"Places, everyone!"

I sighed loudly and went over my lyrics one last time. There were a lot of things I hated about our Christmas recital. One was that everybody, and I do mean everybody, was there to witness it. The other horrible part was that I had to wear a long white gown with a freaking halo over my head. Add to that were the wings on my back that failed to lift up my spirit. And one more thing that annoyed me was the blank stare I got from the snowman to my right.

"Stop staring at me," I told him.

The snowman moved to take his huge and ugly head off to reveal a sweaty William under the costume.

"Does it really look that weird to you?" he asked.

"Dude, trust me. It looks like a smiling psychopath."

William sat beside me, as best as he could since his costume was a bit bulky, and turned the snowman's head to look down at it.

"You're right," he said. "Second graders don't know a thing about snowmen."

I breathed out and went back to my lyrics. It wasn't hard to learn and I only had to sing two songs. One for my solo and the other one as part of a group in somewhat like a theatre with lots of dancing and bouncing and...cringing on my part.

Why the hell did I even agree to this?

"Felix must be halfway across the state by now," William quietly reminded.

"Maybe," I uttered.

Looking at my wingman, I was glad that he offered me a warm smile in hopes of lightening up my mood. William was sweet and thoughtful, despite the fact that he couldn't keep his mouth shut if counted upon to do so. Still, he hasn't told anyone about our little secret. Not that he needed to tell Felix about it anyway. I already beat him to it, just in case, so that he won't make it seem like I cheated on Felix.

"You're blushing," he pointed out, "and pouting."

...cheated on Felix. What the heck was I thinking? We didn't even get the chance to ask each other if we were boyfriends or not. I guess like being the best friends we were, we didn't need to put any label for us to know what we meant to each other.

However, Felix was starting to turn into a distant memory once again.

"You think he'll be back?" I asked.

"Yep," William assured with a bright smile. "He came back last time, right? He'd come back again, I'm sure."

"But...how long till then?"

William stood up and patted his chest a couple times. Trust me, he was saying. "Sooner than you think."

I smiled and nodded before he left me to join the other kids in his group. We'd be in the same act later. I'd be singing with others while he'd be stuck as a snowman, moving his arms to the sound of children laughing and whatnot. I'd prefer it if he danced though. His costume sort of gave him an even bigger butt and I'd like to see him shake it.

Focus, I reminded myself. Reaching for my backpack, I took out the only thing that would remind me of the one and only Felix Corbel.

"Orange," I mumbled. "Spaghetti wire."

I took out my phone and plugged in the earphones. I had my playlist on shuffle and I wasn't really paying attention to the songs that played. I just didn't want to hear everyone else. Felix was right. This definitely drowned out every noise in the world. His earphones were magical.

"HEY!" I snapped when someone pulled on end out of my ear.

"Places, Mr Logan," our musical director said with such a scary look on her face. "Now."

I nodded quickly and, like the angel I was supposed to be, floated toward the centre of the stage. The curtains still hid us from the audience, but I could picture how many people there were from all the noise they were making.

The music of humanity is such a confusing and deafening sound.

Looking down to my right, the particularly indiscreet snowman from earlier stood close and whispered or mumbled through the huge mask he had on, "It's ready."

"Thanks, Willy," I responded. "Just wait for my signal, okay?"

The snowman nodded and walked away.

Soon, as the recital continues into the late evening, Dennis, Patrick and Gregory would have a taste of their own shit. I promised Felix that I'd pursue the plan I had in mind and he even polished some sloppy details and helped me out with some other stuff to make it possible. It was up to William now to pull the trigger.

"In three!" our musical director shouted as she counted two to one with her fingers and the curtains finally revealed the glaring light past the audience.

...

"...psst!"

Somehow, the lights blurred out everything and everyone from my sight. I suddenly couldn't find my voice.

Stage fright? I thought, Fucking hell.

"...-ase...Chase!"

I looked to who was calling to me and saw that same snowman from earlier waving his arms as if he was already starting to dance. Then, as he made me focus on his murderous dark eyes, my vision slowly turned normal again and I could see everyone.

They were all dancing and running around on stage. Kids from the first to sixth grades were already singing our opening act. What a merry sight it was, but...I was more and more intrigued by the snowman who started dancing silly.

My wingman sure knew how to etch a smile on my lips and take away my anxiety. I eventually sang with everyone else and I started forgetting that the audience was by far the largest I've seen. Somewhere in there were my three ex-friends and I wondered what they thought of the several cardboards held up by some people that read, if I squinted my eyes enough against the light, #InvisibleNoMore #ChaseFelix.

As surprising as it was, most kids from our school saw those posts about a `cute kid singing his heart out'. I thought I'd be humiliated when I went to school the week after that, but they actually cheered me on and clapped my back and asked if I could sing them a song. And while Felix walked by my side that whole time, he was also pestered by everyone who kept asking him what it was like to be sung to. It was the first time I saw him smile sheepishly at people and blush.

What was more surprising was how William also got his followers asking him to play a song on his guitar. Though, really, he was blonde and blue eyed so he was a natural magnet.

The curtains drew close once again and that magnificent and murderous snowman shuffled toward me as it took its head off.

"Chase! You okay?" William worriedly asked.

"Yeah," I answered and smiled. "Thanks."

He gigged and said, "You loved my dance, didn't you?"

"I love everything about you, Willy," I told him and patted his shoulder. He gave me an annoyed look and pouted. "What?"

"I'm just a little brother to you, ain't I?"

Now that he mentioned it, he did seem like a little brother to me. He was cute and more angelic than the angel I pretended to be. I should be the one wearing that snowman costume moreover.

"I guess so," I admitted. "Is that okay with you?"

