Anything in italics is just being signed (not spoken).

Chapter 2

The next morning arrived far too quickly for Grizz's liking. The last time he had gone into the woods with a group of kids, one of them didn't made it back to town alive. Even though he knew the incident wasn't his fault, he still felt a huge weight on his shoulders to make sure that nothing similar was going to happen on this expedition.

A small group of teenagers was gathered by the forest's edge when he had arrived at the location where Bean, Gwen, Mickey and him had agreed to meet up yesterday. As he waited for the rest of his expedition group to arrive, the number of gathered kids that had come to see them off had gradually grown bigger. Some of them had even created signs to wish them luck on their trip. This only heightened Grizz's anxiety.

The crowd of students were supposed to be an encouragement, to let them know that they appreciated what they were setting out to do, but seeing all of the hopeful looks only made Grizz feel antsy. What if they failed? What if there was nothing out there but trees? They would have to return to New Ham and deliver the devastating news that they were all going to eventually starve to death.

Needing to get away from crowd of optimistic teens for a while, Grizz snuck away to a small grassy area that was behind a few bushes to try to get himself together. He was just sliding his heavy pack off his back when he heard the sound of crunching leaves behind him and a frown crawled onto his face. All he wanted was a few minutes to himself.

Turning around, Grizz locked eyes with the dark, redheaded boy that was coming towards him and instantly felt his irritation wash away.

"Sam," he greeted, smiling brightly at the boy.

"You have everything you need for your trip?" Sam asked and signed as he came to a stop a few feet away from him, a sad smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah," he nodded and glanced down at his bag resting on the grass for moment. "All set."

Grizz didn't miss the way Sam's eyes sparkled with unshed tears before the boy turned away to look at the ground. His heart clenched at the sight.

They may have been going to the same high school since freshman year, but him and Sam had barely spoken to each other in the past. They had both ran in different groups. Joining the football team had made Grizz instantly part of the popular crowd, while Sam; being both deaf and openly gay, had had a tougher time getting through the school years.

The first time they had really spoken to each other was at Prom five months ago, and that was only because of the alcohol that had been in Grizz's system giving him the courage to sit down next to him. Still, Thanksgiving was the first time the two of them had really started getting to know each other.

They had ended up spending most of Thanksgiving together, first at the library and then visiting Grizz's little vegetable garden before heading back to his house. Sam was so easy to talk to. For the first time in his life, Grizz was starting to see that being gay was nothing to be ashamed of. This boy had giving him so much already, and seeing him cry made Grizz's heart ache painfully in his chest.

Taking a step forward, Grizz closed the distance between them and gripped the fabric of Sam's heavy, dark blue jacket.

He waited until the redhead was looking at him again before saying, "Hey, you know I'm not leaving you, right? I am coming back."

Sam nodded his head once, before bringing his hand up to tap his fingers against the side of his forehead, signing 'I know'. "Just be careful," he continued, using his voice for Grizz's benefit. "I need you to be safe out there."

Grizz nodded his head. "I will."

Stepping up on his tiptoes to prevent Grizz from having to lean down, Sam grabbed a fist full of his black coat. Pulling him close, he brought his lips towards the taller boy's and kissed him deeply before bringing him into a tight hug.

Stepping back, Sam reached a hand into one of the deep pockets of his jacket to pull out a book, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and handed it to his boyfriend. "Something for you to read at night," the boy offered as an explanation for his gift.

"Thanks." Grizz smirked at the boy's thoughtfulness.

Glancing over Sam's shoulder, he caught sight of Bean, Gwen, and Mickey waiting in front of the huge crowd that had now formed. It had to be close to the whole town by this point.

With a sigh, Grizz gestured towards the teens behind Sam. "I should probably . . ."

Taking a step back, Sam waited for Grizz to stow the book into a pocket on his bag before hefting the luggage onto his back and walked with him towards his waiting adventurers. Before Sam could head over to stand next to Becca at the front of the crowd, Grizz caught him by the arm, forcing him to turn back for a moment to sign him a promise.

