The Worst Holiday - July 4th, 1999

“Uggghhh,” David groaned as he gripped his pillow and pressed it firmly against his ears, hoping to drown out the cacophony of thundering fireworks and barking dogs that he was forced to endure every 4th of July. It was 9:15 PM on America’s birthday, and David was celebrating alone in his suite, buried under piles of blankets to shelter himself from the worst holiday of the year. David hated the 4th of July. Every year, his parents deserted him to go spend the holiday on some friend’s yacht, Stevie visited her Aunt Maureen in Nevada, and Alexis spent the day with her BFF of the moment. So, once again, David found himself completely, utterly alone. 

The time between subsequent booms of the fireworks was narrowing, so David knew the finale was swiftly approaching. He rolled onto his back, and his right arm emerged from underneath the blankets to clutch the down feather pillow on the other side of his king-sized mattress. Grasping the pillow with two, tight fists, David flattened the pillow against his face and screamed as loud as he could. No one could hear him, and it felt so good to momentarily release his anger at his family members for their complete lack of consideration and at himself for his self-pitying tendencies. He removed the pillow from his face as a single tear streamed down his left cheek. David let out a ragged breath as he rolled over onto his side and hugged the pillow to his chest. I hate this fucking holiday.              

The Swing Set - June 30th, 2000

David sat on the swing of Patrick’s childhood play set as Patrick stood behind him and pushed. He lifted his feet off the ground, so his white, Nike Air Force 1’s did not drag through the dirt. Every time Patrick’s hands found David’s hips to push him higher, a burst of energy shot up his spine and prickled down his legs. David was grateful that he was facing away from Patrick because the toothy grin that spread across his face at this simple act was much too revealing.   

“So the 4th of July is this week. Any big plans?” Patrick asked.

“Umm, nope. No big plans. My parents are actually in the Hampton's for Puff Daddy's Poolside White Party and Alexis is staying with the Olsen twins for a week, so I am actually by myself for a bit. I’ll probably just order a pizza, shame eat the entire thing, and cry myself to sleep like I do every 4th of July,” David confessed. He snapped his eyes closed and let out a long breath. Oh, God. That was too much. He opened his eyes when he heard Patrick’s surprised laugh.

“Wow! I don’t even know what to say about all of...that,” Patrick responded, amusement evident in his voice. 

“Hmmm. Well, best you don’t say anything and forget everything I just told you because…”

“You want to come over?” Patrick cut him off.

“What?” David heard what Patrick said, but surely Patrick already had plans for the 4th of July with his family or with his baseball friends or with literally anyone else. Why would he want to spend the 4th with me? Patrick grabbed both sides of the swing to stop David’s motion and leaned around David’s body to look at his face. David turned his head to meet Patrick’s gaze, and he was instantly aware of how close their faces were to each other. 

“Do you want to come over? Spend the day together? My parents are going to a neighbor’s party that evening, and I’d much rather spend the day with you than the neighbor’s kids.” The corners of Patrick’s mouth ticked up in a bashful smile.

David bit his lower lip and slowly nodded his head up and down. “Um. Yeah. I’d...I’d like that.”

“Good. You can come over around 2:00 for our annual Brewer 4th of July barbecue. We can swim for a bit, and then we can watch the fireworks right out here in my backyard. We have a pretty excellent view of the fireworks from Almansor Park if I do say so myself.” 

“Barbecue?” David’s entire body perked up.

“Yeah...probably should have led with that, huh?” Patrick laughed. 

“Yep. Uh huh. Definitely.”

Patrick graced him with a knowing smirk before he returned to his post behind David and began to softly push the swing.

“Do you think I can underdog you?” Patrick asked after a few quiet moments.

“I’m sorry? Under what me?” David’s eyes widened as Patrick barked out a laugh. David tightened his fists around the chains of the swing as Patrick started to push him higher and higher. 

“Uhh, Patrick...this is...this is…” Before David could finish his thought, he felt Patrick grip the seat of the swing with both hands on either side of David’s hips. The sound of Patrick’s quick footsteps in the dirt rang through David’s ears, and he felt a change in acceleration as Patrick pushed and released the swing over his head. David let out a surprised shriek when Patrick’s body emerged on the other side of the swing set. Time seemed to slow as he continued his upward trajectory; David closed his eyes and tilted his head back to meet the scorching sun. He felt weightless, momentarily suspended in time and space. On the descent, he snapped back to reality. 

