A/N: Hello again everyone! So I ad planned on posting this either tomorrow or Sunday, but I felt the urge to post so...here we are! :P

Before we get strated, I would like to thank everyone that read last chapter! I would also like to give a huge thank you to winterschild11, Side1ways, RainbowDiamonds, Guest, and annabellex2 for reviewing!

I hope you all enjoy!

I'd once thought that working out with Kendall back in high school was tough, but it was nothing compared to working out with him now. He pushed me hard and didn't let me slack off at all. I was in the best shape of my life, but I still had a little trouble.

"Mercy!" I said with a pained chuckle, bending over and resting my hands on my thighs. "I think I'm dying."

"It's good for you, babe." He said before slapping me on the ass.

The action shocked me, and I looked around to see if anyone else noticed it.

There weren't many other people in the gym, and the people that were there were too preoccupied with their own workouts to notice us. Weekends weren't normally busy anyway. The busiest day seemed to be Monday, and then business just dwindled off as the week went on.

Once Kendall was done killing me with our workout, we went back to my place and showered. I didn't like showering at the gym. It was just one of my things.

"Wear comfortable clothes." Kendall called out to me from the other room. "None of that button-up shirt crap you wear to school."

"Yes, sir." I mocked him as I grabbed a plain T-shirt off the hanger and a pair of old jeans.

All of a sudden he was behind me and tugging me against his chest. "I'll show you sir." He whispered at my nape, sending shivers down my spine. Before he pulled away, he nipped the skin on my shoulder with his teeth.

I turned to face him, arching my brow. "Dude, I might bottom, but I'm not a damn submissive. So you can just can it with all of that dominant shit right now." I moved toward him, loving the way his eyes watched me with an excited gleam. "If memory serves me right, there was a time when I used to fuck you into the mattress. Maybe I should remind you of that later."

Kendall's expression went from entertained to seductive in a split second. He used to love when I took control, and by the way his green eyes seemed to darken a little, I suspected he still did.

Without allowing myself to over-analyze it like I did with everything, I charged forward and took his face in my hands before crashing my lips to his. He gave a surprised grunt and his arms slowly came around my waist. We toppled backward on the bed, and then he was kissing me back, swirling his tongue against mine.

I didn't think I'd ever get enough of him.

No, I knew I wouldn't. Kendall was a part of me-the better part, actually-and when he left again, I'd… No, I won't obsess over something that hasn't even happened yet.

"Mmm, James." Kendall clutched onto my ass and pulled me between his legs. His sweats did nothing to conceal the tent he was pitching. "Fuck me."

"What about your plans?" I asked, grinning between the kisses I placed on his throat. My voice was a lot steadier than how I actually felt.

"Fuck the plans." He grumbled before squeezing my ass cheeks in his hands. "I need you inside of me."

There wasn't any arguing with that, and I was more than willing to give him whatever he wanted.

I had topped since him, so it wasn't exactly anything new, but I was still nervous for some reason. Because it was with him, the only guy who ever mattered. However, my eagerness outweighed the nerves.

I kissed him, tasting the mint from his toothpaste and fusing my tongue with his. He was warm and fit perfectly against me. Pulling back from his mouth, I took off my glasses and placed them on the nightstand beside the bed. I could see well enough without them and mostly just used them for work, so he was only slightly blurry.

I caressed the stubble on his jaw before moving down his neck and to his collarbone.

His green eyes didn't leave mine as I slipped my fingers under the waistband of his pants and began sliding them down, past his thighs and farther until they were completely off.

Since he'd been in Willow, the slight tan that he had had faded a little, but there was still a faint line from where he wore his briefs. He was still amazing, and looked better than anyone had the right to.

We'd had so much sex in the past few weeks that I should've been used to seeing his body and feeling his touch, but it still felt like the first time. Every time. The thrill of being wrapped around him, succumbing to the pleasure of our tangled limbs and warm kisses, felt like home.

Once he was naked, I took my time playing with his ass.

He kept jerking at first, as if he wasn't used to the feeling. But when he relaxed, I wet my finger between my lips before slowly pushing it knuckle deep into his hole.

"Damn." He groaned, tilting his head down to watch me.

Loving the sounds he made, I kissed his dick as I continued fucking him with my finger. His cock twitched against my lips and grew bigger as it hardened. I teasingly licked around the crown before lazily running my tongue across his slit.

Kendall gasped and gripped a handful of my hair. Pre-cum drizzled from his tip, and I used to my other hand to dip my thumb into it and rub it around.

