Arcadia's laughter echoed down the streets as the two girls sprinted down the empty road, one afraid for her life and the other enjoying the thrill. After Arcadia had punched Matt, the girl had had the audacity to laugh. When she realized Matt wanted her dead even more than before, she had dragged Bonnie down the roads to escape while the boys gave chase.

Bonnie's heart was racing, partially out of fear and partially from running. She couldn't understand how Arcadia could possibly be enjoying this... Maybe the girl was just crazy. That would explain everything from the fighting to her twisted sense of humor. For a minute, Bonnie was weirded out by how... Different... Arcadia was.

Bonnie had had the idea that girls should be polite and passive bolted into her mind at a young age. Her grandmother had been sure to raise Bonnie to he nothing short of proper, even when Bonnie's mother didn't care much for it. Bonnie spent a lot of time with her grandmother growing up. She was taught to be quiet and respectful. To never speak out of turn, to remain modest and kind, and to always keep up appearances.

Arcadia went against all of those things... Bonnie was told to avoid conflict. Arcadia dove into it headfirst. Bonnie was told to never slouch and to always maintain perfection. Arcadia had the worst posture and had no problem with failure. Bonnie was told to be passive and polite. To never talk out of turn and to remain respectful. Arcadia didn't have a filter and said the first thing that came to mind, regardless of how others felt.

Bonnie didn't realize just how much she loved those differences until she was yanked into an alleyway behind a dumpster. Luckily, their lead combined with what little light the moon provided meant that they had lost Matt and his friends. And after a few minutes of silence, Arcadia broke out laughing.

"Oh my god. Did you see his face after I hit him? I thought he was going to start crying like a little bitch for a minute" Arcadia laughed. Bonnie stared at her in disbelief for a few moments before a smile slipped and she joined in on the laughter.

"You have nice aim" Bonnie admitted without much thought. She was relaxed for the first time in a long time. Not stressed over what anyone would think... It was just Arcadia, and she didn't feel the need to uphold her perfect image for a few moments.

"I know" Arcadia smirked. Bonnie leaned back against the brick wall, smiling down at Arcadia, allowing herself to enjoy the moment for once. "Thanks for coming to my rescue by the way"

"I think it was more you doing the rescuing" Bonnie admitted with a small laugh. Arcadia bit down on their bottom lip, struggling to hide her smile. She glanced around before going to her toes and catching Bonnie's lips in a quick kiss. Bonnie froze, for a moment unable to comprehend what had happened. Her heart was racing and she desperately wanted to kiss her back... It was just one kiss. She could handle one kiss... So she kissed her back. Only for a few seconds before Arcadia pulled away, leaving Bonnie still paralyzed in shock. 

"Yeah, well what can I say? I'm just that amazing" Arcadia hummed with a small and teasing smile. Bonnie swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to suppress her nerves. She tried to suppress her shock and anxiety that was building up as well... And then she just said fuck it and pulled Arcadia in for another kiss.

_________________________________________

Arran's dad had left town again. There were always mixed feelings when he did that. Part of him was just glad to be able to come home, even if it was a dump. To be allowed to be himself and to not worry about his dad. The other part hated when he left. He wanted more time to prove he was worthy of his dad's approval. He wanted more time to talk about cars with him or to yell at a hockey game with Winston and Christian. He just wanted to have a dad.

Although Winston had left again, Arran still wasn't going into the house. Why? Because Christian and his girlfriend(?) Nola were inside and he tried to avoid that train wreck at all costs. Nola was great. She was the perfect balance of nice and crazy. She would give Arran and Emrys cigarettes from the gas station she worked at, she was fun to play games with and was persistent in trying to get Christian to go to college and put his 4.2 GPA to use. She was also the type of girl to threaten to cut Christian's dick off when he was being an asshole... Arran and Christian still weren't sure if she was serious or not.

Although Arran wasn't out to anyone outside his family and Emrys, he always had a suspicion Nola knew. He vividly remembered watching football with Nola and Christian. Christian had left the room for a minute and Arran had subtly been checking out Brady Quinn. Nola had only smiled and made a comment about how he was cute. Arran had only shrugged and Nola had teasingly nudged him with a bright smile telling him to relax... It was weirdly comforting and terrifying at the same time.

