Travis hated Canada.

He couldn't find a patriotic bone in his body as he walked. For one, in Canada, he had to go to school. Travis was counting down the days until the end of the year. Just a few more months, a few more exams, a few more parties and he would be free, forever. Until he had to go to college or university for something.

And then there was the snow.

A week past march break and Travis was still trudging through the soggy slush. It was dyed brown from mud and the wheels of passing cars splashing it around and it soaked through Travis' shoes. And even though it wasn't that cold anymore, it was still colder than Cuba.

He sighed heavily but kept walking.

"Hey!"

Travis turned around at the shout just in time to see Jared running up behind him. He grinned at Travis, cheeks rosy from the cold and bag slung across his shoulder.

"Hi," Jared said, as he came to a stop next to him.

Travis smiled at his friend but found the action odd. Jared's bright eyes and warm smile were very distracting and Travis' smile ended up lingering longer than he'd meant for it to.

Travis forced his gaze away as they started walking. When he glanced back, Jared was looking away shyly.

"I kind of thought you were ignoring me again," he admitted with an awkward laugh.

Travis raised a brow.

"Why is that?"

"Well, we haven't talked since we got back and then you left without me."

Travis frowned.

"We've only been back for a day," he said.

"Yeah," Jared agreed. "I guess you usually text at least, that's all."

There was a long silence as they walked. Why did Travis feel so hyper aware of his friends presence? Every step he took and shift he made, the sound of him breathing, it was all driving Travis crazy.

"What about walking to school?" Jared asked uneasily.

Travis stopped walking as Jared's words sank in.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

Jared flushed.

"We always walk to school together," he said stubbornly. His hands gripped the straps of his back pack, the knuckles turning white and finally he looked at Travis, a stubborn glint in his eyes and Travis felt all of the rising tension deflate out of him.

"Yeah, that's true," he said.

Jared's eyes widened.

"I don't know why I left without you," Travis said.

Jared chewed his bottom lip for a moment, thinking but then apparently Travis' answer was enough and he nodded and started to walk again.

"Did you catch up on any of the homework we were assigned?" Jared asked and just like that, conversation was back to normal.

Travis was relieved by the turn of conversation but the rest kept replaying in his head as they walked.

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

***

Brad and Cal found Travis the second he got into the school and both immediately howled with laughter.

"What the hell happened to you?" Brad asked. "You're like a different race."

Travis shoved his friend.

"I got my tan on," he said proudly.

Cal rolled his eyes.

"You look like a total douche," he said.

Someone nudged Travis' side and he looked over, remembering that Jared was still there.

"See you in class," Jared said and walked away without a word to Brad or Cal.

Travis' friends watched Jared go, eyebrows raised.

"You still hang out with that loser?" Brad asked.

Travis shrugged.

"We're neighbours," he said.

His stomach twisted as the words came out. It wasn't true. Jared was his friend since they were eight years old and even if they moved apart, Travis would feel incomplete without him. But Jared always ignored Brad and Cal and they returned the favour, so Travis didn't say anymore.

They walked him to his locker, asking about the trip. How was the wedding and the weather and were there a lot of hot girls?

Travis found himself getting more hyped as he told them about it. Excitedly recounting the best parts; the free booze, the open bars and parties.

By the time the bell rang for class, his friends were reeling with jealousy.

Then in first period, Lana leaned over and told him his tan looked good and Travis finally decided that he was happy to be back, at least for a little while.

But then Mr. Slater asked him for his extra work.

Travis started and stuttered and Mr. Slater shook his head with a sigh.

"You had a week off of school," he said. "I expect you to catch up by the end of the week."

Travis scowled but didn't argue.

Mr. Slater turned his back to the class, beginning the lesson at once. As the minutes passed, Travis became more and more lost.

The bell rang and it was off to his next class.

Jared was there, sitting toward the back corner. He had a seat free next to him and all of his books neatly laid out on top of the table.

Without thinking about it, Travis dropped into the seat next to Jared and grabbed his text book.

"Ancient history's gotta be better than biology, right?" he asked, flipping through the book. His heart sank a little when he noticed the number of dates sprinkled throughout the text.

With a sigh, he threw the book down.

His gut was twisting uneasily as Mrs. McAllen entered. She only took notice of Jared and Travis while doing name call.

"Welcome back," she said with a smile. For most of the class Travis thought he'd gotten away with it. Then as class drew to an end she looked over directly at Travis and Jared.

"I'll need the homework I assigned you for while you were away," she said pleasantly.

To Travis' disgust, Jared reached into his bag and pulled out a little stack of paper with a title page and his name on the top.

