-Luke-

I let out a deep sigh as I was watching out of the window.

"Luke?" Mom spoke my name quietly.

I just shook my head. She took my hand and squeezed it lightly, but she didn't ask what was bothering me. There was no need for her to ask to know what was going on in my head.

Of course, my life had felt too good to be true. Troy had finally gone out with me on a date, and the next day we had ended up making out on his couch, and I had felt happier than ever, but after that, things had gone downhill really fast.

I heard another sigh coming from next to Mom.

"Honey?" Mom whispered and took Gwen's hand in hers.

I saw Gwen shrugging her shoulders, looking weird without her long hair or makeup. I knew she hated looking like a man, but she had felt like it was necessary to pretend to be a man this time.

I turned to look out of the window again. I missed Troy. I wondered if he missed me. Probably not. We never had the time to talk about where we were standing, if we were a couple now, or just occasionally seeing each other. Well, since I hadn't seen Troy in three weeks, we weren't even dating.

The day after Troy and I had kissed, my grandmother had a stroke.

We had to fly back to Australia, where my family was from, to be there for her. The reason my dad looked like, well, a man was because our family didn't approve of him. Their suffocating prejudice and transphobia was the reason my family had moved all the way to the United States when I was eleven. I didn't know the rest of my family that well, since they weren't any more appreciative of gays.

Grandma was the only person who had stayed in contact with us, and even visited us a couple of times, but Granddad and the rest... The three weeks we had been stuck in Australia hadn't been that much fun for us. Especially after my grandma lost the battle of her life. Her funeral was held two days ago.

But now we were on a plane, flying back home, and away from those hateful people. I could only hope that Troy was willing to pick up where we left off. I hadn't talked with him more than two times while I was away, and it was killing me. I feared he had forgotten me and moved on. I feared he had already found someone else while I wasn't there.

I sighed again, and my mom squeezed my hand.

"We're landing in half an hour," she said. "Then we're back home."

I nodded and watched the clouds passing us by, seeing a hint of the sea behind them so, so far away below us.

*****

Two hours later, we stepped into our quiet home. It was dark inside and it smelled funny. We had left a big mess behind after leaving so abruptly for the airport. I saw my phone on top of the kitchen counter where I had forgotten it three weeks ago. I dropped my bags and went to get it, but the battery had died a long time ago.

"Luke, please..." Mom sighed and tapped my bag with her foot.

I went to get it before climbing upstairs. I entered my room, tossed my luggage on my bed, and opened it to search for my charger. I found it and hurried to plug it in so I could turn on my phone.

I wanted to call Troy, but when my phone finally activated, I stopped to think. I kind of wanted to surprise him. He thought I was coming back Sunday, but we had left two days early because of a fight my granddad and Gwen had right after the funeral. Granddad had told us to go to hell at the end of the fight, so we took the hint and left. I didn't mind – I wasn't close with him, anyway.

So, instead of calling Troy, I searched Sky's number. It took him a while to answer, but after a few moments, I heard his voice.

"Luke! Hi!"

"Hey, Shrimp, how's things?" I asked and sat down on the floor.

"Everything's great! But why are you calling? I thought you guys were coming back on Sunday. Wait – didn't you say you forgot your phone when you left?" Sky blabbered on.

"We just got back home – we left a few days earlier," I told him.

"Oh, cool!

"So, I was thinking I can come pick up Bella today, if you want," I said, hearing my girl's excited bark at the other end.

"Oh, it's all right, she can stay here with us for one more night," Sky said, and his voice didn't sound so excited anymore.

I chuckled lightly. "If you want, it's fine with me. But I do want my dog back sooner or later," I told him.

"Okay! You'll get her back tomorrow!" Sky promised.

"Good. Uh... By the way... Is Troy there with you?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, it's just Max and me. I think Troy is working on his biology project," Sky said. "At least that's what he told us."

I grit my teeth together. If he was doing his biology project, it meant he was with his partner right now. His partner, the pretty girl, Moira.

"Alright. Thanks again for taking care of Bella. I'll call you tomorrow when I'm coming to get her, all right?" I told him.

"Okay. See you tomorrow then. Oh, and Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"He misses you," Sky said quietly. "Maybe you should go see him?"

For some reason, his words warmed my soul. "Yeah, I was planning on doing that."

"Great! I'm sure he's really happy to see you," Sky said reassuringly. "See you tomorrow. Bye!"

"Bye," I chuckled, and ended the call.

Then I stood up and headed to my bathroom to take a shower.

I had a boyfriend to catch.

