Barcode Boy: After Hours

It was the summer before junior year, and Carter’s family had allowed me to join them on their vacation to Colorado. At first, I was reluctant to leave Lloyd and my mother behind, but the thought of sleeping in a hotel with Carter made me smile.

I knew nothing was bound to happen, but I needed a brain break, and the best person I could be with for that was that curly-haired blond. Apparently, it was some sweepstakes they’d won for a family of four, therefore leaving them with an extra.

Truth is, I had never been on vacation before. I’d never climbed a mountain, swam in the ocean, or even enjoyed myself at a waterpark. My family never had the money for it, but I was used to it, so it wasn’t much of a bother. Sure, I had never left the country, but I was still out and about in my own community.

That’s why when Carter told me about the extra ticket, I didn’t beg to be brought along. Instead, it was him who begged me. He came to my house with notebooks and magazines of hiking trails we could take and foods we could try. And that was before he had even asked his parents about inviting me.

Mr. Hughes wanted to bring his best friend from work, but when Carter asked his mom about inviting me, she said it was a great idea. The trip was in the middle of July, and once the time neared, my mom helped me pack, and before I knew it, I was at an altitude of  thirty-two thousand feet, on my way to an unknown state.

Carter sat beside me on the plane, leaning on my shoulder, asleep. We were about to go into our third year, and I had been doing pretty well with suppressing my feelings. Yes, I felt bad about leaving my family behind, but I needed this. I practically had the workload of a parent, and more than anything, I wanted to hang out with my best friend.

I had felt my stress overloading more than usual, and even though I had no plans on opening up, I refused to throw away this new experience. The downside was with the free time I had to zone out, my mind started drifting back to all the feelings I was trying to ignore.

And sure, those girls I talked to as we waited for the plane were beautiful and had a great sense of humor, but I couldn’t believe my mind got hooked on Carter again. For three years, I was on the right track, only to get distracted again.

With the way Carter was leaning on me, I could easily grab his hand. Even though the jet engines were deafening, I could hear him snoring, so I knew he wasn’t waking up anytime soon. 

I slowly interlaced my fingers with his, smiling as I gazed out the window to see the orange sky as the sun slipped behind the clouds. To be perfectly honest, it felt like a dream. Some people were terrified of planes, but I felt so at peace even though it was my first flight.

I was only bothered by the realization that I’d be stuck in this seat for another five hours. Before we got on, Carter recommended that I sleep in order to ward off hunger and altitude sickness, but I didn’t want to sleep through my first plane trip. Not to mention, Carter could fall asleep anywhere.

I poked at the small TV screen attached to the seat in front of me. We had three and a half hours left. I glanced over at the Hughes who sat across the aisle from me and the blond.

I made eye contact with Carter’s mom who smiled and waved at me, but then noticed I was holding hands with her son.

“You doing alright?” She asked with a chuckle.

I nodded. “Yeah. Just kind of bored…”

I supposed I could watch something on the small plane TV or explore the dumb apps I downloaded on my phone a while back, but I just wanted the plane to land. I felt like an excited little kid, but I was trying to stay calm so I wouldn’t completely weird out Carter’s parents.

“Do you want some snacks?” She asked and flashed me a giant Ziploc bag of pretzels, fruit snacks, crackers, and several other miscellaneous foods.

I shook my head, smirking a bit. “No, but thanks for the offer.”

“Well alright. More for me!”

I sighed and turned back to the seat in front of me. At this rate, sleeping was my best bet. Before pulling my hood on, I snapped a picture of the sunset that looked like a watercolor painting and leaned against Carter, who was still dozing on my shoulder. 

This sucked. 

I couldn’t text anyone, and there was nothing to do. I’d surely be having the time of my life if Carter was awake, however, once I finally fell asleep, I did manage to have a dream about him. My weird dreams always came when I was sleeping in an odd place or half-awake between my alarm clock snoozes. But though I felt like I had zoned out for only a few minutes, eventually, I felt someone shake my shoulder, and after rubbing my eyes a few hundred times, I saw Mrs. Hughes beside me.

“Guess what?”

I let go of Carter’s hand. “What?”

The woman pointed to the window, and I looked over to see that we were finally on the ground. In an instant, I started viciously shaking Carter with a grin.

“Carter, holy crap, wake up!!”

The blond let out a startled groan. “W-What! W-What’s going on—what’s happening?” He mumbled, his eyes darting around the plane.

I grabbed his hands. “We’re in Colorado!!”

The boy laughed. “O-Okay? There’s no need to yell!”

“I can’t help it!”

Carter’s parents left their seats and started pulling out their overhead luggage. I followed their lead, and eventually, we left the plane and started making our way to baggage claim.

Carter and I ran ahead of his parents, yelling and laughing like two little kids.

“This is freaking amazing!” I beamed, skipping through the crowds.

“Dude, this is literally just another airport!”

I shrugged, now walking in circles around the conveyor belts, specifically looking for my purple suitcases, both of which were covered in pins and keychains. My mom recommended that I make my luggage easy to find, so part of our packing adventure included me buying little trinkets whenever we went to a store.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, but it’s an airport in Colorado.”

Carter laughed. “Oh, shut up. Y’know, I see your bags over there,” He said and gestured to the left of me.

I darted over to where he was pointing, and in the act of grabbing my stuff, I found his dad’s bags and grabbed them as well. By the time Mr. and Mrs. Hughes had finished strolling over to baggage claim, we had already collected their stuff.

“You guys sure are hype for ten at night,” Mr. Hughes laughed as we gave them their luggage.

“We recharged when sleeping on the plane,” Carter said with a wink.

Seconds later, we were walking ahead of his parents again, reading all the signs as we tried to find the car rental area.

“Do you wanna get some snacks?” The blond asked me, gesturing to the few food areas we were walking past.

“Nah, I don’t have too much cash on me. I’d rather not eat up all my money.”

“Saving up for souvenirs, I assume?”

I nodded. “Hell yeah. My mom told me to get a magnet for her, and Lloyd wants a T-shirt.”

Carter nudged my side. “I can just buy you something.”

I shrugged. “Nah, don’t worry about it.”

“You sure?” He flashed me a dorky smile and laughed to himself. “You know I like spending money on you.”

I glanced back in search of his parents, though while I was distracted, the blond grabbed my arm and pulled me into one of the outlets.

“Wait, what where are we—”

The curly-haired dragged me over to one of the bins, digging through some T-shirts. “C’mon! We’ve gotta commemorate your first Colorado night!”

“Dude, you really don’t have to,” I mumbled, always feeling a bit bad when people bought stuff for me, especially when it wasn’t a necessity.

Carter held up a vintage shirt with some mountains on it while hiding behind the side of it. “C’mon. For me? We can get matching ones!” He beamed.

I smirked and grabbed a second one since I couldn’t ever say no to that dorky smile of his.

“Sure, why not?”

Carter ran around the rest of the small store, picking out keychains and magnets as well. I wasn’t sure if they were for us, but he was extremely enthusiastic, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how flushed his face was.

I carried the bag as we left the outlet while I took in the features of the airport, mesmerized by the lights since it was dark outside. 

While we waited for Carter’s parents by the garage, I nudged him, lifting the bag a bit.

“Hey, thank you.”

He glanced up. “For what?”

“The shirts, stupid.”

“O-Oh,” He snickered. “Yeah don’t mention it! I know how you are with money, and I didn’t wanna risk you not having a keepsake after all this.”

I dug through the bag, examining the other items he collected. “It’s gonna be hot outside, right?” I asked, glancing at my basketball shorts.

“Well, now that it’s night, probably not. But you’re wearing a hoodie, so you’ll probably be fine.”

The curly-haired boy pulled out his phone to check the weather, and I did the same, but to turn off airplane mode and check all the notifications I had.

“It’s fifty-five degrees out. High tomorrow is in the eighties.” He said and showed me his screen.

“Eh, that’s not too bad. I guess we’re in the good part of the desert.”

Carter chuckled, and then I opened my camera. “Hey, can I take a picture of us to send to my mom?”

He nodded as I wrapped my arm around his waist, making sure to get both us and the airport scenery in the frame.

“Wait, we both have weird bedhead from sleeping on the plane,” Carter said and started trying to fix his hair.

I laughed. “Suddenly now you care about your hairstyle?” I teased as I put my phone down.

“Well, you’re sending it to your mom,” He said while sticking his tongue out.

“Tch, my mom has seen you with messy hair for years now—it’s nothing new,” I said as I pushed his hands down, resumed my pose, and took the picture.

Even once we were done, Carter continued messing with his hair, but he was honestly just making it worse.

“Lemme tell you, during this trip, I wanna take a shit-ton of photos. I made sure to make some space on my phone for frequent photography.”

The blond laughed. “Sounds good to me! I also brought the mini polaroid that I found in the bottom of my closet.”

I waved at his parents once they finally came into view. “Hell yeah! Can I take photos with it too?”

He nodded. “Duh!”

Mr. Hughes walked up to us and then ruffled his son’s hair. “You guys ready to hit the road?”

We nodded as his mother pressed the button for the elevator. When we finally got to the garage, we found our car, which was an SUV or something so we could fit both us and all of our luggage.

Carter and I helped his dad load everything into the trunk, and then we finally started making our way to the resort.

Mrs. Hughes was trying to find a generic radio station, but instead, we decided to jam out to some Latin Pop. Although Carter and I had already stopped taking Spanish, we still recognized some of the words.

When a familiar Shakira song came on, Carter refused to sing along, of course, so his mom and I just had our own concert as he and Mr. Hughes tried to tune us out. 

I heard Carter snap a picture of me while I was singing, but I disregarded it and kept jamming out. We rolled down the windows, and once the song was over, I gazed at the sky. I felt like I had never seen so many stars before, and though it was dark, I could see the mountains in the distance.

When we were at a red light, I took a picture and added it to my story, and despite it being later on the east coast, tons of my friends were contacting me.

They were asking tons of questions about the scenery, the temperature, and if I’d buy them keepsakes, but some people were just having casual conversations.

But even so, my phone was practically vibrating out of my hand.

I heard Carter chuckle, and I looked at him.

“Text me all the pictures you take,” He said with a smile.

I nodded and turned back to my phone, but then he spoke again, as he scratched his head.

“Tch, shouldn’t they be asleep?”

