-Max-

I was so grateful to Troy for asking Sky to come play games with us. I never would've had the guts to do so myself. Having Sky over at my house was a massive icebreaker, and to make things even better, he seemed to enjoy hanging out with us. And he got so excited about the movie night in my treehouse I wanted to die because of how cute he was.

This was going so great. I knew I was most likely only going to hurt myself, but I really enjoyed having Sky close, even if nothing would ever happen between us. He really seemed like the friend everyone should have. Hanging out and playing games with him was fun and different and new, and I was more than happy to settle with that.

"Quickly! What do?!" Sky spoke hastily as the timer in the game started running.

"First!" Troy replied at the same time as I said, "Second!"

We all laughed, and Sky chose the third option by mistake.

I'd found the game boring when I played it alone, but now I stood corrected. It was a fun game, no matter how slow paced it was. I guess I never really had the time to focus on it. No, that was a lie. It had been a while since the last time I allowed myself to sit back, relax, and enjoy a game without feeling like I was wasting precious time I should've used on studying.

"Is something bad going to happen to him now?" Sky muttered in worry.

"Well, let's hope we still have a chance to fix that," Troy spoke.

"He already got killed once," Sky said, focusing on the TV.

And I focused on him. I completely forgot to take part in the conversation as I watched him, his cute, delicate features, his silky hair, the corner of his lips. And his hands. He had a gentle hold on the controller, and I wished it was my hand he was holding instead. The moment at the barn returned to my mind. He'd taken my hand in his with such ease... I wished I had the guts to do so.

Again, I wished either I or he were a girl. This would be so much easier. What were the chances that he liked boys too? Zero? A little more? Not enough, that was for sure...

And it was cruel. I mean, I had never met anyone I had actually been interested in. There had been maybe a few occasions when I turned to take another look at someone, but that was about it. But Sky... I'd been attracted to his looks from the very beginning, and after spending only a few hours with him, I had fallen for him. For him, a guy. Of course the first person to make me feel like this had to be someone I could never have.

I suffocated a groan and forced myself to focus on the game. I was more than happy to be his friend. I was. I truly was.

My gaze slowly made its way back to Sky.

...I was.

"Okay, now someone else takes the controller," Sky suddenly said, standing up.

"I've played this through already – it's Max's turn," Troy said, and they both turned to look at me.

"Fine," I chuckled, taking the controller and switching seats with him.

As I sat down on the beanbag, Sky sat behind me on the couch. I was bummed since now I couldn't stare at him, but maybe it was for the best. Focusing on the game was a bit of an issue, though, since all my other senses were still on him.

"I heard you moved here from the other side of the country?" Troy asked Sky.

"Yeah – Dad got a nice job offer, so we had to move here," he said, sounding a little sad. "But I do like it here. I just miss my friends..."

"I'd probably get all depressed if I had to go through that," Troy said. "So far I've been lucky enough to be able to live here, but..."

"What do you mean?"

"Dad's a big shot in this pharmaceutical company – one of the founders – and he travels a lot. He talked about moving last year, though now he has his new fiancee to keep him busy," Troy spoke.

I was surprised to hear him talk about it. He didn't really like talking about his family. To be honest, his father wasn't something to be proud of, and his mom... rest her soul.

I glanced at him over my shoulder, and even though he was acting all casual, I'd learned to see the little changes in his behavior a long time ago. There was a certain amount of coldness in his eyes now. It was always a bad sign.

"I'd be bummed if you moved – I don't have that many friends here," Sky spoke quietly, almost shyly. "Well, at all..."

Troy flashed a grin at him – much more characteristic of him – and leaned closer. "Don't worry, I'm not moving, even if it means I'll be homeless. I've got my entire life here. And Max," he said, nudging me on my shoulder.

"Thanks, you made me sound like an afterthought," I chuckled, happy to see him back to normal.

"You're the best bro a bro could have," he chuckled at me, and then turned his attention back to Sky. "Anyway – you're cool, so we're now your friends."

"I'm far from cool," Sky said, but looked happy and excited. "I'm just a lame nature geek."

"Did you not just see me geeking out over video games?" Troy asked and giggled. "And you don't even know the true meaning of the word unless you've asked Max to tell you about Taj Mahal."

"Should I...?" Sky trailed off jokingly.

