Jack's POV

"Hey, I'm nipping out to get some sugar for Katherine." I poked my head into the creaks of Daltons room, corrupting his Netflix session.

He was laying in his bed, king sized covers cuddling comfortably against his muscular frame, keeping the warmth against his smooth skin. He'd carefully balanced his phone against a bowl of crisps that lay wonky on his bed sheets, cautious not to move so that the phone didn't fall. Eyes were heavily trained to the changes in light before him, concentrating hard on the moving images.

"Okay." He mumbled, position still unchanged.

"Can I borrow a jacket?" I still felt the need to ask him for a jacket even though every single time I asked, he would respond with something along the lines of 'you don't have to ask every time, yes.'

"You know you can stop asking, obviously. Take any." He spoke coolly.

Picking out a zip up hoodie that I'd seen Dalton wear a few times, I said goodbye and left on my journey. I chose one I knew he'd worn recently because his scent was still fresh, still oozing from the thick black fleece material.

There was a small market near to Katherine's house, the one I met Katherine at originally. It homed some of the best fresh cookies and cupcakes, deliciously fluffy and flavourful.

I knew my way around the shop pretty vividly, making my way directly to the sugar isle. As I scanned the shelves, looking for the particular paper bag of sugar, I was interrupted by a soft voice.

"Do you need help at all?" I spun around to where the voice was coming from. It was a boy, roughly the same age as me, fitted in a tight working vest that had the logo of the market plastered over his chest, light brown hair flattened softly against his light skin, and brown eyes that shimmered, specs of darker brown dancing within. He was taller than me, but only slightly with a playful smile painted on his face.

"Um, no I don't think so. I just need a particular brand of sugar." I concluded, smiling as I stood straight and stepped closer to the boy.

"Let me help you, what does it look like, do you know?" He asked, his voice was so smooth, not too deep but not too high pitched, perfect equilibrium.

"Blue."

"Is that all you got?" He laughed, glancing over at me as he stepped forward and observed the busy shelves.

"Sorry, that's all I can help with." I grinned. Whilst he was searching the shelves, I took a second to think, maybe I could make friends with this boy. My social life is severely lacking at the moment and a friend wouldn't hurt, surely. I also thought about the fact that I didn't feel nervous around him, I didn't have my signature stutter or struggle to string a sentence together.  I was calm around him, and the peace was nice, I enjoyed it.

"Is it this one?" He held out a blue cuboid bag, blue block writing crafted on the front 'Tate & Lyle.'

"Wow, you're a life saver. That's the exact one." I beamed, sweetly taking the bag from his grasp.

"I'm Jack, by the way. Jack Harper." I spoke clearly, free of nerves.

"Grayson, nice to meet you." He reached out his hand to shake which I pleasantly accepted.

"Hey, are you free later? Just to hang out or something?" I asked confidently, I was a little worried he'd say no but not like how I get around Dalton.

"Um, well I'm working till 5 but I can meet after if you like? We can get food?" He proposed to which I instantly agreed.

"Sounds great." I finally turned around and left, a grin stapled to my face.

My first friend. How exciting!

I know, I'm a loser.

There was a bit of a queue by the cash registers, where irritable and bored people, who skilfully balanced products in the arms, waited impatiently.

I paid of my one bag of sugar quickly, slipping the cashier a pound coin before skipping back the short distance back to Dalton's house.

"I got it." I chirped as I stepped into the kitchen, observing Katherine sipping a glass of water as she sat upright at the marble island, a tatted water damaged book graced in her clutch.

"Thank you, doll. I can make my cuppa now." She beamed, a smile playing at her lips as she gently took the sugar out of my hands and filled the sugar jar.

"Did you find it okay, sweetie?" She asked, sitting back at the island and gesturing for me to sit opposite, to which I followed.

"Um, yeah. I got it fine." I confirmed. It was silent for a second before I added, "I met someone." Katherine's eyebrows raised in a cheeky manner, subliminally telling me to spill more. "But not like someone someone, just someone. Like a friend. He's a friend. Yeah, that's what he is. I hope." I rambled on, missing Katherine stare at me, grinning.

"What if he doesn't like me? What if he's only going to hang out with me for sympath-"

"Jack. Calm down." She giggled, taking deep breaths and using her hands to guide me to normal breathing again.

"I'm sure he's lovely, even if he's just a friend." She winked, setting her glass down.

"Tell him to come over one night, I can make dinner for him." She offered as she took the glass and placed it in the sink.

"You'd be okay with that?"

She turned to me, a bored look over her features. "Obviously. Bring anybody round, I love meeting new people."

"Thank you, it means a lot." I reinforced my gratefulness with a quick hug before hopping upstairs to tell Dalton the exciting news.

"I made a friend!" The excitement bubbles as I burst through the room, eyes quickly meeting Dalton's as he looked up from his phone.

"Wow." He mumbled, unimpressed. His focus quickly left me and went back to his mobile, this thumb swiping aggressively against the glass.

"I'm going to meet him at 5." I chirped, skipping over to my bed and choosing an outfit to make me look smart, just to give him a good second impression of me, obviously. It wasn't for the teeny crush I had on him or anything.

"He gets off of his shift and he said to meet him then, so I only have like 2 hours to wait." I grinned, throwing my clothes, which were majorly Dalton's property that he'd given to me, across my bed and sighing when I couldn't find anything nice.

