"Rise and shine boys! Oh, whoops, I'll look away."

Greyson jumped up out of bed anxiously. "Oh dad, hi... um... we were just sleeping I swear." Greyson's dad laughed.

"Relax, I seen you at 4 AM and figured I'd wake you up before your mother had the chance to look into your room and have a mini heart attack."

Drew pulled the covers up over his chest. "Hey shy guy, unless you're naked I don't see a reason to hide." Drew awkwardly smiles and pulls the covers off of himself.

"Are you mad at me?" Drew's dad sat down on the bed. "No kiddo, I was messing around. So, you're Drew?" Drew curled his knees to his chest.

"Uh, yeah, I hope that's a good thing." Greyson's dad laughed and patted him on the back.

"Of course! They told me you were a really good, mature kid over the phone." Drew raised an eyebrow. "Over the phone?"

"Oh, I mean the psychiatrist. I talked to the psychiatrist when I called to check in on my son and they said he was doing a lot better and that he was spending most of his time with one of the other boys, so I got a little nosy." Greyson blushed.

"So uh, breakfast?" Greyson stared blankly at his dad. "Good question, yes. Go to the dining room and I'll make some pancakes. Drew, do you eat pancakes?"

"Yes I do, just don't add any syrup. Though, if you have peanut butter, I'll take a spoon of peanut butter on the side." Greyson smiled and started walking.

They all sat down at the table and Greyson scooted his chair closer to Drew's. "Hey kids, can I ask you a question? I'm just curious."

"Um, sure dad." The boys looked at each other nervously.

"I hope this doesn't upset you... but you know I've been keeping an eye on you guys and I've noticed you... being in very close proximity to each other. What's up with that?"

Drew's eyes widened and he immediately knocked twice on the table. "I'm sorry, did that make you anxious?"

Drew blushed. "I... um... yes. I don't know what to say. I'm scared." Greyson grabbed Drew's hand under the table and squeezed.

"He'll be fine dad, he's just overwhelmed. We haven't discussed too far into what we have going on at this point and I think both of us are very overwhelmed with how quickly everything is happening." Drew brought his knees to his chest and buried his nose in his thighs.

Greyson's dad flipped a pancake onto a plate and handed it to Drew. "You guys will be okay believe me. These feelings are complicated at any age. When I was your age, and I know how much you love hearing that, do you think I had my shit figured out? Hell no I didn't, I thought I was in love with a cheerleader because she looked at me. Heaven forbid a girl innocently looked at me as a teen. Feelings are confusing. And I know there are added elements for both of you that make this five times more difficult to process, but it will happen if you relax and just try to enjoy the present moments as they come. Drew, you seem like a very pleasant guy. If my boy disrespects you, make sure you tell me."

Drew giggles and knocks twice on the table. "Hey dad, I suppose in one aspect, you can say we have Similar tastes. Drew is a cheerleader."

"Football player and a cheerleader... that was always my dream up until I met your mother. Speaking of the devil." Greyson's mother walked up to the table.

"The devil? Was I sleepwalking again?"

Greyson cackled. "No momma, we were just talking about how you weren't at all dads type." Greyson's father kicked him in the calf.

"Oh lovely! The cheerleaders again?" Drew couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"Not exactly." Greyson nervously smiled. "I was actually just talking about how Drew is a cheerleader at his school." His mother looked over at Drew and gave him a quick up and down.

"You don't see a lot of male cheerleaders, it's a bit untraditional. Though, I can see the appeal, you look like a good gymnast." Greyson rolled his eyes.

"Mom. He's a cheerleader, not a gymnast. Not exactly the same thing. Plus, he's really good at it, it's not all about being appealing. He enjoys it. The appeal is just an added bonus." Drew turned toward the wall to hide his pride.

"Grey, I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised, that's all! I'm so used to you running around with the football guys and all that. Boy cheerleaders are a bit of a change." Greyson's face dropped and the corner of his mouth twitched in anger.

