AUTHOR NOTE// so...It's me. I'm back with more writing. Semi-proud with this, 

not exactly. I have some things I wanna go over. I want this story to be 

More than just a gay romance drama novel, I want it to go over real 

world problems. Here are some important topics I wanna include: 

• heart breaks 

• Depression 

• self harm 

• homophobia 

• eating disorders 

• body issues 

• self confidence. 

Now, when I write these, I don't mean to offend anyone. I've struggled with some of these and 

some of them im still struggling with. I just want to shed light on them. To brighten the mood,

i think it's hilarious how I can't write a single 1,000 word chapter but I can write an entire 

2,000 + word thing on just Jesse and Samuel making out and their thoughts about each other.

just freaking blows my mind. Anyways, enjoy the chapter! 

"What was that?" Samuel questioned, already fearing the worst. Samuel tore Jesse's hand away from him, rubbing the soft skin on his wrist.

Jesse looked like he was having a heart attack. His once tanned skin was now a pale, vampire white. "Do you think someone..?"

"Maybe."

"No fucking way," Jesse hissed, his skin starting to go back to its normal pigment, except his cheeks which were becoming a bright red. "There's no way someone could have heard us. Right?"

"We wouldn't be in this position if you didn't ask me in here while we were in the middle of studying, in front of everyone." Samuel replied sternly, "of course someone heard us, you made it so obvious something was up."

Jessie's cheeks were already flushed a bright red, his face beating up in complete anger. "Well you know what-"

"Don't." Was all Samuel said before Jesse stormed out. Samuel rolled his eyes, sometimes he could be so childish. How could he date a man like him?

As the two entered the living room, they stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Aspen and Cory packing up their stuff.

"It was very nice if you to have us over," Aspen could be heard saying as they entered the dorm's small living room.

"What's happening?" Samuel asked slowly as he walked in, all eyes on him and Jesse.

"Cory said we should get going, we're just saying our goodbyes before we continue to study at our dorm."

"But, you can stay here.." Cory suddenly spoke up, the words seemingly being forced out of his mouth, "unless you want to stay."

Samuel and Jesse shared a look, "we'll come along, in a moment." Samuel replied.

"Great," Aspen paused, "I think we have all our stuff, right Cory?"

"Right.."

Samuel stared at Cory who stared back, soon looking away from him as he grabbed his bag. The brown-haired boy clutched Aspen's hands tightly, the older gave him a concerned look as he squeezed his hand.

Aspen then turned to Liam, leaning in and whispering something into his ear, Liam nodding as he glanced at Cory. The two boys then said their goodbyes, telling Jesse and Samuel they'd see them back at the dorm before they left. Aspen could tell something was wrong with the boy, but what? Was it something they said? No, of course not. Aspen knew nobody had said anything to Cory, he was with him the whole time.

But Cory went to the bathroom. Jesse and Samuel were by the bathrooms too. Did they say something to him?

Aspen glanced over at Cory who still held his hand, seemingly walking towards the hall at a quicker pace than usual, something that worried Aspen greatly.

"Hey," Aspen said, "slow down."

"What?" Cory asked, suddenly coming to a stop, turning to look back at him.

"You're going way too quickly," Aspen chuckled quietly, "why are you in such a rush?"

"I-I'm not!" Cory stuttered out, his face becoming a tomato red as he looked down at the floor.

"Mmm," Aspen thought, "Is there something on your mind?"

Cory then let go of Aspen's hand, reaching for the shiny black camera that was proudly hung around his neck. Cory then ran his fingers over the lens nervously, something he'd regret later on. Aspen touched Cory's shoulder tenderly, causing him to shiver— looking up at him. Aspen's eyes stayed concentrated on Cory's eyes, trying to find any ounce of emotion in him as they stopped walking. "Promise," he told him, "mm' okay"

Aspen stared at him for a few lingering seconds before he nodded with a smile. "Of course you're okay," Aspen chuckled. His anxiety probably got the best of him. Cory was probably fine and Aspen was just overly worried and protective of the boy. "I'm just worried that's all."

Cory began to walk towards their dorm, Aspen trailing behind him. Neither of them said a word to each other. As the two arrived at their dorm, Aspen pulled a pair of silver keys out of his dress shirt pocket, moving aside his school uniform jacket. He slid the key into the keyhole, turning it and opening the door for the two. Cory rushed inside, sloppily throwing his bag into the ground. Aspen rolled his eyes playfully, walking inside and setting his bag down neatly on a rack, retrieving Cory's bag from the floor and setting it next to his. Aspen then turned around, expecting to see Cory; however, the boy was not there. "Cory?"