"Weren't we supposed to play this game?" I asked, but secretly readying my info pack about Taj Mahal.

"Yeah, yeah," Troy snickered. "But Sky, if you ever run out of things to talk about, just ask him about his favorite building and he'll talk for hours."

"Just like you and your favorite game developer," I retorted.

"See? We're both geeks. You'll fit right in!"

"But you guys are on the football team. That makes you automatically cool," Sky said.

"We joined the team just to cover up our true identities," Troy said, making him laugh.

"I would too, but I'd be a disaster. If I see a squirrel behind the field, I'd just wander off in the middle of the game," Sky joked. "And probably get squashed in ten seconds."

"You are quite small," I noted – leaving out the fact that I found his tiny frame cute and adorable.

"I don't mind since I'm small enough to crawl into small spaces – like animal dens and little caves," Sky said, seemingly proud of it.

"Of course, you're the type of guy who would follow a badger into its den," I chuckled.

"You don't want to follow a badger," Sky said.

We heard a lot about badgers in the next fifteen minutes while I continued playing the game.

"I kind of thought you'd only talk about football," Sky said after he was done word-vomiting.

"Yeah, I don't know..." I sighed. "I love the game but like..."

"Enough is enough," Troy chuckled. "Whenever we hang out with our teammates, it's always only about football."

"I'd really rather talk about badgers outside the football field," I added.

"Oh my god yes," Troy groaned. "If it's not about our games, it's about our rivals or the current games on TV or the past Super Bowls or about famous players and their personal lives and just..." he groaned again in frustration. "Yes, it's fun, but please can we switch the channel every once in a while?"

"I can imagine it gets frustrating," Sky said sympathetically.

"It does, so please, tell us more about badgers," Troy smirked.

"Help me decide what to do next first," I said, nodding my head towards the TV.

We focused on the game for a good while. It really was more interesting now since I wasn't playing it alone. And it was pretty. And Sky was having fun, so I was having fun.

How hard could a person fall for someone?

Later, we decided to take a break and eat something. We ordered Chinese and after that just talked for a moment about the game – the video game, not football, thank god.

But then a silent meow made us completely lose Sky, who turned around.

"Did I hear a cat?" he asked, searching for the damn bastard who soon appeared at the entrance of the living room.

"That's the rotten bastard I told you about, Guillermo," I said, giving the chubby orange nightmare a glare. "He'll bite if you go too close."

"Hey Mr. Kitty, sir Guillermo," Sky was already cooing, kneeling down on the floor and reaching his hand towards the cat.

Guillermo looked at us all in suspicion before sauntering over, stopping to take a sniff at Sky's hand. I held my breath, and then... The bastard pushed the hand, letting out a quiet purr.

I rolled my eyes. Of course he liked Sky.

"Who's a good kitty?" Sky asked with a wide smile, petting him for a moment.

Since it seemed like Guillermo was on a mission – to ruin my life, no doubt - he continued walking shortly after, looking like he owned the world. As he passed me by, he glanced at me like I was his least-favorite subordinate – which, in his mind, I was – and made his way to the stairs.

"Such a gorgeous cat," Sky said when he got up from the floor.

"And he likes you," I said with suspicion. "He doesn't like anyone except Mom."

Sky chuckled in awkwardness, shrugging a little. "I guess I seemed okay."

"You're more than okay," I said, looking at the stairs, but then realized what I had just blurted out. "I-I mean he probably could see you like animals," I stammered, hoping he hadn't found my words weird or even worse, realized I liked him in that way.

Troy sighed lightly, shaking his head at me behind Sky's back in a disappointed manner.

"I guess," Sky just said cheerily.

His smile was contagious, and I secretly sighed in relief since it looked like he hadn't noticed what I really meant with my words. He really was more than okay.

The food arrived half an hour later, and as we sat down at the table, Sky grinned and did the thing he was advised not to do: he asked about Taj Mahal.

Troy laughed and shook his head, grabbing the nearest box for himself, while I did the thing Sky asked me to do.

"It's a mausoleum that was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. Shah Jahan is also there, resting next to her."

Since no one was stopping me, I kept going on and on about the beautiful complex. It was one of my absolute favorites, after all, and I had information about it for days. And Sky seemed impressed by how much I knew about it, and he at least acted like he was interested in even the tiniest details.

