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Riley sat in the Dino Bite cafe. It had been closed since five, but he was there 30 minutes after close. He'd promised Zach that he'd meet him there. He checked his watch restlessly, tapping his foot as he counted the minutes. He sighed heavily and pulled his hair back.
"Calm down Riley," he said to himself nervously. "I've been out with him a few times already, so there're no surprises." Riley had foolishly agreed to another one of Zach's unpredictable dates. One time he had Riley engaged in what he called "an art crawl", the two running from independent gallery to gallery looking at local art. Riley had fun at the art crawl, but he didn't really get to spend much time with Zach. Zach seemed eager to show Riley the world as he saw it.
Riley pulled up some images of walls that Zach had tagged while he was still doing street art. He'd collected them in a folder on an art website. Riley couldn't believe how deftly Zach could draw blown up letters next to meaningful images. Police officers holding balloons instead of guns, a rat counting money- Riley wondered if Zach knew how impressed he was with him.
Zach walked into the diner eliciting a smile from Riley who stood up and put his hands in his back pockets.
"Hey you," Riley said grinning widely.
"Hey yourself, you ready?" Zach walked up and grabbed Riley's hand.
"Sure am, let's go."
***
It had been a long summer at Amber beach, and soon Riley would go back home. He didn't want to think about being back at the barn and away from Amber Beach. He would miss everyone, especially Zach. They walked side-by-side down a broadway in the middle of the fair. Surrounded by vendors and games of chance, Riley didn't think it was the best time to talk to Zach. He'd have to tell him eventually though... at summer's end, he was headed back to the farm.
"Check this out," Zach grabbed a ball and threw it at a stack of bottles, but they didn't even shake as he missed and hit the wall behind them. He looked back at Riley and gave him a nervous grin. Zach loved proving himself to people, but he always did it on his own terms. He tried to topple the ziggurat of cups two more times before becoming flustered.
"Let me try," Riley asked nonchalantly. He walked up beside Zach and held out his hand for the ball. Zach gave him the ball and stepped back. Riley threw with all his force. Riley had the skills of a fighter, something he'd cultivated while he was with the rangers. At one time he might've used his energem for an edge, but he didn't need to anymore. He knocked the tower down, then turned and gave Zach a cocky smile. Zach gave Riley a slight grin before Riley handed him a large stuffed animal.
"Well, well well." Zach sounded impressed.
"What?"
"That was just... impressive."
"I'm pretty impressive," Riley declared with a laugh. Zach laughed along with him.
"I know you are," Zach gave Riley an earnest look. Riley's face softened, lights from the fair glimmering in his eyes, and smiled even wider.
Riley noticed the Ferris wheel as they walked through the park and tugged Zach's shirt. "You want to," Riley nodded toward the Ferris wheel.
"Uh, of course!"
Once on the Ferris wheel, Zach tried to comfortably situate the gigantic stuffed caterpillar Riley had won; however, this squished him and Riley together (not that he minded). He smoothly slid his arm behind Riley as the Ferris wheel started escalating.
"Herbert takes up tons of room you know," Zach looked over and smiled at Riley.
"Are we calling him Herbert?" Riley looked over at the stuffed animal, and back at Zach.
"I don't know about 'we' but I'm certainly calling him Herbert."
"Hey Zach," Riley looked down at his hands as he twiddled his fingers. "Can we talk about something?"
"Depends. Why so serious?"
"It's just," Riley had a hard time with the words. Zach was his first boyfriend. He wanted to see what would happen if he could stay in Amber Beach, but he knew his mother needed help at the farm. "At the end of the summer, I'm leaving Amber Beach..."
"To?"
" 'To'?" Riley repeated confused.
"To where? Where're you goin'?"
"The farm. Back to my parent's farm, to help my mom and brother."
"Okay?" Zach gave Riley a curious look.
"It's just," Riley's cheeks grew red, "I really like you, and wondered what that meant for us?"
Zach squeezed Riley tightly and hugged him. Riley rested his face on Zach's shoulder. "You think that's going to change things?"
"I'm scared it might." Riley looked up at Zach.
"So why're you wasting time with me being scared?" Zach gave Riley a cocky smile and nuzzled him. "When you should be sitting here... kissing me..."
Zach didn't have to nuzzle Riley long. As soon as his lips came near RIley's, Riley started kissing him. When Riley pulled away Zach started nuzzling his neck, tickling him, and making him laugh. He lifted a hand to Zach's face and gently rubbed it, but looked back down when his melancholy returned. A tear rolled down Riley's face, but Zach wiped it away with his hand. "Hey Ri, it's okay. We'll see each other again."
The Ferris wheel stopped at the apex. Fireworks bloomed like flowers of blue, purple, and pink behind them. "No, we won't," Riley looked away from Zach cynically.
"Hey!" Zach grabbed Riley's chin, gently moving Riley's focus back to him. "I promise you, okay? And I'm really good at keeping a promise."
Colorful explosions blossomed all around them, but they couldn't hear any of it. Everything was so still, so quiet. It was just Riley and Zach. Nothing else existed. Riley grabbed Zach's face and looked into his eyes. He never wanted this to end. This meant everything to him. He pressed his lips against Zach's. Zach threw his arms around Riley and squeezed him tightly as they kissed. When Riley pulled away, he never drew his eyes off Zach. The wheel stirred, and then started moving again.
***
The last few months at the farm had been difficult for Riley. His mother decided to put the farm up for sale, and use the money to pay for Riley and Matt's college. Matt decided to attend a local technical college, so he could stay close to their mother. Riley felt like his world wouldn't stop changing. Matt and his mom both noticed how different he was since coming back from Amber Beach. Riley, who was always a little quiet, had grown even more introspective.
He lifted a bale of hay onto the back of a wagon. Then wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm as he caught his breath. With Zach at school during the daytime, the farm work was harder than usual, but Riley treasured it. He'd grown up on that farm. Saying goodbye to it would be difficult.
"Riley!" His mother called from the farmhouse. "You have company!"
Riley went inside the house, grabbing a glass of lemonade off the table as he came in, but he dropped the glass spilling lemonade everywhere when he saw his company. Shelby stood near the door, smiling at him, and in front of her was Zach. They'd come to give him a ride back to Amber Beach where he'd decided to attend college.
"Ah man," Riley said awkwardly, grabbing a towel and dropping to the floor to clean the mess. Zach knelt down to help him, but they both bumped their heads together. Riley and Zach stood up laughing. They had been talking online since Riley left Amber Beach, but this was completely unexpected.
"We thought we'd give you a ride to Amber Beach," Shelby announced.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to pick me up?" Riley kept smiling at Zach.
Zach put his hands in his back pockets and grinned at Riley, "cuz I wanted to surprise you."
"Consider me surprised," Riley chuckled, pushing Zach's shoulder playfully.
"I couldn't wait to see you anymore."
Riley looked into Zach's eyes. Zach placed a hand on Riley's left arm, gave it a reassuring squeeze, and pulled Riley toward him. They smiled at each other, and then kissed.
The End