"Bathroom!" He heard Cory yell from the bathroom. Strange. Really strange, actually. Cory was in the rush to use the bathroom and didn't say anything? It didn't add up.

Aspen thought for a moment, "Uhm, okay! Don't take too long, ok?"

No answer.

Ok, maybe his anxiety was right, for once. Something was really off about Cory, and Aspen Just couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was. Aspen ventured to their shared room, closing the door behind him. Aspen walked past scattered clothes on the floor, walking towards his bed and laying down, not bothering to take his shoes off on his perfectly clean, white bed. He laid there and tried his best to relax. Though, relaxing didn't come easy to him when all that was on his mind was Cory. And it wasn't in the weird, obsessed way. It was a nervous way. Anxious.

Was it taking Cory a long time to use the restroom? Of course not. Or was it?

Cory was acting strange, no doubt about it. He went from overly happy to strangely quiet and seemingly upset, in all of a matter of seconds.

Aspen didn't realize, but he'd spent maybe ten minutes worrying about Cory. Time passed quickly. And by now, Cory should have been out of the bathroom. But still, the boy was nowhere to be seen. Aspen decided to go check on him, just to make sure he was doing alright. Aspen got up from his bed, walking to the door and opening it, stepping out. Aspen scanned the front room to see if Cory was there. He wasn't. Aspen's attention soon turned to the bathroom, stepping in front of it. Aspen knocked softly, the door freaking open slightly. "Cory?" Aspen spoke softly, waiting for the reply of the other male. He didn't get any reply, all he heard was a quiet rustling sound and sniffle. "Cory, is everything ok?" Aspen turned the doorknob, pushing the door open.

Fuck. He was crying.

Cory looked up at him, tears staining his cheeks and clothes. His eyes, which were a puffy red widened as he quickly looked away, using his sleeve to wipe his face. Aspen didn't say anything at first. He didn't know what to say. For a few seconds, all that could be heard was the heavy breathing and the soft sniffles from Cory. Aspen shook his head softly, kneeling down in front of Cory as if he (Cory) was his child and Aspen was a mother. Cory's hands were shaking terribly, almost as if he was having a panic attack. "Cory?"

Cory shook his head violently, hiding his face in his hands. Aspen pouted, slowly taking Cory's hands away from his face, squeezing them. "It's ok," he told Cory softly, trying not to be loud and upset the boy even more. "What happened?"

Cory sobbed, clinging to Aspen's hands like it would be the last time he'd ever hold them. "J-Jesse," was all he could muster out of his mouth, and Aspen knew. Aspen knee exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh."

"What'd you hear?" Aspen asked softly.

"H-He..S-Sam..." Cory was a hot mess. He couldn't get full sentences out, due to his crying. His face became an even brighter red.

"Take your time," Aspen replied, inching closer to Cory.

Cory nuzzled his face into Aspen's chest, pulling him in close as he cried. Aspen then began to stroke his hair soothingly, trying his best to calm Cory.

If someone had seen them like this, they'd think they were in a relationship. They weren't. They had feelings for each other, but not in that kind of way. Aspen felt the need to take care of and protect Cory. They had a brother-like bond. Sure, Liam was one of his best friends and they'd kept in contact, but Cory was like a younger brother to him.

"It r-really hurt."

Aspen nodded softly, "I know."

"I tried really hard to impress him.."

Aspen didn't really know what type of advice to give him. It wasn't like Aspen didn't have a lot of heartbreaks in his life, trust me he did. It was just, Cory was sensitive. If he said anything wrong, Cory would just break into tears and they'd be just back at where they started. Aspen would have to watch what he said.

"But that just means he wasn't for you," Aspen paused, looking to see Cory's reaction. Fuck, he was starting to cry again. Great. "B-But, that also means that there's someone else out there for you. And you never know, I don't wanna get your hopes up, but Jesse could leave Sam for you."

Cory forced himself to laugh, sniffling afterward. "You suck at this.."

Aspen grinned at Cory, replying sarcastically, "Gee, thanks."

Cory hiccuped softly, now calmer. "I tried so hard..for him..for him to like me..ya know?"

"Yeah, I know— but things don't always work out. That's one of the crappiest things about life." Aspen said. "But I know everything will work out in the end. I promise you."

"promise?" Cory questioned, hope in his eyes.

"Promise," Aspen replied, "And I always keep a promise."

Cory smiled, pulling his head away from Aspen's chest and instead pulling Aspen into a long, warm embrace. Aspen ran his fingers through Cory's hair and let out a sigh. This should be fun.