"It's not that big of a deal." He said finally, after shutting his phone off and sitting upright to observe the mayhem sprawled over my duvet.

"I know, I just want him to like me, so I want to look good."

"What's wrong with your outfit right now?" I glanced down to the clothes I was fitted in, it was a blue creased top with a small logo imprinted in white ink on the left side of my chest, and a pair of jeans.

"They're everyday clothes." This made Dalton smile, as if he were utterly judging the panic I was currently indulged in.

"You're not going to a fucking ball, it's just a meet up." He spoke in a plain voice, suddenly returning to his bored façade.

"I know." I dragged out the consonants.

"Fine, here." Dalton huffed as he threw himself off of his bed and walked over to his cupboard, digging through it for a second and handing me a casual button up black top with a pair of jeans coloured with a slightly different shade of blue to the ones I were currently rocking.

"Just go get changed into this, you'll look amazing, I promise." My cheeks grew rosy at his statement, a compliment somewhere buried under a deep layer of nonchalance.

"Thank you, you're the best." I nearly sang as I stumbled into his connected bathroom, shuffling into the clothes in record time.

I stepped out, not expecting to instantly lock eyes with Dalton as he sat across the room from me. His face was emotionless, impossible to know what was playing through his head, but his eyes soon left mine and went south, viewing every fold on my outfit. Being under his stare was unnerving, like he was determining every flaw on my body.

"Do I look ridiculous?" I finally broke the silence that suffocated me.

"No." Is all he muttered, his Adams apple rising and falling before he finally went back to his phone again.

I shrugged the weird feeling off and sat on my bed, making myself comfy across the pile of pillows and grasping my book, instantly relaxing my tense shoulders as my eyes examined the delicate words that danced across the clean pages.

The time passed quickly, it always did when I was nose deep in a good book, and soon I was ready to walk up to the shop where I had first laid my eyes over Grayson. Excitement brewed in my stomach, multiplying with each step I took.

Soon, the anticipated moment arrived as I finally reached the automatic doors of the supermarket, my eyes instantly meeting Grayson's as he smiled at me, teeth glistening under the golden sun rays.

"Hey." I spoke as soon as I got into earshot of him.

"Hey. You look nice, sorry I don't look better, I'm just seconds past getting out of my uniform." He showed off his outfit that features the same grey plain top and black jeans, however, this time they were no longer squashed under the tight confines of his neon blue work vest.

"You look fine," He really did, "So, where are we going first?" I clasped my hands together.

"I don't know, there is a park if you go down that path." He pointed behind me to the familiar path I used to get here.

"The one with the weird boat thing?" He nodded his head in agreement before walking ahead in that direction.

We spoke for only a few minutes before we reached the park. It was a very minimal park, there was only little to play on, a duo set of swings and a small climbing frame, shaped to resemble a dodgy looking boat adjacent to that with a slide attached to the top right platform. This park differed massively from the one Dalton and I visited, this area was new, metal without scratches, wood flawlessly brown and graffiti out of the picture. It wasn't as good as the other park, where there should be a basket ball court roaring to life whilst Dalton and I sprinted from one end to another, there was a car park, fumes polluting the air as gas leaked out of the exhaust pipes relentlessly. Where tress would engulf us until we were hidden from reality, the only noises being the melodies of soft baby birds, were now surrounding shops attacking us with 'two for one' deals and harsh artificial lights, the cries of car tyres butchering the concrete over and over again. Colours that should be rusted with enjoyment and buildings shattered with good memories, were bright and new, barely worn.

We both went and climbed into the boat, resting against the freshly painted walls of the small cabin inside. On the wall parallel to me held a sign, fitted with bolts of pristine silver, that wrote in perfectly carved out writing, 'No ball games, No dogs, No children over 14, No eating...' The list went on and on, as if it forbade any form of entertainment. Glad I never went to this park with Dalton.

"Do you have a job?" He asked once we were finally comfortable.

"Umm, no I don't, I'd like one though, a lot. You'd get to meet new people every day." I grinned, imagining all different cultures and accents and personality traits I could become accustomed to if I got a job.

"I hate working." He said softly, voice soothing. "I used to love it because nobody knew I worked there, it was like my secret place, which sounds stupid, I know, since there are loads of people who go there, but I got to be myself there. I also got to be anything but myself too. For every customer I would get, I could put on any mask I wanted, act however I want, under the regulations of the store of course. But then some people, stupid kids from my school went there and it was my luck that they found their way to my cash register." He crinkled up his nose in distaste.

"Sorry, that was kind of deep, too deep for a boy I've just met." He put on a smile and faced the other way, his cheeks growing red.

"I know we just met, but it might help to know I completely relate. I understand the feeling of wanting to detach yourself completely from your school life."

He waited a second before turning back to me with a genuine and thankful smile drawn upon his clear face. "I don't get along with the majority of the school, they've all judged me for who I am."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Grayson Peters and I like boys." I let out a breath of relief and laughed a bit, bringing a confused look from Grayson.

"Hi, I'm Jack Harper and I also like boys, nice to meet you!" I held my hand out for him to shake, which he did with a toothy grin.

"I think we are going to get along well." He concluded, his breathing now soft and relaxed.

"You know what, me too."

A/N- I really apologise for the time in which it took me to publish this, I'm struggling so much to write right now. Sorry :(