“Patrick Brewer! What the fuck was that?” Patrick fell to the ground, bowled over with laughter. David couldn’t help but laugh in return. Soon, their eyes filled with tears as their laughter permeated the space between them, neither one of them able to stop.  

The First Interaction - August 16th, 1999

Two days before the start of his Junior year, David walked through the doors of his high school and wandered down the narrow hallways until he found his locker in the Junior wing. He set his bag full of crafting supplies down on the grey and white checkered tile and opened the locker door. A clean slate. This was a ritual of David’s. Every year before the start of school, he would enter the empty school building and take his time to decorate his locker with pictures, posters, and drawings to personalize his space. His locker was his safe haven in a school that wasn’t always kind to him. It was a place for him to express his creativity, yet remain safe from the torment of judgemental teens. David was pressing a poster of Mariah Carey into the back of his locker when the sound of someone clearing his throat brought him out of his trance. He looked to his right to meet the round, honey-colored eyes of the man who made the noise.

David’s eyes quickly scanned up and down the man’s body. The man was wearing tight, grey baseball pants that hugged his muscular thighs, a polyester jersey that revealed his toned biceps, and a backwards-facing baseball cap that didn’t quite manage to contain all of his wayward, sweaty curls. Wow! David had never been a fan of his school’s colors (grey and white), but this? This was definitely working for him.

“Hey! I’m Patrick. Patrick Brewer.” Patrick reached his hand out for a hand shake. David glanced down at Patrick’s hand and a small smile tugged at his lips. David reached out to return his hand shake. When their hands met, he was acutely aware of the feel of Patrick’s calloused fingers against his own smooth, moisturized skin. David’s eyes returned to Patrick’s face where he found the corners of Patrick’s eyes crinkled from the force of his wide grin. They both seemed to linger. 

“David.”

“What?” Patrick asked, scrunching his faint eyebrows in confusion.

“I’m David,” David chuckled as he finally dropped Patrick’s hand. “David Rose. Are you...are you new around here?”

Patrick’s face lit up. “Yes. Yeah. I was awarded a scholarship for my Junior and Senior year, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“Oh, for the baseball?” David furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips in a slightly down-turned pout. His school offered sports scholarships to students across California to remain competitive for state titles. It was one of the things David found most repulsive about high school sports aside from the sweaty bodies and the incorrect costume fabric choices.   

“What?" Patrick quickly glanced down at his uniform as if he forgot what he was wearing. “Oh. No. The scholarship is for academics actually. I’m somewhat of a math nerd.” Patrick ducked his head and rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand, bicep squeezing deliciously as he did so. David’s eyes followed the movement.

“Oh, of course. A smart, nerdy jock. Makes perfect sense.” David stopped himself from adding the word hot to the list, but it was a close thing. “Well, congratulations!”  

“Wait, wait, wait. I never said I was nerdy, did I?” Patrick feigned offense.

“You literally said you were a math nerd, so…”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“Uh, I think it is, though.”

“Agree to disagree, then.” Patrick laughed when David scoffed and rolled his eyes dramatically.

David watched as another baseball costume clad teen approached them. Donny Anderson, senior, captain of the baseball team, and major prick, clapped his hand around Patrick’s shoulder, and Patrick practically jumped at the unexpected touch. 

“Brewer, you ready, man?” Donny glanced at David with disinterest before focusing on Patrick.

“Yeah. Um. I’m ready. It was nice to meet you, David. Maybe I’ll see you around?” Patrick asked. He searched David’s face, waiting for a response until he was forcefully pulled away by Donny’s hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe,” David said under his breath.

Patrick turned his head to look back at David from a few paces down the hallway. He offered him a small smile and a friendly wave over his shoulder.

David highly doubted that Patrick would ever speak to him again. If he was already hanging out with Donny and the popular crowd, Patrick would be informed to stay far away from David Rose.

He relaxed his shoulders that had immediately stiffened at the sight of Donny and returned to decorating his locker, instantly soothed by Mariah’s presence in his space.  