His puffed cheeks were starting to glow pink before he poked his tongue out at me, turned around and walked away.

"Willy?"

"Whatever, Chase," he shouted back, "I'm taking a piss."

I sighed and walked backstage where I'd wait for my solo.

As each and every act performed, I only thought of how the distance between Felix and me was hurriedly becoming larger by the mile as they travelled toward another city. I took out his earphones once more and pretended to be him when I listened closely to the songs that played. It was hard to do, however. I couldn't be as good a listener as he was.

"Mr Logan!"

"WHAT?" I yelled and our musical director frowned at me.

"Go out there. Now."

She pushed me toward the stage after I set my stuff aside. Finally, it was that dreadful solo of mine. That dreadful song that I stole from Felix who wasn't supposed to be halfway across the state, but was meant to be here and wearing the white gown I wore.

I stood centre-stage and waited for the curtains to open.

And as it did, the lights dimmed and shifted away from me, as if hiding me from everyone so that only my voice could be heard. Without much of the light blinding me, I saw who was sneaking his way through the audience at the back.

That murderous snowman looked more frightening without the lights on and with just the shadow of his beaded eyes. William was already on the move.

And as Jack Frost was about to nip at my nose, I heard William's shout from the backstage.

"CHASE!"

I stopped singing and the dimmed lights started searching for me. When the beam flew past the side of the stage, I saw William's unmasked face sending me a worried and anxious look. The light went past the rest of him and I realized that he wasn't even in his snowman costume.

Then, Felix's laughter filled his room as we moved to lie closer to each other under his sheets.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?"

Everyone's eyes, including those of the spotlights, centred on the murderous snowman who stood behind Dennis, Patrick and Gregory. The three of them chose to sit together instead of being with their families way at the back row.

"Mr Harrington," our musical director firmly said, "get back up here."

"Uhm...ma'am?" William voiced out as he walked out from the side of the stage. "I'm right here."

Our confused director switched glances between William and his costume who appeared to be holding something right above his huge head and was just about to hit either Dennis, Patrick or Gregory.

"Then who the hell is that?"

I heard some grunts from the audience and I was quite sure that it came from parents who felt disrespected by how our director asked the question.

"Young man," she said, "take that hideous head off."

Some more grunts, and I think it came from the parents of the second graders who worked so hard on the costume.

"Now," she most likely growled.

Squinting my eyes, I recognized what the culprit was holding above his head. And, it looked to me that he wasn't gonna smack anyone, but was just raising his arms to squeeze himself into the crowded seats behind my three former friends.

"Take that off."

Slowly lowering his arms, the snowman settled his hands on both sides of its huge and glazed-white cheeks. Then, as if he was a superhero who was about to reveal his most precious secret – his identity, he pulled the papier mache off his head and inch by inch of his face made my heart jump several beats until I was sure that it came to a full stop when I saw how green those eyes were that hid earlier under the hideous costume.

"Mr Corbel," our frustrated director acknowledged. "You weren't planning to murder someone on this wonderful evening, were you?"

Felix wouldn't do such thing. The snowman, however, looked capable of any atrocity while holding that stoic face of his.

Felix looked around at everyone before blocking some of the light that hit his beautiful eyes as he probably tried to make out which among the shadows I was.

"Felix!" I called out. "Over here!"

"Mr Logan! Get back up here!"

I ignored her and tried running toward the back row, but some other teacher stopped me and held my arms tightly.

"Let go!" I yelled.

"Settle down, kid," my captor said. "We need some answers first."

"But he needs me!" I argued, but he wasn't gonna let me go so easily.

"What were you planning to do, Mr Corbel?" our director continued.

It surprised me, then, how fast everyone's hands were especially when they already had their phones held up to their faces and taking photos or videos of Felix being interrogated like a suspect under the scrutiny of huge incandescent lights.

Felix settled his eyes toward me though I felt sure that he still couldn't see me. We were all like stars staring at him who stood in daylight. He still wasn't answering, but he started reaching his hand out which held some piece of folded paper toward Dennis who was probably glaring at him. I couldn't be sure since his back was turned toward me.

"It's a white flag," Felix finally said and he didn't need to talk much louder since his voice easily echoed inside our auditorium. "Sort of."

I stared at him confusingly and so did everyone.

"I'm offering a peace agreement," Felix continued as he unfolded the paper he held, "not just a truce. We don't want to fight. We just wanna be left alone. Every one of us who signed here."

A what, I thought.

"I signed for both myself and Chase Logan," Felix bravely said. "Right below my name is William Harrington's, Dylan Russell's, Scarlet Jacobs', Michael Hugh's and a few others who just want to be left alone by the three of you and everyone else who pick on kids like us. We don't want to fight. We can't fight. All we want is to be able to walk back and forth to school and around campus without worrying about what to have for lunch just in case our money gets stolen or how to hide the bruises we get when we `accidentally' trip inside the restrooms. There are fifty signatures in there and I'm asking the three of you to please sign these as well. Our teachers, too. And moms and dads so that everyone respects this agreement."

I stole a glance toward William and telepathically asked `you-knew-about-all-this' to which he smiled sheepishly and gently nodded. Sorry, he clairvoyantly added. I went back to looking at Felix and waiting for Dennis' response.

"Well, Mr Roberts," our director, who has now appointed herself as the mediating party, addressed Dennis. "Do you accept these terms?"

I could tell that Dennis was gritting his teeth. Despite his lack of wit, I knew he didn't like being outsmarted and pushed into a corner. He was probably considering punching the hell out of Felix. But...damn. If I were any one of my three former friends, I couldn't throw a fist at Felix no matter how much I wanted to.