I took a hasty shower before searching for clean clothes. It wasn't easy in my messy room. I usually kept it clean, but because of the sudden trip to my homeland, I hadn't had the time to clean the room after packing.

I found a clean pair of black jeans and the hoodie I had bought for my first date with Troy. I had a short debate with myself about whether I should wear the same outfit or not, but since I still didn't have that many clothes, I didn't have a choice.

Ten minutes later, I made my way downstairs, where my mom was drinking tea while watching Gwen putting on her wig and selecting what kind of fake fingernails she should wear. They both seemed cheerier and more relaxed than when we were back in Australia.

"I can't believe I cut my nails for that jerk..." Gwen muttered. "Now I have to use these..."

"I think these are pretty," Mom said, and when I walked closer, I saw a set of nails with flowers painted on them.

"Yeah, you should wear those," I nodded, and they both smiled at me.

Then my mom noticed my outfit. "Are you going out? Now? Aren't you tired?"

"I'm always tired," I mumbled. "I'm going to see Troy."

"Ohh," Mom cooed and gave Gwen a knowing smirk. "That explains why you're in a hurry."

"Mom..." I sighed, but I wasn't really annoyed. "And Gwen?" she turned her attention to me with a questioning look in her eyes. "Forget about what granddad said. You and I are not freaks. He's just an asshole who has never done anything good for anyone in his entire life – the rest of the family hates him for a reason."

She looked touched after I was done talking. Mom patted my back while Gwen walked around the counter to hug me.

"Thank you, son," she said quietly.

"Any time. And I don't think you need the fake nails – I'm sure Mom will give you a manicure if you ask nicely," I suggested, and Mom nodded. "They'll grow back soon anyway," I added, and straightened her wig.

Gwen chuckled and patted my shoulder. "Weren't you in a hurry to see Troy?"

"Yes," I said, and grabbed my car keys. "I'll see you later."

"Bye!"

I stepped outside and went to open the garage door. I walked to my car and sat down behind the wheel, turning the engine on. I wished Troy was home, but if he wasn't, I could always call him to find out where he was. I had a charger for my phone in my car, so I didn't need to worry about the battery dying on me.

I started driving to Troy's home, feeling nervous all of a sudden. What if he wasn't happy to see me? What if he was busy with Moira? What if I went to his house and found him... with her... I almost stopped the car at the side of the road. I really wanted to. I didn't want to see him with her. It was Elisa all over again.

Somehow, I ended up driving to his place, anyway. I saw the lights on in his room, so he was most likely home. It took me an awfully long time to get out of the car, and even longer to walk to his front door. When I finally got there, I just stared at the doorbell, having all kinds of horrible images of him and her in my head.

Then, I tried to man up, and pressed the bell. If he was dating Moira now, it was for the best if I found out about it.

At first, I thought no one was coming to open the door, but I waited patiently, knowing that if Troy was in his room, it would take him some time to come all the way down in their big home. Just when I was about to press the bell for the second time, the door opened.

Troy stopped to a halt when he saw me. The first thing I noticed was that he was smiling at first, but when he saw me, it vanished. He just stared at me with wide eyes. At least he had a full set of clothes on.

"Hi," I said quietly, my heart shrinking in my chest.

"Hi," he replied in a quiet voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." I suddenly had no idea what to say. Why did he look like that? He frowned a little, waiting for me to answer, so I cleared my throat, and spoke, "I wanted to..."

I wanted to surprise you. That was what I wanted to say, but it just felt so stupid in my head. We weren't dating, he hadn't missed me, and now that I thought about it, I probably seemed like a clingy, desperate idiot.

"I thought you wouldn't come home before Sunday," he said.

"Yeah..." I muttered. "We just got home an hour ago..."

"And the first thing you did was to come see me?" Troy asked, taking a step closer to me.

I shrugged and looked away from him. "I... Yeah..."

I felt his hand on my chest when he grabbed me and pulled me inside. I looked at him, and he had a small smile on his lips when he closed the door. Then he released me, only to place his hand on my cheek, pressing himself against me, while I felt his other hand on my lower back.

"I'm so sorry about your grandma," he said quietly, not smiling anymore, and pressed his forehead against mine.

"I didn't know her that well," I muttered, resting my hands on his hips.

He didn't say anything. He put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me tightly, leaning his head against mine. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Now I am," I admitted, and breathed in his scent.

Troy chuckled lightly and took a deep breath, relaxing in my arms. "This feels just like I remembered," he spoke. "I missed you."

I smiled and hugged him tighter. We stayed like that for a moment before we pulled back. His hands never left me when he peered into my eyes.

