Noah sat back and read over what he'd just written.

He smiled. Yes, this was what his mom meant when she told him to shut off his brain and listen to his heart: be completely honest. There had been a part of him still holding back; an unwillingness to humanise himself. But he'd done it now. He'd bared his soul. If, for whatever reason, he couldn't confess to Cody today, he'd do it on Monday at school.

He went over to the window and gazed down at the street below. Every car that passed by was locked in his gaze until it drove away out of sight. And every time it happened, Noah felt a spike of disappointment.

Eventually, he spied a shiny silver car pull up outside. The door opened and Cody stepped out.

Noah watched him make his way to the front door. A moment later, the doorbell sounded.

He flew out of his room and raced downstairs. His dog followed close behind, panting at his heels from all the excitement.

Noah ran smack into the door. "Ouch!" he cried, his nose throbbing.

Fumbling for the doorknob, he grabbed hold of it and opened the door to Cody's nervous smile. Immediately, he forced any sign of the pain from his face, despite the throbbing in his nose.

"Hey, Cody! Welcome to my, uh, humble abode!"

Cody stepped inside, and for a brief moment as the door swung closed, he was illuminated by the afternoon light in a way that made him look…heavenly.

"Hey," Cody responded, with a weak voice. He examined the living room. "Nice house."

Noah led him upstairs to his bedroom and shut the door behind them. His heart thumped even louder than it ever had before.

"Nice room," Cody said simply.

Noah felt a sudden wave of crippling embarrassment. No, his room was not nice. His bed wasn't made, the shelves hadn't been dusted in weeks, and, he was just realising, there was a weird musty stench.

Cody kneeled in front of the small TV and examined his collection of video games with careful consideration. "Man, you have a lot. Even more than I do, heh."

"What can I say?" Noah pushed past his awkwardness enough to flash him a wry smile. "I'm a connoisseur."

Cody gave a little chuckle. "I don't know. Any video game connoisseur would have Weegee's Manse 4, and it looks like you don't."

Noah's smile grew into something much more smug. "Check the back, at the bottom of the pile."

He watched as Cody did so, and then let out a gasp of surprise. "No way, you actually have it! Can we play it?"

"Sure."

Cody slid the game disk into the console and made himself comfortable, cross-legged on the floor. Noah joined him, feeling his heart rate pick up. Cody plugged in two controllers and handed one to Noah.

They were only halfway through the first round when Cody began to whine.

"Why is this so hard? The controls feel really stiff." He fiddled with the joystick to prove his point. "And I feel like it's not registering when I press the jump button. I keep falling off! It's really annoying!"

Noah happened to spy the controller cord hanging limp, half-unplugged, and couldn't keep the grin off his face.

Cody had another crack at the game, only to fall right off the edge as he mashed the jump button repeatedly. "See? How am I supposed to beat the game if it doesn't even work properly?!"

"Dude, it's not plugged in properly," Noah said, barely holding back a snort of laughter.

The silence that followed was what ended up making him laugh anyway.

Cody's face flushed. "Okay, okay, I get it!" He reached over and pushed the plug into the console. "There, I fixed it. You can stop laughing now!"

The longer he continued to pout, the more it brought tears to Noah's eyes. He wiped them away and nudged Cody gently with his shoulder. "Dude, come on. You have to admit: it was pretty funny watching you get so mad over it."

Only then did the pout dissipate. The flushed cheeks didn't, however. "Yeah, it kinda was, eheh." Cody pointed at the television screen. "But you can't deny that that was still really annoying, though."

"Sure. Whatever makes you feel better."

They continued with their game, but Noah had completely lost his focus. Sneaking glances at Cody' face, he saw that it was still bright red. Noah didn't know if it was from anger and embarrassment, or something else entirely…

"You know, this is the most fun I've had in a while," Cody said suddenly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm glad we're, uh, getting to spend time together." Cody paused. "Y'know, I always thought you were really cool."

Noah went still.

"I hope this isn't creepy or anything, but sometimes I would watch you from a distance, heh. You were always so cool, even if you were just reading a book. You had this constant aura of, well, coolness. I was always kinda jealous of the way you'd let insults slide off your back."

"Well," Noah croaked out, heart still beating wildly, "once you have an inflated sense of self-worth, nothing bothers you anymore."

"Yeah, but I'm not like that." Cody said sadly. "I'm too easy of a target."

Noah snorted, aware of his sweaty his hands were becoming. "Some assholes just have nothing better to do. That automatically makes you better than them. But…if you keep having problems, you can come to me."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me." Cody smiled shyly.

That smile burrowed itself deep in Noah's brain like a rabbit in the dirt. Messy and uncoordinated, but cute.

"You know," he ventured, "I always liked how much of a huge dork you are."

At Cody's wide eyes, he felt his hands growing damp with sweat.

"Wait, what?"

Noah laughed nervously, his heart pounding. "Yeah…"

Cody's laugh was even more nervous. His face, for what felt like the millionth time that day, went bright red. He couldn't seem to say a word.

Noah couldn't say anything either. All the words danced in front of him, just out of reach of his tongue. His palms itched with sweat.

The only noise in the room was the video game, left forgotten in the background. How could they possibly focus on it now?

Everything Noah wanted to say was right there, but his heart beat faster and wilder and he couldn't take it anymore. He stood up abruptly. "I need to use the bathroom!"

And, without even looking at Cody's face, he rushed out of the room, down the hall and into the bathroom.

The first thing he did was wash the sweat off of his hands. Then he splashed water on his face, as if it would force him to get a grip.

He stood in front of the mirror, gazing at his reflection. The twisted, anxious expression on his face wasn't one he particularly enjoyed seeing. But the cool greenish-blue colour of the bathroom tiles caressed his mind a little, like a giant spa. The air freshener on the windowsill seemed particularly intoxicating. Its heady vanilla scent flooded his nostrils. He nodded to himself, feeling more alive in that moment than he ever had before.

You can do it, his reflection told him.

With a deep breath, he left the bathroom and crossed the hallway into his own room.

But as soon as he stepped inside, all his worries melted away.

Cody suddenly flew into his arms, squeezing him tighter than he'd ever been squeezed before. And before Noah could even ask what was going on, Cody was kissing him.

His heart seized.

Cody pulled away instantly, too soon, and stared down at the floor.

"I saw your letter," he admitted, face turning a bright pink.

And on Noah's desk, sitting right out in the open, the letter almost taunted him triumphantly.

He was glad for it, he realised. He was glad for everything. The amalgamation of events, all starting with Eva and Izzy looming over him and forcing him to write a love letter, had led to this very moment.

Instead of that pungent vanilla air freshener, he now had a noseful of Cody's deodorant.

And he was glad for it. Glad for it all.

"Good. That means I don't have to tell you myself." And then he leaned in and kissed him again.