Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Alright,” the lean woman began, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. “I’m Mrs. Haus and welcome to Photography. This term is going to be all about you!” she smiled pointing out at them.

“So, boring as shit?” Ray mumbled under his breath. Gavin let out a giggle, shutting himself up when Mrs. Haus turned and glared at him. She opened her mouth, probably to scold him, when the door creaked open and heavy footfalls sounded in the room.

They all turned around to see who it was, this last edition to their class. Most of them fell silent and turned back around when they saw just who it was.

The ends of his curly red hair flipped up from where they were freed of his blue beanie. His black leather jacket fit snugly across his broad shoulders and his jeans looked glued to his thighs and calves. He moved through the room with confidence, taking in the other students, letting his gaze stop right on Gavin, signature smirk on his face. Gavin felt his face grow hot, looking back to the front of the room and staring at the whiteboard.

“Ah, how nice of you to join us Mr. Jones,” the old woman’s voice startled everyone out of their awkward trance, bringing them back to the class as a whole. The boy looked up at her and pulled a chair out, plopping down into it and throwing his feet up on the table.

“Michael,” he corrected her. “Mr. Jones is my old man,”

“Okay, Michael,” she said all too sweetly. “You’re late, and get your feet off my tables; this isn’t your house,” he muttered something under his breath but did as she asked, placing his head in his hands and looking at her patiently waiting for the next instruction.

“Now,” she continued. “This quarter is going to focus on you and your lives. I want you to photograph things you find interesting and important, beautiful or sad, things with meanings. I’m not going for technique this time, I’m going for feeling,” she announced clapping her hands together.

“Remind me again why I’m taking this class?” Ray whispered.

“For the cute boy in the front,” Gavin answered, nudging his best friend in the ribs and nodding towards the blond boy with glasses sitting quietly in the front row.

“Shut the fuck up,” Ray hissed ducking his head down.

Gavin knew he was blushing though and smiled triumphantly to himself as he looked around the room. There were pictures hanging on every wall, trickling from the ceiling on strings. Some were in black and white and some were bursting with color, attacking your eyes from everything going on. In the back corner of the room there was a door marked The Dark Room where Gavin assumed they’d develop their pictures. Next to that door was a row of shelves where Gavin could see everyone in the room had their own shelf, name printed neatly on a strip of paper taped to it.

He looked at the other students in the room, Ryan Haywood, the blond in the front that Ray was crushing on from his English class last semester. Aaron and Barbara sat in the middle of the room holding hands and smiling at each other every time Mrs. Haus had her back to them. Lindsay and Meg sat at the table next to them, pinkies linked and swinging gently between them.

There were a few other students he had never met, a girl with short black hair and hazel eyes, holding hands with a boy with short brown hair who smiled at her like the sun. Next to them was a chubby kid with long blond hair and an infectious smile.

And then there was the boy in the back. Michael Jones. He was the school’s resident douche bag, sleeping around and making too much noise on his motorcycle. Gavin didn’t know him personally, but he knew the rumors, everyone did. He had been lucky up until now to never have had a class with him, but it appeared in his senior year of high school his luck ran dry.

He was brought out of his blatant staring when he realized that Michael was looking right back at him, head tilted in confusion, eyes burning with curiosity. Gavin’s eyes widened, face flushing and mouth opening slightly before he whipped back around and focused on Mrs. Haus who was still going on about the mechanics of the cameras they’d be using as if none of them had ever taken a photo with something other than their smart phones before, of course, these days you couldn’t be too sure.  

“Alright,” she finished, gasping for air after having rambled so long about the dumb cameras. “I’ll call each of you up here one by one to get your camera assigned. Remember, these are yours for the rest of the term so please take care of them, they are not cheap,”

She began calling students up in alphabetical order and giving them their camera and case, making them sign their names next to their number on a sheet of paper promising to keep them in good condition. Gavin was the third one called up, moving to sign his name and go back to his seat when he looked up to see Michael again, this time though he was standing right in front of Gavin, still staring, hazel eyes burning as they looked him up and down. Gavin felt hot suddenly, stepping around him, trying his hardest not to make any contact with the strange boy, and rushed back to his seat where Ray was laughing at him.

“Shut up,” he muttered.

“You’re all hot and bothered,”

“Am not,”

“Are too,”

“Am not!”

“Dude-“ Ray began, but stopped when he heard his name turning to see Ryan standing next to him, smiling down.

“I didn’t know you were taking this class too!” he started. “I’m so excited, maybe we could go take pictures together sometime,” he offered, stepping back to start heading towards his seat. All Ray could do was nod dumbly at him as he walked away.

“Smooth,” Gavin whispered earning a whack on the shoulder from his best friend.

“Okay,” she began again once everyone had their camera. “So, like I said, anything you want, school appropriate of course, but I want you to push the limits, I want you to make us all feel something we weren’t expecting. Every Monday you’re each going to get up here and share with us one picture you took the week before. By the end of this class you should all have a portfolio of about a hundred pictures,”

“Do the pictures need to be a hundred different things or can we have some repeats in different lighting and all that jazz?” Lindsay asked.

“You can have all the repeats you’d like! If there’s something extremely important to you put it in twenty times for all I care, I just want them to be thought provoking pictures,”

“Will there be a set day each week to develop our pictures?” Barbara asked next.

“You can sign up with me for any day, even weekends, and I’ll let you come in and work on your pictures, no funny business though or you lose privileges,”

They spent the rest of the class asking questions and mingling with each other before the bell was ringing and they were finally free from their hellish school day.

“Dude, can you believe Michael fucking Jones is in our class? Who would’ve thought the kid was into photography,” Ray babbled as they walked towards their lockers. Gavin only shrugged in response, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“Maybe you shouldn’t judge books by their covers,” a voice behind them whispered and they froze, turning to find said boy standing there, beanie pulled low on his head and smirk still in place, but his eyes were harder now as they studied Ray.

“I- sorry,” Ray mumbled bowing his head to the floor. Gavin was pointedly not looking at Michael, math and science books clutched tightly to his chest.

Michael looked him up and down a few times before nodding once and turning to strut down the hall, winking at every cute freshman girl he passed.

“Fuck me,” Ray mumbled, turning to look at Gavin, face still beet red.

“You did that to yourself,”

“Shut the fuck up,”

Gavin rolled his eyes and turned to continue towards his locker. He spun the dial three times until it clicked open, threw his books inside and grabbed his backpack, letting it swing shut behind him as he headed for the doors.

“Come the fuck on Griffon!” Geoff was whining when Gavin found them outside. Griffon was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, window rolled up and eyes facing forward.

“What did you do now?” Gavin smirked as he approached.

“I don’t fucking know,” he yelled. Griffon heard this, rolling her window down and turning to glare at her boyfriend.

“You blatantly checked out and commented on some other girl’s ass at lunch!”

Gavin sighed at this, he loved them to death, but they were fucking stupid. They were the schools most popular couple, always on and off, so cute and sappy when they were on, always trying to make the other jealous when they were off. They were currently off, but that didn’t mean the other could get away with their actions during the off period.

“So? I’m allowed to look as long as I don’t act!” he defended.

Griffon rolled her eyes. “You’re disgusting,”

They’d be back together by the end of the day, Gavin knew.

“Griffon, sweetie, you know I’ve only got eyes for you,” he said softly, reaching out to touch her arm. She didn’t roll the window up or push him away. Here we go.

“Maybe you should get them checked then, cause the girl in there did not have anything in common with me,” she smiled, turning to face forward again and put the car in drive. She sped out of the school parking lot getting all sorts of colorful words from the crossing guard that she almost hit.

“What a woman,” Geoff said in awe.

“You guys suck,” Gavin laughed grabbing Geoff’s arm and pulling him towards his car.

“Whatever, you’re just jealous cause you’ve never been in love,”

“If that’s what love looks like then I don’t think I ever will be,” he responded tossing his bag in the back seat and sliding into the passenger.

“Yeah yeah,” Geoff waved him off, turning the car on and backing out to leave the lot when something, a flash of black and a revved engine caught Geoff’s attention and he slammed on the breaks. Gavin slid forward in his seat until his belt locked and he was thrown back, head banging into the rest behind it.

“Watch where you’re going asshole!” Geoff yelled out his window. Gavin turned to see who they were talking to and saw first, a black motorcycle followed by a pair of black boots and skinny jeans so tight it was a sin. His eyes continued trailing up the body until he stopped on a black helmet, the face shield was down and all black so Gavin couldn’t be certain, but he was pretty sure he knew who it was, and he also had a feeling they were looking right back at him, probably smirking.

He lifted his hand then, Gavin was sure he was going to take the helmet off, but all he did was give Geoff one long middle finger before he was turning back to the road and speeding off much like Griffon had minutes earlier.

“What a cocksucker,” Geoff said in disbelief.

“A right prick,” Gavin agreed.

“Fucking, thinks he’s all that cause he drives a motorcycle and bangs everyone, what a loser,” Geoff mumbled, successfully backing out and getting onto the road.

Gavin didn’t bother telling him that he now had class with Michael, didn’t add any other comments, only pissed because of his sore torso and head, but still, he couldn’t find it in himself to make fun of or criticize the strange boy, all too curious about him and the rumors to start or add to any himself.

~~~

“Alright, so, you’ve had the first week to get used to the cameras and start taking your pictures. You’ve also had time to get into the darkroom and develop these pictures,” Mrs. Haus began Monday afternoon. “I want each of you to come up here and share with us just one that you’ve taken,” she clapped.

Gavin had developed his the afternoon before, he loved the process of it but found it weird to be left alone in the school after everyone else had gone home, but Mrs. Haus trusted them and after showing them the steps the week before they were left to themselves for the remainder of the semester.

Meg went first, sharing a picture of Lindsay to the class. She was swinging at the elementary school across town it looked like, head thrown back in laughter while the sun poured down. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her arms and legs were thrown around her like she was floating. Meg went on to share that this was important to her because Lindsay was her best friend and she loved her dearly.

Lindsay went next, showing a picture of the purple haired girl sitting before a plate of French fries. Her mouth was open in a little ‘o’ shape, probably blowing to cool off the hot potatoes. Her glasses were low on the bridge of her nose and the only light in the photo was from the red lamp above their table.

Mrs. Haus told them it was a perfect start and that she couldn’t wait to see more before she turned back to the class and waited for the next student to raise their hand.

One by one they got up sharing their photos with the class, smiling at their praise. Ryan went up and showed a picture of the local library, everyone else called him a nerd lightheartedly, but Gavin knew it was important because that’s where he and Ray met once a week to work on their homework now that English was over. Ray got up and showed a picture of Taco Bell, laughing with the rest of the class about how much of a stereotype he was. Gavin shared a picture of his back yard, old tree house falling apart and grass yellowing from being abandoned.

The class was almost over when Mrs. Haus noticed one student had yet to share. “Michael?” she asked. “Do you have a photo for us?”

There was a long pause where everyone was convinced that he had nothing, figuring he was just going to blow this class off like he apparently did with others, but eventually there was a sigh and a soft, “yeah,” from the boy and he was scraping his chair back. He shuffled to the front of the room and placed his picture under the projector letting it take up the large wall in front of them.

If possible, the room got even more quiet, so quiet that Gavin was sure you could hear a feather drop. It was black and white. There was what looked like a living room, there was a man presumably sleeping in a rocking chair, but the beer bottles scattered across the grey carpet told Gavin he had blacked out. The walls were bright white; a few paintings hung high on them. It wasn’t these things however that made everyone tense. It was the blood splattered across the wall, dried onto the man’s knuckles and pooled lightly on the carpet, the only thing in the picture that had color.

No one said a word for almost five minutes before Mrs. Haus was standing and moving to the front of the room. “Great use of color, really emphasizing the blood. You must have spent a lot of time at the Halloween store,” she beamed. Michael looked taken aback before he was smirking up at her.

“Yeah, I love it over there, they have all sorts of… props, I can use in my photography,”

Still no one spoke, not even Ray leaned over to make a comment about the boy. Thankfully though, the bell rang and soon they were all bolting from their seats out the door finally free for the day.

“So uh,” Ray started lamely. “Wanna come back to mine?” he asked. Gavin was about to say yes when he caught something dark moving in the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see Michael slip out the school’s entrance and into the herd of students.

“Nah, I have a big math test to study for,” Gavin said instead. Ray nodded and said his goodbye rushing to make it to his bus on time.

Gavin finished walking to his locker, spinning the dial and pulling it open. He grabbed his math textbook and binder, stuffing them into his back pack. He couldn’t stop thinking about the picture though, he had worked with fake blood before in his film class, and he didn’t think it looked the same as it did in Michael’s picture; at least, it wasn’t the same cheap shitty kind his group had bought, so he highly doubted it was fake at all.

He shook the thought from his head though, why should he even care? He exited the school and started his short walk home, kicking a rock as he went along. Most kids had already left the school area, some who had afterschool activities were rushing to the football field for practice or grabbing things from their cars, but it was mostly empty when Gavin got outside.

He hummed to himself as he went along enjoying the warm sunlight on his face, until he heard the sound of tires slowing to a halt next to him. He turned to see the black motorcycle from the week before, black helmet turned towards him. He stopped walking and faced them, waiting for them to speak. Finally Michael reached up and plucked the helmet from his head and studied the other.

“Need a ride?” he asked casually. Gavin’s eyes widened and he stepped back.

“No thanks,” he said shortly, taking a small step backwards.

“Suit yourself,” Michael shrugged, pulling his helmet back on and taking off down the road.

Gavin just stared after him in shock, mouth gaping and mind reeling. Did that really happen or…? He decided not to dwell on it too much, speed walking the rest of the way home.

