- 5 weeks later -

The vacation had come to an end, and it was with a sigh that Arden packed the last of his things into the red duffel bag, his suitcase already waiting by the door.

They were due to leave for the airport in just over an hour, and Arden shook his head in disbelief at the boy lying on the bed opposite him.

"Mycah?" he scowled, taking in the other boys empty suitcase and clothes strewn all over the floor.

"Arden?" mimicked Mycah, not tearing his eyes off the sports weekly magazine in his hand. Although he hadn't turned the page in a few minutes and Arden was convinced Mycah was looking at the magazine solely to admire the hot sports stars.

Arden simply rolled his eyes, well used to the cheeky replies he had grown accustomed to many years ago. "Are you planning on packing up anytime soon?"

Mycah groaned, flinging himself backwards on the bed dramatically. "Ardennnnnn..." he whined, sounding like a sulky toddler. The magazine lay discarded on the floor.

"Mycah we're leaving in an hour, and you have nothing ready," scolded Arden.

"I hate packing."

"I know."

"And I'm bad at it."

"I don't care."

Mycah turned to Arden, giving him the biggest and most pleading puppy dog eyes he could.

"No way," said Arden.

"I didn't even say anything!" protested Mycah innocently.

"You didn't have to! Your face said it all!" Arden exclaimed. "Not happening!"

"Please?"

"No."

"Ardennnn"

"Nope. No way. I told you three days ago that I wasn't going to do this for you."

"But Arden, I've been so nice to you since then. And I'm so cute. And someone as cute as me needs help packing up." Mycah pleaded again, kneeling up on the bed and wrapping his arms around Arden's waist, staring up at him with his bottom lip jutted out and puppy dog eyes.

Arden faltered. He hesitated, going back and forth between his internal conflict of not wanting to let Mycah have his way, whilst simultaneously knowing that he couldn't truly resist Mycah. Eventually he let out a groan, dropping his head into his hands.

Mycah's face broke out in a cheeky grin. "You're the best," he grinned, leaning up to place a kiss on Arden's lips. "Besides, if you think about it, the quicker we pack the more time we have for other things.." he trailed off with a smirk.

Arden fought back a smile. "Do you ever think of anything other than food and sex?" he asked.

"Absolutely," said Mycah. "I think of you, and your little nose, and your big strong hands, and how cute they would look putting my things into a suitcase."

"Remind me why I put up with you again?" Arden sighed.

"Because I'm hot, and funny, and cute, and way out of your league..." Mycah joked, and Arden shoved him back by the shoulder.

"Enough flirting, we have to make a start on this room if we want to be ready in time to go," Arden said as he began to make his way to the chest of drawers, taking out Mycah's crumpled shirts and folding them neatly into the suitcase.

"What if I don't want to go?" huffed Mycah from his position in the bed, which was notably not helping Arden in his clean up efforts.

Arden flung a shirt at Mycah. "Up. Now. Help."

Mycah scowled but rose from the bed and began to gather his things from the bedside table.

"I don't want to go either Mycah, but that's how it goes with vacations." Arden said, in answer to Mycah's previous statement.

They had said goodbye to their four new friends earlier. To no one's surprise, Connor and Felix held hands almost the entire time. In the last few weeks, they had slowly made their relationship more public. Once they came to the realization that pretty much everyone had figured it out at that stage anyway. And once they realized nobody really cared, it was a lot easier for the both of them.

As for Arden and Mycah, they had also enjoyed these last few weeks together. They didn't keep their relationship a secret from their friends, although the same couldn't be said for their parents, who were none the wiser as to what their teenage sons had been getting up to behind closed doors. At least that's what Mycah and Arden thought.

A short while later and the room was looking like it did the day they arrived. Satisfied with their work, the boys brought their bags downstairs, leaving them ready to go at the front door. Their parents rushed around the house, double checking that everything was ready to go.

"How long until we have to leave mom?" Mycah asked as she came into the front hall from the adjoining kitchen.

"About 40 minutes honey," she replied, eyeing the two suitcases and duffel bags at the front door with approval.

"Arden and I are just gonna take one final walk on the beach, shouldn't be too long," announced Mycah.

"We are?" Arden turned to him. This was news to him.

"Sure, sure" replied Jillian distractedly, brushing them off with a wave. "Just don't be late back. Is everything cleaned up in your room?"

The boys nodded in unison, before Mycah pushed the front door open and they went out into the blazing sunshine and toward the beach.

They walked near the top of the dunes, where the sand mixed with the grass. They found a comfortable place to sit, lowering themselves to the ground and taking in the view surrounding them.

"So listen.." Arden began, turning to face Mycah. "I have something I need to ask you."

Mycah's heart sank.

Sure it had only been a few weeks, but he was only lying to himself if he said he wasn't falling hard and fast for Arden. But Arden was still in the closet and they would be back in school in a week. A familiar feeling of dread pooled in his stomach.

This wasn't the first time he had thought about the fact that when they went back to reality, Arden and him would have to go back to being just friends.

Not that they were exactly friends before.

"Mycah?" Arden sounded concerned. "You still there?"

Mycah cleared his throat. "Yeah sorry, just spaced out. You were saying?" he tried to sound casual, but thankfully Arden didn't comment on his strained voice.

