-----

"We need to talk."

Farren's stomach dropped at the words, though he knew they were true.

"I know," he sighed in reply, making himself comfortable as he faced Kaden.

He waited for Kaden to speak. He knew what he wanted the other boy to say, yet knew that his hopes were futile. There was no way Kaden could ever, would ever like him back. But, for a brief while he convinced himself that Kaden did possibly like him back. But that hopeful idea was put to rest as soon as Kaden spoke.

"I was drunk." Said Kaden.

"Me too." Farren replied, feeling his heart sink in disappointment.

"It shouldn't have happened." Stated Kaden.

"Agreed." Farren said, even though he didn't agree. He didn't agree at all.

"I'm not gay." Said Kaden.

"Me neither." Farren replied. Technically, it wasn't a lie.

"I was drunk, pissed off about something else. You were there, I wasn't thinking."

Wow that hurt.

"We can forget about it." Farren said, wanting to do anything but forget about it.

"Let's." Kaden said simply.

"So that's settled then." Farren said, trying to keep the misery out of his tone for the sake of their friendship. He had already almost lost Kaden. He couldn't risk that happening again.

"I guess so."

"Okay." But it was not okay.

"Okay." Kaden replied.

Farren looked around the room, refusing to meet Kaden's gaze. "So what are you watching?" He asked in an attempt to make conversation.

"Forrest Gump." Kaden replied, opening the box of pizza and helping himself to a slice.

"Mind if I join you?" Farren asked uneasily, not wanting to impose.

Kaden just looked at him nonchalantly. "Sure." He shrugged, gesturing to the space next to him where Farren usually slept.

Farren pulled off his shoes and socks before stripping off until his chest was bare. He decided to keep his sweatpants on, as now didn't exactly feel like the right time to be laying next to Kaden in nothing but boxers.

He climbed into the bed, careful to leave room between himself and Kaden. They sat like that for the next two hours, until the movie ended. Side by side under the covers, yet with a wide gap between them.

The pizza box rested atop the covers between their laps.

"Had you seen this before?" Kaden asked, breaking the awkward silence that had descended over them once the end credits had rolled.

"Guess." Farren replied with a laugh.

"Yes?" Asked Kaden, a slight smile​.

"Of course." Farren smiled back.

He was surprised how quickly things were getting back to normal between himself and Kaden.

Thank God for that. The quicker the better, in fact. Because the quicker the awkwardness ceased, the sooner he would be able to pretend none of this ever happened between them. That they had never crossed the line.

He had already almost lost Kaden, that couldn't happen again. He would rather have Kaden as just a friend than not have him at all.

"So predictable Milton." Kaden chuckled with a smirk.

"I like to leave the element of surprise for when it matters." He joked back.

"For example?" Kaden asked, an amused look on his face.

"I still haven't given up on my idea to replace your shampoo with hair removal cream." Farren replied with a smirk, thinking back to their first night sharing a room.

Kaden clearly remembered too as he laughed in reply. "Whatever Milton."

This was turning out to be surprisingly easier than Farren expected. Hey, maybe he would forget all about his little crush sooner than he thought.

"Is this what you always do then? Watch movies I mean. When you can't sleep?" Kaden asked.

Farren didn't even hesitate to answer. "Yeah. All the time." He said with a small grin.

As he answered he couldn't help but notice that even though the movie had ended, Kaden had made no move to move down to his end of the bed. Was he planning on sleeping up at his end of the bed? Surely not. Not that Farren would have particularly minded.

"What's your favourite movie?" Kaden asked curiously.

"I couldn't pick." Farren asked without even bothering to think about it. Of all the movies he had seen, how did Kaden expect him to he able to pick a favourite.

"Everyone has a favourite." Said Kaden exasperatedly.

"Guess I'm not as predictable as you thought." Farren joked in reply with a smirk on his lips.

"Touché."

"What's your favourite then?" He asked Kaden, genuinely curious for the other boy's answer.

But Kaden was too quick to answer. "Don't know." He shrugged.

Liar.

"Kaden it can't be that bad." He said with a small smirk.

Kaden looked embarrassed at having been caught out. "Doesn't matter."

"Tell me."

"You'll laugh."

"I won't."

Kaden looked at him with doubt. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Kaden didn't look like he believed him but answered anyway. "The Notebook." He mumbled so quietly that Farren couldn't understand what he said.

"What?" He asked in confusion , trying to decipher the jumble of words Kaden had let out.

"I said The Notebook." Kaden sighed, finally looking at Farren.

Okay he was not expecting that. Kaden Rivers, tough guy, watching The Notebook?

"The Notebook?" Farren repeated, unable to hold back a laugh this time. "Your favourite movie is The Notebook?"

Kaden huffed grumpily in reply. "Shut up Farren. Your promised you wouldn't laugh."

Farren just continued to laugh harder. "Sorry man but, I just can't help it." He said, wiping away the tears of mirth that were pooling in his eyes.

"Prick." Muttered Kaden with annoyance.

"Softie." Farren said back, managing to regain his composure.

"Shut up."

Make me. That's what he had replied yesterday. Those two words that had sparked a whole pile of feelings inside Farren.

"Great comeback." Farren said, pushing the two words he actually wanted to say out of his mind.

"What time is it anyway?" Kaden asked, choosing to ignore what Farren said.

