I tweaked one of Jake's lines slightly so that this chapter could happen. So technically it's not canon.

'I really hate the holiday season,' Jake announces as he takes a mouthful of food. Ryder is sitting with him and Marley in the cafeteria, as he does every day.

'Really?' Ryder can't understand the concept. 'But Christmas is awesome!'

'Yea, maybe for you,' Jake agrees. 'But for me, it's like, what the hell am I actually meant to celebrate? Christmas like everyone else? Or Kwanza? Or Hanukah? It's got to the point where we've just given up doing anything. Especially since we can't really afford it now.'

'I know that feeling,' Marley sympathises. 'I really don't think we're gonna be able to celebrate at all this year. I have no money for a present for Mom. I've spent the past week trying to work out what I could make for her. So yea, Christmas kinda sucks.'

Ryder hasn't ever really thought about it like that before. Christmas had always been his favourite time of the year. Getting presents, spending time with family. He's never realised how hard it could be for others. It seems weird that his two best friends don't have good experiences with Christmas. He promises himself that he'll get them both awesome presents.

'So, Ryder,' Marley turns to him, 'what're your plans for Christmas?'

Ryder can't help but feel guilty as he answers, knowing how different his holidays are going to be. 'I – um –I'm going to Fort Lauderdale,' he tells them.

'Lucky,' Jake and Marley both chorus. 'I wish I could go,' Jake adds.

'Actually,' Ryder continues, 'my parents said I could bring a friend. So you're more than welcome to come. Sorry, Marls, but there's no way they'd let me bring a girl.'

'That's okay,' Marley responds demurely.

'Wait, dude, are you serious?' Jake asks. 'That would be so awesome. . . But I can't go. There's no way I'd be able to afford it.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Ryder tells him. 'My parents will pay. Seriously. They'll just be thrilled that I won't be hanging off their coat tails the whole time.'

Jake thinks for a moment. 'Okay, then. I'd love to go. Thanks man.' He gets up from the table, tray in hand. Ryder watches him leave, lets himself stare. Admiring him, the way he tries not to when Jake's watching. It's only then that he realises what he's done. He's going to be spending a week with Jake, a week straight. Every minute of the day, heck, they'll probably even be sharing a room. And there's no denying the fact that they'll be spending long hours on the beach, where Jake will undoubtedly be shirtless. Ryder doesn't know how he'll cope. Doesn't know how he'll get through without acting on his desires. Because already that's getting hard. Too often he has to restrain himself from just kissing Jake. Too often he catches himself gazing at him in class. And he's currently only seeing Jake for a couple of hours a day.

This was gonna be one long vacation.

Xxx

'Thank you again Dr and Mrs Lynn,' Jake tells them as the four of them enter their rented apartment. It seems weird, Ryder thinks, hearing his dad referred to as Dr. But then again it's still a fairly new title.

'Really Jake, you're welcome,' Ryder's mother tells him. 'You don't have to keep mentioning it.' That's what Ryder has been telling him as well, but even still Jake continues.

The two of them lug their baggage to the far bedroom, dropping it all in the doorway. Ryder takes a running jump for one of the beds. 'I dibs this one,' he calls.

'Why do you get the view?' Jake mumbles in reply. He climbs onto the end of Ryder's bed, leaning against the window to peer out. 'Dude, check it out. You can see the beach from here.'

Ryder watches the excitement on Jake's face. It's different, he thinks, to see him showing such enthusiasm about something. Usually he's so focussed on portraying complete disinterest. Curious as to what could cause this change in Jake, he tries to sit up, struggling to do so.

'Here,' there's a hand shoved in his face, 'let me help you.' He takes Jake's hand, strong and warm in his own. He marvels at the black against white, at the way that they fit so well together. He's so distracted by his thoughts that he tugs a little too hard on Jake's hand. Instead of being pulled up towards Jake, Jake is pulled down towards him, landing on his chest.

He wants to take a moment to savour the feeling, but he knows that Jake is probably freaking out. 'Oh shit, I'm sorry Jake. Are you okay?' Jake just laughs in reply, rolling to the side until he's lying on the mattress next to Ryder.

'I'm fine,' he replies eventually, leaning up on one arm. 'Tell you what though. Let's go check out the beach quickly before dinner. See whether you can have any more luck injuring me there.'

Xxx

Ryder rolls over onto his back, trying to get comfortable on the beach chair. It's their second full day of vacation, the second day he and Jake have spent on the beach while his parents visited the museums and other tourist spots. It turns out that Ryder was right about how hard this trip would be. Spending whole days where Jake is just wearing his short red shorts is really testing Ryder's self-restraint. He's eternally grateful for the invention of sunglasses though. The fact that they allow him to admire Jake's body without him realising.

