"That's a fairly large circle, Oliver. What gives?"

The boy rose from kneeling on his bedroom floor, gazing at his work in fondness. "I have been wanting to try something."

"Like those pumpkin spice cupcakes Anabella plans on making? It's almost that time of the year!"

"Almost," Oliver agreed. How fast the warm months love to fly by! His chalk repeatedly scratched across the cold floorboards, pausing every now and again for him to glance at the magic book that was opened on the ground. He weaved around the large symbol, etching different emblems along the outer circle. "Where do you think I should go?"

"When?"

"Soon. After this is done."

"You should go outside! It is a nice day out!"

"Yes, but unfortunately, that will not last. During this time, a month from now, the leaves will be brown and grey."

"You got to while it lasts!" Lila insisted.

"Outside it is. I like the tree by the rear gate. It is thick enough to hide from everyone else."

"You mean hide from those girls?"

"Just from everyone," Oliver tried to assure the fairy, but his voice cracked.

"Yep! I knew it! You're hiding from them, aren't you?" When the boy did not reply verbally, his ears going red instead, Lila gloated, "It isn't fun when the tables turn on you, huh!" She cried out in surprise as Oliver settled in the middle of the sigil and crumbled the remaining slither of chalk to dust.

"I have to concentrate, if you don't mind." The teen closed his eyes, sitting rigidly. His fairy friend decided to be quiet and let him focus on ignoring the muffled clanks and voices of the other inhabitants. He thought about his position, how it was, where it was, and where he wanted to be. Lila twitched, most likely from the stiff atmosphere, and gave a little jump when the teen began chanting.

The chalk shifted, unsettling at his words. A cool gust disturbed Oliver's auburn strands around the fairy, and he erupted in breathy laughter from her yelp of surprise. "It is not teleportation; it is summoning oneself to another place. You are sending yourself somewhere else."

"So it is teleportation," Lila said. She shuffled around, and gazed at the back yard of the House.

Unconsciousness hit Oliver so strongly, he could not make a noise against it. He felt himself lean backwards without his consent, and the fairy launch herself from his head. "Oliver? Hey, Oliver!" A light weight settled on his cheek, but he could not respond to Lila's concern as a wave of black reeled him in without a chance to fight back.

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

Oliver came to with a light humming from his side. His eyes fluttered against a touch brushing against his temple. He grunted unattractively, trying to ask Lila what happened, but he heard stupid sounds come out of his mouth instead of coherent words.

"Ugh," Oliver slumped his head to the side, and his eyes completely opened in surprise. "Wh-what..."

Allen was laying in the grass, too, his head propped up by an elbow, and his other hand shrunk back to his stomach. "Hey, you're awake! You were just chillin' out here all by yourself. So, I was thinkin' that I should lay out here, too, so you wouldn't be all alone."

Alone; Lila was nowhere in sight. The baker wondered if she panicked when he passed out, and fled, or simply woke back up to the Realm, not seeing a point in hovering over an unconscious body. He did not dote on it, instead worrying about what was happening right then and there.

"Oh." Oliver furrowed his eyebrows together as he studied the other's soft smile. "How thoughtful," he murmured unthoughtfully. The grin widened, exposing pearly teeth, and pricked his stomach with a warm sensation. Then, in growing horror and widened eyes, he remembered why he was trying to avoid human contact with anyone within the House's perimeters. It was inevitable, despite his lousy efforts to hide. The girls had to have spread the gossip; it would be very unnatural for them to resist. No one was safe from the dreaded rumors, even within the group, including himself. There was no doubt that even Miss Warden has heard something foul at sometime in her hostel, but never made a word against it.

Allen made a noise of confused thought from his silence, and flopped onto his back, staring at the sky. "Did y'have a nice nap?"

Oliver let out a wimpy laugh. "If you call it a nap."

"I don't get it."

"You do not have to."

"Okay, I guess." After a moment of watching the lazy clouds, Allen suddenly said, "Hey, Ollie, why are you here? I'm talkin' 'bout the specifics."

He made it to be a prison sentence. Perhaps it was, with fake freedoms, and inner turmoil, even in times that were superficially peaceful. Either way, Oliver was glad to get his thoughts on a different track. "My mother dropped me off here around a year ago. She was supposed to come back, but she never did."

"She didn't want you?!"

Oliver was startled by his friend's strong reaction. "N-no. Err...she led me here to keep me safe, while she was captured by the police in the belief she was responsible for my father's disappearance."

"Whoa!" Allen turned over to face him again. "Was she?"

"Yes, in a way, but she did not kill him. However, the police did not know that, and could not know that."

"Why not?"

"She wanted to keep me safe," Oliver quietly repeated. "Once he would return, she would be released, but he never came back."

"How come, Ollie?"

"He is dead." Oliver quickly added, "I think he is, and because of that, she will remain in prison forever."

"And in turn, you'll stay here?"

"Yes."

