*Alex - Point of View*

Chris, Ross and I walked out of the school, report card in hand. School had ended for the year; we had just written our History Final.

"That wasn't hard, was it guys?" Chris stated, turning around and walking backwards. Ross shrugged his shoulders and I huffed, kicking a stone in my path.

"I think I failed it." I murmured, glancing down at the paper envelope containing my grades inside. "My mums gonna kill me."

"No she won't. Mums nice." Chris reassured, patting me on the back. We stopped at the corner store, picking up some junk food for our games night tonight. We figured we needed it after studying for 2 weeks as well as the fact our parents were going off on a trip. We are going to Films Camp tomorrow afternoon; hence why we weren't heading with them.

We walked back to Ross' house dumping all of the stuff into his room.

"Hey boys. How was school?" I looked around to see Ross' mother at the door, her hair up in a loose bun and apron on, covered in flour.

"Good thank you Mrs. Hornby. Are you making treats?" I questioned, my stomach realizing how hungry the test had made me.

"Yes I am. I am making a cake for Ross to celebrate..." She looked behind me and stopped before finishing her sentence. I turned around and looked at Ross, who was smiling awkwardly before bringing the attention to the envelope in his possession.

"Got my report card today." He handed it off to his mum before she nodded and walked off without another word.

"What was that about?" Chris asked, standing up from Ross' bed. It creaked as the weight shifted off. Ross just nervously shrugged his shoulders.

"Should we go to yours?" He quickly stated more than questioned; leaving the room then going downstairs. I gave Chris a look but he just gave me back the same confused one. I sighed and left the room, Chris shutting the door behind him.

We all walked over to my home, letting ourselves in and kicking off our shoes at the door.

"Hello?" My mum questioned, peeping around the corner. "Oh boys. How was the last day of Year 11?" I sighed.

"Hell on earth. Glad it is over though." I answered, turning around to look at Trott.

"Fairly easy. Here-" Chris passed forward his report card, mum taking it into her hands elegantly. She looked at me to which I objectively obliged, passing my report over. She nodded and walked away leaving me with a ball of stress pulsing in my stomach. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and saw the owner was Ross. He smiled delicately as Chris walked upstairs, passing by my shoulder in a swift movement.

"It will be fine." Ross hummed as he pulled me into a hug. I did my best at hiding my blush, holding my best friend back.

"Yeah. I hope." I swallowed, moving away from Ross before my body did anything absurd. Ross walked upstairs leaving me at the base of the steps, staring at my shuffling feet. I sighed then headed upstairs as well, hoping my burning face would go unrecognized.

***A few hours later***

We were all back in Ross' home, lounged in front of his flatscreen; Battlefield casting a weak light onto our shadowed faces. The game was paused, Chris had hopped up to take a washroom break; Ross and I taking small sips of our fizzy soda.

"Alex, are you okay?" Ross questioned, his head tilting a little to the side, his mouth disfigured in concern.

"Craving Whiskey..." I mumbled, thinking about the warm alcohol that caused me to finally get the courage to kiss my friends. Ross nodded, placing down his cup and looking over to me.

"Same. Think we could sneak some without suspicion? And not being as sick as we were last time?" I nodded quickly and Ross grinned; hopping up off the couch to the liquor cabinet in the dining room. He pulled out a new bottle in the top shelf, after grabbing a few small glasses to drink out of. He poured me and him a drink.

"Cheers." I told, connecting my glass to Ross' with a small clink.

"Cheers." Ross returned, before we both felt the burn of the alcohol run down the back of our throats. Ross covered his mouth and coughed a little, grinning when he removed his hand. He looked at his glass then back at me. He kicked his lips out of habit. It always drives me crazy. I wanted to kiss him, feel his moist lips on mine; but not now. I don't have enough liquid courage slipping through my blood for that.

"Drinking without me?" Chris snickered, roughly sitting down on the floor beside me. I passed him my glass, and he quickly took a long sip from it. His face distorted a little before returning back to normal, passing me the glass back. "Thanks mate." I nodded, finishing the last sip before slamming the glass on the table a little harder than necessary. We continued drinking, not getting as smashed as last time round: and not giving me enough courage to tell my friends how I really felt.

