"Come on, get up if you want breakfast."

                Silas was shaking me, but I rolled over and pulled a pillow over my head. You couldn't kiss me in the middle of the night and then expect me to wake up early the next morning. I needed at least enough sleep to legally be considered a koala.

                "Garrett," Silas said impatiently. "Get up or you ain't coming. You can make your own damn breakfast."

                "God, you're so needy," I groaned, rolling over. "Fine, I'm up. Go shower. The bathroom is right next to my room. Fresh towels in the closet in there. Help yourself to my clothes. I'm going to shower in my parents' bathroom."

                "Be quick," he said, grabbing clothes from my closet and leaving the room.

                I forced myself to get up, grabbing clean clothes and leaving my room. I knocked on the bathroom door.

                "Hey, there are spare toothbrushes in the top drawer. Grab any one you want," I called before heading down the hall to my parents' room.

                I showered, brushed my teeth, and got into clean clothes. I went back to my bedroom, where Silas was waiting.

                "You ready yet?" he asked.

                "I'm so ready, Spongebob would be jealous," I said, grabbing my wallet and tucking it into my pocket. "Where are we meeting them?"

                "That brunch place by the intersection. You know the one?" he said.

                "Oh hell yea, their French toast cured my depression," I said as we left my room.

                We went downstairs, where Michigan charged over to sit on Silas's feet, forcing Silas to pet him. My parents were making breakfast together, dad trying to teach mom how to properly flip an omelet.

                "You're up early, Gar," mom said in surprise. "Do you two want breakfast? We'll make you-"

                "We?" dad said.

                "Dad will make you breakfast and I'll try not to screw it up," mom amended.

                I laughed but shook my head. "No thanks, we're going out to get breakfast with Silas's friends. If Michigan ever gets off Silas's feet."

                "Michigan, come here," mom said, taunting him with a piece of cheese. Michigan abandoned Silas in favor of the food.

                "And look, Garrett, you're missing out. I'm using the tomatoes from my garden," dad said proudly, holding up incredibly tiny tomatoes.

                "I bet it'll taste great," I said. "Save me some so I can try them tomorrow?"

                "Okay," dad said, happily setting a few into a bowl on the windowsill. "They're very good."

                "Can't wait to try them," I said. "I'll text you if I'm not coming back home after we eat."

                "Bye, boys. It was nice to see you again, Silas," mom said.

                "Thanks for letting me stay, ma'am," Silas said.

                "You're welcome anytime, especially if it means Garrett wakes up before the afternoon," mom said.

                "We're leaving, mother," I said, pulling Silas out of the house.

                "Is that where your tomato obsession came from?" Silas asked as we got in my car.

                "I do not have a tomato obsession. I made one whole tomato joke in my entire life, so do not brand me Tomato Boy or whatever," I said, backing out of the driveway and taking off towards the restaurant we were meeting the others at.

                "Bet your dad ain't gonna let Jack around them tomatoes," Silas said. He paused for a moment. "Those tomatoes. Not going to let Jack around those tomatoes."

                "You're probably right," I said.

                Ray had said that the school where Silas grew up was underfunded, and that the teachers just didn't care. I suddenly felt bad for every time I'd mentally cringed at Silas's vocabulary. If he'd gone to a school where no one cared to teach him any better, and the people around him were getting the same poor education, then of course he was going to have poor diction. He'd even been trying so hard with his speech, and I felt bad for only now realizing that.

                I pulled into the parking lot and we got out of the car. We went into the restaurant and Silas looked around before leading me over to his friends.

                "Hi Kaito," I greeted, putting on a friendly face as I sat down next to Silas. Maybe we could get through this without it being too awkward.

                "Garrett," Kaito said with a nod. He gestured to Jill, who was sitting next to him. "This is Jill."

                "Isn't he your brother's friend?" Jill asked Kaito curiously.

                "He's mine too," Silas said, which seemed to surprise both of them. "That's why he's here."

                "There's nothing wrong with him being here, Si. I was just curious," Jill said, forcing the surprise off her face.

                "I am friends with Akira," I said. "I'm Garrett. Thanks for letting me join you guys for breakfast."

                A waitress came over to take our drink orders and leave us with our menus. As we flipped through the menu pages, I bit my lip and looked up at them.

                "Hey, uh, how did you guys all become friends? I know that sounds rude, but I just mean it as, well, I know Kaito is older, and I'm assuming you're Kai's age, Jill," I said.