The sounds he made drove me wild, and I was so hard I quietly whimpered. I shoved down my pants as I continued thrusting my finger ito him and started stroking myself.

"I love when you touch yourself." Kendall confessed with a lopsided grin.

I angled my finger upward inside him, rubbing that bundle of nerves and causing him to close his eyes and moan.

After opening him with one finger, I added a second. I wasn't sure if he'd bottomed a lot-and honestly, I didn't want to think about it because my jealousy would arise again-but just in case he hadn't, I wanted to do everything in my power to make it as painless as possible.

"I'm ready." He said, still watching me as I worked him with my fingers. I was up to three fingers now and had been at it for a while. Sweat covered his chest and his breaths were sharp. "Get up here."

Obeying him, I slid back up his body before capturing his lips once more. I felt his heart beat hard against mine, and I looked down into his eyes, fighting the sudden wave of emotion crashing through me.

Within the time we'd been back together, we hadn't really said we loved each other, with the exception of once. It was something I knew we still felt, but the actual saying it was difficult. Maybe because we loved what the other used to be, and we were getting to know who we were now.

Falling in love all over again. And boy was I falling.

Kendall stroked my jaw and held my gaze as I moved his legs apart with my knee and settled between them. He didn't say anything, but the look in his green eyes said more than his words could anyway. That he felt the same as me.

After I put on protection and used lube on both of us, I placed my tip at his entrance and gradually pushed forward. Fuck. He was still tight, even after all the prep.

His brow scrunched as he squeezed his eyes shut, and his body tensed.

"Try to relax, Ken." I said, resting my forehead on his and cupping his nape.

He nodded but didn't answer. After inhaling, he slowly released it, and on his exhale, I pushed a little deeper.

"Fuck that hurts like hell." Kendall said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry." I said softly before kissing his temple, his cheekbone, and finally his lips as I broke through the tight ring of muscle fighting against me. When he buried his face in my neck and sharply sucked in, my heart ached. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No." He said, tightening his arms around me. "I'm okay."

Kissing him, I penetrated deeper before withdrawing a little and thrusting back inside. He felt amazing around me, so tight and warm, but I didn't let myself give into the pleasure until I knew he was really okay.

Only when his winces turned to moans did I let myself do the same. Reaching between us, I found his dick and started pumping it.

"God, James." He threw his head back on the pillow and peered up at me with half-lidded eyes. "That feels so good."

I gave him more, driving my hips forward harder than before, hitting him deeper and expelling from him more moans and whimpers. As more of his pleasured sighs reached my ears, I drove into him faster.

"Mmm, right there." Kendall panted and his chest was slick as our bodies moved together. "I'm gonna come."

He cried out as his release slammed into him, and I felt hot jets of cum shoot up my stomach.

The hold on my own orgasm started slipping. My spine tingled followed by my balls drawing up. I was close.

Kendall grabbed my hips and helped my movements by pulling me harder inside him, staring up at me with heavy, bedroom eyes and parted lips.

And then I went over the edge, coming so hard into him that I saw spots in my vision.

"Ken." I moaned, giving him another slow thrust as I filled the condom.

"That's it, baby." He said before sucking on my earlobe.

I couldn't move for several seconds. My heart beat wildly and I felt lightheaded.

Kendall held my lower back with one hand and cupped my nape with the other before turning me over. I stared up at him and felt a breaking in my chest. There was so much I wanted to say to him, but for some reason, the words just wouldn't come out.

No amount of I love you's would change the fact that he was only here temporarily. That he'd go back to his life and I'd continue staying frozen in mine.

"Why are you doing that?" He asked in a husky tone.

"Doing what?"

"Looking at me as if you're ready to say goodbye."

I went to respond, but couldn't find the right words. There weren't any right words for our situation. So, instead I kissed him, reveling in the taste of him, the softness of his lips.

I didn't want the very likely reality of our future to take away from the beauty of the present. Whatever happened later would happen, and I wasn't going to waste any more of the time we had left together.

A soft groan left his throat as he returned the kiss and tangled his fingers in my hair. I got the feeling his thoughts mirrored mine.

XxX

Sitting in class that following Monday morning, I kept getting distracted by thoughts of Kendall and the incredible weekend we'd spent together.

We never got around to actually doing anything Saturday, other than enjoying each other between the sheets. I hadn't minded that, and Kendall hadn't either. We'd made love, taken a nap, kissed, and then made love again before finally getting out of bed and making dinner. After we'd eaten, we had cuddled on the couch while watching a movie.

