Detention sucked.

Christopher sat there trying to force himself to complete his calculus homework. What kind of teacher gave homework on the first day? Mr. Dupree, of course.

Christopher's mind kept wandering, though. It always did.

He thought about food for a really long time. He was hungry. Then he thought about the choir class he'd been duped into. He'd wanted to take photojournalism; he had no idea why the put him in the choir! Then he thought about the new kid.

Luke looked breathtaking, dramatic. His hair was pitch black and it just barely touched his shoulders. It hung like a curtain around his face when he wanted it to; he liked to hide behind his bangs. When he wasn't hiding his eyes, they were probably the most stunning of his features. They were icy blue, like the color of moonlight reflecting off of the water at night. He was pale, so pale, and Christopher assumed he didn't see much sun. And he looked so frail. Christopher had a sudden urge to buy him a lot of food. He didn't look like he ate much.

Christopher was pretty sure that Luke felt out of place. Who wouldn't? Being a new kid was always an awkward experience. He seemed interesting now; Christopher was willing to bet he'd be loads of fun when he came out of his shell.

Christopher threw a quick look at Luke, and had to stop himself from laughing out loud. The other boy had finished his write-off, as Christopher had, and was now sleeping. His arms formed a circle, and he used them as a makeshift pillow. His eyes were closed peacefully, and his hair hung haphazardly around him. His facial expression was so innocent, so at ease. Luke looked so different when he was sleeping. So much younger. So much gentler.

Almost like a girl.

Christopher couldn't stop himself from chuckling at that one.


After sleeping for about an hour, Luke awoke to see that he'd be free to go in ten minutes.

Detention was from three to five, and the tardy-write-off was supposed to last him the entire time. It had taken Luke half an hour to complete.

He sat at his desk and stared impatiently at the clock.

The day had not been horrible as the beginning of it might have foreshadowed. Everything up until lunch had gone smoothly, and he'd spent his free period after lunch talking to Christopher out on the balcony.

At the eastern end of the cafeteria, a set of heavy double doors lead to a large balcony.

The doors did not have windows, and the cameras that viewed the outside of the school sat below the balcony. There was no supervision, but for that below.

The balcony overlooked a courtyard that fronted the school. The majority of students spent their free period there, and that meant that most teachers did too. Those teachers could look up at any time and see what was going on up on the balcony, but normally they had no reason to do so.

Christopher's clique hung out at the coolest, most private spot in the school. According to Christopher, they had since freshman year when Christopher had volunteered to clean it up. Apparently, it used to be where the janitors hung the mops out to dry and dumped buckets of cleaning supplies. It had been dirty, dingy, smelly, and probably a little unsanitary. Christopher told Luke that he and his group of friends had cleaned it up and made it an area for students to socialize. Brilliant, in Luke's opinion.

Spanish had been fun, because Luke's teacher, Ms. Ramirez, was absolutely hilarious, and band did not fail to provide him with the tranquility that only music could. Chemistry was nice; he shared that class with Christopher.

Christopher, Christopher, Christopher! Why did his thoughts keep going back to him? Luke grimaced. He knew why. He wasn't the type to lie to himself.

He had a tiny, minuscule, insignificant, crush on the boy. No big deal.

Luke was perfectly accepting of his own sexuality, but he'd had far too many altercations with intolerant people to give up such information to strangers. He furrowed his brow. That was a new development. Back at home he'd been so open with the information, so willing…

Now the thought of telling anyone made his stomach tie in a knot, and he wasn't pleased that Christopher was tightening that knot.

Luke decided that he was going to use the one thing that could solve any problem, in his opinion. Cold, unbiased logic.

Question: What was so appealing about Christopher?

Answer: His eyes, his hair, his lips, his wonderful physique

Luke stopped thinking as a blush rose to his cheeks. Wrong question.

Question: What was different about Christopher?

Answer: He radiated confidence without any narcissism. He was fun-loving and nonchalant, but possessed a wisdom that Luke was having trouble identifying. At first glance, he seemed to be at ease with everyone, but really, Luke noticed small things that made him consider that Christopher could be forcing that ease. Luke couldn't help but wonder if Christopher was really comfortable with anyone.

