- Saturday, March 26th, 2016 -

– 2 months after the disappearance –

"Dude, him again?" James seems annoyed about my presence after he walked into Stan's house like he owns the place. "Damn man, you're whipped." He whines, flopping down on a couch.

"Shut it, man." Stan kicks his leg, but since he can barely reach it, it's not that hard. "You know about us."

"Yeah, doesn't mean I'm very happy about it." He's eyeing me while I remain silent. I'm currently on the couch, slumped down, my back against Stan's chest. We're playing some game on the PS4 on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

"Well, suck it up. This is serious."

I grin daringly, getting a dirty look in return. I like it when Stan sticks up for me. Makes me feel like he really is into me, a lot. Since I'm into him more than I've ever been into someone, I like to know we're on the same level.

"Well, he needs to leave. Because I've got to talk to you." James sits up, staring at me with a deadly glare. "'Bout our little friend, you know."

"Cris stays. I have no secrets."

"You don't?" He cocks a brow and I don't miss the look they share for a second, before Stan pushes me to sit up so he is able to stand up.

"I don't. Now cut the bullshit, or we're done."

James snorts, but it doesn't take longer than a couple of seconds for him to nod. "Nathan's been bugging me ever since you stole that fucking phone. He's been bitching about our stuff, telling stories around town how it's bad quality."

"Teach him a lesson. Make sure he knows not to fuck with you."

"I should really leave you two alone." I mutter, getting up. I don't want to have anything to do with this. I don't even want to know anything about it.

"Cris, don't go." Stan followed me to the hall, where I'm putting on my shoes. "I'll tell James to leave..."

"No, no." I hold up my hand. "It's fine, I'm supposed to go home anyway."

"Cris, I'm sorry..." He grabs my hands in his. "Don't be angry."

"I'm not." I sigh deeply, squeezing his hands. "I'm just not into this shit." That came out a little snappier than I meant.

"Well, it's getting me money." Stan groans. "You know about my mom and I never hear you complain about the gifts and shit."

"I know..." I feel irritated. I just want him to stop doing shady stuff. But he explained some things to me the last time we had a little argument about this. He told me his mom's got cancer and treatment is expensive. They aren't fully covered. Besides, since his dad has to take care of her a lot, he doesn't have a fulltime job and that's why Stan refuses to quit the shady business he's got going on. He simply needs the money to help his parents out. They think he's working a regular job and it's not up to me to tell them about his real business. But I don't want to just sit there and listen to them talking about teaching Nathan a lesson.

It's none of my business.

"It's fine, okay?" I smile reassuringly. "I get it and I'm not complaining. But I don't want to know anything about your fight with Nathan or whatever, okay? I just want to act oblivious to this and pretend you're actually working in a cafeteria and earn money in a normal way."

He chuckles and nods. "So, will I see you tomorrow?"

"Eh, I was planning on studying with Julia. You can join, if you want..."

He laughs louder and shrugs. "I'm not the type to study."

"But you need to graduate too."

"Would it make you happy if I joined the two of you?"

"Very much." I nod.

"In that case I'll join. I just want to see you happy, okay?"

"You're so sweet." I whisper. "Totally different from the guy who tells James to teach Nathan a lesson."

"Well, I'm both those guys." He grins. "I just don't like it when people stick their nose into my business."

"So, let me keep mine out of it." I wink and kiss him softly. "Let me be the oblivious boyfriend who thinks his boyfriend is a goody-two-shoe."

"Okay." He agrees whispering. "I'll see you tomorrow." He kisses me again, until James coughs behind him.

"Seriously Stan, we need to solve this."

"Call me tonight." I tell him, before leaving the house after one last kiss.

- Monday, March 18th, 2016 -

"How did the test go?" Julia came up to me while I was dropping of some of the books in my locker. It's Monday and I had a Math's test she helped me to study for the past week. Stan kept his word and joined us on Sunday. He's so much smarter than you'd say by looking at his grades. By now, Julia knows about our relationship too and she had been the biggest support I've got so far. My parents are great too and they let me skip church on Sunday because I didn't feel like going there. It's been about two months since Finnley disappeared and they'd been planning on preaching about it... again. I didn't want to sit there and listen to someone telling me how bad it is to be gay.

"It went okay." I shrug. "I understood most of it, but not as much as I used to understand."

"I'm not that good at math as Finn is." She sighs. "But I hope I helped enough to let you pass again."

"I bet you did, thanks."

"No problem." She watches me empty out most of the backpack, before I close the locker.

"You want to come with me to have lunch today?"

"No, I'm meeting with Stan." I grin. "Let's hang out after school, okay?"

"Yes, sure." She nods. "I'll have my regular boring lunch with Willow and Lily again."

"It can't be that bad." I laugh softly.

"Oh, please." She rolls her eyes. "Ever since they got boyfriends they can't stop talking about it. And here I am... the guy I liked turned out to fall for a guy and I'm left behind." She winks, telling me it's a joke, but I do feel sort of bad about it. We were supposed to go on a date, that never happened.

"I'm sorry..."

