Ezra was very happy. Extremely happy. Unconditionally happy. He couldn't stop smiling. Ever since the night before, when he and Adrian had been reunited, Ezra couldn't keep himself from grinning. It didn't even matter to him that he wasn't on the soccer team, and he thought about how much easier it would have been to just make the right choice in the first place.

But Ezra was very happy, and this made his very serious conversation with his father quite awkward.

"I wanted to talk to you," his father said, coming into his room for the first time in over a week. Ezra swallowed, trying to fight the smile on his face that had been there since he saw Adrian's good morning baby text that morning and was reminded that it wasn't a dream, but they were really them again. It was also great to see Adrian at school again, smiling at him everytime he passed and sneaking away at every opportunity to kiss in hidden locations throughout the school. Even lunch had been perfect, having combined Adrian's table (minus Osmond who didn't seem to like Ezra all that much) and Liam's table. Everyone seemed to get along well and they all had interesting conversations. Plus, Ezra got to hold Adrian's hand under the table and ignore the looks being shot at him from the boys at the soccer table.

"About?" Ezra asked, pulling his blanket up over his face to hide his smile, since it obviously wasn't about to go away on it's own.

"I, well, you see, umm," his father stuttered, standing at the end of Ezra's bed and avoiding his son's eyes. Ezra didn't say anything, just watched the man struggle. "I was very upset about you quitting the soccer team-"

"Dad," Ezra said, dropping the blanket as annoyance temporarily took over his happiness. "Can we not talk about this agai-"

"Wait, Ezra, hear me out," his father pleaded, and despite the eye roll Ezra gave, he nodded for his father to continue. "I was upset because you realized that you didn't want to live out my dream". This was new, and Ezra's fists curled into his blanket. His father was rarely open about his true feelings, so Ezra intended to listen to every single word that left the man's mouth. "You're good at it, son. You work hard and you've been doing it for your entire life, but that's my fault. You didn't do any of that because you love it, but because I loved it, and I didn't realize this until-"

"Dad," Ezra interrupted and his father suddenly fell silent. "That's not true at all. Sure, I started playing soccer because you loved it, but I kept playing because you loved it and I loved it. I don't want you to think that I wasted all of these years of my life doing something that I hated, because I didn't. I love soccer dad. I do. It makes me happier than anything else in the world". Well, almost everything.

His father sat on the end of his bed and looked at him. "Then why did you quit? If it makes you so happy, why did you leave?"

"Because," Ezra began, speaking slowly and hoping his father would understand. "I found something that made me happier, and when it was made clear to me that I couldn't have both, I made my choice".

"Is it really worth it?" he asked Ezra, and he wasn't asking him as if he thought it wasn't, but he was asking him because he was actually curious. Ezra nodded and to his surprise, his father chuckled. "Wow," he began, "This girl must be really special".

Ezra grinned. "You have no idea". He didn't correct his father's feminine pronoun, but knew that was something he'd have to do eventually.

"Do you love her?" His father's eyes were filled with excitement and Ezra felt his smile stretched even further as he thought about just how much he loved Adrian.

"I do". His father stood then, reaching forward to slap him on the shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, kid," he said, and Ezra honestly couldn't remember the last time his father had been proud of him, or at least admitted to being proud of him. Ezra watched as the man went to leave the room, and then glanced over his shoulder to him. "You mother told you that we're going out tonight?" Ezra nodded.

That was another reason why he was so happy. Since his parents were going out, he had invited Adrian over to spend time together as they used to. He was actually getting a bit nervous because his mother had said they would be leaving at five, so he had instructed Adrain to get a ride to his house for 5:10, and it was currently 5:05 and his parents showed no signs of leaving.

"She did- are you going now?" he asked quickly and his father smiled, looking at him like they had all the time in the world.

"In a minute". As long as he meant that literally Ezra would be fine.

They ended up staying a lot longer than just a minute. They stayed for ten extra minutes, but luckily Adrian was late.

It ended quite nicely, really. As Ezra's parents turned off of their street and he waved goodbye to them, Adrian's mother pulled onto the street, driving directly passed his parents, and Ezra continued to wave until they stopped in front of his house.