*Ross - Point of View*

"Wake up guys." I felt my shoulder shake, but I shook it off, moaning an annoyed response. "Ross, we have camp today. We have to get ready." I fluttered my eyes open, seeing Chris close to my face. I never noticed the small gold flecks in his dark brown eyes, but they seemed to shine at this close up.

"Okay Chris." I mumbled, still half asleep. Chris smiled and moved away, and I moaned in dislike as I sat up. Partly for the idea of getting up, the other part for Chris moving away from such proximity. I rubbed my face with my hand, a yawn leaking from my lips. I stretched until I heard and felt the satisfying crack of my back, humming happily in pleasure. I felt something - someone move beside me, cuddling into the warmth of my side.

"Stop moving." He sleepily complained, moving closer to my body heat.

"I made breakfast!" Chris yells from around the corner, the smell of bacon and eggs harassing my nostrils. Alex sat up immediately, crawling up to a stand; before running to the kitchen. I chuckled and ran my hand through my hair, standing up with a grunt. "I made breakfast sandwiches." Chris told, placing the sandwiches down onto a plate before passing one to each of us. I took a bite, the yolk from the egg still runny as it ran down my chin messily.

"We have camp in... 5 hours." Alex squinted, staring at the clock flashing in the oven. I nodded slightly and took a second bite, egg yolk spilling into my hands and face.

"Yeah, what do you think it will be like?" Chris questioned, placing his breakfast down and wiping his face with a paper towel.

"Well the website looked nice. We stay in little cabins outside the city and make small movies, and learn about the art of film. We do a little acting too." I replied, my mouth full of food. I smiled, my cheeks puffed with bacon and bread before swallowing the lump of chewed food.

I quickly finished my breakfast, Alex not to far behind; but Chris took his time. He was already packed, he had been for days now. Alex and I had left it till the final moment, and we both trudged upstairs to my room. "Do you think there will be any hot girls?" I questioned, hoping Alex wouldn't think I was straight just in case he was in fact gay.

"Maybe." Alex answered seeming uninterested, fiddling with random objects around my room.

"What, do girls not make you all giddy?" I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for his response. I saw him swallow shallowly, before flipping his hair around with his hand.

"Can I tell you something Ross?" I stopped what I was doing and turned around, facing Alex. I sat on the bed now behind me; taking a seat and moving the empty suitcase back.

"We're best friends, you can tell me anything." Please tell me you are gay in some way for me. Please.

"I am... Graysexual..." I must have given Alex a puzzled look as he sighed, looking around the room as if searching for the answer. "It means I don't often feel a sexual desire towards things. I don't have a crazy sex drive like others do. But it's not like I have no sexual desire. I have some, just not... Often." Alex explained, pacing around and not making eye contact with me.

"Well... Okay. That's fine." I reassured, getting up and placing a hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex's eyes meet up to mine, his blue eyes an even richer shade from the tears brimming at his eye lids. He smiled and chuckled, a tear rolling down his cheek before he pulled me into an unexpected hug.

"Thank you." Alex choked, his words just making it out of his throat.

"Of course. I love you." I whispered, turning a bright red after realizing what I had said. But then my heart skipped a beat at what Alex replied.

"I love you too."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Helplines:

Australia:

Kids Help Line (kidshelp.com.au) is a 24-hour nationwide service that provides access to crisis support, suicide prevention and counselling services for Australians aged 5–25 [1800-55-1800]

Canada:

Kids Help Phone (kidshelpphone.ca) is a nationwide 24-hour, toll-free, confidential crisis line and counselling service available to Canadians under the age of twenty. [800-668-6868]

United States:

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (suicidepreventionlifeline.org) is a 24-hour, toll-free, confidential suicide prevention hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress [1-800-273-8255]

The Trevor Project (thetrevorproject.org) is a nationwide organization that provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth [866-488-7386]

France:

Suicide écoute : [01 45 39 40 00] (24-hour) : suicide prevention helpline (volunteers).

Germany:

Telefonseelsorge (24/7, no cost): [0800 111 0 111] (Protestant), [0800 111 0 222] (Catholic), [0800 111 0 333] (for children and youth)

United Kingdom:

PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide (papyrus-uk.org) is a registered charity. It is the national charity campaigning for prevention of young suicide. It operates a helpline providing short-term support and advice for anyone concerned about themselves or a young person they know. PAPYRUS also offers training such as the international ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) program and bespoke packages. [0800-068-41-41]