~~~

The rest of the week went by fairly quickly, they learned about different lighting and how to make the most out of any kind. They went outside and took pictures in the parking lot of different cars, focusing on the little details, like the scratch of a car door, the chipped paint on another. Finally it was the weekend and Gavin was on his way to meet Mrs. Haus at the school’s entrance for his developing time.

“Hey sweet pea,” the old woman greeted, grinning up at him.

“Good morning,”

She yammered on about his work and how she couldn’t wait to see what was next the entire walk down to the classroom. She praised his use of simplicity and color to bring the pictures to life. Of course he wasn’t really listening, just clutched his camera close to his chest and nodded along to everything the woman said.

“Alright,” she sighed. “You’ve got a few hours, I’m going out for lunch, I might stop by and check in after, maybe not, I trust you though,” she smiled unlocking the door and motioning him in.

“Thank you ma’am,” he nodded, slipping in and shutting the door behind him.

He looked at the photos hanging along the back wall, the ones from his class and smiled when he saw Ryan’s newest, a pair of glasses laying on a nightstand next to a bed covered in a blue comforter. His eyes widened however when he recognized Ray’s Call of Duty poster hanging above the bed, giggling to himself he took a picture with his phone of the photo and sent it to Ray with a winky face.

He walked into the darkroom and stopped dead in his tracks. He was supposed to have the room to himself, but sitting in the corner looking over a fresh photo himself was Michael Jones.

He looked up when he heard the door click shut, smirking at Gavin and looking back to his pictures.

“What are you doing here?” Gavin asked without thinking, mentally slapping himself in the face.

“Dorris never actually checks who’s in here,” he shrugged without turning around.

“So you snuck in?” Gavin concluded.

“Yup,” he said popping the ‘p.’

Gavin didn’t say anything else, turning to get started on his own photos. He stole a few glances back at the redhead every once in awhile but Michael was completely focused on his own work it seemed.

Gavin had just hung his third picture up to dry when he heard a chair screech across the ground, turning to find Michael heading right over towards him. He took a step back, bumping into the table next to him and wincing at the pain in his hip. Michael didn’t stop until he was practically nose to nose with the Brit, gaze calculating.

“Why are you scared of me?” he asked.

“’m not,” Gavin stammered.

“I think you are,” Michael said adjusting his red beanie. He’s nervous.  

“Whose blood was in that picture?” he blurted. Michael’s eyes widened and he stepped back.

“It was fake blood,” he mumbled, but Gavin wasn’t convinced.

“I know what fake blood looks like,”

Michael didn’t say anything else, turning to pick his camera up off the table and walk out. Gavin was left staring after him, wondering if the altercation had actually taken place or not. He didn’t feel like working much more after that, packing up his bags and heading for the door.

He made it outside just in time to see Michael’s black motorcycle turn the corner and disappear.

~~~

He shared a picture of his living room the next Monday, walking slowly to the front and sliding it under the projector. He was complimented on his placement of important items, giving the room life. No one really paid much attention to it except for a certain redhead in the back of the room wearing his blue beanie again.

His eyes were narrowed, watching Gavin’s movements back to his seat before sliding out without a word and strolling to the front. No one said a word when the black and white photo slid under the bright light.

The picture was of a bedroom, only a dresser and a bed in the room. The bed was neatly made, dresser drawers shut with a leather jacket folded neatly on top of it. The only colorful thing in the picture was a blue beanie lying on the white pillows. There were other hats next to it, but they too were grey, resting on the pillows and blending with everything else in the room.

~~~

Next Monday during share time Ryan shared the picture of glasses, the rest of the class assumed they were his own, but when Gavin nudged Ray and the boy turned red and avoided eye contact Gavin knew he’d be getting the full story later.

Lindsay shared a picture of her cat, Detective Mittens, and Meg shared a picture of her puppy, Penny. Miles and Arryn shared pictures of each other and Kerry shared one of his favorite video game, Halo.

Ray went up and shared a close up of a short blond pony tail, a few hairs frizzed up around it. Their teacher commended him on his fine detail and said it was perfect. Ray returned to his seat with a fat grin and told Gavin to ‘suck it.’

Gavin got up and shared a picture of his bedroom, monitors set up on his desk, TV mounted next to them. His bed was perfectly made, blue sheets tucked neatly under his green comforter. His window was open, curtains blowing gently aside.

“This is lovely,” Mrs. Haus commented.

“May I?” a voice called from the back, everyone turned to see Michael with his hand in the air.

“Sure,” she answered awkwardly turning to smile apologetically at Gavin.

“You’re good,” he started, eyes trained on Gavin, “but we haven’t really seen who you are,” he continued.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“We were told to take pictures that make us feel things, stuff with meaning. I know that Lindsay and Meg are lifelong best friends and love their pets. I know Arryn and Miles are madly in love, I know Kerry is a video game nerd, no offense,” he stopped to look at the other boy who was too in shock to do anything other than nod dumbly. “But I don’t know anything about you. What does a picture of your bedroom mean? What is this supposed to make us feel?”

Everyone in the room, Gavin especially, was stunned. It was the most they had ever heard the boy speak and they were all impressed and a little scared even.

“And what about you?” Ray asked glaring at the redhead. “What do your pictures make us feel?”

“Awkward,” he answered without missing a beat. “My pictures made everyone go silent, because they felt uncomfortable, awkward, maybe confused, but those are all valid thoughts. What do any of you feel looking at a clean bedroom?” he asked the class at large, looking around, daring someone to answer. No one spoke, not even Mrs. Haus.

“I’ll do better next week then,” Gavin deadpanned.

“I look forward to it,” Michael smirked.

Gavin moved back to his seat, shrugging Ray’s hand off his shoulder when it landed heavy. There was shuffling behind them as Michael moved to the front of the room, picture in hand.

He slid it under the projector’s lights and let it fill the wall, taking pleasure in the silence he received yet again. Again, it was black and white, an empty hallway, every door closed but one at the end. The door across from it had a large hole in the center and the doorknob, gold and dented was lying on the floor towards the center of the hall.

Michael was right; everyone in the room did feel awkward. Everyone but Gavin who stared hard at the photo, taking in every detail.

“What do you feel?” Mrs. Haus asked then, turning to the class.

“Scared,” someone muttered in the back, earning a few chuckles from the other students. She looked around the room waiting for someone else to answer, eyes landing on Gavin.

“It makes me feel sad,” he said loudly, meeting Michael’s eyes steadily.

“Better than nothing,” the redhead mumbled, adjusting his green beanie before swiping his picture off the projector and moving back to his seat.

~~~

Gavin was pissed when he got home, tearing into his room and looking around. What could he possibly have to take a picture of that would make people feel anything? He had nothing; he didn’t know what represented him as a person. He knew he had been pretty sheltered most of his life, he didn’t do drugs or drink, didn’t go to parties, he didn’t have many friends outside of Ray and Geoff, he talked to Ryan, Jack and Griffon sometimes but they weren’t really friends. There was nothing to him.

He flipped through magazines he had stacked in the corner of his room, trying to see if anything caught his interest, he wasn’t into sports or cars, didn’t care much for movies and TV shows.

He slid off his bed and marched down the stairs, grabbing his house keys, sweatshirt and camera before storming out the door. His parents said nothing, just watched him go with confused looks on their faces.

Once outside he walked out of his yard and took a right, the opposite direction of the school, and started walking further into town. He passed stores and homes, looking in windows of some and completely ignoring others. He walked until he hit the edge of town, stepping over the old train tracks and into the small wooded area that he and Ray had visited a few times when they were too bored to stay home and play games.

He walked through the area until he hit the neighborhood on the other side, and still he hadn’t found anything that caught his interest, until he hit the trailer park. There were beer cans and cigarette butts littering the ground, lawn chairs and kiddie pools strewn about. There were people hanging up clothes on lines, kids running around and playing tag, watching him cautiously as he walked by.

He was about to turn around and walk back through the woods when something caught his eye. A small blue trailer at the end of the road, there was a beat up green truck in the driveway, next to a black motorcycle.

He started towards it, keeping his eyes trained on the bike and not at all the people staring at him. As he got closer he realized why no kids were playing on this side of the road. There were booming voices coming from inside the small blue trailer. One sounded of an angry older man; he was shouting curse words at someone else followed by the shattering of glass. Gavin turned to walk away when he heard it, a familiar voice telling the other to ‘calm the fuck down or I’ll leave right now I swear to fuck.’

Gavin stared in shock at the door before turning and looking at the motorcycle again. The screaming continued from the other man before Michael was yelling, ‘fuck you’ and Gavin heard a door slam, probably the redheads bedroom.

Mostly everyone had stopped paying him any mind, so with a quick look around he lifted his camera to his eye and snapped a picture of the black helmet laying on the ground before scurrying back to the opening in the wooded area and running the rest of the way home.

~~~

Gavin didn’t see Michael again until Saturday when he was scheduled to develop pictures. The redhead was again sat quietly in the corner of the room, listening to music it seemed by the way his head was bobbing lightly and he was mouthing words.

He didn’t notice Gavin for a long time, but after he did it was like he was on a mission.

“What were you doing on my side of the tracks the other day?” he asked.

Gavin didn’t turn to make eye contact. “I was on a walk and stumbled across it,” he shrugged.

“Oh? And why did you feel the need to come to my house?”

“I didn’t know it was your house,” he answered simply.

“I saw you through my window,” Michael announced.

“That’s nice,”

“Let me see the picture you took,” he demanded.

“It’s not very good,” Gavin mumbled then.

“Still, I wanna see,”

“When it’s done developing then,”

“Okay,”

They worked quietly again, ignoring each other’s presence as they went through their pictures. Finally, the picture of the black helmet was done, but Gavin suddenly felt self conscious, laying it down on the table and clearing his throat to get Michael’s attention.

He didn’t hear him though, music blaring in his ears. Gavin sighed and made his way across the room, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. He jumped and spun around, hand clutching his chest in shock. It would’ve been comical if Gavin didn’t notice the fading bruise under Michael’s eye or the recently split lip that had mostly healed.

“What happened?” he found himself asking, hand lifted as if to prod but thinking better of it he stepped back and went to his side of the room.

“Fell,” he answered, reaching up to pull his beanie further down on his head.

Gavin didn’t believe him, but still he slid the photo across the table and let Michael come up on his own, taking in his helmet lying in the dirt, surrounded by glass bottles and cans with various beer labels.

“This is kinda cool,” Michael told him then, smirking as always.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, like, if I didn’t know it was mine I’d assume that whoever owned this photo had gone drinking and driving and died or some shit,”

“Jesus,” Gavin said, eyes wide.

“No, it’s… its really good. It makes me feel… curious,”  

“Better than nothing,” Gavin mumbled then.

“Yeah,”

They stood awkwardly, looking at each other before finally Gavin stepped away and started gathering his things. He grabbed his bag and camera before heading towards the door. He threw one last look to Michael, finding him in the exact same place, looking down at the picture still.