Felix's green eyes were unwavering and he wasn't just challenging Dennis, Patrick or Gregory. He was challenging everyone inside the auditorium. Surely, no one would want to oppose such kind of resolve.

Felix was the bravest one among all of us right now.

Dennis wouldn't say no. He couldn't since this scene would soon be posted online by everyone who watched with their devices. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if this was airing live on someone else's Skype or whatever.

"Yeah, yeah," Dennis dismissed, clearly sounding mad and humiliated. "Whatever."

"In behalf of everyone who pick on other students, you accept Mr Corbel's terms. Aye, Mr Roberts?"

"I accept," Dennis gritted. "Now can we go on with the stupid show?"

"Manners, young man," our director/mediator reminded. "Sign the agreement and pass it around. Mr Harold, please make sure it doesn't get ripped and it's all filled up before giving it to our dear principal, okay?"

Mr Harold, a P.E. teacher and who happened to be the one holding my arm, finally released his grip and went to oversee Dennis, Patrick and Gregory signing the agreement that Felix made before letting everyone else sign it.

And at last, the lights that blinded Felix moved away from him and went back to brighten the stage.

"Mr Logan, come up here so we can finish."

I wanted to ignore our director, but when I stole a quick glance toward Felix before the lights left his face completely, I saw how he smiled triumphantly and was already urging me to go back on stage. With my head still turned toward him, I walked back up to the centre stage and the music was played from the start for me to sing my dreadful solo.

To my relief, I got to finish with a `Merry Christmas to you' while looking forward to the present who was waiting for me among the audience.

* * *

"You're not mad, are you?" William, who was idly walking beside me, asked. I was sure that he was making himself small enough for me not to notice how his voice sounded anxious.

I stopped abruptly and turned toward him.

"You see this face?" I asked, pointing to my own face.

"Uh...yeah?"

"Do you see any smile?"

"I'm sure you're just hiding it," he mumbled.

I sighed and lowered my hand. "Do I look like I'm mad, Willy?"

"Kinda?" he said. "You look really scary."

"I do?"

"Like my snowman costume."

As what William said, I was indeed hiding my smile. I chuckled and he chuckled nervously and was smiling in the most awkward way I've seen him do. To his surprise, I threw my arms around him, pulled him into a hug and lifted him off the ground.

"Okay, okay!" he yelled. "You're not mad. I get it!"

I set him down and he tried to catch his breath. "You squeezed the air out of my lungs!" he shouted.

"Sorry," I said, still smiling goofily. "I just...can't believe Felix did all of that."

"Wait till you get to the best part," my wingman whispered, but I heard him clearly,

"The best part?"

"Yep! You should ask Felix."

Without wanting to waste more time than I've already had, I rushed out the backstage door and into the crowded auditorium where I could see everyone gathered in a huge circle. It was quite easy to tell where Felix was.

I pushed my way through, ducked several times, crawled when I had to while successfully avoiding going under any girl's skirt or boy's crotch till I felt sure that I was in the middle. Pushing myself up, I accidentally bumped someone's chin and probably his nose as well.

"Sorry," I hurriedly said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Chase?"

I lifted my head and stared at the one who mentioned my name.

"Gregory? What's...I mean...why are you here?"

He gestured toward the centre of the huge circle which was still pretty far from where I stood and answered, "Everyone wants to sign that paper. I'm just here to fetch my mom."

"She...she's signing it, too?"

He nodded and said, "Got an earful from her. That was the most humiliating part of my life. Felix will..."

"Will what?" I asked, fearing that they were already planning their revenge.

"...will want to laugh at us now," Gregory finished. "He's got guts and he's alright."

"You're not planning anything, are you?"

He offered me a sort of genuine smile, though I couldn't be sure. "You should read the rest of what he wrote in there."

"What do you mean?"

"He bargained for us not to be expelled or even put in detention. You know, with all those kids coming out to say that we bullied them and how it was made so public, I was pretty sure we'd get at least a week of suspension."

"So...uhm...what'd you get?"

"To write an apology letter and give it to Principal Martin. And the old guy isn't allowed to publish it or anything. It's just for...," Gregory paused and looked thoughtful, "...documentation. That's it!"

"That's it?"

"Yeah," he answered and chucked. "Can you believe Felix just wants us to say sorry?"

I believed it and Felix deserved the apology. So did the other kids.

"You're making fun of him, aren't you? You're already planning something."

Gregory's expression turned serious as I started glaring at him.

"Relax, Chase," he said. "He even bargained our freedom from being grounded at home so why would we want to get back at him? Or any of you?"

"You mean..."

"Exactly. We're not gonna bother you guys anymore. None of our business so...whatever."

I couldn't believe what Felix just did. He thought this through and everything...was turning out for the best. I couldn't think of any better way to get those big kids off our backs.

"You were looking for Felix?" Gregory reminded.

"Uh...yeah."

He nodded toward the far corner of the auditorium and when I squinted my eyes, I saw the faint outline of Felix's auburn hair. He was sitting there all alone and no one seemed to notice.

"He wanted to be left alone," Gregory said. "So you could find him easily."

"Oh."

Gregory giggled and it actually sounded good to my ears. "Go on, Romeo. No one's stopping you."

I smiled thankfully at Gregory and turned around to head back through the crowd.

"Yo, Chase!" he called out and I looked back at him. "Help me with my letter, okay? Please?"

"Yeah, okay!" I shouted back gleefully. Gregory did tell me long ago that he sucked at writing. And he seemed sincere enough that they were finally gonna leave us alone. William didn't need to bribe them anymore. I didn't need to make lunch for two.

And Felix didn't have to wait longer for me to reach the farthest row where he sat.

