Endri nonchalantly placed his books in his locker, grabbing the notebooks he needed for his next classes and stuffed them into his backpack. He slammed his locker shut, flinching slightly as he saw a seriously pissed off looking Aidan standing behind the door.

"Fuck! Dude, you scared the shit out of me!" Endri said as he caught his breath.

"We need to talk." Said Aidan seriously, as he watched Endri nervously gulp, his Adam's apple rising and falling in his throat.

"S-Sure, man. What's up?" He asked wearily.

"Not here..." Replied Aidan in a hushed tone, his eyes fiery with a rage that Endri was not trying to deal with.

"Do you want to meet up later tonight, maybe?" Endri asked as nonchalantly as he possibly could, to which Aidan just shook his head.

"Can't do tonight, gotta pick Emma up from gymnastics practice, Can you do right after school behind the gym?" Aidan asked coldly, warranting a nod and a shrug from Endri. "Perfect, see you then."

Endri had a lump in his stomach all though the day, he knew exactly what Aidan wanted to talk about. That night. But the last thing he needed at this stage was another grilling from Aidan. They had been best friends since they were children. They could practically read each other's moods, they could tell when the other was lying, they knew each other like the backs of their hands. While that sounds like a good thing, in this situation it had Endri ready to be sick. He hated having to lie to Aidan, but he felt he owed Luca that much.

To say that Endri was shocked to see Luca at Aidan's birthday party was a gross understatement. He told Arianna it was probably a bad idea for Gianna and Luca to be there, but she figured with that many people there, nobody would even notice.

Not to say that Crenshaw and Hilldale students didn't socialize or go to each other's parties, but during the football season the rivalry was truly at its highest. And for the Crenshaw's quarterback's twin sister, and their only openly gay male cheerleader to be at a party at the home of Hilldale's quarterback, it was a recipe for disaster.

The rivalry always came with unnecessary drama, vandalism, rumors, and pranks; sometimes harmless fun, but in the case of Hilldale and Crenshaw it almost always crossed a line. One example was the cheerleader two years ago who started the false rumor that Gio Greco raped her at a party. Another example was Aidan and Luca's freshman year, when a few Crenshaw guys planted cocaine in the Hilldale quarterback's car, tipping off the police and nearly ruining his life.

A couple years before, a fight between two senior football players went horribly, horribly wrong when one of them pulled a gun on the other, shooting him point blank outside the movie theatre. And just the year before, teenagers were banned from going to the mall after 5 PM without adult supervision because of all the grizzly fights between Hilldale and Crenshaw students that broke out due of the rivalry.

"You knew it was him." Aidan said coldly, glaring daggers at his best friend as they stood alone behind the school gym.

"Who?" Endri said obliviously, though his eyes gave him away.

"Don't play dumb Endri, that's why you kept asking if he looked familiar, you knew he was the cheerleader from that night." Aidan's voice cracked, a saddened look of pure regret in his eyes.

"Aidan... I..."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Aidan seethed, his eyes fiery with rage. "Why didn't you stop me."

"I thought you would have known! And when you didn't seem to, I tried to remind you! How did you not recognize him?!?" Endri replied frantically, feeling a lump in the back of his throat as he held back tears.

"I don't know! Okay?! I don't know! After... that night... I felt so guilty. After the fear wore off, I realized it was wrong to not try and stop Braxton. It was even more wrong to leave him to die like that. I couldn't sleep for so long after it. I even..." Aidan started hysterically before he trailed off, meeting eyes with Endri as he took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, because nothing I went through will ever compared to what we let him go through that night." He said softly, his bright blue eyes looking almost shattered.

"How did you figure it out?" Endri asked curiously, though he already knew the answer to that question.

"He told me... And thats when it all came flooding back to me. All at once. I remember how I used to see him during games and think how much I wanted him before when I'd see him at at parties. I remember how scared he looked when I... I remember his crying, his pleading... That look in his eyes before I almost punched him. The fear. Endri... I hate myself so fucking much for it." Aidan took a deep breath as a single tear escaped down his cheek.

"Dude... I'm so sorry... I know how much you were into him... But there are other people out there..." Endri said blankly with a look of pity in his eyes. The truth of the matter was that he did, for some ungodly reason, feel bad for Aidan in that moment.

"There are, but I only want him... And he gave me till tonight. I'm not giving up this fast." Aidan sobbed softly as Endri looked on dumbfounded. "I don't deserve him. I will never deserve him. He said he forgave me, but I don't deserve his forgiveness... I think I love him, Endri. I don't know how or when but, something in my gut tells me he's the one. I'll spend my entire life making it up to him if he gives me the chance I..."

Endri cut him off as he bridged the gap between him and his inconsolable friend, wrapping him in a tight supportive embrace. He didn't know what to tell him, and words escaped him in that moment, so for now this hug was the only form of support he could give. And in that moment, it was all that Aidan really needed.

Later that night, Aidan pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall in Hilldale where his younger sister, Emma had gymnastics practice. He loved this sweet little sister, but at six, she was starting to reach that age where the sassiness was really beginning to come out.

Since she was a toddler, Emma had this fervent obsession with gymnastics after watching the Olympics. At first Aidan and his parents thought it was just another one of those passing phases, yet here he was, two years later, sitting in the parking lot waiting for her at yet another one of her thrice-weekly gymnastics practices.

