Collier was sitting by the window of his new bedroom at his father's house. There was barely nothing in it since he hadn't officially moved in yet (he had only learned that was an option the day before, so it wasn't like he had time to even if he wanted to), but had father had kept his word and they had gone out to buy him a bed.

It was Friday, and Henry was supposed to be picking him up at fourth thirty- in four minutes- for their date. Collier was a bit nervous about this, not really sure what to expect.

When he had gotten home from school, Collier had greeted his father, ate a protein bar, and then went straight to his room to get ready.

He didn't know what Henry had planned, but judging by his personality, and their relationship so far, it wouldn't be anything formal, so Collier felt comfortable dressing like himself. It also made him feel better to know that Henry would appreciate his anime shirt instead of sneer at it.

Teeth were brushed, shoes were chosen, cargo pants were changed out for a pair of jeans, and Collier actually almost felt ready.

Of course, the second he watched Henry's car pull up to his house, he remembered the millions of things he also should have done in preparation.

Floss teeth. Comb hair. Wash face. Comb hair again since it never really stays where you want it to. Pack comb in wallet incase you need to comb hair again throughout the night. Cover freckles with foundation.

Sighing, Collier left his room, shutting the door behind himself. His father was in the living room watching a movie, but he paused it when Cole entered the room.

"Wanna watch?" The older man asked and Collier shook his head at his father before crossing the room and pulling open the front door. "Where are you going?"

"Out, if that's okay," Cole asked. His father chewed his lip. "I'm not driving". Still, the man looked skeptical. "Please dad?"

He probably should have asked before had to avoid this situation, but he was so used to just leaving his mother's house whenever he felt like it that he honestly had forgotten.

"Alright". His father smiled up at him. "Any idea when you're going to be home?"

"No". Cole looked out the open front door to Henry's silver car parked on the street. "He hadn't really told me anything about what we're doing".

"He?" His father's expression was knowing. "Are you going on a date?"

"Goodbye," Cole said and the man laughed loudly as his son left the house and slammed the door behind himself.

Absently, Cole patted his pocket and traced the outline of his house key with his pointer finger as he approached Henry's car.

The boy looked up at him in almost surprised as Collier pulled the passenger door open and climbed in. Collier matched his confused expression. "What?"

"Well make yourself at home," Henry said, though he sounded as if he was joking so Cole smiled.

"What- was I supposed to stand there and wait for you to get out of the car, walk around it, and open the door for me like boys are supposed to do on the first date?" Collier teased and Henry's eyebrows raised.

"Second date," he corrected, and then added, "And maybe".

Collier laughed softly and buckled his seat belt before adjusting the chair to recline it a bit. "Where are we going?"

Henry shifted the car into drive and slowly pulled away from the curb. "Well," the brunette said, chewing on his lip as if he was nervous, "do you have anything in particular you want to do, or do you want to go with my plans?"

"Yours," Cole said quickly and Henry looked at him, a bit alarmed. Collier shrugged as his face flushed. "I'm curious".

"Alright". Henry swallowed loudly. "We're going to be driving for a bit though, if that's okay".

"Oh," Cole said, glancing out of the window. He noticed that Henry was driving towards the closest entrance to the to the highway. While Collier was still uncomfortable in cars, he trusted Henry. "Yeah, I'm fine with that". It was quiet for a second. "You still haven't told me where we're going".

"And I'm not going to," Henry said, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Collier raised his eyebrows and the blue eyed boy smiled at him. "Don't worry. I've thought about this a lot. I even asked Sarah what she thought your dream date was".

Cole choked on air in surprise and coughed. "You asked Sarah that? My best friend Sarah?" Henry nodded. "My best friends Sarah who is on to you?"

Henry chuckled. "She's onto me?" Collier nodded. "What does that even mean?"

"She's suspicious that there's something going on between the two of us," Cole explained and Henry shrugged.

"I'm really not to worried about it," Henry claimed and Collier sighed loudly. "But anyways, Sarah seemed mad at me for asking and snapped at me and said that Jake had taken you on your dream date and it was none of my business".

It was Cole's turn to laugh. "She thinks you hurt my feelings or something". He paused then. "Actually, you did-"

Henry cut him off. "Let's not discuss me being an asshole right now. I'll get off topic". Cole just hummed. "Anyways, what did you and Jake do?"