I shrugged. “No, it’s summer. No one has a sleep schedule when it’s summer.”

“Unless they’re working,” He added in.

“Yeah.”

Soon after school ended, Carter and I were working as camp counselors. However, this summer we weren’t gonna get full pay since we were taking a week off at a time when we’d be working. But now it’s even better that he invited me along so I wouldn’t be working alone while he was on vacation.

Carter leaned over.

“You think they’ll be any cute girls at the resort?” He whispered in my ear.

I rolled my eyes. “I sure hope so. But I don’t feel like having to talk to them for you,” I teased.

“Piss off.”

I continued scrolling through my phone until we finally got to the resort about thirty minutes later. I was still excited since I’d never been to a hotel either, but now I was starting to get tired.

Carter and I started hauling the luggage into the building, and once that was over, his dad parked, we checked in and went up to our room.

We were on floor seventeen out of thirty, and as we entered, everyone laughed when my face lit up. The décor and layout reminded me of the fancy bedrooms you’d see on interior design shows.

“H-Holy crap!” I yelled, running into the center of the room and spinning around.

Everyone sat their stuff down, and Carter quickly pulled out his polaroid, most likely snapping a blurry picture of me spinning around in awe.

“Wait a minute, where’s the other bed?” I asked, wobbling due to my dizziness.

So far there was only one bed, despite it being made up quite well. Across from it was a fireplace that had a TV mounted above it. There was a seating area by the door to the balcony, along with a kitchen next to where Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were standing.

“It’s two rooms merged together,” Carter’s dad began. “Each room has its own bathroom, but there’s this door that connects the two.”

“And the voucher said there are soundproof walls as well,” Mrs. Hughes added in.

“Yeah, therefore we don’t have to hear your weird teenage conversations,” His dad finished with a laugh.

I smiled. “Wow, I didn’t know hotels could work like that!”

The adults laughed, and Carter smiled at me. I ran over and looked at the balcony as Carter’s parents grabbed their stuff and ventured into the other room.

The blond walked over and stood next to me. “So…you like it?”

“Hell yeah! The view is amazing and everything’s so elegant! I feel like a king!”

The curly-haired boy laughed at me, and then I quickly ran over and threw myself onto the bed.

“The feels fuckin’ awesome!” I yelled with my face muffled by the sheets.

Carter flopped down beside me, and then we both laid on our sides, facing each other.

“So,” I began. “What’s on the agenda?”

“Uh, sleeping?”

I scoffed. “I mean tomorrow. And afterward. I-I’m really excited for the rest of the week! Cause a vacation is one thing but being with you makes it even better!”

Carter blushed as he smiled at me. “Yeah, I agree! And since you’re with me, we’ll probably be able to go off together and mess around. As I got older, vacations weren’t as enjoyable with my parents following me around…”

“What? Were you trying to strike up conversations with strangers?” I teased.

The blond rolled his eyes. “You already know the answer to that. I just wanted to wander around and examine everything.”

“Well, of course, they’d try to follow you around if you guys were in a completely different state!”

Carter scrunched up his nose. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

I chuckled. “Eh, whatever. You’ve got me this time, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Not to mention if anyone gets in our way, you sure as hell know how to throw a punch.” The blond added.

I smiled and placed my hands behind my head, rolling onto my back as Carter copied me. We stared at the ceiling.

“Y’know, it’s pretty cool being in another state, but it’s also scary being so far away from home. It’s not like we just drove down south or something.”

Carter touched my shoulder. “Trust me, road trips with my family are horrible.”

I grinned. “Really? I like your parents!”

“Yeah, but you definitely wouldn’t love my dad telling the same stories over and over again, and my mom trying to sing songs that are way out of her vocal range.”

Suddenly we heard the door open and saw an upside-down Mr. Hughes approaching us.

“Oh good, you two are still awake.” He said as we sat up.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Carter asked.

“I just wanna tell you guys our plan for tomorrow. Oh, and tomorrow morning I’m gonna go grocery shopping so text me if you want anything specific.”

We nodded and I grinned. “So, what’s on the agenda?”

“Well, make sure you guys are up by nine because at ten we’re going on a hiking trail. It’s like a group activity, so they’ll be a few other families with us as well.” His father said.

“Is it super hardcore?” I asked.

Mr. Hughes cocked his head to the side.

“I mean, do we need tons of gear and stuff?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s really just a nature walk. Still, you should dress for the weather and bring water. All that normal exercise stuff that you probably know about.”

I nodded. Before the trip, Carter was talking to me about hiking, but I wasn’t sure if it’d just be mediocre. Either way, if I lacked any important items, I’m sure the Hughes would be willing to share.

“So, with that being said, you guys should head to bed soon.” His dad added.

“Yes sir,” I said as Carter nodded.

We exchanged good nights as Mr. Hughes went back to his room. Carter grabbed our pajamas from our suitcases and since it was already late, we decided we’d shower in the morning.

A few minutes after we had plugged in our phones and whatnot, Carter’s mom came into our room to check on us too. We were already in bed, and I was flipping through channels on the beautiful flat-screen TV.

“Hey, you two, I’m just here to kiss my darling son goodnight,” She said as she went over and ruffled her kid’s hair, and then pecked his forehead.

“Do I not get a kiss?” I pouted.

“Jean, shut up,” Carter snorted.

Mrs. Hughes giggled and then walked over to my side of the bed to kiss my forehead.

“Well, of course. I mean, I told your mom I’d take good care of you, so I suppose that would be part of the job as well.”

She smiled at me and then walked back over to the door to her room. “Your father probably already told you guys, but don’t stay up too late.”

Carter and I nodded in understanding.

“I love you guys, sleep well.”

“We love you too!” Carter said before the woman disappeared around the corner.

I flicked off the TV and looked at Carter.

“Your mom’s awesome.”

He blushed. “Mm.”

I glanced at my charging phone, which was still at a pretty low percentage. However, I unplugged it for a second to take a picture of Carter and I as we melted into the hotel pillows.

“Wait a minute—don’t post that!” He shouted.

I smirked and faced my back to him, struggling to open Snapchat as the blond tried to grab my phone.

“Pshh why not?” I asked, shuffling closer to the end of the bed.

“What do you mean, ‘why not?’ I’m in my pajamas! And we’re in bed together!!”

I laughed. “So what? I don’t think your Star Wars pajamas would strike anyone as odd. Not to mention us having to share a bed was kind of inevitable, even if we were all in one room. It would be weirder if you shared a bed with your mom, and I shared one with your dad.” I snickered. “Or even the other way around.”

“Shut up!” Carter said with a chuckle, still trying to yank my phone out of my hands.

“Bro chill out, you’re gonna knock me onto the floor!”

With that, I lost grip of my phone thanks to Carter practically tickling me with one hand and blinding me with the other.

We were both under the covers, but that just worsened the situation as we got tangled in the sheets, and we both fell to the floor with a crash, with Carter on top of me.

“Shit! Do you think they heard that?!” The blond asked frantically.

I tried to untwist my T-Shirt from under him “The walls are soundproof, you dumbass.”

“Are you okay?” He asked me.

“More or less.” Knowing me, I didn’t mind the physical contact. Meanwhile, I expected him to get flustered and instantly jump off of me.

“Okay good,” The blond said before leaning forward against me, reaching for my phone in succession.

“W-Wait, are you gonna delete the picture?” I exclaimed, trying to turn myself over under him.

“No! And stop moving! I’m just turning it off!”

I laughed. “Why?”

“So, you can’t do anything, duh!”

I heard him press the power button, and the phone vibrated for a while, signaling that it had completely shut off. When I knew he was done, I hastily kicked him off me.

“Ow, fuck!” He yelled, rolling onto his side.

“Shit, are you okay?” I sat up frantically and looked at his face, only to see him grinning.

“It’s funny you ask that after what you just did.” He sneered.

“Well, you’re smiling, so I’m gonna take that as a yes.” I pulled him off the floor, and we dusted ourselves off.

“Let’s just take pictures with the polaroid. I can’t trust what you’ll do with the photos on your phone,” Carter pouted.

I chuckled. “What do you think I’m gonna do? That’s not fair. I just won’t share that one.”

Carter suddenly gave me a bothered look.

“Yeah, well you said you were prepared to take tons of photos and you’re probably gonna post every single one,” He mumbled. “Cuz that’s what you do.”

“Do you not want me to? Just say something and…I won’t. What’s the matter?”

Carter looked at the balcony, fiddling with the drawstrings of his pajama pants. “I just…don’t want everyone in our business. Practically the whole school knows who you are. I just don’t want someone getting the wrong idea and spreading shitty rumors or something, and then for us to start junior year on an awkward note…”

Carter sat down on the bed and finally looked at me. “Only a few of our close friends know that you’re joining my family on vacation…”

I sat down beside him and leaned to the other side of the bed to place my phone on the nightstand.

“Yeah, but like, everyone who’s talked to me knows we’re super close. It should be fine, but alright.”

“Well Jean, I kinda just wanted to use the polaroid. I mean, part of it was for the aesthetic and cause I found it after several years, but it’d also be nice to like, have them all printed and make a collage or something.” The blond sighed. “It’s just...this is the first time you’ve been in someplace other than Pennsylvania. I know you wanna take pictures for your mom and Lloyd, but if spam your accounts with them, your friends’ll be blowing up your phone left and right. This is supposed to be a break, y’know?”

I suppose he was right. I guess my problem was that I loved posting things about me and Carter, and I enjoyed having everyone in my business. However, I didn’t wanna upset him.

“Yeah, I get it. Sorry,” I said quietly.

“I mean, after we get back home, just post the highlights,” Carter recommended.

“Wait, so can I take pictures with my phone if I don’t post them?” I asked, smiling a little.

“You have to promise.” He said and held out his pinky finger.

I snickered as we interlocked our fingers like elementary schoolers. “I promise.”

With that, Carter shuffled back over to his side of the bed, and we fixed the sheets before finally getting back under the covers.

“S-Sorry for being so high-maintenance,” The blond whispered as I flicked the lamp off.

“Huh?” I mumbled as I sunk into the giant pillows. “Oh—no it’s fine. I get where you’re coming from.”

I supposed if we were to date again, I wouldn’t want that information running through the school. Frankly, I wouldn’t want a single soul to know except for the two of us. I just enjoyed posting stuff about us cause we were best friends. It only made sense for his face to be plastered everywhere with mine.