The Call - July 4th, 2000

David jolted awake at the sound of his personal landline telephone ringing on his nightstand. He glanced at his clock before angrily grabbing at the corded phone.

“What? ”

“Wow. Good morning to you too, David,” Stevie deadpanned.

“Stevie, it's 10:17 AM. Why are you waking me?” David sat up against his headboard and ran his free hand through his mess of curls to scratch at the top of his head.

“Well, Aunt Maureen and I are heading out to Boulder Beach soon, so I wanted to wish you a very unhappy 4th of July. I know it’s your favorite day of the year,” Stevie joked. 

“Oh…” For the first time in his life, David didn’t know what to say.

“Oh? That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Last year you talked my ear off for 20 minutes vehemently listing the reasons why the 4th of July was inferior to literally every other holiday. Are you okay?”

Ugh. I can’t hide anything from her. “Yeah, I’m fine. Great, actually,” David replied.

“Great ?”

David groaned, “Ugh, yes. I’m great, Stevie. If you must know, I’m spending the day with Patrick today. He invited me over to his place.”

David’s confession was met with silence on the other end of the call, but he could hear the shit-eating grin spread across Stevie’s face. 

“Oh? Patrick, huh? Stevie’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Yes...Patrick.”

“Well that sounds...fun. Have anything special planned? Like...cuddling under the stars, or holding hands on a romantic evening stroll, or...Oh! Skinny dipping in his pool?”

“Mmkay. Bye, Stevie. Hope you fall off of your paddle board and drown.” 

Stevie barked out a laugh at David’s quip. After a few moments, her laughter subsided. “David?”

“What?”

“I’m happy for you. Have fun today, okay?” The sincerity in her voice was almost too much for David this early in the morning.

“Yeah. Okay. I think I...I know I will. Best wishes.” A crooked smile tucked itself into David’s right cheek as he thought about the day ahead of him.

“Warmest regards.”

The Lab Partner - January 18th, 2000

David walked through the door of his AP Biology classroom as the final bell rang and found his way to the seat Stevie had saved for him at the back of the room. He dropped his notebook and pencil case on the small desk in front of him with a loud thud. It was his final class of the day, and he desperately wanted to go home. The first day back from winter break always dragged on, and as much as he loved not having to pay attention at school, David would scream if another syllabus was shoved in his face today.  

His teacher, Mrs. Thompson, scurried from her desk to the front of the classroom with a single piece of paper in her hands. No syllabus then. Way to change it up Mrs. Thompson.

“Good afternoon!” Mrs. Thompson cheerily addressed the class. “As you know, this semester you will be bombarded with new information, theories, concepts, and vocabulary, but there is more to AP Biology than just rote memorization. Yes, you will have to memorize a lot, but during this course, you will also complete 12 laboratory exercises that will demonstrate different biological principles and will help you contextualize what you are learning in class and reading in your textbook.” 

David stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his arms over his black, cashmere sweater as he settled in for another long, boring class.

Mrs. Thompson continued, “So, everyone has been assigned a lab partner for the duration of the course who will work with you to complete these laboratory exercises and reports.”

The entire class groaned in unison.

David twisted his silver ring around his finger and bit nervously at his lip as Mrs. Thompson began pairing students off from her list. It was no secret that David had struggled with group work in the past, and he really did not want to be paired with someone who made him do all of the work. Knowing himself, though, he would probably end up doing everything anyway because no one’s work ever lived up to his exacting standards. He zoned out as memories of all the terrible group assignments of his past filled his thoughts. His focus was brought back to the class when he heard Mrs. Thompson call his name.

“David Rose. You’re with…” Please say Stevie. Please say Stevie. “Patrick Brewer.”

Noooooo!

David watched as Patrick turned around in his seat located at the front of the class and scanned through the rows of students until his eyes met David’s. Oh, God. Patrick’s lips curved up in a soft smile, and he lifted his hand in a shy wave. David tried to return his smile, but he was certain it ended up as more of a grimace.  

He had seen Patrick in the hallways and in the cafeteria, but they hadn’t spoken since that day at David’s locker before the beginning of the school year. Whenever David saw him, Patrick was either surrounded by a group of sporty boys in Letterman jackets, or he was holding hands with a petite redhead. David didn’t know much about Patrick, but if his asshole friends were anything to go off of, this was going to be a very long, tortuous semester. Let’s hope Mr. Adorable Math Nerd is good at Biology and is not a total dick.