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Jake move, and lazily turns his head. 'I'm too hot,' Jake tells him, and Ryder has to hold back from commenting. 'Wanna come for a swim?'

Ryder rolls out of his chair, all lazy limbs from the heat. He pulls off his sunglasses, blinking in the glaring light. Jake's laughing at his sleepy nature. Well, Ryder will teach him not to mock. He takes off along the hot sand, turning to call over his shoulder, 'Race you there.'

He can hear Jake racing along behind him, beginning to make up ground as Ryder splashes into the sea. As the water reaches his waist, Jake finally catches up and tackles him, both of them ending up underwater. As they surface, they continue to roughhouse, splashing and pushing, no real menace in it. It reminds Ryder of when they first met, those first fights they'd had, which had so much more intent behind them. Back then, although he hadn't really realised it, he'd craved a closeness with Jake where he wouldn't have to fight to protect himself. Now, he notices, he has that, but it's still not really enough. Sure, physical contact like this is accepted, but there are boundaries that they can't cross, boundaries that Ryder knows he wants to cross.

'You fight like a girl,' Jake taunts, as he bounces around out of arms' reach. Ryder lunges for him, misses, and Jake easily grabs him in a head lock. 'I win,' he announces, letting go. Ryder holds his hands up in surrender, leaning back to float on his back. Moments later, Jake joins him and they stay like that for a while, hands occasionally brushing arms as they work to keep themselves afloat.

'We should go back in,' Ryder suggests eventually, 'I can feel myself burning.'

When they make it back, they towel off and Ryder slips a shirt on – too lazy to apply that much sunblock, before settling back into their chairs. A silence falls over them, easy as always, but Ryder finds that he feels like talking.

'How are things going with Marley?' he asks, nonchalantly, staring up into the clear blue sky.

'It's going really well,' Jake responds. 'She's pretty amazing. I mean, you know that, but actually dating her, it's like – wow.' Ryder hums in agreement, slightly sad that Jake seems so happy with her. 'Shit, I'm sorry man,' Jake continues. 'That wasn't cool. I always forget you have a thing for her.'

Ryder thinks for a moment before replying, not wanting to say too much. 'No it's okay. I've moved on.'

Jake catches on quickly. 'Moved on, eh? Who's the lucky girl?'

Ryder doesn't reply directly, just mutters under his breath. 'That's a big assumption.'

'Wait, what?' Jakes asks, sitting up. Apparently Ryder wasn't quiet enough. 'You like a guy? Who is it?'

Ryder turns his head to the side, away from Jake, not wanting to reply. There was no way that he was going to tell Jake about his crush.

'Ryder,' the voice is soft. 'You can tell me. I get it. I'm bi, remember?' Ryder still doesn't say anything. 'Actually, if I'm being honest, there's a guy I kinda like as well.'

Ryder turns his head back sharply, trying not to get his hopes up. 'But you're dating Marley?'

'Yea, and I like her a lot,' Jake agrees. 'But this guy, I think I might like him even more. The thing is though, I always thought he was straight.'

Ryder feels his breath catch in his throat, hope definitely rising now. Jake gets up from his own beach chair, takes the half step over to Ryder's, kneels on the edge. Ryder can't keep his eyes off him, stares up at him, into those deep, brown eyes which stare back into his. He's suddenly glad that he never put his sunglasses back on.

'Please, Ryder,' Jake's voice is barely above a whisper. 'You have to tell me who it is. I don't want to make a fool of myself.'

Not saying anything in response, Ryder just reaches out a tentative hand, rests it gently on Jake's side, thumb caressing over his stomach. It seems this is all Jake needs, because the next moment his arm is on Ryder's shoulder, around the back of his neck, and his whole body is inching ever closer. He seals his lips over Ryder's.

Ryder has never kissed a guy before. Before Jake, he'd never even considered wanting to. But kissing Jake is simply amazing. His lips are chapped, the taste of the sea strong on them. The kiss is gentle, loving, but he can feel a masculine power behind it. Jake's other hand is in his hair, and Ryder wraps his spare hand around Jake's back, pulling him closer. He can feel the warmth radiating from Jake's chest through his own shirt. He sucks against Jake's bottom lip, pulls it into his mouth, causing Jake to give a low moan. Feeling emboldened, he gathers the courage to try using his tongue.