But then our lips had found each other once more, and we'd ended up making love there too instead of watching the movie.

On Sunday, we had woken up and eaten breakfast before going on a hike through a trail in the woods. The path had twisted all throughout the woods, going up small hills before going back down, winding and turning. It'd taken us most of the day to travel the whole trail before wrapping back around to where we'd parked my car.

The long walk had given us the chance to talk about things. Really talk about them, and not just skirt around certain issues. We still hadn't discussed our future as a couple, but we'd talked about his career and where he feared it was heading.

"My contract expires next February." He said as we'd stopped on a hill, overlooking the valley below. "I have one more season."

"What does that mean for you?"

Kendall shrugged. "Not sure. There's still the chance they could extend the contract, but I don't have much hope for that actually happening." His eyes focused on me. "Hockey's all I've ever known, James. All I've ever been good at. Without it...I don't know." He turned away from me and began walking down the hill. "I'm nothing."

I strode forward and grabbed his arm, turning him around to face me. "That's not true, Ken. You are everything. Even when you leave hockey, even when you aren't a star athlete anymore, you still have purpose. What about your modeling?"

Something flashed in his eyes before he averted his stare.

"We should get back to the car." He said. "It's getting late."

I wasn't sure why, but his whole demeanor had changed at the mention of modeling. There was something he wasn't telling me, but I hoped he'd eventually tell me. Whatever it was.

As I sat at my desk and waited for my next class to start, I replayed it all again and tried not to get my hopes up about his expiring contract.

If Kendall no longer played pro-hockey, there was nothing keeping him from staying in Willow. We could build a life together.

But how much would it crush his spirit in the process?

I'd be a horrible person if I just let that happen for the sake of my happiness. When you loved someone, truly loved them, you'd sacrifice anything if it meant they were happy. Kendall would be miserable settling for a simple life, one where he had a regular nine to five job and couldn't play hockey.

I knew then that even if I could go back to that day seven years ago when I'd broken up with Kendall… I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. As much as it'd hurt me, I'd done it so he could live his dream.

I'd set him free so he could fly.

And I refused to be the one to clip his wings now.

One Week Later

"Everything looks in top notch condition." The inspector said as he approached me. "I'd suggest maybe another coat of paint on the deck just to add to the appearance, but the condition of the place is great.'

Usually, the buyer would pay to have the house inspected, but I thought it'd help the house get a better price if I did it myself. So that way, the buyer would know of any issues up front and be willing to pay for it. Not that money was an issue for me, but I just hated the thought of the house not getting what it deserved.

"Thanks." I said, shaking his hand.

"You should have no issue selling the place, Mr. Knight. It's a beauty."

After he gave me the inspection sheet and I paid what was due, he got in his truck and left. I walked down the steps of the front porch before turning around and looking at the house.

It really was beautiful. A two-story manor with maroon paint, decorative columns, and a vast amount of windows to let in the light of a gorgeous sunny day. A sunroom set off to the left, connected to the house by a breezeway lined with ivy. The house was made up of several different styles.

There was a terrace out back that Grandpa had worked on a lot through the years to make it look like some kind of enchanted garden, with a small fountain in the center and flowers and smaller trees all around it.

"What are you doing, Kendall?" I asked myself as I took it all in.

I hadn't listed the house for sale yet, because I'd wanted the repairs to be done first, as well as the inspection. But I couldn't deny that I'd purposefully put it off over the past month. As if some part of me knew it was a mistake.

After walking to the terrace, I sat down on the cushioned bench and looked out over the backyard. Even though it was technically still winter, the weather had shifted to an early spring. It was the twentieth of February and in the upper fifties. A somewhat chilly breeze blew, but the heat of the sun helped balance it, and I only needed a long-sleeved shirt instead of a jacket.

I checked the time on my phone and saw that it was almost eleven-thirty. If I wanted to make it on time for lunch with James, I needed to get moving. As I went back into the house and put on a different pair of pants, I thought about how James had been acting a little off lately. Or maybe that was just my paranoia at play because I still hadn't told him about the upcoming photoshoot with Veronica.

Which I planned to tell him about. I just hadn't found the right moment.

I arrived at the school with only two minutes to spare and went into the main office.

"I was wondering if you'd be here today." Camille said as I walked through the door. She was the receptionist and always seemed to have a big smile on her face. It was pretty infectious.

"Yeah, I left a little late." I answered, leaning on the counter and winking at her.