                "Kaito and I had been friends since upper elementary. I tutored Silas in high school, and introduced him to Kaito," Jill explained.

                "They were alright, so I stuck around," Silas said with a shrug.

                "Well, that's good," I said, and I meant it. They did seem good for him. Kaito was very mature for his age, and I'm sure that's something that Silas had desperately needed in his life when he first came here.

                "You hung out together last night, right? What were you guys doing?" Jill asked.

                I saw Silas's face pale a little. Maybe he could kiss a boy in the dark, but admitting to it would be a hard step for him to take.

                So I hastily stepped in, hoping no one would notice Silas's sudden nervousness. "We were star gazing. My dad set up his telescope for us to use."

                "Oh, that's fun. Was it a good night for it?" she asked.

                "Yea! It was a great night for it. The view was spectacular," I said.

                "Yea, view was nice," Silas said, trying to hide his own discomfort.

                The waitress came back, taking our food orders. Without the menu to distract myself with, I tried to think of a conversation to start up.

                "Have you worked a lot recently, Si?" Kaito asked.

                "Sure, I worked some," Silas said.

                "Don't slack off on that just because it's summer. You need to get into the habit of following a work schedule," Kaito said.

                "Yea, yea," Silas said. "I already talked to Ray about it. Ain't gonna slack off if I'm living in his place. Gotta earn my keep somehow."

                "Well, when you're not working, we can go do another escape room. I heard they upped the difficulty of some of the ones at the mall," Jill said.

                "Oh come on, you know I suck at those. Things don't make no damn sense to me," Silas said.

                "They don't make any sense to you," Kaito corrected, snickering when Silas chucked a sugar packet at him. "They're good brain teasers. And they're fun."

                "Fun for smart people," Silas grumbled.

                "So why don't you think they're fun then?" I said.

                It took Silas a moment to get that, but when he did, he threw a sugar packet at me too. "Mind your own."

                "You brought me here," I reminded, picking the sugar packet up and setting it back in the little basket on the table. "Don't make a mess. The waitress has to clean up after us."

                "I'll throw all the damn sugar packets I want," Silas said, but he didn't reach for any more.

                We heard a vibrating noise and Kaito pulled out his phone. He excused himself from the table to take the call, leaving me alone with Jill and Silas.

                "Any word on that party yet?" Silas said.

                "Oh, yea! My sister said they're having it at the end of the month," Jill said. She glanced at me before settling her gaze back on Silas. "You can bring your friend if you want to. My sister won't care."

                "Garrett ain't gonna come, he won't know anyone," Silas said. "I'm only going 'cause you promised me chicken wing dip."

                "Well, I know how to bribe you," Jill said.

                I frowned. "Whoa, hey, I may not know anyone, but I like chicken wing dip."

                "I'd say we could try to make some, but you'd over season it," Silas said.

                I let out an indignant noise. "Excuse me, you're the one who over seasoned the chicken, not me. I'm over here going for that sugar, spice, everything nice and you're out there ready to dump the chemical X all over that poor chicken."

                "What the shit does that even mean?" Silas said.

                "I'm disappointed but not surprised that you didn't get that joke," I said with a sigh.

                "Don't worry about it. Old TV show reference," Jill said.

                "Oh. Never was big on TV," Silas said.

                Kaito came back, taking his seat next to Jill. "I won't be able to hang out after. My father needs my help with something at the office. I have to go after I eat."

                "Akira can't help?" Jill said.

                Kaito shook his head, annoyance flickering over his features. "He's with my mom at her shop for the day. Wouldn't want to disturb them."

                I wanted to defend Akira, but I forced myself to look at Silas and keep my mouth shut. The Riku brothers' drama was between the two of them.

                "At least he's there workin', and not just slacking off," Silas said, surprising me.

                Kaito looked like he wanted to argue, but he just gave a reluctant nod. "I suppose. He needs responsibility in his life. Speaking of, send me your schedule for the gym. Emi said she wants to go in when you're working."

                "Oh, yea, I told her I'd help her workout," Silas said.

                Kaito scoffed. "Good luck with that. Emi gets distracted too easily to stick to a routine."

                "It never hurts to give it a try. If she's willing, that should count for something," I said.

                The waitress came over, setting our food down. I happily dug into my meal, glad to have a distraction. The other three had slipped into a conversation about that party Jill had mentioned, and while she repeated that I could go with Silas, I had nothing to contribute to the conversation.