That was it! Luke didn't know. Christopher was the question, and Luke couldn't find the answer. He decided at that moment that he would find the answer. No going back; the decision was set in stone.

The bell rang, punctuating his thoughts and strengthening his resolve.

Both Christopher and Luke sprang out of their seats and hurried out the door.

"That was agonizing!" Christopher exclaimed with fake exhaustion.

Luke shrugged, "It could have been worse."

"Says the one who slept through it!" Christopher pretended to be mad for a moment before Luke rolled his eyes and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Gosh, Mr. PMS, I wasn't trying to belittle the horrors of your two whole hours in detention."

Christopher laughed, "Hey, were we planning on loitering in the halls at school? Because I've been in this hellhole for like ten hours, and I'm so ready to leave."

"You're right…" Luke hadn't realized how long he'd spent at the school. Damn.

The pair walked to the parking lot, and Christopher began digging in his pockets for the keys to his car.

"Got a ride here somewhere?"

Luke laughed. "Mine's at Uncle Bruce's- I mean home. I walk."

"Why?" Christopher asked offhandedly as he dug through his pockets.

"Well, it's kinda a nice car, and I don't want to leave it in the parking lot. I did at my old school and someone carved a not-very-nice-word into my door," Luke grimaced. He drove around with the word FAG scratched into his car for a month before he saved up the cash to get it fixed.

Christopher nodded inattentively. He was paying a lot of attention to his pockets.

So far, there were half a dozen wadded up papers, a few dollar bills, a dog tag necklace, a crushed plastic cup, a little mirror, and a plastic fish. The he moved to the left pocked.

"Dude, pocket-packer much?" Luke asked dubiously.

"What am I supposed to do? Carry a purse?" Christopher grinned devilishly, "You've got that marked cornered, mate."

Luke touched his messenger bag lovingly.

A silver ring, two pencils, a map of Mexico, an MP3 player, and a pair of reading glasses were thrown into the pile of pocket-junk on the hood of the car.

"No fucking keys!" Christopher muttered.

Luke examined the items quizzically. "A map of Mexico?"

"I'm taking Spanish. Teacher was giving them away."

"Glasses?"

"Bad eyesight."

"A plastic fish?"

"Don't insult Bobo! He's my good luck charm!" Christopher defended.

Luke was about to inquire about the origins of the dog tag necklace, but a flash of silver in the car caught his eye.

"Christopher?"

"Yeah?"

"Are those your keys in the ignition?" Luke asked incredulously.

Christopher grinned. "Sure are! Nice eye!"

"So we're locked out?"

Christopher looked at him like he was stupid. "I don't lock my car in the school parking lot. Who's going to mess with my car?"


Ten minutes later, Christopher was driving Luke to his house.

"I've made a couple of ramps, not that I expect you to tackle them today," Christopher was saying, "Eventually, though, I'm sure you'll be able to."

Luke smiled and nodded, but didn't contribute much to the conversation.

"You think you'll want to stay for dinner?" Christopher asked out of the blue, "It's my night to cook."

"I really don't want to impose," Luke mumbled.

"If you're being polite, don't worry about it. And if you're scared of my cooking…then you're a smart man, but really, it's not so bad."

Luke smiled, "I wasn't scared of your cooking…"

"I think you are!" Christopher challenged playfully. "I think you're scared of my cooking!"

"I am not!" Luke said, raising his voice slightly.

"Prove it, then. Stay for dinner."

"I will!" Luke stared fixedly at the road, cursing himself for his argumentative nature. Why did every little thing have to be a fight? Christopher probably thought he was an ass.

It took him ten more minutes to realize that he'd been tricked.


The two chatted about their teachers for a while, and Christopher took to telling Luke about the school's quirks.

"That's probably why they don't gripe at us so much for PDA," Christopher finished telling Luke some epic tale of an event that had happened freshman year.

They pulled into Christopher's driveway, and Luke looked at the house. It was not big, but not small either. One story, plenty of windows.

