They sat like that for a couple minutes until Serenity stood up and said, "You wanna go in? I'm freezing my tits off."

"Sure," Oscar said, using his free hand to push himself up onto his feet. "You should take this," he said, passing Serenity what was left of the joint.

The pair walked back inside together, and Oscar saw that Noah was no longer sat on the couch. He was stood near the door talking to some of the other guys, but he stopped when Serenity and Oscar got closer.

"Hey guys, we're all about to head to the party, you're coming right?"

"Hell yeah, we are," Serenity said, nudging Oscar's arm.

Noah smiled at him, "Sick."

He turned to the room that had about 10 people scattered across it and reached into his pocket, retrieving a set of keys and holding them in the air.

"If you've been drinking you're not fucking driving! You either get in my car or you're staying here!"

After that Oscar and about 6 other people all piled into the back of Noah's car, practically all sitting on top of each other.

Several minutes later, Noah stopped the car down the street across from a house that was not-dissimilar to the house that the Hush Puppy concert had been at. The group walked in together, but instead of going down to the basement, they made their way to what seemed like a family's living room, where Noah's brother's band had already started their set.

The room was so packed that Oscar could hardly move. Him and Noah shimmied their way against a wall and to the kitchen to get some drinks. There was the typical cooler in the middle of the room filled with mostly-melted ice and a few beers. Noah grabbed one for himself, and handed one to Oscar.

"Hey, you wanna just hang in here? I didn't know it would be this packed," Noah said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, that's fine." Oscar was in total agreement.

They stood against the kitchen wall for at least an hour, just listening to the music and making small talk.

Oscar's mind wandered back to his conversation with Serenity.

Ask him.

He finally turned to Noah and began to say, "So-" but he was cut off by a guy with an American Flag wrapped around his neck like a cape, bursting into the room and yelling, "Cops are here! Get the fuck out if you're underage!"

"Wait, what?" Oscar asked.

Before answering, Noah grabbed his hand and yanked him out the back door that was near them. They ran through the the backyard and Noah jumped over an admittedly small fence with surprising grace. Oscar alternatively, just ran through the open gate. Once on the other side of the fence, Noah grabbed Oscar's hand again and they ran all the way back to his car.

Before they even had time to buckle up Noah turned the ignition, but Oscar said, "Wait, what about the other guys?"

Suddenly, a line of 5 guys all outfitted in Baywood letterman jackets went racing past Oscar's side of the car and down a side street.

Oscar looked back at Noah, "Um, actually I think they'll be fine. Let's go."

Without another word Noah pressed his foot to the gas and sped off down the street. Oscar looked out the back window and saw a small hoard of cops rushing into the house.

Once sufficiently away from the house, he breathed a sigh of relief. The pleasant buzz Oscar had been feeling was gone and had been replaced by pure adrenaline.

Noah looked over at him and chuckled, "Man, that was wild! That's never happened at one of Nate's shows before. It must mean he's getting good," He laughed.

Noah calm demeanor instantly calming him down too, Oscar joined in.

"Ha, yeah."

"So," Noah continued, "you wanna go somewhere else?"

"Where? Is there anything else to do this late?" Oscar asked. It was only 9pm, but the only thing to do on weekends really was go to parties.

"Probably not. You want me to just take you home?" Noah asked.

"No, not really. My parents aren't expecting me back for a while. We can just hang if you want?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah that'd be fine. You wanna just go back to my place? Play some more COD?"

"Yeah for sure," Oscar said.

Several minutes later they were parked in the driveway of Noah's house.

They got out and walked to the front door. From the outside the house looked very traditional. It had been built with white pine wood and had white wooden decorations. Small, rounded windows allowed enough light to enter the home and had been added to the house in a mostly symmetric way.

They entered into a small threshold, where Noah took off his jacket and hung it from a hook on the wall, then gestured for Oscar to hand him his.

"Yeah, sure," Oscar readily complied, and handed him his jacket.

"Hey wait, do I, uh, smell like weed?"

Laughing lightly, Noah leaned in closer to smell him. This subtle movement was enough to make Oscar's heart jump into his throat.

"Nah, you're good," Noah confirmed.

"Sick."

Oscar turned to face the inside of the house, and was met with the warm and familiar smell of pine. There was a large living room, that connected to an open kitchen, and along the left wall was a set of stairs leading to the second floor. The walls were an eggshell-white color, and the family area had two blue couches placed carefully around a white coffee table. The walls were adorned with many paintings, and an intricate sculpture rested on the mantle of a stone fireplace that sat at the other end of the room.

The kitchen walls were lined with white cabinets, filled with plates and bowls. There was a large granite-top island in the center of the room, and standing over it chopping vegetables was a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. She had on a pink apron, and her auburn-red hair was tied back.