"Always the charmer you are." She chuckled, shaking her head before handing me the sign-in sheet. "You know the drill."

I signed my name and the time I got there before taking the visitor sticker from her and slapping it on my chest.

"Don't cause any trouble now." She said, giving me a stern look before breaking out into a smile.

"You never know with me." I said with a smirk before leaving the office and going down the hall.

Students greeted me along the way, and a few of the athletes fist-bumped me. One of the girls squealed and waved before running to her group of friends and giggling. I'd come to know a lot of the kids, and the way they looked up to me was kind of endearing.

Daniel, one of the hockey guys, was probably the one I was closest to. He may have been a hockey player, but that wasn't the only reason we were close. He was a genuinely good kid, and I got the feeling that he didn't have the best home life. When I sat with him and talked at lunch, it seemed like it made his whole day. And it was kind of an amazing feeling to be able to have that impact on someone.

Funny that when I attended here, I couldn't wait to leave...and now I enjoyed being back.

James was in his classroom, and his back was toward the door. He talked to Joel, another student I'd gotten to know, and I snuck up behind him.

Joel caught sight on me and nearly gave me away with how his mouth instantly went into a smile, but he looked back at James and avoided looking at me.

"You just need to apply yourself more." James told him in a gentle, but serious, tone. "You're a very smart kid, and you're a great writer. But you have to actually do the work to pass my class."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Diamond. I'll do better."

"Don't apologize to me." James countered, handing Joel a paper with a big red D- on the front. "It's a disservice to yourself. You had some great ideas in this, but you skimped on the research and gave me Wikipedia sources after I specifically said that those were unacceptable." I was only a foot away now. "Kendall, I swear to god, you better rethink what you're about to do."

"Damn it!" I groaned before moving to stand beside them, crossing my arms. "You have eyes in the back of your head."

"He does!" Joel chimed in. "He always catches me and Daniel passing notes in class. It must be his teacher super powers."

"What's this I hear about a D?" I looked at Joel. "Man, you're better than that."

Joel looked down at his feet and shifted his weight. "Yeah, I know." He brought his hand up and rubbed at his neck before dropping it again and folding his research paper in half. "Is there anything I can to do to make it up, Mr. Diamond? Like a bonus points assignment or something?"

"I'll think about it." James said, clearly softening up to the kid. "Now go to lunch. We'll talk about it later."

Joel nodded, bumping my fist before leaving the room.

"Kid needs to stop fooling around so much." I said with a grin. "Maybe then he'd be able to focus on his work."

"Huh?"

"Oh come on, James." I nudged his shoulder. "Did you seriously not see the freaking hickey on his neck? There were, like, three of them actually."

"I didn't really pay attention." He answered, turning to straighten the stack of papers on his desk. "I was too busy worrying about his future."

I admired his toned forearms before taking in the the way the dress shirt he wore was so fit around his biceps that it looked like the material would plit if he wasn't careful. My mouth watered, and I suddenly had images of me pushing him on the the desk and ripping that shirt off, kissing down his smooth chest and down to his belly button, where I'd swirl my tongue and…

"Ken?"

Snapping out of my fantasy, I focused on his sweet hazel eyes. "You ready to eat lunch? I didn't have time to stop and grab us something, so I guess school food will have to do. Unless you want to leave campus for lunch."

James narrowed his eyes. "What were you just thinking about?"

I shrugged and fidgeted with one of the markers in the tray by the board, finding them suddenly fascinating.

"You want to fuck me against this desk, don't you?" James asked, and when I looked back at him, his arms were crossed over his chest and he had a knowing look in his eyes.

"Maybe."

When James smiled, it was like everything was made right with the world. The flash of pearly white teeth and the crinkling in his right cheek was a sight for sore eyes. A lopsided grin that hit me square in the heart and traveled down to my throbbing dick.

"Come on, Romeo." He said before walking toward the door.

"Does that make you Juliet?" I asked, wiggling my brows.

He turned and scoffed. "Definitely not. If we'd be anyone from Shakespeare's world, it'd be Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, because of our joking around and battle of wits."

Warmth spread through my chest at a memory from so long ago. A text that I'd sent him on the last morning before everything went to shit.

"I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest." I quoted from the play.

James' gaze softened. "You remembered."

I stepped toward him and took his hand. "I never forgot."

Done! So this chapter was pretty much another Kames-fest. But we also had an appaearance from Camille and Joel, as well as the reveal that Kendall has become close with Daniel.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I plan on having it up before the weekend is over. :)

Until then!

-Epically Obsessed