I walked sluggishly to the bus stop, groaning with each step. My parents had taken away my car privileges as punishment for disappearing, so I was now forced to ride the old school bus again. I had wasted no time getting out of the house in the morning, partly because I didn't want to deal with my parents asking me questions about my 'rescue mission', and partly because I was desperate to talk to Kyle. He'd gotten his phone taken away by his mother and I knew he'd be there early too, also avoiding crazy parents.

I was exhausted and extremely sore from everything that had happened. I had to attempt to rewrap my wounded leg when in the bathroom and I limped slightly from the pain of the gunshot. My body was covered with bruises and my hands, barely healed from the breakdown I had on the side of the road, had been cut deeply by Kyle's blades. My mind was buzzing with questions and worries, and as the bus stop came into view, I felt my anxiety spike. No one was there.

I sighed shakily and slumped against the sign. God, I just wanted Kyle. I wanted to see his bright eyes and vibrant curls. I wanted to make sure he was alive and well. Mostly, I wanted to talk to him about the feelings that had now overwhelmed me. I couldn't just ignore them anymore; after all the close calls we'd had, with both our lives and our lips, it was time to address them. He had been about to kiss me back all three times…at least that's what I'd thought. We'd both come so close to dying; I just couldn't wait for his next near death experience.

Not that I had any idea what I was going to fucking say but, damn it, I had to try.

I thought through all of this as I rubbed my tired eyes, trying to rid myself of the headache that had settled behind my right eyebrow.

"You look great." A weak chuckle sounded behind me. I turned to see a very tired, but smiling, Kyle. My heart skipped a beat and the headache waned away as I looked into his glittering eyes.

"Right back atcha." I tried to joke back, but it came out breathy and shaky, more honest than I'd hoped. He blushed and averted his eyes while I rubbed the back of my neck and cleared my throat. "So…um…" I searched for a way to break the tension.

"Stan…" His whisper made me look back into his eyes. "We need to tal-"

"I know." I stepped forward, cutting him off. "I….I know we do." He smiled nervously at me and I tried to smile back. "Kyle I need to tell you-" Suddenly, a decent sized snowball made contact with the back of my head.

"Hey, Asshole's! Where the hell were you two?" Kenny's voice penetrated deep into my spine and I sighed. Kyle gave me an apologetic look before I turned to face the blonde.

"Hey Ken." I sighed. He was smiling as he approached, but I noticed his eyes scan over us quickly, lingering on my newly injured hands and Kyle's tired features. He had to have been really worried about us. I felt bad for scaring him, but I had no words of comfort for him; I didn't even know how to comfort myself.

"So you gonna tell me the dirty details guys?" Kenny's smirk was wide and mischievous as he pulled us both in under his arms. Kyle winced in pain, making us both freeze and stare at him. He laughed as he slid out from Kenny's hold but I could tell it was forced. His face was pale and he looked like he was choking back a whimper.

"Trust me Ken." He coughed, trying to disguise it as a laugh. "You can't handle the details."

Before any of us had time to say anything else, the roar of yelling high school students filled the air as the bus pulled up to us.

"GET ON THE BUS! WE'RE RUNNIN' LATE!" Ms. Crabtree's shrill voice made me remember how much I missed my car. We filed on without another word. Kyle slipped into the back and sat against the window, leaning on the cool glass and closing his eyes. I sat beside him, watching him worriedly. He was obviously in a lot of pain and I had no idea how to help him, so I sat helplessly beside him. Kenny's eyes burned with questions, and I was getting increasingly more nervous as he stared at us. Finally we got to the school and got off the bus.

"Stan I can't be late for calculus." Kyle had turned to me and smiled. "We'll talk later okay? I promise." With that, he took off through the crowd toward his class. I tried to think of something worthwhile to say, but all that came out was a feeble…

"Yeah, bye!"

I watched him disappear. Sighing I turned to go to my own class. A hand grabbed my upper arm and dragged me behind the wall outside the school.

"Alright Stan you've got to tell me what the hell is going on." Kenny's voice was laced with annoyance.

"Gah! Relax dude let go of my arm!" I fought against him before he whipped me around to face him, his face stern.

"Will you please tell me what the fuck happened?" His tone was frantic. I sighed and rubbed my neck.