He checked his phone. "Half one."

"I think I'm gonna hit the hay." Kaden said, suppressing a yawn.

"Okay." Farren shrugged. But Kaden made no move to go down to his own end, and for a minute Farren was hopeful that maybe Kaden would sleep up at his end for the night.

But he had no such look when, a minute later, Kaden pushed himself out of the covers and down to his own end.

"Goodnight Farren."

Farren flicked off the light and put the empty pizza box and coke bottle on the floor.

"Goodnight Kaden."

XXXXX

Kaden stopped back at the park, bent doubled over with his hand rested on his thighs.

It was Sunday afternoon and he had decided to go for a run to clear his head. He had been running for the last hour and had ended his route at the park.

He sat down on the grass, a water bottle in his hands.

He thought back to last night with Farren. He didn't know when he had decided to act as if he regretted the kiss, but maybe it was when he saw Farren's awkward expression as he came into the room.

He had lied his way through the whole conversation, pretending that he was drunk and that he wanted to forget about it. But forgetting about it was the last thing he actually wanted.

There was some small part of him that almost believed that Farren could possibly like him back. But that part of him had been shut down as soon as Farren agreed with his lies.

"Mind if I join you?"

Kaden's head snapped up at the familiar voice that sounded from above him.

"Oh hey Lee." He said, patting the space next to him on the grass.

Much as he wanted to be alone at the moment, Lee's company was hardly going to be a burden.

"Hey." Lee smiled, joining him on the grass. "How are you?"

Kaden glanced over at him before answering. "Not so great," he answered truthfully.

"And why's that?" Lee asked, voice curious.

Kaden looked at him square in the face. "I kissed Farren."

Lee's faced turned shocked. "What?!" He asked incredulously, disbelief written across all his features.

"I kissed him. Farren."

"And?"

"And what?"

"How was it?" Lee asked with excitement.

"Good. Really good." Kaden said, unable to stop the grin that was spreading across his face.

"Then what's the problem?" Lee asked with confusion.

"The next day I pretended I was just drunk and he agreed that it never should have happened." Kaden said, his smile faltering.

"I'm sorry, I still don't see what the problem is," said Lee with confusion.

Kaden looked at him for a moment. Was he being this stupid on purpose. "Did you not hear what I just said?"

Lee nodded. "From what I'm hearing, you told him you regretted the kiss and wished it had never happened and he agreed."

"Exactly," said Kaden. "He agreed." He said exasperatedly.

"Well of course he agreed," snorted Luke. "Even if he did like the kiss, he wasn't going to admit that after you said all that stuff about regretting it."

Kaden thought about it for a moment. Lee did have a good point.

"Look, imagine the roles were reversed," said Lee. "You came home planning to tell him how you feel, only for him to tell you that he was drunk and wished it never happened. Of course you'd agree, to save yourself embarrassment."

"So you think he could like me?" Kaden asked, unable to keep the hopefulness out of his tone.

"I'm saying it's definitely a possibility. He did kiss you back, right?"

"Yeah."

Farren had kissed him back, surely that could mean something.

"Well then I'd say your not as hopeless as you think you are." Lee replied with a smile.

"So what should I do?" Asked Kaden, nibbling at his lip.

"Tell him." Shrugged Lee simply.

"No." Kaden answered quickly. "No. Think of something else, I'm not just going to straight up tell him how I feel."

"Kaden." Lee said, giving him a look.

"Forget about it, not happening." He replied adamantly.

Lee seemed to realise that there was no way he was going to back down. "Fine," he shrugged. "If you're not going to tell him how you feel, then you need to find a way to get him to tell you."

"And how do you propose I do that?" Snorted Kaden, knowing there was no way that this plan was going to work.

"Easy. Try and make him jealous. If it bothers him, then he's into you. And if not, then at least you have closure and can move on." Lee said.

Move on. It sounded so easy when in reality it was borderline impossible.

"How do I make him jealous?" Kaden finally asked, breaking the silence after thinking over what Lee had said.

"Really Kaden? You seem like a smart guy, figure it out," said Lee.

"I can only think of one way." Kaden said.

"That's because there only is one way." Lee said with a nod. "Have him see you getting together with someone else."

Kaden nodded, knowing that this was perhaps the only way he would be able to find out if he had any chance with Farren.

"You're right."

"I know," Lee replied with a small laugh. He checked his watch before speaking again. "I gotta go, family lunch or something," he said as he stood up. "Good luck with Farren," he smiled.

Kaden smiled wearily in return. "Thanks bro, I'll need it."

"You know, if things don't work out with you and Farren, I'm always here." He said with a mischievous smile. "That kiss in the club wasn't too bad." He said with a laugh.

Kaden rolled his eyes in response. "Yeah, good luck with that Lee."

"Only joking," snorted Lee in reply. "I've got myself a new boy." He said with a small smile.

"Who?" Kaden asked curiously, but Lee just tapped the side of his nose in reply.

"That's for me to know and you to not." He said with a chuckle.

"Goodbye Lee," Kaden said with a roll of his eyes and a smile of his own.

"See you around Kaden." Lee replied, jogging off and leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Now, how to make Farren jealous?

XXXXX

Hope you're enjoying!! :D

Qotc; Favourite place to eat out?

Aotc; McDonalds

Love you guys :))
-A