The Barbecue - July 4th, 2000

Clutching his paper plate to his chest, David scanned through the assortment of meats, side dishes and fruits scattered across the folding table in Patrick’s backyard. David was not a fan of the tacky, American flag table cloth or the napkins featuring a cartoon version of Uncle Sam, but the large selection of his favorite sides almost made up for the incorrect decor. He piled his plate with two sliders, baked beans, mac and cheese, and potato salad until every centimeter of his red plate was covered. 

Once he reached the end of the food table, his eyes searched the backyard for Patrick among the rambunctious tweens and chatty neighbors. David spotted Patrick sitting alone on a folding chair under the shade of an oak tree in the far corner of the yard. Patrick looked up from his plate as David walked over to him and sat in the empty chair beside him.

“I see you found the food.” A teasing grin spread across Patrick’s face as he glanced down at David’s plate.

“Mmm.” David’s eyes widened as his lips pressed together in a firm line. “I did. Thanks so much,” he retorted.

Patrick's attempt to stifle his laugh was not successful. “Well, I’m glad to see that you are enjoying yourself.”

“Well, I haven’t tried the food yet, so...jury’s still out on that.” David scooped up a heaping forkful of mac and cheese and slowly brought it to his lips. When the rich, creamy cheese coated his tongue, David closed his eyes and groaned loudly, savoring the flavor. “This might be the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had.” 

After a few moments of silence, David opened his eyes to find Patrick’s cheeks tinted pink.

“Are you hot? Do you need water?” David asked, holding his water bottle out to Patrick.

“What?” Patrick shook his head quickly back and forth. “Oh. Um, no. I’m...I’m good.”

“Okay.” David’s lips curled upwards, and he quickly took another bite of food to stop his smile from spreading. Patrick scooched his chair a few inches closer and knocked his knee against David’s.

“Did you bring a swimsuit?” Patrick asked.

David slowly nodded his head up and down. “I did.”

“Good.” Patrick bit into a large piece of watermelon, and David’s eyes tracked the stream of juice that dripped out of the side of Patrick’s mouth. The corners of Patrick’s mouth slowly ticked up into a sly grin. “I can’t wait for you to see mine.”

“What?” David’s eyes snapped back up to Patrick’s, and Patrick let out a soft chuckle. Shit! He saw me staring at his lips.

“I can’t wait for you to see my swimsuit,” Patrick restated.

Oh. Wait. What the fuck does that mean?  

Patrick stood up and started walking away before David could respond. A few yards away he turned to face David and pointed over his left shoulder in the direction of the food. “I’m going to get some more watermelon. Can I get you anything?”

“Oh! Um. A smattering of everything. Please.” David watched as Patrick walked away, slowly shaking his head from side to side.

“Unbelievable,” Patrick muttered.  

The Library - February 27th, 2000

David and Patrick sat across from each other at a long wooden table in the back of the county library to work on their third lab report. They scored well on their first two reports, so they agreed that they would continue to work together to complete their  assignments for the remainder of the semester. The first two times they met outside of school, they didn’t talk much. Outside of the occasional question about osmosis or enzyme catalysis, they kept to themselves and focused on their work, and David had been perfectly content with that.

“So, how do you want to split this up? I can take the mitosis stuff, and you can take the meiosis stuff?” Patrick finally looked up at David from where he had been staring at his lab notes. 

“Mmm. Sure. I can take the sex cells.”

Patrick’s mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but he closed his mouth without uttering a word and returned his gaze to his paper, softly shaking his head back and forth.

“What?” David asked. 

“They’re called gametes, David.” Oh. This little shit.  

“Mmhmm. But they are also called sex cells. You know? Sperm and egg cells.”

A blush spread across Patrick’s cheeks and traveled down the top portion of his chest that was exposed by the open button of his Henley shirt. “Well, reproductive cells…”

“Oh my God.” David cut him off. His lip curled up at Patrick’s shy display. “Say ‘sex’, Patrick.”  

“What?” Patrick’s faint eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“Say ‘sex’.”

“David…”

“Say it!”