"You know, I'm kinda glad." When Oliver flopped to his side to give him a questioning look, Allen grinned. "Matt an' I were always on the run. We never really hunkered down an' stayed in places fer long, so we never really made any pals 'long the way. Here, we got everythin' we need, so we don't hafta worry 'bout that stuff."

"What was chasing you?"

Allen snorted. "The police."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, all the time. It really got on my nerves."

"Allen."

"Yeah?"

"Why were the police chasing you?"

"Oh, that sounds like I'm a bad guy, doesn't it?" Allen gave his chest a nervous rub as a deep giggle rumbled against his hand. "We stole food an' blankets from people's homes and stores. If it makes it better, it wasn't fer funsies. It was fer survival. All o' those people had all this stuff, an' at the time, we needed it more than they did. So when that stuff with that Crooked fella sprung up, the last thing I wanted to do was get back into that shit."

"They do not even need to do what they do. They claim they do, but really, they don't. I am not entirely sure that they even know that they do not have to do what they do...if that makes any sense." When Allen glanced over at him in alarm, Oliver quickly added, "Sorry, but I feel rather strongly about this."

"Wit' all good reason to! Those kinds o' fellas give people like us that had to do bad things just to keep livin' a bad name...a worse name than we already have."

"That is horrible." Oliver's eyes widened when his friend lifted his head in an inquisitive gesture. "I mean it is horrible that you had to do all of that. Where were your parents?"

"We don't got any."

"Everyone has parents!"

"A lot of kids, don't, Ollie. Your ma took care of you, probably hugged you, an' smiled at you. My mom, when she was around, looked at us as if it was our fault fer her gettin' knocked up with twins."

"That is awful! What about your father? Was he around?"

Allen shrugged as much as he could in his sideways position. "Dunno. He could be anyone, knowin' my ma." He mashed his eyebrows together. "Ollie? Are you cryin'?"

"No." Oliver drug his fingers over his eyes, glaring at the wetness on his fingertips. "Ugh, okay, don't laugh at me." He pinched the fabric against his shoulder to wipe the tears clinging to his lashes, and claimed, "Oh gosh, look at me, such a crybaby. No, wait, do not look at me. Look somewhere else."

The other teen had not said anything, and he removed his hands over his eyes in worry that he chased Allen away. He stayed, gawking at Oliver has if he was frozen to the spot. Oliver swished a palm in front of his eyes, and his friend blinked, cracking a dazzling grin at the gesture. "I'm still here. Don't you worry, Ollie."

"I thought you fell asleep."

Allen wedged his hands beneath his head. "Naw, I was just thinkin' how lucky I am to have you 'round."

Oliver blamed his warm feelings on his embarrassment. He playfully rolled his eyes, and grinned despite the damp trails streaked down his cheeks. "If you keep saying things like that, people are going to think...things."

"Things?!" The other boy beamed right back at him. "Like what?"

"Oh, please, I rather not say it aloud."

"Come on, why you got to be like that?"

"It is dreadfully embarrassing."

"We're all friends here, aint' we?"

"Actually...that's the thing."

Allen picked up his head again. "What? You don't wanna be friends?!"

"No, no! Goodness, I still do. It is just..." Trying to get that awkward lump down his throat, Oliver nervously giggled. "People are starting to think we are...some sort of couple."

The other teen let out a snort with his laugh. "Hanck! Ha-ha! J-jeez, that's somethin'..."

Oliver dropped his eyes to the blue grass between them. "Yes," he murmured, mostly to himself, and his smile felt like it was dried plaster, "that's just silly-"

"What d'you think?"

"Huh? A-about what?"

"You know what." Despite his cool-guy grin and casual shrug, Allen's cheeks were becoming noticeably pink against his tanned skin. "Does it really seem like we are?"

"Does it...?" Oliver clamped his mouth shut, and looked to the grass again, as if it had all the answers. He wanted to go with his gut-instinct like he always should have done in the first place, but the boy had no idea what it was saying with all the crazy knots and flips it was performing. However, as much as he wished to pretend he was stewing over new feelings, he had these butterflies for months. Allen raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. "Um...yes."

His company's face lit up like a bowl of candy was dumped on his head, and he had a major sweet tooth. "Yeah?"

"Is that a good thing?"

"Well, shit, I wanna say yeah."

"R-really? How come?"

"How come? How come?!" Allen lightheartedly demanded as if Oliver was supposed to know the answer. He tipped his head back to ponder at the sky. "Uh...maybe it's got to do with the fact that I've been flirtin' wit' you the first day we met, I got incredibly low standards, an' you're like, the only fella that's possibly an' remotely interested in me?"

A funny noise tickled the back of Oliver's throat, and he busted in laughter. "Bwahaha! You...ha-ha! That was you flirting? Ha-ha-ha!"

Allen shot to a sitting position, turning red and angry. "Okay, okay, you don't gotta laugh!"

Oliver followed suit, and clutched his stomach. "You dork! I cannot help it-ha-ha-ha!"

"Seriously! I just poured my heart out to you, man! You could at least tell me that you don't like me like that instead o' laughin'!"

