- Monday, March 14th, 2016 -

– 1,5 months after the disappearance –

"What's that?" Stan walks up to me, while I'm seated outside behind the locker rooms, leaning against the wall, staring at the note I got from Finnley a couple of days ago. I haven't heard anything else, or told anyone about it. But as soon as I hear Stan's voice, I fold it back together and casually put it in my backpack, smiling towards him. "Some notes I took in class."

He cocks a brow, taking a seat beside me. "You took notes?"

"Hey! I every so often pay attention in class."

"Yeah, but I've never heard about you taking notes before."

"Well, I do want to graduate this year." I take a cigarette from him, lighting it with his lighter. "I have to start thinking about the future."

"You already know what school you're going to?"

"Nah." I shrug. "I haven't completely figured it out yet."

"Well, you can always help me with my business." He grins and I huff, to which he laughs softly.

"I told you, I don't want to know, okay? You just do your thing, I'll ignore the fact you deal drugs."

"It's not just drugs, sweety."

"You calling me sweety?" I cock a brow, nudging him in his side softly. "I'm not a chick, okay?"

"Well, I want a cute nickname for my baby." He laughs again while my face flushes. "You're cute when you're embarrassed." He whispers, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

"Oh, shut it." I mumble, enjoying the feeling of his lips against my skin. The space behind the locker rooms is the only place I allow him to do such a thing. Nobody ever seems to come around here, which I noticed after I started avoiding eating in the lunch room because I generally started disliking Emma because of her current behaviour.

She's even hanging out with Janet, who still holds some sort of grudge against me for getting in between her and Finnley at a party last year. Well, by now we know they have something in common; Finnley and Janet never got together because of me, and his feelings for me probably got in the way of Emma ever getting a fair shot. Maybe they can start a club.

As long as she keeps her mouth shut about me and Stan, we're cool. From a distance that is. I haven't talked to her ever since we argued last week.

Stan pulls me closer to him, leaning in for a real kiss, which I answer while I melt in his hold. It's a slow, sweet kiss and I feel like he's putting all his feelings into it, warming me up in the chilly winter air.

"You wanna hang out after school?" He whispers after breaking the kiss, leaning his head against mine. "I feel like we haven't really done anything nice in a while."

"What are you thinking about?"

"How about I take you out for dinner? Not here off course; we'll drive to the city. That way we can openly be together without anyone caring about it."

"You want a date?"

"A real date." He nods, smiling sweetly. "We'll do some shopping. I haven't given you a birthday present last month and I want to buy you something nice."

"You don't have to buy me anything." But I'm grinning like a fool. Going out with Stan, spent some time in public away from here, showing him off as my boyfriend, sounds really nice. "But I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Okay, we'll leave right after school, because it's a long drive. Let your parents know you'll be home in time for curfew."

"Yeah, I'll text them." I nod.

"Just out of curiosity..." he drawls. "Do they know about us?"

"No." I cast my eyes downward. "They have an idea I'm seeing someone since I stay out a lot more and according to my mom I've been a little bit happier lately. But yeah... I don't know how to tell them I'm dating you."

"Because they don't like me."

"Which is so unfair, because they don't know you."

"But they know we've met during community service."

They also know you knew Finn and they loved... love... Finn." I keep switching between past and present sentence when talking about him. It both doesn't feel right.

"What if you introduce me to them? Not as your boyfriend, but as a friend. Give me a chance to prove them I'm not as bad as community service makes it sound."

"You so are that bad." I chuckle. "Dealing drugs and other stuff."

"Well, I'm providing you in a lot of expensive things." He winks. "All the alcohol you drink and the spliffs you smoke aren't that cheap, you know."

"I know. I'm sorry." I sigh deeply. "It helps me take my mind off Finn."

"I understand, but like I said, it isn't cheap."

"I can pay you if you want to." I dive in my backpack to grab my wallet, but he stops me from pulling it out.

"No, babe, I don't care." He smiles, his hand cupping my chin. "I like you and I don't mind spending my money on you if it helps you to relax."

"You help me relax too." I mumble, right before he leans in for another kiss.

"Glad to be of service."

* * * * *

"Have you ever been here?" Stan locks the car after parking it behind the mall.

"No, we always stayed close to home." I shrug. "I hate traveling by train and long bus rides make me sick. Without a car, it's not that easy."

"Okay, so you have no idea what restaurant you'd like to go to?"