A small girl with long, blonde hair ran out the front door.

"Mama! Chrissy's home!" she yelled.

"Chrissy?" Luke asked under his breath.

"She's my sister and she's five; shut up," Christopher shot back playfully. He opened the door, and without waiting for him to stand, the small girl launched herself into her brother's arms.

He wrapped his arms around her and said, "Sammie, this is my friend Luke. Luke, this is Sammie."

The little girl hid behind her brother's shoulder, and whispered something in his ear.

Christopher laughed. "She says you have pretty eyes."

Luke blushed, taken aback by the spontaneous compliment. "Thanks."

Christopher stood up out of the car, carrying Sammie with him. Luke threw his messenger bag into the back seat and followed Christopher into the house.

"Mom!" Christopher called as he crossed the threshold, "Come meet my friend Luke! He's staying for dinner!"

Christopher removed his shoes and hung his jacket, motioning for Luke to do the same.

A short, redheaded woman in black slacks and a white, collared t-shirt came to greet Luke.

"Christopher Michael, get started on dinner this instant! You're going to make me late to work, boy! It was your first day! Can't you go one day without detention?" she yelled at Christopher, though Luke could tell it was more out of habit than anything else. It was that loving, 'I'm your mom, so I have to yell at you for being stupid' yelling, as opposed to the 'You're trash, why can't you do anything right?' sort of yelling Luke received from his own mother. "Sorry, Luke, dearie. It's his night to cook and he has to be two hours late. You can call me Charlotte, and as much as I'd love to stay and get to know you, if I don't get ready for work I'll be late. Christopher! Don't you dare cook in that pot without washing it first!"

She hurried off to finish getting ready, and Luke migrated into the kitchen with Christopher.

"Mom's a piece of work, huh?" Christopher smiled goodheartedly as he began to brown a pound of ground beef.

"I think she seems really nice," Luke commented. "Anything I can do to help?"

"You'd be an angel if you diced an onion," Christopher suggested, handing him a knife and onion.

Luke began dicing it as Christopher began chattering about something else. He liked that Christopher talked a lot. It was pleasant background noise, and when Luke was actually listening, he was actually interesting.

Luke finished dicing the onion and wiped his watery eyes.

Christopher scooped the diced onion up and tossed it into the pot with the ground beef.

"Awww. Okay, I admit I'm not the most sensitive person, but you've only been here twenty minutes. What could I have done to make you cry?" Christopher teased.

"Shut up. It was the onion."

"Of course! I'll never make you work in the kitchen again! What an insult to your fem-I mean masculinity!" Christopher gave Luke a taunting grin.

"Cut it out!" Luke shoved him.

"Don't cry again! I don't think I could take it!"

"I'm so not helping you in the kitchen anymore," Luke grumbled.


Half an hour later, they were eating spaghetti and Charlotte bolted out the door.

"Normally she would have left ten minutes ago," Christopher said calmly, as if trying to mask whatever emotion he was actually feeling. Luke wanted to guess what it was, but didn't have any idea. "But I landed my ass in detention."

"Does it happen often?" Luke asked cautiously.

"Not real often but more often than Mom would like," Christopher shrugged.

"Chrissy! Don't say ass!" Sammie scolded.

"Dude, delayed reaction," Christopher rolled his eyes, humoring the small girl.

"I didn't want to interrupt your conversation!" Sammie shot back, "I actually have manners!"

Luke couldn't suppress a laugh. He'd always wanted a younger sibling, but his parents weren't even pleased with the one child they had. He'd always envied the inter-sibling quarrels; he thought they were cute.

"What're you laughin' at, crybaby?" Christopher asked pointedly.

Luke stuck his tongue out and stood to put his plate in the sink. Christopher did the same and asked, "You ready to get pounded into the pavement?"

Luke's cheeks turned tomato-red, and his eyes grew as big as saucers. What?

Christopher laughed. "Kidding! I'm sure you won't fall too much!"

Skateboarding! That's what he was talking about. Luke breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Christopher forced Luke into elbow and knee pads, and then a big, bulky helmet before dragging him outside.