Though, the last thing I wanted was rumors about us being gay. I could handle them bothering me, but if they messed with Carter, I’d bash their skulls in.

For several minutes, I continued contemplating as Carter snored beside me. I stared at the light coming from the balcony. The moon happened to be shining directly into our room, which was pretty but was also pretty distracting in a pitch-black room.

I thought of getting up and closing the curtains, that was until Carter shuffled in his sleep and snuggled up against my side with his hand on my chest.

I tensed up. Despite Carter’s body being comfortably warm and the hotel AC freezing me out, I didn’t need this right now. Him against me was gonna make my thoughts run wild, and I needed to sleep. It was almost one in the morning.

Despite how much I wanted to hold him, I moved his arm off of me and carefully pushed him back onto his side of the bed.

“Piss off…” He mumbled as I let go of him.

“Stay on your side of the bed,” I whispered as I got comfortable again, now facing away from the moonlight.

Carter’s quiet snores returned again but as I closed my eyes, he rolled back into my stomach. I had slept next to Carter many times before, but last time I checked, he never shuffled this damn much. 

“Dumb blond,” I muttered under my breath, rolling away from him, just for him to scoot back over several minutes later like a magnet.

After several tries of getting him away from me, I finally gave in, wrapped my arms around him, and pulled him into my chest. I felt happy, but also kind of weird.

Though, I really had no other choice.

I was too tired to give a shit.

—

Somehow it wasn’t the sun from the balcony that woke me up and instead was a deep voice that muttered, “What the fuck?”

I slowly opened my eyes enough to see what I think was Mr. Hughes standing at Carter’s bedside. He didn’t notice I was awake, but then seemed to massage his temples and walked back into his room, mumbling something to himself.

And then I realized what he must have freaked out about.

I was practically diagonal on the bed, sprawled out like a starfish. Carter was the same way, except half of his body was on mine, his hand was on my chest, and my shirt had pretty much been pushed up to my neck.

And if that wasn’t enough, my pillows were on the floor, and Carter only had one left on his bedside. We weren’t even under the sheets either.

Despite being a bit embarrassed about the whole situation, I found it amusing in my half-asleep state.

But just as I closed my eyes back, I heard our bedroom door slam open.

“You two should be up already!” His mom yelled as I flinched.

I heard Carter groan as his mother walked over to us as I instantly shoved the blond off my body, waking him up with the sudden movement.

I tried to flash the woman a smile, but I’m sure that made me look more guilty, especially since I was suddenly out of breath.

“You guys have got like twenty minutes—get in the shower!” Mrs. Hughes exclaimed, bouncing up and down. “We told you not to stay up late!”

Carter and I glanced at each other, and he immediately hopped out of the bed as his mother ran back into her room.

“Y-You wanna shower first?” He asked me.

I stared off to the side, rubbing the area on my chest where his hand had been. I wonder if Mr. Hughes said something weird to Carter’s mom about what he saw.

“I’ll take that as a no,” The blond said as he grabbed a stack of clothes.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. Go ahead,” I mumbled.

“A-Are you okay?”

I got out of bed. “I’m fine. Well, I don’t know. We just don’t really have the time to talk right now.”

Carter sighed. “I see. I’ll try and take a quick shower, does that sound good?”

I nodded. “Sure.”I walked over to my suitcase as Carter disappeared into the bathroom, digging around for my toiletries and an outfit.

I pulled out a white tank top and some cargo shorts since I knew I was bound to overheat. While I frantically waited for Carter to finish up, I rushed around the room, filling our water bottles and packing our bags with snacks. Though, eventually, I grabbed my toothbrush and ran into the bathroom.

“I’m brushing my teeth!” I shouted at Carter who had just turned off the water.

“What?! I need to get out of the shower!” He yelled in return as he felt around for his towel from behind the curtain.

I handed it to him before running out with my toothbrush still in my mouth like an idiot. I grabbed my clothes from beside my luggage and then ran back inside where Carter was now in his boxers, still trying to dry off the rest of my body.

“Dude!” He exclaimed with a laugh.

I spit out my toothpaste, making sure my eyes didn’t land anywhere on his body except for his face.

“Sorry—we’re pressed for time!” I said, dropping my stuff and then hopping into the shower right after him.

I made sure to only take a few minutes, and then I got dressed as fast as I could. When I came out, the entire bedroom smelled like sunscreen. Carter tossed me the bottle, and I sat down next to him on the bed.

“Why’re you wearing long sleeves? You’ll sweat to death!”

He chuckled. “You know how easily I burn. And it’s lightweight, so I’ll be fine. Also, thanks for getting our bags ready,” The boy said as he tied up his shoes.

“Yeah, no problem,” I said and flashed him a smile.

Once we were fully dressed, slathered in sunscreen, and had everything packed, the blond poked me as I sat on the edge of the bed, zoning out.

“So…what did you wanna talk about?” He asked with his backpack in his lap.

I chuckled nervously as I grabbed my phone and placed it in my back pocket. “Um, last night you squirmed a lot in your sleep. You keep rolling into me.”

Suddenly his face flushed red. “S-Shit. Sorry, I’m assuming that kept you up for a while later. If it weren’t for that, we probably would’ve gotten up earlier.”

I smiled. “No, it’s fine. I mean, I did spend a good while pushing you off me, but last time I checked you don’t fidget while you sleep. Did you have any weird dreams or anything?”

Carter chuckled lightly. “Not that I recall. I-I’m really sorry, Jean.”

I tangled my fingers in his damp hair. “Hey, don’t worry about it. There’s…just one thing. And, I’m not upset about it but…”

“W-What is it?”

I moved my hand away and tapped my lap. “Well, when I woke up our bodies were pretty much entangled, and you had your hand up my shirt.”

I didn’t think his face could grow any redder.

“And I think your dad saw us.” I finished quietly.

“Fuck… I don’t even remember shuffling around so much. I guess that would explain why the bed’s a mess,” The blond laughed to himself. 

I snickered. “Y-Yeah,” I said as I put my hand on my chest again.

“But holy fuck…the last thing I want is my dad getting the wrong idea. That’s worse than the kids at school, honestly.”

I gulped, and we both jumped as his parents walked into our room. “Are you guys ready? You got everything? Deodorant? Sunscreen? Bug spray?”

The two of us nodded, grabbing our hats and sunglasses before racing out of the room after Carter’s parents.

However, I took a minute to put the ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the door since Carter and I didn’t have any time to clean up our stuff. Though, as the blond ran off to catch up with his mom, I wound up rushing to the car alongside his dad.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” The older man began as he glanced at me.

I gulped and cleared my throat. “Um, no sir.”

“What time did you and Carter go to sleep last night?”

By the time we got to the elevator, Carter and his mom were already gone, so we stood there waiting for another one to come back up.

“Well, Carter fell asleep way before me, but I was still twisting and turning around one in the morning.” I chuckled.

The bearded man nodded, adjusting the sunglasses that were on his head. “I see.”

When the elevator came, we stood in awkward silence. Luckily, he didn’t ask specifically about this morning because that would’ve made everything worse.

As we left the hotel, Carter and Mrs. Hughes were already in the car in front of the hotel, so we hopped in and finally got on the road. As soon as I sat down, Carter leaned over to me.

“Did my dad say anything weird to you?” He whispered.

I shrugged. “No, not really.”

The blond nodded with a frown. “I-I’m really sorry about this morning er—last night. Or maybe both, I’m not sure. Please don’t think I’m weird,” He mumbled.

I ruffled his hair, causing him to smile. “Dude, it’s fine. Don’t fret.”

On the way to the park, we stopped at McDonald’s to get breakfast since Carter and I didn’t have time to eat anything. Nonetheless, we didn’t wander into his parents’ room to dig through groceries.

When we left the car, Carter and I followed his parents into a cafeteria that seemed to be in the middle of the park. There were several people, and once we got inside, there were even more. However, the AC felt nice, for that walk from here to the car had already made me sweaty.

We were all handed maps as we entered and were led to our group, whose name was a hiking pun. Somehow they all were. Carter and I didn’t talk much as we sat down at the table since our tour guide was explaining the trail, however, I spotted a pair of twins and nudged him with a smirk.

“Hey, you wanna try and walk with them?” I joked as the blond smiled back at me.

The crew gave us extra water bottles after laying out the day. The walk would take around three and a half hours. Some spots we’d go through would have shade, and some wouldn’t, but a decent amount of time would be used for breaks and photos.

We were also given mini encyclopedias of the things we might see outside, and at the end of the hike, we’d return to the cafeteria for lunch. But once he was done talking, the different families started mingling and ours had five.

“So, are you excited?” Carter asked me.

I cracked my knuckles. “More than you can imagine… Honestly, I don’t even care that it’s gonna be hot outside.”

He snickered. “You’re gonna be so tan by the end of this.”

I flexed my arms with a smirk. “Hell yeah!”

While Carter and I were fidgeting with each other’s muscles, one of the twins we’d spotted earlier approached us. She was a blond too, but half of her hair was dyed teal, and it looked awesome. She sat across the table from us, for Carter’s parents were roaming, and started talking to the other adults while we waited for everything to get situated.

The girl chuckled when she saw us messing with each other. 

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, flashing my signature smile that always won over the girls at my school.

She returned the expression as I let go of Carter. “Ah, nothing much. I got bored of talking to my sister and thought you two looked interesting, so I wandered over here.”

“Eh, we’re not too interesting—we’re just your basic weird teenage boys,” I joked.

The girl laughed. “So, is it your first time doing something like this?”

I glanced at Carter. “I mean, in my case, yes. But I think he’s been hiking at least once before.”

Carter, red-faced, nodded in agreement.

“Oh, I’ve gone hiking and camping more times than I can count!” She beamed. “But I’ve loved every trip I’ve gone on, so I hope you’ll enjoy yourselves too.”

The two of us nodded. “Yeah, I’m really excited. I have, like, so much energy bottled up inside me right now.”

She laughed again. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Asher and this is Carter,” I said as I wrapped my arm around his waist. “You?”

“Oh, I’m Mia and my sister’s name is Desiree. I’m assuming you guys are high schoolers. You look like high schoolers. Are you gonna be seniors?”

