On Wednesday, when Evan came home from school, his parents asked him again how school was, but there was no mention of the trip. He didn't address it, figuring they needed more time.
Thursday morning he left for the bus at the same time his mom left for work, but not a word on the subject came up at breakfast either. When Evan arrived home that day, he was sure he would be bombarded with questions and probably an argument as his parents would firmly tell him that he couldn't go anywhere, but it didn't happen. They acted their usual way as they did on regular days, and there was no indication that they were making a difficult decision. Despite his best judgement, Evan decided not to address the situation until they were the first ones to do so.
And so Friday morning came and Evan still didn't have a clear answer. What he did know though was that he had to turn in his permission slip to the school today, and he had absolutely no idea who even had it on them.
Apparently, he was about to find out, though, as both his parents were waiting for him in the kitchen that morning. They both looked neutral and sipped from their coffee, as they did every morning, so there was no clue to his verdict.
"Good morning," he greeted them, trying to look casual as well.
"Good morning, son," his father greeted him back first, looking up at him for a moment.
"Good morning," his mother spoke, setting a cup of coffee in front of him. "Thank you."
"I have to admit, I never thought patience was your strong suit," his mom spoke again as he sat down at the table. He looked up at her in confusion and she smiled at him, reinforcing his incomprehension.
"Right?" his dad joined in, suddenly sounding amused.
"Am I missing something?" He couldn't resist anymore and asked.
"Your permission slip," his mom replied, and he lifted his head sharply towards her, bringing an amused smile to her face.
"What?" he asked like an idiot, causing both his parents to laugh.
"Here." His mom pulled a folded piece of paper out of her robe pocket and handed it to him. Evan took it from her and both parents waited impatiently for him to open it, not taking their eyes off him.
Evan understood why the moment his eyes fell on the bottom part.
"Are you serious?" He jumped out of his chair involuntarily.
"I'm pretty sure the words you're looking for are thank you." His father grinned at him, and Evan was quickly infected by his smile.
"You're the best. Thank you."
...
"We're going to New York! We're going to New York!" The four of them had their celebratory dance right outside the school, not caring about the attention they were drawing to themselves.
"I can't believe they let you go." Lola was smiling broadly, and she almost seemed happier about it than Evan himself.
"Me neither," he assured her, glancing down again at the paper in his hand, which he hadn't put down since his mom had given it to him. It was just too good to be true.
"I wasn't worried for a second, roomie," Aiden grinned at him. No one had any idea yet how many people would be in the room together, but they knew that no matter what happened, the girls would be together and Evan and Aiden would be too. Arranging that was definitely easier than convincing Evan's parents and that was sorted.
"I was worried. I was ready to march into your house with a speech if they were against it," Angie assured him.
"Me too and I don't even know where you live," Lola agreed, making Evan laugh.
"I hear laughter," came from behind them, and Josh deliberately prolonged the last syllable so it sounded like a sing-song.
In a second the rest of their group joined in, and Kieran and Josh looked just as excited as they were when they realised what their friends were excited about.
"Oh, and I almost forgot, they let me sleep over at your place too," he told Josh with a grin that the brunette immediately returned.
"Great," Josh was pleased. "So we're complete." And when the others weren't looking, he quickly leaned closer to him to add, "I'll tell you more good news later, just remind me." Evan immediately agreed, and later turned out to be a break after the second period.
"What's the other good news?" he asked when he managed to catch his friend at his locker.
"Oh, right." Josh looked like he only now remembered he'd even said such a thing. "Rory's coming today. I thought you could surprise him at the bus stop. You, Ryan, and Michael. I thought he'd like to see you, and together we could go over the plan for Saturday at the same time."
"Sounds good." Evan had been nervous about Saturday, but he was sure that meeting Rory and the people who knew his biggest secret in general should put his mind at ease. Plus, he was quite looking forward to Ryan and Rory finally seeing each other in person.
"I hope you can keep your jealousy at bay," he teased, and Evan just rolled his eyes at him. Saying something to Angie was the same as if he'd put an article in the paper about it.
