"I'm so excited!"

Evan had been sitting on the couch, his mind buzzing with excitement over how everything was going to be fun, as he stuffed his backpack with a towel. He managed to squeeze it in, and he quickly zipped it up, collapsing onto the couch with a smile. In fact, his attire had been entirely different from the usual blue polo-t. It was a new black-and-blue raglan baseball tee, and a pair of dark blue jeans. For once, he liked how he looked.

He glanced around the empty house, noticing that the windows had still been open. Since he was the only person in the house, Heidi gone to work by this time, he had the responsibility of shutting the windows and turning off all the fans and lights. He shuffled onto his feet, still extremely hyper, and moved around the house.

He practically bounced to the window in the kitchen, smiling his way there. He reached his hands out, clasping onto the frame of the window when the bright and warm sun shining on him. The sky had been a beautiful and cool blue, almost as peaceful as the white clouds drifting by.

He felt himself slowly relaxing. He leaned his arms on the window frame, glancing outside at the many flowers and the neighbourhood around him. All of it seemed extraordinarily wonderful and peaceful. He has never looked outside his house feeling this at ease in his entire life. It was honestly unnerving, in a way.

A staccato of knocks shook him from his daydream, as he abruptly turned about to face the door. This abrupt turn brought him back to reality when he realised who was there. He quickly turned back to the window, swiftly grasping at the window frame and then shutting the window. Immediately as the sound of the closing window occurred, he rushed to the door.

He took one step into the living room, only to see that Jared had already opened the door, on his way to walk inside. Evan sighed, wondering again how Jared managed to always get the door open. Jared, noticing his sigh, grinned, revealing a key hanging from his index finger. He then swung it in a circle, walking in and facing him. Evan could only sigh, a smile on his face. Jared had been completely casual. He had on a tank top and peach shorts, carrying a bulky satchel. Evan stared at the satchel, then up at Jared who held a large grin. He could only imagine that there had been a giant bottle of water and water balloons.

-----

Evan had just locked the front door, stuffed the key in his pocket and ran up to the path, where Jared had been standing waiting. Immediately, he felt the warmth of the sunlight enveloping him. The both of them then started to walk towards the direction of the orchard. Evan had the chance to glance around and admire the different beautiful plants the garnished the neighbourhood. This gave Jared a good amount time to talk to Evan.

"So, Evan. How are you doing about Connor?"

Evan recalled the incident yesterday, about Heidi being livid about Evan and his secret about Connor and his relationship status. In all honesty, he had been disappointed with his own behaviour, just as Heidi had been. However, it was a good reminder for him to start to reconnect with his mom about how his life had been, how they rarely talk due to her work schedule, which makes connecting more difficult. So, instead of frowning and trying to make himself break apart from her, he smiled.

"I-It's difficult... but I think I can handle it." He had recognised that this was the same with Connor. He did not want to talk about it, because of the many excuses he had subconsciously created in his mind.

Jared tilted his head slightly to the side, intrigued by Evan's smile. It would seem that something happened yesterday which motivated Evan to be more confident in his answer. It was almost uplifting to see Evan having this firm decision made in his head. He gave Evan a warm smile, to signify his endless support for his endeavours. Evan took note of the encouraging smile, grinning.

—————

Evan and Jared reached the entrance of the orchard, still very much closed down and left alone, just like their last visit. Evan quietly sat on the mossy stone walls that surrounded the entire orchard, which had been up to his calves. He then leaned against the entrance arc, as Jared started to text Alana's group to ask about their arrival. While Jared tapped away on his phone, Evan could only be reminiscent of his experience in the orchard.

This specific orchard held so many memories. He wished he could say that they were all good ones, but they were not. He came to this orchard when he felt down, when he needed to get away from the suffocating silence of his home, surrounded by the whispering of his thoughts. He came here, listening to his feet shuffling through the fallen leaves. He thought he could finally clear his mind, wondering through nature.

But the bad thoughts followed.

They guided his body, moving him until he felt himself hold onto something rough. He felt himself slowly moving upwards, despite being unable to see what was in front of him. The strangest thing was that he suddenly realised that he sat on a branch, looking out onto the beautiful world. He felt himself slip off, and his heart pounded, quick to grip onto the branch.

In that instance of hanging of the branch, in that instance of being faced with the choice of one or the other, he started to feel more relaxed than ever. His heart and mind both decided unanimously, as he felt himself smile. His vision of the world started to blur, as tears formed in his eyes.

He slowly started to release his fingers, one by one, and he finally let go.

"Evan, you okay?" Jared tapped on Evan's shoulders, snapping him out of his trance of staring at the concrete pavement and recounting the terrible memories associated with the orchard. He quietly gave a nod, blinking away his tears. Jared just grinned, giving his best to let Evan smile as well.