Gavin slipped out the door and out of the building, letting out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

He looked at the motorcycle standing in the parking lot one more time before turning on his heel and making his way home.

~~~

That Monday Gavin shared the helmet with the class, blushing under the compliments the others gave him, Michael included. It was then that Mrs. Haus decided that from now on the class would start contributing to each other’s work more.

Ryan shared a picture of Ray, eyes squeezed shut and hand over his mouth, laughing. Gavin grinned at the sight since Ray had only informed him the night before that the two of them were officially a ‘thing’ now. When Ray shared it was a picture of two hands clutching each other tight, they were above the railroad tracks, converse and van covered feet below.

Michael went next, sharing a picture of the green truck from his driveway, the mirror was shattered and there was a large dent in the passenger side door. As usual, the truck was the only thing with color in the picture, his little blue house was now a dull grey and the trees in the distance were just black blobs.

Everyone agreed that it made them feel curious. Curious about what had happened to it and who it belonged to et cetera.

When the bell rang and they were filing out Gavin was left as Ray and Ryan linked arms and swept each other away. He rolled his eyes at his best friend and made his way to his locker. The halls were clearing out steadily and after a detour to the bathroom Gavin felt like he was the only one left in the school.

He jumped when he turned away from his locker, door slamming shut, to come face to face with Michael.

“You should come by the park tonight,” he stated, reaching up to fix his hat yet again.

“And why is that?”

“It’s one of the kid’s birthdays, we’re shooting off fireworks until the cops come,” he smirked.

“I’d rather not be arrested in my senior year of high school,”

“It’s not so bad,” Michael shrugged.

“Still, I think I’ll pass,”

“Suit yourself,” the redhead said turning to walk down the hall, but by the look on his face Gavin knew he was upset.

Gavin sighed and began his walk home. He turned the invite over in his head multiple times before coming to the conclusion that he couldn’t possibly go to some kid’s birthday party. He didn’t know anyone there except for Michael and illegal fireworks didn’t seem too exciting. He smiled, satisfied with himself, and pushed the thought from his mind.

Why would Michael even want him there? It wasn’t like they were friends. He could’ve invited whatever freshmen he was banging that week and she’d go in a heartbeat.

It wasn’t until it had just hit dark that Gavin mulled it over again. It wasn’t like he was busy, he didn’t have anything fun going on and he was a senior in high school, he could just stop by for a quick minute and then take off, and no one would even know he was there.

No, I can’t.

Fuck.

Yes I can.

He pushed himself off his bed and grabbed a sweatshirt, moving down the stairs quietly. His parents were in the living room watching TV, so Gavin steeled himself and walked down the hallway.

“Can I go to Ray’s for a bit?” he felt bad lying, he almost hoped that his parents would catch on and banish him to his room for the night, any excuse for Michael.

“Sure,” his dad answered, Gavin almost cursed at him.

He took a deep breath when he was finally outside, willing himself to just walk back inside, say he felt sick, go to bed. He was committed now though, walking through town and passed the tracks. He stopped at the edge of the woods; I don’t have to do this. I don’t owe Michael anything. He pushed forward however, stepping calmly through the woods, trying not to let the fear of what could lurk in the darkness startle him too much.

As he got closer he could hear it; the sound of children laughing and yelling, parents cracking open cans of beer and fire crackling. He stayed close to the trees when he reached the trailer park, hiding so people wouldn’t be scared. There were adults grilling burgers by the edge of the party, others watching over the younger kids while they ran around and played tag. There was a blond woman breastfeeding her child by the fire, scolding another older child with longer blond hair. Down the road Gavin could see Michael, black jacket stretched over his shoulders while he kneeled down and worked on something. Fireworks, Gavin concluded.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed, long enough for everyone to have food on their plate and sit quietly while Michael pulled a lighter from his pocket and told everyone to stand back. Without thinking Gavin lifted his camera to his face and held his finger over the little black button on top. He made sure the flash was off and waited patiently.

He lit the first one and it went off without a hitch, unleashing bright greens and purples into the night sky. The birthday girl clapped excitedly and told Michael to light more. He did so without hesitation, smiling as he ran back a safe distance.

Gavin followed him with the camera, snapping a picture of the grinning boy leaning against a house that wasn’t his own. Gavin noticed then that the green truck was missing from the driveway; all the lights in the little blue trailer were off, like it wasn’t even a part of the vibrant community the others had set up.

He looked up then, catching the tail end of the red, white and blue fireworks before Michael was rushing to light another. He pointed his camera to the sky and waited patiently. He snapped five pictures before they fizzled out. It was the silence between the lightings that they heard it, the sound of sirens wailing in the distance. Michael hurried to pick up the scraps, kicking the rest under the porch of the house he was standing by. Everyone acted cool, eating the food on their plates and pretending nothing happened. Gavin was impressed at how easy this was for everyone.

When the flashing blue lights were visible and the cops pulled up Gavin turned and made his way back through the woods. He walked slowly, only stopping once he hit the railroad tracks to check his photos. They were good, really good. The one of Michael was his favorite and Gavin decided that he’d develop it, not share, but develop.

~~~

“You missed a wild night Gavin,” Michael told him when he passed his locker the next morning. Ray looked quizzically at him but said nothing. Gavin just rolled his eyes and slammed his locker shut.

“I’m surprised you weren’t arrested,”

“Only a minor run in with the boys in blue, nothing I couldn’t handle,” he smirked popping the collar of his jacket and leaning against the wall.

“I hope you took some good pictures then,”

“Nah, I only take pictures of really important things,” he shrugged.

“That’s nice,” Gavin deadpanned walking away. He missed the calculating gaze Michael gave him.

“What was that all about?” Ray asked.

“Oh nothing, he just invited me to some neighborhood party or something,”

“He’s totally into you,”

“No he isn’t, he’s just messing with me,”

“Dude, he couldn’t turn the flash off his camera for the life of him,”

“What does that even mean?” Gavin came to a stop outside his history class.

Ray opened his mouth to speak but the bell cut him off. “Nothing I’ll see you later,” he waved him off rushing to make it across the building in time.

~~~

“Do you sneak in here every day?” Gavin found himself asking first thing that Saturday morning.

“Only on Saturdays,” Michael answered quickly.

“Why’s that?”

“It’s nicer here today,” Michael told him, turning to make eye contact. Gavin accepted this as an answer and moved to get started.

They didn’t speak again until Gavin heard someone suck in a breath behind him. He turned to see Michael looking over his shoulder.

“You did go,” he stated, he was looking at the picture in front of them, bright lights filling up a dark sky.

“I may have dropped by,” Gavin shrugged.

“Why didn’t you come say hi?” the redhead asked, and Gavin wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard an underlying sadness in his tone.

“I didn’t belong,”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael asked then, eyes hardening. Gavin realized how he must have sounded and lifted his hands in surrender.

“I mean, you all know each other and are like a little family, I’m a stranger, I don’t fit in,” he said slowly.

Michael stared at him for a moment and then nodded, turning to go back to work. It was then that Gavin saw his drying picture. It was a close up of someone’s face. Bright green eyes squinted, you could tell whoever it was had been laughing when the picture was taken. The eyes were familiar to Gavin and when he saw the small freckle under the right one he recognized them as his own. He looked at the back of Michael’s head suspiciously but said nothing, turning slowly and waiting for the boy to leave.

Gavin had always left the room first, so he wanted to see just how long the redhead would stay before giving up and heading home for the day. An hour later his wish was granted and Michael was grabbing his stuff.

“You’re here late today,” he commented.

“Yeah, I took a lot of pictures this week,”

“Are there anymore from the party?” Michael asked sounding hopeful.

“A few, I can show you Monday or something,”

“I’d like that,”

There was a tense silence between them now. Michael stood facing him smiling softly. Not smirking like Gavin was so used to. Genuinely smiling. Gavin grinned back at him for a moment before he remembered all the work he still had to pretend to be doing.

Michael stared a beat longer before finally walking out the door, letting it click shut behind him.

Gavin blew out a breath of air and packed up his belongings. He cracked the door open and stepped into the photography classroom, sliding over to the shelves on the wall. He knelt down next to Michael’s and pulled out his slowly growing portfolio. It was nearly overflowing with photos; most of them were black and white unless there was something he needed to emphasize.

There were many of his bike, some of his helmet and the green truck. There was a few more of the living room, beer bottles scattered around. There was one of a broken plate, shattered on what Gavin assumed was the kitchen floor. There were a few small drops of blood on the white tiles next to it and Gavin winced. 

Behind those though, tucked neatly in the pockets of the folder, Gavin found countless pictures of himself. He wasn’t sure if he should be scared or flattered, but there he was. Sitting in the courtyard, head thrown back and hands clapped together, Ray next to him. There were ones of him in the cafeteria, dodging pineapple chunks that Geoff threw at him with a grin on his face. Him walking down the hall with his books clutched to his chest while Ray and Ryan yammered on next to him. They were all bright, taken with the flash on and it was then that Gavin realized what Ray must have been talking about.

It didn’t take him long to notice two things; every picture of him showed him smiling, and they were all in color.

~~~

Monday at lunch Gavin sat quietly, ignoring the conversations his best friends were engaged in. His eyes trailed the perimeter of the cafeteria until they landed on a small circular table in the far corner. Michael sat with his back to everyone else, gazing out the window. His jacket was thrown carelessly over the back of the chair and his beanie was lying next to his elbow on the table. Gavin got up without a word to his friends, not that they noticed his quiet disappearance. He stalked across the room, unsure of if he was planning on speaking or sitting or… anything. He wasn’t even half way there though when Michael slid out of his seat and began walking towards the trashcans by the doors.

Gavin stopped in the middle of the walkway, looking sadly at the beanie and jacket still waiting at the table, begging their owner to come back and put them on, out of place in the chaotic room.

He pulled his camera from his bag and lifted it to his face, ignoring the looks students around him were giving. He made sure the flash was off and aimed it at the table, snapping three quick shots before he was shoving it back in his bag and scurrying out of the room.

He missed Michael smirking behind him, moving to retrieve his things and follow him out. When he got into the hallway though, the Brit was nowhere in sight.

~~~

“Gavin? Would you like to go next?” he looked down at the picture on his table and winced. It really wasn’t as good as some of the other kids’ had been. The fireworks were beautiful, no doubt, but would they make anyone feel anything?

He slid out of his chair; picture held tight to his chest and slid it under the projector. He wouldn’t meet Michael’s eyes in the back of the room, but that didn’t stop the redhead from raising his hand.

“Yes Michael?”

“It makes me feel optimistic,”

“And why is that?”

“I mean, I know it has to be dark to get a good firework show going, but the splash of light in the dark, I don’t know…” he trailed off, smirking at Gavin. “It makes me feel hopeful,”

As usual when Michael spoke no one answered, sitting stiffly in their seats until Mrs. Haus would pull someone else forward.

“I’ll go next,” he announced afterwards.

Gavin sucked in a breath when he saw the picture Michael chose. There was his tan skin, his green eyes crinkled in the corners and top of the bridge of his nose. The freckle under his right eye. Ray’s eyes slid over to him studiously, taking in his features before looking back at the wall. It connected in five seconds before he was jabbing his elbow into Gavin’s ribs.

“When were you gonna tell me you two were banging?” he hissed.

“We aren’t,” Gavin snapped.

“This is beautiful,” Mrs. Haus commented. Everyone else nodded in agreement, it was the first time they saw something so happy and colorful from the boy.

“It makes me feel…” Lindsay trailed off, looking for the right words. “Bubbly,” she finished.

“Yeah, those are some puppy dog love eyes,” Meg added. The two giggled at each other before snapping their mouths shut and looking at Michael curiously.

“Very happy,” Miles added.

This was the most anyone had ever talked about one of Michael’s pieces. The hands just kept popping up.

“Optimistic,” Ryan added.

“Excited,”

“Surprised,”

“It makes me feel… love,” Barbara said seriously. Michael’s face was bright red as he nodded, snatching his picture from the lights and returning to his seat. When Gavin turned around to look at him he was met with Michael pulling his beanie down over his eyes.

They finished their sharing and took off when the bell rang. Gavin said his goodbyes to Ryan and Ray, turning left when they went right.

“Want a ride today?” a voice behind him asked. He turned to see Michael sitting on his bike, face shield pulled up so Gavin could see his eyes watching him, intense.

“I’ll pass,”

“Whatever,” Michael shrugged, flipping the shield down and rolling away.

Gavin slipped his phone from his pocket and opened his contacts, he scrolled down until he hit the ‘G’s and tapped on Geoff’s name.

“Hello?” he answered, Gavin could hear wind whipping and what sounded like tires on gravel.

“Where are you?”

“Driving home?” he said it like more of a question. “Coming back to the school for you?” he asked after.

“Could you? I wanna hang out,”

“Sure thing,”

Minutes later Geoff was turning into the parking lot and reaching across the seat to unlock the passenger door. Gavin slid in and then they were off. “Mine or yours?”

“Yours,” Gavin answered.

Gavin sat silently while Geoff ranted on and on about Griffon and their current fight, something about her flirting with another guy right in front of him while they were off.

“What do you know about Michael Jones?” he blurted when Geoff stopped to take a breath. He shrunk back under Geoff’s confused stare, turning to look out the window.

“I know nothing, I’ve heard lots,” he answered.

“Like what?”

“Well… I heard that he’s part of some gang and that’s why he’s always all beaten up. I heard he stole his motorcycle and I’ve heard that he killed someone and that’s why he moved here in sophomore year. I don’t believe that one of course, but him being a drug addict, I might believe that one,” he explained. Gavin only hummed, not sure what to do with this information.

“Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know, just wondering,”

“Ray told me you two had class with him,” he smirked. “Does someone have a crush?” he cooed.

“No! Shut up,” he laughed. “I was just curious why everyone is so… weird around him,”

“Like I said buddy, I know nothing, but that’s what I’ve heard,”

“Do you believe it?”

“Not the killing part, but I think he could definitely be in a gang, and he’s probably into some drugs and shit, and a kid that scummy with a ride like that? Stolen,”

Gavin didn’t know why this sat so wrongly in his stomach, made him feel sick, but he just kept his mouth shut and soon Geoff was back to talking about Griffon.

