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Inside Hayden's house, the walls were adorned with fake cobwebs, spiders, skeletons, and other spooky stuff. While Sherwin admired the hard work put into decorating the place, he didn't quite appreciate the creepy vibes it gave him.

Jon, on the other hand, was having a blast. "You guys did some amazing things with the place," he told Hayden and Bryan, who were currently snacking on pretzels by the couch.

"Thanks," Hayden replied with a shrug, "You two are the first to see it, by the way." As he said it, the doorbell rang loudly, almost blasting Sherwin's eardrums to shreds. "I'll get it," Hayden said, and disappeared around the hallway corner. Jon excused himself to go get some drinks, and he was left sitting with Bryan.

When Hayden reappeared, Sherwin was horrified to see with him not only Kylee Pratt, but also Dante and Ginny. He tried to blend into the couch, but to no avail. Kylee's smiled turned into a scowl as soon as she spotted him. "What is he doing here?" she questioned to no one in particular, not even bothering to hide her contempt.

No one answered for several seconds. Hayden glanced between them, opening and closing his mouth. Sherwin wished the floor would open and swallow him whole. Then, Jonathan came back with a cup in each hand. Giving one to Sherwin, he noticed the awkward silence and raised an eyebrow. "Is...something wrong?"

"Uh, yeah!" Kylee exclaimed as if it was obvious. "Why is that faggot at Hayden's party?" She gestured to Sherwin, who shrunk even further into his seat. This was a bad idea.

"Dude, chill out," Bryan muttered, looking down.

"What?" she asked. "It's not like Hayden's parents are here, I can call that freak for what he is if I want to." Crossing her arms, Kylee proceeded to glare at Sherwin. Looking to his left, Sherwin realized that Jonathan was seething with anger. He put down his cup and turned to Kylee.

"I brought him with me," Jon told her, "So if you can't deal with that, then we'll both leave." They stood there facing off for a moment, then she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever. But I'm not going anywhere near him," she said, walking to the kitchen to get food. Sherwin felt horrible. This is all my fault, he thought. Then a hand lightly touched his shoulder, and he saw Jonathan giving him a small smile. Heart fluttering, Sherwin tried to smile back, but only managed a weird grimace.

"Do you want to stay?" Jon asked Sherwin quietly, who shrugged, avoiding his gaze.

"If you want to, I guess," he answered. In all honesty, he hated being around his friends, but if he made Jon leave, it would make him feel terrible.

Jonathan gave him a concerned look. "I don't want to stay if they're gonna treat you like this," he said, just as more people arrived. Voices began to fill the room, but as Sherwin looked around, he saw his peers giving him furtive glances and whispering to their friends.
Jonathan noticed and suddenly took Sherwin's hand.

"Let's go for a walk," he suggested, pulling him towards the door. Hayden and Bryan were too busy laughing at something to notice them leave, and no one else addressed them as they strode out into the night.

Outside, the temperature had cooled, and the sun was nearly set as darkness crept out over the sky. Sherwin watched as tiny figures raced around the street carrying bags, and could hear their joyful chatter echoing in the air. It was Halloween night, and everyone seemed to be having fun, except him. At least I'm with Jonathan, he thought as his crush began to stroll with him along the sidewalk, still holding his hand.

"I'm sorry about them," Jon said suddenly. "It's just not fair." Sherwin gulped, his hand still tingling where their fingers intertwined.

"You don't have to apologize," he whispered. Jon let go of his hand and changed the subject.

"Where do you wanna go?" he asked as they continued to walk. Sherwin thought for a second.

"Um, how about the duck pond?" he suggested, blushing. "It's only a couple blocks away."

"Sure." Jonathan exhaled, and they were in silence once more.

When they got to the pond, Sherwin almost gasped. He'd never been there that late before, and the streetlights, along with the twilight colors in the sky, reflected in the most stunning way across the water. A few ducks waddled out of the way as the two of them approached an empty bench, and Jon let out a chuckle.

"Wish we had some bread," he commented as the birds made their way back into the pond. Sherwin watched, mesmerized, as ripples spread from the ducks and outward, swirling the glittering reflections around. A nice, cool breeze blew from the other side, pushing Sherwin's hair around his eyes. Jonathan laughed as he tried to keep his face clear.

"Oh shush," Sherwin said, finally getting the ginger locks back in place. He turned to see Jon staring at him, a slight grin playing across his face.

"Pumpkinnn," Jon teased, messing up his hair again. Sherwin's face grew hot, but he giggled and decided to take a risk. Placing his hands on Jon's head, he combed his hair up and over his eyes.

"Hey!" Jonathan complained, pushing his hair back, still laughing. "How could you do this to me, Sherwin? Now I'm gonna dieee." Jon went limp and pretended to crumple onto the ground. Sherwin crouched by his side and waved in front of Jon's empty gaze.

"Yup, sure is dead," he joked, about to stand, when suddenly Jonathan leapt up and grabbed him.

"Gotcha!" he shouted, tickling Sherwin in the ribs. "You forgot...I'm a zombie!" Sherwin gasped, trying to get away, but Jon pulled him onto the grass and kept poking him gently.

"Zombies...don't...tickle...!" he exclaimed between laughs, and his friend eventually stopped, flopping onto the ground beside him. Sherwin lay there, panting. "Don't do that again," he warned.

Jonathan just grinned, turning his blue eyes to the sky, and Sherwin joined him in stargazing. It was almost completely dark now, save a teal light glowing over the western half of the horizon. Stars were popping up everywhere, winking down at them, and a crescent moon hung lazily above the trees.

"This is great," Jon sighed. "I can't imagine what it'd have been like if we'd stayed at Hayden's instead."

"Yeah," Sherwin agreed, blushing furiously. Thankfully, the night masked his cheeks. "Probably would have been boring."

"Not just that, I mean. Those kids are so...rude. They would have ruined our evening," Jonathan said, stretching out his arms. One of them grazed the top of Sherwin's head.

Our evening. For some reason, those words felt important to Sherwin. He closed his eyes, deep in thought. Why did Jonathan spend so much time with him? Was it even possible that he liked him back? The idea seemed ludicrous, but the more Sherwin thought about the way Jon had looked and smiled at him the whole night, he let himself imagine that maybe, maybe he had a chance.

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