Out of the corner of his eye Aidan saw Emma running towards his car as she waved enthusiastically back towards her friends. She had Aidan's bright blue eyes, though her hair was a few shades lighter than his. Aidan's one weakness was her sweet little smile; though a few of her baby teeth had fallen out, it was still enough to melt Aidan's heart.

"Hi Aidan!" She said as she struggled to open the heavy car door and climbed into the passenger seat with her black gymnastics tracksuit covering her favorite pink leotard.

"Hey Emmy! How was practice?" Aidan asked enthusiastically, though as much as he loved his sister, he really didn't care for the word vomit that usually came in response to that question. Just a bunch of basic little girl and boy names, random things they did, and talking about the coaches who all had cool exotic names.

"It was fun! Mr. Yuri wasn't there to coach, so Luca took over for him." She said enthusiastically, as Aidan started mindlessly replying his usual "Wow!" "Cool!" "No way!" and zoning out.

"Madeline said that I couldn't stretch with her and her friends, but its okay, she's mean and I don't like her anyway. Then Marco pulled my ponytail and I wanted to hit him, but Luca came and told him off in Italian. Luca is so sweet and nice and pretty, and Marco is so mean, I don't know how they could be brothers." She went on, and on as Aidan cranked the car pretending to listen.

"Luca is perfect, I want to be just like Luca one day. He's like the best gymnast ever. You know, Aidan? Mr. Yuri said Team Canada Olympic Scouts are coming in a few weeks to watch Luca! Mr. Yuri said we could watch! Mr. Yuri says he could go to the Olympics! And and and! he's a cheerleader! I want to be a Cheerleader just like Luca! I want to be just like him when I grow up."

"Yeah..." Aidan started mindlessly staring back out the windshield at the road before he suddenly braked. "Wait... What did you say?"

"Maybe if you really listened to me you'd know." She said cutely, folding her arms over her chest and pouting at Aidan.

"I was listening!" Aidan protested with a fake pout that mirrored hers.

"Mommy says lying is bad." Emma replied sassily as an adorable grin crept on her face.

"Emma..." He rolled his eyes and said sternly. "Okay fine, I'm sorry. I zoned out." he melted, "But who did you say was a cheerleader?"

"Luca" She said as her face brightened at the mention of this mystery boy's name.

"You said he's a cheerleader?" Aidan said as his mind began to race and Emma nodded enthusiastically. "What does he look like, this Luca?" Aidan asked frantically.

"He's so pretty." Emma said with heart eyes as she thought about said boy. "He has really dark hair that almost looks black, and his eyes are so pretty and brown. He has a perfect smile. Maddie says that he's going to be her boyfriend, but I told her HE'S MINE-"

"Emmy focus. Tell me about this Luca." Aidan said cutting her off and refocusing the conversation back on track. "How old is he?"

"Uhhh... I don't know, older?" Emma said confusedly with a shrug as Aidan groaned, ready to pull his hair out.

"Okay... That wasn't helpful... Does he go to school?" He asked trying hard to maintain his patience with the little girl.

"Yeah! I think he goes to Hilldale! Do you know him?" Emma said as Aidan leaned back in his seat in disappointment, though he didn't recognize the name it was more than likely he just didn't know him, it was a pretty big school. He wanted to swear in frustration but knew his mother would chew him out for swearing in front of his baby sister.

"Oh...Nevermind..." Aidan mumbled, as he suddenly lost all interest in this Luca person, though Emma clearly didn't catch on. She went on and on again about how he was a cheerleader and how scouts from the Canadian Olympic team were coming to potentially recruit him the Men's gymnastics team. Aidan didn't really care so he went back to pretending to listen and periodically pulling from his repertoire of fake enthusiastic responses.

They eventually pulled up to their house and Emma got out of the car, running inside and leaving Aidan to watch her bounce away with a smile, shaking his head in amusement at her.

"Hey Emmy! How was practice today, sweetheart?" Aidan's mom asked as Emma ran into the kitchen and gave her a tight hug.

"It was good mommy! Luca said I'm getting really good at balance beam!" She said proudly with a grin.

"Aww! Luca is such a nice young man. Tell him I said hi if he's there next time okay, Emmy!" His mom said with a smile as she sprinkled salt and pepper into the pan of mixed vegetables she was cooking.

"God not this again." Groaned Aidan under his breath.

"What's the matter, Aidan sweetie?" His mom asked while stirring the vegetables on the stove.

"I had to listen to Luca this, Luca that, all the way home." Aidan said rolling his eyes.

"Well you were the one asking all the questions about him!" Emma said pouting at him with attitude as Aidan's mom looked up at him with a concerned expression.

"Emmy baby, why don't you go and change, dinner will be ready soon." Their mom said as the little girl sauntered off to her room.

"What is this about you asking about Luca?" She said concernedly as Aidan just stared back at her. "I hope this isn't about that ridiculous rivalry." Aidan stared at her confusedly trying to make head or tail of what she was saying.

"What do you m-" Aidan started only to be cut off again by his mother's incessant nagging.

"I swear to God, Aidan if you target him because his sexuality... We didn't raise you like that. Just leave him alone."

"MOM CAN I GET A WORD IN!? IM JUST CURIOUS WHO THIS GUY IS?! OKAY JESUS!" He yelled in frustration as his mom just stares at him wide eyed.

"Luca? Luca Greco. He's one of the Hilldale gymnastics junior coaches. He goes to Crenshaw and is a cheerleader there. He's Isabella Russo's brother's boy, You know Arianna? Her cousin. But why the sudden interest?" She said nonchalantly pouring the vegetables out of the pan and onto a serving dish.