Cody and Quinn had taken a bus a little out of their small town to go to the free-range farm animal petting zoo run by a group of farmers. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun shone down blinding rays. Cody and Quinn were hiding from the heat and brightness under one of the four canopies that were set up. They watched the peacocks wander about, pecking the ground for grains from under the shade.

Cody giggled, "It's beautiful." The boy looked at the bird that had walked close to them to pick at the feed they'd been pouring on the ground.

Quinn smiled, happy that Cody was having fun. "Yeah," he said, looking at the chickens in the distance. When Cody had said yes to going on a date with him, he had been surprised, but he had clenched on to it. The next day he had been surprised to see Cody covered in bruises, but the smaller boy had smiled at him and asked when and where they would be going for the date, ignoring the fact that a section of his face was swollen and turning a nasty pink.

Quinn let himself turn to look at Cody. The smaller boy was grinning from ear to ear as a bird scavenged the soil close to him. The sight of his happiness made Quinn's face and ears grow warm. He was happy Cody was having so much fun. Going to the petting zoo had been something he had thought of last minute. He knew Cody liked animals, and he had some loose change to buy two entry tickets. After a while of them just standing under the shade they left it to walk around. When evening drew close the two boys left the petting zoo and started heading home.

"How was it?" Quinn asked when they got off the bus and started on their half an hour walk home.

Cody smiled. "It was great!" His voice had a cute skip to it.

"I'm happy to hear that," Quinn said, stretching out his hand, and brushing Cody's arm with his fingertips. "Can I hold your hand? No one really uses this path, so there's nothing to worry about," Quinn said, feeling his voice tremble. He was still nervous about coming on to Cody. He wasn't sure where his feelings drew a line.

Cody stared down at Quinn's darker hand for a bit, before reaching out to hold it. He gave it a squeeze that made Quinn smile. The two continued to head on their way, hand in hand.

Cody's face grew warm with every passing second. Quinn's larger hand was warm and firm, and it made his smaller hand feel safe in its grasp. Quinn didn't let go of his hand even when they got to a more crowded area, but Cody didn't ask for him to let go of it. If Quinn was fine with people seeing them, he was fine with it too.

"We should get something to eat at the convenience store, how's that?" Quinn said when he noticed that they would soon have to part ways. He didn't want that. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Quinn.

Cody nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." Quinn smiled, and with that, the two boys turned at the fork of the road to head to the nearby convenience store.

Quinn let go of Cody's hand at the door. "I'll be out soon," he promised.

"Okay," Cody muttered, watching as Quinn grinned before disappearing through the store's door. Cody waits at the side, resting his back on the wall.

Quinn, true to his word, was out in five minutes. "Here," he said, tossing a bottle of soft drink in Cody's direction.

The boy catches it. "Thank you," he said, looking over at Quinn who just grinned at him. The two went to the stairs at the back of the store to sit down. They sipped from their bottles in silence, not saying anything to each other as they watched the sun begin to set from their seats on the concrete staircase. They soon finished their drink, but none of them got up. They didn't want to part.

"You're smiling," Quinn said, making Cody turn and look up at him. He covered his cheeks, watching the grin on Quinn's face widen.

Cody's eyes flickered away from Quinn "Yeah," he muttered feeling his face warm up.

"I love it when you smile—when you seem happy." Quinn's voice made him look up at Quinn. The boy had a serious look on his face now. It felt intimidating—like Quinn would swallow him if he kept staring. Cody looked away, feeling overwhelmed by both the boy's words and his serious expression.

"Am I overdoing it?" Quinn asked after a while.

Cody frowned. "Overdoing what?" he asked, looking back at Quinn whose face was now dusted with a deep blush.

"The flirting thing. Am I coming off too strong?" Quinn asked, making Cody's face flush. The smaller boy didn't say anything in response. He just stared.

Quinn groans, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I just really like you, and I'm nervous. When I'm nervous I talk a lot."

A chuckle escaped Cody's lips. "It's okay."

Quinn raised a brow. "Are you sure?" he asked, cocking his head to the side to look at Cody.

"Yeah," the smaller boy confirmed, running his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I don't mind if you flirt with me a lot."

Quinn sighed in relief. "Okay."

There was a pause that made Quinn uncomfortable, so he tried to crack the ice. "I'm new to this dating thing if you couldn't tell," Quinn said, letting out a low laugh. Cody chuckled too, but he didn't say anything, so the silence returned.

Quinn, feeling nervous blurted out the first thought that popped into his head. "Why did you say yes to going on a date with me? I'm sorry. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I was just wondering—"

"I like you," Cody said, cutting the taller boy off.

Quinn blinked, surprised at the blunt answer. "Oh." The silence from before came back, but Quinn itched to say something in response.

"I like you a lot, I guess you already know that," he muttered, laughing a little. He did that a lot—laughing when he was nervous.

"I thought I was going to burst from joy when you asked me on a date," Cody said, looking over at Quinn with a smile. "I really like you, and I didn't think you liked me..." he trailed, going quiet at his last sentence.

He muttered something Quinn couldn't hear under his breath as he fidgeted with his fingers. He let out a sigh. "I mean look at me—"

"What do you mean 'look at you'?" Quinn asked, reaching out to run his fingers through Cody's hair "You're very pretty. Is that weird to say? I don't think you're handsome—pretty, just very pretty." Quinn was blurting nonsense now.

Cody laughed. "I don't think that makes sense."

"Neither do I," Quinn admitted. The boys laughed, and somehow, they were sitting much closer—the space between them on the stairs gone. Quinn had moved down a stair, and now they were sitting side by side. The taller boy reached out for Cody's hand and the boy let him take it. They were holding hands now, both watching the orange of the sun disappear behind the grey of the clouds.

"Hey," Quinn said, making Cody turn to face him. "Would it be too much if I asked for a kiss?" Quinn's face grew warm as the request left his lips.

Cody shook his head. "No, not at all." He was nervous too, but he wanted Quinn to kiss him. He'd been thinking about that all week.

Cody could feel his heart beating faster as the dark-haired boy cupped his cheek with his hand before bringing his face forward. Their lips touched for a moment before the two pulled away. The kiss was light—almost nonexistent.

Quinn took in a deep breath. His heart was racing from the peck, but it didn't feel enough. He stared at Cody, gathering the courage to ask for another one, "Is it okay if I want to do it again—?" He paused. "For longer this time?"

Cody smiled. "Yes," he said reaching out to cup Quinn's face in his hands before pressing his lips against the boy's. He moved his lips, opening his mouth a bit when Quinn touched his lips with his tongue. They sighed into each other's mouths, pressing and touching their tongues as their warm breaths fanned each other's faces. Quinn hummed into the kiss, letting his fingers run through Cody's hair.

Quinn felt like his heart was going to burst. His stomach felt warm, and the hairs on his body stood up to every whimper and sigh that came out of Cody's mouth. Cody felt overwhelmed by Quinn too. His hands shook so he wrapped his arms around Quinn and balled his hands into fists and Quinn kissed along his neckline. The boys continued to kiss on the stairs, holding on to each other as the sunset. None of them had ever felt the way they felt that evening before—the hungry want for another person's touch.

A specific person's touch.