Ryan had left work early the next day, telling Geoff he would finish up at home. Right now though, he was wandering through the local park, thinking. The place was deserted, save a few joggers and dogwalkers, and Ryan could've got to know them, the amount of times he had paced around the circular lake in the centre. One of them, a lady walking her two dacshunds, had even stopped him to ask if he was okay. He told her everything was fine, he just had a lot on his mind, but thankyou for asking, ma'am. She replied with an okay, but if he needed to talk she would be happy to let him rant to her, before walking off again after waving.

And Ryan certainly did have a lot on his mind. He was thinking about Gavin, and how he thought his efforts to regain interest were going swimmingly. Gavin certainly was paying more attention to him now, giving him kisses on the cheek as he walked by, or taking Ryans' hand, if only for a short while, while going to the car at the end of the day. And the best thing was, whenever Ryan woke up, the first thing he saw was always that familiar head of messy brunette hair, which he thanked his lucky stars for each and every morning.

Ryan, for the first time in his life that he could remember, felt nothing but pure happiness. The small skip in his step turned into a run, then a jump, before running over to the grass and collapsing onto his back with his arms outstretched. The sky above him was tinted slightly purple, due to the orange colour of the slowly setting sun, and the clouds were pink and fluffy. He let out a breathy laugh and crossed his arms behind his head, smiling up at the sky. He brought out his phone and opened his messages, asking Gavin whether he was still working. The boy replied instantly, saying he was, but could get away with leaving now. Ryan grinned and told him to come to the park near their apartment, but to hurry. Gavin said he was leaving now, getting a lift from Geoff again.

An unexpectedly short while later, Gavin was running over to where Ryan was lying on his back, a perfect view of the nearly fully set sun in front of him. He slowed to a stop and a sat down next to Ryan, who tilted his head to look at the boy. Gavin had brought two cans of Diet Coke for them and offered one silently to his boyfriend, who took it, not taking his eyes off Gavin. The lad looked exceptionally beautiful in the glow of the setting sun: His wheat coloured hair was now golden, his face amber, which made his shining green eyes stand out stunningly. Ryan placed the can down, immediately forgetting about it, and reached out to pull the Brit down onto his back next to him, wrapping his arm around the boy's waist. Gavin felt his eyes fill with tears as he took in the perfection of the moment. The afterglow of the sunset was stunning, the sky a deep blue, blanketed by peach-coloured, wispy clouds, and the hint of some stars could be seen glinting behind them.

And there was no one Gavin could think of that he'd rather be with in that moment than James Ryan Haywood.