"You ready?" Vincent grinned, feeling drunk on nervousness and anticipation and fear.

Ethan tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. Discontentedly, Vincent raised an eyebrow at the boy who looked green with discomfort.

"Hey," he started softly, reaching to capture one of Ethan's hands. "You know we don't have to do this, right?"

Ethan couldn't help but grin slightly at the boy's thoughtfulness; he freed their intertwined hands and reached up to caress the soft, freckled skin of his cheekbone. Vincent averted his gaze, squirming under Ethan's intense stare, and blushed slightly.

"I know," he assured, nodding. "But I want to. You deserve someone that'll show you off, I'm just lucky you haven't realized yet that you can do so much better."

By now, Vincent's face was practically burning. He rolled his eyes at his lover's corniness, but his crimson cheeks gave him away: He was loving the attention.

"If you feel uncomfortable, you tell me and I'll back off, yeah?" He grew serious once again, wanting to deliver the message loud and clear. He knew what it was like to come out, how it felt to have everyone's eyes on him, how morbid it was to sense them judging him.

Ethan scoffed in annoyance, but secretly relished in the reassuring, comforting tone Vincent had taken on. All he was succeeding at was to further convince Ethan that this was all he wanted. How could he not, when Vincent was so amazing?

The nerves were clawing at his stomach, gnawing his insides like a pack of hungry wolves; Ethan was petrified.

But for once, he'd decided, he wasn't going to be a coward anymore. If all went south, he'd still have Vincent, and that was more than he could've asked for. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Ethan finally had his priorities straight.

In the end, he'd finally realized what—or rather, who—mattered, and it felt good. It felt good for him to know what he wanted, to be willing to stand his ground and fight for it. He was done taking the easy way out, sick of having things handed to him on a silver platter. For once, he was doing the hard work. For once, he was taking a risk, plunging into a pool of uncertainty, blindfolded. And it was horrifying.

But it was also exhilarating. It was funny that Ethan's brain seemed to be relating everything about the blue-eyed boy to that specific feeling. Kissing him, touching him, holding him, even fucking looking at him—it excited Ethan beyond belief, left a trail of goosebumps up his arms, sent electric shocks down his spine, and drove his heart to pump louder and faster with every beat.

That was mostly what Ethan loved about being around Vincent: the constant thrill of it all. It was part of the reason he was so adamant about holding onto him—tooth and nail and claw—so scared of letting him go, terrified of losing the only thing in his life that edged him to the brink of madness, in the best way possible.

He'd gotten his spoonful of reality, as raw and unfiltered as it could possibly get, and he would do anything for another fix. Somehow, it was more addictive than any drug, always managed to get him dizzy and lightheaded on the adrenaline, leaving him to wonder what would happen if they took it even further. He was far from done exploring the new world of euphoria Vincent had introduced him to. Ethan didn't think he'd ever be finished with it.

And so, with a determined smile and a racing heart, he smiled, "Let's do this."

Vincent rounded the car and grabbed Ethan's hand, not before giving him a quick, chaste peck on the lips.

Outside the school doors, only a few students were milling about, and Ethan's heart skipped a beat when he saw their eyes drop to his and Vincent's joined hands. Nobody said anything, but the raised eyebrows and questioning gazes told Ethan that they'd noticed.

Vincent turned to him, smiling encouragingly and sporting a look that read see? it's not so bad! and Ethan would lie to say he wasn't feeling pretty optimistic.

They walked inside, and the hallway was considerably much more crowded, but it wasn't like their entrance was show-stopping. Everyone carried on as they were, only halting to briefly greet Ethan as they usually did, except for the addition of cheeky smirks and taunting smiles when they noticed Vincent—hell, some even winked suggestively.

Not that he was complaining, but Ethan found the ordeal overwhelmingly anti-climatic. He had calmed down a great deal, but there was still a nagging paranoia in the back of his head that feared someone would pop out of nowhere, shouting homophobic slurs and screaming about how outrageous they were.

When that didn't happen, Ethan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Vincent laughed, tightening his grip on the other's hand.

"I told you it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be!" He exclaimed, failing to conceal a relieved grin.

"Guess I should listen to you more often then, huh?" Ethan teased, smirking slightly.

Vincent opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it, eyes trained behind Ethan's head.

"What the fuck?" someone exclaimed, urging Ethan to turn around, only to make eye contact with his bewildered best friend. "Since when is this a thing?" Mason gestured between the two, eyebrows furrowed.

Ethan chuckled, "Since Christmas."

"Wow, some friend you are," Mason muttered half-heartedly. "You're an asshole, but I'm still happy for you. Guess Longwood was doing you a favor all along, huh?"

Ethan laughed at the memory that seemed so distant; he'd come so far from that, grown and matured exponentially, and he owed most of that to the boy standing next to him. Speaking of Vincent, Ethan noticed that he'd gone quiet all of a sudden.

Concerned, he turned to the boy, only to find him looking visibly uncomfortable. His head was bowed and he was fiddling with his fingers, shoulders locked tensely.

He leaned in close, whispering lowly so that only Vincent could hear him. "Baby, you okay?"

Vincent looked up, caught off guard. He forced a smile on his face, but Ethan knew him well enough to tell it was fake. "Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about how awful my schedule is today."

He laughed unconvincingly, but Ethan decided he was going to let it go—for now. With a skeptical raise of the eyebrow, Ethan nodded in a way that told Vincent they weren't done talking about it just yet.

Vincent stumbled forward as a weight attached itself onto his back, squealing loudly in his ear. He recognized her almost instantly, turning abruptly to pull Macey into a tight embrace.

It was the first time he'd seen her since before Christmas Break, because the privileged girl had gone across the world on vacation with her family. He'd called to fill her in on all the milestones he and Ethan had crossed, though—she would have killed him if he hadn't.

"I missed you, Pipsqueak!" Vincent exclaimed, tightening his hold around her until she struggled to breathe.

Giggling, she punched his arms weakly, attempting to pry off his steel grip. "You're crushing me!"

"Good," he concluded, but let her go anyways. "That'll teach you never to leave me again."

She rolled his eyes, but stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I missed you, too."

Behind them, Ethan cleared his throat rather loudly, causing them to turn back to him. "You better watch it before I get jealous."

Macey smiled, deciding to go along with his obviously joking demeanor. "Sorry, Gray. Maybe you should brand him."

Ethan hummed, pretending to be in deep thought. "Good idea. I was thinking Property of Ethan Gray in bold letters right across his forehead. What do you think?"

Macey bit her lip to suppress a laugh, "Not enough. We need something even flashier, maybe Daddy's? Master's? Something along those lines...You can spell it out in hickeys if you want, that'd be sure to get the job done."

This time, Ethan didn't hold back. He let out a throaty laugh, spurred on by the downright mortified expression Vincent was wearing. "What the fuck, guys?"

"Hey, I like you," Ethan commented. Macey grinned evilly, shooting him a wink.

"Okay, that's enough. Before I get jealous," Mason spoke, catching Macey off guard. As if just realizing his presence, Macey blanched, her confident demeanor vanishing and leaving her a flustered, spluttering mess.

"Oh, h-hey, Mason! Didn't see you there!" she squeaked, overly perky and high-pitched.

Ethan saw Vincent frown through his peripherals, and didn't know what to make of it. Before anything else could happen, the shrill ringing of the bell sliced through the air, effectively ruining the mood.

Ethan hooked an arm around Vincent's neck, giving him a sweet goodbye kiss. "I'll see you at lunch, yeah?"

Vincent smirked cheekily, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Sure thing, Daddy."