We shook our heads. “Nah, juniors.”

Mia gave me a high five. “Whoa! Me too! Hey, when we get outside, we should walk together! I’ve scanned the room and there aren’t many more people that look to be our age.”

I chuckled. “I noticed that too, but yeah! That sounds good!” I said happily, quite excited to get to know some more people.

Mia looked away from us for a second. “Ugh, my mom is waving at me to come back over. I guess I’ll see you guys on the trail?”

“Yeah!” I assured her as Carter gave her a thumbs up. Once she moseyed back to her table. I looked at Carter.

“Hehe socialization,” I smirked while poking his face and he laughed as leaned into him. “You went all quiet again.” I pouted.

He rolled his eyes. “Eh…yeah. I don’t know what happened. You just seemed to be doing better at answering all those questions.”

I sighed. “Aw c’mon. When we get outside will you talk?”

He chuckled. “I-If I don’t freeze up, then sure!”

“You…want me to try and insert you into the conversation?”

Carter nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah… At this rate, I’ll never get a girlfriend. The only person I can really talk to is you.”

I patted the boy’s head. “Well, with me, I can strike up a conversation but—”

“But when it comes to flirting and getting a crush on someone, you’re hopeless.” He finished for me.

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. B-But, yeah.”

A few seconds later, our groups were called to line up and Mr. and Mrs. Hughes rejoined us. I could feel my heart pounding.

“You guys ready?” Mrs. Hughes asked.

I nodded vigorously, and everyone chuckled. Carter then pulled his polaroid out of his backpack, and I smirked at him.

“I’m just preparing,” He said as our tour guide called us to the exit.

We all grouped together and stepped into the summer heat of Colorado. I put my sunglasses on and smiled at Carter, who then took a picture of me.

Our group was huge, so once we had gotten to the trail, Carter and I moved to the back of the group. The tour guide was talking for a while after we’d got outside, and we didn’t wanna be rude and talk over him.

Mr. and Mrs. Hughes weren’t too far in front of us, but soon enough, Mia and her sister drifted back to where we were.

“We meet again!” She beamed as Desiree smiled at us.

Carter and I nodded as Mia walked to my left, and Desiree walked on Carter’s right side.

“Alright so,” Mia began. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you two brothers?”

I grinned, and Carter broke into laughter. “N-No, we’re just friends.”

“Do you think we look alike?” The blond asked.

Mia tapped her chin. “Well no, but you two came together, and there’s like, a bunch of families.”

I glanced at Carter, urging him to clarify. He adjusted his sunglasses.

“Ah. Well, my parents let me take him on vacation with us,” He said quietly.

“Whoa really?!” Desiree suddenly exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to do that!”

“Yeah,” Mia continued. “Our parents would never let us do something like that. You must have awesome parents.”

Carter blushed, wiping some sweat off his forehead. “Y-Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

Luckily, Carter started joining in the conversation some more, so I took a moment to take in the scenery as we walked. It was a little hilly so far, and there was no shade, but far off in the distance, I could see some trees.

We happened to join the group some more since I grew interested in the history lesson our guide was giving. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, and I had drifted away from the conversation with the girls.

I was chatting with Mrs. Hughes on and off, but when I looked back at Carter, he seemed like he wanted me to come back. The group stopped walking for a bit to have a water break and take photos, and that was when I walked back over to him.

The blond yanked my arm and turned me away from the chicks. ”Dude, don’t abandon me! That’s too much pressure!” He whispered loudly.

“I’m sorry! I was getting distracted by the scenery and stuff…it’s all so pretty.”

Carter sighed. “I probably sound really weird. My laugh is like, hella awkward.”

I patted his back as we took a few sips from our water bottles. “Your laugh is adorable, you’re fine.”

“It is not!” He pouted.

Suddenly Mia poked her head between us. “What’re you two scheming about back here?”

Carter jumped, and I laughed at his response. “Nothing much, just guy stuff.”

She smirked. “Yeah, right.”

We went back to walking, but after a good few minutes, Mia and Desiree started walking ahead of us. Both them and Carter’s parents kept telling us to catch up, but it was easy to get distracted.

“I can’t believe we’re gonna climb that mountain!” I said to Carter, who was retying his shoe.

“Well, at least part of it.”

Since he had sat his polaroid down beside him, I grabbed it and took a photo. He laughed and stood back up. 

“What are you doing? That’s not memorable at all!”

“Eh? Sure it is!” I said with a grin as I waited for the picture to appear on the film. Carter handed me a small envelope in which he had been placing the others. 

The two of us went back to walking as the blond took the camera back. 

“Do you think we should run to catch up with them?” I asked, staring at the group that was now far in front of us. Plenty of people had ended up passing us.

“Oh God, it’s way too hot for that,” Carter mumbled as he pulled at the collar of his shirt.

“You should’ve worn a tank top, like me!”

The blond crossed his arms. “Well, I would’ve if getting sunburned was part of the agenda. Also, I feel like my arms look weird in tank tops. I’d rather not wear them in public.”

I sighed. “Dude, your arms are just as muscular as mine. It’s not like you’d be waving around twigs.”

Carter started laughing really hard, and I smiled at the sight. He looked really cute right now, even though we were both sweaty.

“Hey, after we get back to the cafeteria, do you wanna get those girls’ numbers?” I asked.

The boy shrugged, still holding onto a giant grin. “Eh, I don’t know. Let’s just play it out. Not to mention, if you get a girl’s number right now, you’ll talk to them for the entire week and ignore me.”

I lightly punched him in the arm. “Now you know that’s not true. My motto is bros before hoes—you should know this. N-Not that they’re hoes or anything though! You just—you come first! Yeah.”

Carter started laughing again, so while he was distracted, I took the camera back and took a picture of the sight. For me, that was completely memorable.

“Stop taking pictures of me—it’s not fair!”

I snickered as he took the camera back. “What do you mean ‘not fair?’”

“Well, what kind of album would we have if there were only pictures of me?”

I took a sip from my water bottle again. “Dude, we haven’t even taken ten photos yet!”

Carter pretended to pout, and I laughed.

“Alright fine.” I stopped walking and sat my backpack down.

“What are you doing?”

I ran in front of him and suddenly did a handstand. I wasn’t able to see his reaction since my tank top fell over my eyes. “Quick! Take a picture before I fall! It’ll look cool with the mountains in the distance!”

I heard the camera click, and then I toppled over onto my stuff with a curse.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

I nodded as he helped me off the ground. “It’s funny how you’re better at doing backflips than handstands.”

I grinned. “You know what would be cool?! You getting a picture of me flipping in the air!!”

Carter waved his hands around. “Hell no! The ground isn’t even—what if you land wrong and break something?”

I patted his shoulder. “Aw c’mon! I’ll be fine!”

The blond crossed his arms. “No. I’ll take a photo of you doing anything besides that. At least while we’re on this hill.”

I sighed and picked my backpack up. “We can negotiate in the shade up there,” I said and pointed to the area of trees we’d be entering soon. 

“I’m not negotiating,” Carter said and followed after me.

When the sun stopped making us sweat waterfalls, Carter sat down on a rock and started eating some pretzels. He shared some with me, and we stared at the trees.

“Hey,” He began. “I noticed you haven’t checked your phone at all. Is it because of last night?”

I patted my pockets. “A-Actually, I think I left it in the car.”

“Oh crap, really?”

I nodded. “Pshh yeah. But even if I did have it, I’d still be focusing on you and the hike. And, y’know, we’ve got your camera for photos.”

Carter smiled, and we finished our snacks. As I drank my water, he stood upon the rock and took another picture of me.

“You tease me about taking pictures of you—how about you photograph the scenery, eh?”

“I’ll photograph you in the scenery,” Carter said proudly.

I put my backpack on and jumped up. “Well, you can’t take a photo of me if I’m a blur!” I exclaimed and started running through the woods.

Carter chased after me with the camera as we started laughing. I heard several more clicks, but then we started actually taking pictures of the sky and whatnot. There were also interesting birds that I kept getting distracted by.

“Yo, how much film did you bring with you?” I asked as Carter took another photo.

“Too much,” He responded with a snort.

Carter started following this one bird with his camera, but I think it was just a sparrow. Though, as we continued walking, things started getting way steeper and way more confusing.

And then I paused and grabbed the blond’s arm.

“Carter, where’s the rest of the group?”

He turned around and put his camera back in his backpack. “Hm?”

“The group. We were supposed to be following them. I’m not sure if we’re even on the trail anymore.”

Carter started looking around frantically. “H-Holy shit, you’re right. Oh my God. I think we’re lost.”

I yanked the map out of my backpack. “W-Well maybe not. Let’s see…”

“Well this is where we started,” The blond said and pointed to the cafeteria in the center of the map.

“But where did we go from there?”

He looked at me. “I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening.”

“Well fuck, neither was I.”

Carter looked closer at the map. “Geez, I don’t even know where we are on this thing! Or what direction we’re facing!”

“Well, maybe we should go back,” I recommended.

The blond shoved the map back into my hands. “W-Well, which way is that?!”

I gulped as Carter started pacing to and fro “W-What do we do…what do we do…?” He mumbled to himself repeatedly, though I could hear his voice cracking.

I folded the map back up and sat my backpack down. Despite not necessarily wanting any physical contact right now, I grabbed Carter and pulled him into me.

“Hey, it’ll be fine, we’ll figure this out. It’s not like the sun’s gonna set soon, and we have food and water to hold us over for a while.” I said and rubbed his head.

“Oh God,” He said and scared the shit outta me as he started sobbing into my shirt.

“I’m so sorry Jean, this is all my fault. I-If I hadn’t gotten so distracted with the camera, none of this would’ve happened!” 

I sighed and continued to caress his head. Even though Carter was upset, I didn’t count being lost in the woods with him as a bad thing. I liked being alone with him sometimes, and it was kind of cool being in the middle of nature.

“Carter don’t just blame yourself. I’m at fault too, but it’s fine. At least we’ve got each other.”

The boy sniffled and pulled back to look at me.

“I say we continue walking where it’s steep. It would suck to just go back without ever climbing the mountain. Not only that, once we’re high enough, we’ll probably be able to see where we need to go.”

The curly-haired boy nodded, and I wiped his face. “Then again…do you have your phone on you?”

“Y-Yeah, but it’s dead,” Carter responded quietly.