"I always wanted to eat sushi." I admit. "Finn went to a sushi restaurant with his parents and brother once and he's hooked. He told me as soon as one of us would get a license we just had to go and try it."

"So, sushi it is." He smiles. "But first we're going to get you a birthday present."

"You really don't have to..."

"What about a new outfit?" He plucks on the sweater I'm wearing. "You look hot, but I bet with some nice clothes you would even look hotter."

"This sweater belongs to Finn, to be honest." I admit with a soft voice. "I like wearing it because it gives me a feeling he's somehow close."

"That's fine, but we're going out for dinner." Stan sounds like he's lecturing me, but the chuckle in the end makes me grin, even though my face heated up a little in embarrassment. Stan is right, he looks great and I'm wearing Finn's oversized sweater he always wore when he was staying over the night.

"Okay, so a nice outfit that's fitting for our date." I agree. "But it can't be too expensive. I don't want you to spend all your money on me."

"Babe, I don't mind." He grabs hold of my hand. We walk hand in hand into the mall. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

He takes me to a couple of stores, but none of them feel right for my style and his taste in the same time. Eventually we end up in a store in which I fit a couple of outfits. Stan mostly picks out the outfits, practically begging me to try them on. He's been trying to get me to try skinny jeans, telling me it would look good on me, but eventually he accepts the fact I don't like wearing them. We give in a little for both and I end up with a way skinnier jeans then I'm used to, but it does feel great to wear it. It's dark in colour, a faded kind of black. He made me wear a crimson red and black coloured flannel over a white shirt and I actually think I look kind of hot.

"Can I ask you a question?" I mutter, turning around after looking in the mirror.

"Sure."

"Did you buy Finn an outfit too? Or more?"

"Eh, no, why?"

"Because he started wearing clothes like this a while ago." I fiddle with the flannel, feeling sad.

"Babe, Finn was never my boyfriend, why would I buy him an outfit?" He chuckles. "But you do look hot right now."

"I feel good, but I don't think red is my colour."

"You might look good in green." He heads back to the store, returning with a different flannel, offering it to me. I change the two, agreeing green does fit me better. But not as good as it looked on Finn. Why can't I stop thinking about Finn right now? I'm on a date with my boyfriend. I should be focussing on him. He's buying me an outfit damn it. Taking me out for dinner, trying to make me happy.

"What's wrong, babe?" Stan walked up to me, sneaking his arms around my waist from behind. His chin leaning on my shoulder. "You look sad."

"I keep thinking about Finn for some reason." I admit sadly, my eyes stinging with the sensation of upcoming tears. "I miss him so much. And all of this..." I gesture towards the outfit I'm wearing in the mirror. "It would be something he would wear."

"Do you want to go somewhere else? Maybe this just isn't your style." He kisses my cheek gently. "You pick out a store and we'll find something else, okay?"

I nod and head back into the dressing room, putting on my own clothes along with Finn's sweater, cuddling it close to my body while taking in a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down a bit.

"Hey, Stan?" I walk out of the fitting room, noticing he's folding the fitted clothes. "You think we can eat something else tonight? Not sushi?"

"Why?" He cocks a brow and walks out of the fitting area after pilling the clothes neatly. I throw the rest of the clothes messily on top of them, following him out of the store.

"Well, I think I don't want to eat sushi without Finn." I mutter. "I promised him to go with him."

"Do you like him, Cris?" Stan sounds a little mad, surprising me. "More than you like me?"

"What, no! But I miss him. He was... is... my best friend."

"I already made reservations." He snaps. "I'm not going to cancel, okay? Suck it up. It's not all about him, damn it. This was supposed to be our date."

"Stan, I'm sorry, okay?" I want to hug him, but he stepped out of my reach when I moved closer. "This is great, okay? I should focus on you. I like you, I really do."

"But you turn down my clothes, you don't want to eat sushi with me because you want to do it with Finn. It's always Finn, Finn, Finn. You even wear his goddamn sweater on a date with me."

I swallow hard, insecure of what to do right now. I didn't mean it like this. I didn't want to start a fight. I just didn't want to be sad the entire evening, ruining our date. Our first official date.

"You're right." I admit. "I'm sorry Stan. I'll stop talking about him. You can decide what we do on our date, since you're the initiator of it."

"I don't know." He shrugs, sounding a bit careless. "I don't know if I feel like being on a date with you right now."

"Stan..." I grab his hand before he gets the chance to step away again. I sneak an arm around his waist. "I'm sorry, okay? This is all just a bit new to me." I admit, face heating up. "I'm used to being the guy on a date, you know..."

