Buck was sitting by the remains of their fire eating his breakfast, a bowl of dry cereal, when Io appeared from her tent. She yawned, stretched her arms behind her back, then combed her fingers through her messy lilac hair.

"Morning Io."

"Good morning, Buck." She peered at the fire.
"It needs some more fuel, hold on." She disappeared into the woods momentarily, returning with a couple of sticks and some fresh tinder. She carefully placed it on a faintly glowing ember and blew onto it. The tinder ignited and slowly, a fire started burning again.

"Alright, that seems good." Io sat down by the fire, but not before grabbing a pot and a bottle of water from a backpack she had taken out of her tent.

"Don't mind me, I'm just making some tea." She poured some water into the pot and put it over the fire to heat it. "How did you sleep?"

"No problem. I slept well. You?"
"I did too. Is Jenos still asleep?"
"Yeah, he was pretty beat." Buck realized then how strange it was that Jenos woke up in the middle of the night despite how tired he was after their day at the lake.

"I was too, but I'm awake now," Io commented, smirking mischievously. Buck could feel what was coming.

"And?" Buck asked nervously.

"I wonder if he... stayed up late doing anything?" she asked. He sighed. Buck could see what Jenos meant when he said she liked to tease.
"Yes, I did it." She chuckled.

"There it is. How did it go?" She poured some of her now steaming water into a mug, then put a tea bag in it.

"It went really well. You were right, he did feel the same way." She grinned.
"I'm so happy for you two, that's adorable!" Io beamed. At that moment, he remembered that Jenos had the same plan as him and decided to ask about it.

"Did you talk to him too? Because he was actually the one who wanted to go stargazing." She laughed.
"Really? That's hysterical! I did tease him about it, but I assumed he was too nervous to actually do it."

"Well you were wrong about that."
"He's full of surprises, isn't he?" Buck smiled.

"Yeah." They continued to chat for a couple of minutes, Io sipping her tea and Buck eating his cereal. Eventually, Jenos came out of his and Buck's tent, dazed and rubbing his eyes. He was still wearing Buck's jacket.

"Morning Jenos," Buck greeted.
"Good morning." Jenos gave a soft smile and sat down.

"That's a nice jacket you've got there." Jenos's tanned cheeks turned slightly red.

"Thanks…" She giggled.
"I heated some water, in case you wanted tea too," Io said.
"Yes, I would." She handed him the pot of hot water and he poured some into a mug. He reached for a tea bag out of the backpack, and started making his tea as well.

"You were out for a while, how late did you stay up?" she asked with a knowing grin. "I don't know, I wasn't keeping track," he sputtered quickly, covering his face with his mug. She snickered at his embarrassment. Buck rolled his eyes.

"What did you guys have in mind for today?" he asked, changing the subject. The cousins paused.

"Maybe we could go down to that stream again?" Io suggested.
"Sounds good to me," said Jenos, "We'll be able to get there and back with plenty of time to pack up afterwards." The realization that the trip would end loomed over Buck's head. Then again, he didn't get much private time with Jenos when Io was around. Still, he appreciated the change of scenery.

The trio continued to chat over their breakfast, then proceeded to go back into their tents to change out of their pajamas and into their hiking clothes. Jenos, eager to be on the trail again, changed first and made his way over to the trailhead long before Io and Buck were ready. Eventually, Buck and Io were ready, and the three started to walk on just as they did the day before. When they made it to the hills, Jenos took a slower pace than before to stay near Buck, which he appreciated. Io, meanwhile, was eager to make it to the stream and teased him for slowing them down for his 'boyfriend.' That made both boys blush. After some time, they made it to the same stream they had walked along the day before, but this time, Jenos led them on a trail going upstream. Buck once again suffered from his lumbering nature as he tried his best not to slip on the rocky and winding path. After a considerably difficult journey, they made it to a pond that fed the stream.

"This seems like a good place to stop," Jenos said.

"I thought you said this was supposed to be a short walk," Buck said, breathing heavily. Jenos shrugged sheepishly.

"Seemed pretty short to me," Io commented, sitting down by the water's edge. Jenos walked towards where a stream fed into the pond to form a small waterfall. He sat down on the leaf-covered ground, then watched the water flow into the pond. Buck could see a light smile form on his face as he sat down next to him. They sat in silence, Buck peeking at Jenos from time to time. Jenos turned to him and caught him staring, causing Buck to blush and Jenos to grin knowingly. Buck looked towards the water's edge, which was blanketed in stones. He spotted a particularly shiny pebble, which he proceeded to walk over to and pick up. It was that classic river stone color—dark grey with a hint of blue—but with stunning, slightly translucent bands of silver and pale blue across its surface. It reminded him of Jenos's wispy sky blue locks.

