Kai Lane never had much to say, even when he was first learning to talk. His mother Julie and his father Paul worried it would affect his development, but it didn’t. He was simply a quiet kid. He barely even cried as a baby. His house was always a peaceful place to be since he didn’t have any siblings. So Kai kept the peace.

Julie was an artist. She would spend summer afternoons in the backyard of the family’s Long Island home and paint the flowers. Kai was fascinated by her art and the way she moved her brush across the canvas with seamless precision every single time. Sometimes Kai would paint with her, and as he grew older his mother would tell him, “I’m raising a little Monet!” And she would squeeze his cheek with pride and adoration. 

Paul was an athlete. He played football in high school and college and upon the insistence of his wife, displayed all the trophies he had won in school on shelves in his home office. Kai didn’t take an interest in the sport itself, but he would gaze at the trophies from time to time. He watched as they glistened in the sunlight from the window, creating a golden hue over the ceiling and walls. One day, when he was four, as he watched them sparkle, Paul watched him in astonishment. “You like those, kiddo?” he chuckled. “You know you could buy one just like these at a dollar store.”

Kai turned to look at his father, and he had a wide-eyed dreamy look on his face that told Paul everything Kai wanted him to hear. Within a few hours, the two of them came into the house with Kai’s very own shimmering trophy.

It was cup-shaped, with two handles on the side, and mounted on top of a black base with an empty gold plaque. On the cup was a small engraving that said “#1.” It was made of plastic, so it was light enough for Kai to hold it above his head to show off to his mother, before running into the trophy room.

Proudly, he placed it on the shelf next to his father’s, then ran out of the room. Julie put her hand on her husband’s shoulder and smiled. “What’s this award for?” she asked him.

Paul shrugged. “Whatever he wants.”

Kai returned after a moment with a thick Sharpie marker. He hadn’t gone to kindergarten yet, but his mother taught him how to write his name, so that was exactly what he did, on the blank gold plaque, in big messy letters. KAI. 

It was around this time when Kai first met Pierre Martin, the boy who would very quickly become his best friend. His father Victor was a football player with Paul back in college, so naturally, the two of them were ecstatic when the Martin family moved to the neighborhood. Pierre’s mother Ellen introduced the two of them one summer day, at Kai’s house, a few weeks before kindergarten was supposed to start. After a moment or so she left the playroom, and the two of them were left alone.

“Hi,” Pierre said, chipper. “I’m Pierre.”

“Kai.” A pause. “Do you wanna see my trophy?”

Pierre nodded excitedly. This was the first time anyone he ever knew earned a trophy. Victor’s were kept in boxes in the attic, so he never saw them. 

Kai took Pierre’s hand and led him to the trophy room, where the same familiar golden glow struck Pierre’s eyes and made him squint a little. “Woah.” Kai walked up to the shelf and picked out his trophy from the others, then handed it to his new friend.

“Be careful,” he told him. 

Pierre nodded and stared down at the trophy in awe. To him, Kai was officially the best person in the entire world. He didn’t know what Kai did to earn the trophy, and he didn’t bother asking then. He just marveled at it for a while until Kai suggested they play with the building blocks in the playroom.

Life was simple then. Kindergarten started soon after, and Pierre and Kai walked to and from school every single day together. A friendship was born. They stayed close throughout elementary school, and at the end of fifth grade, when Pierre’s curiosity got the best of him, he asked Kai about the trophy.

“So how did you win it?” he asked. The two of them were standing in the trophy room, and Pierre was holding onto the plastic thing like it was a sacred artifact. 

“Hm?” Kai didn’t really hear the question. He was admiring all the rest of his father’s trophies. 

“How did you win your trophy?” Pierre asked again, this time more politely.

“Oh, I never won it. My dad got it for me from the dollar store.” Kai chuckled a little as Pierre’s entire worldview shifted.

“You can just go out and buy a trophy?” Pierre was astounded. “But didn’t they ask why you were buying it?”

“No, they didn’t care. I just liked it because of how shiny it was.”

“So you never had an official reason for earning it.”

Kai shrugged. “I guess not.”

Pierre thought for a moment. Surely such a prestigious award deserved some sort of acknowledgment for one of Kai’s achievements. Then, just as soon as the thought came into his head, a new epiphany formed. 

“Do you mind if I write on your trophy?”

