The living room/kitchen of Quinn's apartment was filled with the smell of spices and cooked meat. It was late noon, and the family, along with Cody who'd been invited for dinner were sitting about and eating rice from their plates as they talked.

Quinn's mother narrowed her eyes at Cody. "Eat up, we must do something about how small you are."

The boy blushed, making Quinn groan.

"Mum, stop it," he said, looking over at Cody with soft eyes to see if he was okay. Quinn's mother laughed, looking away from them.

Quinn whispered under his breath. "You can have as much or as little as you want," he said, still worrying about what his mother had said.

Cody smiled, nodding at his boyfriend before reaching out for the bowl across the living room's center table.

Quinn's mother spoke up, starting a conversation. "So, what do you plan to do after graduation? Trade? Most of the boys in your year are doing a trade." She said, looking at Cody. The boy remained silent, and his brows knitted together. He hadn't considered any of that. He'd just been thinking about waking up the next day—alive.

Quinn's mother looked away, poking at the piece of pork on her plate. "I'm guessing you haven't decided yet," she said, and Cody nodded,

Janet laughed from the other end of the table, catching Cody's attention. "You're so quiet," she said. It wasn't malicious, she had a smile on her face and looked amused if anything. That didn't stop Quinn from glaring at her, though.

"Leave him alone," he said, shooting daggers at his sister.

The older girl raised her hands in defeat "I'm sorry," she said with a chuckle.

Quinn's father was quiet throughout the scene. He was reading a newspaper at the kitchen counter and ended up talking to Quinn's mother for the most part of the evening. Quinn hadn't come out to him—his mother had done that for him. His father hadn't been rude or cruel, but he didn't talk to Quinn much these days, and the atmosphere was generally uncomfortable when it was just the two of them.

Eventually, Quinn's mum and dad left the living room/Kitchen, leaving Janet, Cody, and Quinn by themselves. The three had put on the T.V. after cleaning up after themselves. The movie they were watching was an old one from over twenty years ago that Quinn's dad had on a VHS tape that managed to survive several moves.

The two boys cuddled on the couch, while Quinn's sister sat on one of the wooden chairs on the small dining table by the kitchen.

Quinn looked down at Cody who had his head on Quinn's shoulder. He hadn't said anything in a while, and Quinn wondered if he was feeling well. "Is something wrong?" he asked, brushing some hair away from Cody's face.

Cody shrugged. "I have to head back soon," he mumbled, his voice just high enough for Quinn to pick up.

"Oh," Quinn said, looking back at the colors dancing on the television screen. His throat felt numb. He knew how much Cody hated going back home.

"You can sleep over if you want. It's the weekend after all." He offered, hoping Cody would consider it.

Cody's eyes flickered up at Quinn. "They'll wonder where I am—"

"You can do what you did the last time you were here. You can sleep here, then I'll wake you up early in the morning so you can go back home, how does that sound?" Quinn said, cutting the boy off.

Cody sucked on his cheeks as he proceeded to think about the offer. His mother didn't really care where he was, and it was just Charles who would harass him for being out late at night—but Charles would beat him up either way. He might as well stay over. He didn't want to go home, and his brother might be up at this time just to taunt him when he got back. Somehow, Charles had picked up on the fact that Cody wasn't just wondering about the streets but was meeting up with someone.

"Okay..." Cody said after hesitating for a bit.

Quinn looked down at Cody, smiling. He felt a bit better knowing Cody wasn't going back home to get a few more bruises on his face. He touched the newest one, just below his chin. They didn't talk about anything else and sat together on the couch until the movie ended.

"Oh, he's staying over," Janet said, letting her eyes follow Quinn and Cody as they made to leave the living room for Quinn's bedroom when they were done putting things away.

"Yeah," Quinn said, smiling at his sister who was giving him an equally big grin. She rolled her eyes before looking away, her hands bringing out the novel she'd been reading up to her face.

Cody and Quinn walked through the hallway, and Cody hugged himself as Quinn opened the door to his bedroom before pushing it forward.

"Come in," Quinn said, taking Cody's hand before leading him to the small closet bedroom. He let go of him when they reached the center, before going to search his drawer for something he and Cody could change into.

"Here," he said, turning to toss a pair of shorts and a tank top at Cody. Cody caught it, before heading to the other end of the room to change. It didn't matter how many times he slept over. Sharing Quinn's clothes and bed and changing in front of him always made Cody nervous.

He fumbled a lot when trying to get into the clothes, but Soon CODY was in the clothes Quinn had lent to him.

Quinn had wandered over to his bed. He waited for Cody to join him, but the boy just stood awkwardly in the corner. Quinn raised a brow at him. "Do you want to sleep standing?" He said, laughing a bit. Cody's eyes widened and he looked down at the floor.