Just as he decides this, he hears a loud wolf whistle. Jake pulls away from him abruptly, holds himself up with the arm at Ryder's neck. Ryder cracks open his eyes, wants to glare at whoever interrupted him. But he's distracted by the sight of Jake, smiling shyly down at him.

'That was – wow,' Jake says eventually.

Ryder places a kiss on his nose. 'What can I say?' he replies in explanation, running his hands up and down Jake's sides. 'You're my kryptonite.'

Jake laughs in response, lowering himself down beside Ryder to snuggle against him. They wrap their arms around each other protectively. 'Y'know, if you told me that when Finn set the lesson, we could have been doing this for ages.'

'I think we were too busy focussing on Marley,' Ryder replies. He stiffens as a thought strikes him. 'Wait, you're dating Marley, I totally just made you a cheater.'

Jake rubs a hand over his chest, reassuringly. 'No you didn't. Marley and I have just been on a few dates. That's all. Nothing official.'

'Ah, right, of course. You're not the monogamous type,' Ryder's heart clenches painfully. He doesn't know how Marley copes with this.

'Normally,' Jake agrees. 'But for you I could make an exception. Ryder Lynn, will you be my boyfriend?'

Xxx

That night, Ryder can't sleep. He doesn't know if it's the heat or the butterflies he gets every time he thinks of Jake. He glances over at the boy in question, who is tossing and turning.

'Jake,' he whispers softly. The movement immediately stops, Jake peering out from beneath his sheet. 'Can't you sleep either?' A shake of the head, and Ryder daringly slips out of bed, crossing the room to slip in next to Jake.

'Hey,' Jake whispers, smiling broadly as he wraps an arm around Ryder. They lie like that for a while, snuggled together, heads sharing the same pillow. Suddenly, Jake speaks. 'Are you gonna tell your parents about us?'

'No,' Ryder replies, almost too quickly, before continuing. 'It's just, I've barely realised that I'm not straight. I'm not ready to come out to anyone yet, especially not them. Besides, I don't want them imposing a whole lot of rules on us.'

Jake nods in agreement. 'Yea, that would suck. And for the record, I'm not ready to come out to anyone yet either.'

'It'll be our little secret.'

Xxx

The morning of day four, they're at breakfast, a free buffet that was part of the deal.

'So what do you two have planned for today?' Ryder asks his parents. So far, it hasn't been anything interesting, but he figures it would still be polite to ask.

'We're going to a military museum,' his father replies.

'Oh, that sounds cool,' Jake enthuses. Suddenly, Ryder's dad is explaining the museum to the both of them in great detail. Jake is fascinated, and Ryder has to admit it does sound pretty interesting.

Ryder's parents excuse themselves for another helping. As they leave, Jake turns to Ryder, looking excited. 'We should totally go with them.'

'Are you kidding?' Ryder asks. 'Do you know how much reading you have to do at a museum? We'll be there forever.'

Suddenly, Jake's hand is on his knee, reassuring yet subtle, hidden by the table. 'It'll be okay,' he promises. 'I'll read it all aloud for you. And that way, you'll get to listen to my sexy voice all day.'

Ryder is touched, thankful that Jake is willing to do this for him. Sure, Jake may already have helped him study a lot, but this seems like more. Ryder hasn't ever thought anyone would be bothered to go to that much trouble for him. He has the overwhelming urge to kiss Jake, but he can see his parents approaching. Instead, he just places his hand over Jake's, laces their fingers together and squeezes gently.

Xxx

Jake and Ryder stand side-by-side in front of a display board, shoulders brushing. Jake reads in a hushed whisper, not wanting to disturb the other visitors, and Ryder is glad for the excuse to stand close to him. Sure, his parents may be upset that he isn't putting the effort in himself, but at least their behaviour hasn't raised any other questions.

As Jake finishes reading, he slips his hand into Ryder's, pulling him gently towards the next display. Ryder looks around wildly, tries to drop Jake's hand, but Jake is holding too tightly.

'Your parents are miles behind us,' he explains. 'They're reading every detail; we're just doing the highlights package.' Ryder feels himself relax, allows himself to lean into Jake's warmth. Jake smiles down at him, leaning forward to kiss his forehead, before turning to point out a picture.

Ryder smiles, watches Jake jabbering away excitedly. This has to be the best holiday he's ever been on. It's funny to think that he'd been freaking out about going. Now, for exactly the same reason, things couldn't have turned out more perfect. The day after tomorrow, they'll be going home, back to Lima. Ryder will be bringing back a tan, a few souvenirs. But best of all, he'll be bringing back a boyfriend.