"You don't want to talk about yourself, but you want to talk about the boy I went on my dream date with Tuesday night?" Cole asked, watching as Henry's lips turned down for a second.

Did that bother him?

"So it was your dream date?" Henry asked and Collier sighed.

"It was what I've always wanted, I guess. There was nice food and painting and a boy- the concept of it all was really great". Henry hummed as if he understood, glancing over his shoulder to merge onto the highway. Collier's fists clenched as the vehicle accelerated and Henry, without taking his eyes off of the road, reached over and gently pulled his hands open, fingers brushing over each palm for just a second before his hand returned to the wheel.

"So what was wrong with it?" Henry asked and Cole hummed in confusion. "Your date with Jake".

"It wasn't right".

"What wasn't right?" Henry pushed and Cole swallowed and looked out of his window.

"He wasn't right".

It was quiet for a few moments as Henry processed that. When the brunette finally spoke, it was about something completely different, indicating that their conversation about Jake was over. Cole was completely fine with that.

"Have you eaten?" Henry asked and Collier shrugged. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"I ate a little," Cole thought back to his protein bar, "just incase dinner wasn't part of our plans. It was enough that I wouldn't be starving, but I'd still be hungry".

"Smart boy," Henry said under his breath. "We'll stop somewhere on the way". Henry looked a bit nervous for a second. "The main part of this date isn't the food, okay?"

"Uh, okay. What's do you mean?" Cole asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Where's your favorite fast food place?" Henry asked, sounding rather embarrassed. It took Collier a moment to realize what he had been asked before he was laughing. "Hey, don't laugh at me".

"I can't help it," Cole admitted, smiling at the boy next to him fondly. "You're kind of cute".

Henry's eyes got huge. "Cute?" He demanded and Cole smiled and nodded. "You think I'm cute".

"I do". Henry looked incredibly amused.

"I am Henry Stone. I'm hot. Very hot. Like, ridiculously attractive-"

"And humble," Collier added with a smile and Henry snorted.

"Shut up," Henry grumbled, looking out his window so Cole couldn't see his face but he suspected he was smiling.

"My favorite fast food place, huh?" Collier asked, grinning as Henry slowly reached over and linked their fingers. "I'd have to say... umm-"

***

After going through the drive through- which meant after an argument in which Collier talked Henry's ear off about how he should pay since Henry had paid for their first date, and then Henry had simply ignored him and payed- they got back on the highway.

Collier was practically shaking with anticipation. They had gotten off the highway about thirty minutes ago, but still had yet to arrive at their destination.

Cole had asked Henry multiple times over the past hour and a half where they were going, but the boy had either ignored him, of forced french fries into his mouth and told him he needed to eat more.

"Hey," Collier began, chewing his lip. He had finished his last french fry about ten minutes ago, giving nothing for Henry to just shove into his mouth for asking again. "Where are we going, again?"

Henry gave him a pointed look. "Be patient".

"I am patient," Cole insisted and Henry snorted. "I am. It's just that, well, the sun is going to set soon, and we're still driving away from home".

Henry sighed loudly, putting on his right blinker and pulling off to the side of the road. "Do you want to go back already?" The boy demanded and Collier's golden eyes got very large.

"What?!" He asked. "No! I don't! Of course not!"

"Good!" Henry said, pulling they keys out of his car, "because we're here".

Collier's eyebrows raised and he leaned over to look out the window. They were in a rather expensive looking neighborhood, though that's all it seemed to be.

"I swear to god if you brought me to one of your relatives houses-" Cole began but Henry laughed loudly to cut him off.

"Technically, I did," he admitted and Collier felt his eyes widen once more. "Don't look so scared, Collie, they're not home, and we're not going inside". Cole relaxed and shot Henry a relieved smile which had the blue eyed boy rolling his eyes. "Come on, Cole. Let's get out".

They did, and Collier stood on the sidewalk looking around as he waited for Henry to round the front of the vehicle. "Where exactly are we?" Cole asked and Henry sighed.

"My aunt's house, but I have something to show you".

"At your aunt's house?" Collier asked, skeptical. He really had no clue what Henry was working up to here.

"Shh," Henry said softly before holding out his hand for Cole to take. "Trust me".

