The weeks went on. Tyler showed up at Robin's place every Tuesday and Thursday to study. Robin had gone through all the material in the rainbow-colored bag several times but despite that, he still had no clue how to flirt.

He'd also read a certain section in his Psychology book several times, trying to relate the dry text to his personal experiences. Eventually, he ventured to the school library, looking up every book he could find about the mysterious phenomena he'd read about.

Today was Thursday. So once again, they sat there, on Robin's bed—which now had blue and white striped sheets instead of the embarrassing SpongeBob ones—with their legs so close that they often nudged against each other, and shared a bag of nauseatingly sweet snacks. Today's chosen poison was Twinkies: vanilla cream stuffed into a sponge cake cover.

As the session was almost over for the day, Robin tried to think of ways to prolong it, just to be in Ty's presence for a few minutes or even just seconds longer.

The solution arrived in the form of a text. "RUNNING LATE IN CLASS. PLEASE GO CHECK ON PAX" it read. It wasn't a question, it was an order, as Des' texts tended to be. Forceful but kind, just like her.

Robin looked over at Tyler, who was busy placing colorful post-it notes in the margins of his book to highlight important passages — a method Robin had taught him. "I need to go check on Des' rabbit," he said cautiously because he was aware that it sounded kind of weird. "You want to come along?"

"Rabbit?" Tyler asked, a curious stroke to his voice.

"Des refused to leave her pet rabbit behind when she started college," Robin explained. "So Pax lives under her bed. She needs me to check on him since she's running late. The little bugger tends to escape his cage if she takes too long."

"You had me at rabbit," Ty said and lit up the room with a smile. He reached for his crutches. "Let's go save this bunny!"

A worrying thought hit Robin. "Des' room is on the upper floor though..." he started. "And there's no elevator."

Ty turned to him, crutches now in place under his arms. "I'm not that broken, Robby," he said, his voice tinged with both pain and pride.

"I'm sorry," Robin mumbled, internally kicking himself for his thoughtlessness. The balance between thinking too much and too little was hard to strike.

"I can conquer stairs if I have to," Tyler explained in a much cheerier tone. "And a bunny is a good reason for it. Let's go! Toward the bunny!"

One stair conquest later, they stood in Des' room, which was filled with posters of cute animals, halfway finished crafting projects, and paper flowers in bright colors. Basically, it was Des, in every single way. Robin always felt safe and taken care of in that room.

Ty slumped down in a floral chair, already occupied by about a dozen stuffed animals. "Move out of the way," he mumbled to a stuffed penguin while making room for himself in the fluffy zoo.

Robin laid down on the floor to release the long-eared beast from its confines."Come on, Pax," he encouraged the animal. "You can roam freely now."

The bunny did not get out. In fact, Pax backed further into the cage upon seeing Robin. They had never been the best of friends. Since Robin never had any animals himself while growing up, he didn't quite know how to act around them and Pax seemed to pick up on this. One time, the rabbit had peed on Robin's shoes while he and Des studied. It was probably meant as a personal insult.

"Sit down and let him take his time," Ty said and poked Robin lightly in the back with one of his crutches. "You're stressing the poor thing."

Robin crawled out from underneath the bed and sat down on the desk chair with a shrug. Ty responded with a smile that made Robin's whole body flutter. Every gaze between them made him assured that they shared something beyond tutoring or even friendship. He just wasn't brave enough yet to admit what it actually was, even if in the back of his mind he already knew.

Infatuation. Romance. Desire. Those were words he didn't quite dare think yet, and much less speak.

The silence in the room made it feel like the ceiling was about to cave in on him. But, of course, Robin couldn't think of anything to say.

Luckily, Pax chose this moment to appear. The chocolate-colored bunny sniffed around for a few moments before hopping toward the chair where Ty sat. After trying to chew on one of the crutches, the animal sniffed Ty's pantleg, decided that he had found a friend, and bounced up to place himself regally in Ty's lap.

"Hello there, buddy," Ty whispered to his new furry friend. "I knew you would come along if we gave you some time."

Robin looked at the bunny in astonishment. He had known Pax for years and the animal had never voluntarily come that close to him.

"Come over here, Robby," Tyler urged. "I think Pax will let you pet him now."

Robin wasn't sure he wanted to pet the bunny but he was sure he wanted to move closer to Ty. So he shuffled carefully over toward the chair, afraid to spook the bunny. Pax glared suspiciously at him as he approached.

"Sit down here." Ty patted the armrest. Of course, Robin couldn't resist the offer to sit that close—hostile bunny be damned.

A scent of lemony soap and vanilla met his nose as he nestled himself next to Ty. The flutters went haywire. The proximity to those blond curls and sculpted arms overwhelmed all of Robin's systems. He took a deep breath to not pass out from overstimulation.

If Tyler noticed Robin's struggles, he didn't reveal it. "Put your hand here," he said. "On Pax's back. He won't mind."

Robin was quite sure the bunny would, in fact, mind. But he still obliged Ty's command. Because he would do anything Ty told him to do.