“SEX!” Patrick shouted. A look of horror crossed his face as silence filled the room around them, and all of the library goers’ eyes landed on Patrick and David. Patrick perched his elbows on the table and covered his face with his hands. “Happy?” Patrick whispered.

“Thrilled,” David deadpanned. After a few quiet moments, David continued, “Okay, I know we don’t really do this, but what’s the story there?”

“The story? I don’t know what you mean, David.” Patrick raised his head and scratched at the back of his neck.

“I mean…you have a girlfriend, right? Why are you afraid to say the word ‘sex’?”

“I’m not afraid to…wait, how did you know I have a girlfriend?” 

“Oh. Umm… I’ve seen you in the hallway with a girl a few times. Holding hands and…stuff.”

Patrick laughed, “Stuff, huh?” A shit-eating grin emerged on Patrick’s face. How this man could go from shy to incredibly sure of himself in two seconds, David had no idea. He hated how hot he found it to be.

“Mmhmm.” David nodded his head, tight-lipped.

“Say it.” Oh, no.

“Say what?” David pretended he didn't know what Patrick was talking about.

“You were making fun of me for not wanting to say ‘sex’, but you won’t say…”

“Ugh. Fine!" David rolled his eyes. "Kissing. I saw you kissing. Happy?”

“Delighted.” Patrick smirked. “I like Rachel, don’t get me wrong, but…”

David held up his hands to stop Patrick. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know. I really don’t know why I asked.” 

“Oh. Um. Okay…” Patrick glanced down at his paper, almost looking disappointed.

“I mean...if you...if you want to tell me, you can. I’ll, um...I’ll listen.” David regretted his words the second they left his mouth. He really didn’t want to hear about his adorable lab partner’s girlfriend, but he didn’t hate the idea of getting to know Patrick better. Listen to his problems. Be friendly. Heaven knows you could use more people to talk to than just Stevie.

“Okay.” A warm grin spread across Patrick’s face, and his kind eyes seemed to widen as he looked at David (if that was even possible). “I’d like that, David.”

The Swimsuit - July 4th, 2000

After the neighbors left the Brewer’s to move onto the next house scheduled in the day-long neighborhood festivities, David found himself in Patrick’s bathroom changing into his black, Givenchy swim trunks. He stared at his shirtless reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. You can do this.

David had been over to Patrick’s house several times, but they had never gone swimming or changed in front of each other. He supposed that was what normal guy friends did, but they weren’t normal guy friends. They weren’t normal guy friends because David had a huge fucking crush on Patrick that was becoming more and more difficult to control.   

He opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto the patio with his beach towel tucked under his right arm. When David turned towards the pool after closing the door, his jaw dropped open at the sight in front of him.

Patrick slowly emerged from the surface of the water with his eyes closed. A tunnel of water briefly covered his face before he began to shake his head back and forth, water droplets flying off of his tight curls in all directions. As Patrick stood in the shallow end of the pool, inch by delicious inch of his pale, muscular chest was revealed to David for the first time. Wow. A toothy grin spread across Patrick’s face when he spotted David by the door. David snapped his mouth shut. Dear Lord.  

Suddenly Patrick’s beautiful body was moving through the water until he reached the stairs and made his way out of the pool. 

David’s eyes carefully scanned down Patrick’s body, but lingered on his swimsuit. Oh. That’s what he meant. The fucking troll. Patrick was wearing American flag board shorts, and to David’s dismay, he looked really fucking cute in them. 

“Well?” Patrick stretched both of his arms out to the side and nodded his head down to his swim trunks in question.

“Well…” You look really fucking hot. “You’re somehow even paler than I imagined.”

“Not what I meant, David,” Patrick laughed. “Wait… you imagined?” 

Oh, God. David dropped his beach towel on the lounge chair to momentarily escape Patrick’s eye contact. “Oh! You meant the hideous, fucking American flag bathing suit? Yep. Didn’t miss that either.”

“I knew you’d have something to say about it.”

“Well, then, I’m glad I didn’t disappoint.” A small smile tucked itself into David’s cheek, dimples on full display, and Patrick beamed at him in return.