Drew frowned and poked Greyson's foot with his foot from under the table. "I get the sense that you're not a cheer fan, and that's fine. But my school's cheer team has a YouTube where you can see all of my extended videos, wanna see me in action? Perhaps I can change your mind."

Greysons dad butted in. "I think that's an excellent idea!" Greysons mother looked at him and walked toward the couch. "Fine, but you'll have to find it on the TV."

Drew walked over to her and grabbed the remote. He scrolled through the youtube page for a while before selecting a video. "This is one of the full routines I choreographed for our competitions. It was my last competition so far in varsity cheer." He pulled up the video and anxiously pressed play.

They all sat in silence for the first few minutes. Until Greyson's mother turned to Drew. "My expectations were set way too low. You got some moves kid. You put this together? Holy shit! Wasn't expecting that leg to go over your head." Greyson turned his head to the kitchen and blushed.

"Yeah, sometimes they let students put forth their input on choreo. They always enjoyed my input, so they asked me to choreo one song. Except one song turned to one routine, and then one routine turned to three. It's always fun." Greyson's mom smiled at the screen.

"I can see why Grey hangs out with you now. You're well put together, successful, and charismatic. Good friends like this don't come around often Grey." Greyson rolled his eyes and gave his mother a blank stare.

"Momma, I'm not friends with him because of appearances. I'm not planning on using him as a chick magnet or to make myself look good if that's what you're thinking."

"Grey, come on, it's not like you really have a lot in common with a kid like him. There's nothing wrong with getting in with a certain crowd." Drew turned away and stared at the floor.

"Kids like him? Like what? Boys who have personality, and who arent afraid to stay true to themselves? Why would I not want to be around that?"

"Hey, I'm sorry. He's just not at all what I was expecting for you, that's all." Drew sat on the couch and pulled his knees to his chest. He tried to keep the tears from escaping, but the feelings always seemed to overwhelm him.

"Babe, you made the kid cry, don't you hear yourself right now? Drew is a good kid, why should anything else matter. Greyson has smiled more around him than I've seen him smile in the last year. Isn't that what we wanted?" She looked over to the boys. "Yeah, I was glad to see that smile again."

Greyson sat down by Drew on the couch and wrapped his arms tightly around him. "Are you okay?"

Drew sniffled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry." Greyson brushed his thumb through the back of Drew's hair.

"You're allowed to have feelings, you're not a robot are you?" Drew shook his head. "Oh good, you had me worried for a second. Had me thinking I was..." Greyson immediately stopped talking and squeezed tighter.

Drew laughed and rubbed his eyes. "Okay, okay that's enough. Thank you."

"How did you get Greyson to hug you just by crying? I used to have to roll around like I was dying to get him to hug me when he was a kid."

Greyson laughed and shook his head. "I'm sorry I didn't like hugging you before school every single day mom. Drew likes being squeezed when he's anxious. It's one of those stress relieving things."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the Autism thing, you hide it quite well." Drew's face dropped. "Yeah, masking. I've been hiding behind my shame long enough, I'd hope I'd at least be decent at it by now."

"Oh I didn't mean anything bad by it. I really am quite impressed by your ability to completely shake my preconceptions. There's nothing wrong with that. I really do like you."

Drew smiled and put his legs down. "I know, I guess I'm just sensitive. I'd better get home, my sister just texted me." Drew stood up and walked to the door. Greyson followed him and opened the door.

"Snap me when you get home, I hope my house wasn't too traumatizing, and by my house I mean my parents forward nature." Drew blew a kiss and waved. "Will do." Greyson blushed.

Greyson's dad walked up behind him and whispered. "Kisses? Ooohhh..." He raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"Eww dad stop being creepy!" He playfully punched his father on the shoulder.

"Hey I could have said something about the sight that greeted me last night when I woke up, but I was playing nice." Greyson's eyes widened.

"Oookay, yep copy that. Loud and clear." Greyson walked to his room in embarrassment and opened snap chat.

"Made it home Grey."