“What? But I saw you plug it in last night!”

He sighed. “Yeah, but it must’ve gotten unplugged through all the commotion during the night. I’m sorry…”

“Carter, stop apologizing. You’re acting like you’re at fault for every single thing, and you’re wrong! It’s okay—and I’m not mad at you for any of this.” I combed my hair out of my eyes. “I knew hiking was going to be an adventure,” I continued. “I mean, sure, I wasn’t expecting this exactly, but this is just adding more spice to the vacation!”

I threw my backpack on and held out my hand for him. “C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

The blond finally smiled at me, and then grabbed my hand. “A-Alright.”

—

We continued wandering, watching our steps so as to not trip over tree roots and branches since we weren’t on a nice dirt path anymore. The nature sounds were relaxing, and occasionally I’d glance at Carter to make sure he was alright.

Despite the blazing, sun he never let go of my hand. Of course, I wasn’t complaining since I didn’t wanna lose him, not to mention I was slightly afraid of running into wild animals—not that I wouldn’t wrestle a bear to protect him, that is if bears resided on this mountain. I had no idea what Colorado’s environment was like.

I glanced at the blond again for a second, and we locked eyes.

“Um, do you think that if we’re up here for long enough, people might start looking for us?” He asked.

“There’s a possibility. But they’d need one hell of a search group since this place is ginormous.”

Carter chuckled. “True. This’ll surely be an interesting story to share once we get back home. That is…if we get back home,” He mumbled under his breath.

I glared at him, letting him go so I could climb up an awkward boulder. “Dude, c’mon,” I sighed.

He followed after me. “S-Sorry…” He grabbed my hand back, and we continued to walk quietly. 

Everything was alright until the number of trees lessened, and we were walking in the blazing sun. We still had a ways to go. We just needed to find a high enough ledge to see the ground, and we could go back down.

Carter gradually slowed down and then stopped with a groan. He squatted on the ground.

“My legs are killing me, I wish it wasn’t so damn hot out here,” He whined as I crouched next to him. 

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered as he took multiple sips from his water bottle.

The curly-haired boy stared at his hand as a ladybug landed on it. “Jean, I hate to be pessimistic, but I feel like we’re gonna die up here. The heat is killing me.” I looked at the insect as Carter’s eyes moved to me. “You get what I mean?”

I sighed. “You want a piggyback ride?”

“W-What? Are you serious?! It’s already steep—you’ll kill your legs!”

I laughed. “I’ll be fine! I’m just tryna spice up our adventure! And to me, you’re not that heavy.” I admitted while standing up.

“But I have a backpack! And so do you!”

I flashed him a smile and handed him mine. “Just get on. It’ll be fun!”

“Maybe for me, but not for you!”

I rolled my eyes. “Oi, I’m being your free ride since your legs are tired. Shut your face and get on before I change my mind.”

Even though Carter’s face was already a little red from the heat, I noticed him blush. He threw my backpack on along with his own as I turned away so he could hop on my back.

We shuffled around for a second, and then I smiled at him. “You good?”

“Y-Yeah,” He stammered while digging his face into my neck. “No homo.” 

“No homo,” I mumbled and then continued walking.

“Just tell me when you want me to get down,” Carter said after a few steps.

“M’kay.”

Carrying him on this incline was a bit of a workout, but I didn’t mind. As friends, we often did favors for each other and this wasn’t much of an inconvenience either.

“I wonder what Lloyd and your mom are up to right about now.” The blond said quietly.

“Lloyd’s probably sitting around and staring at the wall.” I joked. “Either that or reading. He can never seem to busy himself when I’m not around.”

Carter chuckled. “That’s kind of cute. You’re an amazing older brother who actually likes his younger sibling.”

“Damn right!” I beamed. “He’s my pride and joy! Or at least some of it.”

The blond fiddled with the strap of my tank top. “Sometimes, I wonder what life would be like if I had a sibling. But then I think maybe that would change how close we are.”

I glanced at him. “Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m always following you around and shit. Sometimes you kinda feel like a brother to me.”

I cringed a little. “Pshh, that’s a new one. So, I’m big brother Jean, eh?”

“Ack—never mind, that’s weird. I don’t want you to be my brother. I like us the way we are.” Carter laughed.

I smiled. “Same here. Us being like brothers would make stuff kinda weird,” I added.

“Agreed.”

After a little bit, the silence returned as I continued to carry Carter. We cracked a few jokes here and there, but we were mainly surrounded by ambiance around us.

“Do you want me to pay you back for this?” The blond suddenly asked. 

“For what? Carrying you? No, not really.” I answered. “However, it would be nice if you sang something so I could listen to something else. Especially since you’re right by my ear and all.”

I felt his body tense up. “Fuck no! Anything but that!”

I huffed. “Aw, c’mon! It’s just us up here…”

“I-I don’t care,” Carter growled. “I don’t even know many songs off the top of my head.”

“That’s alright. Just you willingly singing to me once is all I’ll ever need. I love your voice.”

Carter didn’t respond to me, but after a while, he began humming. I didn’t recognize the tune, but eventually, I sighed again, laughing a little.

“Dude, you hum all the time—nothing’s special about this.”

“Well, that’s as much music you’re getting from me! It’s either that or nothin’!” He exclaimed.

I sighed as we entered another small patch of trees. “What do I have to do to get you to sing to me?”

“Be moments from death. I’ll sing to you as you enter Hell.” The blond snickered.

I laughed. “Harsh! So, I guess you’re the good holy child who’ll be going to Heaven!”

“Uh-uh! I never said that! Not to mention, we’ll probably be in the hospital together from you trying to do some sick stunt and me trying to copy you.”

The two of us continued laughing. It was harder for me to catch my breath since he was on my back, but I pushed through.

“But in all seriousness, why won’t you sing to me? Or even around me? You refused to do so in middle school, and now we’re halfway through high school.” I grinned at him. “Plus, you sound really good.”

Carter held me tighter, and I blushed a little. “I just…don’t want to.”

“But you’ve known me for years now! What exactly do you think I’ll do?”

“Fuck off. I’m never gonna say yes, no matter how much you nag me.” He hissed.

“What if I pay you?”

Carter groaned. “Dude, shut up!” 

“Wait, are you actually mad? It’s kinda hard to see your face…”

Carter suddenly jumped off my back, causing me to lose balance for a second while he whipped me around to face him.

“Yes! It’s so damn annoying! I don’t think I’ve ever gone a week without you mentioning me singing! It’s not important and you’re not missing anything so just give up already, will you?”

The blond was all up in my face, glaring at me. I gulped. Carter rarely got mad, that was usually my thing. 

“S-Sorry man… I never really thought this actually bothered you too much. I thought we were just joking around.”

He wiped some sweat off his forehead and then looked at the ground.

“I mean, I know you don’t like singing around people, but I always thought I could be the exception. Sorry.”

Carter sighed and then placed his head on my chest. “I don’t know, I didn’t mean to lash out like that.” He grabbed my backpack and handed it to me.

“Let’s just keep going,” He mumbled and started walking ahead of me.

“W-Wait, I can keep carrying you! You don’t have to return the favor or anything!” I said while catching up with him.

The boy shrugged. “It’s okay.”

I nodded as we walked in awkward silence. I considered holding his hand, but by now it seemed like that moment had passed. But then Carter looked back at me with a smile.

“I’ll probably sing to you one day.”

I smiled back at him. “How about one day this week? To celebrate me finally getting out of Pennsylvania.”

The boy snickered, and I caught up so we were walking side by side. As we continued, I occasionally looked back to see if we had a good view. I had no idea how long we’d been walking for. Neither of us had any sense of time.

It only seemed to get steeper, and occasionally we had to climb the terrain. We stopped for water breaks and snack breaks and paused because our legs would get tired. 

And then we finally found the perfect spot.

It took ages of climbing to get there, but it was perfect. It was flat and even had shade in some areas. But most importantly, we could see everything.

“Holy fucking shit,” Carter mumbled, finally dropping his backpack.

“I know.”

We grinned at each other as I dropped my stuff alongside his, and we plopped onto the ground. We could see the tops of trees and even more mountains that were around us. Though, if we squinted, we could see the park in the middle of all the greenery, and though that was why we were up here, I didn’t care much for it.

Carter grabbed his camera and started snapping photos. Most were of the scenery, and some were of us in the scenery. We shuffled around in an attempt to get comfortable since we could sit with our legs over the edge, but from the looks of it, if we fell the wrong way, we’d break something.

Therefore, the two of us scooted back so we were leaning against some rocks behind us, and we were partly in the shade.

“I guess you probably wish you still had your phone, huh?” Carter asked me.

I shook my head, my eyes glued to the view in front of me. “Not really, no… I’m perfectly content.”

Despite how thin the air was and how we were still technically lost, I finally felt at peace. Then again, I was usually always at peace when I was with Carter, but this was different. 

“Thank God neither of us are afraid of heights,” The blond joked.

“Well, I’m sure if that was the case, we never would’ve gone hiking in the first place.”

“True, true.”

I took my hat and sunglasses off and placed my chin on my knees, staring off into the distance. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so beautiful in my entire life,” I whispered.

Carter did the same after scooting a bit closer to me, and he fixed his hair a little. “I know right?”

“Honestly, after this, I don’t think I’d ever wanna go back home. Chesterbrook seems so dry now.”

He laughed. “Exactly.”

“I could cry right here, right now,” I said and chuckled.

“Whoa, Jean crying? That sure would be a sight.”

I smiled at him. “It’s just so pretty. I don’t even care that the sun’s blazing or that we’re lost in an unknown state in the middle of the country, a thousand miles from home. I’ve got a beautiful fuckin’ blond and a beautiful fuckin’ mountain. What else do I need?”

Carter blushed and started laughing. “Food, water, and oxygen?”

I nudged him. “Shut up.”

He continued laughing, and we continued to take in the view.

“Dude, imagine having a wedding here...” I went on.

“I mean, that’d be fucking great, but getting married on a mountain sounds a little risky. Maybe a simple mountain proposal would be better?”

“Maybe both?”

Carter took a minute to apply some more sunscreen as I continued to zone out. “Imagine how nice this would look during a sunset.” The blond said and poked my side.

My eyes widened. “Holy shit, that’d be legendary. And also super romantic. Wanna stay up here for a few more hours?” I joked.