"Ha-ha...ha...ahem! What, why would I do that?"

"Uh...'cause you don't?"

Oliver bristled, "I never said that!"

Allen leaned back and blinked. "Well...do y'like me?"

Suddenly it was no longer giggles and happy times. Oliver dropped his eyes to his hands twisting and untwisting with one another, and his face, his open book with size fifty-two bold print for everyone to see, flared red again. "I...I do not know."

The other boy let out an annoyed growl, lunged forward, and grabbed his shoulders to give them a fierce shake. "Whadda mean y'don't know? How do you not know these things? You either do or don't!"

Oliver's voice squeaked from the thrashing, "U-um, well, frankly, I never been in this spot before!"

Allen let go to throw his hands into the air, and roughly fall back on his rear. "Well, shit, I haven't either! That don't mean you gotta be clueless to what you're feelin'!"

The baker shoved a palm to the other boy's chest. "I am not clueless to what I am feeling, you idiot!"

His company shoved him back, and Oliver had to catch himself before he could fall backwards to the ground. "Then what are you feeling?"

That was easy! Oliver had read plenty of fruity novels by that point to know what was unfolding. Realization was actually the easy part; admitting to oneself was where he proved to be stubborn to himself and Allen during these warm months. He cracked a broad grin, and stamped a foot on the ground in his friend's direction out of retaliation. "I am feeling that you are an idiot!"

Allen clasped his bare calf to get him to stop kicking at him. "Yeah, I know that, but are you gon' let me be your idiot or not?"

"Be my...? Ha-ha-ha!" Oliver's free leg kicked up and down as his laughter bounced off the sparse trees.

"Or be mine? Some kind o' partners in crime sort o' deal?! Just...stop laughin'!"

"Do you know how dorky you sound? I thought you were supposed to be a cool guy!"

"I am a cool guy!"

"You are not!" Oliver hunched forward to smack Allen's chest again, but the other boy grasped his wrist, deterring his pathetic attacks. Their closeness was an intoxicating bloom, and the baker could not stop giggling like the poison was a high. "You...ah-ha-hee-hee! You're a dork! Just admit to it! Dork!"

"All right, fine, but what good does that get me?"

"Actually, Allen, that gets you into a lot of good! I just so happen to have a soft spot for dorky guys."

"What."

Oliver tittered at his company's lost expression, and took the opportunity of his stunned slack to flip over and shamble away on his hands and knees. From stirring up dropped leaves, he heard Allen call out, "What? No, what the fuck! Get back here!"

It was a grand escape, but it was too easy to imagine a hot pursuit when the only sounds in his ears where his palms hitting the ground and his own pants in his ears. Apparently, Oliver was more clumsy and slower than he realized, as a rough arm slung around his waist, and yanked him backwards. His back fell against what could only be Allen's chest, and only laughed harder when his arms were pinned to his sides. "Seriously," the other boy's exasperated voice grumbled next to his ear, "where did you think you were going?"

"Oh, around and about, ha-ha!"

"Hah...yeah, right. You tell me somethin' like that, an' then try to make a break fer it? What kind o' game you tryin' to play?"

"A very fun one!"

That only made Allen squeeze him tighter. "You're crazy, aren't you?"

The kisses dotted across his cheek and to his ear prompted Oliver to flinch and giggle like an even greater fool. "I have been told that!"

"Probably 'cause you are!"

"And you are a dork!"

"Crazy!"

"Can't...breathe...dork...You're squeezing me...too hard!"

Still Oliver could not stop smiling about the whole ordeal.

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

However, no matter how much he wanted to run, hide, and never come out to face them, the teen had to go back to the girls on the bleachers later on that evening. They were still outside, although the sun was about to set any minute, making last minute touch ups on their nails, and waiting for Oliver.

None of them picked up their heads when he approached, even though his shoes noisily disrupted the leaves all the way from the House's front door. The boy stopped before the bottom bench, and gazed up at the eldest girl in the middle of the group, nodding in approval to her own paint job. He could feel the guilty smile plastered on his face before she even opened her mouth.

"So! What news did you bring, Oliver? Anything we would like?"

"That depends," Oliver began carefully, but knew he was doomed no matter what. "What do you like?"

"Well, I like for the guy I brought from who knows what kind of low point to stay with us, and not ditch us for the shiny new toy after we have given him our time and energy to get a grip on himself."

The boy let out a frightened little laugh. "Of course! I would never forget that!"

"Good," the eldest granted. "Now do us all a favor, and tell Allen you were ours first. I know this is a very exciting thing for the both of you, but completely ditching your friends for a little love bird is just plain rude, and I won't appreciate you crawling back to us when you two are over."

Oliver uneasily offered, "Ah, ha-ha, you must be speaking from experience."

The girl lifted her eyebrows, and gave him a blank look. "Yep. Plenty of it."

"Oh dear. Um...how about the next time I get to take home a huge batch of treats from the bakery, I shall bring them right to you?"

The girls seemed to appreciate the offer. "You sure know how to win someone's heart, don't you, Oliver?"