Rocco pulled up to Mike’s house at almost exactly 6pm. He was eager to get Mike all to himself in the middle of nowhere. It was going to be so peaceful to be under the open sky by a campfire with the lake rippling in the background. There was a chance of rain, but that would not put a damper on the trip. It may be cozy to be in a tent with the rain falling through the leaves above.

  As he pulled up, Mike was setting some of the equipment on the front stoop. A man was helping him. Rocco’s heart stopped. That must be his dad. Even though he knew about the two of them, it was still unnerving to meet his boyfriend’s dad. Mike waved at Rocco as he turned the car off.

  “Rocco! Hello!!!” Mike exclaimed and jumped a little off the ground. Rocco’s heart melted at this excitement from Mike. Mike was wearing Rocco’s hat—backwards, of course. He was wearing the t-shirt he took from Rocco’s bedroom, a pair of jeans, and a flannel shirt tied around his waist.

  “Hello!” Rocco waved. Mike’s stomach fluttered at seeing Rocco in his jeans and t-shirt. Rocco was wearing Mike’s old junior high baseball hat. Mike’s dad waved and approached Rocco. He held out his hand to shake Rocco’s hand.

  “You must be Rocco. I’m Dan, Mike’s dad,” Dan said. Dan was a handsome man that looked like Joe would look like in about 20 years. He was tall with a padded muscular frame. He was developing a belly. His dark hair was graying on the temples. He had dark smoldering eyes like Joe.

  “Hello, sir. It’s nice to meet you,” Rocco said shaking his hand looking Dan in the eyes.

  “Please call me Dan,” he said and put his hands in his khaki shorts.

  “Okay, Dan,” Rocco said feeling uncomfortable. He blushed at the fact that he knew almost all the personal details of his son. Rocco felt like he had somehow invaded Dan’s personal property.

  “So, I hear you boys are dating,” Dan said kicking at the paved driveway.

  Rocco’s eyes grew large. He was speechless. Even though he knew that Mike told his dad everything, it was still uncomfortable to hear Dan say these words.

  “Dad!” Mike said. “Don’t embarrass him!”

  “I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable saying that,” Dan said.

  “No, sir,” Rocco said but caught himself. “Dan, I mean. I’m not embarrassed.”

  “Good, you shouldn’t be!” Dan said. “I’m glad that you make Mike so happy.” Rocco cringed at this statement. How much did Mike tell his dad?

  “Would you pop open the trunk, Rocco, so we can load this stuff up?” Mike said.

  “Sure,” Rocco said as he opened his trunk. Rocco didn’t clean out his trunk. His skateboard was laying in clear sight.

  “Oh, so you are a skater?” Dan said noticing Rocco’s board.

  “I am,” Rocco said nervously.

  “I did a little back in the day. I quit after I broke my wrist,” Dan lifted his palm to show Rocco an old scar. “Had to get surgery and everything.”

  “Yikes, that looks like it hurt,” Rocco said.

  “It wasn’t pleasant, that’s for sure. Still aches when it’s about to rain,” Dan said and laughed.

  “Awesome,” Rocco said and put Mike’s backpack in the trunk.

  “Where are you guys camping? Your usual spot?” Dan asked Mike.

  “Yeah, by the lake,” Mike said.

  “Speaking of achy wrists, it’s going to rain. Did you pack the tarp to put over the tent?” Dan asked.

  “Oh, no, I didn’t,” Mike said.

  “I’ll go get it,” Dan said and started to go to the garage.

  “That was really awkward,” Rocco whispered.

  “Relax, he likes you,” Mike said and pecked Rocco on the cheek. Mike caught Rocco’s earthy scent and salty taste.

  “You think?” Rocco whispered.

  “I know!” Mike said and put more gear in the trunk. Rocco helped position things in the trunk. The faster they got out of there, the more at ease Rocco would be.

  “What do you want to do first when we get there?” Rocco asked.

  “Well, you know what I want to do, but we should set up the camp first while there’s still light,” Mike said with a smirk.