They looked at each other for a few moments before Patrick grabbed David’s hand and drug him over to the deep end of the pool. Before David could register what was happening, Patrick tugged on his hand, forcing David into the pool behind him. As he emerged from underneath the water, David quickly flipped his hair back, so it wasn’t plastered to his face.

“Patrick!” David splashed Patrick with both hands. “I didn’t want to get my hair wet.” 

Patrick laughed as he swam over to David. He lifted his right hand out of the water and ran his fingers over the top of David’s head to smooth down his hair. Oh. David didn’t know what to do with that. They were very close to each other. It would have been so easy for David to eliminate the space between them, to grab Patrick by the waist until they were chest to chest and kiss him until he was breathless, but he knew better than that. David backed away, putting two feet of space between them and brought both of his hands up to splash Patrick in the face again.

“You fucking troll.”

The Dissection - April 10th, 2000

David scrunched his nose up in disgust at the smell of formaldehyde as he entered his biology classroom.

“Why does it smell like death in here?” David asked Patrick as he sat down next to him at their lab bench.

“Because that…” Patrick pointed at the plastic bag on the tray in front of them, “is a very dead fetal pig.”

“A what?” David grimaced. “What is it doing in a plastic bag on our lab bench?”

“Our lab bench.” Patrick smiled at him fondly. David rolled his eyes. “Well, we are unfortunately going to have to dissect this today.”

“Okay. No. That was not part of the lab manual. Had I known I would have to do this ahead of time, I never would have signed up for this class. This sweater is Prada, Patrick. Prada.” David’s hands flailed aimlessly through the air for emphasis.

A down-turned smile graced Patrick’s lips. “Okay. Well. First of all, I am glad you did sign up for AP Bio because without you, I’m not sure I’d be top of the class.” 

David scoffed and pushed Patrick’s shoulder causing Patrick to bark out a laugh as his chair rolled across the floor from the force. “You’re ahead of me by like less than a fraction of a percentage! But that’s not...that’s not the point…”

Patrick stood up from his chair and rolled it back over to the lab bench. “You have a shirt on under that, right? Just take off the sweater.” Patrick shrugged his shoulders as if this was an easy solution to David’s problem.

Ugghhh. I guess I have no choice. David stood up from his chair, crossed his arms, and carefully grabbed the bottom hem of his sweater to lift it over his head. His grey, cotton undershirt clung to the material of his sweater, and suddenly, he felt the cool air of the room against his exposed stomach. Shit. Once the sweater was removed, he quickly tugged on the bottom of his shirt and glanced back at Patrick, hoping he hadn’t seen anything. He watched as Patrick’s eyes roamed over his chest and arms. 

David cleared his throat as he folded his sweater and bent down to place it in his bag. “Patrick?”

“Huh? Oh. Sorry.” Patrick’s cheeks flushed with color. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your arms before.”

“My arms?”

“Yeah. You wear sweaters every day,” Patrick chuckled.

“Okay. You don’t even see me every day,” David challenged.

“Oh, but I do. Even when I met you in the summer, you were wearing a sweater.”

“You...you remember that?” David furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Of course I do. You were wearing a black sweater with a white lightning bolt on the front of it.”

Huh. “Well, you must have a good memory then because I don’t remember what you were wearing,” David lied. He had thought about Patrick in those grey baseball pants a lot over the past few weeks as they had gotten to know each other better.

“Yes. We’ve established I have a good memory, remember? Top of the class.” Patrick waggled his eyebrows as he pointed at himself. 

David tilted his head back to the ceiling and groaned. “Wow. You are actually the worst.”

“Am I, though? Because I’m about to do this entire dissection by myself, right? You’re not planning to touch this thing, are you?”

“Mmm, that’s correct. You will 100% be doing all of the work today.”

The corners of Patrick’s eyes scrunched together as he laughed. “Okay, David.” 

David’s eyes caught Stevie’s across the room. She gave him a knowing smirk and traced a heart through the air with her index fingers. He flipped her off in return with both hands as Patrick set to work on the dissection.

The Dessert - July 4th, 2000

“Oh my God! This is so good!” David talked around a large bite of red, white, and blue cheesecake that Patrick had prepared with help from his mom. He swallowed the bite and picked up another piece from the display of desserts on the kitchen counter. Patrick and David sat on the kitchen bar stools in their wet swimsuits which was incorrect, but they were alone in Patrick’s house, free from Patrick’s affectionate, yet overly-concerned parents.