Without a word, Collier slid his fingers through the gaps in Henry's and allowed the taller boy to lead him across the yard.

They walked past the house into the backyard, and then into the thin woods there.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination, probably only five or so minutes, but it felt longer with all the anticipation building up to this moment.

Collier felt that there was no way in hell whatever he was about to see would make up for all the buildup, but boy he was wrong.

As the trees grew thinner, Henry directed his attention to Collier absently following behind him, his eyes ahead of them as he tried to figure out where they were before they actually got there.

When he realized, his eyes flicked over to Henry in surprise for a moment to catch the other boy grinning at him. Without a word, Collier switched their positions, hurrying his pace until he was the one pulling Henry behind him.

And then there were no more trees, and Collier was standing on the edge of a cliff, his eyes open wide to look at the sight before him.

"You drove us to the ocean," Cole said, his voice filled with wonder as if he was seeing it for the first time.

"I drove us to the best sunset I've ever seen," Henry said, gently tugging Collier's hand. "Don't stand so close to the edge". Not listening but still holding Henry's hand, Collier kicked his feet out from under himself to land on the edge of the rock with his legs dangling over the edge. "Oh shit. Don't do that!"

"Henry," Cole said simply, tilting his head back to look up at the other boy. He watched as Henry's stern expression slowly dissolved to one of pure vulnerability.

With a soft sigh, Henry dropped to his knees before shifting back and folding his legs under himself. Collier shifted away from the edge some more until his legs could no longer bend, but stuck straight out over the water. Without a moment of hesitation, his head dropped down onto Henry's shoulder. "Thank you".

"You like it?" Henry question, slipping an arm protectively around his waist. "I thought you would but I wasn't sure-"

"I love it," Cole corrected, grinning. "It's perfect". You're perfect.

"Well," Henry said, turning his face into Cole's hair. "I totally didn't try".

Collier laughed softly. "Liar. You even talked to Sarah about it".

"I came up on this on my own," Henry claimed and Collier hummed thoughtfully. "I did. She was no help at all".

"I believe you," Cole admitted. "You know, I'd expect nothing else from a man who bought me fast food on a date". Henry laughed at that and Collier smiled, feeling as if he had accomplished something great. It was a wonderful sound, Henry's laugh, so different from the dry chuckle he gave from time to time. "Hey, don't laugh at me. I'm serious. Not only did you get me fast food, but you paid for it. You know, I honestly don't know what I would have done if you made me pay. I'd be out six whole dollars right now".

"Damn it, Collier," Henry said, his voice lighter and Cole knew without looking at him that the boy was smiling. "Shut up about fast food. The sun's going to start setting soon".

"How are we watching the sunset over the ocean from the east coast?" Cole asked. "Typically we'd have to watch the sun rise".

"We're on the west coast of the peninsula," Henry explained and Cole's eye widened.

"We drove that far?"

"We did".

Cole hummed thoughtfully, snuggling more into Henry's warmth with a small smile on his face.

He was scared, but he tried not to think of that at the moment. Tried not to think about how the boy behind him didn't want anything to do with him. About how when they drove back home, their date would be over, and possibly, their relationship- depending on whether or not Collier would be able to control himself around him.

They sat for about an hour, watching as the sun slowly lowered into the sky, painting the sky orange before it sunk into the ocean and turned the world dark.

"Are you ready to go?" Henry asked after a few minutes of them sitting in the darkness.

"No," Collier mumbled, shifting a bit in Henry's arms. They had rearranged themselves a bit further back from the edge of the cliff since Henry was nervous about Collier being clumsy and falling off the edge.

When they had moved, Henry had sat behind Cole, his arms around his waist and chin on his shoulder so Collier could lean back against him comfortable.

"No?" Henry repeated. "Then what do you want to do?"

"Look at the stars?" Cole suggested nervously. He didn't want to leave yet. He just wanted more time with Henry.

Henry was quiet for a moment, as if thinking and Cole was worried he'd say no and demand they go back. Why wouldn't he? To Henry, they were still nothing. Why would he want to spend even more time with him?

Before Henry could respond, Collier moved to stand, already anticipating the answer.

Henry's hands clamped down on his hips. "Hey? Where are you going?"