~~~

They had been working silently for over two hours when Gavin snapped under the tense atmosphere. “I heard some things about you the other day,” he blurted.

“Yeah?” he asked turning around. “What were those things?”

The way he was watching Gavin made him tense and while he himself didn’t think the stories were true, he wasn’t sure what would happen if they were what Michael might do if Gavin hit the nail on the head.

“I heard you’re in a gang. That’s why you’re always disappearing and battered up when you come back,” he paused after this trying to gauge Michael’s reaction. He just looked to the ground and shook his head, but he was smiling so Gavin figured it was safe to continue.

“You stole your motorcycle,” he was holding two fingers up now, counting off. Michael nodded along with him raising his fingers to his chin as if considering. “You killed someone and had to move here and change your identity,” Michael smirked and stepped closer to him on that one. “You’re also a drug addict,” he finished with.

Michael just rolled his eyes and came closer again. Now, Gavin was starting to regret saying anything, worried that maybe some of these things were true and he was going to hurt Gavin for knowing. Michael was standing right in front of him, practically nose to nose. Gavin’s eyes widened, looking down at Michael and holding his breath.

“And do you believe any of these things?” he whispered.

“Well, you do give off that serial killer vibe,” Gavin teased, stepping back, his hip bumped into the metal table behind him and he winced, but before he could move Michael was stepping closer again.

“Seriously though,”

“Should I?”

“No,”

“Then no,” he breathed. Michael nodded, satisfied with this answer.

Monday when Gavin opened his locker he jumped as a piece of paper flew out and smacked him in the face. It landed on the floor with a tiny thud. He bent down and picked it up, unwrapping it to see what looked like a car title. Michael’s signature was on the bottom and paper clipped to it was a picture of a black motorcycle with a piece of paper taped to it that said, Not Stolen! It was in color.

Gavin couldn’t help but let out a bellowing laugh, startling a group of girls walking behind him. He looked around him to see if he could find Michael lurking near, sighing when he found no sign of a beanie, black boots, or a black jacket. He tucked the paper into the smallest pocket of his backpack and started walking to his first class.

He didn’t get the chance to give Michael his title back until fourth block was starting since he was nowhere to be found during lunch or in the halls between classes, Gavin was beginning to wonder if he had possibly sent someone else to deliver the title and skipped altogether.

When the bell rang signaling the start of class Gavin just gave up, but seconds later they heard the thumping of footsteps coming towards their class and Michael was stepping in, muttering out an apology before taking his seat.

Lindsay shared first, a picture of Meg and Barbara with their arms linked; they appeared to be skipping down the hallway of the school, skirts flowing around behind them.

Gavin shared next, a picture of Ray and Ryan sitting across from each other at lunch, hands linked on top of the table and faces both split into grins. The girls in the room cooed at the two blushing boys, telling them how adorable they were and how they both looked so happy and at ease. He took the long way back to his seat, around the room and to the back. He dropped Michael’s title on his table as he passed. He looked back once he was in his seat again, just in time to see Michael’s smirking face.

The redhead went last again, sharing the picture of his motorcycle with the sign out front of his house. This one was black and white.

The bell rang some time later. Gavin called out a goodbye to Ray and headed out. He stopped by his locker for a couple seconds to grab his history and math books. He molded into the crowd on the way out the building, jumping the last four steps. He wasn’t even halfway across the parking lot when someone was pulling up next to him and stopping. “Hop on,” Michael commanded. Gavin looked at him with one raised eyebrow.

“Me? On that?” he asked pointing at the bike.

“No, my dick,” Michael said seriously. Gavin’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “Yes, the bike, come on, I’ll go slow,”

Gavin weighed the options in his mind, he could continue walking home and miss whatever adventure they would be going on, unless of course, Michael was only taking him home and that was it. Or he could hop on and see what happens.

“Where are we going?” He asked, taking a small step forward.

“I’m running out of things around here to photograph, I wanna go somewhere else and every journey is better with a…” he trailed off not quite sure what to call the Brit. “Comrade,” he finished. Gavin rolled his eyes but stepped forward anyway swinging one long leg over the back of the bike and getting comfortable.

“Where do I put my hands?” he asked lifting them unsurely.

“On my waist,” Michael smirked. He pulled the helmet from his head and held it out.

“Don’t you need that?”

“I’ll be fine, it’s you I’m worried about,” he said without missing a beat, of course then he realized what he had said and his face went red. “Just put it on,” he said quickly, turning around and kicking the stand up.

Gavin did as he was told, wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist and squeezing when he sped off. He yelped when he was pulled back from the momentum, but eventually he was able to adjust himself when Michael slowed down.

They didn’t talk; unable to hear each other over the engine anyway, but when they’d stop at lights or signs Michael would turn around and throw looks over his shoulder at the Brit, silently asking if he was doing okay. Gavin nodded every time, keeping his eyes forward. Every time he started to let up on his vice like grip of the others thin waist, Michael would speed up, weaving in and out of allies and traffic until Gavin was gripping him tight again. He wasn’t all too sure it was accidental either.

They hit the highway and kept going. They passed many neighborhoods and wooded areas, Gavin couldn’t tell how many miles they had traveled, but the sun was setting by the time Michael pulled up to a rusted gate. He kicked the stand down and turned the bike off, tapping Gavin’s hands around his waist to let him know he should let go.

Michael looked around to make sure no one was watching before he nodded Gavin over to where he was standing against the wall. “Give me a boost,”

“What?”

“Boost me up, I’ll grab you and we can go,”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Haven’t you ever broken a few laws?”

“Not once actually,” Gavin answered.

“Live a little,” Michael chuckled. He threw his hand heavy on Gavin’s shoulder and pushed him down. The Brit went easily kneeling down so Michael could use him to climb up.

When he was safely on the top he laid himself down and reached down for Gavin’s hand. Gavin looked both ways, what the hell? He figured. He reached up and linked his hand with Michael’s letting himself be pulled up and over the wall. He straddled the top while Michael jumped down stumbling back a few steps. He looked patiently up at Gavin who felt woozy when he looked down. He looked out over the land in front of him and realized they were in a cemetery. There was a stone path that lead throughout the grounds, and headstones littered the grassy area.

“C’mon,” Michael urged, smirking up at him.

“Give me a minute,” Gavin snapped.

“You’re not scared of heights are you?” the redhead teased.

“Maybe a little,”

“I’ll catch you,” Michael said seriously.

“How do I know that?”

“Do you trust me?” he pouted.

Gavin didn’t really have to think about it. He did come all the way out here without having any clue what they were doing, and he had already made it halfway over the wall. He said nothing though, only swung his left leg over to join his right and push himself off.

His knees buckled when he hit the ground, sending him tumbling forward and right into Michael’s outstretched arms. Michael let out an ‘oomph’ but managed to steady them both.

“You good?” he smiled.

“’m fine,” the Brit mumbled, brushing himself off and standing tall. “What are we doing here?”

“My mom’s here,”

Michael turned without another word and began walking down the narrow pathway. Gavin had no choice but to follow him closely, not wanting to get lost as it got darker.

They didn’t talk until Michael found the one he was looking for. Susan Jones, it read, 1966-2001.

Gavin looked cautiously at Michael, trying to gauge some sort of reaction, but the other boy just stood stonily silent staring down at the words. “Do you want me to go for a bit?” he whispered. Michael looked at him curiously then, taking him in before nodding.

“Just for a little while,” he answered.

Gavin nodded and stepped back, turning to follow the path a little farther, to an area that held no stones, only flowers and trees. He sat carefully in the dewy grass, staring straight ahead, trying to give Michael all the privacy possible.

To say Gavin was confused would be a massive understatement. He had no idea why Michael had took him here of all places, he was still shocked that he actually got on the motorcycle to begin with. He decided he’d worry about it later and focus more on the beautiful view ahead.

He took his camera out then, pointing it towards the bright pinks and yellows he saw. He took several of the trees surrounding the area before he heard footsteps come to a halt behind him and turned to see Michael, camera raised to his face, aimed right at Gavin.

“Go back to what you were doing,” he said softly.

“I’m not very photogenic,” he answered nervously.

“I beg to differ,” Michael argued, raising the camera again. Gavin sighed but turned back to the flowers before him anyway, raising his camera to take a few more pictures, ignoring the flash behind him.

“It’s getting late,” Michael said once the sun was nearly completely gone. “I should get you home,”

Gavin nodded and stood up, brushing the grass from his pants and beginning to walk back towards the gate they came from. Michael walked next to him silently, letting their hands brush every few steps.

Gavin kneeled down again, letting Michael push himself up the wall before turning and waiting for Gavin’s hand to meet his, only this time when they were both straddling the top of the wall Michael didn’t move quite yet. He didn’t pull his hand away, just sat, watching Gavin’s face darken. After a long moment he seemed satisfied and nodded once before launching himself to the ground below. He turned and opened his arms expectantly waiting for Gavin to make his move. Still dazed he pushed himself blindly, landing more successfully than he had the first time.

When Michael turned to go back to his bike Gavin reached out and curled a hand around his shoulder. “Why did you bring me here?” he asked once Michael was facing him again.

“I…” he reached up to adjust his beanie, something Gavin had become used to seeing whenever they were together. “I trust you,” he said finally, handing the helmet over and sliding on.

Gavin accepted this as an answer and jumped on behind him, wrapping his arms around the redhead’s waist and then they were off.

~~~

Gavin was busy shoving books and binders in his locker when someone cleared their throat behind him. Gavin nearly jumped a foot in the air, turning to find Michael standing in his personal space, watching him expectantly.

“Christ Michael, don’t sneak up on me like that,”

“You know,” Michael smirked, “I’m kinda disappointed in you. You need to be more alert or someone might be able to sneak up and kill you,” he wiggled his eyebrows. Gavin just rolled his eyes and turned back around to finish organizing his locker.

“Did you need something or?” after a long silence Gavin turned back around and raised a brow at the other boy.

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school, do drugs or something,” he smirked.

“Not today,” Gavin answered looking at Michael skeptically.

“Oh okay,” he mumbled. “Oh yeah, actually I wanted to give you this,” he said holding out his green beanie. “Only people in my gang can have them so wear it proudly. They come from all the people we’ve killed,”

“Come on, you know I don’t believe all that,” he snapped holding the beanie out for Michael to take back, he ignored it though, just looked up at Gavin with his stupid hazel eyes.

“Then come hang out with me after school,” he pouted, reaching up to adjust the black beanie on his head.

“I really can’t,” he said apologetically. “It’s my mom’s birthday, we’re going to my grandmas,” he rolled his eyes.

“Take some good pictures then,” Michael smiled.

“Maybe some other time?” he offered as the bell rang.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said running in the opposite direction.

It wasn’t until Gavin got to his first block class that he realized Michael’s green beanie was still in his hand.

~~~

When the bell rang at the end of school the next day Gavin was halfway out the door when a hand was wrapping around his elbow and pulling him away from his locker. He stumbled at first, but eventually he was able to steady himself and follow Michael out to the parking lot. “Are you busy?” he called back.

“Depends,”

“Shut up,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“Where are you taking me?” Gavin giggled when he was handed the helmet.

“The lake,”

“What’s at the lake?”

“Swimming, great photo opportunities, us if we ever get there. Stop asking questions!” he laughed.

“Fine,”

Michael sped the entire way there, slowing down whenever Gavin tensed up behind him, but only enough so Gavin would relax before he was flying again, the Brit’s arms nearly breaking his ribs. It was like a game to him.

Michael gave him no warning and soon they were veering right onto a pathway in the woods. The first few yards were smooth, small rocks and grass, but the deeper they got the harder it got to control the vehicle.

“Looks like we’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” he said once he brought the bike to a stop. They slid off easily, heading towards the clearing up ahead.

“Shouldn’t we have brought trunks?”

“You’ve got boxers on don’t you?” the redhead smirked. Gavin blushed dark red and avoided eye contact, pushing a branch out of his face and letting it swing back into Michael. He let out a curse and shoved lightly at the other boy’s shoulder.

Soon they were pushing through the final bits of shrubbery when the lake came into view. Gavin had to stop for a minute to take it all in, raking his eyes over the jagged rocks surrounding the area. There were trees across the way, reflecting into the water below.

“Whoa,” he breathed.

“Right?” Michael agreed, pushing past Gavin and leaving his bike to stand in the soft grass. He removed his hat and jacket from his body, laying them on the seat before kicking his shoes off. “You coming?” he asked when he noticed the other was still standing awkwardly, backpack and camera hanging off of him, clothes fully on.

“Uh, yeah,” he answered, dropping his things on the ground and moving to take his socks and shoes off.