"Hi," he greeted and looked up at me while I panted from running.

"H-hey."

"Sit down, Chase. You look tired."

"And you look handsome," I blurted out. "I mean..."

"Just take a seat before you embarrass both of us, okay?"

I nodded and sat beside him. We were both silent and stared at the crowd down below that slowly got smaller and smaller. Everyone wanted to sign Felix's peace agreement. It was awesome just to see it for myself.

"Why are you here?" was the first thing I asked. "Aren't you s'posed to be halfway `cross the state?"

"Yeeaaah," he sort of hummed. "About that."

"What? What is it?"

Felix stared at me like I was a child asking for a lollipop. I pouted at him and it took me everything I've got to hold myself back from jumping over the armrest and on him just to get a straight answer.

"I can't seem to pull the earphones further than 30 yards apart," he told me.

"You what?"

He sighed and explained, "Distance from your house to mine. It's 30 yards, you know. I think."

"You mean you're not moving?" I yelled and I wanted so much to pounce on him already. "But...but what about those moving trucks I saw?"

"Dad turned down the promotion four days ago, but he forgot to cancel the moving trucks from coming. So all those trucks you saw earlier were empty."

"But...but...I helped pack up your things!" I argued.

"Well did you see my mom and dad packing their things up?"

"I...well...no."

Felix laughed and said, "You were so busy staring at me that you didn't notice that they weren't even packing up!"

"Well what about your stuff?"

"My sister's moving back in so I'm moving back to my old bedroom."

"You're kidding...aren't you?"

Felix shook his head and kept his smile.

"You mean..."

"Merry Christmas, Chase."

I returned his smile and reached over the armrest to hug him. Thankfully, where we sat was dark enough for no one to see that I also gave him a quick kiss on his lips.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I asked.

"I wanted to surprise you. Didn't think the odds would be in my favour. Including the movers."

"Wait a sec," I said and gently pushed him back. "Your dad didn't forget to cancel the movers. You called them back and told them you were moving and that you cancelled by mistake! That way, you'd make me think that you actually moved and you even had my wingman to go along with your plan!"

Felix chuckled guiltily. "Still the smart Chase I remember, aren't you?"

"And you're still the sneaky Felix I know," I told him and gave him another quick peck.

"Speaking of sneaky," he said as we pulled away, "when were you going to tell me that you've already read my file?"

Oh. Shit.

That night, Felix insisted on coming home with me and that I should tell him everything I knew from his file. We went straight for my bedroom after having dinner with my mom and dad and dropping by his house to get his overnight luggage.

I never did consider the distance between our homes. 30 yards on foot wasn't such a long and arduous walk, yet it took me three years before I set foot in their house again. If only I had the slightest bit of bravery that Felix had when he stood before the spotlights earlier, I would've knocked on their front door sooner.

"Too bad Willy can't join us," I said, trying to get some idle talk before we opened the folder that was on my bedside table.

"I can't even believe you were planning on getting your wingman to do something...stupid."

I frowned at him. Of course, my plan was plain stupid. I was glad it didn't play out and I saved a gallon of lethal OJ since Felix followed his own plan which he didn't even tell me about.

"It was s'posed to be me in that snowman costume," I told him. "I wasn't s'posed to be on stage and singing and Willy was glad to help anyway."

"He's a good friend, Chase. A little annoying, but he's helped me out a lot."

"Yeah," I uttered and lifted the folder before offering it to Felix. "He helped me a lot, too."

"Like how you both got your hands on my file?" he asked as he took the folder.

"Sorry."

He sat on my bed and I sat beside him with both of us ignoring the reluctance in what we were about to read. Felix ran his hand over the edge of the cardboard, but it was pretty clear that he didn't want to open it.

"You're not gonna open it?" I asked.

"I know all the things in here," he answered. "And so do you."

I nodded and still waited for him to open his own file.

"What do you say we build a fire?" he asked.

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, we don't have a fireplace. No need for one."

He giggled and said, "Outside, silly."

"You sure you want to burn that?"

"All in the past, Chase. I don't want to even think about what I went through. None of it worked on me, you know."

I was glad, for most part, that Felix's young age prevented him from undergoing harsher treatments like the one I thought and dreaded that he went through. No electric shocks, I reminded myself. He didn't go through that. And his parents were far too concerned that they made him stop undergoing treatment. He wanted so much to continue, but he couldn't consent and his parents decided in his behalf.

So he only went through some conditioning and that's when he met William. To learn the ways of the perfectly heterosexual male, Dr Harrington involved his son in Felix's case. That way, he could control the stimulus and even have William report about Felix's development. Sadly, for Dr Harrington, his son gave Felix two blowjobs and that couldn't have been included as one of William's assignments.

Besides being required to engage in heterosexual contact and some other foolish interventions, there was no physical harm done to Felix. Mentally and emotionally, however, he was like a bomb that failed to detonate.

He still had that destructive power in him and his timer was still ticking, but Felix became confused if he should ever explode and leave no traces of his old self or to keep on ticking until someone finally defused him.

Dr Harrington failed to rewire him, but that may have been for the best.

"What're you thinking about?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"You're thinking about something."

"It's nothing," I told him. He didn't say anything, but he kept his eyes on me and was silently urging me to just spill it out. "Well, how...how'd you end up as a..."

"Failed experiment?" he unmindfully said. "I couldn't forget you, Chase. I tried to, wanted to, even volunteered for the experiment. Coz...boys aren't s'posed to like boys, right?"

"But..."

"I know, I know. It's totally fucked up. So what if boys like other boys? Dr Harrington couldn't give me enough reasons to believe what he said, but I had my own reason not to believe."