'I'll see you soon'.

Sam stood beside Becca as Allie gave a short speech to thank the four volunteers who were standing to her right. He knew that he should probably be focusing his attention on Allie to read her lips, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Grizz. After turning away from him to join the other volunteers for the trip, Grizz had pulled his long hair back into a messy bun on top of his head.

If he had to admit it, Sam had had a crush on Grizz from the first moment he had laid eyes on him freshmen year. The boy was hanging out with his friends in the hallway in between classes with his dark red and yellow varsity jacket on. Their eyes had met for a split second as Sam was walking by, and he could still remember the feeling of butterflies flapping around in his stomach before hurrying on his way. At the time, he had quickly berated himself for the feelings that were coursing through him, making his cheeks grow warm. The last thing he had needed was to have a silly crush on one of the school's jocks.

As the years had passed, Sam had kept his eyes on the cute football player until one day when he saw the taller boy sitting in the cafeteria with a girl. His heart had clinched in his chest at the sight of Grizz reaching for the blonde's hand across the table. Of course he was straight. The idea that anybody could love him, a jock no less . . . It was ridiculous.

And then he had seen Grizz at Prom sporting a lime green, bottom up shirt and colorful bowtie and he had started to reconsider his original thoughts about the boy's sexual orientation.

Thinking back to the events that had transpired the night before, Sam bit his bottom lip gently to try and prevent the huge smile from growing on his face. He could have sworn he could still feel Grizz's hands on his hips, running up his chest towards his throat, and cradling his face . . . It was one of the best nights of his life.

Becca's elbow brushed against Sam's arm, bringing him out of his thoughts. The people around him were starting to clap and cheer, and he assumed Allie must have wrapped up whatever she had been saying.

By the time Sam turned back to look at Grizz, he was already walking away from them, leading the rest of the patrol into the forest. It wasn't long before he lost sight of him among the trees and Sam let out a heavy sigh at the loss.

With the volunteers setting off on their journey, Sam could feel Becca grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the huge gathering of students. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her signing something, but his mind was still trying to come to grips with the fact that Grizz was really gone. Someone had died out there a few months ago. Anything could happen to him. What if he didn't make it back?

Deciding that he should probably be paying attention to what his friend was saying, Sam glanced over to catch the last two signs of her question.

'Sorry, what did you say?' the redhead asked, but Becca shrugged it off with a wave of her hand before apparently changing the subject.

"So, where were you the other night? I saved you a seat at Thanksgiving but you never showed," Becca asked, gesturing with her hands.

'Yeah, I know. I sort of fell asleep. Sorry I didn't text you back,' Sam signed.

Becca gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean? You seemed to be looking forward to the dinner and you just . . . slept through it?"

Sam felt his heart race at the thought of telling her what had happened the other night. That while everyone else was eating turkey and pie, and had lost his virginity.

With his hands shaking slightly, he slowly signed, 'Well, not really. I mean, I was in bed . . . but I wasn't alone . . . and I definitely wasn't sleeping the whole time.' Becca narrowed her eyes at him and started to lift her hands to sign something, but Sam gestured for her to wait so he could finish. 'Do you remember when I said that there had to be someone else gay here who was repressed and still in the closet?'

"You mean . . . you were with someone last night?" Becca asked, speaking each word slowly as she studied her friends face. "Of my God, Sam! Who?"

'G . . . R . . . I . . . Z . . . Z,' Sam finger-spelled.

"What? Grizz is–"

Sam put a hand up to quiet her, sensing that her voice was rising in volume and quickly glanced around to make sure that none of the still gathered people were paying attention to them.

'He isn't ready for people to know yet,' Sam signed as an explanation for shutting her up. 'I promised him that you wouldn't say anything–'

Becca shook her head, her eyes bright with happiness for her friend. "No, of course not. I won't say anything until he's ready, but . . . Wow. Grizz?" she asked in shock as Sam nodded his head. "I did not see that coming."