Michael just chuckled at him before peeling his shirt from his body; he had pale skin, and not a single hair on his chest. He was however, covered in dark bruises around his lower stomach. Gavin gasped and reached out for him, but he thought better of it and let his arm fall back to his side. Michael heard him, it would be hard not to, but he ignored him, kicking his jeans off and jumping into the water without hesitation. Gavin waited for him to resurface, hands stopped on his belt buckle.

“Come on!” Michael yelled, spitting up water when he popped back up.

“Give me a second,” Gavin hissed back.

“If you don’t get those pants off soon I’ll have to come take them off for you,” he threatened, but his voice was… different than his usual joking tone. Still, Gavin’s eyes widened and he flushed all the way down his neck before focusing back on his pants. Finally he was able to get his belt undone and shove them down past his thighs, kicking them the rest of the way. His shirt was soon added to the pile of discarded garments and he was stepping forward, pausing when Michael whistled low.

“Damn Chewbacca,”

“Shut up,” Gavin muttered, reaching down to pick his shirt back up.

“Hey no, don’t be a bitch, get in here,” the redhead demanded swimming closer. The glint in his eyes told Gavin to do as he said, dropping his shirt in the grass and start making his way in.

He tried to take it slow, but when his foot came down on a very sharp and slippery rock he found himself losing his balance and sinking right into the water. His heart pounded in his chest as he flailed about, trying to gain some footing, soon though there was a hand wrapping around his arm and tugging him up until the air was kissing his face again.

“You’re clumsy,” Michael commented.

“Really? I had no idea,” Gavin snarked.

“Shut up and swim,”

Gavin leaned back until he was floating, letting the water take him wherever it felt necessary. Michael swam quietly next to him, accidentally splashing him from time to time. Both of their boxers were sticking to them uncomfortably but neither complained.

Eventually Gavin heard a loud inhalation and a splash and turned to look around. Michael was now nowhere in sight and Gavin was worried that something had pulled him under. Of course that was when two hands wrapped around his calves and started yanking down. He screamed but only ended up with a mouth full of water, kicking viciously and coming back up to splutter and swat at Michael laughing in front of him.

“You’re a dick,” he proclaimed.

“Oh?” Michael swam closer, head tilted, lips pulled into a small pout.

“One hundred percent,” he nodded.

“That’s too bad,” the redhead whispered moving closer again. The water was already warm, sun beating down on them as well, but Michael’s body so close to him was going to give him a heatstroke he decided. He watched a drop of water dribble down Michael’s nose, rolling over his lips and slide of his chin. “Are you cold?” he asked when he saw Gavin’s body quiver.

“No,” he shook his head, pushing away from Michael and swimming a few feet back. The look Michael shot him told him he knew exactly what he was thinking. He was smirking. “You know, you’re face is gonna get stuck that way,” Gavin told him, splashing at him.

“I’ve heard that one before,” he rolled his eyes.

“I’m getting out,” Gavin announced.

“Why?”

“Just don’t feel like swimming any longer,” he shrugged. Michael nodded and moved to follow him. “You don’t have to come,”

“It’s fine,”

They pushed their way through the water, crawling over to where their things were and lying in the grass to relax. Michael flopped next to him, chest heaving from all the work he had done recently. Gavin couldn’t help staring at the dip of his collarbones, the drops of water pooling by his belly button, the dark blues and blacks that were splattered on his abdomen. It was then that Gavin realized, he still knew nothing about Michael. He didn’t know his middle name or his favorite color. Michael didn’t know his favorite book or animal. They were still strangers. The thought buzzed around in his head, poking at his entire body while he turned it over and over, hoping maybe he could find some answers to his own questions without needing to prod the boy next to him.

When he couldn’t find anything he decided that asking couldn’t hurt. “What’s your favorite color?” he turned his head to the right, looking at Michael through blades of grass. The redhead turned his head towards him, wet curls sticking to his forehead. His hazel eyes searched Gavin’s for a long minute before he responded.

“Green,”

“Dark or light?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it does. There’s many different greens. Grass, moss, lime, emerald-”

“What would you call your eyes?” Michael cut him off, looking at him calculatingly.

“I don’t know really, maybe like a… like a jade?”

“That one then, jade,”

Gavin turned away, trying to calm his racing heart. “What’s your-”

“Nope,” Michael said popping the ‘p.’ “It’s my turn,”

“What?”

“You asked me a question, now I answer,”

“Normally this would be true, but you asked me what color I considered my eyes to be,”

“Fuck,”

“So, my turn. What’s your middle name?”

“Not telling,”

“Why not?”

“It’s really dorky,”

“Well now you have to tell me,” Gavin told him, leaning up on his elbow to look down at the other boy.

“I don’t have to,”

“But you should,”

There was a long pause before Michael groaned and mumbled, “Vincent,”

“Oh my God!” Gavin laughed. “That’s adorable,”

“Shut the fuck up,”

“It’s not that bad really. Mine’s David,” he confessed.

“Gavin David Free, I like that,” he smiled. “Is it my turn? And no, that doesn’t count asshole,” he said when Gavin opened his mouth, evil glint in his eyes.

“Yes, it’s your turn,”

“Are you still scared of me?”

“I told you before, I’m not-”?

“No, you lied to me before,” he said it calmly, looking over at Gavin patiently, and Gavin knew that whatever his answer was it wouldn’t bother the other boy too much.

“I’m not scared of you… anymore,” he said honestly. “I was before, because of all the rumors, but you’re nothing like they said,”

“What am I like then?”

“Not your turn,” Gavin smirked. Michael just raised a brow and sat up making Gavin scoot back and hold up two fingers in the shape of a cross. “Alright alright,”

“Thought so,” Michael said triumphantly.

“Well, I thought you’d be a terrifying hard ass. I figured you’d beat anyone up that looked at you wrong and I don’t know, that you did drugs or something, but none of this is true,”

“What is?”

“You’re impatient as hell,” Gavin said without missing a beat, “you’re sarcastic and bossy, funny. You’ve also got that mysterious badass thing going so,”

“How sweet of you,” Michael answered, but he was smiling, all teeth and crinkled eyes so Gavin knew he wasn’t offended.

They gave up on their game after that, just enjoyed each other’s company while they dried off, sun beginning to dip below the horizon. Gavin got up eventually, still naked except for his damp boxers, and walked around to find things to take pictures of. He took pictures of the lake as a whole, pictures of Michael’s bike standing in the grass; he even snapped a few of Michael while his eyes were closed. He made sure the flash was off for those ones.

“Do you wanna leave?” he asked when the wind started picking up, stars beginning to make their appearance. Michael was quiet for a long moment before he turned to look at him and shook his head.

“Not yet,” he whispered.

They both turned to look back at the sky, Gavin jumped when something bumped against his hand; he looked down to find that it was only Michael and smiled.

~~~

“Today was awesome,” Gavin gushed when Michael came to a stop in front of his small house.

“I’m glad you came,”

“Well, you kinda kidnapped me, what else was I gonna do?”

“Shut up, I’d like to think you would’ve come even if I had just asked,”

“I think I would’ve,” Gavin said honestly.

They stood, just taking the other in before Gavin was giving him one last smile and going to pull the black jacket off his bony shoulders.

Michael had let him borrow it when they left, claiming it was too cold for Gavin to just be in his t-shirt. The Brit argued that Michael could get cold, but Michael surprised him when he pulled a red flannel out of his backpack and swung it over his shoulders. “I came prepared,” he smirked. Gavin didn’t know why this made him feel so giddy.

“Here,” he said holding it out.

“I dare you to wear it to school tomorrow,”

“Why?”

“I just wanna see what it looks like, wear the beanie too. It’ll scare the shit outta everyone when they find out you joined my gang of merciless killers,”

Gavin rolled his eyes but agreed anyway, backing away towards his door. “I’ll see you tomorrow,”

“I’ll pick you up at seven!” Michael called after him.

“You’re taking me to school?”

“I gotta see how people react,” he shrugged. Gavin didn’t think that was the only reason, but he just let it happen.

He waved goodbye and skipped up the steps. He ignored the strange looks his parents shot him, pulling the jacket tighter around himself as he walked up the stairs grinning like a fool.

~~~

“Damn Gav, you’d make a great gang member,” Michael greeted the next morning, red and black flannel draped around him, he wore a black t-shirt underneath and a black beanie on his head. Gavin flushed at the sight of him, leaning against his motorcycle with his arms crossed.

Gavin had decided to complete the look, Michael Jones style. He wore his tightest jeans and a white t-shirt under the jacket, black high tops on his feet.

“Thanks boss,” he winked, grabbing the helmet from Michael’s outstretched hand and getting on. He wrapped his arms around Michael’s waist and squeezed tight as they drove the short distance to school.

The staring started immediately. Everyone was mainly trying to figure out who Michael Jones could possibly have with him, and then they were just shocked to find Gavin Free, not only on the bike, but wearing Michael’s clothes.

They walked into the school side by side, Gavin kept his head down though, missing the glares Michael was sending to everyone that looked at Gavin, whether it was a judging look or a lustful glance, Michael was telling them to back off, hazel eyes ablaze.

“Well,” Gavin started when they reached his locker. “This little experiment was fun, but you can have it back now,” he finished sheepishly.

“Here,” Michael said, shrugging his flannel off and sliding his beanie off his head. “This’ll look better,” he explained.

“Okay,” Gavin shrugged trading clothes with him. Ray walked up then, stopping in his tracks at the sight of the two blushing, smiling boys.

“Hey Gav,” he greeted, nodding carefully at Michael.

“Aye Ray,” he grinned.

“I’ll walk you to class,” he said when the bell rang right after. Michael said his goodbye and stalked off down the hall.

“What’s up?”

“You’re asking me what’s up? You start dating the scariest guy in school and you don’t tell me? What is up?”

“Whoa, we aren’t dating,”

“You walked into school this morning wearing his clothes, he doesn’t give his one night stands his fucking leather jacket,”

“He dared me,”

“I’m missing a lot aren’t I?”

“Yes, actually, but it’s really nothing. We hang out, take pictures, talk,”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Gavin nodded.

“Okay, but find me later cause I need details,” he glared lightheartedly.

“Yes sir,” Gavin said raising his right hand to his heart.

Only, Gavin didn’t get a chance to talk to Ray later. He was too wrapped up in Ryan at lunch and Gavin couldn’t tell him in photography since Michael would be right there. He meant to catch him after school, but Michael was quick to cut him off, announcing that he’d drive him home.

“You don’t have to,”

“I want to,” he shrugged.

Gavin nodded and walked behind him to the parking lot. “You know, I should buy you another helmet, with the way you drive we’ll both be crashing one day and I want you to be safe too,” he said as they got on.

“I’ll go buy one tomorrow,” Michael said quickly.

“Really?”

“If it’ll make you happy,”

Gavin looked to the ground but said nothing else. If he squeezed Michael a little tighter the other didn’t comment.

When they pulled up to Gavin’s house he found that he wasn’t quite ready to part with the curly haired boy just yet. He handed the helmet over to him and looked at him curiously. Michael of course noticed this and waited for Gavin to say whatever he was thinking.

“Do you want to come in? Play games or something?” he asked. Honestly, he expected Michael to say no, but when the other kicked his stand down and stepped away from the bike with a smile Gavin grinned wide.

“Sounds good,”

His parents weren’t home yet, so they kicked their shoes off and took the steps two at a time, Gavin slowed down when he reached the hallway though, suddenly nervous to be showing the other boy his bedroom. He twisted the knob cautiously and pushed it over, gesturing for the other to go in first. “Cozy,” he commented.

“Sorry if it’s messy, I haven’t really cleaned up in a while,” he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Dude, it’s spotless, hate to break it to you,” Michael told him looking around the room for anything out of place.

“Oh,” Gavin muttered. “Do you wanna play a game? Watch a movie?”

“What’s your favorite color?” Michael asked randomly. He even looked surprised with himself when it came out.

“Red,” he replied. “Favorite animal?”

“Lion. Favorite movie?”

“Titanic,”

“Really?”

“Yes. Favorite food?”

“I love a good burger,”

The questions went on for another thirty minutes, getting more personal as they went.

“Wait, so your first kiss was with a girl and it was her that made you realize you were into dicks?”

“No need to be so crude, but yes,” Gavin laughed.

“Jesus,” Michael mumbled.

They were having a good time, Gavin didn’t know why he had to go and ruin it. “Where did those bruises come from? The split lips?”

Michael's smile vanished and his eyes turned cold. He faced forward on Gavin’s bed, looking at his jacket lying carelessly on the floor. “It’s late, I should go,” It was barely five o’clock.

“Wait no, I’m sorry,” Gavin rambled, sitting up in bed, hand wrapped around Michael’s wrist. “Forget I asked, can we just- can we watch a movie?” he begged. Michael looked down at him and sighed sitting back down and waiting for Gavin to set up the DVD player.

