Keefe was just so confused. Dex had been blushing extremely often, and his emotions were going haywire. Especially when Dex was giving him the massage. There was no doubt that he'd been actively trying to keep calm, but why would he need to do that? What was there to hide?

But at least the massage was great. He fell asleep with ease. But instead of being haunted by those golden-flecked brown eyes, instead he dreamed of periwinkle blue, and the light, feathery feeling that came from the massage.

At some point- but he had no clue when- there was a surge of emotion. It was strong and intense, but still not enough to fully wake him up. But as quickly as it came, it was gone.

But the most confusing part of all this was that he woke up next to Dex. Not only that, but they were hugging. He nearly leapt up in shock, but he didn't want to wake up the sleeping boy.

So Keefe laid there, trying not to notice how warm Dex was compared to him. Dex began to stir, and hugged him even tighter. Shivering, he snuggled closer, trying to feel as warm as possible.

The door opened, and there was a gasp, but he couldn't tell if it was from himself or who was at the door. This time, he actually leapt up out of bed, his arms held up.

"It's not what it looks like!" He blurted out.

"What's not what it lo- What am I doing down here!?" Dex asked, rubbing his eyes.

"We weren't doing anything! Just hugging!"

You're not really making things better for yourself!

Dex sat up. "What!? But I went to my bed-" he cut himself off, then glared at Bex, who was hiding behind Juline."

"We just wanted to check up on you both," Juline explained. She stared at Dex, the expression on her face one that he didn't understand. But Dex seemed to know, as he slumped. "Shouldn't you two get ready for Foxfire?"

"Oh crap!" The both of them said simultaneously, scrambling for everything that they needed.

Keefe leapt back to his home, and was greeted with a glare.

"Where were you?" Lord Cassius asked. "Why weren't you home last night?"

"I was with the Vackers!" Keefe replied, knowing that if he told the truth, his father would be even more upset at Dex.

He ignored the raised eyebrow that Ro sent him. It was just enough of an expression that most of the others wouldn't notice, but Keefe would.

"He's not wrong, I was with-"

Cassius cut her off. "I wasn't talking to you!"

She huffed, but otherwise didn't retort, clearly deciding to not waste her effort.

"And you," he looked back at Keefe. "Get ready for Foxfire!"

Keefe went to his room, cursing under his breath. He took a shower and got ready. As he was about to leave though, Ro stopped him.

"So do tell me about what's been going on between the two of you. I mean, you went to his house, slept over, cuddled with him."

"Really?" Keefe asked. "Even I can tell that Bex was the one who caused the cuddle thing. Dex said that he'd gone back to bed. Besides, am I not allowed at a friend's house?"

He really did enjoy the previous day, actually. He should probably go more often.

Ro hummed, her nose scrunched in disbelief. "And you lied?"

"Did you really think I'd let my father get mad at Dex?"

She shrugged. She kept quiet, and the conversation was dropped. They went to Foxfire, and Keefe ditched his class again. He just didn't have the patience to deal with it.

Lunch came by, and this time, none of his friends were surprised to see him. Even though this was the third day in a row that he hadn't ended up in detention. He sat down at the end seat, with Dex in front of him. When Tam sat down next to him- uh, since when did Bangs Boy sit next to him?- he felt like moving away, but he refused to give up the end seat.

He looked from his lunch and saw that Sophie and Fitz were kissing again. Nausea pooled in his stomach, but this time he could easily force it down. There was no need for him to get up and be alone. He could deal with this. He would deal with this.

His gaze ended up wandering to all of his friends, looking to see what each one of them were doing. When he reached Dex, his gaze lingered. He noticed that Dex had been looking down often, but when he looked up for once and met his gaze, he immediately looked away, his cheeks pink. Keefe's staring made him blush?

What is up with him?

Keefe raised his arms up and stretched, accidentally hitting Tam in the process. He was fully prepared for him to turn and glare, then complain, but instead, he kept quiet. That was strange. He also didn't feel annoyed based on that brief moment of contact. It seemed like he was contemplating something, maybe even plotting. If that was the case, he needed to be careful.

"Wanna come over to Everglen?" Biana asked. "Doesn't have to be a sleepover if you don't want to."

"We could play some Truth Or Dare Again," Tam added.

Biana turned to him with a grin. "I'm glad you're seeing how fun it is!"

"Uh... sure."

"I'll come!" Keefe said.

"Me too," Sophie chimed in.

"I'll be there," Dex told them. "But I'll be there a bit later. My mom needs me."

"That's fine, we can wait," said Linh.

After that, Keefe ended up zoning out. It was only partially intentional, because he needed to figure out what was going on. For Tam to suggest the game meant that something was up. Then again, Keefe didn't really have much to lose at this point, only his pride.

Lunch ended and Keefe just couldn't wait for Foxfire to end. But there was still another class. This time, he actually did attend it. It was alchemy, one of the subjects he didn't mind as much, because it was less listening and more doing things. It just felt good to be able to do things with his hands and not just sit there for hours on end.

When class ended, he went to Everglen. Sophie was sitting by Biana, the both of them talking enthusiastically, while Fitz sat not too far from the both of them, but it was obvious that he wasn't part of the conversation.

I've got a better idea of what I should say. This is the perfect time to talk to him.

Keefe walked up to him. "Hey Fitzy, can I talk to you?"