“Sure,” Kai replied, thinking nothing of it. He gave Pierre a sharpie and watched as he carefully wrote something on the gold plaque. After putting the cap back on the marker, Pierre handed the trophy back to its rightful recipient. Kai read the plaque, then smiled the same smile as when he first got the trophy. For now that he had an accolade to go with it, the old, slightly dusty thing, felt brand new again.

KAI

World’s best friend

In middle school, Kai and Pierre discovered their own separate interests, but that didn’t change anything about their friendship. Pierre joined the football team just like his father, and eventually, he was earning trophies for his successes. Kai’s love of art only grew, and his paintings that resembled his mother’s were displayed in every school art show. Julie was over the moon, and Paul was full of pride. Victor and Ellen brought Pierre to every art show, and every time he came he would say the same thing. “Dude! You’re amazing!” And every time he said it, Kai would blush, and his heart would skip a beat.

It took him a while to realize why.

Kai knew he was different from the other boys. He wasn’t into girls, he didn’t care about sports, and he mostly kept to himself. But he loved Pierre. He loved the time they spent together. He loved his terrible jokes. He loved the way his innocent smile made his heart beat a little faster. He didn’t talk much at school or around his family, but he came out of his shell when the two of them hung out. They had endless conversations about meaningless things. His parents noticed this change, but they assumed Kai was just shy. Pierre didn’t notice anything at all.

But during the second week of freshman year, when Kai was preoccupied with figuring out who he truly was, something terrible happened. He was sitting at home with Pierre doing French homework at the kitchen table when his father called him. 

“Hey, Dad,” Kai answered.

“Kai, I’ll be home in five to pick you up,” Paul told him. He sounded frantic and sad. After a pause, he said, “Your mother’s been in a car accident.”

Kai froze. He felt his heart sink and a lump in his throat began to form. Pierre didn’t say anything, but he could tell something was very wrong. 

“Is she okay?” Kai quaked, in shock and disbelief.

A sigh on the other line. “Buddy, I’m really sorry.”

He knew right away his mother was gone. Paul only ever called him “buddy” when something bad happened. Usually “something bad” was either a minor injury or canceled plans. But today it took on a whole new meaning.

Paul was still talking on the other line, but Kai couldn’t hear a word. The room was starting to spin. His vision was blurred by the beginnings of tears in his eyes. His heart rate was rapidly increasing. He was struggling to breathe. 

The call ended, and Kai placed his phone down on the table. He looked down at his shaking hands as Pierre looked at him, confused and worried.

“Kai, you okay?” he asked, even though he knew the answer was no. “What happened?”

Struggling to even comprehend the ugly truth, Kai quivered, “My mom is dead.”

And with that sentence came uncontrollable sobs. Tears poured out of Kai’s eyes like raindrops, and his already shaky breathing became even more staggered. It took a moment for Pierre to process what he had just heard, but once he did, he turned to Kai and wrapped his arms around him as tight as he could.

“I’m so sorry,” he kept repeating as his friend cried on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

The two of them didn’t let go for a long time. Pierre was devastated. He knew Julie well, she was like a second mother to him. He grieved for himself and for his friend, whose world had just shattered into a million pieces.

It would take a long time for Kai to be okay again.

The wake took place that Saturday. While Victor and Ellen spoke with Paul in low, hushed voices, Pierre stood with Kai, who could only look at the closed casket that was covered in all his mother’s favorite flowers. He didn’t move or speak, and he barely even blinked. He just let endless tears pour out of his eyes as the realization that his mother was gone kept hitting him over and over again. 

It rained during the funeral, and the sky was bleak and grey. The flowers his mother loved so much were getting drenched, and the petals drooped under the weight of the raindrops. Kai sat in the front row, his father on his left and Pierre on his right. Everyone stood as the casket was gently lowered into the ground. Even after it was covered in dirt, Kai stood and looked down at it. He ignored the voices of people he barely knew sharing their condolences, he flinched as they put their hands on his shoulders, and he disregarded the frigid raindrops soaking his all-black suit. Suddenly, the rain stopped. Or at least it felt like it. Kai finally looked up for the first time and saw Pierre, next to him once again and holding an umbrella.

“You must be freezing,” he said. 

Kai didn’t reply. He was so heartbroken that he didn’t think to thank his friend for the umbrella. Once again he looked down at the dirt covering the casket.

Pierre continued, “If you need anything at all, let me know. Okay?” 