A car had just pulled up, parking right beside the pavement. The door swung open, and out came Zoe and Alana. Zoe was wearing a white shirt, with denim overalls and grey trainers, gracefully stepping onto the pavement and being effortlessly beautiful. In her hands, plastic bags with a few bottles of soft drinks. Alana followed, rocking a black-and-white checkered dress, with sandals, and looking just as beautiful as Zoe. She was holding onto a bag of what Evan assumed was board games. Connor peaked out of the front seat window, his arm leaning against door.

"I'm gonna go find a parking spot, be back in a bit!" Connor quickly spoke, rolling up the window and then driving away. Evan couldn't help but fidget with his shirt. The nagging thought of how to bring up the topic of 'relationships' to Connor made him nervous.

They all chatted, just some small talk, until Connor returned. Evan noticed Connor's attire, absolutely smitten. He was wearing a white tank top and shorts. Evan had to consciously look away, his face heating up over how handsome Connor seem to always be. Connor walked over to the group standing beside Evan and giving him a kind smile.

"Alright, let's go," Jared proclaimed, walking into the orchard. Alana giggled, following along and pulling Zoe with her. This left Evan and Connor to walk behind the three, awkwardly trying to figure out what to talk about. Jared had purposely pulled Zoe and Alana forward, so that the three were no longer within ear shot of the two behind. In fact, he had wanted to give the two of them enough time alone.

"S-so," Evan broke the silence, just as Jared pulled Zoe and Alana away for some reason, "h-has everything… um… been okay?"

Evan felt more anxious than ever. His hands was gripping onto the hem of his shirt, pulling them tightly and trying to get this overwhelming sense of anxiety out of his system.

"Uh, yeah," Connor replied, feeling equally anxious. He almost felt wrong to stand next to Evan, what with the distance he had had for a while with Evan. He nervously glanced towards Evan, trying to take in everything new about him. He seemed to walk with a bit more confidence, his back now more straight up rather than hunching forward. His hands still nervously clutching his shirt to combat his anxiousness.

He noticed that Evan was about to look in his direction, which made his eyes quickly dart away from him.

Evan had also been eager to figure out if he could spot anything new with Connor. He seemed to be a lot more relaxed. His shoulders slumped down, not a hint of tension in them. His hands were no longer balled into fists, but open and resting at either sides. It would seem that Connor was also meditating on his behaviour.

Both of them spent the little walk to their sitting areas absolutely avoiding glanced at each other, hearts pounding.

—————

"Woah, Jared, calm down," Zoe exclaimed as she felt herself being yanked forward by the arm, almost too aggressive for her liking. She could see that Alana had the same response, evident from the frown on her face.

"Sorry, hon. Acorn and My Chemical Romance need some time alone to talk," Jared states, bluntly. He knows that despite Evan's sudden confidence in his ability to handle the situation, putting said ability in action might take weeks, if not months. If he had not stepped in, this whole back-and-forth would ensue. This line was very much unwelcoming of an idea to Zoe. She faced Jared, but had been frowning.

"We can't force them to talk. You know Evan hates that!" Zoe retorts, yanking her hand out of Jared's gripping and subconsciously clasped her wrist the massage it, despite it not being painful at all. Jared notices that he had been gripping Alana's hand as well, and lets go, letting the three of them walk side by side without restriction.

"Yeah, they should have their own private space and personal time to discuss about this," Alana piped in. She glanced back, noticing that Connor and Evan had still been pretty awkward with each other, glancing away and not talking at all. She sighed, expecting them to never talk in this situation when she felt Jared pull her head back in front.

"Well, that's why I want to talk to you two. Let's make this their personal time to talk and discuss! Evan doesn't have any guts to ask him out to chat, and Con actually gives too much of a crap about his feelings, like a good boyfriend does," Jared replies, rolling his eyes in mock disgust over their development.

Zoe takes note of his points and tries to reconsider. Clearly, this talk would be the push they both need as a platform to finally talk. However, what if they do not use this platform? Evan may feel that he cannot bring it up, his anxiety stopping him from talking at all. Connor may not feel like bringing it up, despite being so desperate to hear a response from Evan, and thus keep quiet, waiting for Evan to bring it up. It just creates a never-ending loop of waiting. However, it is the best chance for them to talk, period. If there's even a slim chance, they shouldn't pass it up.

"I personally think that it could help," Alana added, staring at the sky above her, a smile on her face. She turns to Zoe, waiting for her to give her response, "but should we intecept with their decisions?"

That phrase seemed to have clicked her ideas into place. She faced them both, a bright smile on her face.

"It's not intercepting at all! We're giving them the chance to talk. Whether or not they talk is their choice. I say we go through with it!" She replies, absolutely positive in her answer. Alana accepted Zoe's answer and nodded her head, as Jared grinned.

"Alright, so here's what we do…" he said, pulling them closer to whisper his ideas to them.