Carter started laughing again. “That’d be more than just a few more hours! My parents would probably think we’re dead by then!”

I snickered. “You’re probably right!”

I went back to leaning against the mountain. The heat had tired me out, and I felt like I could pass out at any second. I could just use Carter’s shoulder as a pillow if I scooted a little closer.

“Y’know,” The curly-haired boy began. “I guess in order to have a beautiful mountain wedding, I’d have to find a girlfriend to get engaged to first.” He sighed.

I frowned. “Heh, yeah same here.”

“I know the view is beautiful, and everything’s all nice and positive right now, but I feel like I’ll be single forever. My game is awful.”

I sighed and glanced at him. “I know right?”

“Well, at least you can talk to girls without needing a goddamn chaperone. Mia and Desiree must think I’m a giant weirdo.”

I patted his head. “Dude, you were doing just fine!”

“If you say so,” He mumbled. “I know jealousy is bad, but I wish I were more like you. I’m getting real sick and tired of being an introvert. I want more friends.”

I clicked my tongue. “Oh, so I’m not enough?”

Carter blushed. “N-No! That’s not what I meant!” He shouted while waving his hands everywhere. “Y-You’re perfect, dude. It’s just that people probably think I’m weird since I’ve only got one good friend. I mean, I occasionally chat with the guys at the skate park, and there were a few cool guys in my engineering classes. Mainly Nolan.”

“Oh shit, that French kid? He doesn’t talk much, but he’s pretty chill.”

The blond nodded. “I don’t why I’m complaining about friends. I’m sure if I had more, I’d just feel like they were hanging out with me out of pity…”

“Carter, I thought you left those bullshit thoughts back in middle school.”

He chuckled. “Most of them, yeah.”

The two of us took a few more sips of our water, and I refilled mine. I happened to look at Carter after a few minutes, who didn’t realize I had begun staring at him. He was in the zone.

His cheeks were still a bit flushed from the heat and in some areas his hair was stuck to his forehead. My hair barely went past my ears, but I still feel like I should’ve gotten a bit of a haircut before this trip.

But something about Carter’s teal eyes sparkling in the sunlight made my heart pound. He looked so handsome, and I wanted to stop staring, but I couldn’t.

There was no one else around to judge me or start spreading rumors because of it.

“I like being up here with you,” I confessed quietly.

Carter looked at me. “Hm? Oh. Me too,” He said and then continued looking at the sky.

I hugged my knees as my heart echoed in my ears. I kept trying to clear my mind, knowing if I did something rash, it could ruin the vibe of the rest of the trip. But he was the only thing I could think about.

Whenever I got free time or peace and quiet, he always came to mind. I’d like to say that it was just because he’s my best friend, but to someone else, they’d probably think otherwise.

The summer before high school we dated, and I wanted to date him again, though thanks to the way things ended, it was never bound to happen again.

Maybe I should spend more of my time taking care of Lloyd and helping out my mom because whenever I get a break, I can’t get my mind off of him. Not that he’s not on my mind the rest of the time…just in a different way.

I wanted to tell him I loved him, without saying ‘no homo’ afterward. I just wondered how he might respond.

I held my legs tighter.

Even if we were just to date again for this one week of vacation, I’d be okay. That’d be better than nothing.

Fucking hell.

I’d been doing so well at burying these feelings in the deep void of my soul, never to be considered or reminisced upon again. Maybe it’s a good thing that my family doesn’t go on vacation.

“Jean, are you okay?”

I flinched at the sound of his voice.

“You kinda look like you’re on the verge of tears…”

I sat up a little. “Ah, I’m fine,” I lied as I flashed him a smile. He didn’t seem to believe me.

“U-Um, well, no one else is up here, so you can talk about whatever you want. I don’t really mind if you break the silence.” Carter assured me.

I nodded. “Thanks,” I mumbled as I glanced at his hand. I hadn’t been paying much attention, but it seemed as if Carter had scooted closer to me while I was fighting with my thoughts.

I guess no rule said I had to tell Carter how I was feeling. That’s what actions were for. Even though it was hot, I could really go for a hug right about now. I loved hugging him—he always fit perfectly into my arms. He was like my missing puzzle piece.

“Are you homesick?” The blond asked quietly.

“No, not really. I mean if you weren’t here, I probably would be,” I said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, same here. I’m glad you were able to come along.” Carter smiled, and we locked eyes. My heart fluttered.

“M…Me too.”

Several thoughts came rushing into my head in just that second. Should I ask for a hug? Should I go back to zoning out? Now that I think about it, what I really miss is kissing him. Should I ask to do that? Should I just ruffle his hair?

Carter’s not one to intentionally inflict pain, but if I went in for it, would he punch me? Would he push me away or lash out?

I felt like I was gonna have a heart attack. Not to mention, all of this was pretty damn stupid since these thoughts were just making me hotter. I wonder which thing’ll come first. Heart attack or heat stroke?

I glanced at Carter’s lips as I lowered my knees and faced him. He followed my movements, probably assuming that I was gonna start talking. 

And then I leaned towards him, slowly closing my eyes as I pressed my lips against his. Despite how terrified I was, my body wasn’t even tense.

And he didn’t even push me away.

I took a peek to see that Carter’s eyes were closed, so I continued and cupped his cheek with one of my hands, as I massaged my lips against his.

As I kissed him, he rubbed my arm, and I felt like I was melting into him. I forgot how good this felt. I took my hand and slid it down his neck, and then trailed my finger down his stomach, earning a faint whimper from him.

I slowly pulled away, hesitant to open my eyes. Although once I did so, Carter and I stared at each other for a few seconds, completely red-faced and mesmerized by each other, before finally looking away.

“U-Um…wow,” He muttered.

“I-I’m sorry—” I gulped, occasionally glancing at him.

“No! I-I mean, it’s…okay. I didn’t…uh. U-Um…” The blond was at a loss for words, and so was I. “What…was that?” He managed.

“I, uh, I don’t know…”

I kept avoiding his gaze, but I happened to catch a glimpse of him licking his lips, which just made me want to kiss him again.

“I thought you would’ve pushed me away,” I mumbled.

“Did…you want me to?”

“I-I don’t know…no?”

Carter didn’t seem to be mad at me, which was both shocking and relieving. I mean, he closed his eyes for fuck’s sake.

But what was I supposed to say? How was I supposed to explain this? I couldn’t come up with any good excuses, and the last thing I wanted to tell him was that…I think I still kind of liked him.

It seemed like my heart was gonna beat right out of my chest. My eyes were glued to Carter’s hands which were trembling as he gripped his shorts.

I gulped.

“Can…I do it again?” I whispered.

The blond looked up, and we locked eyes.

“W-What? Oh…”

He looked around for a few seconds and then nodded, closing his eyes as I cupped his face once more. Carter clung to my shirt while I kissed him, and I don’t why, but it was a huge turn-on for me.

The way he tried to mimic the way my lips moved against his was satisfying. I didn’t even care that we were hot and sweaty.

We pulled away to take a breath and then continued as I slid my free hand up his shirt. Despite barely touching him, he moaned quietly into the kiss, causing the butterflies in my stomach to duplicate.

We paused again for a second, and then I pulled him further into me, so he was almost in my lap. Part of me thought this was insane. What the hell did I think I was doing on the side of a mountain? Where exactly did I think this would go?

But I often ignored the logical side of my brain, which was what usually got me into trouble.

Carter shuffled a bit, now hesitantly rubbing my chest as I slid my tongue into his mouth before we finally pulled away. He still tightly gripped my shirt, and I combed some of his hair back with a smile.

“W-Wow… You’re…still really good at that,” He said with a glance.

I played with his curls. “Huh?”

He chuckled, his face somehow growing redder. “Kissing, stupid.”

“O-Oh. Well, so are you.”

I was suddenly terrified that with the way we were sitting Carter would notice my boner, but what was the worst that could happen? I made out with him—it’s to be expected.

“S-So are we gonna…talk about what just happened or…” 

I stared at his teal eyes. “Um,” I mumbled. “I, uh…your lips are really sweet. And soft—”

Carter tensed up. “T-That’s not what I meant!” He exclaimed with a snicker. “I mean, thank you, I guess. Your lips are nice too. Like, really nice… You’re a really good kisser,” He admitted quietly while hiding his face.

I sighed and caressed his cheek. “I don’t really have an explanation… I’m sorry.”

He looked up. “It’s okay.”

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“Well if that was the case, I don’t think I would’ve let you do it a second time,” He said under his breath.

We smiled at each other, and then I hugged him. He dug his face into my neck.

“I don’t think we should tell my parents about this.”

I started playing with his curls again. “I don’t think we should tell anyone.”

He snickered. “Uh, yeah…”

I took a deep breath as the wind blew through my hair. 

“Jean, do you like me?” Carter muttered against my ear.

“N-No.” I hesitated, trying to arrange my thoughts and finagle a believable lie. “Not like that, I mean. I just really wanted to kiss you again or something. It was nice up here, and we were alone and junk… I-I don’t know—I have no clue. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

I felt Carter nod. “Okay. Thank you, though. T-That was nice.”

My heart rate increased again. I couldn’t accept the fact that he wasn’t mad at me and that he actually enjoyed this.

“Uh, yeah. No problem…”

“Do you think you’ll ever do this again?” Carter went on.

I closed my eyes. “What exactly? Fly out of state? Get lost in the woods? Climb a mountain? Kiss you on a mountain? All the above?”

“Kiss me.”

I kissed his neck, and he squeaked. 

“T-That’s not what I meant!”

I snickered. “I don’t know Carter. Can we just…stop talking about it?”

“Oh, y-yeah, sorry.”

For a good while after that, we just sat in each other’s arms, with the shade of a few trees and the slight breeze cooling us off. We were sweaty and covered in sunscreen, but Carter still smelled good. If we stayed here for too long, he would likely doze off. The same went for me, but Carter could pass out anywhere.

“Don’t you think we should get going now?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah,” He mumbled sleepily into my neck. “I like it here, though. With you.” He admitted softly.

I chucked, and though I agreed, I pulled back. “Me too, but if I sit here for any longer, I’m never gonna get back up. 

He smiled as we grabbed our things, and I checked my food supplies. We had eaten most of our snacks, but if we didn’t get lost again I could make them last.