Instead of answering, Kai just nodded. He was crying, and his tears mixed with the rain made his entire face wet. But Pierre wasn’t crying. He hadn’t cried once during the entire service. He wanted to be strong for Kai.

Without another word, Pierre took Kai’s hand and held it. He was looking down at the dirt now, so he didn’t even notice when Kai looked up at him for a second, then looked back down. They stood for a few minutes, neither of them saying a word. The wind blew around them, but like oak trees, they were still. The dirt became saturated with cold rain water, the color darkening with every drop. Pierre and Kai just watched. They didn’t look away until their parents came to tell them it was time to go home.

There was a get-together at Kai’s house after the funeral, a dismal occasion to thank friends and family for coming out to mourn. Paul stayed downstairs and socialized with the adults, pouring glass after glass of wine for everyone. Kai stayed in his room upstairs, and Pierre kept him company almost the entire time. He left the room briefly only once, and when he came back he gently sat beside Kai on his bed. In his hands was Kai’s little plastic trophy. He handed it to his friend without a word, and Kai looked down at it and reread the plaque a few times. 

For the first time since before his mother died, Kai smiled. Not because he was happy, it was a forlorn smile that he forced himself to have. He smiled because he loved Pierre. It had only just occurred to him that Pierre was also grieving. Pierre had also suffered a loss. But he hid his feelings to make sure his friend would be okay. Kai turned to look at him and saw that he had tears forming in his blue-gray eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” he sniffled, a sad smile on his face. “I tried not to cry.”

Kai hugged him as tight as he could.

Throughout freshman year, Kai was recovering from the trauma of losing his mother. It took three months for him to be able to get in a car without having a panic attack, and even then it still made him incredibly nervous. Paul couldn’t figure out what to do or how to help. But Pierre was there every step of the way.

He would take car rides with Kai and his father from time to time. He sat in the back and reassured him throughout the entire ride. “You’re doing great, just concentrate on your breathing,” he would say. And it usually worked. 

Without his mother, Kai found himself spending more and more time with Pierre. He would sit and watch football practices, sleep over at his house, and go out on the weekends. He loved it. Being with Pierre made him forget how devastating it was to lose his mother, at least for a little while. And when he remembered again, he knew he could count on his friend to tell him that everything would be okay.

Kai told Pierre everything; the good, the bad, and the ugly. But he didn’t tell him he was gay. He didn’t want anything to change between the two of them. He loved Pierre, and he didn’t want to risk losing him. 

Kai waited until his junior year to come out to his father. He was understandably nervous, but he also knew deep down that Paul would be okay with it. He sat him down on the couch one December night, and without hesitation, told him. “I’m gay.”

Paul gave him a small smile. “Okay, kiddo,” was all he had to say.

“You’re not upset, are you?”

“What? Of course not.” Paul put his hand on Kai’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. It would’ve been intimidating if it were anyone else, but his father made him feel very secure. “You’re my kid. If you being gay changed anything about our relationship, that would mean I’m not cut out to be a father.”

Kai grinned. “Alright,” he replied. “I’m glad you feel that way.” Paul patted Kai on the shoulder, then started to get up from the couch. “Hey, Dad,” Kai interjected. “Can you give me some advice?”

Paul sat back down. “Sure, What’s up?”

“How would you go about asking a boy out?”

“That depends. Who’s the boy?”

Kai blushed and looked down at the floor, fiddling with his thumbs. “I don’t even know if he’s into guys,” he said.

“So?”

“So I don’t know if asking him out would mess up our friendship.”

Paul’s eyes went wide. “It’s Pierre, isn’t it?” 

Kai looked up at his father, then after a moment, gave a sheepish nod. 

“What’s wrong with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kiddo, you told me you were gay with no hesitation. But when we got to who you liked, you got embarrassed. I could tell.”

Kai sighed. “You’re right. I don’t know why I felt that way.”

“There’s nothing wrong with liking your best friend. And it doesn’t hurt to see if he likes you back.” Paul paused for a moment, his smile fading into a neutral but sympathetic expression. “Look, I know it’s hard for you to think about your mother, but when I first asked her out, we were best friends for years.”

Kai felt a lump in his throat. He had gotten better at concealing his overwhelming grief and sadness, but around his father, he knew it was better to let his feelings go.

