-Max-

After I got home from school, I went to take a quick shower and changed my clothes before I took my bike and started driving to Sky's. I had promised to spend the rest of the day with him so we could work on our project. We still had a lot to do besides checking up on the owls, but I didn't mind, since I got to spend all that time with my boyfriend.

I smiled when I thought about that word. It really was a nice word. Boyfriend. It sounded natural to me, just like the word 'girlfriend' would have, and it filled me with calmness. I guess, before I met Sky, I hadn't been familiar with myself yet. But when he had walked into my life, I had finally found myself. And that made me really happy.

My smile vanished when I thought about Troy and Luke. I still couldn't believe what Troy had done. It was not like him to do such a thing. He must have understood that he was hurting Luke by not giving him enclosure. How could the guy move on while he was still waiting for Troy's answer? It was painful to think about how patient he had been, only to get rejected four months later. And my God, if Troy didn't reject him properly now... I would strangle him. He was my best friend, but I wouldn't hesitate to kick his ass if he would chicken out once again.

I couldn't understand why he hadn't told him no in the first place. He had never even implied that he might be interested in guys too, so why had he not just said no? Or was he actually interested? But if he was, then why did he leave the guy hanging for so long?

I shook my head in frustration. I was getting a headache. All I could do now was hope that Troy would do the right thing and make a choice.

Soon I saw Sky's home looming up ahead, and my stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies. I forgot about Troy and Luke and everything else when I turned on their driveway and hopped off my bike. I was smiling already, knowing that in just a few short seconds, I would see Sky again.

I left the bike next to the wall before I hurried to press the doorbell. I could hear someone coming to open the door, and I saw Sky's mom smiling at me for a second, until she realized it was me.

"Hey, Mrs. Jenkins," I said as politely as I could.

"What do you want?" she asked and crossed her arms on her chest.

"I... I came to visit Sky, so we can continue... our... project..." I muttered and hated how my voice grew smaller by each word I spoke.

"Who is it?" I could hear Mr. Jenkins' voice. Great, this was going absolutely great. I had no idea why they thought I would hurt their son. "Oh, it's you," Mr. Jenkins frowned when he saw me.

"Can I... May I come in?" I asked carefully, but neither of them stepped aside. They just glared at me.

"Did you bring your report card?" Mrs. Jenkins asked.

Oh my goodness! They were serious about it! I had believed they weren't serious about it. But, since I was serious with Sky, I had taken every single report card with me, just in case they would actually ask for it.

"Yes, ma'am, I have them right here," I said and opened my backpack, pulling out a plastic file where I kept them all. "Here you go," I said with a victorious smile when I gave it to her.

She looked really surprised when she took it and started going through them all.

"So you actually brought them?" Mr. Jenkins asked, and I could tell he was amused and slightly impressed.

"You wanted to see them," I said innocently. "As you can see, I'm a straight-A student."

Mr. Jenkins was clearly trying to hide his smile when his wife gave him a stern look. She was not happy to see my grades.

"So... May I come in? Sky and I have a lot to do with the project, and I would hate to do a sloppy job with it. That is why we wanted to spend the rest of the evening with the assignment," I explained.

Mrs. Jenkins stopped browsing through the papers and gave me a harsh glare.

"Oh come on – let the boy in," Mr. Jenkins told her. "With grades like that he couldn't possibly have any spare time to sleep around."

"Fine," Mrs. Jenkins said shortly and slapped the file shut before handing it to me. "But you're going to do that assignment in the living room."

"Yes, ma'am," I smiled politely, when she finally gave me the way.

"I'll go get Sky," Mr. Jenkins offered and vanished upstairs.

Mrs. Jenkins pointed towards the living room, expecting me to go there to wait for Sky. I obeyed her with a nod and went to sit down on the couch, dropping my bag at my feet. Soon enough I heard Sky's excited voice, and I smiled, feeling the butterflies going nuts in my stomach.

"Max!" I could hear him calling me cheerfully long before he appeared on the stairs, and I got back up on my feet.

"Don't run," I heard Mr. Jenkins warn him, but Sky was already hopping down with one leg, supporting himself on the rails.

I hurried to the bottom to catch him before he could fall down on his face, and he practically flew right into my arms.

"Woah!" I yelped and stepped back to keep my balance while he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"You came!" Sky spoke against my chest.

"Of course," I smiled and patted his back. "I promised, didn't I?"

"You did. I'm just way too excited for my own good right now," he spoke and let out a light giggle. "We can finally start doing the presentation!"

I had completely forgotten that we were supposed to give a presentation to our class in two months. I had never liked giving presentations in front of everyone. It made me feel uncomfortable when so many people were watching me.

"Should we start?" I asked when his mother was giving me the stink eye.

