Ok, so I've had this written for a little while, but I told a friend I'd work on it with her, so I've been waiting for her to send me her ending to the chapter (I wrote my own, which you will see below).

Do not fear, tis just the ending if the chap, not the fic.

Calm yoself.

Basically, that is my excuse for taking half a dozen years to finish this chapter.

And also letting you know that one of these days I might post something with her writing as well (it'll be told in the AN, just so ya know).

Tis all.

Read on.

Time passed in a peaceful lull, Drake fading into a bad dream. A nightmare within a bad dream, Roger surmised, because no matter how you looked at it, they were still trapped inside the goddamn bubble from hell. At least he had a little less weight on his chest.

Ever since he'd told Edilio about his sexual preferences, he'd felt better; uplifted. Sure, it'd be even BETTER if the Honduran could return his slightly jumbled feelings, but he doubted it could ever happen. Still, Edilio had never, to his knowledge, shown affection either way. Which made it harder for him; if the illegal was strait then Roger knew it could never be more than a fantasy, but since there was no evidence either way there was that little part of Roger's mind, rocking back in forth in a corner, wearing a tin-foil hat, whispering "it could still happen".

At the moment, that was most of Roger's mind.

He found himself in Edilio's presence often, and the two got along quite well. At least, they had until two weeks ago.

It was strange, one minute they seemed the best if friends and the next, Edilio was doing what could not be mistaken for anything other than avoiding him. Needless to say, Roger was extremely disheartened by this development.

No, more than disheartened: Roger found himself wrapped in a funk that none failed to noticed. Most blamed it on the fact that nobody was really in the right state of mind anymore, but some seemed to tell it was more than that. Still, none asked him, and he didn't bother to explain.

All there was to it was that Edilio was uncomfortable being friends with him; the Honduran probably noticed all the little glances Roger snuck; all the blushing, and put two and two together. Edilio was smart, at least with people, so there was really no way he wouldn't have come to this conclusion eventually.

Even so, it hurt.

One day, Jason turned to him, small mouth twisted in a little frown.

"Roger, why are you so sad?"

"It's nothing to worry about, little buddy," Roger replied tiredly, false small wavering.

"I should worry if someone I care about is sad," the little boy replied simply, playing with a frayed bit of his shirt.

"I... I'm just having some troubles, is all."

"Can I help fix them?"

"No, no it's nothing you can help me with."

Jason didn't say anything for a moment, then looked up at the older male.

"Are you sad about Edilio?"

"What?" Roger blanched, surprised.

"Is he making you sad?"

"Why would you say that...?"

"Well, you two liked to spend time together, and you smiled an extra special lot when he was there. Your face got red when you sat together too. Then you stopped being best friends and you haven't smiled a whole lot since."

Roger sat in silence for a moment before replying quietly

"Yah, I guess you're right."

"Well, then why don't you tell him you want to be friends again?"

Roger looked over at Jason, surprised.

"I wouldn't know what to say, though."

"It's easy!" The small boy grinned. "All you have to do is tell him how you feel!"

Sometimes, little kids are smarter than adults.

"Roger."

The boy stopped dead in his tracks. It was his name, but that wasn't really what caught his attention, it was the voice. Rather, it was the person to whom the voice belonged; the slight Honduran accent quickly dashing any doubts as to the owner against the rocks.

"Hey Edilio," Roger answered quietly, staring in disbelief at the other boy.

"So," Edilio replied gruffly, rubbing the back of his neck and looking off to the side. "How you doing?"

"Good, I guess," Roger stuffed his hands in his pockets as he spoke. What about you?"

"I'm fine."

After a moment, Roger spoke up again, attempting to get past the heavy silence.

"You must have been busy lately, I haven't seen you much."

Roger kicked at the dirt, a small lump forming in his throat. He quickly swallowed it, but it was too late to push the hurt, sadness and anger back down.

"Yah, sorry about that."

"Why are you here, really, Edilio?" Roger exploded, more out of a desperate need for answers but being too hurt to ask them than out of anger.

"I... Jason came to me and told me that I needed to talk to you; that you'd become pretty much depressed since- urm, in the last couple of days."

Roger stood silently for a moment, then began to shake, covering his face with his hands. Concerned, Edilio took a step closer, hand reaching out cautiously.

"R... Roger, you ok?"

In response, the younger boy threw back his head and let out a short laugh.

"Jason, that little matchmaker."

"Roger?" Edilio questioned again, confused.

"It's nothing, really," he replied, quieting down into a more serious tone. "Are we good?"

Edilio have a small smile, nodding.

"Yah, we're good."

"Is Edilio going to make you sad anymore?" Jason asked bluntly as Roger stepped into their tent.

"I think we're all good now," Roger replied with a little smile.

"But you still look sad."

"Well, we're good, just not as good as I want us to be. Does that make any sense?"

The young boy took a moment to consider his words before nodding.

"Yup."

"Ok."

Roger lay down, prepared to take a nap after many nights of little sleep.

"Roger?"

"Yah buddy?"

"Do you love Edilio?"

Roger took a long moment to consider those words. Finally, through a sleep-deprived fog, his mouth muttered the words.

"Yah, I think I might."