"Aren't you going to say no?" Cole asked, leaning forward to look over his shoulder at Henry, whose face he could barely make out in the darkness.

"I was going to say yes".

"Oh," Cole said and Henry sighed in loudly in the darkness.

"Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine". Collier relaxed back against Henry again and looked up at the sky. "Do you have anything to do tomorrow?"

"No," Henry said before gently tightening his arms around Cole's waist. "Why?"

"Well I just didn't want you to be tired tomorrow," Collier explained.

"Well what about you? Don't you work on saturdays?" Henry asked, sounding concerned and Collier laughed softly.

"Yeah, but I took off tomorrow".

Henry paused. "Is it because of Jake?"

"No- how did you know I worked with him?" Cole asked. He didn't remember telling Henry that, but could have possibly let it slip without thinking.

"Don't know. Either from you, Emerson, or Sarah. I pay attention a lot, you know. Like, when it looks like I'm really angry and zoned out, I'm still listening".

"That's good to know," Collier commented before continuing back on topic. "But no. It's not because of Jake. Jake and I are fine now. I took off work because I'm moving tomorrow".

Henry tensed. "Moving where?"

"Where you picked me up. My dad's house". Collier was both excited and sad about this, but he didn't say anything to Henry about it.

Henry surprised him. "Do you need help?"

"Moving?" Cole asked before realizing Henry couldn't be asking about anything else. "I guess so. Are you offering to help me move?"

"I could be".

"That seems like a big step for you, Stone," Collier teased and Henry just grunted into his head.

"I'm going to take it back-"

"You can come help me move, if you'd like. I mean, I'd like you to but I completely understand if you have something else going on. Just text me and let me know before hand and I can tell you where I am," Cole suggested, shivering a bit from the cool wind that blew off the ocean and trying to get even closer to Henry, who chuckled at him. "I'm cold".

"Alright". For a moment, Collier thought that's all he was going to say, but a second later Henry sighed and added, "up we go".

Cole squeaked as Henry somehow managed to get both of them on their feet at the same time. "But the stars".

"They'll be there tomorrow night, Collie," Henry said affectionately, taking his hand and gently tugging him in the direction of his parked car.

But you won't be, Collier wanted to say, but for both of their sakes, he kept his mouth shut.

***

"You're walking me to my front door?" Cole asked and Henry just paused to look at him before continuing to climb out of the car. Collier, still seated on the passenger side opened his mouth to make a comment, but Henry slammed his door shut between them. "Always the gentleman".

Cole quickly scrambled out of the vehicle and took Henry's offered hand. Slowly, they made their way towards the front porch.

"What are you thinking about?" Henry whispered, as if he was scared to break the silence around them. Collier sighed, wondering if he should be honest or not.

He didn't respond until they were in front of his door facing one another. "I don't really want this night to end". It was the true, or some of it at least.

Henry smiled at him softly. "It doesn't have to end right now" He offered and Collier raised his eyebrows before glancing at his front door. "Come home with me? Spend the night?"

Collier snorted. "I don't think that's such a good idea". Henry's eyebrows raised. "What?" Cole asked, "you think I'm going to put out on the first date?"

"Second date," Henry corrected immediately before cupping his face and kissing him. Cole was startled, there really had been nothing leading up to this moment that indicated it would be happening, but he kissed back nevertheless.

All the things he had been pushing back for the entire night came rushing to him. When would he kiss Henry again? When would the be alone again? When would he be able to look at the boy without his heart pounding in his chest?

Why couldn't he and Henry be something?

Collier pulled back suddenly, keeping his eyes shut tight as he leaned away from the tall boy. "Is everything alright?" Henry asked and Cole opened his eyes. Henry looked startled and Collier was sure his teary eyes were visible under the porch light. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Cole said, looking down and shaking his head. He stuck his hand in his left pocket, fishing out his key and holding it tightly in his palm. "That was perfect. This night was perfect".

Without pause, he pushed himself up onto his toes and pressed one last kiss onto to the corner of Henry's mouth.

Then, he turned and unlocked his door, pushing it open a bit so he could say his last line and disappear into his house without Henry seeing his tears fall. "It's too bad we'll never be anything," Collier added.

Henry's eyes flashed with some emotion, but Cole didn't dwell on it.

He simply went in his house and closed the door between them.