Tod was completely still with those words. As if he was petrified, but his mind was seething. He knew what Henrie came to talk about, and why he was there. It was that moment. He couldn't get away, in fact, he even tried:

"So, actually..." He said when he was interrupted by a slightly high-pitched voice.

"Tod, dear! Who is it?" Asked his mother approaching the door and spotting Henrie.

"Henrie!" She exclaimed hugging him. "I didn't know you were coming here; you should have warned me." She went on slapping Tod on the shoulder.

"Actually, I didn't even know." He whispered.

Henrie heard the comment and didn't look very cheerful, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Evans interrupted him again:

"Come on honey, come in! I just finished dinner, you're going to stay for dinner with us, aren't you?"

"Actually, I didn't want to disturb you." He said staring at Tod was wasn't not looking pleasant.

"Oh, come on! You're already in the family." She insisted.

"Okay then, since you insist." He replied with a forced laugh at the end.

Tod noticed all that, trying his best no to show reactions, but his body couldn't do it and when he realized they were all at the dinner table talking:

"So, what do we owe the honor of your visit?" She joked.

"Actually, I came to talk to Tod about the project we are doing together." He lied.

"Project? Together? Why didn't you tell me, Tod?"

"I ended up forgetting, mom." He snorted. "It's just that there are so many things happening that I ended up forgetting."

"Alright, but you can rest assured. You can talk after the dinner. And Henrie you know very well, if you stay too late you can stay here that wouldn't be a nuisance."

Tod didn't like that comment at all and just decided to ignore it. Dinner continued the same way, Tod pretending he wasn't worried about Henrie's conversation, Tod's mom excited telling about her day and some memories of Tod as a child an Henrie almost dying inside wanting to talk to Tod.

Dinner went on for a few more hours until Tod's mother, almost falling asleep, she decided to go to bed.

"Tod, do you mind clearing the table and putting everything away? It's just that I'm very tired."

"Of course not, mom! Go ahead, I'll clean it up."

"I help." Henrie exclaimed without thinking.

Tod and his mother just turned to him and laughed a little, but then she said goodbye to Henrie and went upstairs leaving the two alone.

Tod soon got up and started to take the dishes to the sink without saying a word, but his body was sweating cold with fear of the subject that could come up at any moment.

Henrie quickly followed and picked the rest of the dishes and carried them into the kitchen. The silence was absurd, but Tod didn't seem to care much about it, he just reached for the dishcloth and threw it at Henrie with a smile on his face, and started doing the dishes

Henrie came over to dry the dishes and couldn't help herself:

"Sorry to treat you that way this afternoon, I was..."

"Okay, Henrie. I understand." Tod interrupted sharply.

Henrie didn't seem intimidated and continued:

"Thanks! It's just all too recent for me. I don't know what's going on and I have a lot of doubts in my head..."

Tod almost dropped a plate when he heard those words. His heartbeat was accelerating and he tried not to show his nervousness, but Henrie continued:

"I don't know... But it seems that I've changed. I loved Lucy so much, in fact, I still love her very much, but somehow, I feel like I'm liking..."

*CRACK!*

A dish had broken. Tod just walked away to get something to put the broken dish on. Henrie seemed to be furious, as if Tod had broken that dish on purpose so as not to hear what he meant.

He noticed that nothing had affected with Tod, however, Tod seemed evasive and paid no attention to what Henrie said which made Henrie angry and with a voice above him, exclaimed:

"Can you hear me?"

Tod stopped at once, without any reaction, just stared at him in fright. He knew he couldn't get away from it, at least not at the moment.

"Yes, I can." He said angrily.

"Actually..." He took a deep breath. "Forgets! You don't seem at all interested in what I have to say." He snorted leaving the kitchen.

Tod noticed that reaction and his body spoke faster, before Henrie could reach the room Tod grabbed his arm not letting him go.

Henrie felt the pressure of Tod's hand on his arm and didn't seem at all destined to let go. His eyes filled with tears. He turned to Tod who noticed their teary eyes and couldn't hold himself, in a sudden movement he embraced Henrie as if he wanted to protect him from the whole world.

His body was hot and the beat was accelerating more and more. The tears couldn't stop, they just flowed like a waterfall. Tod put his hand behind his head and pulled him close making Henrie fit his chin over his shoulder.

Henrie couldn't stop and sobbed while crying, he returned to a childlike state and squeezed Tod more and more muttering something that Tod couldn't understand. They stayed that way for several minutes until Henrie seemed to calm and released himself from the embrace, staring at Tod, but holding his hand with his red eyes.

At same moment, Tod's mother woke up with the sensation of dry throat. She then left the room, but when she approached the stairs, she heard some murmurs and started down the stairs and saw the scene of Tod and Henrie next to each other holding hands. She just stopped and watched without moving.

The two continued to look at each other until Henrie couldn't hold himself and started to approach Tod, who was motionless just staring at him. The silence was so great that you could heard the beats completely accelerated. Tod's mother remained motionless, she couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes, her body froze.

The moment seemed to last an eternity and when Tod realized Henrie's lips were millimeter from his. He didn't step back, since Henrie was holding his arms. And with a single movement, their lips touched.

A strange sensation seemed to take over Tod's body. He didn't know how to explain what was going on, but he knew that somehow his body wanted it. They stayed in that position for a few seconds and before they could do anything else, they were interrupted by a noise. They were startled a looked in the direction of where the noise came from. It was Tod's mother, she tried to move and the wood on the stairs scratched. In a quick movement she went up the stairs and disappeared to her room.