Surprisingly, the rest of the group didn't ask many questions about why Alana and Jared never went on another date. A couple weeks passed without incident and Alana faithfully kept Jared's secret. There were games and crafts for Jared to do, but nothing too significant. That's why we'll skip ahead to the day Jared and Connor were paired up on the big rafting trip, where they were finally allowed to paddle down the river by themselves.

   The trip lasted around three hours, and Jared was thrilled to be spending that much time alone with Connor. The two boys were dressed in swimming trunks and shirts and had already prepared the inflatable raft for the trip. They had sunscreen, water bottles, two bagged lunches, and a variety of other items.

"Are we forgetting something?" Jared asked, climbing into the canoe. He threw his life jacket aside, no way was he going to wear that thing. "I feel like we're forgetting something."

"No way, dude." Connor began pushing the canoe into the water, equally ignoring the life jacket. "I'm pretty sure we have everything."

    "Okay, if you say so." Jared took a paddle and watched as Connor hopped from the water into the raft. They rocked to the side for a second before steading out.

"Alright, so I guess we just follow the river until we reach the dock." Connor sighed, leaning back. "So I suppose we can just chill for awhile until we arrive."

"That's boring." Jared frowned. "Seriously, is sitting here all we do?"

"Pretty much." Connor shrugged. "It's a raft, it's not really high maintenance."

    "Then, let's talk." Jared's heart was pounding, he tried to act normal. "Tell me a bit about yourself."

    "Jared, what the fuck does that mean?" Connor snorted, sticking one hand into the water.

   "Like, what's your favorite band?" Jared asked.

    "Nothing More" Connor immediately answered. "Best band out there, you should really check out the song Jenny." He paused. "Of course, I mean when we leave the camp."

    "Yeah, I bet it's a great band." Jared definitely made a mental note to listen to the band. "Um, what sort of after school activities do you do?"

    "None." Connor snorted, rolling his eyes. "What about you?"

    "Well, I go and play dungeons and dragons at the local hobby shop-"

    "Nerd." Connor chimed in quickly.

    "But twice a week Evan tutors me in English, I don't know if you would call that an after school activity though." Jared shrugged.

    "It counts." Connor said, leaning over to grab a paddle. "It's something, rather than sitting alone in your room for hours on end."

    "Yeah, I-" A bug landed on Jared's arm and bit him. "Holy fuck! Ow!" Jared slapped at his arm. "Get it off! Get it off!"

    "Jesus, Jared." Connor crawled over to Jared. "Calm down, we just need to grab the bug spray-" Connor reached down and began to dig through the bag they brought, he dumped out the contents of the bag and-

    Oh, that's what they had forgot.

    "I'm sorry, we don't have bug spray." Connor panicked, the bugs were quickly increasing in number now. They were swatting left and right trying to get them off.

    "What do we do?" Jared shrieked, scrambling back. The raft rocked to the side before flipping over, sending the two boys crashing into the water.

    Now, Jared was not proud of the fact that he had never learned to swim. Sure, he could wade out to the water and pretend and all that, but that wasn't really swimming.
   
    Connor resurfaced a few seconds later, treading water and looking completely pissed off. However, after realizing he couldn't see Jared, he began to worry.

    "Jared!" Connor called, swimming around the raft until he saw a flash of bright red under the water.

    Jared was wearing red when they got on the raft, wasn't he?

    Connor couldn't really remember and didn't really have the time to. He took a deep breath before diving under the water, reaching his hands out to grab at the waist of the smaller boy. Jared didn't struggle, just laid limp and let Connor drag him upwards.

    The two resurfaced, taking large, gasping breaths of air. Jared even coughed up a bit of water.

    "What the hell?" Connor breathed, loosening his grip on Jared's waist. "Why didn't you just swim?"

    Jared immediately clung harder to Connor, wrapping his legs around Connor's waist. "I can't." Jared said in a small voice. "I can't swim."