“Yeah? Glad you like it! There are also red, white, and blue funfetti cookies if you want…”

“Yes! I want!” David cut Patrick off. His eyes widened, and he let out a happy hum as he bit into his first cookie. “Also very good. I’m impressed, Patrick.” David brought a hand up to his stomach and dramatically sucked in his gut. “I need to stop, though.”

“What? Four pieces of cheesecake and a cookie is your limit?” Patrick joked.

David gasped, mouth hanging open in surprise. “Excuse me? What exactly are you saying, Patrick?”

Patrick rolled his eyes. “David! I’m not saying anything. You literally have abs…”

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“Shut up. You know it’s not.” They stared at each other with soft smiles on their faces. Patrick slowly leaned in toward David. If David had blinked, he would have missed the slight movement. He didn’t want to read into anything though, so he quickly reached for another cookie and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. 

“I lied. One more.” David said between his loud chews.  

The Sleepover - May 26th, 2000

“Hey!” David heard Patrick’s voice across the hallway as he stood at his locker at the end of the school day, but he didn’t turn around. Surely he is talking to someone else. “Hey, David.”

David turned towards Patrick’s voice to find Patrick standing right next to him. “Oh. Um, hi.” David clutched his bag to his chest to give his hands something to hold onto. “What’s up?”

Patrick ducked his head and stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his light-wash jeans. After a few moments, he looked back up at David. “Are you busy tonight?” 

“Busy?” David furrowed his eyebrows in question.

“Yeah. Do you have plans tonight? Would you maybe want to hang out?” Patrick worried his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Hang out?” David still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Yes.” Patrick laughed. “Hang out, David.”

“Like…like as friends? Are we friends?”

“Why yes, David. We are, in fact, friends.”

A toothy grin took over David’s face. “Okay.”

“Great!” Patrick’s shoulders sagged in relief. “You can follow me to my house.”

Several hours later, David found himself in Patrick’s bed. An aggressive storm had entered the area, and Patrick’s mom didn’t think it was a good idea for David to drive home. David’s arms rested across his stomach on top of Patrick’s surprisingly soft, blue comforter as David laid on his back and stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars covering Patrick’s ceiling. Patrick was on a twin-sized air mattress at the foot of the bed, so David could not see him in the darkness of the room. Aside from the occasional thunder in the distance, silence stretched between them as they tried to fall asleep, and David felt his inhibitions lower. 

“Patrick? Are you awake?” David heard a snuffle and the rustling of the plastic mattress. 

“Yeah. I’m awake.”

“I saw Rachel holding hands with Will Shultz the other day…”

“Oh, really?”

“Mmhmm. Are they friends, or…?”

Patrick was quiet for a few seconds. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re dating now.”

“Wait. What? I thought you two were…”

Patrick jolted to a seated position on the mattress, and David could see the outline of his head and shoulders facing the bed. “David. Rachel and I broke up like over a month ago.”

“What! Why didn’t you tell me?” David’s voice came out softer than he wanted it to.

“I thought you knew.”

“Well. I didn’t.” Silence stretched between them again. David didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ask why they broke up, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Patrick, thankfully, seemed to have read his mind.

“It just didn’t feel right, you know?"

“Mmhmm. I do know.” David’s mind flashed back to all of his ill-advised hookups and flings that never amounted to anything.

Before Patrick could respond, they were both distracted by the high-pitched noise coming from the air mattress. David watched as Patrick’s outline slowly lowered to the floor.

“Shit. There’s a hole in it,” Patrick stated the obvious.

“Nooo! Really?” David joked and burst out laughing. He watched Patrick pick up his pillow and blanket and place them on the floor. 

“Patrick. Get up here. You are not going to sleep on the floor.” David scooted over to one side of the bed and patted the other side of the mattress with his open palm.

“Are you sure? Is that okay?” Patrick asked. David nodded his head in response. He didn’t trust his voice at that moment.

Patrick walked over, drew back the covers and crawled into bed next to David. 

“Goodnight, David.”

David rolled away from Patrick and smiled at the wall. “Goodnight, Patrick.”   