"No-no," he stuttered, holding on to his arm as a blush crept up his face.

"Then come here," Quinn said, tapping the space beside him on the mattress. The lights in the room where dim.

Cody stared at Quinn for a bit before heading to join him on the bed. He sat down on the edge first, before pulling his legs on the bed and laying down. He faced Quinn, staring into the boy's eyes.

"See, isn't this better than standing?" Quinn asked, laughing as he touched Cody's face with his fingers.

"Shut up," Cody said, still embarrassed, but that didn't stop him from scooting closer to Quinn. They cuddled, and the two boys' legs tangled together as they held onto each other.

Quinn stopped laughing. A smile made its way to his face as he looked into Cody's deep brown eyes. "You said something, finally," he muttered, watching as Cody's eyes flickered away from his as his face got dusted with a baby pink color.

"Shut up..." Was the only thing Cody could manage, and it made Quinn chuckle before pulling the boy closer to his chest. Cody could hear Quinn's rapid heartbeat, and he took comfort in the fact that it meant he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

They talked, periodically falling into silence until one person took the chance to kiss the other. Their hands wandered as usual—under each other's shirts, between each other's thighs, on their hips and waists.

"Quinn..." Cody's voice was small, but Quinn heard him. He kissed the boy's forehead, still letting his hand brush over the front of the boy's shorts. "Quinn..." the boy trailed again when Quinn let himself pull-down Cody's shorts before dipping his hand into his boxers. Cody let out a low mewl, and he shivered at the feel of Quinn's hand on his bare skin.

"Quinn..." he trailed again, shutting his eyes closed as the taller boy wrapped his fingers around him, and slowly stroked.

"What?" Quinn asked, pressing a kiss to the boy's forehead and he moved closer, the hardness between his own thighs brushing Cody's leg. "Do you want to ask me something?" he added when Cosy didn't say anything.

"N-no, don't," he stuttered, closing his eyes as his breathing hiked. Quinn was still touching him—slowly, gently, with love. "It just feels a bit w-weird," he said, gasping when Quinn rubbed a finger over his tip. His legs spasmed again, and he felt his lower stomach tighten up.

"Weird?" Quinn asked, getting confused. He let go, and Cody shook his head, pressing up against him.

"Not weird as in weird," he tried to explain, looking down between them as he tried to come up with the proper words. It felt good. Really good. He reached his hands down, tracing Quinn's hardness through his clothes. "I mean, kind of surreal. I want it to happen, but it feels like a dream somehow..." Cody trailed, feeling his face warm up as he realized he had in a way, told Quinn that he dreamt about things like this.

"You dream about stuff like this?" Quinn asked after a while of extended silence as he kissed Cody's neck.

"Y-yes," the boy admitted, shivering as he managed to pull Quinn's pants down a bit. The boy's privates popped out and a shot of excitement flooded Cody's bloodstream. "Quite a bit."

"How about you?" Cody asked when Quinn didn't say anything. Cody knew that all this was quite new to Quinn. As popular as the boy was, he was naive to stuff like this. Cody didn't want to feel like a pervert about his thoughts.

"I do, but it's kind of rude..." Quinn mumbled, and Cody frowned a bit.

"Rude?" he asked, and Quinn squirmed, hiding his face in the pillow.

"The things I imagine you doing, I don't think you'd want to do them," Quin explained as Cody's hand kept stroking him.

"Like what?" the smaller boy asked, wanting to hear him say it.

"W-would you... suck on me if I asked?" Quinn asked, and Cody's face warmed up.

"Yeah..." he trailed. He imagined that a lot. He wanted to do that, and he wanted Quinn to do it for him too. Sometimes just looking at the boy's full lips had his stomach in a knot. "Would you do it for me?" he whispered back.

"Yeah," Quinn mumbled, shuddering as Cody kept stroking him. He reached out too, touching Cody and continuing where he had left off. The two boys closed their eyes, sighing as they touched each other.

"Hey," Cody mumbled, opening his eyes. Quinn's eyes peeled open too and they were staring at each other. "Do you think you could fuck me?" Cody didn't get an answer to that because Quinn came in his hand, letting out a little whimper before burying his face in the nearest pillow. Seeing Quinn so flustered made Cody come too. The two boys hugged each other, squirming a bit at the stickiness between them.

"Why would you say it like that?" Quinn asked in a whisper. "Almost gave me a heart attack," he added, and Cody chuckled.

"Well," the smaller boy started. "Would you?" he asked, and Quinn nodded.

"We'll have to figure out how first," he mumbled, and Cody hummed in agreement. Cody had an idea, but scraps and pieces he'd picked up from discarded gay magazines weren't a full picture.

The two boys slept off soon after, dreaming about the other without embarrassment or shame.