“We met in high school,” Paul continued. “Then we went our separate ways in college. But during the summers, we always made plans to see each other. It got to the point where I dreaded going back to school because it meant I would have to leave her. So when we graduated, I moved back home, and the first thing I did when I saw her was ask her out to dinner.”

“You weren’t nervous?”

“I was terrified,” Paul replied. “I was worried she’d say no, and that she wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore. But to my surprise, she said yes. And about a year later, I asked her to marry me.” His eyes were watery now, but he maintained his composure and allowed his smile to return to his face. It was a sad smile, a reminiscent smile. 

Kai was crying now. Not uncontrollable sobs, but silent tears that he didn’t bother wiping away. In that brief moment, while Paul was telling his story, it almost felt like his mother hadn’t really died. But once the story ended, reality set back in, and Julie was gone.

“I know I didn’t exactly get the happy ending I wanted,” Paul continued. “But those sixteen years I was married to your mother were some of the best years of my life. And she gave me the greatest kid I could ever ask for. And even if there’s a minuscule chance that telling Pierre how you feel would lead to a happy ending, I want you to take it.”

Without another word, Paul wrapped his arms around Kai and hugged him tightly. Kai felt a little better now, knowing that his father would be there for him. And he knew that if she was still alive, his mother would’ve been proud of him.

Senior year arrived in a blink of an eye. Homecoming was fast approaching, and Pierre was getting ready to help his team win the football game. He gave his all at every practice and took extra special care of his throwing arm on his time off. He had gotten pretty popular in his three years of high school and was even nominated for Homecoming King.

But Pierre noticed a change in himself. He started feeling nervous around the guys on the football team. They were all really attractive guys, muscular, with deep voices and dark stubble that cast a shadow over their chiseled jawbones. He couldn’t even change around them anymore. 

He went home one night after practice and studied himself in the mirror. At first, he thought he was jealous of how attractive the football team was compared to him. But when he saw his reflection, he noticed he had the same defined jaw and five o’clock shadow as the guys. He had piercing blue eyes that were accentuated by his deep black hair, which was short on the sides and just long enough on the top to cover his forehead when it was combed forward. He wasn’t any more or less attractive than the other guys.

Pierre decided that nobody was more qualified to help him figure out the source of his nervousness than his dad was. After all, Victor was a college athlete. He had seen his fair share of stubbly muscular football players. He knew his mother wouldn’t be home for a few hours anyway, she usually worked late during the week.

“Hey, Dad, when you played football, did you ever get nervous around the other guys on the team?” Pierre asked him. They were seated at the dinner table, one across from the other, a hanging light illuminating the dark red wine in both of their glasses. Pierre was allowed to drink wine with dinner, and he found that swirling the glass and taking in the aroma made him feel closer to his father.

“Me, nervous?” Victor scoffed. “Son, if anything, I made the other guys nervous. I was quite the force to be reckoned with back in the day.”

“Oh.” Pierre suddenly felt embarrassed for asking the question.

“You know who got nervous a lot? Joey Freeman. He was such a queer.” Victor couldn’t help but laugh. “We used to call him the ‘football fairy.’ Couldn’t even make eye contact with us in the locker rooms, that kid.”

And suddenly, Pierre had a moment of realization.

“But you’re not gay, kid. You’re just nervous about recruitment. You should really be working that arm more often outside of practice.”

“Uh-huh.” Pierre took a long sip of wine, hoping the alcohol would calm him down a little. There was no way he could confess to his father that he was the Joey Freeman of his team, not after he knew how he felt about it. So he let it go.

From that point on, Pierre made it his mission to blend in with the rest of the guys on the team. He tried to ignore his nerves and went back to changing in the locker room with them, he laughed along when they talked about hot girls, and he put on a bravado during practice that deemed him a force to be reckoned with just like his father. 

But there was one person he couldn’t keep up the act around, and that person was Kai. He allowed himself to be vulnerable, and though he didn’t display his inner conflict, he didn’t completely disregard it.

Kai grew into himself during high school. He let his thick light brown hair grow out to just barely shoulder length, and he wore it up in a little bun most of the time, with a few stray hairs in the back that weren’t long enough to be tied up with the rest. He wore black ripped jeans, which wasn’t super common with the other boys his age, and he wore dark-colored button-downs which he left unbuttoned over tight white t-shirts that he tucked in underneath. He was always clean-shaven, and his brown eyes were soft and curious. He looked a lot like his mother. Pierre noticed and admired every detail, but he didn’t want to admit it quite yet. He thought about asking him to homecoming, but after considering his conversation with his father he ultimately decided not to. He was worried about what he would do once he found out. And Kai would definitely tell Paul about it. Pierre worried about that too. Certainly, his father’s best friend would share similar opinions. Plus it wouldn’t really feel like a date, since he would be playing in the homecoming game and Kai would be sitting in the stands watching. 