He watched Fitz take a breath, as if he was mentally preparing himself. Well, he couldn't really be blamed too much. While they were still great friends, they weren't on the best of terms, and Fitz has a tendency to let his anger loose, even if he didn't mean to.

"Nothing bad," Keefe promised, and took his arm. "Just a few minutes."

He nodded, and stood up. "Okay."

They walked into one of the numerous rooms, and sat down on the bed.

"What was it?" Fitz asked.

"Just wanted to apologize to you."

There, the first words were out.

Fitz blinked at him, so Keefe took that as a chance to continue.

"About well, Foster. Shouldn't have yelled at you just because you confessed first. I said some rude stuff to her, but about you too. I should know that you aren't the type of person to break someone's heart out of malice. I know you're a better person than that, so I don't know why I said it.

"And about that game. I mean... I don't know why I chose to do that. It was rude and all. I just wanted to apologize for that too. And I'm working on it. Getting over her. Because really, if the both of you are happy with each other, that's enough for me. And I know you can have concerns, so I just wanted to promise you that I won't try and get between the two of you. I promise."

Fitz looked at him, his face frozen until he seemed to have taken it all in. Then he smiled.

"I was mad at you for all that," he admitted. "I mean, I guess I was still a little annoyed. But I'm not mad, and I'm glad you apologized. I mean, I wasn't at my best behaviour either. You went through heartbreak and I could have comforted you or something. But well, it's all in the past now. We just have to be better, right?"

"Right," Keefe agreed. "I do miss us acting like we used to."

"Yeah, I do too. Anyways, let's go back to the others."

They went back and sat with the others, and waited for Dex to arrive. Keefe couldn't help but notice that things felt different without him here, almost... emptier? He wasn't sure why he thought that way though. After all, this wouldbt be the first time that Dex wasn't with them. But what made it so different now?

Well, you have been hanging out with him and paying attention to him nowadays. Obviously it's going to feel different if your friend isn't with you.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Earlier that morning, Juline had asked for Dex to see her after school. While he didn't quite know why, he had his suspicions. The look she gave him was enough for him to know. Besides, if Bex managed to figure it out, so would she.

Dex loved his mom, he really did. And it wasn't often that he was actually scared of her. But for the first time in his life, he was terrified. What was she going to say? Would she be supportive like Bex seemed to be? Or was she going to lecture him about how liking a boy was wrong? After all, he'd never heard of any elves liking the same gender.

Have more faith in her! His mind screamed. She would know how it feels to be discriminated against. She would know to not alienate me.

While that made everything a little better, it wasn't enough to get rid of those anxious thoughts. His hands were clammy as he opened the door to his home, and walked in. His mother was sitting on a couch, and patted the seat beside her, smiling.

Okay, she doesn't look mad. And it's not those fake smiles either.

That knowledge helped a lot, and he managed to walk a little faster and sat down. "What is it?"

"There's a movie your father and I found. I want you to watch it with me."

Dex looked around, but nobody else was around. "Where are the others?"

"I think you'd be more comfortable without your siblings for now. Your father was supposed to be here, but was called in at the last minute for some orders. We figured that it's best to do this as soon as possible, so he won't be here either."

"But what's so important about this movie that we have to watch it now?"

The Dizznee family had movie nights occasionally. But they weren't often, and his father would always be there. The triplets would sometimes join them, depending on the movie.

But his question remained unanswered as Juline started the movie.

Like with every movie, Dex was absolutely mesmerized. It was impressive to see all these videos and drawings made by the humans. He picked close attention, because even though there were subtitles in the Enlightened Language, he didn't want to miss a thing.

The movie that was chosen this time was different. The movies that they had watched recently had more action and fantasy elements to them, but this was just a romance.

He had no idea why his mom would put on a romance movie, until he saw the two main characters. Not a man and a woman, but instead, there was a romance between two men. They were in love with each other, but not everyone approved of their relationship. But in the end, they lived together happily.

He'd been silent for the entire movie, and after it ended, he turned to his mom. "Why'd you show me this? A lot of the humans weren't supportive."

"Don't you see," Juline said. "Not everyone approved of them, but most did. And they still got together in the end. Even their friends supported them in the end. So I think that your friends will support you if you ever come out to them.

"As for why? It's simple, I can see how you feel. You're scared of how much you like Keefe, you're scared of being rejected for being who you are. I mean, I wasn't always so eager to marry your dad and take on the Dizznee name. I was scared too, but I knew that in the end, it was my feelings that mattered. I love Kesler, simple. And I want you to know that if you like Keefe, both your father and I support you for it."

"How obvious was I?" He couldn't help but ask.

She laughed. "I'm your mother. It's my duty to notice these things. So to me, it's obvious."

He leaned in and hugged her, smiling when she returned the embrace. "Thank you, that means a lot. It helps a lot."

And he meant it. He'd come to terms with his feelings, but it hadn't meant that he embraced it. Because he was scared, but this wasn't something wrong and in his control. It was just how he was.

And maybe, just maybe, Keefe finding out about his crush wouldn't be too bad. He was going to tell Keefe. Keefe was just so amazing and loyal and even beautiful. Dex just hoped that he would be considered good enough.

But that was a plan for the future. Keefe was still hung up over Sophie, he needed the time to sort through his feelings. But once that waiting time was over, Dex was going to confess.