"Look what I got for you," Buck said, breaking their silence. Jenos looked up to him. Buck sat back down next to him and presented the stone. He was transfixed.

"That's really nice of you. Thank you Buck." He nodded it and placed it in the slimmer man's hands. He smiled as he ran his slender finger along its ridges.

"I'm glad I invited you on this trip," Jenos said quietly, pocketing the stone.
"I'm glad I came. I can't wait to spend more time with you." Jenos smiled and looked up to the sky.

"Me neither."

"It kind of sucks that we have to go home soon, though," Buck said.
"Yeah. Sometimes I wish I could stay here forever." Buck looked around, taking in the wispy clouds against the blue sky above, the sound of the gentle waterfall, the smooth ripples of the glassy pond water, and the branches on the lanky trees bending ever so slightly with the wind. Buck didn't want to leave either. He felt as if he was in a photograph, in a moment that would last forever in his mind.

The tranquility eventually came to an end when Io got bored with tossing rocks into the water and insisted on going back to the camp. By the time they returned, the afternoon sun cast an amber tint on everything, so it was certainly time to leave if they did not want to arrive home late on a school night. They disassembled their tents, packed their belongings away, walked back down to the parking lot. The reality that the trip was over hit Buck as they packed everything into the trunk and started the drive home. Buck stared out the window at the sunset, occasionally looking over to Jenos in the driver's seat to admire his beauty as well. Maybe the trip was over, but his time with Jenos was not. He smiled at the thought of more outings in the future.

Buck dreaded saying goodbye to Jenos as he pulled up to his house. Jenos put the car in park, turned off the engine, and slumped back in his seat.

"Man, I can't wait to take a shower," Jenos said, "That's the only downside of camping." Buck chuckled.

"You look tired. I'll get out of your hair now," he joked.

"I want to ask you to stay, but we have school tomorrow," he said with a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah. It kind of sucks." They sat in silence, Buck looking out his window to the dark neighborhood, hesitant to leave.

"So, are we like, an item, then?" Buck asked. Jenos perked up.

"Whatever you want to call it works for me."

"Alright, I just need to know what to tell people." Jenos practically jumped in his seat at that.

"What?" Buck turned to him.

"Oh, do you not want me to tell people?" Jenos winced.
"I… I don't know."

"Is it your parents?" Buck asked.

"No, they would be fine with it. I'm worried about people making fun of us."
"Well, I don't want to have to keep it a secret. I don't feel ashamed about you." Jenos smiled at that. Buck reached his hand out to hold Jenos's.

"Don't worry about them. They won't bother me and I'll be there for you if they bother you. There's nothing wrong here as long as we are happy." Jenos nodded. Buck moved his hand to the other boy's face and gave Jenos a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for the fun trip. See you at school tomorrow," Buck said.

"Goodbye Buck. Thank you for coming." Buck left the car and got his backpack from the back, then walked back into his house. He made his way upstairs, his legs still slightly sore from climbing up the hills, and took a long, hot shower to wash all of the dirt off. Then, he changed into his pajamas and went to bed thinking of Jenos, falling asleep quickly now that he was not anxious and in an uncomfortable sleeping bag.

/

Fernando tapped his foot rapidly. He had been dreading this moment for the whole weekend. Every time he heard the door open, he turned to see who it was, hoping that it wasn't Khan. Usually, seeing Khan was something he looked forward to, but now, he was full of anxiety wondering what Khan might say or do after what had happened on Friday. The memories were hazy, but Fernando knew what he had done, and he couldn't regret it more. When Khan walked in, his heart skipped a beat as the memories he had tried hard to repress creeped their way back into his mind. He turned away as Khan made his way to their table and sat down. His presence next to him, his warmth and his scent, reminded Fernando of how he sat next to him when he poured his heart out to him. Fernando made eye contact with him. The same golden hazel eyes that had shown concern, interest, and ultimately, fear, looked right back at him. He could barely handle it. His heart was pounding.

"Hey Fernando," he said casually. Fernando nodded and looked away, too nervous to say anything. Khan then faced Lian, who was on her phone. "Hi." She didn't even look at him. Khan frowned. There's always something going on between those two, Fernando thought to himself, irritated.

"Okay class," Inara started. "Today, I'm going to give you a lesson on anatomy, and for the next couple of days, you will work on a drawing of a person for a grade." Although the rest of the class seldom paid attention, Fernando focused entirely on Inara's lesson because it fueled his creativity and acted as a good distraction from thinking about Khan. He was eager to start his drawing, so he immediately got to sketching as soon as the lesson was over. He put careful attention into the contours of his subject's chest and arm muscles with subtle shading. His hand got sore as he started the subject's facial features, so he put down his pencil and looked at his art.