"Is this where you get cheesy?"

He pouted at me and said, "You ruined the mood! Thanks for that."

"I was kidding," I said and giggled. "So your reason was?"

"Do I even need to tell you?" he asked.

"You do."

"I do?"

"Was it me?"

He fell silent with his mouth slightly open. God, he looked so adorably confused and helpless. I could just jump on him and have those thin lips of his all to myself.

"Can we just build that fire?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"Outside then," I said and led the way to our backyard.

We got a small fire going and Felix didn't even throw the papers in the folder one by one. Instead, he stoked the whole goddamn thing and we watched it turn into ashes. Felix was watching his own past burn before his eyes and I felt special just to witness it with him.

"It's warm," he whispered.

I looked at him and said, "Not as much as you are."

I thought he choked, but he was just holding back his laughter. "You sound repulsive," he said.

Repulsive. Wow. He couldn't think of any bigger word.

I stood up and started walking back to the house, feigning being irritated by him. It didn't take him long to fall in step with me as we left the fire burning in some old pot by itself. Surely, it wouldn't burn our whole backyard. It was isolated and it couldn't hurt anyone...anymore.

"How `bout a bath?" I asked him as we settled on the living room couch.

"It's either you want me naked in there or..."

"...or you stink," I teased. "You wore that sweaty costume, remember?"

He lifted his arm and took a whiff of his armpit. I laughed when he involuntarily cringed at his own smell.

"Not funny," he said. "Keep laughing and I won't take a bath with you."

I quickly shut myself up and moved closer to where he sat.

"Where's your mom and dad?" he asked.

"Probably having sex in their bedroom," I answered and Felix quickly slapped me. "What the hell was that?"

"Just because I like you doesn't mean you can say all the perverted things you want around me," he answered and I just stared at him wide-eyed. He stood up and asked, "Where's the bathroom?"

I smiled goofily and stood up, still rubbing my red cheeks because of that slap he gave me. We made our way back to my bedroom before running barefoot to the bathroom and only in our briefs. Felix dared me to walk naked to the bathroom since I was so perverted enough to joke about my parents having sex, but I didn't want to risk it. Besides, the bathroom was right past my parents' bedroom and I doubted they'd want to see their son naked and surely hard.

So we ended up having to strip down to our undies and running to the bathroom just like that. It was all fair, we both decided. Right when we ran past my parents' bedroom, I heard my mother's voice as their bedroom door opened.

"You boys alright?" she asked which made us stop abruptly and cover our crotches before turning around to face her. She had this amused look in her eyes and a slight curve on her lips. "You both remind me of some boys I know."

Felix and I looked at each other and wondered who she meant.

"It's good to see you both laughing together again," she said. "Just be careful in there, okay?"

We both blushed really deep. "Mom," I whined and she giggled.

"Don't get carried away," she reminded and started her way downstairs. "Your father's asleep," she added, "keep it down!"

With both our hands still on our crotches, Felix and I exchanged glances again before bursting into laughter and finally making it to the bathroom. As he moved toward the shower, my eyes couldn't keep away from his soft skin and lean outline. His back was turned toward me and the white briefs he wore looked as the fabric was being devoured by his butt. The sight was enough to get my dick twitching and pushing against my undies.

"I don't like you being so quiet," Felix said as he faced me. "You're thinking about something again."

"You're sexy," I blurted out. "Uhm..."

He laughed and walked into the shower. I followed him and wondered if he'd mind the tiny space we were in. I suddenly remembered how eager I was to share a bath with William some time ago. With Felix, however, I felt nervous.

Felix turned to face me as he turned on the hot water. His auburn hair slowly got wet and framed his face as he closed his eyes and kept smiling. I shifted closer to him and let my hands settle on the edges of his underwear. I heard him giggle so I thought it was okay for me to completely undress him.

He didn't kick me in the shin or anywhere for that matter as I pulled his briefs down and off of him. I had to crouch to take it off for him and when I stared up, I was mesmerized by water that dripped down his torso and semi-hard member.

He looked amazing up close.

He still had his eyes close and was already applying some shampoo so I probably caught him by surprise when I held his member, causing it to stiffen completely. I think I also heard him yelp or even moan.

I pulled his foreskin and it was just so amazing to see it really close that it got my heart pumping more blood to my erection and to my head. The water was hot, but I felt hotter inside.

My other hand reached for Felix's nuts and how it hid under his erection made it look so freaking adorable. I rubbed my hand over it and Felix stumbled back a little. I thought he'd fall backward so I quickly wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him. Luckily, he managed to stand against the wall. When I pulled him toward him, I only made the distance between my face and his crotch disappear some more.

I could smell him and it was that typical scent of him that I've grown to know over the past week. I knew that it didn't have any unique or alluring scent or whatever, but with all the affection I had for him, his boyhood scent was just too intoxicating.

"Chase?" Felix sounded and I looked back up to him to see his clouded eyes. He had shampoo all over his hair and the warm water made the freckles on his face more visible than usual.

"Can I?" I asked, my hand modestly finding their way back to his erection.

He looked away shyly and that only made the beating in my heart faster. "Okay," he mumbled.

I took a deep breath in and pulled his foreskin back once more, revealing his wet and gorgeous glans. Poking it with my tongue, I felt how Felix quickly stiffed as he held back his moan. I continued licking him over and under, teasing him and whatnot. My other hand rubbed all the way down to his nuts before sneaking a finger or two to brush on his cute ass.

I had to give Felix some credit. He was holding himself up remarkably though his knees buckled every now and then. I shifted to kneel in front of him before sucking and stroking him whole. The shower hissed so loudly that I could care less if Felix moaned the loudest he could. My mom and dad wouldn't hear us from outside.