  “I’m following your lead,” Rocco said returning the smirk. “Besides, we have all weekend for that.” Mike laughed at Rocco’s statement. They certainly did.

  “Okay, it was right where I thought it was,” Dan yelled from a few feet away. Mike went over and grabbed the tarp. It took the three about 20 minutes to load everything into Rocco’s little car.

  “I think we are set!” Mike said and turned to his dad. “Okay, we are heading out.”

  “Alright, you are in good hands, Rocco,” Dan said and shook Rocco’s hand again. “It was nice to meet you, Rocco. I hope I get to see you more often.”

  “Thank you, Dan,” Rocco said returning the handshake.

  “Seriously, you are welcome here anytime,” Dan said earnestly looking at Rocco. Rocco nodded.

  “Okay, Dad. We’re leaving,” Mike turned to hug his dad.

  “Be careful and don’t do anything you don’t want to do,” Dan whispered into Mike’s ear. Mike nodded at his dad and got in the car. Rocco was surprised that they were able to fit everything into his car. It seems like so much but even with the back seat filled, he could see through the back window shield without any obstructions.

  “You’re going to have to navigate,” Rocco said looking at Mike.

  “Well, we are going to Miner’s Lake. You know how to get there, right?” Mike said. Rocco nodded. “Just go that way and I’ll guide you when we get close.”

  The drive to the lake took close to an hour. Mike’s house was on one end of town while the lake was 15 minutes outside the other end of town. By the time Rocco got to the sign that read, “Miner’s Lake”, it was getting close to 7:30. It was dusk, and the light was starting to fade quickly.

  “I don’t think we will have much light to set up the tent,” Rocco said a little concerned.

  “It’s fine. I know this place like the back of my hand. I was just wanting to get away as fast as we could,” Mike smiled. “I’ve set up my tent when it was close to midnight. Okay, turn left here.”

  Rocco turned onto a narrow one lane country road. On either side were tall oak trees that did a good job at crushing out any shreds of remaining sunlight. Rocco had to turn on his headlights.

  “Up here, make a right,” Mike said pointing at a fork in the road. Rocco turned onto a gravel road and had to slow down. The road was bumpy but drivable. He was glad it had been dry. A wet bumpy gravel road would not have been good for his little sedan. They went up a little incline. At the top of the hill, Rocco could see the dark waves of the gigantic lake.

  “Now, there’s going to a little gravel road on the left. Turn on it,” Mike said.

  Rocco edged slowly turning left onto a road that was basically two gravel tire trails. The middle section of the road was overgrown with tall grass that brushed along the bottom of Rocco’s car. They went down the little gravel path about ten minutes.

  “Now on your right is going to be a little clear spot you can park,” Mike said pointing ahead.

  Rocco saw the clearing large enough for one car. The spot was half dirt-half gravel. Rocco pulled into the spot and looked over at Mike.

  “Is this it?” Rocco asked.

  “This is it!” Mike said. “We are here.” Rocco turned the car off and looked around.

  “This place is in the middle of nowhere!” Rocco said, his mouth open in awe. He had no idea this part of the lake existed.

  “We can do whatever we want,” Mike said and leaned in to make out with Rocco. Rocco happily reciprocated. They kissed for a minute before Mike sat back.

  “Let’s get settled so we can pick this back up,” Mike said smiling wide. Rocco nodded and got out of the car.

  They unpacked everything setting it down next to the front of the car. Mike brought two camping lanterns for each of them. He ignited the wicks with a match and closed the lanterns. The illumination of two lanterns brightened the immediate area. Mike went for a long slender bundle which was the tent. He took the bundle and a lantern. He motioned for Rocco to take the other lantern and follow him. Rocco followed Mike to a spot next to two huge oak trees.

