I rub my eyes blearily, blinking at the messy bedroom. Light sunshine streams through the curtains, so I get up. I can hear music and sizzling from the kitchen, which is odd for Cal.

After brushing my teeth, I head toward the kitchen. Cal stands at the stove, wearing my apron, whistling. Belle and Sebastian plays over the speakers, and whatever is being cooked smells phenomenal.

"What are you doing?"

Cal looks up, grinning. "Hey! Morning. Don't those flowers look nice right there?" He gestures toward a glass vase on the table with his spatula.

Lavenders. My favorite flowers. "Cal, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm making chocolate chip pancakes." He waves his utensil at the pan on the stove.

I stumble to the table, a bit dazed, playing with the flower stems. "I thought you hated pancakes."

Cal smiles over his shoulder. "I do. But there's something in it for me, and I told someone I'd make them for you."

The song playing changes, and I glance up, brow furrowed. "Hey. This isn't my CD. The songs are in a weird order."

Cal grins. "No, it's not your CD." He walks over and slides a plate of pancakes over to me. "There's some cookie dough ice cream in the freezer, when you're ready for it."

"Wait, Cal, what--" I don't get to finish my question, as Cal just shoots me a chipper wink and returns to our room.

I sit in the room alone for a moment, then take a careful bite of my breakfast. Half of me expects the pancakes to be filled with salt, or habanero peppers, but they taste normal.

My eyes soon land on a pale blue envelope, pinned underneath the vase. I carefully lift the flowers and set them aside. My name is written on the paper in black ink.

I stare at it for a few seconds, afraid to touch it, then I just reach out and grab it. It's firm, the paper thicker than I'm used to. Hesitantly, I open it and pull out the letter inside.

To my dearest Abel.

I'm really sorry. Like, words can't even describe how sorry I am. I know what I said was hurtful and insensitive, and that I should trust you more than anyone else. I'm sorry for not taking your word.

I've been talking to Damon more lately, just hanging out like we used to. It was nice, for a little while, but it turned bad real fast. Whenever we were with his friends, he'd call me names, treat me like the token gay friend. He called me a fag the other day. I haven't spoken to him for a week.

One of his friends' girlfriends got in touch with me, though. She said that she'd heard that I knew you, and thought that she should clear some things up. She told me the whole story, about you two in high school. The whole janitor incident being a giant misunderstanding. If you know a girl named Sherri, send her a lovely thank you card for me.

I know that none of that should have had to happen for me to believe you, and I'm sorry for that. I really am. I know that I can't fix my actions with things, but I gave it a go anyways.

The flowers are for you. They made me think of you, even though they aren't quite periwinkle. They're the closest I could find. I also asked Cal to make you pancakes with chocolate chips. I hope he actually did it. He said he would. He better not have burned them either.

I made you a CD. Belle and Sebastian. I wasn't sure which of their songs you liked, so I just picked a bunch that I could see you listening to. I hope you like it. You have some ice cream, too, I think. Chocolate chip cookie dough. Seymour helped me smuggle it out of the store, so don't tell anyone.

My dad said that I should get you something really romantic, like condoms or lingerie.

I opted for chocolates instead. There are a bunch of different kinds (I didn't know if you liked fillings), so have at them. I've written down everything that I gave you just in case Cal decided to keep any of it. I do owe him, but that stuff is for you, and you only.

I miss you. A lot. And I love you so much. And I'm really sorry for being an asshole. I hope you can forgive me eventually. Until then, I'll be waiting.

Love, Blue

P.S- I'm wearing the gold bird as a bracelet. It's perfect.

I blink at the paper, hands shaking a little. Sherri told him the truth. He believes me. He gave me chocolate chip pancakes. I push back my chair, dropping the letter, and jog to my and Cal's room, sliding in my mismatched socks on the wood floor. "Cal!" I pull the door open with a force that I wasn't sure I had.

"Y-yeah?" Cal has his hands behind his back, looking at me nervously from the bed. A game of FIFA is paused on the television.

"Give me my chocolate, you little shit."

***

I knock on the door to Kevin's house, bouncing on my heels. That idiot. That cute, amazing, little idiot. My idiot.

The door swings open to reveal Kevin's dad, looking fresh out of bed and holding a mug of hot coffee, despite it being half past twelve in the afternoon. "Hey, Abe, come on in."

I do so without complaint, even though I hate that nickname with a vengeance. Aaron sits on the couch with his own mug in an over large flannel shirt and a pair of boxer shorts, knees pulled up to his chest. His eyes are hooded, and he looks very small scrunched up on the couch like that. "Hi, Aaron," I call.

He lets out a cross between a hum and a yawn in response without looking my way. Kevin's dad chuckles, ruffling Aaron's hair affectionately. "Kevin's upstairs."

I nod, jogging up the stairs quietly. Once I get to Kevin's room, I knock on the door. It swings open under the pressure of my knuckles, and I peer inside.

Kevin sits in bed, looking hazy. His hair swirls around his head in an angry orange cloud, blue eyes half open, hands covered by a large sweatshirt. He jumps when he notices me, pulling the sweater down over his bare thighs. "A-abel, hey. What are you d-doing here?" He's flushed bright red and I can only wonder what he was thinking about when I walked in.

"Hi, Blue." I perch on the end of his bed and he shuffles a little further into his pillows. "I just wanted to say hi and thank you for the gifts."

"O-oh, okay. Umm, you're welcome, I guess, but you deserved them. I was terrible. Had to make up for it somehow."

I send him a happy grin. "Can I have a hug, maybe? Or a kiss?"

Kevin smiles back at me, nodding eagerly. I fall into his arms, snuggling into his neck. He gives a small, surprised gasp, then tightens his arms around me. I breathe in deeply; he smells like strawberries, and I'd missed the smell.

I lay on his bed, holding him and showering him with all of the kisses and I love you's from the past few weeks. He just holds me tighter. I give him a more heated kiss, and he returns it, pulling me closer.

"Woo! Get some!" A loud voice shatters the moment, booming from the doorway.

Kevin yanks away from me, sitting up straighter and glaring at the door, unsuccessfully because of his blush. "Dad! Go... Go talk to Aaron or something." Aaron peers around the doorframe, his wolfish grin an odd contrast to his puppy dog eyes. "You two are unbearable," Kevin moans, hiding his face behind a pillow.

I pull him closer, and, just to see what he'll do, lick a strip of his neck. He squeals, twisting out of my arms, fixing me with a pout. I laugh at him, pulling him back to me and smiling against his shoulder.

Aaron and Kevin's dad whisper to one another conspiratorially, heads leaned close together. Kevin laughs, showing me nearly identical texts from both Cal and Seymour, asking for the other's clothing sizes and Christmas present ideas.

Kevin giggles, a faint pinkness lingering around his cheekbones. His hair tickles my forehead, blue eyes sparkling. I sigh.

It's good to be back to normal.