Suddenly, I felt him yank my hair back and I squinted my eyes as I almost choked on his member.

"S-sorry," he whimpered and loosened his grip on my hair.

I went back to sucking him and stroking his nuts and teasing his butthole. Each time I went over his glans with my tongue right under it while my lips somehow formed a vacuum, Felix would moan and breathe out and shiver at the same time.

His grip on my hair would tighten every now and then, but I didn't mind. It was as if he was urging me to suck him deeper and I'd comply without even thinking twice.

When I felt his dick twitch erratically in my mouth, I was sure he was going to explode. I pulled his nuts to somehow edge him and I was sure that he gritted his teeth in annoyance and anticipation. After a few more strokes, I let him cum in my mouth and it was then that I really did choke so I had to quickly let his squirting dick out my mouth.

I heard him giggle and pant so I stared at him and saw his mocking look.

"A little more practice, Chase," he said. "You're learning to swallow already."

I stood up and faced him with an annoyed look on my face.

"You enjoyed it," I told him.

"I did."

He smiled appreciatively and I smiled back.

"Now, turn around," he said and quickly made me turn my back to him.

"What're you doing?"

I felt him press him chest on my back as his hands found their way to my briefs. He pulled them down a little and left them on my thighs. It didn't matter. They'd fall later as he'd be halfway through jerking me off.

His hands wrapped around my dick and I was surprised that he still got himself hard enough for me to feel his erection rub against my butt and push in gently. He was quick to pull my foreskin and fumble with my nuts and he somehow made me bend forward a little so that he'd eventually descent on me in such a wonderful embrace.

"F-Felix," I whimpered.

"Shut up," he said. "...and enjoy."

I closed my eyes shut and counted the minutes or maybe even just seconds of him stroking me, rubbing my nuts and pushing gently into my butthole as he rubbed over my ass until I came into his warm hand and I wondered if he squirted behind me as well. It felt warm, but it could only have been the water.

When we were both done and ejaculated, we gave each other a nice bath and just played around in the shower. Many times, I'd pull him into a hug and he'd settle his head gently on my chest and we'd just stand there thinking of all sorts of things.

As for myself, I kept thinking of how almost impossibly real this was. Felix was in my arms and he was naked. It was my childhood fantasy that finally came true.

When we were settled on my bed for the night, we lay in our usual position. There was always some space between us for either his or my phone to lay on while his spaghetti earphones would bind both the worlds inside each of our heads together.

It came to my consciousness that the twisting wire of his earphones was probably for the sole purpose of connecting our thoughts and dreams. That first night I spent with him ever since they moved back to our neighbourhood made us share the same dream. How else would we be having wet dreams on the same bed and at probably the same time?

His earphones were magic.

"Thanks, Chase," Felix said as he stared up the ceiling.

"What for?"

"For finally getting us here."

I glanced at his peaceful expression and felt happy for both of us. We did share the same dream. What he wanted to let go in the dream that we both had was no other than everything we went through just to get here. He burned what reminded him of his past while I finally shared the blame for all our faults with him.

We were both so selfish back then.

He kept his own secrets and wanted so much to get rid of me while I refused to put any blame on him or even let him go. And as it turned out, I didn't need to cut him off before he fled out of reach as what my wingman told me. Though I did try to cut him off that night when I sang to him. What I wasn't expecting, however, was that he was already waiting patiently for me. He even said it himself in that last recording he gave me.

"Thanks for letting me get us here," I told him.

He looked to me and smiled sweetly.

Yes. There was one and only one Felix Corbel. And he was snuggled up to my side on my bed with our earphones lacing on our chests and no one else in the world loved music more than he did. It was a melody to hear his voice and how he spoke to everyone so bravely earlier was an orchestra. The silence he shared with me, however, meant so much more than any sound in the world. It was our own peace and it made us hear each other more clearly.

"Press play."

"Huh?" I asked, fluttering my eyelids and noticing how I was about to fall asleep.

"You accidentally hit pause," he said, referring to the phone that I held on my chest. "I was still listening."

"Oh," I uttered and pushed a button for the music to resume.

Before we finally fell asleep, Felix made me think of something else. I didn't even need to press play to get both of us here. We had always been listening to the same music. The lyrics just played with our lives. Someone else, however, needed some push for him to hear his own music.

The following morning, Felix and I rode the bus to William's house. We told him we'd spend the day there and he was far more enthusiastic than we hoped for him to be. I haven't thanked him properly yet and Felix felt like he owed his friend big time. So spending the day at their pool and making him feel special was the least we could do.

"You're getting better already," I said as we approached William who sat at the steps of their front door.

"Yeah, well," he mumbled shyly and strummed his guitar. "I liked the song we did so I'm just practicing it."

Felix made his way from my side to sit beside William. Dr Harrington wasn't around since his Porsche wasn't in the driveway. Their huge house felt empty and we couldn't see or hear anyone else around.

"No one's home, except you?" Felix asked him to which William nodded.

"I made us some snacks," William offered as he stood up and went for the door. "Wanna go for a swim?"

This time, I brought with me my swim clothes and so did Felix. But it seemed William wanted to swim naked and he was deviously planning for us to agree with him. Too bad, though. Swimming naked was the last thing we'd do today since we were expecting someone else as well.

So William had no choice but to wear his trunks when Felix and I declined to swim naked. He looked sad so we had to cheer him up since we didn't want to ruin his mood for the rest of the day. We were here to thank him and make him happy after all.

"You're really sneaky, you know that?" I told William as I stood behind him.

"Huh?" he sounded, surprised since he wasn't expecting me to walk into his wardrobe just right behind him.