The fur was silky smooth under his hand. The bunny moved slightly but didn't attack or run away. Ty had been right.

A hand was placed on top of his own. "Just move calmly." Tyler guided Robin's fingers across over the bunny's back. "Pax won't bite. At least I don't think so..."

Robin didn't care if the bunny would bite. All he cared about was that Ty was touching his hand. And he wondered if perhaps Ty had told him to pet the bunny just so that he could touch Robin's hand. Although perhaps he was imagining things since his systems were about to short circuit from the prolonged contact.

"So are you used to bunnies?" Robin asked Tyler, in an attempt to make the skin-to-skin contact last longer.

Ty nodded. "My little sister, Emmie, has one at home. She loves that thing and always wants to play with it when I watch her."

Siblings, pets, and happy memories. It was the kind of family Robin had always longed for. Although the firm hand that currently guided his hand over fluffy fur made him long for something else. A different kind of connection.

The whole room had turned into a warm and soft bubble. Robin wanted to stay there forever.

But, of course, nothing lasts forever, and the bubble burst as Pax suddenly asserted his free will and escaped onto the floor.

But Tyler's hand remained on top of Robin's.

Neither of them moved. Neither of them dared to look up. Neither of them even breathed. It felt like all air had been sucked out of the room and left them in a vacuum.

Then, light like raindrops, Ty's fingers traced the back of Robin's hand. The touch was soft and tickled slightly.

Robin's brain had completely malfunctioned by now. Syntax Error. Whatever control he usually possessed of his mind and body was wiped out. All actions at this point were purely primal.

A stray curl hung in front of Ty's eyes. It was enticing and inviting. Robin instinctually reached his hand out and stroked the hair away. He couldn't help himself. The curl was light and soft like a feather.

Their hands were still wrapped together, not wanting to part. Robin's hand lingered on Tyler's neck, feeling a rapid pulse underneath warm skin. Their eyes locked in a moment of feverish anticipation, waiting for one of them to be brave enough to take the next step.

A breath. Then another. With every breath, they inched a little bit closer.

That's when a click was heard as the door handle was pushed down.

Robin fell backward off the chair from the surprise and tumbled down on the floor. He had completely forgotten where they were and why.

"Robin!" Des exclaimed as she stepped inside. "What are you doing?"

"I... fell," Robin mumbled as he rose to his feet. He rubbed his right hip, which had taken the brunt of the impact.

As Des rummaged through the room in search of her bunny, Robin didn't dare to meet Ty's eyes. He feared that the green eyes would reveal that the interrupted moment had existed solely in his mind. Because it felt so unreal and impossible now, only a few seconds later.

"What are you chewing on?" Des found Pax in a corner and extracted a pair of mangled earbuds from his mouth. "Aren't you watching him, Robin?"

"I was, but we were," Robin sputtered, unsure how to explain what had even happened. But it would probably have been easier to explain a UFO abduction. Such an event seemed more realistic and likely to occur than what had just gone down.

"It was my fault, Des," Tyler insisted. "I distracted Robby. I'm sorry." He reached for his crutches and stood from the chair, seemingly in quite a hurry. "I should get going. My aunt is probably waiting in the parking lot already. I told her I'd be done around seven."

It appeared Tyler couldn't leave the room fast enough. Robin was convinced he'd scared him off. He had misinterpreted everything and made a fool out of himself.

"I'll follow you out," Robin said because he wanted to apologize in some way. He needed to save this.

As the boys stumbled out the door, Des threw them a weird look, like she suspected something was up.

A moment later, Tyler and Robin stood opposite each other in the hallway. Backpack-clad students rushed by, tired after a long school day.

"I didn't mean... I'm sorry" Robin started eloquently while looking down at the dreary gray carpet, worn down by thousands of students' feet.

He felt a light tap on his ankle. A soft and playful tap from the end of a crutch. It urged him to look up. Slowly he inched his gaze upward and soon lost himself in a pair of anxious and kind green eyes.

"I... " Tyler started, just as well-spoken as Robin. "I was thinking, maybe you wanted to... hang out this weekend?." Another tap on the ankle as Ty took a short breath before continuing. "If you want to, I mean. And like, not study."

He ended the question by firing off a patented sweet smile, but the smile couldn't quite hide the shyness underneath.

Was he asking Robin out on a date? It could certainly be interpreted as such. Regardless of whether it was a date or not, Robin wanted to say yes. He wanted to scream it. But he couldn't.

"I can't," he sighed. "I'm going home over the weekend. I always do."

Ty nodded, unable to hide the disappointment on his face.

"Maybe next weekend though," Robin suggested. "I'll... talk to my mom." He wasn't sure how he would do that, but somehow he needed to find a way.

"Next weekend is good too," Tyler replied. "I guess that's a... date then."

A date! It was a date. Or was it? Was that what Ty had meant? This whole flirting thing was so confusing.

One more soft tap on his ankle. "See you next week then, Robby," Tyler said before turning around to leave.