"I know you didn't mean to falsely lead me on." She places her hand on my arm. "I'm just happy you're accepting these feelings, because I know how hard it is for you to do so. I wouldn't want to be your cover up."

"I did, and even still do like you. Just not as much."

"I know. And I'm okay with this. Let's just stick to being friends. I like the fact we got to know each other. You're funny and caring. Even though you should tone down the jocky attitude every so often."

"I'm not jocky."

"Nah, sometimes..." She laughs. "I'll see you after school Cris."

"Thanks, Julia." I roll my eyes. "Now I feel better about my attitude."

"I like to keep you down to earth." She calls out from a distance. "Bye baby!"

"Crazy woman." I mutter, before making my way down to my regular meeting spot with Stan. He's already there, leaning against the wall.

"Hey there." I grin slyly, standing next to him and taking the cigarette he's offering me. "You okay?" He looks kind of annoyed.

"I'm fine." He mumbles, sounding a bit grumpy.

"Yeah, like I'd believe that. What's wrong?"

"I had a stupid fight with Nathan." He grumbles. "The fool won't leave me alone. He's following me around town and he won't stop the bullshit about... you know." He complains.

"Can't you give him a clear warning to stay away from you?"

"He won't listen. He never does. He's actually too stupid to get the message."

"Well can I cheer you up in some way?"

He pushes himself of the wall, pacing back and forth in front of me. "But you can come to my house after school. We can game a little and just hang out?"

I cock my head sideways a little, biting my lip. "I'm hanging out with Julia after school."

"Again?" He pouts, standing in front of me.

"Yeah, but maybe I can come over after dinner?" I wiggle my eyebrows. "Or, you can come to my place. My parents won't be home until late."

"Is that an invitation with a dirty note to it, Cris?" His eyes grow darker with lust. The boy is too horny sometimes. But yeah, that had been an invitation.

"Maybe..." I drag out the letter e, grinning seductively towards him. At least he's not that jumpy anymore as a couple of seconds ago. Boy, how even the slightest suggestion about sex takes his mind off of things.

"Well, it would certainly help me relax a little more." He whispers, stepping in closer. "Take my mind off of other boys..." His grabs hold of my collar, pressing his lips against mine a little hard. The kiss is far from sweet and gentle and the pressure of his body against mine makes me hot and bothered within seconds. God, I would love to just go home right now. It seems like we're never alone lately. Not long enough that is. Or in the right place.

He started nibbling at the skin below my ear, making me melt in his hold instantly.

"Stan." I gasp as soon as I managed to pull him away a little. "That's turning me on too much."

"What is?" He daringly asks. "I didn't do anything?"

"Oh, you know you did." I chuckle. "Not here, okay? Tonight, my place, eight o'clock, okay?"

"You've got yourself a deal darling."

"No darling." I shake my head, dismissing the word.

"Babe?"

Another shake.

"Sweety?" – shaking – "honey?" – shaking – "horny bastards?"

"Stan!" I slap him against the chest. "No girly nicknames, okay?"

"Okay cutie."

"O my god." I mutter under my breath. "Well, it's not as bad as the rest I guess."

"So, cutie?" He wiggles his eyebrows playfully. "Cutie it is." He smiles by my lack of disagreement.

* * * * *

Ever since Finnley started sending me notes, I grow excited to go home to see if he did send a new one. They're vague and I don't know what he means by those messages, but they come from him and they tell me he's still alive somewhere. There's always a couple of days in between, but I already got four notes so far. Today, the fifth came in and I'm nearly jumping in happiness when I see the envelope on the floor. As usual, the 45 cents are in there, along with a new and just as vague note as the rest of them. He's not making any sense with these notes, jumping from subject to subject. But somehow, I feel like they are connected throughout one story. I'm just not succeeding in linking them, besides the fact I think these notes have something to do with the reason he's hiding.

Thinking about this message, is he referring to Nathan and Stan? I mean, I don't really have any enemies, other than Nathan. I don't trust the guy, he's acting weird, bothering Stan ever since he started helping me to get to know the real Finnley. So, if Nathan is the enemy he's referring to, Stan is the enemy of my enemy and therefor my friend. But I already figured that out. Stan did a lot to help me out of the depressed state I was in. I'm still sad on some occasions, yes. My best friend is missing. A best friend I might have had feelings for on a romantic level, which I didn't want to admit before. But ever since Stan came along, I feel at least a little bit better. Without him or Julia by my side I would probably be a mess right now.

Since Stan is about to come over, I run upstairs to hide the note with the rest of them. I've been keeping them in a drawer in my desk stacked together. It's like talking with Finnley again, only without seeing him, or him finding out my answers. It's pretty cheesy to think those little scribbles from Finnley are my most valued possessions at the moment. At least, that's how I feel about them. They are my connection to Finnley. They make me feel special, because he chose to communicate with me through those notes, and not with anyone else.

But right now, I have to focus on Stan instead of Finnley. I don't want another fight about me focussing on Finnley again, which happened twice since our date two weeks ago. I got to learn to know when not to talk about it, and tonight is all about me and Stan getting some welcome alone time.