The Fireworks - July 4th, 2000

David and Patrick stretched out on a plush, old quilt in Patrick’s backyard, anticipating the start of the fireworks display at Almansor Park. David typically wasn’t one to lay on the ground, but he was more comfortable than he had been in years, warmed and soothed by Patrick’s presence beside him. Patrick propped himself on one elbow and looked down at David.

“Hey.” He tapped his foot against David’s. David looked up into his kind eyes. “I’m really glad you came over today. This has been the best 4th of July that I can remember.”

“Yeah?” David’s crooked smile tucked itself into the side of his face. He had no doubt that this was the best 4th of July he had ever had, but he was pleased to hear that Patrick shared his sentiment.

“Definitely.” A wide smile settled on Patrick’s face as he continued to stare at David. Wow. He’s beautiful. Behind Patrick’s head, David saw the first firework of the show. Patrick laid back down when he heard the subsequent boom.

Halfway through the show, David felt Patrick’s fingers gently brush the back of his hand. He smiled to himself at the touch, but he was too afraid to look at Patrick, worried that the small touch had been nothing more than an accident. David tried to focus on the movement and the shapes that decorated the sky.

A few moments later, Patrick slowly entwined his fingers through David’s and squeezed his hand gently. Okay. That was definitely intentional. David finally turned his head toward Patrick to find that Patrick was already looking at him.

“Hi,” David breathed out on an exhale.

“Hi.” Patrick squeezed once more before dropping David’s hand and rolling over onto his side. David mirrored him. Patrick scooted forward to eliminate the space between them. Inches from David’s face, Patrick whispered, “I’m going to kiss you now, David Rose.”

“Please, Patrick.”

Patrick’s hand cupped the side of his face, and his thumb rubbed gently back and forth over David’s high cheekbone. Patrick stared at David as a grin spread across his face, and David took the time to memorize how the reflection of the bright fireworks danced in Patrick’s honey eyes. David couldn’t wait any longer.

“Patrick. Kiss me.” They both leaned in, and their lips crashed together. Patrick’s lips were soft and insistent against his own. He felt Patrick’s hand slip around the back of his head to pull him even closer, and David groaned low in his throat as he parted his lips. Patrick took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, and suddenly, David felt like he wasn’t close enough to Patrick, that he could never be close enough to Patrick. He wrapped his arm around Patrick’s waist to pull their chests flush against each other and rolled their bodies, so part of his weight pressed Patrick into the solid earth beneath them. Patrick’s hands found their way to David’s lower back and worked their way under his t-shirt to caress his soft skin. David melted into Patrick, every ounce of anxiety and tension that David carried with him dissolved at Patrick’s touch. David had kissed a lot of people, but it had never felt like this before.

He drew back to take a breath but kept his nose pressed to Patrick’s, lingering in the perfect moment they just shared. David placed a chaste kiss on Patrick’s pink, swollen lips before he rolled off of him and sat up next to Patrick. Patrick groaned at the loss. The thundering of the fireworks, that had been drowned out by the pounding of his heart, returned in full force as the finale of the show started, serving as a reminder of what day it was. Patrick propped himself up on both elbows.

“David? Are you okay?” Patrick’s eyebrows scrunched together in concern.

David let out a soft chuckle. “I’m great, Patrick. Thank you.” David looked down at his hands and took one of his silver rings off to place it on a different finger. Patrick sat up, so they were face to face.

“For what?”

David leaned in and pecked Patrick’s lips again simply because he could. “For forcing me to reevaluate my hatred for this holiday.” Patrick barked out a laugh, tilting his head to the sky and exposing the long line of his neck to David. David kissed the tender spot behind Patrick’s ear and slowly drug his lips across Patrick’s cheek until he met his lips in a passionate kiss. After a few moments, he withdrew and laid back down on the quilt. Patrick joined him. 

“I’ve never done this before,” David confessed as he stared up at the night sky in awe.

Patrick looked over at him. “Done what?”

“Watched the fireworks.” Patrick wrapped his arm around David’s shoulders and drew him to his chest. David hugged his arm around Patrick’s stomach and rested his head on Patrick’s shoulder. As he watched the end of the fireworks display, cuddled with Patrick under the stars, he sighed contentedly. Maybe the 4th of July isn’t so bad after all.