“Let’s watch Titanic then,” Gavin grinned down at him and pulled the case off his shelf.

The air around them was thick, holding all the unsaid words between them. Gavin decided not to dwell on it though, not wanting to ruin what was slowly repairing. He lay down on his bed and watched the movie play out. His eyes felt heavy though and by the time the ship hit the iceberg he was zonked out.

Michael stood quietly then, snatching his jacket off the floor and shrugging it on. He took his camera from his bag and aimed it at Gavin; he took a few pictures before he threw the blanket over the Brit and turned the TV off. He crept out of the room and down the stairs thankful that Gavin’s parents still weren’t home.

~~~

“Where were you yesterday?” Gavin asked when he walked into the dark room on Saturday morning.

“‘Hi Michael, how are you?’ I’m great Gav, how are you? ‘Dandy! I missed you yesterday,’” he replied, sarcasm dripping in his tone. He didn’t turn around though, completely focused on the pictures he was working on.

“Ha. Ha,” Gavin drawled. “I wanted to apologize for passing out on you Thursday, I’m not a great host,” he joked.

“It’s no big deal Gav,” the redhead answered, still not facing the other. Gavin just nodded, not that Michael could see, and moved to his side of the room, putting his camera down and rolling his sleeves up.

They didn’t speak again until sometime later when there was a thud on the table behind him and Gavin turned to find a stack of developed pictures lying in front of him. He looked up at Michael for permission, beginning to dig through the pile when the redhead nodded encouragingly.

There were pictures from the cemetery, flowers blooming bright near headstones, there was a beautiful one of his mother’s stone and Gavin made sure to tell him it was perfect, not missing the blush on the other’s face. He found the ones of him from that day as well, he was sitting up and facing the other direction, the sunlight hit him in just the right way so you could tell who he was even though his face was covered with a chunky black camera.

He found ones from the lake, well, only one was actually of the water, the other five were of Gavin in differing stages of nakedness. One of him in just his boxers, shirt in hand, another of him tugging his pants on, two of him pulling his shirt over his head and the last was him, now fully clothed and brushing the dirt away from himself.

“How did you even take these?” he asked embarrassed.

“You’re kind of oblivious,” Michael answered moving to his side of the table.

“You can’t share them with the class,” he announced afterwards.

“And why is that?”

“I’m practically naked!” he screeched, face beet red.

“They mean something to me though,” Michael challenged. Gavin gulped at that, turning to look at them once more.

“Isn’t there some sort of rule against child pornography?”

“You have clothes on Gavin,”

“Hardly!” Michael just chuckled and shook his head.

“I like them,” he mumbled.

“I look awful,”

“That’s not true,”

Gavin looked up at him then, noticing how close he was, hazel eyes darting from his green ones to his lips and back. His mouth opened, to speak or gape he didn’t know, but he snapped it shut and turned back to the table, picking up the last picture in the stack, him sleeping in bed, hair all mussed up and body bent at all sorts of weird angles.

“That’s attractive,” he joked, trying to break the tension in the room, but then there was a hand wrapping around his wrist, pushing the picture back to the table.

“You are attractive, very attractive,” he said, eyes dark with… was that- lust?

“I was joking Michael,”

“I’m not,” he answered, stepping closer. He was still holding Gavin’s wrist, keeping him in place. Michael was watching him carefully, moving his head just a bit closer. Gavin didn’t know what to do. He didn’t think Michael and him were… there? Yet. He took a small step back and smiled awkwardly.

“I still have a lot of work to do,” he explained, shrinking under Michael’s gaze.

“Yeah, I just finished so I think I’m gonna head home,”

“Okay,” Gavin nodded. Michael left his photos on the table, grabbing his bag and keys and slipping out quietly.

Gavin blew out a breath of air and sank to the ground. His body felt like it was on fire everywhere Michael had touched. He honestly didn’t know what had come over the other boy, he didn’t think they were on that path, he just thought… he thought Michael needed a friend, but now they were inching up on a line Gavin wasn’t sure about crossing.

Did he like Michael? He liked the rush he got whenever Michael looked at him a beat too long, the way Michael felt under his hands when they were riding around.

He liked the way the boy carried himself, not a care in the world. He liked the black boots and leather jacket combo and the tight jeans. He liked the thrill of being around someone that all his friends disliked, someone his parents wouldn’t approve of.

So yes, he liked Michael.

He pulled himself off the floor and looked down at the stack of pictures still lying on the table. He laid them all out side by side and then took his camera out. Taking a picture of the other bunch and turning to develop all of his other ones.

When his pictures were done and he saw how many photos of Michael there were, felt the butterflies. He knew he was in too deep, but still, he refused to throw any away.

~~~

They acted like nothing had happened.

Monday in class Michael shared the picture of Gavin sleeping, Gavin shared one of Michael lying in the grass by the lake, eyes closed peacefully. Everyone was stunned to silence by the sudden change. Mrs. Haus didn’t make them share.

After school Michael snatched him after class and took him outside, proudly showing off the new red helmet he had bought. Gavin grinned at him and forced him to try it on, snapping a picture when he brought the face shield down. Michael just lifted it up, rolled his eyes, and dropped it again.

He brought Gavin to the mall. They walked in circles for a half hour before Michael decided that yes; Hot Topic was the only place that had decent looking beanies. He bought a grey one and a purple one, handing the purple one to Gavin when they walked out of the store.

“What’s this?”

“A beanie? Come on, you just watched me buy it,”

“I mean, why are you giving it to me?”

“Purple’s a good color for you. Shut up and put it on,” he commanded. Gavin did as he was told, blushing when Michael gave him a long look before grinning. “Perfect,”

He grabbed the Brit’s wrist and started walking again, ignoring his whines until they were at a little kiosk that sold sunglasses.

He picked out a black pair, putting them on and posing embarrassingly for Gavin. Gavin was squeaking with laughter before the man running it told them to either buy or leave. Michael bought them and grabbed Gavin’s hand storming away.

Tuesday they ended up at Gavin’s house, viciously mashing buttons on controllers until one of them was claimed the victor. Michael, of course, won every game and Gavin learned that he was a sore winner, making sure to rub it in his face every two minutes.

Wednesday they went to the park, lying under the big tree in the center and asking each other questions.

“Belle isn’t even a fucking princess,”

“She married a prince!”

“He was a fucking bear!”

“He was a beast!”

“Oh my God, I hate you,”

“Whatever, what’s your favorite-“

“It’s my turn asshole,”

“Alright, calm down,”

Michael wasn’t at school Thursday, and when he didn’t show up Friday either Gavin decided to go looking after school.

He walked over the tracks and through the wooded area, ignoring the strange glares he was getting from parents again. He walked straight up to the blue trailer, sighing in relief when he saw the black motorcycle standing proudly.

He walked up the steps, fist raised to knock when he heard screaming and what sounded like whimpering.

It was followed by the sound of shattering glass, a thumping sound and a yelp. Gavin stepped back startled, nearly falling off the little wooden stoop.

There were thunderous footsteps along with curse words and then a slamming door. The shouting stopped, the sobs did not.

Gavin held his breath for ten seconds, before knocking lightly on the door.

He was committed now.

The crying stopped and then there were sniffles. It sounded like someone was dragging their feet on carpet and then the door was being pulled open to reveal Michael, eyes bloodshot and face red. He had a cut on his forehead and his cheek was swollen. He was hunched over, hand wrapped around his stomach. His eyes widened when he saw Gavin.

“You can’t be here,” he hissed looking down the hall behind him. He looked scared.

“I- I wanted to know where you were,”

“Well, you found me. Please leave,”

“I- I can’t leave you here,” he spluttered.

“You need to,” the redhead snapped. “If he sees you he’ll… please,” his lip was trembling. He kept glancing behind him and looking around the corner, waiting.  

“Fine,” Gavin nodded. “But we’re talking about this tomorrow,”

“Okay,” Michael nodded, shutting the door with a soft click.

~~~

To Gavin’s surprise Michael was there Saturday morning. He had a band aid on his forehead and his cheek was a harsh purple shade. He looked up startled when Gavin walked in, closing the door louder than necessary.

“Hey,” he nodded.

“Hi,” Gavin whispered.

“I took some great pictures this week,” he tried smiling, but the pain in his cheek made him wince. Gavin cringed just watching him.

“Me too,” Gavin answered, setting his camera down and moving to look at what Michael was pointing at.

When they had gone to his house they played video games, but not before standing in the backyard and staring up at Gavin’s old tree house.

“We can probably fix it up,” Michael offered.

“What’s the point? We’re graduating and moving away and all that,” he waved him off.

“Still, it’s a nice little structure,”

Gavin just nodded and looked up at the building. He and Ray had spent many nights up there reading when they were in middle school, gossiping about the cute kids in their classes and trying to imagine what their futures might hold.

He snapped out of it when there was a flash next to him and he turned to find Michael holding his camera only a few feet away.

“Can I help you?”

“You looked cute, all thoughtful and shit,”

“Shut up,”

The picture had come out really good, Gavin looking up, eyes clouded over with nostalgia. Michael looked proud when Gavin complimented him on it.

“It looks awesome; I can’t wait to hear what the class thinks,”

“Me either,”

“Michael…” Gavin said uneasily.

“Gavin,” he replied.

“We need to talk about what yesterday,”

“We really don’t,” the redhead answered.

“Is that where you’re always going off to? Why you miss so many days of school, why your pictures are so sad?” he rambled.

“Gavin, please, I don’t wanna do this today,”

“You never will! If we don’t talk about this now you’ll push it off until you’re dead,” he snapped. Michael flinched at the word ‘dead’ and reached up to adjust his beanie, the grey one.

“Please,” he whimpered, lip trembling. “Don’t look at me differently,”

“I’d never,” Gavin was almost offended.

“You already are,”

“I am n-“

“You pity me; you look at me like I’m some challenge, a fixer upper,” his eyes were wet now.

“That’s bullshit. I care about you, you’re my friend,”

“Then why don’t your other friends know about us?”

It was true; Gavin had yet to tell Geoff or Ray about his friendship with Michael. He knew they’d lecture him, and he really didn’t want anything bringing him down from the high he felt when he was with the redhead.

“Michael,”

“You’re ashamed of me,”

“I am not! Stop putting words in my mouth. I didn’t realize we had something that needed to be shared,”

“That’s bull, you just know that your little friends would never allow you to be friends with a… a murdering gang member,”

“Everyone knows those are just rumors,”

“Whatever,”

“Why are we even discussing this? My main concern is your home life right now!”

“Well, it’s not mine,”

“Oh, I can tell considering you’re still there! Fucking talk to me,”

“I can’t leave,” he said finally.

“You’re eighteen; you can do whatever you want,”

“I’m all he’s got; I can’t leave him there,” Gavin saw the desperation in his eyes, begging Gavin to drop it. He grabbed his bag and camera, heading for the door.

“He’ll have no one if he kills you,”

He slammed it behind him.

~~~

He felt like he was in a whole new world walking into school that Monday. Everyone was staring at him, and that’s not just paranoia talking, everyone was tracking his movements. He didn’t know why until he turned the corner into the hallway that held his locker. Across the hall was Michael, signature jacket, boots and beanie on, only he wasn’t smirking, no his mouth was too busy working itself against a small brunettes, probably a sophomore.

Gavin squeezed his eyes shut and took three deep breaths, walking calmly to his locker and spinning the dial. He winced when he heard the soft popping sound of lips separating, determined not to turn around, and just kept stacking notebooks and binders on top of each other.