                Still, Silas seemed at ease as he talked with his friends. It made me glad to see. He always got so nervous around me, and while I'd figured out why, it was good to see him so comfortable around people.

                I listened to them talk, jumping in when they directed questions at me, but mostly letting them talk with each other. They talked about their future plans for the summer, and their responsibilities, and they corrected Silas's grammar in a way that wouldn't make him feel embarrassed for it. They slipped in some inside jokes that I didn't get but that earned laughter from each other.

                When we were done eating, the waitress came back and set the check down. I frowned as Kaito picked it up.

                "I can go up and ask for separate checks," I offered.

                "I've got it covered," Kaito said, pulling out his wallet.

                "Kaito, I can pay for my own. I wasn't even supposed to be here," I insisted.

                "Then pay the tip. I've got the rest," Kaito said, getting up and heading to the front counter to pay.

                I sighed and pulled out some money, tossing it on the table for a tip. Silas leaned back in the seat.

                "Are you going home?" I asked him.

                "Yea. Ray wanted to move some shit around the backyard. Said I'd help," Silas said.

                "Alright, I can drop you off," I said.

                Kaito came back and we all got up. We left, heading out to the parking lot together.

                "Thanks for paying, Kai," I said.

                He just shrugged. "I'll text you tomorrow, Silas. I might be free in the daytime."

                "Sure, let me know. See you guys," Silas said.

                We all waved and got in our cars. I backed out of the parking lot and took off towards Ray's house.

                "Thought you and Kaito didn't get along?" Silas said.

                "It's not that. He used to play with us when we were little. He doesn't get along with Akira, and isn't a big fan of me and Jack anymore by default, I guess," I said. "I wasn't going to say anything about it, though. You seem to really have fun with them."

                "Never had friends like that before I came here," Silas said, looking out of the window. "They're all hard work and focused on the future. But they also like puzzles and games. It ain't so bad."

                "I'm glad you're so easy going with them," I said. "Thanks for inviting me along."

                "Why did you come?" he said, finally looking at me. "It ain't like I get along with your friends."

                "But you tried, in your own way," I said. "You didn't pick a fight with Jack or Roan at the cookout. You tried. I wanted to do the same for you."

                He blushed and looked away again. "Can't promise I won't tell Waymire to fuck off."

                "And I can't promise I won't tell Kaito not to talk bad about Akira. At least we're trying to get along with each other's friends," I said. I looked at Silas and offered a smile. "Want to go to the waterfall tonight?"

                "Yea, sure," he said, his face growing redder.

                If it would be easier for him to hang out in the dark, then so be it. I wanted him to get comfortable with all this on his own terms, and he seemed to feel safer exploring himself when the rest of the city was asleep.

                I pulled into Ray's driveway and Silas open the door. We both paused as we heard arguing coming from the backyard, and I groaned.

                "Jack," I said, turning my car off and following Silas out.

                We hurried around the house, where Jack was indeed standing and staring defiantly at Ray. There was a little smoke coming off of one of the chairs in Ray's backyard, and Ray looked pissed off.

                "Go get your dad," Ray commanded.

                "It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't surprised me!" Jack argued.

                "I told you not to set those damn fireworks off in the backyard anymore!" Ray said impatiently. "Go get him or I will."

                Jack reluctantly turned and went into his house. Ray noticed us and pinched the bridge of his nose.

                "Saw that damn kid lighting off fireworks, and I yelled at him. One ended up hitting my chair," he said.

                I felt my shoulders slump a little. Jack said he'd only set them off in the field, where there would be no one around. He knew Ray was serious about getting him in trouble for this. Why would he take the chance?

                Jack and Mr. Waymire came out of the backdoor. Ray pointed to his smoking chair.

                "Your kid, Waymire," he said. "What are you going to do about it?"

                Mr. Waymire reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He held it out to Jack, meeting Ray's eyes with a cold expression.

                Jack took the lighter and flicked it to life, looking at the rest of the fireworks he'd set up. "Look, it was just an accident, Mr. Edmon. It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't yelled at me. None of them were in your yard before my hand slipped."

                What the hell was Jack doing? This was serious, and he was just trying to play it off. Ray could've called the police on him. He could still call the police.

                I stepped forward, swallowing down my nerves. "Jack, you said you wouldn't light any off unless we were at the field."

                Jack noticed me for the first time. "Oh, hey pal! Yea, I know, but you and Aki weren't around and I was bored. Wanted to test these bad boys out. They were only going off in our yard. But my hand slipped when Ray went off."