Fortunately, Kai was just about ready to tell Pierre how he was feeling. He figured senior year was the perfect time to fess up. If it didn’t go well, it was only a matter of time before he could escape to college. And if it did go well, he had prom to look forward to. All he had to do now was gather up the courage to do it.

About a week before the homecoming game, Kai and Pierre made plans to get dinner at the local Burger King after football practice. Pierre drove a pickup truck, and when he got his license they started a tradition of taking food down to the beach and watching the sunset in the truck bed. They were on their way to the beach when Pierre started talking about football, but Kai wasn’t paying attention. He was staring out the window scanning for potential hazards, which he always did in a car since his mother’s death.

“Kai? Earth to Kai?” Pierre snapped his fingers to catch his friend’s attention. He was half concentrating on the road and half wrapped up in his one-way conversation about practice.

“Please, I beg of you, keep your hands on the wheel,” Kai replied without looking at him.

“Right. Sorry.” Pierre adjusted his grip on the steering wheel, putting his hands at the ten and two positions.

“Nine and three, Pierre.”

“You’re not even looking at my hands.”

“Yeah, but I’ve known you since you were three. Your dad may tell you ten and two, but you have to put your hands at nine and three in case the airbag deploys.”

“Why would the airbag deploy on the way to the beach?” 

“You never know.”

“Fine.” Pierre adjusted his hands. “Happy now?” Kai finally looked over, but only for a split second.

“Perfect.”

“You know, for someone who doesn’t drive, you really are a know-it-all.”

“Well, you know. Just trying to protect you.”

“I’m super careful, Kai. I passed my road test on the first try.”

“That’s great, Pierre.”

They backed into the beach parking lot, then Pierre and Kai climbed into the bed of the truck and watched the sunset. They each took out their burgers and fries, and after a moment Pierre went right back to talking football. 

“Coach says I have to rest my arm, so he’s benching me for the game this weekend.”

“No way, really?” Kai responded, trying to seem engaged when he didn’t give a crap about football. He was looking down at the little container of fries in his hands, which rested on his lap. 

“I mean, I know the homecoming is around the corner and they need me, but what’s one game gonna do? I can handle one game.”

“Totally.”

“And like, his son is a junior. There’s no reason to bump him up to quarterback for one game. He’s not even our backup quarterback, he’s a running back. RB and QB are not the same things.”

“Not even close.”

“Dude, are you doing okay?” Kai finally looked up at Pierre.

“What?”

“You haven’t looked me in the face since we got here, and you’re acting like you understand football terminology. And before you get defensive, I’ve seen you at football games, and you look like a lost puppy.”

“Un chien perdu.”

“Is there something going on? You don’t seem like yourself.”

Kai took a deep breath. “If I talk to you about it, will you promise not to get mad?”

Pierre popped a fry into his mouth. “Why would I get mad?” 

“Why wouldn’t you get mad?”

“I don’t even know what you want to tell me, Kai. Unless you robbed a bank or something, I don’t think I’m gonna be mad.”

“Good to know.” Kai took another deep breath. He was getting even more nervous now. He counted to three a few times in his head as Pierre waited to hear what was on his mind. “So, um… you know how some people are gay?” Oh my God. Why did I say that?

“Yeah, I know,” Pierre replied with a raise of an eyebrow. He could feel his heart beating faster in his chest, but he tried to ignore it. “Is that what you want to tell me? That you’re gay?”

“Well, kinda. There’s a little more to it than that.”

Pierre was getting excited now. He hoped he wasn’t misreading Kai’s signals, but he was fairly certain he knew what was about to happen. “What is it?”

Kai took another deep breath, then another, then another. He kept counting to three in his head, looking down at his hands and looking back up, the sunset turning the sky a beautiful blend of pink and orange. His heart was pounding. “Just remember, you promised not to be mad.”

“Right.”

