All seven kids sit outside on a quickly darkening night, still lit by a strong ember from the fire. For a solid minute, the loudest thing to be heard was the wind barely brisking each of the kids' faces. One name leaves them all in complete silence. Otto slowly backs away from Twister and is left in a state of shock. Each of the other kids look at each other back and forth, over and over again. They all wait for one of them to speak up.

And then there is Twister. He looks at each of them nervously, losing his confidence incrementally as he looks at his friends. The increasing time left without a response feels like forever to him. Part of him wants to run off home, in fear of what they were about to say. However, he stands there too nervous to move. Finally, after what is only a few minutes in reality, the neverending silence is finally broken by Sam.

"Wait….you're serious, aren't you?"

Twister sheepishly nods. Jorge expresses what everyone is truly thinking, after a deep sigh.

"Wow…"

After a few more seconds, Otto finally speaks, in a frantic and chaotic tone.

"Hold on. Twister. You're telling me…that you….it's not me you like…but…"

Otto barely can contain his bafflement as he tries to word it correctly.

"You….you like….of all the people you…"

Watching Otto like this is pretty tough for him to watch. Twister finally finds the confidence to replicate the thought that left his friends in complete shock.

"Yeah. I like Rick."

Reggie is almost as shaken as her brother. Her former boyfriend of just a month or two ago is now back in the spotlight of someone else. It certainly is not an easy pill to swallow.

"Rick? You mean "our" Rick?"

Twister confirms it.

"Yeah. I mean. He's super good at sports like Otto but….he's different. I don't know. I feel really different around him. In a good way, of course. I feel really…happy…I guess. I know you guys dated Reg…and that's why I didn't say anything until now."

Anna speaks right after him, anticipating her friend's thoughts.

"And you needed to wait for him not to be here?"

Twister goes back to his nervous state.

"Well…maybe. It just worked out that way. I thought it would be easier to tell you guys first."

Anna continues.

"I get that. But…Rick?"

As Twister gets more and more visibly nervous from the group's shock, he wonders to himself if this is something he should have done. The doubt spreads all around his mind. That is, until one of them takes their turn to speak.

"Hold on. All of you are seriously surprised by this?"

Everyone's eyes swiftly veer to Harmony, who walks over to Twister in support. Reggie answers.

"Well…yeah? You're not?"

Harmony takes a good laugh and looks around her. To her surprise, everyone stands firm on their confusion. She tries to articulate her thoughts clearly to them.

"I don't mean to be mean, but I've noticed Twist liking Rick for a while now."

The group looks at her in bewilderment, with Jorge speaking out first.

"Really? How?"

Harmony continues her train of thought.

"I remember the first time we all met. The very first thing I noticed was how Twister seemed really shy. As I later found out, he's not usually the quiet one."

The group looks at Twister, who smiles.

"She's right."

Harmony continues.

"The other thing I noticed was his eyes. From the second we all met, his eyes were pretty glued to him. He was more curious about Rick than anyone else. As time passed, his fascination with him never really wavered. Even when he wasn't there, Twist would ask about him. I never said anything because…well…Rick really is an interesting one to say the least. We have all felt that around him. Still, I always felt that Twister deep down felt more than he showed after that."

Twister's face turns extremely red, as Harmony continues.

"As the days passed, it just seemed more and more obvious. How he'd always stand near him or look his way whenever he could. He'd even use Rick's weird lingo out of nowhere."

Jorge's voice breaks Harmony's explanation.

"At least he doesn't swear like Rick."

Much of the group laughs, while Twister's embarrassment continues to show, his face's complexion still looking like a freshly picked tomato. Harmony continues her thought.

"It's just something I've known for a bit. At the same time, I can imagine it's not an easy thing for Twister to deal with."

After Harmony speaks her words, a quiet voice speaks up, surprising everyone.

"I guess I get it. I'm sorry, Twist."

Twister looks over to Otto, who looks almost ashamed of himself for how he acted earlier. Twister smiles over at his brother and hugs him.

"All good, Otto-man."

The vibes of the outdoors fill with relief. Everything seems to calm over for a short bit. As the hug ends, Twister's nerves kick back in.

"I just…I don't think I have the guts to tell Rick."

