Jared woke up to Connor spooning him from behind. He felt delicate fingers comb through his hair, so he could obviously deduce that Connor was awake.

"Mornin." Jared slurred, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"It's hardly morning." Connor chuckled. "You've only been asleep for an hour."

"Well good afternoon then." Jared grunted, rolling over to face Connor.

"Good afternoon, princess." Connor smirked. "Did you enjoy your nap?"

"No, some weirdo crawled in next to me." Jared teased, planting a quick kiss on Connor's lips. "Have a nice shower?"

"It was a shower." Connor shrugged. "What do you want me to say? That is was absolutely-fucking-fantastic?"

    "Sounds like it was fun." Jared chuckled, wrapping his arms around Connor.

    "Would've been more fun if you were there." Connor mumbled under his breath.

    "Connor, such dirty thoughts." Jared grinned up at him. Connor rolled his eyes and sat up, leaving Jared cold. "No, don't leave."

    "Jared, if we continue to lie here we'll fall asleep and then we'll really fuck up our sleep schedule." Connor hopped off the bed.

    "Since when did you get all Mr.Healthy?" Jared complained, wrapping himself up in Connor's blankets. "Come back and sleep."

    "Jared, it's time to get up." Connor smiled, walking over to the end of the bed. He reached up and tickled Jared's foot.

    Jared screeched, drawing his foot back. "No tickling! That's not fair!"

    "That sucks." Connor snickered, catching Jared's ankle tightly and continuing to tickle.

"Let go!" Jared laughed, writhing on the bed.

"Time to get up, Jare." Connor grinned, eyes softening as he watched Jared laugh. Jared kicked, trying to get Connor off of him.

"Okay!" Jared finally shrieked. "Okay, you win! I'll get up." Connor let go of Jared's foot, watching the small boy pant for a second.

"You just needed a little persuasion." Connor chuckled, leaning on the bunk.

"Persuasion my ass." Jared stuck his tongue out at Connor.

"I can tickle you again-" Connor reached for Jared, who let out a squeak and hid his feet under the covers.

    "Jerk." Jared huffed before crawling out of the bed.

    "I'm your jerk." Connor threw his arms around Jared's waist, tugging him closer.

    "Damn right you are." Jared had to stand on his tip toes to kiss Connor. He wobbled a bit and had to lean on Connor for support. Jared felt Connor's laughter in his chest before he heard it.

    "You know I could've just leaned down?" Connor chuckled.

    "Shut up, I wanted to kiss you from your height." Jared kissed Connor rougher, hoping that it would silence him. Connor pulled away a bit to say,

    "We could've gotten you a chair then."

    "Can't I just have one nice kiss." Jared frowned, pulling away from the kiss and crossing his arms.

    "C'mon, babe." Connor leaned in and tried to kiss Jared again, Jared turned his cheek on him.

"Don't we need a chair to kiss?" Jared asked, his head held high.

"You little shit." A large grin spread across Connor's face. Jared couldn't help but smile too.

"Kiss me, jerkwad." Jared beamed. Connor leaned down and softly pressed their lips together.

This time, no one made any sarcastic remarks.

Connor slowly began to back Jared up into the wall. Jared threw his arms around Connor's neck, letting Connor pick him up and press him against the wall.

Connor pulled away from Jared's lips to kiss at him neck. Jared's eyes fluttered shut as he enjoyed the sensation.

"You're so beautiful." Connor mumbled against Jared's skin before he began to gently suck.

    It was way too late when Jared realized that sucking meant marks and marks meant other people would know.

    "Con, you're giving me hickeys!" Jared swatted at Connor's head. Connor set Jared down and pulled away, rubbing his head.

    "Yeah, that's kinda the point." Connor snorted, frowning.

    "Well how the hell am I gonna hide them!" Jared ran over to the mirror and, sure enough, several red marks scattered his neck, in plain view for anyone to see.

    "Well you can just wrap a scarf around your neck." Connor hugged him from behind. "I think you would absolutely adorable in a turtle neck, but I highly doubt you even own one let alone brought one with you."

    "I don't have a scarf." Jared sulked, leaning against Connor.