He had been in such a state of focus on the fine details, of raw creative energy flowing out onto the paper, that he had not realized his subject resembled Khan. He discreetly cross-examined his drawing with the boy sitting next to him. Same sculpted, tall form, large angular nose, strong brow, square jaw. That was Khan alright. Fernando drew the most handsome man he could imagine, and to him, that was Khan. He could feel embarrassment brewing as he looked up from his drawing and met Khan's curious gaze.

"Looks like you've been hyper focused on yours, it must be really good," Khan said, trying to steal a glance as Fernando rolled his eyes bashfully and nonchalantly blocked it with his arm. "Can I see?"

"Sure, if you show me yours." Fernando hoped that Khan wouldn't notice the resemblance as he moved his arm and pushed the drawing towards him. Khan handed him his.

"Oh, you drew a man," Khan said, "Wow, this is impressive. I drew a girl because I was scared of drawing muscles, but you did a good job." He briefly looked down at Khan's drawing to hide his reddening face. He had drawn a slender, petite woman with short hair, almost a bob cut.

"Thanks," Fernando said, taking the drawing away and giving Khan's back before he could examine it further. He couldn't help but wonder if Khan's drawing represented what he found attractive, too. He looked over to Lian, who had ignored drawing entirely in favor of browsing her phone. She was curvy, but he knew Khan felt no attraction to her. He went back to sketching to ward off his wandering mind.

Soon enough, the bell rang and it was time for lunch. He walked out into the hallway and to the lunchroom with Khan and Lian. He decided that he didn't want to spend any more time around them in this tense state, and started heading towards Cassie's table. When he offered for Khan to come with him, he sheepishly refused. This disappointed, but did not surprise Fernando. He considered the possibility that Khan was trying to avoid him, which made him nervous. He's probably just trying to appease her, he told himself as he sat down next to Koga. As he settled in with the jovial mood of the group, his worries about Khan melted away.

"Hey Nando," Koga greeted.
"Hey Koga."

"So, how about that party on Friday night?" he asked. Fernando groaned. He really didn't want to think about that night.

"Dude, I got so hung over. It sucked."

"Sucks. Did you at least have fun though?"
"I guess," Fernando said hesitantly, trying not to think about what had happened, "You?"

"Yeah, I had a great time," Koga said with a smirk, "After I left."
"Oh, where did you go?" He blushed slightly as he averted his gaze.
"Nowhere in particular." Fernando followed his gaze to Ying, who sat across the table from them. She took notice of them and waved to Koga, her cheeks pink as well. Fernando glared back at Koga.

"You and Ying?" Fernando asked, dumbfounded.

"What do they say, opposites attract?" Koga joked. Fernando rolled his eyes.
"I mean, congratulations, it's just unexpected."
"Thanks, man. Anyways, you seen Buck? I didn't see him at the party and I haven't seen him today," Koga asked. Fernando noticed at that moment that Buck was absent from their table, along with Jenos.

"I saw him in art but I didn't talk to him. He's probably just with Jenos, he's not here either," Fernando suggested.

"Yeah, we can tease him about it in gym." They continued to chat over lunch, then, the bell rang for the next class. Fernando and Koga made their way to the locker room to get ready for gym class. Khan arrived shortly after. He had started to change when Fernando tried to start a conversation.

"Hey Khan, how are you?" Fernando asked, sitting on a bench behind him while putting on his shoes.

"I'm alright," he responded, not facing him.

"You and Lian doing alright?"
"Yes."
"Didn't seem like it."
"We're doing fine." Fernando sighed, for something was clearly wrong, but Khan refused to open up, just like he had before Fernando gained his trust. He hoped that his confession hadn't hurt his trust in him, that Khan was just in a bad mood. He shifted his attention to Koga. He was chatting with Buck, who had arrived and started changing while he was talking to Khan.

"So, where were you at lunch today, Buck?" Koga asked slyly.

"Why does it matter to you?" Buck answered defensively.

"What's wrong with asking how a friend is doing?"
"That's not what you asked!"

"Yeah, where were you?" Fernando butted in.
"Ugh, why does everyone care about where I was? I was just hanging out with Jenos." Koga grinned.
"See, you were right, Fernando!"

"Excuse me?" Buck asked angrily.
"I just assumed you were with him, since he was gone, too." Buck rolled his eyes, his face turning slightly red.

"Why do you guys care anyways?"
"What did you do?" Koga asked, ignoring his question.

"What do you want me to say? We just chilled outside." Koga laughed.
"Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone." Fernando stood up and walked to the exit of the locker room along with some of his classmates. For once, he dreaded gym and math class with Khan. It was strange to think that he would normally look forward to these rather mundane classes because of him. He hoped he wouldn't do anything else to make things worse with Khan as he begrudgingly made his way to class.