He slammed it shut once he was done and walked away, not sparing the redhead another glance.

~~~

He had been simmering all day, sitting at his lunch table and ignoring the boisterous conversations going on around him.

Michael had been trying to kiss him only two days ago, and now… he was back to his old self it seemed.

When Michael walked by their table holding hands with the small girl from that morning Ray dropped his slice of pizza and leaned closer to Gavin.

“I thought… what happened?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged.

“I figured you two were gonna, ya know?” he said awkwardly.

“No one can tame Michael,” Gavin teased. Ray looked at him curiously, nodding once before turning back to his boyfriend and other friends.

Gavin didn’t see him again until fourth block, hand raised and volunteering to share first. Mrs. Haus was in such shock that she turned the projector on and stepped aside without a word.

Michael reached the front and slid the picture under. It was black and white; something the class had thought they were done with, but it appeared they were back to the awkward and fearful pictures of broken windows and shattered mirrors, splashes of color, like the reflection in the glass of the blue trailer.

No one commented.

Gavin stood up and stalked to the front when Michael left, proudly showing a candid of Meg he had taken at lunch the Friday before. The purple haired girl was shocked; face going bright red while she looked at herself laughing hysterically at whatever Lindsay was saying.

“This is awesome, can I have a copy?” Lindsay asked. Gavin just nodded and handed the photo right from the projector to her. “Really?” she grinned. Gavin smiled back and returned to his seat.

When the bell rang Michael was standing in front of him, hand wrapped around his backpack strap. “Need a ride?” he offered. Gavin was stunned, looking around to make sure that Michael was actually talking to him.

“Sure,” he said cautiously waving goodbye to Ray and following the other out the door.

Michael drove slowly, letting Gavin’s grip remain light on his waist, a phantom touch. When they got to Gavin’s house he found that Michael was stalling, putting a lot of effort into adjusting his helmet.

Gavin took pity on him. “Do you wanna come in? Watch a movie or something?”

Michael nodded enthusiastically.

Gavin didn’t want to assume that Michael was avoiding going home, but when it was nearing midnight and Michael still showed no interest in returning to the trailer park Gavin concluded that he was right. He invited Michael to stay the night, handing him a plain red shirt and a pair of basketball shorts when he said yes.

“I think this is the longest we’ve ever hung out,” Gavin whispered once they were settled into bed.

“Yeah, it is,” Michael yawned lifting his arms to stretch, only to wince when his stomach was disturbed.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” Michael mumbled, turning so his back was to the other boy.

“Okay…” Gavin said awkwardly. “Goodnight,”

“Night,”

He woke up in the middle of the night to whimpering and a pain in his chest. He peeled his eyes open to find Michael clinging to him and mumbling protests in his sleep. He’s having a nightmare, Gavin thought, reaching out to rub the redhead’s back and shushing him quietly.

Eventually he calmed down and they were both lulled back to sleep by the others calm breathing.

Gavin didn’t wake up again until his alarm started blaring across the room, letting him know it was time to get up and get ready for school. He tried rolling out of bed to turn it off but found himself restricted by Michael. He tried not to let the other see him blushing when he opened his eyes.

He failed.

~~~

The next two weeks continued about the same. Michael would spend his days in school swapping spit with younger girls, promising them that they were the one before adding them to the pile of other hook ups and one night stands. Then in fourth block he’d spend most of his time watching or talking to Gavin, taking him home after school and spending the night.

Gavin didn’t know what had happened at Michael’s home to finally push him out, but whatever it was, he couldn’t help but be thankful. Thankful that the bruises on Michael’s body were finally starting to fade and he hadn’t missed a day since.

He was however, still worried about the nightmares. They came almost every night and sometimes it would take hours before Gavin was able to get Michael back to sleep once he was brought out of it. The redhead would apologize profusely even though Gavin kept assuring him it was fine.

Mondays in class Michael would share black and white photos that made everyone feel sad, normally they just wouldn’t comment. Gavin however would stand proudly and show the class pictures of Michael, or of things relating to the boy. Gavin had finally sat down with Geoff and Ray and told them that not only were he and Michael extremely good friends now, but that the other was pretty much living with him.

They hadn’t reacted as poorly as he had thought. They had asked why, but Gavin wouldn’t tell them that. They asked if he was actually as dangerous as everyone said which made Gavin laugh. Michael was a teddy bear, he’d tell them, but he’d make them promise not to tell or Michael might actually get dangerous.

Some days Michael would drop Gavin off at his house and disappear for a few hours, coming back with a plastic bag full of clothes for the next day. They wouldn’t speak much on these days; Michael’s mind always seemed to be somewhere else. Gavin would just put different movies in and sit on his bed waiting for Michael to join him.

Then one Monday night they were sitting on Gavin’s bed, looking over pictures they could possibly put in their portfolios. Gavin had multiple pictures of various students at school, some of buildings around town, and mostly he had pictures of Michael and things directly related to him.

“I like this one,” Michael smiled, pointing to the picture of him sitting on Gavin’s bed, an assortment of movie cases lying in front of him.

“Me too,”

Michael took his out then, careful not to mix any. They were mostly black and white except for a few of Gavin he had already shared with the Brit. Gavin didn’t say anything, but he was wondering where all the ones from Michael’s shelf had gone.

“These are definitely going in,” Michael said evilly, holding up the pictures of Gavin from the lake.

“You’re funny,” Gavin deadpanned reaching out to pluck them from the redhead’s grasp. Michael smirked at him and held his hand out.

“You’ve got three seconds,” he warned.

“Or what?”

“I’ll take them back forcefully,”

“Yeah?” his gaze was challenging.

“One,” he sang, leaning towards Gavin. The glint in his eyes startled Gavin.

“Two,” Gavin started sliding further down the bed, trying to get out of the other’s reach.

“Three,” Michael whispered lunging. Gavin squeaked, moving to throw himself off the bed but he was too slow. Michael’s hand wrapped around his elbow causing him to jerk and send the pictures flying back onto the bed, Gavin tumbled to the floor right after. Michael didn’t let go of him though and soon they were both rolling around the floor in fits of giggles. Michael was stronger and got the upper hand, hands planted on both sides of Gavin’s head.

“I surrender!” Gavin cried, trying to catch his breath.

“Knew you would,” Michael chuckled.

Things grew tense fast. They stared at each other for a long moment, Michael’s eyes darting between Gavin’s and his lips as they usually did these days.

He had never acted on it, but that didn’t mean Gavin didn’t catch him thinking about it, gears turning in the back of his head. Gavin couldn’t help but stare back, waiting. Michael took this as his invitation though, leaning down, only a hairs width away before Gavin was sucking in a breath and pushing him off.

“I- uh, I still have a lot of pictures to look through,” he explained standing off the floor without looking at the other. Michael heaved a sigh and stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,”

“Okay,” Gavin nodded, still not looking up at him.

He had fallen asleep before Michael got out, all their pictures packed neatly away. When he woke up Tuesday morning though Michael wasn’t there.

He didn’t show up to school or Gavin’s house again that week.

Saturday morning when Gavin walked into the dark room he threw his bag on the ground and walked right up to Michael, getting in his personal space.

“Where were you?”

“Calm down mother,”

“I was worried about you asshole,”

“That’s sweet,”

“Michael, cut the shit. You live with me, you can’t just take off without warning,” he scolded. Michael pushed his chair back at this standing up to face Gavin. He was a few inches shorter so he wasn’t as intimidating as he tried to be, but still Gavin shrunk back a few steps.

“You don’t control me Gavin,”

“No, but I do care,” he snapped.

“I was home,”

“Why?”

“I live there?”

“Not lately,”

“Gavin,” he sighed. “We’ve gone over this, he’s my dad,”

“And I understand that, but I don’t understand you running back to an abusive household when you have a safe place to stay!”

“You don’t get it because it isn’t happening to you!”

“Enlighten me then,”

“I’ve been trying! You don’t wanna hear it. You just wanna save the charity case,”

“I’ve told you, that’s not what you are to me!”

“What am I to you then?” he whispered. Gavin rolled his eyes and stepped back.

“Why do you always do this?”

“Do what?”

“Try to turn this into some sort of star crossed lovers’ story,”

“Why would I do that?”

“We both know why Michael,”

“Yeah, and we both know that you want this too, but you look at me like I’m this broken, pathetic, mysterious kid. You’re trying so hard to help me, figure out what I need. What about what I want?”

“That’s not as important right now Michael! What’s important is you having a safe place to live. I don’t get why this is so hard for you to understand,”

“Gavin, I’ve been living with a drunken father for over fifteen years,” he snapped. “I know how to ignore it, you don’t. I’m trying to move on and live my life, I’m trying to have relationships and do well in school but you can’t seem to let it go,”

“Forgive me for trying to help you then,”

“You aren’t helping! You’re just adding more stress to my life!”

To say Gavin was confused would be an understatement. Michael wanted him, but he also wanted him to leave him alone? He didn’t know what to do. So he kicked his bag out of anger and stormed over to the door.

“Don’t worry then. I won’t add anything to it anymore,” he yelled ripping the door open and letting it slam into the wall behind it.

~~~

Gavin was frustrated. That was the truest statement anyone could have made at the time. He was pissed off. He was upset, hurt, confused, a whole cocktail of emotions he couldn’t even begin to decipher. He paced his bedroom for over an hour, mumbling to himself, trying to come up with a conclusion. Maybe I’m dreaming. Maybe Michael isn’t even real. When he opened his eyes though and found that he was still standing in the middle of his bedroom he threw those thoughts out the window.

Eventually his mom was calling him downstairs to have dinner. He sat quietly while his parents talked about work and their plans for the upcoming week. They dismissed him when they realized he wasn’t planning on contributing, he told them he was feeling sick to which they responded, ‘Get some rest!’

He had been lying in bed for over two hours before he figured out how he really felt.

Guilty.

He had never sat back and looked at it from Michael’s point of view. He had been dealing with this stuff much longer than Gavin could’ve even imagined and while it bothered Gavin, made him put a break on important things like his school work and social life while he tried to figure it out, he didn’t think that Michael had been trying to move on. Michael tried to ignore what was going on at home and focus on school and friends, tried to give himself reasons to keep trying.

Gavin didn’t fully understand it, probably never would, but he had to give Michael some credit.

Gavin thought he just needed a friend, someone to look out for him and be there for him. He didn’t think about the fact that Michael wanted more than that. Always having one night stands and short flings so he could feel something. What if it’s not even me he wants? Just someone new to screw around with. The thought didn’t sit easily in his mind. He sat up suddenly, crawling to the end of the bed and picking up the folder of pictures Michael had left behind.

He flipped through the stack ten times, concluding that all the pictures of people were him, except the one of his father passed out in the living room.

Michael had never taken a picture of one of the girls he fooled around with.

I only take pictures of really important things. He had said once.

Gavin tucked the pictures back in the folder and laid it down, crawling into bed with a small smile on his face.

I’ll apologize tomorrow.

~~~

Michael was avoiding him.

The boy wouldn’t answer his phone calls or texts, ignored him on social media, and he was the first one to leave class every day, disappearing into the crowded hallways.

The end of the term was approaching fast. They only had one week left before they’d be sharing their portfolios with the class. Gavin needed to do something drastic if he was going to fix things. He doubted he’d have any more classes with Michael before they graduated so if wanted to maintain some form of relationship with the boy he needed to act fast.

He was there Saturday morning doing all of his last minute developing to put his project together. Gavin only had a few left so he wasn’t in any hurry to get to work.

“I’m sorry,” he said as soon as the door shut.

“What for?” Michael asked sparing him a quick glance.

“You know what for,”

“Oh, no big deal,” he shrugged.

“Michael,”

“Gavin, I have a fuck ton of work to do so please, just don’t,” he looked up at him then, eyes impassive. Gavin nodded once and moved to his side of the room.