  “We will set up the tent here,” Mike pointed to a spot between the trees that was well cleared. Mike put his lantern on the ground and unpacked the bundle. Lots of synthetic fabric slipped out and slickly fell to the ground. Mike smoothed out the shimmery fabric into a large square. In the bundle, there were some hard flexible poles which Mike started to put together. With surprising efficiency, Mike assembled the poles and slid them through slots in the fabric. The smaller poles assembled into two long poles that crossed into an X at the top of the tent. Within a matter of minutes, Mike had the tent erected with no assistance. He fumbled through the bundle to find several spikes that he placed in the ground to secure the tent.

  “Stay right here and I’ll get the tarp,” Mike said taking the lantern with him to the car. Rocco looked at what Mike had just assembled. He was impressed at the speed of Mike’s work. Rocco saw the light start to move. Mike was approaching him with the tarp under his arm.

  “This is the part where I may need your help,” Mike said and started to climb one of the trees. When he was about a foot about the tent, Mike said to Rocco, “Okay, can you throw me the tarp?” Rocco tossed up the tarp which Mike caught. “Now, shine the light up to me.” Rocco pointed the lantern Mike’s way so that he could watch Mike thread a rope through one corner of the tarp. He tied the corner up in one tree. He jumped down and climbed the other tree to do the same for the other corner of the tarp. He then jumped down and started to thread rope in the two other corners. He pulled the ropes around the trunks of two other trees so that the tarp was sloped and taut over the tent.

  “Our room is ready!” Mike said.

  “Wow! That took all of ten minutes,” Rocco said amazed at Mike’s skill.

  “I’ve got an agenda to stick to,” Mike said smiling. “Now let’s go get the rest of the stuff.”

  It took them two trips to bring everything from the car to the tent. By the time they had the tent set up inside with the sleeping bag, it was getting close to 9. Mike had worked up a sweat at this point.

  “Sit down and take a break,” Rocco said getting him a bottle of water.

  “Yeah, I always forget how much work that is,” Mike said.

  “I can see that,” Rocco said. “Let’s sit in the tent for a minute so you can catch your breath.”

  Inside the tent, Rocco had rolled the sleeping bag out flat. He took a lantern into the tent so he could find the zipped-up window holes. He unzipped the windows on either side just enough to get a cross breeze going. Both windows had a tight mesh to keep bugs out. It was a crisp night but, in the tent, it would easily get stuffy. Mike extinguished his lantern and left it outside by the door. He crawled into the tent with a flashlight.

  “Here, take the flashlight. You can use this inside the tent. It’s not a great idea to have a lantern in the tent.” Mike took the lantern and placed it outside extinguishing the light. He crawled back into the tent and sat across from Rocco. “Now what?”

  Rocco reached over and took Mike’s hat off.

  “My gift to you is my body. You can do anything you want,” Rocco whispered as his heart pounded hard and fast.

  “Anything?” Mike nervously said.

  “Anything,” Rocco said confidently and gave him his crooked smirk.

  “I can’t believe we did that,” Mike said trying to lift himself up but found his arms and legs were like spaghetti.

  “Yeah, I can’t either,” Rocco said and chuckled.

  “Was that alright?” Mike lifted his head looking into Rocco’s eyes.

  “Absolutely,” Rocco said and kissed Mike on his head. His red hair was soaked from the sweat. “Don’t get me wrong. I loved it…being so close to you,” Rocco laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Mike said startled at Rocco’s laughter.

  “I swear, I think Rose Nylund said that in a Golden Girls episode,” Rocco said laughing again.

  “I never watched that show,” Mike said.

  “WHAT???” Rocco was shocked. “You never watched the Golden Girls?”

  “No,” Mike said crestfallen.

  “Never mind about that,” Rocco said. “My point is that I enjoyed it because you enjoyed it.”

  “That’s not a winning endorsement,” Mike said still crestfallen.

  Rocco leaned in and gave Mike a tender kiss on the lips. Their eyes met. “Mike, I want you to do that again so don’t worry about it.” Mike’s expression lightened considerably. “Right now, I’m starving, and I’d like to rinse off. Is there a shower around here?”

  Mike looked at him blankly. “We are out in the woods. Where would there be a shower?”