The group goes silent for a while. The thought starts to press in their heads. The same thought that's been in Twister's for a good while. Now they're all aware of Twister's feelings. All now awoke to Twister's side of the coin. But how was Rick going to feel about it? Sam is the first one to bring his thoughts to light.

"I'm not sure how Rick will react."

Anna's the next to follow her thoughts.

"Yeah. Never know what he's thinking."

Anna's comment hit on the crux of the issue. Rick is the complete opposite of their group. For most of them, their feelings show on their sleeve. Rick almost unanimously feels like a mystery to them all, even to Reggie.

"I wasn't even sure what he felt when we dated. He's not really easy to read. That was a big problem for us. He's so quiet. Every time I tried to find out what he was thinking, he kept silent. I know he tried his best but…"

Anna subtly chimes in.

"He might not be ready to date anyone. Not to mention if he likes guys…"

Jorge intersects at the quick negative turn of the conversation.

"We can't be sure of anything until Twister asks him."

The group goes quiet for a bit. They all know Jorge is right. Anna opens her voice again to clear her thoughts.

"You're right. It's just...I don't want Twister to get his heart broken. I know that feeling. It can really make your brain go crazy."

Twister looks at Anna.

"I'm really sorry I put you through that."

Anna looks back at Twister with a smile.

"No worries, Twist. Just don't want you to fall apart like I did."

Twister's face grows a show of confidence as he responds.

"I'm good. No matter what, we'll all still be friends after it…I think….Still, I'll be okay either way."

The group looks at each other in higher spirits. With everything that has happened in such a short time, everyone was still together right now. It would not be the first time a crazy event added to the chaos. Still, this one somehow felt…different. In an odd way. Maybe it was the fact Rick wasn't there to handle it with them all. Maybe it was the reality of Twister's revelation.

After the intensity, everything starts to calm down. The air in the room continues to collect the feeling of relief, with the sounds of random conversation and laughter. After a while, the kids look up to Raymundo answering the phone inside the house. Soon after, he opens the door and gets the kids' attention.

"Twister! Your mom said you forgot your bag. If you wanna stay over, you might wanna go grab it."

The embarrassment on Twister's face shows bright.

"Craaaaap. I'll be right back. Gonna go grab it."

As Twister heads up and heads to the door, a pair of footsteps follow him, to his surprise.

"I'll be back, Dad."

Twister looks behind him to see Otto following him. Otto's face, while exhausted, gives Twister some reassurance he's okay.

"You don't mind if I tag along, right?"

Twister's face gives a bright smile as he answers.

"Of course I don't mind. Let's go!"

As Otto and Twister head out, Raymundo yells to the two kids.

"Be safe!"

As the two boys head out the door, the rest of the kids take turns with odd glances at each other. Twister's big announcement did take a lot of energy out of them. Everything on that day puts a layer of shock on their lives…and creates a lot of questions. How was Rick going to react? Would Twister really be okay? Could this possibly put a fracture in their group? This news…it changes everything. The one having the hardest time gripping the news breaks the silence.

"So he likes Rick, huh?"

They all look at Reggie. She sits there, clearly uncomfortable with it all. She knows more than anybody about Rick. Yet, she still feels like she knows nothing. In a way, it did bother her. Being with Sam made that bother go away. But now that Twister's happiness could depend on it, the struggles all came back up. Her thoughts escape her mouth in a ruffled tone.

"I just hope he's prepared for this."

Sam is quick to reassure his girlfriend.

"Twister will be alright."

Reggie accepts the nice gesture, softly placing her head on his shoulder. As she does, she clarifies her thoughts to them.

"It was more meant for Rick. He struggles with emotional stuff. He mentioned this when we were together. He doesn't like hurting people. This might put him in a bad position. I'm worried."

Anna doubles down on Reggie's thoughts.

"He's not very open like Twister is."

Reggie goes into her thoughts deeper.

"Yeah. He has a lot he's managing from his past. Stuff he didn't even bring up with me. I'm not sure he's even ready for a relationship. I don't think Twister's prepared to hear that."

Jorge looks over to Reggie as he adds in.

"I don't think either of them are prepared."

The somber mood embodies the atmosphere around them. There is a deafening silence only accompanied by the embers from the fire. The wind softly blowing around adds to the damper feeling. That is, until one voice finally speaks up.