Arran ran his hand along his forehead, wiping off sweat from the summer heat and being under a car. Arran and Christian had been doing more than enough of Winston's work for years now. All Winston ever did was drink, eat, yell, and watch tv. He'd do the repairs he was hired to do, but when Winston wanted to buy a car and renovate it so they could resell it for more than they paid he never actually did the repairs. He just let them sit and rot in his yard, wasting thousands of dollars a year. That was why Christian and Arran often tried to fix what they could and if they were lucky, they could get Winston to sell it.

Something lightly nudges his foot and a muffled voice that was swallowed out by Arran's earbuds and music came from outside the car. Arran let out a long sigh and climbed back out from under it, black oil, grime, and rust clinging to his hands and parts of his arms and face. He expected to see Christian there ready to scold him, but instead, he was met with someone he didn't expect to see. And frankly, he didn't want to see him either.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Arran deadpanned as he yanked his earbuds out and climbed up off of the floor. Emrys bit down on his bottom lip, rocking back onto his feet as he struggled for an explanation.

"Just... Came to talk" Emrys shrugged. "Um, the car is looking nice" Arran glanced over at the old Corvette that he was struggling to fix up. A Corvette was his dream car and he had practically danced with excitement when his dad towed it up. The only problem that the only intact part of it was the shell and Arran had been scavaging up the money to pay for parts for about a month now.

"Yeah, I guess" There was a long silence between the two of them as they both struggled for words. Arran was still angry... He wasn't sure why he was angry, but he was. At first, he thought he was angry at himself for not being more careful. Then he thought he was jealous of Bay being in Emrys' room. Eventually, he thought that he was angry at Emrys for shutting him out... But that just didn't feel right either. None of them did.

"How long until it's fixed?" Emrys carefully asked only to receive a long and hard glare from the green-eyed blonde in front of him.

"Cut the crap, Em. What do you want?" Arran demanded.

"I wanted to tell you that I love you too" Emrys carefully admitted. Arran wasn't sure how to react. A small part of him wanted to just pull Emrys in for a long hug and kiss. Another part of him wanted to yell at Emrys. But the biggest part was stunned and confusing... The biggest part wanted to pretend that the last four years never happened. That he never kissed Emrys, that he never ruined his relationship with his dad and that he never confessed to Emrys in the first place.

"I never said I loved you" Arran deadpanned.

"You don't have to... It's been pretty obvious" Emrys gave a small laugh in an attempt to brighten the situation. That was something Emrys had always done and Arran always hated it. Emrys didn't get upset or angry. He shoved those emotions down until he broke. He always gave Arran small laughs and smiles to avoid conflict with him, even when the conflict was well deserved. He never told Arran when something was bothering him or when he was hurting. Arran found it to be incredibly annoying.

"Okay," Arran shrugged and moved over to pull up the hood of the car. He needed to focus on something besides Emrys. That way he wouldn't break down or yell... That way he could remain level-headed snd unbothered like he was supposed to be. Like Christian was.

"Okay? That's all you have to say?" Emrys demanded after a long silence.

"Yes," Arran muttered through gritted teeth.

"I've been wanting to tell you this for four god damn years, Arran. I've been patient and put up with your homophobic ass for years in hopes that one day you'd finally look at me the way I look at you" Emrys blurted out. "Then I find out you feel the same way and all I can get is an okay?"

"What do you want from me?" Arran demanded. That small part of him was screaming at him. Begging him to just apologize and to tell Emrys what he needed to hear, the truth. But maybe Christian was right... Maybe Emrys was the stem of all of his problems. Before Emrys, his dad would look at him. Before Emrys, he wasn't confused. Before Emrys, he wasn't afraid of himself or of the people around him. Everything had gone wrong after he kissed Emrys so maybe just getting rid of him would fix things... He knew he couldn't if he wanted to though. Because he loved him... He loved him so fucking much it hurt.

"I don't know... A fucking explanation for starters" Emrys snapped.

"Fuck off, Em" Arran deadpanned. He risked a glance up from the car at the angry and broken boy standing only a couple of feet away from him knowing that this could break him. Maybe it was the best because the quicker Emrys broke the quicker he could move on and begin repairing himself. Or so Arran hoped...