                "You hit Silas last time. That should've been enough to know not to light them off here anymore. The fields were safer," I said.

                "The fields are far away," Jack said dismissively.

                "Look at the kid you've raised," Ray said to Mr. Waymire. "Proud of your son, Paul? He has no sense of consequences or responsibility. He's going to hurt someone one of these times when you're not around to bail him out."

                "You're so overdramatic," Jack said.

                "No, he's not," I said. "Jack, we hurt Silas. It's already happened once. It could happen again, and be worse. What happens when you go to college? Your dad won't be there to stop people from calling the cops on you."

                "Whose side are you on?" Jack said, looking a little hurt.

                "Yours. Which is why I want you to take this seriously," I said. His expression made my stomach drop, and I wondered if I should just shut my mouth and mind my own business. He was my best friend; I didn't want to be the reason he looked that hurt.

                But then I looked at Silas's mostly-healed arm and felt my heart sink a little. I'd always encouraged Jack's fireworks, so certain he'd get it right. So happy for him when he did get it right and his face lit up with joy and pride.

                This was going to get him in trouble, though. He'd gotten it wrong too many times. He wasn't thinking of other people when he set them off. He didn't think of the damage it could cause to his property or Ray's property. He didn't care that we'd hit Silas, because it hadn't been on purpose, as if that somehow made it okay.

                "What, so now Silas is more important to you?" Jack said.

                "Jack, that's not what I'm saying! I'm saying that someday, you won't live with your dad and his influence anymore. Someday something will go wrong and you'll have to suffer the consequences of it. I don't want to see that happen to you. I'm saying this because I care," I said.

                "Listen to him, kid. If I call the police right now, your dad will get you out of it, and you'll think that's how it's always going to work. But you won't be in his area of influence forever," Ray said. Ray glanced at me before looking back at Jack. "I'll give you one last chance and see if your friend can't talk some sense into your head since your father can't. Next time you start setting fireworks off like that, though, I'm not even calling the police. I'm taking pictures, videos, whatever, and heading on down to the station to file a complaint. I've got friends in high places, too, Waymire."

                "Good luck with any of that," Jack said, looking unconcerned about it.

                "Jack, he's giving you a chance to stop this," I said. "Please, I don't want to see you get in trouble or have a permanent record hanging over you. I know you love your fireworks, but there are safer places to light them off."

                "They were going off in my yard," Jack argued.

                "How many times have they gone off in my yard?" Ray said.

                "Too damn many," Silas said.

                Mr. Waymire bent down and picked up one of the little fireworks. He took the lighter from Jack, lit the fuse, and released it just before it went off, sending it flying into Ray's lawn. It hit the ground, going off harmlessly.

                "Mature," Ray said, crossing his arms. "Good example for your kid, Paul."

                "Why don't you just worry about your toss-away? Worthless as his mother," Mr. Waymire said.

                Silas looked furious at that, and I saw anger flash over Ray's face too. I grabbed Silas's arm as Ray took a deep breath.

                "I don't need to stand here and take cheap shots at you or your son. I'm just telling you what his future is at this point. You don't discipline him? The authorities will. It might not even be me who ends up calling them. But someone will. You can have the influence in the world, but enough people complain about your kid's actions? They'll have to act," Ray said.

                Silas yanked his arm out of my grasp, walking forward with his fists clenched. Ray noticed and hastily grabbed Silas.

                "Stop it," Ray said sternly. "It's what he wants, Silas. He wants you to get angry and throw punches so he can turn the attention on you instead of his kid."

                "Well he can have his fucking wish if he keeps running his mouth," Silas spat.

                "No, he's not getting that reaction out of you. You're better than him," Ray said. "I trust that if I let you go right now, with me and Garrett and everyone else watching, you'll prove you're better than him."

                He released Silas. Silas struggled for a moment, torn between being what Ray expected, and what Mr. Waymire expected.

                "Silas," I said, just loud enough for him to hear. "You've made a lot of progress. Don't undo that."

                Silas's shoulders slumped a little, but he shot Mr. Waymire a nasty look. Mr. Waymire just met that look with an expressionless one of his own.

                "No more chances, Waymire. That kid has his fireworks out again? I'm heading right on down to file a report," Ray said, holding up his phone. "Already got some proof. He'll just give me more."

                "Jack," I said nervously.