"I remember the very first time I met Rick…"

All the heads turn over to Harmony, staring off into the sky, lost in her thoughts.

"He looked so…defeated. Took a few days to see him get out of that empty look of his. He mentioned very little about his past, but I think that was on purpose. He didn't seem to have a lot of hope for himself. I think that all changed when we all met each other. More than likely, he's just happy to be a part of the group. I know deep down, we all mean a ton to him. He's not someone who is gonna be a jerk. We can be happy about all this. I know Rick will go easy on Twist, no matter what his answer is. They'll get through this. We'll all get through this."

The group all look at Harmony in pure shock. It certainly is a different way to look at the situation in front of them. A more optimistic one at that. They all did know one thing about those words.

She was right.

Rick's past did not matter. Nor did his feelings on the matter. He's been as good a friend to all of them as they can ask for. The support is going to be there for Twister from all of them. That includes Rick. After a bit of silence, a voice finally breaks through.

"He is a good guy."

Sam looks over to his overwhelmed girlfriend. Sam puts his arm around her and comforts her.

"He is."

Reggie lets her thoughts ramble out loud.

"I mean…it is a bit weird to think I was not the only one crushing on him. But I can't blame Twist. And he was incredibly supportive of me when we broke up. He even led me to the fact Sam liked me. He wants people to think he's a dark and cold person. But he's a sweetheart."

The group looks at her with a collective smile. This feels a lot better than before for all of them. A spunky voice tries to break more tension after.

"I honestly think they'd make a really cute couple."

The group laughs at Anna's remark. As the conversation lightens up again, Harmony goes quiet as she looks at each of them. She looks up to the sky again and thinks to herself.

Please let this work out for them…

The front door shuts slowly. Two different sounds of footsteps go down the porch and onto their skateboards. Twister, now with his bag over his shoulder, trails behind Otto. They joke around and laugh over an old race they had way back. Otto won handedly, but Twister tried a risky trick to pass him.

"You still came back for me after I fell. You could have just won."

Otto shakes his head as he answers.

"You're my bro, Twist. I wouldn't ditch ya like that."

Twister chuckles.

"Good."

In a shock to Twister, Otto stops skating for a second, prompting Twister to stop as well.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I'm really lucky to have a brother like you."

Twister smiles and hugs Otto from behind.

"No need to apologize, bro. You're good. And I'm lucky too. I got Otto-Man as my bro!"

Otto looks at him. He finally could see Twister smile again. After everything that happened over the past few months, he wondered if he would ever be able to see him again, without all the crazy thoughts in his head. Yet here he was. Same as before. It was such a relief for Otto, even though plenty of confusion ran through his head about his own personal feelings. For now, it did not matter. His brother was back again. Still, his mind did worry about something new.

"Are you scared to tell Rick?"

Twister looks at him for a bit, then turns his head away, blushing in embarrassment.

"Ummm...yeah. I am. But I have to do this. For months now, it's been so hard to keep it hidden. From staring at him all the time, to just being super happy around him. It's like this weird feeling takes over my whole body. I get so nervous, my hands get really cold. I think about what it would be like to hold his hand, or hug him. It all scares me. I've never felt anything like this. I need to know if it's me or if he…if he feels the same."

Otto looks at a side of his friend he did not know existed before. The usual carefree and upbeat Twister became reserved. His posture is stiff and uncomfortable. Otto felt a lot of those feelings recently, even though his mind was still unsure why it impacted him so strongly. In the end, Otto could tell this clearly means a lot to Twister. As they skate up to the Rocket house, Twister gets off his board and looks to Otto.

"Thanks for the ride, Otto-Man!"

As Otto looks at him, a sense of joy overwhelms him. Twister's bright smile had a way of doing that. His best friend was back. Otto smiles back at him with a brightness of his own. Twister looks quite surprised in his own right. Otto softly responds to him.

"Thanks for being my brother, Twist…"

It was finally okay for them. No more awkwardness. No more fear around each other. The two boys have been through quite a lot in a short amount of time. They both wondered if they could be their usual selves again. Yet this may have made them closer than ever before. For the seven kids, this was all unexpected, shocking and revealing. Still, they were all united together. There was a single one left to fill in. What would happen with Rick? Were any of them prepared for it? One thing was left for sure. The biggest mystery of their group would soon be no mystery at all…