I turned him around to face me and smiled at him like he was my own little brother. I wondered if he'd grow any taller than me in the future. Besides that, I settled my hands on the edges of his shirt and pulled it up. Surprisingly, he was letting me undress him while sporting the cutest blush I'd seen on his face. His blue eyes lit up and danced like the ocean.

William was gorgeous and he was hypnotizing even as he was being hypnotized.

"You gave Felix a blowjob and didn't tell me about it?" I asked.

"Uhm," he mumbled and smiled awkwardly and apologetically. "...I was planning on telling you."

"You were, huh."

"I was!"

I chuckled and said, "Lift your legs up."

"Hey," he protested. "I'm not a kid!"

Since I was crouching in front of him, I had to lift my head up to see the cutest pout he ever showed me. His flushed face only looked redder than earlier.

"I know, Willy," I told him. "I'm just trying to help you. My way of saying thanks, I guess."

He crossed his arms over his chest and mumbled, "It's no big deal."

I shrugged and hid my smile from him. He lifted his legs up one at a time as I took off his shorts. Sneaky little bastard wasn't wearing any underwear and when I looked up back to him, I was met by his measly limp dick. I could tell he was being shy and was trying so hard to not get...uhm...hard.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You're with Felix now," he answered. "That's a big turnoff for me."

I laughed at what he said and before he could step back, I put my hand over his dick and toyed with it. He flinched a little but it didn't take long to incite an erection from him. Just as before, his pecker easily doubled or even tripled in size.

He wasn't a shower, but definitely a grower.

"You owe me a second blowjob," I told him as I began stroking his member. "...since Felix got two from you."

"H-he really told you?" he whimpered and I nodded.

When I accidentally pushed on his nuts, he jumped and got his arms around some clothes which made him fall back and on his butt. That must have hurt. He was rubbing his butt when I crawled nearer to him. His legs were folded and parted like a pregnant woman about to give birth. And from where I was on all-fours, William only looked more adorable and amazing.

I could see his hairless crotch and how his nuts were neatly tucked under his pecker and just above his cute butthole. I felt my cheeks warm up and seeing the blush on William's face made the twitching in my pants more painful.

"Does Felix know you're molesting me?" he asked.

"What?" I asked and gave him a weird look.

"Isn't this like...cheating on him?"

I shook my head and giggled. "I'm just trying to thank you. Felix wanted to thank you, too, but he's doing some last minute stuff."

"Last minute?"

"Yeah," I answered and sat in front of him. My eyes were still drawn to his magnificent tummy. "We brought the OJ with us, too."

"You mean that lethal OJ you wanted me to spill on your three friends?"

I nodded and said, "It's real OJ this time."

"Not piss?" he asked and chuckled.

"You still need some help, dude," I reminded and pointed to his crotch with my lips.

He didn't back away when I crawled to him and settled my hand on his dick once again. Instead, he supported himself with his hands behind him while he squinted his eyes, lowered his head and bit his lip. I didn't know why he was trying to be quiet. His dad was nowhere in the house so he could moan and whimper as loud as he wished.

I stopped stroking him and he was panting when he finally opened his eyes again to look at me. Then, his eyes widened when he saw me bend forward before licking his wet pecker from the tip then down to where his cute butt began to hide. Of course, I nibbled a couple of times on his nuts and he sounded like he enjoyed it when my tongue lingered for some time under his glans.

William made my heart flutter, but it wasn't like how Felix made it skip lots of beats. William was gorgeous and he could easily turn me on, but Felix had the strings of my heart and it was only him who made me feel really sure about my affection for him. Felix put feelings where William only managed to conjure up an attraction.

"C-chase..."

I licked my way up to his navel and kissed him there, amazed at his glorious `V' when my tongue brushed on it. While kissing and nibble all over his tummy, I kept stroking and teasing his lovely buns and he was just so quiet that I wondered if he swallowed or choked his moans and whimpers.

"Chase?" he asked when he noticed that I stopped kissing or stroking him. He opened his eyes and what a wonderful shade of blue they were when they met mine. Our faces were just inches away and I could see they confusion on his face.

"Thanks, Willy," I whispered. "You're the best."

He nodded gently before I went closer and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

His breath hitched when I pulled away and went back to making him feel good all over. My mouth was sucking him dry, my hands were teasing and edging him endlessly and his muffled noises and curled toes made it all more exciting.

"I-I...," he whimpered and I was already prepared to pull back. "S-shit!"

His dick was out of my mouth just in time for him to squirt his...

"You...you came," I mumbled, amazed at the sticky and clear liquid he squirted. "Willy, you came!"

"I...what?" he confusingly asked. When we looked down to his crotch, his eyes widened in fascination and when his fingers touched the tip of his pecker, a smile slowly crept its way to his mouth. "Is this..."

"Yep!" I hollered. "Your first cum!"

We both laughed so hard as I pulled him into a hug. We were both still rolling and laughing on the floor when Felix walked in on us.

"You guys are the worst," he told us.

"Why?" I asked, still chuckling with Willy right under me.

"You had your first cum and didn't even shout for me to come in here?" he told William who was smiling sheepishly at him. "And you, Chase," he added, pointing to me. "Get him dressed up. His guest is here already."

With that, Felix walked back out as William stared questioningly at me.

"Guest?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah...about that."

He hurriedly pushed me off and took some random shorts and didn't even bother to put on a shirt before running out of his bedroom and downstairs.

"Willy!" I yelled and tailed him.

I caught up with him only when he stopped in front of me. We stood in their living room doorway where we got a good view of their pool from the large window. Felix was on the couch with someone who had his head turned toward us expectantly.