    "Well I do." Connor pressed a kiss to the top of Jared's head before heading over to his dresser and pulling out a black scarf. "Here you go." Jared lightly grabbed the scarf, a bit skeptical about wearing it.

    "Hey, didn't you yell at me before for finding this?" Jared asked, slipping the scarf on.

    "Yeah, but now it's being used for its intended purpose." Connor hummed, admiring him.

    Jared didn't ask what he meant by intended purpose.

    "How do I look?" Jared turned to face Connor.

    "Dorky." Connor smiled. He really did, who wears a scarf with a Jurassic Park t-shirt and jean shorts? Even the jean shorts weren't even jean shorts, they were really just regular jeans that Jared had taken scissors to. "But like, a cute dorky."

    "Thanks." Jared sighed, fiddling with the scarf.

"Speaking of dorky, do you wanna go catch up with Alana?" Connor shrugged. "I wanna do something."

    "I guess, but are you sure it covers everything up?" Jared fussed.

    "Unfortunately, it does hide your entire neck." Connor sighed. "I dunno why you need to hide it, it shows that you're taken."

    "I thought you didn't want anyone to know about us?" Jared rolled his eyes, heading to the door.

    "I don't, but that doesn't mean that people shouldn't know you're taken." Connor smirked, holding the door open for Jared and then slipping out behind him.

    "Dickwad, you can't have all the benefits of everyone knowing about our relationship without everyone knowing about our relationship." Jared chuckled.

"I can try." Connor began to laugh along with Jared until he spotted Zoe and Evan heading their way along the trail. Connor froze, all the muscles in his body tending up.

    "Connor-" Jared tried to reach for the taller boy's shoulder, but before he could Connor was storming over to the two, his eyes fixed on Evan.

    "Evan, you fucking asshole." Connor grabbed Evan by the shirt.

    Evan looked terrified.

    "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Zoe demanded, trying to push herself between Connor and Evan.

    "You two are dating and just decided not to tell me?" Connor spat, letting go of Evan, who stumbled and fell onto the ground.

    "What, how do you know-" Zoe's gaze moved to Jared, who wanted to shrink back into the woods. "You told him?"

    "I didn't mean to, I swear." Jared held his hands up defensively. Frankly, he was quite scared Zoe would hit him.

    "I'll deal with you later. Connor, you have no right to be interfering with my business." Zoe jabbed her finger at him. "Especially since you and Jared have been flaunting a little relationship without telling me."

    Now it was Connor's turn to glare at Jared.

    "You fucking told her?" Connor looked betrayed.

    "I told her before we got together, so I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to tell her." Jared said in a small voice. "I'm sorry."

    "I can't believe all of you right now." Connor shook his head before storming off to god knows where.

    Zoe turned to Jared, "You had no right to tell him about us."

    "I know, I'm really sorry." Jared looked down. "It's just that I'm really really bad at secrets."

    "Yeah, well, we're going." Zoe turned around. "Let's go, Evan." Evan scrambled off the ground and gave Jared a sympathetic smile before following her.

    Jared didn't know where to go. He couldn't go back to the cabin, Connor was probably there. He couldn't go to the girl's cabin, that's where Zoe and Evan were heading. So, he went to the only place he could think of.

    The rock formation.

It sounded dumb, but it was probably the most isolated place he could go without breaking the rules.

However, when he arrived, he found that there was already someone else there.

"Alana?" Jared asked, walking over.

"Huh?" Alana looked up from her book. "Oh, hi Jared, what are you doing here?"

"Everyone's kinda mad at me." Jared flopped down beside her.

"What'd you do this time?" Alana asked him nonchalantly, continuing to read.

"I'm a terrible secret keeper." Jared leaned his head back onto the rock. "How do you manage it?"

    "Jared, have you ever considered that there are something's that you just don't want to keep secret?" Alana frowned, Jared wasn't sure if it was at him or her book.

    "What do you mean?" Jared asked.

    "Sometimes it seems like when you don't want to keep a secret you just decide not to." Alana set down her book.

"No way, I mean, why would I want people to know about Connor and I when he said he didn't want people to know about us?" Jared demanded.

