Monty ran his fingers through Winston's soft, curly hair as they laid together on the twin bed. Winston rested his head against Monty's chest and could feel himself beginning to fall asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Winston frowned when he remembered he couldn't stay the night in the bunker, since his parents would be home tomorrow morning. Winston sat up and looked back at Monty.

"I have to go." Winston said, sadly.

"But you just got here." Monty whined.

"I got here over an hour ago. Plus, you still haven't answered any of my questions." Winston reminded him.

Winston had tried to ask Monty some of the questions he'd been dying to know the answers to, but Monty just stayed silent and pulled him toward the bed. Winston thought Monty had something else in mind when he laid back on the bed, but all Monty did was open his arms and wait for Winston to fall into them. They had been laying like that ever since.

"What do you wanna know?" Monty asked, grabbing Winston's hands and pulling him back.

Winston let himself be pulled into his chest once again and enjoyed the feeling of Monty's strong arms around him. The arms he'd missed more than anything.

"How are you alive?" Winston asked.

"The asshole answer would be that eighteen years ago, my mom and dad shared a very special evening together-"

Winston cut him off with a smile, "Shut up. You know what I mean."

Monty laughed as he answered, "Deputy Standall orchestrated this big lie. Told everyone that I'd died in prison, but in reality, he took me to this survival shelter, so he could have time to go and get evidence to clear my name."

"You said Deputy Standall was going to gather evidence? He called me into the police station yesterday so he could question me." Winston told him.

"I told him that we were together the night Bryce died." Monty said and Winston looked up at him in surprise.

"You told him that?" Monty shrugged in response to the question.

"So you were the secret sources Deputy Standall was talking about. I didn't see that one coming." Winston noted. Monty stayed silent.

"Why did you lie to him the first time he questioned you then?" Winston asked. Monty looked away for a moment. When his eyes locked with Winston's again, the Hillcrest boy saw tears forming in his eyes.

"I just... I can't yet. No one can know yet.." Monty trailed off as a tear ran down his cheek. Winston's heart broke at the sight. He reached up with his thumb and brushed away the falling tear.

"That's okay. When you're with me, you can be whatever you want to be, remember?" Winston reminded him and Monty tearfully nodded.

They both stayed quiet for minute, until Winston broke the silence.

"Why does Deputy Standall want to help you?" Winston asked as he traced lines over Monty's arm.

"I have no fucking idea. Maybe it was his moral code or some shit, since he knows I didn't do it."

"How did he know that you didn't do it?" Winston questioned.

Monty paused. He hadn't thought about that before, "I don't know." He said, in a confused tone.

Winston looked up into Monty's eyes as he spoke, "If he knows that you didn't do it, then he has to know who actually did."

"Holy shit, you're right." Monty realized.

"I usually am." Winston said, smiling. Monty scoffed and pushed him away jokingly.

"Okay, but I really do have to go now." Winston stood up and Monty immediately followed him.

"You sure you can't stay here with me?" Monty asked, putting his hands around the smaller boy's waist.

Winston wrapped his arms around Monty's shoulders, "I wish I could, but my parents get home in the morning."

Monty took initiative this time and pulled Winston even closer, crashing their lips together. While it wasn't anywhere near as rough as their first kiss, it did catch Winston off guard. He quickly caught up, however, and gripped onto Monty's shoulders.

Monty pushed Winston up against the wall and they continued to feverishly kiss for a few minutes. As the frenzy wore off, they pulled away. Both of them were breathing heavily.

Winston rested his head on Monty's collarbone as he began to back himself off of the wall, "I'll come back. I'll just have to stalk Deputy Standall again to see when he's leaving."

"Wait, you stalked him?" Monty asked as his eyes went wide.

"How else did you think I found this place?" Winston asked, cheekily.

"You're a fucking creep." Monty laughed as Winston smiled at him.

"You weren't complaining about it a minute ago." Winston said as he walked over to the ladder.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Winston said as he reached it.

Monty leaned forward and brought their lips together one more time. It was only a quick peck, but it still had all the emotion behind it that their other kisses did.

"Okay." Monty said, watching Winston climb out.

———————————————————————————