Stan takes me in with a serious expression, before it breaks into a smile. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed." He mutters. "Okay, let's reset the date and start over, okay?"

"Thanks, I'd love to." I whisper before we share a short kiss. "Now, what store you want to go to?"

* * * * *

After our little "fight" the date went great. Stan was a real gentleman and I actually enjoyed letting him decide what to do. We agreed on an outfit after three more stores and he made me wear it after paying for it. We left my old clothes in the car when we went to eat sushi in an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant.

And oh man, was I full after eating way too much of the delicious food. It took a while for me to get the hang of eating with chopsticks, resulting in us laughing because of my clumsiness. But then Stan helped me to hold them right, enabling me to actually get some food in my mouth without sending it flying around the table. It was the best date I've ever been on and I really start to fall in love with Stan. The little things about him I didn't notice before, like the dimple when he smiles, or the lights in his eyes whenever he's laughing. The slightly croaked smile full of love when he is just staring at me when I tell him a story.

He brought me home and walked me towards the front door. In that moment, knowing my parents could open the door any second, I didn't care about them finding out about us anymore. I wanted them to know Stan was the guy who made me a little happier again. I was proud to call him my boyfriend.

So, instead of telling him goodnight, I asked him in to meet my parents.

The look of surprise on his face gave me the best feeling in the world.

"Mom? Dad?" I lead Stan into the house and into the living room. Mom is seated on the couch, my dad in his recliner; both reading a book.

"Hey sweety..." Mom looks up and notices Stan beside me. "Who's this?"

"Well, this is Stan." I mutter. "I told about him before..."

"Oh..." My dad closes his book, sitting up straight. "Yeah, you met him during..."

"Community service." I nod, feeling a bit awkward right now. "But eh. Yeah, I wanted you guys to meet him."

Stan smiles warmly at them. "Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans." He politely greets them.

"Good to finally have a face behind the name." My dad gets up from his seat, offering him a hand. "Kody."

"Stanley Everton."

My mom follows his lead, introducing herself to him before she smiles at me. "So, why is Stan here this late?"

"I wanted to tell you guys something." I mutter, staring down, not knowing how to say this in the right way. "But eh, Stan is eh..."

"Cris, I'll come back another day, so we can get to know each other..."

"He's my boyfriend." I blurt out, cutting Stan's sentence short.

Both my parents' eyes widen in surprise and a bit of shock. My mom opens her mouth to speak, closing it by the lack of words coming out.

"Your boyfriend?" My dad is the first to recover. "You're gay?"

"Bisexual I think." I mutter. My face must look like a tomato. "Don't hate me..."

"We would never hate you." My mom calls out with a high-pitched voice. "We're just a bit surprised." She walks up to us.

"So, you're not mad?"

"Off course not." She chuckles. "And if Stan is the guy you like, he is always welcome in our house and family." She walks up to Stan, arms wide, inviting him for a hug. "As long as you make my boy happy, we're happy."

"Thanks, "mam." Stan smiles and lets my mom hug him, looking at me in slight amusement. "I'll take care of Cris with the best of my ability."

"Good, because I will be watching the two of you up close from now on." My dad winks at me. "Just because Cris isn't a girl, doesn't mean I can scare his boyfriends away."

"Dad!" I look at him in horror. "I'm not a freaking baby."

"I know. But it's always funny when you're embarrassed and as your father, it is my duty to make you feel uneasy."

"O my god," I mutter under my breath. "You're the worst."

"Boys, this is a school night." My mom claps her hands. "Stan, why don't you come over for dinner this week, to get to know each other a little better?"

"Sounds good to me." Stan nods. "But I should go home right now. I don't want to make the folks worried about me. I'll see you in school tomorrow." He winks, placing a kiss on my cheek. "You're cute when embarrassed." He whispers, before giving both my parents another handshake. He leaves after a short goodbye, leaving me behind with both my parents sharing amused looks.

It could've gone worse, right?

"There's mail for you." My mom subtly changes subjects, handing me an envelope. "Now, go to bed. You have school in the morning."

I nod, grabbing the envelope with little tingles of excitement, before running up to my room. I rip the envelope open. Along with two notes, 45 cents roll out.

The first note tells me the money is for the lack of a post stamp, might they ever ask me to pay for the delivery. The second note is just as confusing as the first; but it's his and that makes it all the more better.