~Noah~

We see colours everywhere.

Blue, red, green, yellow, black, white.

Sometimes we give meaningless definitions to these.
White for peace.
Red for love, passion, anger.
Blue for depression.
Black for depth.

For me, white was for pain. The pain I go through because of it being blank, much like the guy I adored.

Red was for the embarrassment I went through whenever I realised that I was hopelessly falling and it was inevitably one sided.

Blue was for the tears I had started to feel welling up inside me.

And black. It was the representation of the darkness of our future. Almost non existent.

~Ian~

I pulled up at the destination.

"The...woods," came a whisper from the seat beside me, followed by a soft gasp of surprise.

I rejoiced within, thinking he liked it. And when I turned around to see Noah's face, I couldn't help but chuckle.

He was eyeing the surroundings like it was the place I was going to guillotine him at.

He looked at me with a slight tincture of doubt in his blue eyes. I smiled hoping to relax him but he looked even more taken aback.

I sighed at my pathetic and his hopeless self and got out of the car. He followed.

I pulled the baskets out of the backseat while he waited, looking around, still taking in the environment.

"Come on," I ushered, jerking my head in the forward direction with my hands full of baskets.

He looked at the baskets, then at my face and then began walking forward with me by the side.

The dry leaves crushed under our feet as we made our way over to the lake. It was so quiet that we could hear the breeze brushing past our ears.

It was just a short distance, and when we stopped we both couldn't help but 'Wow' in unison.
The lake was just a small one but it was glistening as the retreating sun mercifully cast it's soft sunshine on it. There were small stretches of colourful flowers growing around it, giving it a picturesque view.

"It's beautiful," said the soft voice on my left.

I smiled inwardly, satisfied that I chose the right place.

The grass was fresh and soft so I decided to keep the baskets aside and sit there itself. Noah seemed to agree.

We sat side by side, facing the lake, a little distance between us as silence prevailed in the atmosphere.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Noah," I said, and that made him jump slightly.
We looked at each other.

I didn't want to take my eyes off his eyes so I kept looking deep into them.

"I want to know you." I stated.

I had planned out this date well beforehand. I had decided that it was better if we became friends with benefits than anything else. Because this stranger nonsense was driving us both insane. We didn't know what the other person thought of our actions and hence couldn't be sure of what to feel from the other person's reaction. So, if we were to continue sleeping with each other, we needed to open up with each other too.

"Uh..." he hesitated, turning his head back towards the lake.

"I want us to be friends, Noah." I told him honestly.

"With benefits?" He completed for me and I just shrugged.

He kept staring distantly at the lake, deep into his thoughts. I waited till he turned back to me, a tiny twinkling smile touching the corner of his lips.

"I'd like that." He responded with a nod.
I smiled again and that somehow made him blush.

"Okay, so... Tell me about yourself. What do you do?" I initiated, feeling excited, but not letting it surface in the tone of my voice.

"I'm an elementary school teacher." He replied, smiling broadly now.

"It's a great job, really. Little children are lovely." He continued.

I nodded. He was such a loving man. I bet everyone who knew him secretly had a crush on him, because he was that sweetheart of a person.

"What about you? What do you do?" He asked, intrigued.

"I'm studying architecture, third year at the uni." I answered and he nodded.

There was silence for a while and then I continued,
"What about your family?"

His face dropped as soon as he heard the word 'family' and I instantly regretted asking that.

"You don't have to tell me if you're-"

"They kicked me out." He cut me mid-sentence, staring at the lake again.

"I-I'm sorry." I murmured, turning to the lake myself.

"I was seventeen."

I looked back at him.

"And you've been living alone since then?" I asked, feeling pathetic inside. Why would anyone disown someone like him? Someone so lovable.

He shrugged.

"My parents didn't really appreciate me being a fag." He said in a low voice and I felt anger bubbling inside me.

I was a homophobophobe. If that even makes sense.

"I have a little sister too," He said, smiling a little, "She's seven."

I remained silent, wanting him to continue and tell me everything there was bottled up in his heart, and he did.

"I haven't seen her since then. Since she was one." He said.

It pained me to see him like this. He was away from someone he loved so dearly, and that was the cruelest punishment that could be given to anyone. And punishment for what? For being the angel that he was?

We talked for sometime more. I told him about my family too, everything, honest. We both were delirious about the lives we were leading and it felt good being in his presence. Being around him would never make anyone feel unloved.

"Hey, you must be hungry." I said and retrieved two boxes out of the basket.

I had made sandwiches and cookies for him. After all that I did to him, he deserved a little effort from my side.

I offered it to him and he blushed.

"You made them?" He asked, still blushing and I nodded, scratching the back of my neck sheepishly.

He chuckled and began eating. I joined because I was pretty hungry too.

Seeing him open up to me, smiling at what I say, laughing at the bitter taste of the cookies I had tried to make, blushing whenever I smiled, made me feel more happy than I had ever been.
Why had I been so blind?

He had every colour to himself.

He was white; innocent and pure.
He was red; loving and lovable.
He was blue; infinite like the skies.
He was black; dark and deep.

He was everything. He was everything beautiful.

And I...

I loved him.

A/N:

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