Adrian's mother looked delighted to see him, and this apparently annoyed Adrian because he grabbed Ezra's arm and began pushing him towards the house before he could officially say hello. "Why do you always need to be so nice to my parents?" Adrian asked as he shut the door behind them and Ezra raised his eyebrows.

"Well I want them to like me". Adrian rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else. Instead he look a step forward so he was standing directly in front of him and pressed a kiss against him lips. "Hello dear," Ezra said, grinning and admiring the beautiful boy in front of him. "How many pairs of converse do you own?" Today Adrian was wearing a bright orange pair that matched his shirt, and Adrian pouted as if it was an insult.

"A lot," he said, grinning then and wrapping his arms around Ezra's neck as he shuffled them backwards towards the couch. "I don't buy them. My parents don't want people to know that they're bad parents and hate me, so every once and awhile they give me a hundred or so dollars and I don't really need the money so I buy shoes". Ezra fell back onto the couch with Adrian on top of him.

"Couldn't you save it to go to college?" Ezra asked, kissing Adrian's throat and gently pulling the skin between his teeth. Adrian laughed.

"Ezra, I'm a sophomore in advanced college calculus. They literally have a professor come over from the college to teach it because there's only two kids in that class, and I have a ninety eight percent".

Ezra hummed, kissing at the corners of Adrian's lips, going back and forth from one to the other but never landing in the middle. "What's your point".

"My point is that I really don't need to be saving money for college since some schools are willing to pay me to attend".

"So cocky," Ezra said, pecking Adrian on the lips and then pulling back before the other could respond to his kiss.

Adrian pouted. "Do you not like it when I'm cocky?"

Ezra loved him all the time, but he didn't say this. "Well what if I don't?"

Adrian braced himself about him then and looked down at him, his eyes sparkling mischievously as he said lustfully, "Then you punish me". Ezra's eyebrows raised and he felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

Adrian squealed as Ezra flipped their positions, pinning the younger underneath him now, bracing his arms by either side of his head as Adrian wrapped both of his short legs around Ezra's waist, their lower halves in contact. In response to this brief meeting, in which both of their erections brushed against one another's, Adrian grasped the fabric of Ezra's shirt as his back arched off of the couch and Ezra watched in amazement at how responce Adrian was to his touch now that he hadn't had it consistently for a while. "Prepare to be punished".

"Fuck yes," Adrian breathed, and then they were kissing, their mouths immediately open as Ezra dominated the younger, immediately taking the control that Adrian barely fought for before submitting.

"Ezra, I forgot my- oh my". Ezra, immediately recognizing the voice, jerked away from Adrian and glanced back at his mother who was standing in the doorway watching them with wide eyes. From this angle, Ezra's body was blocking Adrian from his mother's view, keeping his identity (and gender) hidden. Ezra wondered what the probability of convincing his mother to leave was before she discovered that he was gay, but when he looked down at Adrian, who was biting his lip and trying to hide a smile. It became clear that there was no chance of this, because if his mother didn't notice Adrian, the boy, who had told Ezra multiple times that he was desperate to meet her, would make himself known. "My wallet," Ezra's mom said, clearing her throat.

Still, Ezra didn't turn back to her, his eyes pleading with Adrian to stay quiet. The boy totally disregarded this, pushing Ezra off of him and smiling widely. "Hi!"

Ezra looked between the two other people in the room. His mother looked absolutely shocked, her mouth parted as her eyes flickered between her son and the small asian boy he had been kissing just moments before. Adrian was still smiling, but Ezra could see in his eyes the flicker of surprise upon seeing that Ezra's mother was, well, very korean. Ezra dropped his head into his hands.

"Oh god," he groaned, not knowing where to start. "Mom," he began, but was cut off but a happy voice.

"Oh my goodness, you're so cute," his mom cooed and Adrian looked pleased, glancing at Ezra for a moment before looking back at his mother. "Sorry to act so surprised. Ezra didn't inform me that the person he was seeing was a boy, or that he would be having company when we were gone".

"Mother, could you please leave," Ezra pleaded, but with one look at the woman he knew that she wouldn't be going anywhere.

"I actually think that we should stay and get to know your boyfriend". Then his mother's eyes lit up. "Or we could all go out. Let's all go out".

Now Adrian looked unsure. "I don't think-"

"Don't worry about the money dear," Ezra's mom said, immediately realizing the problem.