    "What?" Connor demanded, sounding completely shocked. "But, don't you have to pass a swimming test to be allowed in the lake?"

    "I cheated and used my feet." Jared rested his forehead on Connor's shoulder as the taller boy lead him to shore.

    "Fuck, Jared, you could have died." Connor scolded. "Fuck! You weren't even wearing a life jacket! Jared, what if I wasn't there to save you!"

    "But you were." Jared felt like curling up into a ball and crying. He didn't like being scolded by Connor. It wasn't like being yelled at by his parents, when they did it it made him feel angry, when Connor did it it made him feel ashamed and guilty.

    "It was lucky." Connor pried Jared off of him and set him on the shore. "Now, you stay here while I get the raft."

    "Okay." Jared whispered, looking down at his feet.

    Jared watched silently as Connor flipped their raft back over and tried to get it situated. They had lost their bag of items, which wasn't that big of a deal except for the fact that their sunscreen and food was in there. Luckily, the paddles and life jackets hadn't gone too far from the raft and were floating nearby. Connor was easily able to grab them and throw them inside.

    Connor then tugged the raft over to Jared so he could hop inside without having to get in the water. Jared quietly slipped into the raft, avoiding eye contact with Connor. Connor pushed them off and hopped inside next to Jared.

    "Here, put this on." Connor said, grabbing a life jacket and undoing the straps. He helped Jared slip it on and buckle it up.

    Jared didn't like it. It made him feel childish and helpless. He wanted to get angry at Connor, to pitch a huge fit and yell at him, but at the same time he knew he wasn't really angry at Connor.

    Jared sulked at the back of raft, letting Connor steer them. He was angry, ashamed, and hungry. Jared watched the water, considering throwing himself into it to get rid of the painful silence between him and Connor.

    But alas, he had this fucking life jacket on.

   After what felt like forever Connor finally spoke up,

    "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you like that." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know it's dumb, it's just, I got scared."

    "Scared?" Jared asked, confused.

    "Scared that you'd get hurt." Connor mumbled so Jared almost couldn't hear it.

    "You care about me?" Jared was stunned.

    "Shut up." Connor's face flushed red. "I mean, I don't want you to die but I wouldn't call it 'caring'"

    "You care about me!" Jared taunted, sitting up. "The great Connor Murphy has feelings!"

    "Fuck off, Jared." Connor groaned. "Okay, yes, I think of you as a friend."

    Oh, a friend.

    Of course Jared knew this.

    Still, this killed Jared's mood all together.

    "Hm, yeah." Jared gave a small fake laugh before going silent again.

    "Yeah." Connor gave Jared a wide smile that made his heart melt. God, why did Jared have to have all this dumb feelings that made everything difficult.

    "So, how far away are we, I'm starving." Jared whined, pulling at the straps of his life jacket.

    "I'd say we still have a solid hour and a half." Connor estimated. Jared groaned, sinking down into the raft.

    "But I'm starving." Jared complained loudly.

    "Hi starving, I'm Connor." Connor snickered, Jared let out a louder and longer groan.

    After another hour Jared was about ready to eat anything. He was constantly pestering Connor, who was just as hungry and tired and wet as Jared. Both were on the verge of killing each other.

    "For fucks sake Jared, for the fiftieth time, no we're not there yet!" Connor threw his paddle down in the raft.

    "Then hurry up!" Jared growled back. "I need food now!"

    "Trust me, you'll fucking live." Connor seethed. "As long as I don't kill you first-"

    "You want to fight!" Jared was past any rational thought. Natural instincts to get angry and fight when hungry were definitely setting in. Jared hadn't skipped a meal in years.

    "Please, like you'd actually win." Connor loomed over Jared, even when they were sitting down in a raft.

    "I can and I will!" Jared puffed out his chest and glared Connor in the eyes, staring him down.

    "Then come on-" Connor began to snap.

    Jared connected the space between them and kissed Connor.