                But Jack was looking at his dad, annoyance and expectance on his face. He knew his dad would find a way to get him out of it. His dad always did.

                I dropped my gaze. Akira was spoiled, but he was also mature. Jack was spoiled, and he didn't fear consequences because of it. Now Ray was officially fed up, and Jack was in more trouble than he seemed to understand.

                "I'll text you later, Silas. We'll meet up tonight," I assured. "I've got to...I don't know, talk to him. Something."

                "Good luck getting' through that thick skull," Silas grumbled.

                "Jack, let's go inside," I said.

                "Yea, sure," Jack said with a shrug, gathering up his remaining fireworks.

                Mr. Waymire just eyed Ray and Silas again before heading inside. Ray sighed, shaking his head and leading Silas back into their house.

                "He's so uptight," Jack said, rolling his eyes.

                "He's not a bad man. Didn't he get you out of a tree after you lit one of his plants on fire when you were younger?" I said.

                "I was not stuck in the tree," Jack lied. "I was just hiding from his scary ass muscles."

                He put his fireworks back in the garage and led me inside and up to his room. We sat on his bed and I nervously played with my hands.

                "Jack, really, you need to stop. He's serious this time," I said. "You're going to get in trouble."

                "Like he could get me in trouble," Jack scoffed. "Pal, have a little more faith than that."

                "I just don't want to see you get in trouble. But you have ruined a lot of Ray's things, and even your own things. I know you love your fireworks, but you need to set them off someplace safer. You told me you'd set them off in the fields. I'd go with you and everything," I said.

                "That's such a pain. Plus what about the winter? I'm not hiking my way through the snow just to set off some displays. This is my yard, and I can do what I want on it," Jack said, crossing his arms. "My dad doesn't care, so it shouldn't matter."

                "But Ray cares, and that does matter because they end up in his yard all the time," I said.

                "When the hell did you turn into Akira? You were always the one right there helping me," he said, that hurt back in his eyes.

                "I just don't want you getting in trouble!" I repeated.

                But he was right. When had things started to change? When did I start thinking about the consequences instead of the fun?

                Was it such a bad thing?

                "Chester," I said, which got his full attention since I so rarely called him by his real name. "I'm not saying you can't set your fireworks off. I think you should. I think you should keep practicing until one day you light off the most amazing display anyone has ever seen. But I think you should practice in the field only. There's that great big clearing where you wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone, or anyone's possessions. I'll go with you whenever you want. Just please, please, stop setting them off here. Your dad can protect you in town, but when you go to college? His influence won't stretch that far," I said, praying he'd think about it.

                "He's just sucking the fun out of everything, even you," Jack grumbled.

                "It's not Ray, Jack. He's been really patient with you and you know it. He's even been good to you growing up. He's not doing this to be an asshole. He's doing it because he realizes that no one else is ever going to tell you no." It was hard for me to say and hard for Jack to hear, but we both needed it.

                Jack was my best friend and I'd do anything for him. But if he kept this up, he'd get in more trouble than anyone could get him out of, and I didn't want to see that.

                We could still have fun. We could light off fireworks in the fields and laugh and experiment. But we could also think about the consequences of what would happen if we set them off anywhere else.

                Jack didn't look pleased, but I wasn't surprised. He'd been saved from negative consequences for most of his life, so one conversation wasn't suddenly going to change him.

                But we'd also been best friends for years, and he knew I wouldn't say this if I didn't mean it. He gave an annoyed, reluctant sigh.

                "Fine, we'll move to the fields. But it's not permanent. When I have my calculations down, I'm moving back to my own yard," he said stubbornly.

                "What if we practice in the fields, and when you have your calculations down, we invite Ray to come watch?" I said. "It might set him at ease if he knows you've really got it under control."

                "We'll think about it," he said. "But you're coming to the fields with me. I want an audience. And some help if I set the fields on fire."

                "We'll bring the fire extinguisher," I said.

                Jack grinned happily. "I can live with that. I've been writing up a plan for a display that involves the toy planes, too. I mean, if I can figure out how to set those fireworks off without toasting the plane."

                I listened attentively as he explained his plan to me. I could do this; I could support Jack and his crazy ideas, and I could keep him out of trouble, too. Maturing didn't mean I couldn't have fun, it just meant I had to be more thoughtful about it. I would be a good friend to Jack, and for him.

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A.N.- This story will now be updated daily! I finished it, so I'll just be uploading a new chapter every day until it's all posted!