A full moon on a cloudless night was my favorite view. It gave my spirit such comfort. Especially on nights where my mind ran chaotic and I needed to relax before I exploded. The moon's bright yet subtle light shined down so beautifully that it was effortlessly fascinating. Not to mention, Gio was laid across my lap allowing the light to beam down on his dark skin in a manner that was extremely captivating.

Though I was enjoying the view before me, Giovanni was having a hard night – which wasn't unusual. He lived a hard life. His father was currently incarcerated on a ten year bid, and his mother had mysteriously vanished. Without parents, he was left to be in the care of his mother's sister who made it quite clear that she did not want him.

He had other relatives that he could go to, but she was the only one here in Orlando. Therefore, he put up with her mistreatment but when he reached a certain limit he would sneak over to my house for a break. I didn't mind it and I would never because he was one of my best friends. I would take care of him by any means.

"What time it is?" he broke our ten-minute silence with his raspy voice.

I held up my arm viewing my watch. "Three fifteen."

He fluttered open his almond shaped eyes revealing their nutmeg colored orbs. He stared up at the sky for a minute or two, mind running a mile a minute. I knew he was debating with himself about going home for the night. I ran my finger over his straight eyebrows in attempt to smoothen the curled hairs while he was in thought about his plan for tonight.

"You don't have to go home if you don't want to." his eyes fell upon me silently questioning my offer. "My mom leaves for work at five, she won't even see you."

"Don't be trying to get me killed, Korin."

"I'm not. Come on, because she'll be up in about thirty minutes to start getting ready."

He raised off me then helped me up from the grass. I dusted the back of my pajama pants off while walking toward the side door of my house. It was the only door that didn't announce when it opened or closed due to its sensor being broken.

I checked to make sure my brothers were asleep before leading him up the carpeted stairs to my room. The bathroom door opening caused me to halt my movement and gesture for him to take a few steps back, out of view. My younger sister walked out still half asleep rubbing over her tired eyes.

To keep my presence unknown, I remained quiet allowing her to travel back inside of her bedroom. The moment she shut her door, I signaled for Giovanni to continue following me down the hallway to my room at the very end. I closed and locked my door behind him to be sure no one burst inside unexpectedly. The last thing I needed was my mom coming in for something only to catch Gio in here with me. She'd lose her mind.

"Where I'm sleeping?" Giovanni asked while taking his shoes off.

"You can sleep in my bed, it's big enough. Or you can make a palette if being in my bed will make you uncomfortable."

"You know you wanna lay beside me. Tryna give me options." he teased making me roll my eyes. "But nah your bed cool. You mind if I take my shirt off?"

"Go ahead but can you swap out your pants for something else? I don't like outside clothes in my bed."

"You know damn well you don't have anything I can fit." he scanned my body with his eyes.

"Actually I do while you taking smack. I take clothes from Courtland all the time." I mentioned one of my brothers.

"Lemme see." he pursed his lips in disbelief.

I dug into my draw taking out a pair of sweat shorts that would swallow me when I wore them. He nodded upon seeing them causing me to throw them over to him. To give him privacy to change, I went into my mini walk-in closet where I changed into another pair of pajamas as well.

On my way out, I tossed my other clothes into my laundry bin. Gio slipped into my bed while I trailed over to the light switch and flipped it off. The only light illuminating the room was from the wax warmer sitting on my dresser. It helped me traveled over to my bed without hurting myself.

I slid underneath the comforter immediately feeling Giovanni's radiating body heat. I smiled to myself a bit unnerved to having him lying my bed. Out of all the times he'd left home to come see me, never had he spent the night until now. I wanted to scoot closer to him and wrap myself around him but it would be inappropriate. We were friends. Nothing more.

"Thank you for this, Kori. I really appreciate it."

"You don't have to thank me. You know I got you no matter what. If you ever need to stay again just let me know... I do have one serious question though."

"Yeah?"

"Do you snore? I'm not trying to have you in my ear all loud and what not. I will dead suffocate you."

He smacked his teeth. "Nah I don't snore. I might slob on you though."

"Oh my goodness." I laughed, and he joined me.

Our laughter was quickly cut short when the hallway light flicked on. From the swift footsteps I knew that it was my mother. I glanced over at my clock to see that she was up ten minutes early. That caused us to lay in silence to prevent being caught.

After a while, I turned my head to see whether Giovanni had fallen asleep. Thanks to the hallway light, I was able to see his face clearer than before. He was staring up at the ceiling with one of his arms behind his head, in deep thought. I nudged him with my elbow causing him to advert his eyes over to me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." he whispered back.

"About what?"

He shrugged. "You really mean the world to me, you know that right? If I ever need somebody to have my back I know you got me and it's been like that since I first met you. I respect that about you. You a real one, Korin."

"You've always had my back so it's only right."

"How would you feel if you never saw me again?" he asked after a few moments. The question caught me off guard and placed a large weight upon my chest.

"What do you mean? Like if you just left tomorrow and I never get to see you again?"

"Yeah."

"Um... To be honest, I would be devastated. You're my best friend Gio. You're the person I go to about things I can't go to anyone else about. Don't Christina Yang me." I tried to joke.

He only turned his head away from without a response. That caused me to worry.

"Do you plan on leaving?" I sat up.

The sound of my mom moving around in the bathroom nearby caused me to still my movement. I listened out for her hoping that she would go back into her room so that he could answer me. It took five minutes before she cut the hallway light off and disappeared from the hallway. I nudged Giovanni to let him know that I was still awaiting his answer. He kept quiet.

"Giovanni answer me. Are you planning on leaving?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking about it."

"And where would you go?"

"To my uncle's in Houston. He already told me to just let him know when and he'll book the ticket for me."

I laid back down. It was now my turn to stare up at the ceiling in deep thought. I couldn't imagine my life without Giovanni in it. He was a big part of who I was. He and I had been friends since sixth grade – four years. I didn't want him to leave me, but I did want him to be happy, and he wouldn't be able to feel happiness if he continued to live with his aunt. The environment wasn't healthy for him.

I sighed knowing that it was his only option. "Just know that I love you okay?"

Never had those words come from my mouth with the emotion they now held behind them. I wanted him to know that he held a dear place in my heart and meant more to me than he probably ever assumed.

He turned onto his side, now facing me. His hand cupped my face and he used his thumb to caress my cheek. The gesture caused me to close my eyes as I felt his energy transfer to me through his gentle touch. My chest rose and fell in anticipation, unsure of his next move but I was ready for whatever happened.

Within a matter of seconds, his plump lips were atop of mine. I kissed him back feeling a warm energy wash over me. There had been plenty of times where I dreamed of him being my first kiss, and there it was coming true. It was just as beautiful as I'd imagined it being.

"I love you too." he said against my lips.

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