"Ken, not now okay I've had a rough week." I mumbled. Suddenly he had me pushed up against the wall, glaring at me with intense anger.

"You've had a rough week?" He shouted, causing some people to glance at us. "How the FUCK do you think my week's been, Stan? My two best friends on the whole fucking planet just disappear! Rumors spread that they're dead! Everyone asking me what happened to you guys!" I watched in shock as tears welled up in his eyes. He looked down, shaking with emotion. "Damn it."

"Ken…" I sighed and took his hands off my shoulders. "Look, I can't explain-"

"Bullshit!" He growled, yanking his hands out of my grip. "You are hiding something from me! Fuck you Stan!" He turned to walk away. I grabbed him and stopped him.

"Ken let me finish! I can't explain because I don't even know what's going on." I insisted. He looked at me skeptically, but he stayed silent so I continued. "All I knew was that…well that he couldn't be alone. I just got…er…dragged along." I finished. It wasn't a complete lie, and it seemed to be enough for Kenny because he relaxed a little.

"I'm worried Stan…" He admitted. "Kyle looks terrible. I mean the kid was already a fucking stick but now it's getting ridiculous." He rubbed his head.

"I'm gonna be talking to him today." I tried to reassure him. "Hopefully, I'll get some answers." He hesitated for a moment, before sighing and punching my arm softly.

"You'd better, asshole." He laughed weakly. I smiled patted his back. "Just…do me a favor Stan." He looked at me seriously. "Next time you disappear…just …warn me okay?"

I chuckled. "Will do Ken." With that we went our separate ways.

I was late to class, not that I particularly cared; in fact it was a bit of a blessing. My classmates all stared at me with questioning looks, but since we were in the middle of class, they had little time to actually converse with me. I finally had a chance to clear my head a little. I had to think about what I would say to Kyle when we did talk. What did I want to ask about first? Either way, it was going to be a very uncomfortable conversation.

School went by sluggishly, and I became antsy as I watched the clock. I didn't want to deal with everyone bothering me and Kyle and I didn't think he wanted to either, so I figured we'd probably take off at lunch and be alone. My heart skipped and dropped at the same time, making my stomach do uncomfortable back flips. I was ridiculously nervous about seeing him, but at the same time I couldn't wait.

After what felt like a lifetime, the bell rang, and I booked it out of my class before lunch, like I'd done the whole day, avoiding the questions being thrown at me. Running to Kyle's locker, I was shocked to find that he wasn't there. I waited for five minutes before growing impatient and going to find him. I expected him to be as anxious as I was, and now that I couldn't find him, I was worried that he'd panicked and taken off or something like that.

"Kyle!" I called, ignoring the stares and murmurs rising up around me. "Kyle where are you?"

"Stan?" I whipped around to find him, looking completely normal, with a large pile of books in his arms. "Dude, why are you yelling?"

I slumped in relief. "Jesus Ky. You scared the shit out of me. Where were you?"

"Studying in the library." He rolled his eyes. "I have so much fucking homework."

I felt physically deflated. He was acting as if nothing was different at all. "Oh…uh…well I thought we could um...talk now." I said awkwardly. Embarrassment had settled in my stomach as I realized he had not been thinking about this nearly as much as I had. Knowing Kyle he'd probably let it slip to the back of his mind all day.

"Dude I have to study if my mom is ever gonna let me out of the house again." He insisted, looking down at his books miserably.

I sighed, "Yeah….right well um." Suddenly his lips were almost against my ear, making my heart jump back up and pound full speed.

"Tonight." He whispered, sending chills down my spine. "Leave your window open tonight. I'll be there as soon as I can. This is important to me too Stan, but now is not the time, nor place." It almost felt like he kissed my ear, but I was to frozen in shock to tell. "We'll talk tonight." Then, just as suddenly as he had been there, he had pulled away, walking down the hall. "See ya Stan!" He called, smiling and waving with his free hand before turning away.

I just watched him, trying to calm my frenzied heart. A small smile graced my lips as I turned down another hallway. So I had to wait a little longer to talk to him. At least now I wasn't guessing.

"Tonight." I murmured under my breath, setting it in my mind. Tonight I'll tell him.

Okay guys! I updated faster! YAAY! I know this kinda feels like a filler chapter, but trust me…it was necessary. Love to all 3 Reviews make my day!