Holden Easler, the only gay guy at his school, walked down the halls of his high school with a coffee in hand and feet dragging. He was done. Done with school, done with guys, done with everything. Well, he was /always/ done with everything on Monday mornings. He sighed, groaning a little and rubbing his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was only seventeen, and already getting wasted. Not on purpose, of course, but doing it all the same. Hell, sometimes, he second guessed whether or not he was a virgin or not. Party every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Salem was a boring town, but spending weekends in Bend wasn't too bad. You know, when he could remember them and wake up without hangovers.

Every time he went to a party, he would enter the front door with the words, "I won't drink more than a single glass of alcohol tonight." Then, he would be suckered into drink after drink by some cute and flirty guy. After those drinks, he could remember drunk and hazy sloppy makeouts, then some touching that probably shouldn't happen, and then nothing. Who was he kidding about the virginity idea? His life had become a series of one night stands, and it was slowly killing him inside.

After Logan had moved, his life was kind of normal, aside from the fact that he didn't have anyone to flirt with. When he got his driver's license, he began driving to his dad's house in Bend and staying the weekends. Soon after, he began to crash parties with his friends just for the hell of it. Before he knew what was happening, he was drinking and waking up in beds he didn't recognize.

"Mr. Easler? Are you feeling well?" A teacher asked. Holden only nodded, closing his eyes with a sigh. He took a sip of his iced coffee. He didn't even like to drink! It was gross and made him feel like s***. He only did it because he would begin to sip, and then get distracted and end up drinking the whole damn bar up. He was trying to put his singing talents to use, and it was working every now and then. The hard part was trying to find a place that needed singers, not bands. Because he sure wasn't part of a band.

"Morning, Holde- holy s*** man, hang over much?" Asked his best friend, Skyler. Skyler was probably the gayest straight guy there had ever been, really. The way he spoke, acted, and thought was just that of a stereotypical homosexual.

"Don't even start with me..." Holden moaned, rubbing his temples. He took a long sip from the straw in his cup, sighing a little. "I just had a rough weekend is all." Skyler's eyes softened.

"Another one-nighter, huh?"

"Do I look like I want to talk about it?!"

Skyler sighed and put a hand on Holden's shoulder, leading him toward their first class. "How about you stay in Salem this weekend, and I'll take you to a party here?" Holden glared daggers. "Relax, parties here are way more mellow. More like just a bunch of teenagers lounging around a house with music and beer. Nothing crazy like you've gotten used to." Skyler chuckled as they entered the classroom. "Well?"

"... Fine..." Skyler punched the air with a silent "YES!" He grinned and went to sit down.

"It's on Friday night, so I'll pick you up at nine."

~~~

Holden pushed his glasses up on his freckled nose, which had lost quite a few freckles the past two years. Now, they were faded and lessened. You could still see them from a distance, but they weren't overwhelming. He blinked his pale green eyes, dark and long lashes brushing his cheeks. He brushed his bangs from his eyes, his hairstyle still the same as it was when he was a freshman. He sat in the passenger seat of Skyler's car, old hunting jacket sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His jeans were dirty and brown combat boots slightly dusty. His black long-sleeved shirt was a little wrinkled, but he wasn't trying. At all. In fact, he was kind of trying to scare people away. His gaze was cast out the window, and he was ignoring Skyler. Well, it was more like he was practically falling asleep he was so bored.

"We're almost there." Skyler smiled, eyes on the road. "Keep an open mind, why don't you? These guys are super cool, and so are their friends."

"Mhm."

"Look," his voice got serious, and a little concerned. "I know all of these guys, and none of them-- even the straight ones --would take advantage of someone. Ever." Holden rolled his eyes, in a bitter mood, and bit the inside of his cheek unpleasantly.

"Let's just get this over with, okay?"

When they pulled into the long gravel driveway, the first thing Holden noticed was that the windows of the house had been covered, and a bunch of colored lights shined against whatever was over them. The sound of music pounded through the house and garage. "Mellow, huh?"

"Just shut up and wait until you come inside." Skyler smiled and got out of the car, the music not nearly as loud as it had appeared to be. Holden recognized Owl City immediately and perked up slightly. When they opened the front door, there were a ton of teens, but they were all pretty relaxed. Some were smoking weed, by the smell of it, others relaxing with a beer or two. They were all just chilling and talking to each other, laughing and having a good time. Holden looked around him and relaxed at the sight, definitely liking this for a change. He turned to say something to his best friend, but the boy was long gone, having run off to his friends. Damn it, Skyler.

About halfway into the night, Holden found himself sitting outside by a huge evergreen. The music was still going strong inside, everyone still having just as much fun as they were when it had started. The black- and purple-haired teen sat with his back against the trunk and a can of soda in his hand. He was chewing a piece of mint gum, trying to get the taste of grape soda out of his mouth so he could actually enjoy his cream soda. He heard the front door open and close, and a figure came up beside him. "Skyler, I just wanna go home already. Are you done hanging out with your friends?" He asked, closing his head and leaning it back against the rough bark.

"Skyler passed out, so they sent me out here to tell you." Came an unfamiliar voice. "He had one too many drinks." The chuckle that came from him was soft and low, amused, but also a little awkward. Holden looked over to find himself face to face with an extremely attractive teenage boy. He had brownish-black hair that was slightly longer than his own, and dark brown eyes. He looked Hispanic-American, and had a tan to go with it.

"More like three too many." Holden sighed bitterly at his own joke, tearing his eyes away before he started drooling. I mean, before he started not caring even more than he was already not caring. Yeah.

The guy paused, then walked over and sat beside Holden. "You look lonely."

"It could be the fact that I'm sitting out here alone."

There was a rustle of clothing as the guy shook his head. "No, I mean your eyes." Holden raised a slender brow. "They have an emptiness to them."

"Gee, you really know how to make a guy feel special."

There was a laugh. "Sorry. My name's Jenson, but my friends call me 'The Great Reader.' I have a knack for being able to read people like they're level one books." He smiled, and Holden could feel himself blush slightly. Thank god it was dark out.

"I'm Holden."

"Well, Holden, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

"No."

"No?"

"Sorry, but I've had my fill of one-night stands."

There was a pause. "What school do you go to?"

"Meadowlark High."

"I'm being enrolled there in a couple days. I'll see you there, won't I?"

Holden's eyes narrowed in the darkness, trying to figure out just what this guy wanted. "Yeah, why?"

Jenson shrugged. "Well, I don't do one-night stands, so I guess I'll have to start with step one and work my way up the staircase, won't I?"

Holden blanked. This guys sounded completely serious, though, it's not like that would be a bad thing. He ran his fingers across his bangs to push them away from his eyes and then to fix his glasses, but suddenly, a nose was pressed to his own.

"Did my heart not love till now? Foreswear it, sight..." Jenson mumbled quietly, causing Holden's eyes to widen, the words instantly recognized. "For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night..." Their eyes closed as they came closer, lips brushing gently. When they pulled away, Jenson was smirking in triumph and Holden was staring with slightly parted lips of surprise. "You should probably go get your friend Skyler before someone does something stupid to him." Jenson stood up, offering a hand to the other.

Holden blinked out of his daze and took the offered hand to pull himself up. "Yeah." He nodded, turning to go inside. A hand caught his own and he whipped around.

"You can trust me, I promise."

~~~

Two years later, Holden was waking up in a bed that didn't belong to him every morning like he used to, except he knew exactly whose bed he was in, and relaxed the minute tan arms wrapped around his torso.