He glanced at Travis before walking up and handing Mrs. McAllen the assignment. Really, he shouldn't have cared but somehow it felt like a betrayal.

"You actually did the work?" Travis asked incredulously. "When?"

"On the beach," Jared said with a raised brow. "With a Mojito in my hand."

Travis rolled his eyes.

"Of course, on the beach in Cuba and Jared fucking Burns still does his homework."

Jared smirked.

"I did more than just homework," he said quietly.

Travis was about to retort when he caught the meaning and shot a look at Jared, his jaw dropping. Jared already had a soft pink tinting his cheeks. If Travis wasn't mistaken, Jared was flirting... That was just too fucking weird, sitting here in the middle of class, plunked right back into the middle of their regular life. In this world of cold and snow, Travis and Jared went to school and did homework. They played video games and had barbecues in the summertimes. They rarely drank together and they absolutely never flirted because they had never done anything remotely close to fucking.

Travis had a bizarre moment of vertigo, like he was looking at himself from two different time frames. One was present and one was past and they were happening all at the same time.

School had distracted him with its shittyness and he had forgotten that just a day ago, Jared had Travis' cock slick and wet between swollen lips while Travis watched him touch himself.

It all happened in the fraction of a second and Travis flushed bright red. He could feel the heat burn his cheeks, his heart speed and his ears catch fire.

Jared bit his full bottom lip and Travis swallowed and looked around to see if somehow it was all out in the open, obvious to the rest of the class. Instead, he caught Mrs. McAllen, her merry gaze glued to Travis expectantly from across the room.

"Travis," she said. "Can I please have your assignment?"

"I-uh-forgot it," he said lamely.

"Bring it in tomorrow then," she said.

Travis nodded but inside he was freaking. He didn't even know what the project was. He'd completely forgotten about school while they were away.

He glanced over at Jared and found himself fighting not to scowl at him. The brunette had distracted him.

Jared just smiled at him, oblivious.

The bell rang and Travis pretty much ran to lunch. At least in the cafeteria, with his friends and the familiarity of greasy cafeteria food and light hearted banter, he managed to forget about the classes and Jared.

He glanced around a few times but didn't catch sight of the other boy anywhere that he usually sat.

Relief flooded him.

When the bell rang, all over again Travis was squirming with nerves. Next was calculus and Travis was usually lost in that class even when he was there paying attention. Now he'd missed a full week and hadn't done any of the problems he'd been given.

He walked sluggishly toward the room, realizing that Jared would be there again and wanting to slow down even more.

Maybe if he was slow enough, he'd miss the rest of the day.

Or maybe he should skip. What was one more class, really?

A hand gripped Travis' wrist suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts. He snapped around finding Jared right there, directly in his face, eyes wide and serious as he tugged Travis' arm.

"What are you doing?" Travis snapped, looking up and down the hall. It was mostly empty, the few people around, hurrying to get to class and not paying them any attention.

Jared just pulled him toward a door. Travis weakly resisted. He knew that this was going to lead to some sort of bitching and moaning but the other option was class so...

Jared rattled the nearest empty classroom doorway but it was locked. He pulled Travis passed the next room, trying the nondescript door that sat beyond it. Surprisingly, it opened.

Jared poked his head in and then, with a relieved sigh, pulled Travis in after him.

The bell for class rang as the door clicked shut behind Travis, enveloping them in total darkness.

"Shit," Jared muttered.

There was a shuffling sound and Travis finally gave up on waiting.

"This is very fun and all," he said. "But why are we in here instead of calculus?"

Jared snorted.

"Please," he said. "I know you don't want to be in calculus."

"I don't want to be in--wherever we are--either," Travis retorted.

There was some more shuffling and then a loud bang as something fell to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Travis demanded.

"Looking for the light," Jared said.

Travis instinctually began to feel around for a switch, nearly jumping out of his skin when his hand touched something furry.

"Ugh!"

He jumped back, colliding with Jared's chest.

"What? You okay? What happened?"

Jared wrapped his arms around Travis protectively. Travis badly wanted to laugh it off and shove the other boy away but his heart was racing.

"Please tell me that we are in a room filled with stuffed animals and that was not a rat."

Jared was silent for a moment but his hands squeezed him slightly tighter.

"We're in a storage room," he said.

That did not instil confidence in Travis. Not at all.

"Let's get out of here," he squeaked.

"Hang on," Jared said, letting him go.

Travis could hear him heading where he had just come from. After a moment he let out an amused huff of laughter.