"Really, don't," Ezra said. "They go out almost every night". Then he realized what he was saying. "No, mom. We're not going out with you and dad. Go have your date. We'll just stay here".

"Either you're coming out with us, or we're staying in with you," Ezra's mother said. The boys looked at each other and Adrian raised his eyebrows at him.

"Alright," Ezra said, standing "We'll come". Adrian followed in suit, grinning up at him cutely and Ezra's mother cooed. "Please never make that noise again".

His mother ignored Ezra as Adrian stepped forward and offered her his hand. "I'm Adrian". She pushed his hand aside and enveloped him in a hug and Ezra hoped, for both of their sakes, that the boys boner had subsided.

"I'm Nari, hun". Ezra rolled his eyes and watched as his mother pulled back and then studied Adrian's face. "What happened, dear?"

Ezra knew immediately what she was referring to, since he would never forget, and was reminded every time he looked at Adrian's beautiful face to see it purple and black with bruises, but Adrian seemed confused. "I don't kn-" Ezra's mom reached out and touched one of the bruises and Adrian's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! Those. Um... there was a little incident".

His mother hummed and then moved her hand away from Adrian's face. "If it happens again, call Ezra. He'll beat him up for you". Ezra thought of Caleb Higgins clutching his face as blood poured over his fingers and grinned. Adrian caught his eye and shook his head. "Alright boys, let's go".

***

It was actually a little funny at first, climbing into the car and introducing Adrian to his father as his boyfriend. At first the man thought he had heard wrong, but when he realized he hadn't he simply laughed for a couple minutes before pulling out of the driveway.

Ezra felt a bit bad for Adrian, who was forced to answer question after question, but the boy took it with ease. "What do you want to go to school for?"

"Law".

"Do you play any sports?" - asked by Ezra's father, of course.

"I'm not very good at sports. I do play the saxophone though," was Adrian's response and Ezra slipped his hand into the smaller boys.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen".

"And how long have you and my son been dating?" Ezra's mother asked and Ezra quickly looked out of the window. This was the part where he would get in trouble.

"A little over a month but we broke up for part of that". Adrian smiled sadly and Ezra leaned over to kiss his cheek and whisper:

"I love you," into his ear. Adrian smiled.

"A month," his mother snapped, glaring at Ezra who grimaced. "And you didn't tell us".

"Well I didn't know how to exactly say it," Ezra argued. "Hi mom, dad. I'm fucking someone and guess what, it's a boy". Adrian stifled a laugh and Ezra just realized what he said. He sat forward quickly, leaning over the council between his parents seat. "I didn't mean that! I mean, there's no fucking going on. I'm totally still a virgin, mom". But his mother didn't seem to be convinced.

"Would you please stop using the f word," was all she said.

Ezra huffed and dropped back against his chair. Adrian giggled, bringing Ezra's hand to his mouth and kissing his knuckles. "Smooth," he said against his skin and Ezra groaned.

"How are you better at talking to my parents than I am?" The question never got answered.

"How'd you two meet?" Ezra's father asked and Ezra met his eyes in the rear view mirror. He was surprised with how easily his parents were expecting this, excepting him, and he loved them even more for it.

"Your turn," Adrian mumbled and Ezra sighed.

"He was my tutor".

"But he's a sophomore," Ezra's mother said slowly, not understanding. "Are you honestly in sophomore level course Ezra? And failing two of them?"

"I'm not failing any, anymore," Ezra said, and then he looked at Adrian and smiled. "I didn't want to make you look bad so I figured I'd actually start trying". Adrian smiled softly at him and Ezra just looked back.

They were in a sort of a trance, just staring lovingly at each other, but it was interrupted but Ezra's mother addressing her husband. "He's a good influence too". Ezra rolled his eyes.

"I'm not in sophomore courses, mom. Adrian's just in all senior level classes or above". His parents looked impressed and Adrian blushed. Ezra watched the skin flush and began placing multiple kisses on the boy's skin, causing Adrian to giggle uncontrollably.

Yes. Ezra was very happy. Extremely happy. Unconditionally happy. Not only did he have an amazing boyfriend who he adored with all of his heart, but said boy was also liked by his parents which meant that Adrian could literally spend all of his time at Ezra's now and they wouldn't have to worry about getting caught.

Ezra just couldn't believe his luck.