The staring only happened for around five seconds before Koda climbed off of Alfie. But to Alfie, it felt like hours. Koda leaning to kiss him, the heat building in their chests, the door shifting across his carpet, his mother's gasp, Alfie turning to see his father appear in his doorway too. All of it dragged through time agonisingly slow.

Alfie sat up when Koda was far away enough that he wouldn't headbutt him. He wanted to stand, but the sudden shock had frozen the muscles in his legs. His mother reached up and rested a gentle hand on his father's shoulder. Alfie couldn't see the same soft tones in her eyes; he could see... humour?

"I told you that making Koda a bed on the floor was pointless," Molly said to Tom, shaking her head with a smug smile. "You owe me a bottle of wine." She patted Tom's shoulder and left the doorway like nothing interested had happened.

"You- what?" Alfie said without his control, gripping onto the duvet until his knuckles turned white and his fingers pulsed.

Tom, who was holding some blankets, piled them on the nearest chest of drawers. "I'll leave you both to it," he smiled, and as he reached for the door handle, his son was already on his feet, hurrying towards him.

"What?" Alfie said again. His eyes were big and worried.

Molly returned to the door and crossed her arms. "What, what?"

"You-" Alfie turned back to Koda who was sitting on his knees on the bed. His fingers were slotted together, and he sat so still, he could easily blend in with the lifeless furniture around the room. "You walked in on me almost kissing another guy, and you don't care?"

"A long time ago, when you were still very young and drew all over the walls before we used that chalkboard paint, you used to draw these two stick figures over and over until I asked you who they were, thinking they were ghost related," Molly said like it happened only yesterday. Then she chuckled. "You said it was you and your sidekick boyfriend."

Alfie heard Koda's quiet laugh behind him. His head was spinning like he was stuck in a washing machine. "Sidekick boyfriend?" he repeated. "I could've just meant a friend that happened to be a boy."

"No, because you would talk about how you'd marry him when you were older and kiss him after a hard day of helping ghosts," Molly grinned at her son's embarrassment.

"I had an imaginary assistant boyfriend?" Alfie wanted to laugh at himself, but he was still too shocked by his parent's reaction.

"He wasn't your assistant. You said he was a sidekick for the person who sucked souls out of people, and that's why you were such a good couple, because he took the souls, and you helped the souls with their unfinished business and eventually guided them to the light."

"Damn," Alfie ran a hand through his dark brown hair. In the natural light, it looked black. "What was wrong with me?"

"With that story, you basically told us that boys were your thing. Your father thought your views would change, so we bet a bottle of wine on it."

"I obviously lost that bet," Tom said, walking up to his son and hugging him. Alfie's eyes were still wide and cautious. "And before you get defensive about me thinking your views would change," he quickly added when Alfie frowned and opened his mouth to speak, "I know now that it's not a choice. I didn't know that back then. I was very closed minded."

Alfie closed his eyes and squeezed his father back, resting his head on his chest and listening to the beat of his heart. Finally, the truth was out. Even though his parent's already had their suspicions, he should've known. Deep down, maybe he did know that his parents would be okay with him being gay. Times are changing, and they are flexible people and eager to learn.

"So," Molly hugged her son once Tom pulled away. "Are you two in a relationship or..." Alfie tensed against her. "You don't have to answer that. Tell us in your own time." Molly saw how Koda's eyes darted to his hands when she asked.

"Anyway." Tom interrupted loudly so Molly would stop suffocating their son. "Let's leave them to it. I need to go home now, so I'll see you tomorrow? I'll give you both a lift to college in the morning."

"Alright," Alfie said, smiling big from how light he felt. The secret had mentally weighed him down. "Thanks, dad."

Tom smiled, then pulled Molly out of the room and shut the door behind them. Alfie, for some reason, thought that coming out to his parents would be a bigger commotion or a lengthy and in-depth conversation. The reality was refreshing. They didn't care or make a big deal out of it, because being gay wasn't a big deal, it was a tiny part of him.

"That went well," a voice said behind him, and for a split second, Alfie forgot that Koda Oaks was in his bedroom, sitting on his bed. The light from the setting sun filled the room with burnt orange. It made Koda's hazel eyes turn to a mixture of calming flames and simmering wood.

They stared at one another as the silence crept up on them. Thoughts of the 'almost' kiss were vibrant, and Alfie could still feel the tingling presence of Koda's top lip. Then they both chuckled, and Alfie shook his head, his chuckle turning into laughter.

"Why does it always get interrupted?" Alfie asked.

"We're just building the suspense for when it does happen."

The word when screeched in Alfie's head. "So," he said, not wanting to change the subject, but not knowing how to respond. Shyness had stolen his witty remarks. "What do friends usually do when they sleepover?"

"Not kiss each other."

Alfie pursed his lips to hide his smile, but the glow in his eyes was bright. "I suppose, but we haven't actually kissed yet."

"Yet."

Alfie grinned. Koda was flirting with him, and he was trying to stay calm enough to flirt back without saying something stupid. "I'm not a very patient person."