"Yes!" Sky chirped and took my hand. "I have my laptop ready in my room, so we can–"

"I think it's better if you guys stay downstairs," his mom interrupted him.

"Why?" Sky asked in confusion. "It's quieter in my room, so we can focus."

"Focus?" his mom let out a sarcastic laugh. "I know what you two would do up there, and that is out of the question!"

"Mom!" Sky protested, but she wasn't having any of that.

"My house, my rules," she spoke with an end-of-discussion-voice.

Sky took a deep breath and gave up. "Fine. But we really do need to concentrate."

"We'll be quiet," she said.

Sky sighed and turned to look at me. "I'll go get my stuff from my room," he spoke and started climbing back up.

"I'll help you," I hurried to speak when I realized that I would have to stay alone with Mrs. Jenkins if I stayed downstairs.

"If my mom will let you," Sky spoke with a dark voice and turned to glare at her.

"Five minutes," she said sharply and entered their kitchen.

"I'm sorry about her," Sky muttered. "I have no idea why she's like that... I mean, she loved you when you were just my friend!"

"She just wants to protect you," I guessed. "I understand that."

"Maybe, but I'm not a little kid anymore, like she seems to think," Sky muttered while we climbed upstairs. "I can watch out for myself too."

I had to bite my lower lip at that point. He was practically summoning trouble in his direction, but I didn't want to make him feel bad by saying it out loud.

"My mom always says I'm her little baby," I told him. "Sometimes she says that even in front of Troy, who never lets me forget it."

"Well, it could be worse," Sky smirked.

We stepped into his room, and Sky went to collect his stuff, but I had already forgotten I was supposed to help him. Thinking about Troy brought my mood down again.

"What's wrong?" Sky asked when he turned to look at me.

"I need to send a text to Troy..." I muttered.

I wasn't quite sure if Troy wanted Sky to know about what was going on between him and Luke, so I decided to ask him first. I also wanted to know what happened with Luke, so I took my phone out of my pocket and started writing.

"Okay," Sky spoke quietly and took his laptop from the bed. "Did you have a fight again?"

"What?" I asked in confusion and looked at him.

"You have that look on your face every time you two have had a fight," Sky spoke.

"Oh. No, we didn't fight exactly," I told him and looked at my phone. "I'll tell you later, if he lets me. It's quite personal..."

"I get that," he said.

I gave him an appreciating smile while putting my phone away after sending the text to Troy. Then I helped Sky to drag his laptop and books and papers downstairs, where I laid it all on a small table in front of the couch.

"What are these books?" I asked and took one. "About owls," I guessed when I read the title.

"Yes! I had three different ones, so we can make sure that the information is correct, and then use the internet, and–"

"Hey now, slow down," I chuckled. "You sure are thorough."

"This is the best school project I have ever made!" he said excitedly and clapped his hands together. "I want to do a good job with it!"

"Me too," I smiled and put the book away. "So – where do we start?"

Since Sky had already written the essay about the origin of the barn owls – even though I had told him to let me help – he suggested I would read it through, while he was setting up the laptop. I took the essay – which was five pages long – and started reading, but I didn't get too far, when my phone let out a small beep.

I took it and opened the new message I got from Troy, and my stomach twisted angrily.

'We are going on a date next Friday. You can tell Sky.'

"What is it?" Sky asked carefully, when I sighed in frustration and put the phone away.

"Luke is in love with Troy," I muttered.

"What?" Sky asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. And apparently, they have a date on Friday," I continued.

"But that's a good thing, or...?" Sky trailed off.

"Of course it isn't!" I breathed out and started explaining the whole situation to him. When I was done speaking, Sky had a tiny smile on his lips. "It is not a good thing!" I told him.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because Troy isn't serious," I reminded him.

"You can't know that for sure," Sky shrugged. "And Luke is almost an adult, so I think he knows the risks."

"But–"

"Max, don't. You need to let them figure it out on their own," he told me sternly. "You're acting just like my mom."

That was not my intention. I looked down at my feet in shame. "I guess you're right..." I murmured.

"You really are always worried about everyone," Sky said with a smile.

"I just don't want to see my friends getting hurt," I mumbled.

"That is why you are the sweetest guy I know," Sky smiled and kissed my cheek. "Did you hear that, Mom?" he continued with a raised voice.

I turned around and saw her lurking near the entrance of the living room, keeping her eye on us. She squinted her eyes and vanished behind the wall when she noticed us looking at her.

Sky chuckled silently and patted my hand. "We should continue."

"Yeah – sure," I nodded, and grabbed the essay.

We were quiet for a moment, but then Sky broke the silence.

"They will be all right," he said reassuringly.

"I hope you're right," I sighed.