Before she saw the boys, Noah said, "Hey mom."

The woman looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey sweetie." She then noticed Oscar's presence. "Noah, who's this?" She asked.

"Mom, this is my friend, Oscar. He's the one I went to the concert with?"

"Oh yeah," she said, and pointed to Oscar. "I remember hearing about you. Well Oscar, I'm Jessie," she said and held out her hand for him to shake.

"Nice to meet you," Oscar said.

"Nice to meet you too, honey," Jessie said.

"Where's dad? Is he here?" Noah asked her.

"No, he's on patrol tonight. He got called out to some party for a noise complaint," Jessie answered. Oscar was almost sure it was the party that they had been at.

"Oh okay," Noah continued, "We're just gonna go play some video games," he said as he started ushering Oscar up the stairs.

"Okay boys, have fun! It was really nice meeting you, Oscar!" she called after them.

They got upstairs and took a left down a long hallway. Noah stopped at one of the closed doors and went inside, Oscar trailing behind. The room was almost exactly as Oscar remembered it. The only difference was a Hush Puppy poster that Noah had gotten after the concert now hanging on one of the walls.

Noah plopped down onto one side of his bed, and patted the spot beside him much like before, to signal Oscar to sit down. Oscar sat beside him and grabbed the spare PS4 controller. "WWII again?" He asked.

"Yeah," Noah said, before starting the game.

Many rounds later, Noah had died in-game and it was up to Oscar to carry their team to victory. Noah had leaned back and put down his controller, intensely watching him. As Oscar made his last kill he let out a triumphant "Yes!" and dropped his controller into the bed in front of him. Noah joined in, "Fuck yeah!"

"Thanks," Oscar preened. He leaned back from his sitting position, resting beside Noah.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Noah slowly brought his hand up to Oscar's, and Oscar held it without hesitation.

"I really like hanging out with you, Oscar. I like you a lot," Noah said.

Oscar swallowed hard, "So, why um, why didn't you say anything? A-after I kissed you? Did you not like it or something?"

"No, no, no. I liked it. A lot. I just- I don't know I guess I just freaked out."

Noah paused, and nervously began drawing circles on the back of Oscar's hand with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Oscar looked down at his hand in Noah's, "It's okay, but like, what are we doing? Are we just hanging out? Or is this more for you?"

Moving closer to the other boy, Noah brought his hand to Oscar's chin and lifted it so he could look into his eyes.

"Do you want it to be more?"

Oscar looked away, "Well, yeah. I do."

"Hey, look at me..." Noah said softly, "I do too."

He looked down at Oscar's face, and touched their lips together. The blond's embrace made Oscar feel safe, like he had never felt before, and it never seemed to end.

Hours later, Noah was sat up in bed and Oscar had slid down to rest his head on Noah's stomach. One of Noah's hands was still entangled in Oscar's, while he used his other to stroke the brunette boy's soft curls.

Noah tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling, and sighed, "You know, I was so worried that I fucked up my chances with you at that stupid party."

Oscar looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Kissing you in front of all those people. I shouldn't have done that. I'm surprised you ever agreed to hang out with me again, honestly."

"How could I say no to you?" Oscar asked sweetly, leaning up to kiss him. He rested his forehead against Noah's for a second before pulling away.

"Since we're confessing things," Oscar said, "I was so jealous tonight when that guy was all over you at Ethan's."

Noah laughed, "What? No, he wasn't."

"He totally was! I mean, who can blame him though."

Noah brought his face closer to Oscar's until their noses were touching, "Really? And you were jealous?"

"Oh yeah, big time. Thought I might have to kick his ass or something," Oscar joked.

"Ooo you're a tough guy now? Yeah?" Noah said, playfully pushing him away.

"Come here, tough guy," he said, pulling the other boy back up and trapping him in a tight embrace. Oscar didn't object, and gladly buried his face in the crook of Noah's neck.

When Oscar woke, he was still laying on Noah's chest, who was asleep, breathing peacefully. It was dark in the room and outside. The only light was coming from Noah's open bedroom door, where two shadow's were cast onto the floor. Oscar heard Noah's mom, and a man who he assumed was Noah's dad, talking.

"See, I told you they're not just friends," the female voice said. That brought a smile to Oscar's face. "Well Jess," the man began, "I just assumed I would know if Noah had a boyfriend. I guess I was wrong."

"Yes, you were. Hmm," she said promptly, as her shadow disappeared down the hall. Soon after, the male figure also disappeared and the door closed behind him, leaving no light in the room.

Oscar slid his phone out of his back pocket. The time read 1:00 am. "My parents won't mind if I'm late," he told himself, then wrapped his arms around Noah, and drifted back to sleep.

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