"...and the calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." It was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq."

"Wow, you really know a lot about it," Sky said in a whispered voice, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Thanks," I said, blushing lightly. "I'm just a really big fan..."

"I think it's cool," he said with a smile.

"You'd be amazed of all the things he can just pull out of that head of his. And it's not just buildings – he's super smart. He's passing high school with flying colors," Troy said, making me feel a bit embarrassed by the praise. And a little bit good just because Sky was listening.

We continued playing, and this time it was Troy who handled the controller. Since he was the gamer nerd he was, he often forgot to let us help him choose what the character should do next, but I didn't really mind. I was more into chatting with Sky, after all. We mostly talked about animals and buildings and even games when Troy used the opportunity to bring up how amazingly some of the things in the game had been made.

It was fun. It was really fun.

But sadly, it had to come to an end a few hours later, when Sky's father came to pick him up.

"This was awesome – thanks for inviting me," Sky smiled at me when Troy and I walked him to the front door.

"Let's have another gaming night soon so we can finish the game," Troy suggested, and both Sky and I immediately agreed.

"And we have that movie night sleepover," I said tentatively, and Sky's expression skyrocketed right away.

"Yes, please! That sounds so cool!" he said with a wide grin.

"Great," I managed to say – his sweet enthusiasm had melted my brain, and I wasn't able to form better replies.

"Okay, so, see you tomorrow at school?" Sky asked, a bit timidly.

"Of course – we'll reserve you a seat in the bus," Troy promised.

"Cool," he said, just when we heard a car stopping in front of the house. "That's my cue – see you tomorrow," he said, and slowly stepped out of the door, waving us goodbye.

When the door closed after him, I let my posture drop, and sighed. It was like the world had lost all lights... I was being a sappy idiot – I was aware of that – but... I already missed his cheerfulness.

"Bro," Troy chuckled, and I turned to look at him. "I'm still here, no need to look so bummed."

"But he's so... so..."

"Great?" he guessed.

"Yeah," I muttered, making my way back to the living room.

Troy followed me and stopped in the middle of the room to take a good look at me when I sat down.

"I've never seen you fall head over heels for anyone. Hell, I don't think you've ever even had a crush on someone," he spoke, sitting down at the other end of the couch.

"I know... He's just so... cute," I said carefully, looking at him for a moment before I continued, "You... really don't mind that I'm...?"

"Gay? Nah – I can't even say I'm surprised," he said.

"Well, I don't think I'm gay gay, just... I don't even know. I have found girls attractive too," I explained, hating myself for still being cautious talking about this with him even though he'd been nothing but supportive.

"Bisexual maybe? Or what was the one... Pansexual?"

I shrugged, then realized something. "Wait, what do you mean you're not surprised?"

It was his turn to shrug. "I'm just... not surprised, you know? You've never really talked about girls or dating or whatever, and you've been more like... reserved? When everyone else talked about dating, you never really took part in those talks."

"Oh... I never even noticed," I muttered.

"I didn't either, not until now, and I'm not saying it was a sign or anything, but maybe it was," he said. "All I can say is that I'm not surprised."

"I wonder if the others have noticed that too..." I muttered, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. "Do you think they'll hate me if they ever found out?"

"Sad to say that some will, definitely, but you're also not the only gay in the village," he said. "There has to be a ton of people hiding in closets."

I nodded. "Makes sense," I said, then sighed, leaning back on the couch. "I don't know what to do. I like him, but... I can't just blurt stuff like that out. There's no way he's not straight. Even if he wasn't a homophobe, I'd make things awkward right here in the beginning, and I like being his friend too, so... I don't know what to do? Try to get over him? But how? He's so... so..."

Troy was laughing by the time I managed to snap my mouth shut.

"Bro, give it some time. That's the best advice I can give. Maybe he is gay too?"

"What are the odds for that?"

"Who knows? Even the amazing Maximus Peterson likes boys, so there is a chance."

"A very small one..." I muttered.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this down either," he chuckled. "Come on. Look at the bright side. At least he likes to hang out with us, or he wouldn't have gotten so excited about the movie night in the treehouse. He loved the idea."

I smiled when I thought about Sky's excitement. "Yeah. At least I can have that."

"And I'll be rooting for more," Troy said with a wink.