The silence that follows Tyler's words are about as heavy as an anvil. For several seconds Vale and I just stare at him, neither one of us knowing what to say as Tyler stands on the porch, a knowing smirk on his lips. A soft breeze is billowing the tree in the front yard that hid our friend from us as we gave away our secret, and I watch the branches scratch against the window that I know belongs to mine and Keke's room. God, if Keke caught us before I could tell her the truth... I shudder, not even wanting to think about it.

The quiet only breaks when Vale sighs and says, "How long have you suspected?"

Tyler folds his arms across his chest, an amused smile on his face as the wind runs its fingers through his blond hair. "A while, honestly. I started questioning it when I saw you two kissing at the party. But I didn't really believe it until this trip. You just kept sneaking off together for long periods of time. And then the 'rash' on Gen's neck, which was in the perfect spot for a hickey. Seriously, I don't know how I'm the only one who's figured it out."

"Do you think Keke or the twins suspect anything?" I ask, feeling a bubble of anxiety start to grow in the pit of my stomach.

"No," Tyler replies as he shakes his head. "I don't. Keke is too wrapped up in Paul, and the twins are... well, they're the twins. We all know how they are." He shakes his head, and I watch as his smile grows wider on his face. "You know, you almost had me fooled, Vale. I mean, I asked you about it the night after it happened. You told me it hadn't meant anything, but you were upset because things were so awkward between you. What an act. I'm impressed."

Vale shakes his head, and I see he's starting to smile too. "Well, it wasn't really an act at first." His eyes find mine in the dark, and they soften slightly, as if they're asking my permission to tell the truth. But we don't really have any other choice. We've been caught. It's time to face the music. I give him a little nod of my head and watch as his whole body relaxes. "We didn't get together until a couple weeks later."

"Are you going to tell?" I ask quietly, and I see Tyler's eyes fall on me.

His brow furrows. "I mean... I guess not. It's not really my thing to tell. But I don't really understand what all the secrecy is about. If you guys are hooking up, then who cares? As long as you're happy, right?"

Yes, he is right. So why am I so stressed out at the idea that he's going to spill our secret to Keke and the twins? Would it really change anything if they knew the truth? I know Vale and I just discussed this at the beach. There's no doubt in my mind that I want to be with him. And it definitely has nothing to do with me being ashamed of him. But I just have this desperate need to keep this a secret for right now, and I don't really understand it all that much myself.

But before I can think about it too much, Vale slides his warm hand in mine and says firmly, "Right now, keeping it a secret is what makes us happy. We just want some time to be us. Just for a while. So would you mind keeping this to yourself for now, Ty? Until we're ready to tell everyone the truth?"

I know Tyler is not a gossip. If he was, then everyone would've known that Vale and I are together by now. I mean, that first kiss should've been a dead giveaway. But that's just not the kind of person Tyler is. And I know that, out of all the members of our small friend group, he's the one who is least likely to spill the beans. Tyler stares at us for a long moment, focusing on our intertwined fingers. We wait with bated breath for him to give us an answer. And finally, we watch as a tiny smile begins to form on our friend's face.

"Your secret's safe with me," he says, and I let out of breath of relief. "Honestly, I don't care who knows. I just wanted to see if I was right. But I'm happy for you guys. It's about time, too."

"What do you mean?" I ask, surprised by his words.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I mean... I've always kind of expected it. I don't know. Maybe I'm the only one. But I was always waiting for you guys to get together. You sleep together all the time, for fucks sake. If I tried to stay the night at any of the girls' houses, my parents would lose their minds. I'm kind of surprised you two haven't already hooked up by now."

Vale shakes his head in disbelief. "You are the second person tonight to say something to that affect," he says, and I can hear the amusement in his voice. Tyler's eyebrow quirks up, and Vale explains. "Apparently Fowler always suspected we'd get together too. Or at least, he always suspected I wanted to."

"Did you?" Tyler asks, and I have a sneaking suspicion he already knows the answer.

Vale nods his head, and I know that, at least with Tyler, all the secrets are out. "Since we were kids."

Now it's Tyler's turn to smile in amusement. "I figured." Another silence falls between the three of us as the sun begins to rise higher into the early morning sky. "We should probably all get to our beds before the girls wake up. If you don't want anyone to know, then you should pretend you were in the house the whole night. I don't think they're getting suspicious, but they're going to start asking questions soon if the two of you keep disappearing for hours at a time together."

He's absolutely right, and I hate it. I turn to look at Vale, who's watching my reaction to all of this. His light brown eyes are filled with what looks like concern, and I can't help but wonder why. "Looks like we'll just have to do a better job of hiding it then," I say to Tyler, and Vale wilts ever so slightly. God, I feel terrible. I know he wants to tell everyone. And part of me wants to tell everyone too. It's hard for me to hide this part of my life from the people I care about most. I wish I could properly explain why I want to keep it a secret, but the truth is that I'm not sure why myself.