When Gavin was finished he thought about saying something else, but he noticed that Michael was still frantically working away, so he packed his things up and walked out the door clearing his shelf off and taking everything home to work on the final product. He suddenly had a great idea.

~~~

“This is it guys!” Mrs. Haus began Monday in class. “Today is our last day in class and I am so excited to see what you guys have created with your time here,” she was like an overexcited three year old on Christmas. “Who wants to go first?”

Lindsay’s hand shot up and as soon as Mrs. Haus pointed to her she was out of her seat and marching to the front of the room. “I titled it, ‘Cool,’”

Her pictures were mainly of Meg and her cat, some of her parents and even a few selfies for humor. There were ones of Barbara and Arryn thrown in as well, a few of Ray and Ryan from lunch and even a couple of Griffon. The other students ‘ooh’d and ‘aww’d as the pictures slid by one by one.

“That was beautiful! Great start,” Mrs. Haus complimented.

One by one students walked to the front of the room and shared the pictures they had taken. Ones of their significant others, siblings, friends, pets, and some of their workplaces. The clock was ticking and then there were only three students left, Michael and Gavin were two of them.

“I’ll go next!” Gavin offered hand raised high.

“Sure thing sweetie,”

He took a deep breath and walked to the front of the room. “I call it, ‘Perfect,’” he opened his folder and stuck the first picture underneath the projector.

Fireworks, lighting up a dark sky in different colors and varying degrees of brightness. Michael leaning against a small house smiling at the sky. Those were the first five, followed by ten pictures of a black motorcycle standing in grass, under a tree, covered in clothes, helmets sitting still on the seat, backpacks hanging off the handles. There were close ups of the black helmet, one of the red one balanced carefully on top of it, photos of both helmets lying abandoned on Gavin’s bedroom floor.

There were pictures of a black jacket, hanging off the back of a cafeteria chair, lying in a heap on the floor, stretched across broad shoulders, and hanging neatly in Gavin’s hall closet.

Black boots thrown across the floor without a care, sitting straight up next to American flag high tops, attached to feet and legs that were stretched out across the floor.

Beanies of various colors laid on pillows and chairs, stacked on top of t-shirts and jeans, on a head of red curly hair flipping up around the edges. A green beanie sitting proudly on top of Gavin’s own head, a bathroom mirror selfie he had taken just for fun one night, Michael in his own blue beanie standing behind him with his tongue out and middle finger raised.

There were pictures of flowers, blooming next to headstones and under trees. Crystal clear water, trees reflecting off of it across the way. There were wet grass covered feet, attached to pale and freckled legs. Wrinkled hands stretched out like a starfish, making grass-angels. Wet hair tangled and matted to a water dotted forehead.

There were ones of a boy, bent over with his head in his hands, white t-shirt wrinkled from sleep, the only light in the picture was that of the moon pooling in from the opened blinds. Ones of Michael fast asleep in bed, mouth opened in a small ‘o’ shape and eyes squeezed shut.

There were some of the other boy leaning against his motorcycle, sunglasses perched and eyebrow raised. Some showed him on the motorcycle, driving down the road away from Gavin’s house, jacket billowing behind him.

There were close ups of hazel eyes, crinkled in the corners, freckles high on his cheekbones. There were countless pictures of Michael leaning over a metal table in the dark room, looking over other photos the two had taken, smiling at some, looking curiously over others.

He only had two pictures left to show and he refused to look up at anyone else in the classroom, shaking hands sliding the second to last picture under the projector.

Michael face flushed as he stared at Gavin on the other side of his bed. It was the second night he had stayed over, they had been watching a movie when Gavin spilled soda on his shirt and stood to get a new one, he pulled it off without thinking twice, threw it in the corner and started digging around for another one. When he turned back around Michael had stood up and was pointedly avoiding eye contact. Gavin smirked at him, reaching for his camera on his nightstand and holding it to his face. Michael looked at him just as he pressed down on the button and the flash went off. He cursed Gavin and made him promise he’d never show anyone unless it came out looking absolutely perfect.

“It will,” Gavin had said. “They always do,”

He looked at Michael then, sitting quietly in the back of the classroom face red. Meg and Lindsay were turned around watching him as well, grins on both of their faces.

He had one more picture to show and he was terrified. He took it gently from the folder and slid it underneath. It was black and white, Gavin standing, only the top half of his head was visible, he was holding a large piece of white poster board with black paint on it.

I’m sorry.

You’re Perfect.

Forgive me?

There was a collective gasp around the room, almost everyone turning to face Michael. His eyes were wide, trained directly on the Brit. He didn’t say anything though. Just stood with his portfolio in hand and walked to the front of the room.

“I’d like to go next,” he announced. Gavin’s heart sank, but he nodded and packed up his things, moving to the back of the room with his head down.

He was absolutely humiliated, smiling slightly at the apologetic look Meg was giving him, shrugging and mouthing, ‘it’s okay.’

“I call this, ‘Happy,’” he said looking directly at Gavin.

Green eyes filled the wall, familiar freckle under the right one. Some were of them smiling; others were more serious, glaring, squinting, wet with tears.

There were pictures of Gavin and Ray at lunch, throwing food at each other, heads thrown back trying to catch chips and gummies. Laughing at whatever Griffon and Geoff were fighting about. Snickering at Ryan when he spilled milk down the front of his shirt.

There were pictures of Gavin at his locker, studying different text books, trying to figure out which ones he needed to bring home for the night. Fixing his hair in the little mirror hanging on the door. Trying to stuff his backpack into the crowded space, face scrunched up in annoyance.

Gavin and Geoff climbing into Geoff’s car after school, grins on their faces.

Gavin at the lake, nearly naked. There were a few catcalls on those ones, Gavin’s face going three shades dark. Gavin taking pictures of flowers at the cemetery. Gavin looking up at his tree house, calculating the work that would need to be done before deciding it wasn’t worth it.

Sleeping in bed with the covers pulled almost completely over his head. Nose popping out from the little cocoon he had made of himself. Green eyes glaring up at Michael when he was awoken too early on a Sunday, hair a mess on the pillow.

Gavin pulling his night shirt on, sliver of tan skin peeking out from under his t-shirt, arms raised and stretching.

Gavin, camera in hand while he took in a new area. One of him with a black helmet on, making his head seem five times bigger, lulling this way and that.

Sitting on Michael’s bike while the other ran inside to pay for gas, hands on the handles as if he had any idea how to drive it. Wearing a green beanie and grey sweatshirt, walking down the hall with his backpack in hand, hanging dangerously low to the ground.

It wasn’t until he was down to his last few pictures that Michael looked up at the class again, eyes finding Gavin’s and giving a small smirk before he slid the next one under.

Gavin was walking into his bedroom, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, hair clinging to his head and skin covered in little drops of water.

“Hot,” Ray yelled, causing the room to erupt in giggles. Gavin had to look away, chuckling quietly to himself.

There was one of Gavin, tongue stuck out in concentration when he had thought he broke his camera, turning it over and over in his hands before coming to the conclusion that it was fine, wind blowing his hair in all directions.

Michael only had one left, and he hesitated before putting it under, Gavin sucked in a breath while he waited for it to register.

It was of both of them, not a selfie though. They were standing in the hallway facing each other, and Michael’s hands were planted firmly on Gavin’s hips. They were grinning, staring right into each other’s eyes. To anyone else, they would’ve looked like they were in love.

Maybe we are.

Gavin tried to think about when this might’ve been, laughing when he remembered. He had been at his locker one day during lunch, trying to sort out his books from his morning classes to his afternoon classes. He had squealed in surprised when someone came up behind him, wrapped their arms around him and lifted him off the ground, spinning in a circle.

He yelled to be put down for five spins before Michael got dizzy and dropped him, letting him turn around and swat at him while they tried to calm their dizzy heads and beating hearts.

Gavin didn’t even know who had taken the picture.

There was silence in the classroom while the other kids took this last picture in, dissecting it. Ray was the first one to start clapping; Meg was next standing from her seat and cheering.

Michael looked at them with wide eyes when others started joining in, tugging his beanie down over his red tipped years.

“Michael, this was beautiful,” Mrs. Haus breathed. “I feel that we’ve really seen an amazing growth with you, thank you so much for and taking this class and honoring us with your presence,” she finished.

“Uh, you’re welcome,” he said awkwardly, packing his pictures up and moving to his seat.

Kerry was the last one to share, moving through his pictures quickly since no one was really interested after Michael. He wasn’t offended though, he liked having less attention on him than others.

All through his presentation though, kids were turning around and looking at Gavin and then Michael behind him, eyes curious and anticipating. Gavin would just shrug and look away; he had no idea what Michael was doing behind him, probably glaring.

He wasn’t sure what this all meant, Michael had said nothing after his shared, but then… every picture he shared was of Gavin, and he called it happy. Gavin wasn’t smiling in all the pictures though; did he title it because the pictures made him happy?

Gavin had no idea what was going on, and then the bell was ringing, bringing him out of his thoughts. He was in no rush to pack, everyone else however was, excited that they’d get the next day off for the changing of terms while teachers entered final grades.

When Gavin was done packing and turned around he saw that Michael was nowhere to be found.

~~~

Gavin had been sound asleep that night when he woke up to a tapping on his window. He pried one eye open and blinked the blurriness away, sitting up in bed and running a hand through his hair. He looked at the clock on his nightstand and sighed when he saw it was just past three in the morning. He padded his way over to the window and looked down to find Michael standing, motorcycle parked behind him, red helmet on the ground, black one in his hand. His other arm was held back behind him, ready to launch another pebble.

Gavin held up one finger, signalling for him to wait before grabbing a sweatshirt and running downstairs. He stepped into his shoes, not bothering to tie them and slipped out the door.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed, looking towards his parents bedroom window to make sure they hadn’t woken up.

“Come for a ride with me,” was all the other said, offering a helmet to him with a serious look in his eyes.

It felt like the first time they had hung out all over again, Gavin looking between the motorcycle and Michael multiple times before nodding and taking the helmet from the other, jumping when their fingers brushed. If Michael noticed he didn’t say anything.

Michael nodded towards the road and started rolling the bike away from Gavin’s house so his parents wouldn’t wake up when he started it up.

They walked silently, side by side, Gavin carried both helmets while they moved, letting them swing gently with every step. Michael reached down and grabbed the red one from his hands when they hit the stop sign at the end of the road. He motioned for Gavin to get on and followed after.

Gavin felt weird being on the bike with Michael like this again, holding his waist so tightly. Michael didn’t seem to mind though just speeding off in the direction of the school.

“What are we doing?” he asked when Michael drove around to the back. “We’ll be caught,”

“Gav, I’ve been breaking into the school every Saturday for a couple months now, if I was going to be caught I already would’ve been,”

He had a point, Gavin realized, following closely behind him. They walked to the art wing of the building, when Michael smirked at him and pulled the doors open without a problem.

“What?”

“They never lock this, who’s gonna break into an art section of a high school?” he asked sarcastically. Gavin just rolled his eyes and ducked under his arm into the building.

He started walking down the hall, but when they passed by Mrs. Haus’ room Michael grabbed his arm and tugged him inside.

He pulled him through the room, stopping once they were inside the dark room, lights turned off. Only the light from the football field and the moon allowed them to see.

“Michael,” Gavin sighed finally, stepping away from the redhead. “What are we doing?”

“I wanna talk,”

“What about?”

“Your portfolio,”

Gavin squeezed his eyes shut. “You don’t need to say anything,”

“I think I do,” Michael chuckled moving closer. “I think it was the most amazing thing anyone has ever done,”

Gavin blinked his eyes open, pinching his thigh to see if he was dreaming. When he realized that this was happening he looked into the hazel eyes he had gotten so used to this last term. “Really?”

“Gavin, I- you’re perfect. You said I was, and that’s nice but jesus look at you,”

“I- I just add stress to your life,” he answered, cringing when Michael stepped back, looking like he had been struck.

“I am so sorry I said that, I wasn’t thinking,”

“No, you were right, I had no idea what was going on, it wasn’t fair of me to come in and try controlling you,”

“No, you… you care about me, you were just trying to make sure I was okay. Which, you don’t have to do anymore,”

“And why is that?”

“I called my cousin Alex, I’m gonna go stay with him and his mom across town until school ends,”

“Then what happens?”

“I’ll figure it out when I get there,” he shrugged.

Gavin just nodded at him once, grin splitting across his face. “Can we talk about your portfolio now?”

“Shut up!” Michael cried, but he was laughing. “I didn’t know how else to tell you,”

“Tell me what?”

“That I’m super into you?”

“What about that little blond you were with last week?” Gavin asked innocently. Michael just looked at him with a raised brow.

“You think I can commit to her?”

“That’s reassuring,”

“No no!” Michael said taking one of Gavin’s hands in his own, gripping tight. “I just mean… she’s not you, and you’re the only one I wanna commit to. Does this make any sense?”

“Not really, but I’ll go with it,”

Michael dropped his head, resting the crown of it on Gavin’s chest. “I feel like this was so much harder than it should’ve been,”

“It probably was,”

“Yeah, maybe if you would’ve just let me kiss you like I kept trying to!”

“I didn’t know what you were doing! I thought you weren’t into me,”

“You’re an idiot,”

“So are you!”

“Okay, we’re both dumbasses, let’s forget it and move on to something better?”

“Like what?”

Michael just smirked and wiggled his eyebrows moving closer. Gavin rolled his eyes but followed his lead anyway. When their lips met, finally, Michael hummed against his mouth. Gavin could tell he was smirking.

“Stop that,” he murmured.

“Stop what?” Michael asked, though his tone told Gavin he knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Shut up,” Gavin replied, rolling his eyes behind his lids. Michael did as he was told, kissing Gavin feverishly, hands digging into his hip bones, body holding him against the metal table behind him.

There were folders littering the table, not that Michael cared. His hands left Gavin’s waist for only a few seconds, sweeping the contents off letting them flutter to the floor. His hands were back on Gavin then, lifting him onto the table and stepping between his legs. Gavin dragged his hands away from Michael’s neck and trailed them down his chest, rubbing against his pecs as Michael deepened the kiss.

~~~

“Stop!” Michael yelled finally, slapping the camera from Gavin’s hands.

“Hey! Watch it, I spent good money on this camera,” he hissed checking to see if it was damaged.

“If you had just let me steal it you wouldn’t be upset,”

“I’d be even more upset if you had stolen it,” Gavin rolled his eyes. “Come on, let me take pictures, it’s our graduation day,”

“You’re not taking any pictures of Ray or Geoff, or even you,” he whined.

“Cause you look so handsome in your cap and gown, let me get some memories,”

“Then let someone else take pictures of us together,” Michael said, finding Meg in the crowd of students outside the school. “Can you take our picture?” he asked politely.

“Sure,” she grinned, holding the camera up to her face. “Say cheese!”

“Wait!” Gavin cried reaching up to fix his cap. After five seconds though Michael decided he was taking too long and wrapped both his arms around him pulling him into his chest. He gave out a little squeak and glared up at his boyfriend. His hard look melted though when he saw the way Michael was looking at him, eyes nearly shining. Neither of them noticed the flash.

“That was an awesome picture! You guys are so in love,” she cooed.

“What makes you say that?” Michael asked, head tilted.

“You know what they say, a picture's worth a thousand words,” she grinned.