"Do you want to stay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, and his smile grew wider.

"Come – I was in the middle of kicking ass in a game," he said and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him when he headed to the staircase.

Once we were up in his room, he turned to look at me. "Do you want to play, or do something else?"

"I can watch while you play," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm a bit tired after the flight, so..." I said, trailing off.

"Oh," he mumbled, and his smile faded a little. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to..."

"I want to," I said hastily and squeezed his hand. "Of course I do."

The smile returned to his lips, and he turned around and walked to his couch. He sat down and pulled me with him, grabbing his controller, and a big headset that had a microphone in it. He put them on.

"Hey guys, I'll be on mute. A friend dropped by so I'm ignoring your asses." He was silent for a moment, listening to someone, and then laughed. For some reason, he started blushing. "Yeah, yeah, very funny... What? Well, duh."

I watched the screen while he spoke. He was playing some kind of fantasy war game, but I had no idea what it was.

"Okay, byee," Troy said, and took his headset off. "Now we can talk without anyone eavesdropping."

I smiled and looked around in his room. It looked just like I remembered, Moira-free.

"Oh, for the love of..." Troy muttered and turned bright red.

I frowned and looked at the TV. There was some text at the bottom of it, and even though my eyesight was getting worse, I could still read the big letters.

Chaos91: hello boyfriend

Toshibanan: R U GAY??

Chaos91: how's it banging?

asfdafs: remember protection guys even if u gay

Toshibanan: SEREOUSLY??

Toshibanan: GAY??

Chaos91: shut up toshi

asfdafs: yea toshi

asfdafs: dancer never shut up about this dude what u think??

Toshibanan: PICKS OR DIDNT HAPPEN

Chaos91: NO PICKS I don't wanna see your hairy balls

asfdafs: anyway can u keep it in yo pants for now dancer? we have a game

Toshibanan: I thought u was coming the day afta tomorrow boyfriend

Chaos91: if I was dancers bf I'd hurry home too

Toshibana: tru, he hot

asfdafs: theyre probably fucking already...

Chaos91: yeah probably

Then the TV suddenly turned off. I turned to look at Troy, who was pointing the remote at it, looking like he wished to be anywhere else than there next to me.

"So...?" I muttered, feeling quite red myself. "Friends of yours?"

"They heard us talking," he said timidly.

There was a moment of utter silence in the room while we both just stared at the black screen. Then I felt the urge to break the silence.

"So, you call yourself Dancer in that game?"

"Tap Dancer, actually..." he murmured, and his blush didn't seem to be subsiding.

"Uh-huh..." I muttered. "How did they write so fast?"

Troy grabbed a keyboard from the floor. "The TV screen is plugged into my computer... We're playing this online game..."

"Oh, okay," I said, and then we fell silent again.

I couldn't help but smile at the situation. Troy noticed it and let out a nervous laugh. Soon we were both laughing.

"Oh, Christ... I should've known they'll do that," Troy said, trying to control his laughter. "I'm sorry – they're just jerking around..."

"Have you told them about me?" I asked when I was finally able to talk.

Troy's laughter faded too, and he shrugged timidly. "There's not too many people I can talk to about... you... They don't mind, so... I hope you don't mind? They don't know who I really am... I never said you are my boyfriend, though. I mean... we've been on only one date so far... and..."

"I don't mind," I said. "And don't worry about them – I know they were just messing with us," I told him.

He fell silent and looked at me. He did that a lot, and I hoped that every time he stopped to stare at me like that, it meant that I was gaining points. Or tickets, whatever.

Then he smiled and shook his head.

"They better have stopped fooling around by now," he muttered and opened the TV.

There was no text on the screen anymore, and Troy sighed in relief. He turned to look at his keyboard for a moment, being unusually silent. I watched him, enjoying the fact that I was home and next to him.

"You know what? I don't feel like playing anymore," he suddenly said and turned off the TV.

"Oh? Is it because of them?" I asked.

"Nah – I just thought of something better to do," he said, and put the keyboard away.

With one smooth movement, he swung his leg over mine and sat down on my lap, placing his hands on my shoulders. I was quite baffled by it, but I quickly recovered my brain function and wrapped my arms around his back.

He brushed my hair away from my eyes with both hands and kissed me. I leaned my head back, feeling his tongue pressing against my lips, and I let it in my mouth. I loved it. I hoped he loved it, too. He had to at least like it, since he wasn't in a hurry to pull away.

When he did, he had a smile on his face.

"That was just as hot as I remembered," he purred.

"I wasn't gone that long," I said quietly.

"Oh, yes, you were," he said, and kissed me again.