"We both know that if you ever made an exception for anyone, it would be Ryan. That's how hot he is, so shut up," Evan told him in the same tone. He was sure he didn't find Ryan attractive just because he was his mate. Objectively speaking, he'd never seen anyone as hot as him, and the fact that Ryan didn't realize that just added to that impression.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Josh retorted, but Evan made a disbelieving sound to let him know he was taking his words as a cover for his true feelings.
"Shut up," this time it was Josh who said it, and Evan laughed, taking it as a win.
Speaking of his gorgeous boyfriend, Evan immediately pulled out his phone to see if Ryan and Michael would be able to make it to Marwell today. Josh later clarified for him when Rory would be in the city and luckily it wasn't until the afternoon when Evan knew Michael would be off work so it shouldn't be a problem.
Ryan also sounded more than thrilled. He even called Evan to tell him that. After months of being in constant contact with Rory, they were finally going to meet and it was a big step in their friendship. Evan knew that Ryan had trouble getting close to people, especially if it meant making close friends, because Ryan was always nice to everyone, but not everyone chose to stay in his life, so he was more than happy for him.
"I love you, bye," he said goodbye to him as they both had to go to class, and Ryan responded in the same way. Evan couldn't wait to see him and the thought of who he would be spending the afternoon with put him in a good mood that lasted all day. On top of that, the fact that it was officially his first day off the crutches automatically made it a good day.
He kept a smile on his face even when he found out that he would be taking the bus home alone, as Angie had decided to stay in Marwell with Lola and so wouldn't be joining them later either, but they had promised to call each other that evening so that she had all the details.
The drive home was surprisingly quick, probably because he was partly lost in thought and partly texting Ryan all the time, so before he knew it he was at a familiar stop, running into his boyfriend's arms.
"I missed you," Ryan admitted adorably, earning a kiss on the tip of his nose. "I missed you too."
"I'm really starting to question Lola's comment about whether it's healthy," the black-haired boy said, but his tone suggested he wasn't serious.
"If I wanted healthy, I would start with my eating habits, but it's too late for that. So..." Evan smiled mischievously, still clinging to his boyfriend.
"Speaking of eating..." Ryan's statement was also left unfinished, but they both knew exactly what he was on about, as evidenced by the kiss that followed, which lasted a little longer than it should have in public.
"How much time do we have?" he asked after they pulled apart, and Evan laughed, but immediately checked the time on his phone. However, he was disappointed to see that they did not have as much time as he had hoped.
"Not much," he replied gloomily. His boyfriend however didn't seem to be put off by his answer, on the contrary.
"So, theoretically, we could run over to your house and put away your stuff and still have time to run like wolves to Nowhere?" he asked him, his sly tone suggesting that there was a greater intention behind his words.
"Let's go," Evan replied without thinking, grabbing his hand to pull him towards the house. Their footsteps quickly turned into a fast walk and then a run, and they were at Evan's house in almost record time.
Neither of his parents was home yet, so Evan wrote them a note saying he was going out with Saunders and stuck it to the fridge with a magnet. Then he threw his backpack into his room, and as quickly as they ran into his house, they ran out of it.
At the edge of the forest, they quickly began to tear off their clothes and were in their second form at the speed of light. No more words were needed and together they ran to a place hidden in the middle of the forest, away from prying eyes and ears.
Not having any clothes on when they shifted back worked to their advantage, so nothing stood in the way of their teenage passion once they reached the ruins.
Lips on lips, body on body, and the limited time they had, which they planned to make the most of.
"Give me a second to catch my breath," Ryan pleaded, his chest heaving rapidly.
A devilish smile immediately appeared on Evan's face and with the words "As much as you want" he appeared on the ground in front of him. A second later Ryan let out a gasp, and Evan laughed as best he could in the situation.
However, best wasn't the word to describe his hair after he was done.
Luckily, as well as the knowing look, Michael also threw them a comb when they appeared at his car at the last second, fully clothed and with innocent expressions on their faces.
"I'm even afraid to let you on my seats." He shook his head at them. Evan and Ryan exchanged a quick glance before joining Michael in the car and no one made any further comment on the way they had chosen to spend their free time.
Their only hope was that no one would be able to read it from their broad smiles.