Tyler nods his head, says a quick goodnight, and goes into the house, leaving the two of us alone together again. Vale pulls me in for a tight hug, and it's warm and filled with so many emotions. When he pulls away finally, his eyes lock with mine. He takes a deep breath and says, so quietly that I can barely hear him, "It's not me, right? I mean, you swear you're not embarrassed to be seen with me like this?"

A tiny smile begins to tug at the corner of my lips as I lean forward and press them against his. He bends to it immediately, and for several seconds we're frozen in time by the power of this kiss. But the sun is almost all the way up, and I know our time is limited. I pull away, slide my fingers through his thick black curls, and say, "I would never be embarrassed to be seen with you, Vale. Ever. I just need more time to be alone with you. And honestly, I could use some more time to just process everything. I swear to you though, we will tell everyone. And soon."

This seems to soothe him some, although I'm not sure how much. A small grin spreads across his face as he caresses my cheek. "I can't wait for that day to come," he whispers, and I feel my stomach flip like I've just gone upside down on a rollercoaster. "When I say you're the only person I've ever wanted to be with, Gen... I mean it. I just... I want it to be real, you know? I need this to be real."

I nod my head because I understand where he's coming from. And I think, in that sense, we're the same. I need to make sure this is real before the rest of the world knows. Before everyone around us overcomplicates things. I need to know what I feel and what I want for myself. "I know what you mean," I reply. "Soon, Vale. Very soon."

He sighs and nods his head, and for a while we just stand outside in the morning light, neither one of us knowing what to say. Neither one of us wanting to let this moment go. Because, for all we know, this could be our last one for a while. His grease-stained fingers are playing with mine as we stare at each other, listening to the sound of everything around us waking up. Watching the sunlight spread across our faces. "I don't want to leave you," I finally say, breaking the quiet that has enveloped us.

"I don't want you to," he says back. Why is this so hard? It's not like we're going to be apart for very long. Honestly, we'll probably see each other again in just a few hours. But by then it'll be different. Back to being Gen and Vale, best friends forever. And who knows when we'll get to be what we both really want to be again. "Meet me by the same piece of driftwood tomorrow night?" he finally says, and I hear a slight hint of hesitation in his voice.

I consider this for a moment. If I sneak away again, Keke will probably think I just snuck off with Lucas. And Tyler already knows our secret, so we don't have to worry about what he thinks if Vale isn't in his bed. It could work. "Okay," I whisper to Vale, and I find that saying goodnight to him is easier now. We have a plan to be together again soon. As soon as the sun goes down and everyone else goes to sleep. It seems like so far away, but it's not. Not really. So I give Vale one final kiss before heading up the stairs and walking into the house, leaving him to sneak in a few minutes later.

Lucas is still fast asleep on the couch, and I can see a small puddle of drool on the pillow under his head. He really is a very good-looking guy. And in another life, maybe we could've been together. It's not like we didn't get close several times. But even as I stare at him now, I find that every bit of what I felt for him before has faded away. Vale has taken up every inch of my heart. But the truth is, he really always had it. I was either too dumb or too blind to realize it. But it's like noticing a tiny detail in a painting for the first time. Once you see it, it'll always be there. Even though it's been there the whole time.

I sneak into my room just as I hear the front door open downstairs. A few moments later, I hear the sound of footsteps as Vale makes his way to the room he shares with Tyler. Everyone but the three of us is asleep. Keke is buried under the covers, but I can see them rise and fall with her breathing. Quietly and carefully, I slip into bed, hoping I'm being sneaky enough not to wake her. My head hits the pillow, and I realize for the first time how exhausted I am.

But even though I'm horribly tired, I find that I just can't sleep. There are too many thoughts running through my mind. Too many questions. And when I finally do drift off into a restless sleep, my mind torments me with images of my best friend. His lean, muscular arms wrapped around me. His lips against my ear as he whispers sweet things that only I can hear. They're the best kind of dreams, but also the worst. Because I don't want them to be dreams. Vale isn't the only one who wants everything to be real. I think I'm just afraid that, if I tell everyone and it ends up not being real, it will destroy me. Because Vale is the only one who can destroy me. And, I'm not going to lie, that scares the hell out of me.

Author's Note:

Happy Sunday night! Hope everyone is doing well. I apologize again for the slow updates. As I mentioned before, I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year, so my work on A Touch of Cinnamon has slowed down just a bit. But I know exactly where I want the story to go, which is great. I just need to have the time to sit down and write it. Unfortunately, that's not looking so great at the moment.

The good news is that I knew this was going to happen. So I planned ahead and wrote a few chapters ahead on this story. The bad news is that I have one more chapter until I'm caught up to where I am in the story. Which means I need to make time for this and fast. I can't wait until Nano is over and I can give my full and undivided attention back to Gen and Vale. Soon. Very soon.

Hope you're all doing well! And I hope you're still enjoying the story. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and I'll be back next week with a brand new chapter! Thanks for reading, my dears!

XOXO,

~Aly