Koda tilted his head, keeping the eye contact with Alfie's beautiful heterochromia eyes. The brown one was so dark, Alfie's pupil was impossible to detect when their faces were not right in front of each other. The blue was very light and twinkled like the ocean when the sun touched the surface. "We've almost kissed twice in one day. I'm sure you won't have to wait too long."

Alfie chuckled, turning to distract himself because his cheeks couldn't handle more embarrassment. Thoughts of actually kissing Koda warmed him to the core. Having Koda so close again excited him, and he couldn't wait to- Alfie frowned. Why did he have to wait for Koda to make the first move? He was a very independent guy and got what he wanted when he wanted it, and he really wanted a kiss.

Koda was still staring at Alfie when he turned around again. His crush had sunk into his mattress and crossed his legs, looking content and happy in his company and Alfie saw no better opportunity to jump on him. He marched up to the bed, climbing on as fast as his short legs would let him, and didn't stop until his body collided with Koda and he fell backwards with Alfie on top of him.

"I don't want to wait anymore," Alfie breathed, barely registering what he was doing, but it felt right. It always felt right.

Koda was hardly shocked by the mediums actions. Alfie was bold and did whatever he wanted which were qualities Koda was starting to admire. "Then don't."

It felt like their hearts were in sync as the world around them slowly grew out of focus. Alfie had thought about Koda a lot over the years. When they were in primary school, his heart opened when some girl dropped her flapjack and Koda gave her his, despite them not knowing each other. He didn't care that his friends were laughing at him and making jokes that he liked her. Koda just wanted to do something nice, and Alfie never forgot the smile of gratitude on the girls face.

In secondary school, Alfie's feeling's were consumed by anything Koda related, especially when they got older and his thoughts were no longer so innocent. But Koda clearly had a heart of gold, and he never grew out of his kindness phase or got too embarrassed to be nice to unpopular people around his friends. Koda didn't care too much about what they thought of him, and Alfie knew they were the same in that area.

Then in college, Koda was swamped with new people, taking advantage of his big heart. Alfie could never understand why Koda fell into a group of friends who were so horrible, especially Katherine. But Koda surprised him by staying the same. Koda didn't change for anyone, and again, Alfie could relate.

Now, Alfie was lying on top of Koda. They both wanted to kiss, and it wasn't just Alfie lost in his imagination. Koda was smiling up at him, and he did lift a hand and placed it on the side of Alfie's cheek, stroking a thumb over the corner of his mouth.

"You said you have had a crush on me since primary school," Koda whispered. Their faces were close again. "Why did you wait so long to say something?"

Alfie moved his hands to Koda's head, tangling his fingers in his light brown hair. Judging by the sudden growth of Koda's pupils, he liked it when Alfie did that. "People avoid me at college. You never noticed me. It would've broken me if I told you how I felt and you shot me down. It was easier not to know."

Koda's fingers stroked down Alfie's arm and moved onto his back, holding their bodies closer. "Our first proper encounter wasn't exactly smooth," he smiled, "but I'm glad that my mother brought us together. She must have known that I needed someone like you."

Koda's eyes were swapping between Alfie's eyes and his lips, and Alfie could feel the heat radiating from Koda's face. Now was the time. No interruptions and no insecurities.

Alfie slowly closed his eyes and lowered his face until he felt Koda's nose. He kept going until Koda's top lip grazed his. So smooth, he thought before pressing a little harder until the bottom lip made contact. Alfie hovered like that for a moment, cherishing the feeling of their mouths brushing together. Then he pressed even harder, and Koda kissed back. He was so still against him, but his body was relaxed.

It was like fireworks exploding in the mind, filling the mediums head with smoke, clogging up any emotions that didn't include, passion, affection, and desire.

Alfie moved his lips, remembering to breathe through his nose. He wanted to smile from the pleasure that shot through his veins. He had dreamt of kissing Koda Oaks. They were always the types of dreams to leave him feeling disappointed when he woke up, but nothing compared to actually kissing him. Dreams were pleasant, but making them into a reality was even better.

Koda gripped onto the back of Alfie's jumper. He had kissed guys before, but nothing felt quite like this, like jigsaw pieces slotting together, or slime moulding into the shape of its box, or fingers comfortably intertwining. Kissing Alfie was making him feel whole like he was filling up all of his weak spots and scars from years of beings so empty.

Their lips moved together, tasting one another as their hot cheeks occasionally touched. Alfie would have kissed him forever if he remembered that breathing was necessary. He parted their lips and dared to look at Koda's reaction. His crush's eyes were still closed, and a tiny smile was present on his lips. Alfie had never seen anyone look so tranquil after a kiss.

He was going to kiss him again, but something caught his eye. On the windowsill in front of Alfie sat a beautiful vase full with orange roses that heavily scented the room. Unlike half an hour ago, the flowers had now drooped and curled into grotesque shapes, paled, and had crumbling petals.

The roses were dead.