Carter took a few steps closer to the edge, looking off the side again as he put his hat back on. “So,” He began. “We just need to go in that direction.” The blond pointed to where the park was, and I nodded.

“Yeah. We’ll probably be fine,” I said and smirked.

There was an awkward pause. Neither of us wanted to be the first to climb down.

“Y’know, uh, can we not talk about what happened up here?”

The blond glanced at me. “Ever?”

“Mhm.”

“Like the kissing and stuff?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, what the hell else?”

Carter blushed. “S-Sorry, that’s fair. What happened on the mountain…stays on the mountain?”

I nodded with a smile. “What happened on the mountain, stays on the mountain.”

We fist-bumped, and then I took my hat off for a second, quickly stealing another kiss from Carter before we departed.

He laughed. “I don’t get you sometimes.”

“Yeah, neither do I,” I said as I threw my hat back on.

I looked at the edge of the cliff, examining how we could get down. To keep facing the park, we had to awkwardly slide down one of the safer ledges, which was different than how we originally got up here.

Just as I was about to ask Carter if he wanted me to go first, he climbed over the edge and started skidding down the side.

“Geez!” I shouted before trying to catch up with him.

It was way easier to go down, except for the fact that we kept speeding up, and it was hard to stop ourselves from tripping over shit.

I couldn’t catch up with Carter, but I was destined to grab onto him. However, in the process, I slipped on a boulder and went rolling into a tree with a shriek.

“Jean are you okay?!” The blond shouted, losing focus and therefore stumbling as well.

“I-I’m alright, what about you?”

From where I was, I couldn’t necessarily see him, but he didn’t sound too far away. As far as I could tell, nothing was bleeding, but I ended up scratching up my hands a bit.

“Ew!” I heard him yell from behind me. “My socks are wet!!”

My back was a bit sore from rolling across several rocks as I tried to get up. “Are you bleeding?!”

“My foot’s in a stream!” He shouted back at me.

“But are you bleeding?!” I yelled, now running after the sound of his voice.

“Uh? I don’t know!”

Eventually, I saw him and slowed down before we ended up in the same position. He pulled his leg out of the water, frantically taking off his socks and shoes.

“W-What are you doing?” I asked as he started digging in his backpack.

“While I was in the car, my mom gave me a towel just in case I got too sweaty.” He said as he dried off his foot.

I opened my bag. “What’s the point though? Your shoes’ll just dampen your feet again.”

I pulled out a spare pair of dry socks that I packed just in case I got rained on. I handed them to the blond, and he put one on.

“It’s alright, they dry quickly. Not to mention the sun will probably help with that.” Carter said as he tied them back up.

He was about to stand, but I noticed a hole on the side of his shirt. “Wait, I see blood!” I said and lifted it up.

“I-Is it a lot? It can’t be a lot! I don’t feel anything!”

I sighed. “Calm down, it just looks like you got scratched by a twig.”

“Do you have band-aids? I know my mom has the main first aid kit.” The blond mumbled.

“Ah yeah, I have some band-aids and a few alcohol wipes,” I said while digging through my bag again. “Just keep holding your shirt up for me.”

Carter nodded as I started tending to his tiny wound. I used the dry part of his towel to wipe his side so the band-aid would stick.

“Done!”

He looked at me. “Wait really? That was fast and pretty painless.”

“Yup!” I said as I cleaned up my stuff and put my backpack on.

“Are you okay though? That fall—er, roll, looked horrible.” He said and started searching my arms and torso for scrapes. “There’s a few scratches back here.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I’m remarkably okay. All that’s really sore are my hands and back.”

Carter hugged me for a few seconds. “Thank God. It looked like you should’ve broken something but you never really get hurt that easily, huh?”

He pulled away, and I shrugged, rubbing my arm slightly. “Yeah, my endurance isn’t too bad.”

The curly-haired boy nodded. “Uh, are we lost again? Since we got discombobulated when falling?”

I shook my head and stood up. “Nope. I crashed into that tree up there with that one long branch.” I turned a little. “We just need to walk opposite of where it’s pointing, and we’ll be good.”

I grabbed Carter’s hand and pulled him off the ground.

“Ah, okay. Good to know.”

I got my bearings some more, and then we went back to staggering down the mountain, now holding hands with him. We didn’t talk much since we were heavily focused on not busting our asses again. 

Now, even though we strayed from the group, got lost, and fell partly down a mountain, if you ask me, I’d say this trip was off to a pretty good start. Nothing beats making out with your best friend on what felt like the top of the world.

—

After what felt like forever, Carter and I could finally see the cafeteria in the distance. We would’ve run towards it, but we were already exhausted, so we just strolled over there casually.

“Ah hey, there’s a park clock,” Carter said as we caught our breath. “Geez, it’s already two.”

“We’re like an hour late, maybe even a bit more.”

The blond nodded and gripped my hand as we made our way into the lunchroom. There were fewer families than before, but the remaining ones were familiar faces from this morning.

Some people were frantic, and some people were chill. Most people had finished eating, but then someone shouted, “Oh my God!! There they are!!” and we were brought back to reality.

The two of us flinched, and Carter let go of my hand as everyone turned to us. Within seconds, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes came bolting toward us, and Carter’s mom almost tackled her son to the floor with a hug.

“Holy shit! You guys are okay!!” She cried and then pulled me into the embrace, refusing to let go.

“We had no clue where you guys were o-or if you were safe and alive—what the fuck happened?!” His mom shrieked.

The rest of the conversations died down as Carter’s parents freaked out.

“Did you guys purposely leave the group?! What the hell were you two thinking?!” His father asked.

“N-No!” Carter blurted. “It wasn’t on purpose—we got lost!”

The man rolled his eyes. “How hard was it to stay with the five other families that were with us? Are you two toddlers?! You had a goddamn map! And phones!!” 

“Yeah, we tried calling you two so many times!” Mrs. Hughes cried.

I could see the blond tearing up and tripping over his words as he tried to explain. They kept shouting and cutting us off, and our inability to explain was pissing me off.

“Can you guys stop yelling for two seconds?!” I shrieked. “I left my phone in the car, and Carter’s phone was dead. We didn’t mean to get lost, and the map was no help since we didn’t know which way we were facing or where we were!” 

I glanced at Carter who had started crying. The sight hurt, but I needed to get my words out.

“I figured it was best to keep climbing until we could see where the cafeteria was. So, we climbed what was probably halfway up the mountain, took a break, got our bearings, and came back down.”

Mr. Hughes grabbed his head. “What even got you two distracted in the first place? I’m sure if Carter had just stayed with us, this wouldn’t have happened,” He muttered to himself.

“Excuse me? So, now I’m just to blame? What if it’s actually your fault for not keeping an eye on us and chatting with all the other adults?” I remarked.

Carter grabbed my arm. “D-Dude!”

I took another step toward his dad, and Carter tried to pull me back. “No one purposely gets lost on a fucking mountain, okay?! Believe it or not, I would’ve rather it just been me who got lost because the last thing I would want is for something to happen to Carter!!” I screamed in his face. “Everyone makes mistakes!”

Mr. Hughes grabbed my tank top and yanked me towards him. “Watch your damn mouth. Keep at it, and I’ll book you a returning flight for this evening.”

“Dad, stop it!” Carter yelled and pulled me out of his grasp, frantically grabbing my arms because he could tell I was moments from punching his father in the face. Mrs. Hughes urged him to go outside, and then he stormed off.

“Who the fuck does he think he is…” I muttered under my breath. “I didn’t want us to get lost—it wasn’t my intent. And I didn’t mean to be a distraction either.”

“Asher…” Mrs. Hughes said softly.

Carter grabbed my hands, still crying. “No, Jean! Don’t listen to him, okay? It wasn’t your fault! We talked about this! I was the one who was tying my shoe and taking breaks and chasing you with the camera!”

Carter’s mom placed her hands on our shoulders. “I’m gonna go outside and have a word with him, alright? Just…disregard his outbursts.”

We nodded.

“You two should go and get some food. You’re probably more exhausted than the rest of us.” She said and then left the cafeteria. 

Carter let go of me and wiped his face as I tried to calm myself down. My blood was still boiling as I followed him over to the buffet, as everyone in the room was still focused on us.

“I wish we’d stayed up there for longer,” The blond mumbled as we started filling up our plates.

I gave him a look. “Um, what?”

“It was nice up there with you. Just you. None of this...” He glanced around the room, frowning. “Mess.”

I nodded and followed him to a table that was away from the other groups. Carter ate quietly, and everyone else seemed to return to their previous conversations. I was starving, but even just the smell of the food was making me nauseous, thanks to my nerves.

Unable to do anything else, I sat there, staring at my food. I wanted to punch that son of a bitch. While I’d rather him yell at me than at Carter to stop him from bawling his eyes out, it wasn’t fair to put all the blame on me.

Mrs. Hughes was the only one who seemed concerned about our safety and if we were okay. Carter’s dad just immediately went off on us.

“Aren’t you gonna eat?” The blond asked worryingly, looking at me from across the table.

“Yeah,” I mumbled and finally took a bite. “What’s…your dad’s problem? I’ve always liked him. He was like the father I never had, and I often looked up to him. Does he secretly hate me or some shit?”

Carter sighed and took a sip from his water bottle. “Not really.” He looked up. “I’ll elaborate once we get back to the hotel.”

“Wait, so is there actually a reason?”

Suddenly I felt someone pat my shoulder. I glanced up, and Mia was standing next to me.

“H-Hey,” She said and waved awkwardly.

“Ah, hey what’s up?”

She sat beside me. “I happened to listen in to what was happening earlier. Well, I guess everyone was, but I just wanted to apologize. I’m sure if Desiree and I had paid more attention—”

Carter shook his head. “No. Don’t involve yourself in our mess.”

“Yeah,” I added. “It’s not your fault at all. You guys weren’t part of it, and it’s fine. We’re alive. We’re not bleeding. Everything’s okay now,” I said, trying to flash her a smile, despite still being on edge.

“You sure it’s all good?”

We nodded, and then Mia placed her head on the table. “Well, I’m glad you guys are alive. What exactly did you guys do once you got to the top? Our normal hike didn’t get us high enough to see the park.”

Carter glanced at me, and I smiled a bit. “We took tons of photos and ate almost all the snacks in our backpacks,” I said with a chuckle.