  Rocco’s eyes grew huge. “You mean, I can’t take a shower all weekend???”

  “No! We are camping. That’s the whole point,” Mike said sitting up.

  “Oh shit,” Rocco said slouching back.

  “You can take a late-night swim and wash off in the lake,” Mike said. “Actually, I was thinking about doing that myself.”

  “Oh, yeah, there is that!” Rocco said shaking his head. He couldn’t believe he didn’t think of that.

  “You can’t use soap in the lake though. It would kill the fish,” Mike replied.

  “Okay,” Rocco said looking at Mike for further instructions.

  “I packed some towels in case we wanted to swim. Let me dig them out and we can walk over to the water,” Mike said. He reached around to the pack where the towels were and pulled out two clean fluffy bath towels. “Let’s go. You’ll want to wear your shoes when you are in the lake. There’re rocks on the bottom.”

  They wrapped the towels around their waists and slipped on their shoes. Mike crawled out of the tent and stood up making his back crack a little. Rocco followed him out the tent still a little shaky in the legs but more stable than a few minutes earlier. His stomach was growling. Mike relit the lanterns. They walked down a little cleared path to the lake with their lanterns. There was a stump where they both hung their towels. They placed the lanterns on the shore away from the towels and the water. There was enough light to go out a few feet into the water. Mike took Rocco’s hand and led him into the frigid lake. The lake water at this time of year was icy making both guys exclaim in shock. Mike continued to led Rocco farther and deeper into the water stopping when the water was about waist deep.

  “We should stop here since it’s so dark,” Mike said. The initial shock of the chilly water started to wear off. The only movement in the water was Mike and Rocco. There was no one else camping on the lake. The summer season was over, and most people had already put their boats away in preparation of winter. Rocco started to rub the areas he wanted to clean and bent down to get his chest wet. Mike watched Rocco clean up and did the same.

  “How long do you want to be out here?” Rocco said. He felt clean and was ready to get out.

  “Did you take care of what you needed to?” Mike said.

  “Yes,” Rocco said and walked closer to Mike.

  “Then we can get out. We’ve got all day tomorrow if it’s warm,” Mike said and took Rocco’s hand. Mike led him back to shore to the towels and lanterns. When they got out of the water, the chill of the night air hit their wet skin causing them to shiver. They dried off which took away some of their shivering.

  “You want me to start a fire to warm us up?” Mike asked Rocco watching him wrap his towel around his waist.

  “Doesn’t that take a while?” Rocco asked.

  “Yeah, but I’ll do it for you if you want,” Mike said smiling at Rocco.

  “No, I want to eat, and I’ll probably pass out right after,” Rocco said taking one of the lanterns.

  “You’re right,” Mike said.

  They walked back to the tent and crawled in. Mike extinguished the lanterns and turned on the flashlight. He reached for his backpack and dug out some protein bars and snacks. He handed the food to Rocco and went out to the cooler to get two sodas.

  “How’s all of this for dinner?” Mike said presenting the instant feast.

  “It’s perfect,” Rocco said opening one of the cans of soda and the protein bar. Mike pulled out a small transistor radio and turned it on. He flipped through the stations and found an AM station that was playing jazz. The FM stations did not come in well enough this far out in the forest. Most of the other AM stations were talk radio.

  “Is this okay?” Mike said.

  “Again, it’s absolutely perfect,” Rocco said laying back on the sleeping bag. “I love the food, I love the entertainment, and I love the company.”

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  Mike looked up at Rocco in silence. “Rocco?”

  “Yes?” Rocco said catching his gaze.

  Mike stared at him for a second, his heart pounding. “I love you.”

  Rocco almost choked on the bite of his bar. He swallowed his chewed-up protein bar and leapt towards Mike giving him a long passionate kiss. “I love you too, Mike. I think I’ve loved you since that first night you came to our band practice.” Mike returned another kiss. Rocco laid back on the bed. Mike snuggled up with Rocco.