"Is this what you felt?" he asked and that same fur suddenly tickled Travis' cheek.

He jumped but managed to hold it together. Jared wouldn't be shoving a rabid animal at his face--hopefully.

"Uh, yeah I think so," he said. "What is it?"

"I think its a duster."

Travis let out a sigh as his heart rate returned to normal.

"Okay, so, you gonna tell me why we're in here now?"

Clearly giving up on finding a light, Jared let out a little sigh.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said.

"Obviously."

Jared groaned.

"Just tell me what the heck is wrong so that we can fix it and move on, ok?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You," Jared answered. "First this morning--"

"I already said that I'm sorry for leaving without you," Travis groaned. "Just let it go, will you?"

"I would," Jared sighed, "if you weren't still being weird. You pretty much ran away from me after class. Not to mention that pissy look on your face all day."

Surprised, Travis fell silent.

"You know, you're really conceited'" he finally said.

Jared was silent for a moment.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Travis rolled his eyes.

"You're supposed to be the smart one," he said.

When Jared didn't answer, Travis sighed and went on.

"I didn't do any of the extra work we were assigned," he said. "Literally none of it and we only missed a week so like, how come everything sounds like gibberish?"

Jared was still silent.

"Fuck," Travis muttered. "I mean, I don't even know what to do after school. I didn't apply anywhere or anything and I haven't thought about it much but... I actually want to graduate."

"You will," Jared said, finally breaking the silence.

Travis shook his head even though Jared couldn't see him.

"I should have brought my work and tried to focus but I just got so distracted. There was like mojitos and rum and sunshine... And you too," he admitted.

Travis felt his cheeks heating and thanked god silently for the dark. It was the only reason he was saying anything at all. It was like if he couldn't see Jared, then there was no guarantee that the other boy was even listening.

"There's only two months left... I'm not smart enough to catch up."

Hands suddenly found Travis in the dark, warm and comforting in the way they closed around his arms and squeezed gently.

"You're not stupid," Jared said firmly. "You can catch up, you just have to work hard."

Travis didn't say anything.

"I'll help you," Jared said.

He came closer and their chests met. Jared was warm and solid, fitting against him like a puzzle piece. Despite himself, Travis tipped his head and their foreheads met, supporting each other.

Jared's arms moved, wrapping around Travis' back. His warm hands played in the fabric of his sweater at the small of his back, tickling him. His breath puffed coolly on Travis' lips and the tension seemed all at once to spill out of him, pouring through the soles of his shoes into the floor.

"Come to my place tonight," Jared whispered. The movement of his lips was like a flutter against Travis'. "I'll help you with your homework."

Travis wanted to point out that that was the trouble to begin with. That there was no way he could focus with Jared there, willing to continue--whatever thing they had started in Cuba.

Instead, he nodded but the upturn of the nod brought their lips scraping together. A short intake of breath left Travis and Jared lunged for it, pressing forward, their bodies moulding together even tighter as their lips met fully.

Jared, as always, had the softest mouth Travis had ever felt, cushiony and gentle, even as those lips parted and he nipped him.

A gasp left Travis, sounding raw in the air between them and a hungry, animalistic noise left Jared. He pressed into Travis hungrily, pushing him until his back slapped into the wall and his shoulder hit a switch.

The sudden burst of light made him snap his eyes shut.

When he slowly opened them, he was standing in a closet, sandwiched between a rack of dirty cloths and cleaning supplies and a mop of mucky water. He was pressed against a dirty wall with Jared right in his face.

Travis swallowed and looked away and his friend bit his lip, looking more regretful than a dog in the rain.

"I guess the moment's gone," Jared said unnecessarily.

The only reason the moment had even happened was because they were in total darkness and Travis had been operating on touch rather than anything else.

He wasn't going to deny that it felt nice to have a warm body against his. If he was really honest, he could admit that it was even better with Jared, because he knew the other boy so well and was so comfortable with him.

But just like before, having Jared's face there when he opened his eyes, really threw him off.

He pushed Jared gently off of him and went to the door.

"We should probably still go to class," he said.

Jared followed him dispondantly. He didn't pipe up when Travis gave a lame excuse about being in the washroom and he didn't look at him once through the lesson.

At the end of class, Travis bumped his shoulder against Jared's on the way out the door, startling the other boy from his thoughts.

"We still on for tonight?" he asked.

Travis didn't know what exactly changed in Jared expression but something did. The dull look in his eyes shifted ever so slightly to vibrant excitement.

Jared nodded.

"See you then."

~

AN: thanks for all the comments and votes so far! *feeling special* ^^