“And then we sat down and stared at the sky for a while,” The blond said as he finished eating.

“Dang, that sounds awesome. Makes me kinda wish I got lost with you two.” Mia joked.

I continued to eat a bit more as my appetite returned.

“Nah, cause now Jean and I are super exhausted.”

Mia and Carter continued to chat for a while longer, and he showed her some of the photos we took. I let Carter take the stage for once since I wasn’t in the mood for small talk. After a while, she went back to her table, and then Mr. and Mrs. Hughes came back inside. The cafeteria continued to grow emptier as more families left and started exploring other areas of the park.

Mr. Hughes didn’t say anything once he got to our table, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to talk to him anyway, or even look at him for that matter.

“Are you guys ready to go back to the hotel?” Carter’s mom asked. “We can all rest up and maybe go out to dinner later on.”

“That sounds good,” Carter said as the both of us nodded.

It was awkwardly silent as we cleaned up our things and made it back to the car. We mainly avoided eye contact, which was easy for the blond since he took a nap on my shoulder during the trip back. I stuck my face in my phone, but I didn’t feel like dealing with all the notifications I missed. Instead, I put it on mute, shoved it in my pocket, and enjoyed Carter’s company. He was the only one keeping me sane anyway.

Once we were back at the hotel, his parents returned to their room. After dropping all our stuff by the door, we took showers and collapsed onto the bed. I sat around shirtless to see if I had a tan, and Carter kept poking his finger through the small hole on his undershirt. I fiddled with my damp hair and finally smiled at him.

“Today was fun. “It’s kinda funny to think so much went on, but it’s only four in the afternoon.”

“I know right?” The blond rolled over onto his side. “Y’know, even though I’m hella exhausted, I kinda wanna go to the pool.”

My eyes widened. “Wait, there’s a pool?”

Carter laughed. “Duh! It’s a resort! I mean, you did pack swimwear right? We share clothes a lot but sharing swim trunks seems like a bit much.”

I snickered. “Yeah, yeah. I packed my own stuff.”

“And it’s not like we have to swim or anything. We can just sit on the edge.”

I stretched a little bit. “Nah, I’ll totally get in. Even if that causes me to need to take a third shower.”

The blond chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not like we have to pay the water bill or anything.”

As we were talking, someone knocked on our door, and then we saw Carter’s mom walk in.

“Hey, you guy’s gotta minute or two?” She asked and walked over to our bed. “I just wanted to talk about earlier.”

“Where’s dad?” Carter mumbled. “Isn’t he gonna apologize?”

I huffed. “I don’t even care anymore.”

“Yeah, well I want an apology. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have cried in a room full of people…” The curly-haired boy murmured.

Mrs. Hughes sat on the bed with a sigh. “I talked to him. He’ll probably come around before the day is out.”

Carter and I glanced at each other and shrugged.

“Anyway,” She went on. “I’m sure you two know how terrified we were and how dangerous that was. You two really should’ve been paying more attention. Then again, part of the blame could go to Mr. Hughes and I as well…”

The two of us sighed. “Y-Yeah…we’re sorry.”

“Though,” Carter began. “If it weren’t for Jean I probably would’ve died from stress.” He said and smiled at me.

His mom chuckled. “Well, I’m just glad you two are okay, and it’s good that you were together when it happened.”

“Are you and dad gonna have to babysit us for the rest of the trip now?”

She shook her head. “Nah, I know this wasn’t on purpose, and I’m sure it won’t ever happen again…right?” The woman glared.

The two of us sat up and shook our heads. “No ma’am.”

She smiled and returned to her feet. “Good. Now, do you guys have any dinner ideas?”

We glanced at each other.

“Actually, Jean and I were wondering if we could chill in the pool,” Carter said with a grin.

“I mean, I don’t understand how you two have any energy left but go right ahead. But take your phones this time…” Mrs. Hughes said. 

Before my shower, I had sat mine on my night table, and Carter had also plugged his in, so we were set. Not to mention, it’d probably be hard to get lost at a pool.

“Sure thing!” We said as Carter’s mom made her way back into her room.

After she left, the blond was about to run over to his suitcase, but I pulled him back onto the bed.

“Wait a minute. What were you gonna say about your dad earlier?”

He sighed as I laid back down on the bed. “Oh yeah…” Carter leaned against the pillows. “Well, you know how as soon as we won the sweepstakes, I ran to you to talk about it, going on about how cool it’d be if you came along?”

I nodded.

“Well, it turned out that my dad had already had an idea for who he wanted to bring along. My mom didn’t have a preference, which is why she immediately okayed you joining us since, y’know, we all like you.”

I watched as Carter’s eyes drifted from my face to my chest.

“My dad wanted to bring along one of his coworkers that he’s really good friends with. And while that’d be nice for him, my mom and I aren’t even that close to him, so it’d be super weird.”

I furrowed my brows. “So, your dad is just holding a grudge against me because he’s upset that he couldn’t bring his work buddy.”

The blond shrugged. “Basically yeah.”

I scoffed as Carter laid down next to me.

“That just pisses me off even more. Like—what? Would you be sharing a bed with your mom and he’d be sharing a bed with his work friend? At least I’m sort of like family!”

“Yeah, I know.” The boy mumbled. “It pisses me off too. That’d be so awkward for me. Not to mention, I’d be even more excluded because all the adults would just be sticking together and…I’d probably end up getting left behind. Lost on the mountain all alone.”

Carter stared at the ceiling with a frown, but then he turned his back to me. “It’s like my dad didn’t even consider my opinion at all.” 

I heard his voice crack and quickly leaned over. “Wait dude, are you okay?”

He covered his face with his hands. “I’m sorry, it’s not like I’m the one who deserves to be upset right now. You’re the one who got falsely accused and forced to take all the blame—you should be mad…”

I tried to roll Carter over to face me, but he wouldn’t budge. “Carter, hey.” As I shook his arms, he broke down.

“Whenever we were all together, my dad would always treat you like his second son, but I started noticing how much shit he talks about us behind our backs!”

I tensed up slightly.

“He thinks it’s weird how close we are, and he hates that I follow you around like a baby duck, but that’s just how I am! I’m a clingy little shit, and no matter how many times my mom tries to explain it, he still doesn’t get it!” He shouted while frantically wiping his face.

“You’re my best friend, Jean! I’ve known you for so long! Why can’t he love you the way I do? My mom does, so what the fuck’s his deal?” Carter cried. “I try not to think about it, but I spent so much time alone for so fucking long! It’s like he never knew! And now that I have you, it’s like he wants me to be alone again!”

The blond finally looked at me, his face bright red and covered in tears. “I don’t get what the hell he has against you! ‘He’s a bad influence! He’ll only get you into trouble—he’s putting you on the wrong path!’“ 

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. He still had more to say, but I wanted to calm him down. It always hurt to see him fall apart.

“You’ve never done anything wrong!” The blond went on. “You’ve never hurt me, abandoned me, upset me—nothing! My life would be hot garbage without you, yet he’s decided he’s gonna have it out for you for some god-awful reason that no one knows.”

Part of me wondered if his dad had managed to see us sometime during that summer. Both of our families were religious, but his dad was a diehard Christian, not to mention his family always had more free time to go to church in the first place.

Despite having a relative idea of my identity for a few years now, I never considered how anyone would react if I came out. I only worried about Carter’s opinion. Though, if anyone were to lash out, it would probably be his dad.

He was a sweet person, sure, but I had a feeling of where he might draw the line, whether it was reasonable or not. No wonder Carter was so terrified about us getting caught back then.

‘Let’s go to your house.’ 

‘Lock the door.’ 

‘Don’t leave marks where people can see.’

As the weeks went on, we kind of stopped caring, but knowing Carter, he didn’t only fear the opinions of his classmates. Sometimes he was afraid to be honest in his own home. Then again, I was too.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up all of that. Now the entire trip’s probably gonna be weird a-and—”

I shushed him and cupped his face again. I wasn’t planning to kiss him, it was just a good way to distract him from crying.

“Carter, it’s okay. I’m…glad you told me. I mean, even though I slightly want to, I’m not gonna treat him any different.” I looked off to the side. “Sure, that’s making my blood boil, but I pray that one day he’ll finally get over himself.”

“M-Me too,” Carter stammered while holding onto my hand. “I’m also sorry for suddenly breaking into tears… It’s not like it was that big of a deal.”

I handed the blond some tissues from the night table and sighed, laying back down next to him.

“Carter you don’t need to apologize, okay? You have a right to be upset…we both do.”

He glanced at me. “Yeah, but you’re not bawling your eyes out.”

“Yeah, but I might want to,” I muttered under my breath.

“Oh.”

I combed my fingers through my hair. “I’m sort of an ugly crier anyway.”

Carter nudged me. “Well, so am I! No one’s a pretty crier!” He laughed. “And again, it’s just us. Not to mention the walls are soundproof.”

I covered my face with my arms, and I heard Carter sigh. “I just feel like a dork.” He mumbled.

I snickered. “You’re always a dork.”

“Hey!” He whined and shoved me weakly. 

I smiled and stared at the ceiling for a while. Honestly, it took a ton of effort not to break down when Carter did. Whenever Carter cried, I wanted to join him because I hated seeing him so distraught. 

But…it made me feel like less of a man. I was fine with locking myself in the bathroom and weeping without anyone knowing, but I didn’t want Carter to see me at my lowest.

“Do you still wanna go swimming? It might be a good distraction after all this.” I asked after several minutes.

When he didn’t respond, I looked over to see him asleep, leaning against my arm. So much for that idea, but due to our excessive movement from earlier, it was probably better to sit down for a while. We could always go later in the evening, and we still had the rest of the week.

I rolled onto my side, carefully pulling him into my chest. I knew if he woke up, I was screwed, but since I kissed him without getting sucker-punched, I felt less scared to touch him. Sure, there was no way in hell I could pull that off again, but I think it set our vacation off to a good start.

I wrapped one arm around his waist, tangling my free hand in his golden curls that smelled like lemon shampoo.

There was never a time when a kiss between us went badly. Not when we were first learning, not when one of us was touch-starved and the other wasn’t. It always went well. Maybe it was a string of luck but hey, I’ll take it. Especially since I could still get away with it two years after we had broken up.