Arden flushed, looking down at the ground. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Course I did," Mycah exclaimed indignantly, but the look on his face gave him away and Arden shoved him, holding back a laugh.

"I'll keep my recap short, as not to bore you again," Arden began, earning him a guilty smile from Mycah. "I was saying that the past few weeks has really made me realize that it's okay to be myself."

Mycah's heart lifted. Maybe this wouldn't be bad news.

"And I'm hoping that when we get back, I can finally be true to myself publicly."

A grin broke out on Mycah's face, and he lunged in to hug Arden, who swiftly put a hand between them. "Hold on, I'm not finished. What I'm saying is I don't want to spend my last year of high school hiding in the closet. The last three years have been long enough. It won't be easy for me, but I'm hoping that with you by my side I'll be okay?"

Arden trailed off, and Mycah took it as his cue to speak, although he didn't quite understand why was going on. Arden looked at him expectantly.

"Wait hold up, is that a question?" Mycah asked, confused.

Arden sighed. "Does everything need to be spelled out for you Mycah?" he asked, face flushed in embarrassment.

Mycah was even more confused.

"Mycah!" Arden exclaimed.

"What?" Mycah said defensively.

"Imaskinyoutobemyboyfriend." Arden blurted it out without a pause.

Oh.

Oh.

A grin broke out on Mycah's face. So that's what Arden was trying to say. Geez, would it have hurt to make it a little clearer?

All this time he was panicking that Arden was going to end things. And look at this, here he was asking him out. Mycah could hardly believe his luck.

"Mycah please say something?" Arden looked as if he was going to cry.

"What was the question again?" Mycah teased with a smirk.

Arden scowled. "Don't make me ask again," he said through gritted teeth.

"I didn't hear you," sang Mycah,

Arden flares at him. "Fine, then I guess you'll never know," he deadpanned. He stood up beginning to walk towards the house, knowing full well that Mycah had heard him and that in about 0.3 seconds he would have caught up.

Sure enough, no sooner had Arden taken two steps when a hand reached out and grabbed his. Mycah pulled Arden back and before the latter had any chance to react, Mycah had enveloped him in a deep kiss, hands slinging themselves around his neck.

They pulled back, both breathless.

"Yes," said Mycah, resting his forehead against Arden's. "A thousand times yes."

Both boys grinned, and Arden felt himself physically deflate with relief. He couldn't believe he had actually asked a boy out. What's more, he couldn't believe said boy had said yes. What's more he couldn't believe that said boy was Mycah Rhodes for God's sakes!

They stayed on the beach for a short while longer, taking in the families below then on the sand and the ice cream stalls dotted randomly throughout. The evening sun shone on the serene water, which glimmered and sparkled in response. They knew they were going to miss this place. When the time came they interlocked their fingers, and began making their way back to the house. It was almost time to go.

Mycah was grinning like a madman, and it was all he could do to stop himself from jumping in the air with glee. "You do realize what this means right. Our friends are going to find out."

"I know," Arden said. "But as long as you have my back, I think I'll be okay. Besides, it'll be so worth it to see the looks on their faces."

Mycah agreed. "They're seriously not going to believe us," he said, just as they arrived up to the front of the house.

Arden leant against a tree in the drive. "Neither will our parents," he said with a snort.

"Man I don't know, I've a feeling they know more than they're letting on," Mycah said, shrugging in reply.

Arden was doubtful. "After the last dozen years of war between us, I doubt anyone's going to believe us," he said with a laugh.

"Well, were just going to have to prove it then, aren't we." Mycah said seductively, voice was little more than whisper.

Arden's eyes fell to Mycah's lips, and he was momentarily grateful for the tree he was leaning against, because his legs almost buckled when Mycah leant in and gave him another kiss.

They were wrapped up in each other's arms, their lips moving in synchronization. Mycah couldn't help but swell with pride at the thought that he was kissing his boyfriend.

God, this would never get old.

The boys, too caught up in their moment, had forgotten that they were in public view, right at the front of the house. So when a noise came from behind Mycah, they broke away and stared at each other with wide eyes that said one thing: oh shit.

Time stood still as they pulled away from each other and Mycah turned. The boys were horrified to see all four of their parents standing by the car, staring at them with equal parts shock, shock and shock.

Arden turned to Mycah. "What was it you said about them knowing more than they let on?" he deadpanned.

"We all make mistakes Angel," Mycah quipped, turning back to face the parents with a doleful smile.

"You two have some explaining to do, " Stacey said half-stern, although the twinkle in her eye gave her away.

Mycah and Arden looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.. they were in for a long journey home.

The end

><><><><

Hi

I'm sorry....

I know I've been gone for like nearly 2 years. The amount of messages I got asking me was I still alive bruh

I'm sorry I really am but life got in the way :(

But I said from the start that I would finish this book. I made a promise and y'all deserve me to stick to that.

Thank you for the continued support. I know this mightn't be the final chapter you expected, and tbh it's been so long there could be a few loose ends but I owed it to you all to give you an ending. To give our boys and ending ❤️

It's been a while.. I wrote this whole chapter calling Mycah 'Kaden' instead from PTSG lol had to go back and edit it all

I hope y'all don't hate me too much. Love you guys and your comments made me smile so much.

Til next time

Xx

-A