"Duh." Alana raised her eyebrows at him. "You want people to know about you and Connor now that you're together, simple. But, when Evan asked who you made the card for, you lied and said it was for me. You're able to keep a lie when it's convenient."

    "Ev told you about the card thing?" Jared's mouth went dry.

    "That's beside the point, why don't you go and tell Connor that you want people to know you're in a relationship instead of going along with whatever he says." Alana picked up her book and continued where she left off. "Go on, I'm being serious, go talk to him."

    A bit stunned, Jared picked himself off the ground and began to head back to the cabin.

    Was it true? Did he really purposely tell the truth?

After a couple minutes of walking, Jared found himself at the cabin once more. Slowly, he opened the door to find-

No one.

The fuck?

Jared stood in the doorway, confused. Where the hell did his boyfriend go?

Jared decided against going to search for him. After all, he had to come back eventually, their curfew was nine.

Connor did not come back eventually. Not after Evan arrived, saying he hadn't seen Connor since he stormed off. Not even after the clock struck nine.

"Where is he?" Jared paced back and forth across the cabin. "Why isn't he back yet?"

"Should we tell a councilor?" Evan suggested.

"No, then he'll get in trouble." Jared stopped, staring at the door. "We're just gonna have to go look for him."

"But, that's against the rules." Evan panicked. "Jared, let's go tell a councilor-"

"Do you want him to be even angrier at you than he already is!" Jared glared at him. "Let's go." Jared headed towards the door as Evan scrambled to put his shoes on.

The two boys quietly made their way through the darkness, each holding flashlights that they didn't dare turn on in fear that they'd get caught.

"Where would he be?" Evan whispered.

"I dunno, I guess let's check by the water first." Jared suggested, not bothering to whisper.

They didn't find him there, or by the cafeteria, the bonfire pit, the volleyball court, the field, or even the rock formation.

    Exhausted, the two finally retired to the cabin to take a break and come up with a new plan. When they stepped in, they found Connor in his pajamas, laying in bed and waiting for them.

    "Where have you guys been?" Connor asked.

    "Looking for you!" Jared bit his lip. "Where the hell have you been?"

    "I hung out at the beach for awhile and then I decided to take a shower because I was so sandy, relax." Connor huffed. "You don't need to know where I am all the time." Jared felt a tear drip down his face.

    "That's not fair, Connor." More tears forced their way out. "I was worried, I thought you might've been hurt."

    Connor blinked at him, surprised.

    "I didn't mean to make you worry." Connor said softly, climbing off his bed and making his way over to Jared.

    Nobody paid much attention to Evan, who stripped himself of his clothes, changed into pajamas, and crawled into bed. He was out like a light within minutes.

    "I'm sorry that everybody knows we're together." Jared hugged Connor, burying his face in the taller boy's chest.

    "Well, Alana doesn't know." Connor added.

    There was silence from Jared.

    "Okay, everybody knows." Connor sighed, petting Jared's hair. "Jare, I'm sorry I made you worry. I didn't mean to."

   "I love you, Connor." Jared mumbled quietly.

    "I love you too, Jare." Connor breathed, giving Jared a peck on the cheek before breaking the hug. "Now, go change into your pajamas."

    So, Jared threw on a pair of pajamas that had tiny Jolteons, Flareons, and Vaporeons all over them.

    "Jared, do you wanna sleep in my bed tonight?" Connor asked, looking Jared up and down and seemingly admiring him.

    "Hell yeah." Jared's eyes lit up. "Are you serious?"

    "Hell yeah." Connor mocked, jumping onto the top bunk. "Get up here, shorty." Jared beamed and scrambled up the ladder to hopped into the bed, curling up next to Connor.

    "Aw, we're sleeping together." Jared winked.

   "Hush, don't ruin it." Connor chuckled, pulling the blankets over them.

    "Hush, I'm trying to sleep." Jared grinned, pressing himself against Connor. 

    The two quieted down and soon Jared could feel Connor's breathing even out. Though Jared was absolutely exhausted from the long day, he almost didn't want to fall asleep.

    Connor sighed and shifted in his sleep to nuzzle closer to Jared.

    Jared lazily smiled, feeling the fuzziness of sleep overcome him.

    Hopefully there would be many more of these experiences to come.