"You're the one that's always telling me to stand up for myself for a change and now I am" Emrys shouted. "You've been a complete asshole to me for years and I've done nothing but support you and take it because I thought you would get better. I thought you actually cared. I deserve an explanation at this point for everything" Arran swallowed the lump forming in his throat and made it a point to get into Emrys' face hoping he'd back off.

"I said fuck off, Emrys" Arran shouted back. His heart broke as he watched Emrys' expression morph from one of confusion to one of heartbreak and finally one of anger. Emrys roughly shoved him away from him and out of his face. Arran and Emrys both greatly underestimated Emrys's strength and Arran was shoved to the ground. There was a sharp and digging pain in his leg as one of his tools cut through his jeans and dug into his skin, tearing into him. "Fucking hell" Arran hissed.

He risked a glance down at the cut, his stomach turning slightly as he realized he'd definitely be giving himself stitches. Because there was no way in hell he was going into a hospital and Christian was too squeamish around this sort of thing to help. Pain tore through his leg and blood instantly began to soak his jeans.

"Arran, I'm sorry" Emrys quickly blurted out.

"Just leave" Arran snapped.

"Arran-"

"Leave or I'll kick your ass" Arran lied. He knew he couldn't even bring himself to lay a hand on Emrys. Not even when Emrys had bought boxing gloves and told Arran to fight him... He wasn't even sure he could get drunk or angry enough to bring himself to hurt Emrys like that. But for now, he'd lie to spare Emrys any further pain. He'd lie to get him to leave because Arran wasn't going to let himself hurt Emrys anymore.

"I'm sorry" Emrys whispered one last time before rushing off per Arran's request. Arran couldn't bring himself to watch Emrys disappear into the woods that led to the main road. He sat there in silence for a few moments before forcing himself to stand up and stumble into the house.

"Fucking hell, gross" Arran blurted out as soon as he spotted his brother and Nola, both topless and making out on the couch. He had seen Nola naked more times than he cared to admit. At this point, there was little to no embarrassment on either end.

"I told you to stay outside you bastard- What the fuck happened?" Christian demanded. Nola pulled on a shirt while Arran collapsed onto one of the chairs and hissed as he rolled up his pant leg to get a better view of the wound.

"I fell" Arran lied. "Just go get me a thing of vodka and my first aid kit" For once in his life, Christian listened and rushed into Arran's bedroom while Nola disappeared into the kitchen. Arran let out a long sigh the moment he was alone, resisting the urge to cry. He hated this. He hated hurting Emrys, he hated when he made Emrys upset or when Emrys cried. He couldn't get Emrys' watering eyes and hurt expression out of his mind... He hated that he broke Emrys' heart.

"Here you go, Babes" Nola hummed as she handed Arran a bottle of vodka. She sat on the armrest of the chair, her black hair thrown in a messy bun and her bangs falling down to her eyebrows. She wore one of Christian's shirts and black underwear underneath. It wasn't uncommon to find Nola wandering the house dressed like that and frankly, Arran didn't mind as long as she wasn't naked.

Christian came back a moment later and handed Arran a small plastic box. Arran wasted no time taking a long drink from the bottle, the alcohol burning his throat and hopefully numbing his mind soon. He then brought it down to his leg and hissed as the liquid stung and burned the newly formed cut. Christian hissed and winced as he watched making Arran snort.

"The great Christian Harley, afraid of a little blood" Arran mocked before digging out the needle and thread from the first-aid kit.

"I'm not afraid it's just gross" Christian scoffed.

"You're afraid of blood?" Nola bit back a laugh from beside Arran. Arran gritted his teeth as he pressed the needle into his skin. He had done this about a million times and it never hurt any less. He had taught himself how to do stitches at a young age because he was terrified of hospitals and he had a father like Winston and a brother like Christian. Emrys had given him stitches once... His dad had thrown a bottle at him and it had cut his arm. He wasn't able to see what he was doing when he had tried to do it himself and Christian had thrown up when he tried to help.

So he went to Emrys... Emrys who had a weird fascination with doctor shows like Grey's Anatomy. Emrys had been nervous and uncertain at first, but Arran had walked him through everything. He had laughed when Emrys apologized each time he'd push the needle into Arran's skin before hissing in pain again. The memory was so far away yet it felt like yesterday... Even though it was a hard day for Arran, he remembered taking a shower shortly after Emrys finished the stitches. Emrys had sat outside the shower, completely forgetting privacy existed like he usually did, and talked Arran's ear off about a new show he was watching... Arran had pretended to be annoyed at first but he had smiled the entire time and kissed Emrys the moment he got out of the shower. What he wouldn't give to go back to that.