“Alright, are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

No, you aren’t, Pierre. You’ll never see this one coming. “So here’s the thing. I was never worried about telling you I was gay. I knew you’d be fine with it. The only thing that worried me was, um…” he took one last deep breath. “The only thing that worried me was telling you I love you.”

Pierre was elated. It was finally happening. “You love me?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

“You get snarky when you’re nervous, you know that right?” He was blushing a little, and he had a small smile on his face. Kai’s eyes went wide.

“You’re blushing.”

“I am?”

“Why are you blushing?”

“Didn’t you just confess your love for me? On the beach? Underneath the sunset? You’d be blushing too if you were me.”

“But you’re smiling. You’re not supposed to be smiling. You’re not into me like that.” Pierre smiled wider. “You’re not, are you?” 

“No comment.”

“Are you?” Kai couldn’t help but smile a little now. He was nervous, sure, but he and Pierre loved messing around with each other. 

“So homecoming is coming up.”

Kai was blushing profusely now. He felt a variety of different feelings all at once. Embarrassment, love, nervousness, and countless others. “Are you implying you have feelings for me too?”

“Maybe I am.”

“Pierre, seriously. Stop messing around.”

“Okay, fine. But only because you look like you’re about to pass out.” Kai put his head in his hands. “Listen, I had no idea you felt this way about me. But I’ve been coming to terms with my sexuality lately, and the more I thought about it… the more I realized I kind of wanted to be with you.”

Kai jerked his head up out of his hands, looking like a deer in headlights. “You’d better not be lying to me right now.”

“Seriously. Sharing a locker room with a bunch of varsity athletes makes you realize some things about yourself.”

“Pierre.”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. I can tell this is making you super uncomfortable.” 

It was quiet for a moment. The pink and orange sky was becoming more red and blue. The sounds of the waves relaxed the boys, and as Kai ate some more of his fries Pierre moved in closer to him.

“I wanted to tell you sooner,” he said truthfully. “I guess I was nervous because I didn’t want to change anything about our friendship. Plus my dad is a very ignorant person when it comes to this kind of stuff, and I don’t even know what my mom would think.”

“You didn’t want to mess up your perfect life, I get it.” He was still looking down at his hands. He felt like crying, but for some reason, no tears were forming in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Kai.”

“Don’t be.” He looked up at Pierre after a pause. “You know that trophy I have?”

“Yeah.”

“You know how it means a lot to me?”

“Yeah, why?”

“When I first got it, it was special. But then as I got older I sort of lost touch with the feeling I had when I originally got it. Until the day you wrote on the plaque.”

“World’s best friend,” Pierre recalled.

“You made it special again. You gave our friendship a symbol that I could always hold onto, look at, and be proud of. That trophy got me through a lot. It got me through middle school, it got me through figuring out I was gay, and it sort of helped me cope with losing my mother.” Kai smiled a little. “After a while, I realized that all along, it wasn’t the trophy that was special. It was you.”

The water was glistening with the light from the setting sun, and the reds and blues of the sky reflected onto the waves. The sand welcomed the water as the wind blew across the bed of the truck, making Kai shiver ever so slightly. Pierre took off his leather football jacket and handed it to Kai, who wrapped it around himself like a blanket. They were both smiling now, hearts beating in time with each other and hands trembling.

“Pierre.” Kai moved closer to him and leaned on his shoulder. “You mean everything to me.”

Pierre turned himself to face Kai and took both of his hands. “Is it alright if I kiss you?” he asked politely, his blue eyes dancing but maintaining their adoring gaze. Kai nodded, putting his arms over Pierre’s shoulders and leaning in close to him. Pierre put his hands behind Kai’s head, his thumbs resting just behind his ears and the rest of his fingers buried in his hair. Gently, they kissed each other, and for the first time, they each felt totally secure in themselves. No fear of judgment, no hidden feelings, just bliss.

They slowly pulled apart and looked at each other, smiling wider than ever. “You’re a great kisser,” was the first thing Pierre thought to say. 

Kai laughed. “So are you.”

“Do you want to be my date to homecoming?”

“Really?” Kai thought for a moment. “But what about your dad? Is he gonna be upset?”

“He might,” Pierre replied, still smiling. “But honestly, I really don’t care. I want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too.” Kai leaned back in towards Pierre and kissed him again, and that same feeling of security and pure joy filled them both again. The second lasted slightly longer than the first, but it felt just as wonderful. They radiated unconditional love, and that was worth more to them than any kind of trophy.