"I look like an idiot!" Luke protested.

"And you'll look even stupider with bruises on your knees!" Christopher responded, "M'kay…"

Christopher picked up a skateboard that was leaning up against the side of the house. It was pink.

Luke shot him a dirty look, was he insulting his masculinity again?

Christopher shrugged, "It's my sisters."

He set it on the level, paved driveway and grinned mischievously at Luke. "Step one: stand on it without face planting."

Luke rolled his eyes. How hard could it be?

He put one foot on, then the other. He was feeling confident, but not for long. The board moved under him, and he fell. He landed hard on his right elbow, suddenly thankful for the plastic armor Christopher had supplied.

He helped Luke up and said, "Keep your feet in the middle. If you move closer to the outside you'll tip it."

Luke tried, and failed, again.

This time when Christopher helped him up, he didn't let go of Luke's hand. He helped him onto the skateboard and reached for his other hand.

"Find your balance; I won't let you fall."

Luke blushed slightly, but concentrated on finding his center of balance. First he stood up straight, putting a lot of his weight on Christopher. Then he made sure his feet were planted firmly. He let go of one of Christopher's hands experimentally, but took it back quickly when he felt himself sway.

"Don't be stiff. Instead of trying to make yourself into like…a statue…think about moving with the motion. Relax. Be confident," Christopher advised. Then, as reassurance, "I won't let you fall."

Luke flushed his mind and then tried to let go of the tension he was storing in his legs and back. He felt himself become more fluid, and slowly, he let go of one of Christopher's hands. He didn't buckle or sway, so he let go of the other one as well.

A child-like smile pulled at the corners of Luke's mouth. Christopher couldn't help but smile too.

Luke blushed. Christopher was…cute. With that thought, he lost his balance and fell down. He yipped like a girl, and found an even larger blush creeping onto his cheeks when Christopher caught him.

"Umm…that was good," Christopher laughed, "Want to try again?"


For another hour, Christopher attempted to teach Luke.

Luke didn't fall too much, more for fear of Christopher catching him again than of actually getting hurt.

He didn't learn much, but managed to master finding his balance.

"Dude," Christopher grinned, "You're working so hard I'm getting tired. How 'bout we go inside and watch TV for a bit?"

Luke agreed and stripped off his pads and helmet as they walked through the front door. Luke realized he was cold. No, not cold. Freezing!

"I'm going to make hot chocolate. Cuddle up under that blanket and find something good on TV," Christopher took off his hoodie and walked into the kitchen.

Luke raked his mind, trying to remember why he hadn't put on a jacket while following Christopher's orders.

The blanket was homemade, and though it was itchy, it was surprisingly warm. Well, the warmth was surprising to Luke. He didn't have grandmothers that knitted blankets.

Luke stopped the TV on some funny gender-bender movie as Christopher came into the room with hot chocolate.

"Dude! This movie rocks!" Christopher sat on the cushion by Luke and curled up under the blanket.

He handed Luke his mug and laughed at something happening to the protagonist of the movie.

Luke wanted to pay attention to the movie, he really did. But he found it near impossible with Christopher next to him. Their legs touched as well of the sides of their arms, and Luke kept blushing. The warmth from the other boy was keeping Luke warm more than the blanket was, and before he knew it, he heard even breathing coming from Christopher. He was asleep.

Luke contemplated the pros and cons of waking Christopher up. Sighing, Luke reclined and pulled out his cell phone.

Staying at a friend's tonight. Love you, Uncle Bruce.

He sent the text and closed his eyes.


a/n: Sooo...I got my first review. Pretty stoked about that. I love to hear what you think, even if it's a simple I-like-it/I-don't-like-it kind of comment. I also love love LOVE character observations. And there was a tiny bit of foreshadowing...not that I expect anyone to pick it up. Ummm...I'm probably not updating again before Christmas...so this is your present! Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkuh/Happy Kwanza/Happy Solstice/Happy (whatever holiday you celebrate). Re-gifting is acceptable and appriciated! -wink-