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There was something in the way Rick looked at him, blue eyes wide and sparkling in wonder. The way Rick followed Shane's every move as he gestured wildly about his latest conquest. The way Rick's mouth would curve, lips part as he chuckled and tell Shane how he would get in trouble if he kept chasing after married housewives.
There was something in the way Rick's face would flush a pretty pink color when the vulgar words Shane drawled out became too much. It would start at his cheeks and extend all the way to the tips of his ears. Rick would bat him away when he got close, turning his head away as the blush intensified.
"Too much for the good Christian boy?" Shane would tease, eyes never once leaving Rick's face.
He always got a haughty reply from the other boy, but all he had to do was make a stupid lame joke for Rick to come back around, all blinding blue eyes and silly smiles.
Shane knew it was weird for him to think of Rick in this way. They were friends, they were both boys, but he couldn't find it in him to care anymore. Not when it felt like the most natural thing in the world to throw his arm over Rick's shoulders as he walked him home. Or when they would sneak out together and share the beers Shane would swipe from his old man. They would spend hours talking under the glow of the moon, and sometimes when the alcohol flowed freely through Rick, he would lean against Shane and whisper how much he loved him, how their friendship was beautiful and he never wanted to lose him. His friend, his brother.
They spent every moment they could together, and Rick never once denied him anything.
It didn't matter that Rick would one day marry a nice, smart girl and become the family man he always wanted to be. It didn't matter because Shane would still be there, ready to make Rick laugh and smile and cause his cheeks to redden that pretty pink with his stupid antics.
Shane was sure of that.