_________________________________________

"How could you do this to me?" Scooter's heart fell as they stared up at Andy.

"You don't actually believe him, right?" Scooter carefully asked.

"Why would he lie?"

"Why would I cheat?" Scooter shot back. "I didn't cheat on you. I wouldn't do that... Okay?" Scooter begged.

"You were kissing him" Andy threw his hands in his hair, tears threatening his gaze as he glared down at the frantic redhead. "You were kissing my fucking brother, Scooter"

"He kissed me!" Scooter shouted back. Everything was going wrong... Andy's twin brother had just gotten back from juvie. Andy had been thrilled and talking about it for months and Scooter had been nothing short of excited and supportive. They had been thrilled to meet Landon but the moment they met they had felt uncomfortable in his presence. There was something off about Landon that made Scooter's stomach twist and turn...

"He's straight. He wouldn't do that" Andy scoffed. "You're just digging yourself a deeper grave by lying"

"I'm not!" Scooter protested. "Andy, I love you. I wouldn't do that... You should know that" Scooter didn't want to blame Andy... They really didn't... Andy and Landon were twins, they had a stronger bond than most siblings and Andy loved Landon more than most things. But it still hurt to know that Andy didn't believe them. It still hurt that Andy didn't trust them.

"I seriously do not have the patience for you right now" Andy decided before heading off toward Scooter's bedroom.

"Where are you going?"

"Packing my shit" Andy shouted. Scooter's heart was racing, their cheeks were covered in tears and their hands were shaking. Andy wouldn't leave... They had to believe Andy wouldn't leave... But then Andy was heading toward the door.

"Andy" Scooter shouted. Andy didn't give them a second glance as they headed out the door. "Andrew!" Scooter shouted again just before the door slammed shut and they fell to the floor in tears.

Scooter sat in their bed, tears in their eyes as they scrolled through all of their photos with Andy. They had thought that they could fix it... That they could talk everything through with Andy and make him believe them. But they were wrong. Because when they had gone to Andy to talk things out, Landon was there and talking Andy's ear off about how Scooter had come on to him. Landon didn't even give Scooter the chance to talk and had made sure Andy didn't believe them... So things ended.

Then Scooter went to school... They had thought everything would go back to how things were before Andy. They'd hang out at their friend Violet's job at the bowling alley, order too much pizza and talk to anyone who would listen to them's ear off. But things didn't go like that... Andy ran with a tough crowd. A crowd that made Scooter's life hell at school and drove Scooter crazy.

"Scooter! Your friends here!" Scooter's eyebrows creased together in confusion and they quickly wiped off their tears before rushing downstairs. "He'll - they'll be right down" they smiled slightly at their aunt's voice. Sometimes it got annoying that she hadn't caught on yet... But she tried and that was more than Scooter could say for a lot of people.

"Hey auntie" Scooter forced a small smile before their eyes landed on Bay and their heart fell. What was he doing here? Scooter wanted to scream at that moment due to how anxious they felt. Why couldn't Bay have come over when they looked put together instead of when they were in an old hoodie and shorts? Better yet, why couldn't have Bay just approached them earlier today when they were feeling pretty?

"Hey..." Bay gave Scooter a polite smile.

"Hey... What are you doing here?" Scooter carefully asked. Both teens gave Scooter's aunt an awkward glance which she replied to with a huff.

"Very well, I can see when I'm not wanted" their aunt scoffed. She pressed a quick kiss to the side of Scooter's head before heading to the kitchen.

"Right... So I had a lot of fun at the mansion" Bay hummed. "I was wondering if you'd like to do that again sometime... Like as a date?" Bay offered.

Scooter's face lit up at that despite it being covered in tears just moments before. Part of them was a little afraid... Bay apparently had a reputation for not taking relationships seriously and Scooter was an all or nothing type of person. But maybe, just maybe things would be different. Scooter just had to remain optimistic... Because the worst that could happen already happened. If Scooter could handle what happened with Andy, they had to believe they could handle anything.

"I'd love to"

Question of the chapter: What was your first kiss like? And if you haven't had yours yet, what do you hope it's like?