"So...," I mumbled from behind my wingman. "Have you met Dylan?"

William looked at me as if he was on the verge of being mad, but still on the line of confusion. "Of course I know him," he answered. "We're both in the swim team."

That was news to me.

"You're on the swim team?" I asked and William just nodded as if that fact was pretty obvious.

"Hey, Will," Dylan greeted from where we sat. "Sorry for barging in."

"It's cool, dude," Felix told him. "We invited you over."

"You invited him?" William asked Felix accusingly. "But...but..."

"No buts, Willy," I whispered to him. "You have a crush on him, don't you?"

It was really hilarious when William shot me the death-glare while showing me the pout-of-pure-obviousness. I wanted to laugh at his blushing face, but I could tell that he was feeling uncomfortable since he was standing half-naked in front of his crush. No matter how sneaky and horny my wingman was, he could still be embarrassed by some petty things.

"Chase and I are gonna go swimming, okay?" Felix said as he approached us. "Dylan wanted to know how to play the guitar."

"Feliiiix!" William whined. "You're betraying me!"

"Not really, Wil," Felix said as he now stood in front of us. "Just helping you out." Leaning in to whisper, I heard Felix add, "And Dylan told me that you have beautiful eyes."

I couldn't stop myself from chuckling at how red William's face turned. Before I could add more to his embarrassment, Felix pulled me along with him and we left William to tend to his own problems.

As what Felix and I agreed upon this morning, we'd help William with coming out to his dad. First, however, was his own source of courage and it didn't take much information gathering to know who that would be. A boy named Dylan Russell who signed the peace agreement just under William's name would be my wingman's support.

It was obvious that Dylan liked boys and he even got shoved around by me and my gang in the past. When we phoned him about William, without telling him about our plan at first, he was disturbingly silent on the other end of the line and when he did talk, he only said, `You think he'll teach me how to play the guitar.'

And that was all it took to get him to come over to William's house. Felix had to meet him up earlier while I `personally' gave William our heartfelt gratitude.

Perhaps we were matchmaking and perhaps it was a stupid and risky game, but that's not what we thought. It wasn't us who needed to press play after all. William, however, couldn't even find a song to listen to. He was clearly afraid of letting his dad know and he dealt with that fear by fooling around with us.

We weren't gonna hit play for his sake. We were only offering him a choice of music. Rather, a choice that involved his crush. It was still up to him if he wanted to pursue Dylan and eventually come out to his dad. As for us, we'd be here for him to make sure that he won't get lost in all the lyrics, downbeats and upbeats of the song he was about to play.

"You think we did the right thing?" Felix asked me as we got to the poolside.

I stole a glance toward the window and saw William seated beside Dylan. My wingman was trying miserably to show the other boy some chords and strumming. When I squinted my eyes to focus, I could see the small smile on Dylan's face and the pout on William's lips. They both looked adorable together, but first impressions were always so trivial.

"Maybe," I answered. "We'll know soon enough. I just hope it won't be hard to learn from the mistake we might end up making."

"You sound like your mom."

I chuckled and sat on the edge of the pool.

"She told me to listen well to reason," I said.

"And?"

I stared at Felix and I was reminded of why I got trapped by his eyes once more. They were naturally shining like gems and from all that he'd been through, they shone even brighter. No colour or shade in the world could fit Felix's personality other than green.

"Right now, it's telling me not to jump into the pool coz I'd drown," I told him. "But if you know how to swim, I won't mind you teaching me."

Felix smiled and went into the seven-foot deep water. He pushed himself away from the edge and was easily making himself float.

"Show-off," I muttered.

"C'mon, Chase," he said. "I'll teach you how to swim."

"Just don't drown me."

"Would I ever?"

There he went again with that smile of his that offered nothing, but promised everything. This time, though, I learned to trust that smile and he only looked more beautiful when he smiled like that.

Before going into the pool, I set aside my phone that I brought with me on some poolside chair. I unplugged the earphones I wore, but forgot to stop the recording that I was listening to earlier. It didn't matter. It was what got me singing in the first place.

* * *

Felix:
Can you...sing me another song, Chase?
I kinda forgot what it's like to listen to you
And...and if you do, I'll tell you want you want to hear
P.S.
Come to the auditions
I signed you up and I'll only be there if you do come.

Hear that, Chase?
Do it and I'll be there.

~ Stop ~

It's been a long ride, hasn't it? Well, not literally, but it took me longer than necessary to continually update this story. You all have been very generous with your messages and I can't thank you enough. Sorry I haven't replied to your emails yet. When our exams finished just two days before Christmas eve, I had no time to check my emails coz we had to travel to my grandparents' and spend Christmas there. I don't know what our teachers ate that they decided to keep us in school till the 22nd. SIiiigh. But yeah. Immediately when we got home after three days at my grandparents, I started editing the drafts of the remaining chapters and I'm so glad to have finished them at last.

Thank you so much to all of you for your patience, consideration, friendship and encouragements. I hope you liked the story and please understand that this is Chase and Felix's story. It's very incomplete, but I can't write about their lives and ever after, can I? Anyway, what William is about to go through may be for another story, but it surely won't be here. The title itself is Press Play, and I think the characters have done that. Still, tell me what you honestly think and please forgive me for any typos and mistakes in the paragraphs and formatting. And for all my shortcomings and whatnot.

I won't be writing another story for some time after this one. I really have to concentrate on my studies and...well...I hope to be back to all of you soon. Thank you very much and have an Awesome New Year, all of you. And more to come, of course! Cheers!

I'll write back to all of you after New Year's eve, okay? :D

Say hi to me here :D: minutesfortheheart@yahoo.com
Lots of Love!