years. He groaned and rubbed his stomach mindlessly. He stopped at a red light and then looked up at the hanging picture of Sonny and him on Christmas last year. He smiled and then stopped. Could it be true that Sonny is falling out of love with him? Joel closed his eyes and then reopened them full of tears as the light turned green. He drove off.

"You okay Joel?" Sofi asked, walking down the stairs with caution, "You came in and looked really sad and stuff,"

"I'm fine," Joel quickly rubbed the tears from his eyes.

Sofi sighed and sat down on the last couple of steps, "You're crying. Something's obviously wrong. Did you and Sonny have a fight?"

"He didn't text me..." Joel whispered and looked down at his phone for the hundredth time, "He said he would text me and tell me what's wrong, but he didn't,"

Sofi sighed and pushed herself off the steps. She walked into Joel's rented apartment and sat down next to him on the couch. She put a loving arm around him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Maybe you should text him? Maybe he forgot? What if he's sleeping, you don't know that,"

"He didn't even kiss me goodnight," Joel closed his eyes and sniffled, "He basically kissed my cheek... well he kissed me right here," Joel pointed to the corner of his lip and then sobbed, "And then when I tried to kiss him back, he shoved me away... I don't think he loves me anymore," Joel covered his face with his hands and began to sob even harder.

"Ugh, you're worse then my girlfriends," Sofi huffed and patted Joel's back, "When they have boy troubles, they always seem to sniff me out and lay 'em down on me, expecting me to be this magical guru who sends love and kisses and gets their relationship back on track,"

"Sorry," Joel sniffed.

"No, no, it's alright," Sofi chuckled, "My hypothesis is that Sonny has something on his mind. Maybe about his mom? I wouldn't really know. Does Sonny seem distracted?"

Joel nodded slowly, "He was staring out the window for the whole ride back like we just hit a deer or something,"

Sofi nodded and hummed to herself for a minute. She smiled, "I say just give him a day and then call him if he doesn't text you back. I think he just needs to sort things out a bit. He'll come around to loving you again." She laughed and pressed a kiss to Joel's hair and got up from the couch, "You're doing alright, Joel,"

Joel sighed, "But what if I'm not good enough for him?" He asked, staring at the carpet.

"Oh, trust me, if you're being the best boyfriend you can be, you shouldn't have any worries," She started to walk up the stairs, but then paused and looked at Joel, "Just... stop beating yourself up over what Sonny wants all the time. I think you should be able to make your own decisions too, right?"

Joel looked at Sofi and nodded. She smiled again and then left without another word.

Sonny spent about an hour in the bathroom after his hour-long shower. He sat there with a towel wrapped around himself, staring off into space as he thought about his evening. He begged himself not to do just that, but it baffled him so much that he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He gave up and walked into his room, crawled into bed without any sort of clothing on and tried to sleep. His damp, melon-scented shampoo that Joel loved so much was driving him completely mental, but he later discovered his tiredness being overwhelming and quickly fell asleep, dreaming of his boyfriend whom he loved so much. Was it bad to think how it would have felt if Rudy kissed him friendlily on the lips? Of course it was! But Sonny couldn't help but imagine.

Sonny awoke the next morning feeling actually surprisingly better. He stretched his arms out and then rolled out of bed. He got a shot of cold air and then yelped when he realized he was stark naked.

"I know you're awake," His mother called from the other room, hearing the gasp, "And I am not going to work until you finish all of your breakfast. You're starting to turn into a skeleton like your boyfriend,"

Sonny threw on his uniform and then trotted into the kitchen with a grin on his face. He sat down and shovelled his corn flakes in, one wafting bite at a time. His mother raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed with the boy's appetite that morning.

"I'm going to get really pissed, pardon my language, if I find out you're skipping dinner," She folded her arms and watched her son chug down his orange juice.

"No actually," He choked a little and then continued, "Last night me and Joel went to a restaurant with my new friends, I had steak," He smiled.

"I thought you didn't like steak?" His mother crossed her arms.

"Well... not the way you cook it, no offence," He leaped out of his chair and kissed his mother's flabbergasted cheek, "I'm going to brush my teeth and wait for Joel outside, okay? I'll text you when he comes,"

She sighed and picked up her work books, "Okay. Love you. Don't talk to strangers," She said and then left.

Sonny sat outside in the cold for about 10 minutes, awaiting his boyfriend to rescue him. Maybe he forgot? Sonny took out his phone and checked his messages. Nothing new. He sighed and pulled the scarf up to his nose. He pushed himself off the curb and looked both ways before crossing the street. The snow wasn't really white anymore, it sort of took on a greyish shade. It was thick but it was hard and slushy. Sonny dodged the slush puddles and began his walk to school. He didn't bother to put on mittens or a hat because he thought he would be surrounded by the warm peppermint scent of Joel's truck. He guessed wrong.

What has gotten Joel off? Was it because Sonny was acting so strange? He quickly began to text Joel until he heard tires crunching along the packing snow. Sonny looked up and saw a slim, silver Honda Accord Convertible. His heart skipped a beat when the window rolled down and Rudy smiled at him with pearly whites.

"Need a lift? You look cold,"

Sonny stared at Rudy for a long moment and then looked back down at his phone. He angrily shoved it into his pocket and walked around to the other side of the car. He got into the car, took off his scarf, and sighed. Rudy raised an eyebrow at him and started to drive toward the school.

"What's up?" Rudy asked.

Sonny shook his head, "Nothing."

"Oh come on, Sonny, we're like best friends, you know you can tell me anything," Rudy glanced over at Sonny and smiled, "I worry about you a lot, you know?"

"You do?" Sonny suspiciously looked over at Rudy.

He was going to do it. He was going to look Rudy right in the eyes and tell him that he was happily in a committed relationship with Joel Thomas Zimmerman. But when Sonny opened his mouth to say it, Rudy cut him off.

"Plus I think you're kind of cute," He winked at Sonny.

Sonny froze. His body felt colder then the temperature outside. Colder then ice. Sonny closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm in a relationship," He admitted quietly.

"I know," Rudy said, quietly as well.

Sonny looked at Rudy's face. He didn't look pissed, but more like... deeply disappointed. Sonny thought that to be really strange.

"With Joel," Sonny added.

Rudy looked over at him with blue eyes and gave a tiny smile, "It was sort of obvious,"

"I-it was... what?" Sonny's jaw dropped, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, only couples argue like that," He chuckled and parked into the school lot, "It's okay though, just know that I'm always a phone call away," Rudy smiled and shut off the engine, staring at Sonny.

Sonny gave a tiny smile and nodded. He slowly exited Rudy's vehicle. He couldn't help but feel dizzy.

AN: I bet some of you know where this is leading, but I will leave it up to you to guess what will happen next! (-; And I know most of you are probably pissed because I haven't written in a while, but I am truly, entirely and, gratefully sorry for the abcense! I've been working on another story and travelling quite a lot this Summer, so I apologize for my lack of intelligence during this chapter in particular. I hope you can all forgive me!

Reviews are lovely as always! xox