  They finished their bars, snacks, and sodas. As Mike gathered up the trash and empty cans, Rocco took his towel off and got inside the sleeping bag. Mike looked over and saw Rocco settling in. He took his towel off and joined Rocco inside the cozy bag. Rocco put his arm around Mike as Mike positioned himself next to Rocco. He inhaled Rocco’s scent—lake and forest. The heat of their bodies warmed the inside of the sleeping bag. Both drifted off to sleep as smooth jazz softly came through the radio.

  Rocco woke up to the sound of a news show and birds chirping nearby. It was a cool, sunny morning. The crispness of October was clearly present in the air. The inside of the tent and the sleeping bag were warm and cozy. He looked over to his side to see Mike asleep on his side facing Rocco. Rocco looked upon Mike as he slept peacefully. His red hair had grown out significantly since they first met. His auburn tresses laid across his forehead down to his reddish-brown eyebrows. The sun hit his face to give it a pale glow speckled heavily with light freckles. His plump pink lips were slightly parted. Rocco leaned down and gently pecked Mike on his lips. The kiss stirred Mike awake. Mike breathed in deeply and opened his blue eyes.

  “Hey, there. Good morning,” Mike said and yawned.

  “Good morning, handsome,” Rocco said smiling down at Mike.

  “I probably don’t live up that name right now,” Mike said finding his glasses in the corner of the tent and putting them on after rubbing his eyes.

  “You always do,” Rocco said.

  “What time is it?” Mike asked.

  “I have no idea,” Rocco replied.

  “I guess that’s the point of camping,” Mike said as he sat up. His hair was standing up in the back in all directions.

  “What does one do on a camping trip to fill up the day?” Rocco asked. Mike looked back at Rocco.

  “Well, first, we get dressed,” Mike said. Rocco made a grimace of displeasure at this idea. “Then, we have some breakfast, maybe go on a little hike, a little swim, some lunch, and just watch the day go by.”

  “I am totally down with that,” Rocco said, “except for the getting dressed. I just want to lay around with you all day.”

  Mike laughed and crawled out of the sleeping bag. “You want to look at this all day?”

  “YES!” Rocco exclaimed.

  “Get dressed, you fucker,” Mike said throwing Rocco his bag of clothes.

  “Fine,” Rocco sighed and dug through his bag.

  They got dressed, Rocco going much slower than Mike. Mike crawled out of the tent while Rocco finished. Mike was standing outside rummaging through the cooler when Rocco crawled out of the tent. Mike brought a little double eyed propane stove which he set up and ignited. Within several minutes, he had some bacon frying on one eye and a pot of water boiling on the other. Rocco flipped open two folding chairs a few feet away from the little stove. He sat down and watched Mike flip the bacon. He was mesmerized at the sight of his boyfriend fixing him breakfast outside in the wilderness. He had no idea Mike even knew how to cook.

  “There’s some cups and plates in the green bag. Could you get those out for me?” Mike asked.

  Rocco nodded and searched for the eating utensils. He located the green bag and dug out the plates and cups. Each metal plate was like a round three compartment tray with a metal spork attached to the plate with a metal key ring. Rocco put the plates and cups next to Mike.

  “There’s a can of instant coffee in the bag,” Mike said. Rocco went back over and got the coffee.

  “Anything else?” Rocco asked standing over Mike. Mike was crouching over the stove. The bacon was almost done at this point.

  “Yes, get us four of those eggs from the cooler,” Mike said.

  “Bacon and eggs! I can get used to this treatment,” Rocco said going over to the cooler to fetch the eggs.

  “Only on camping trips,” Mike laughed and took the eggs. Mike divided out the bacon and cracked all four eggs into the little skillet. He broke the yolks and scrambled the eggs in the skillet. A couple of minutes later, he divided the scrambled eggs evenly and turned off the stove eye. He scooped some instant coffee into each of the cups and poured hot water into the cups. He turned the eye with the water on low to keep it warm. The cool morning air made the cups of coffee steam heavily. “Breakfast is served,” he said taking the plates to the folding chairs. He motioned Rocco over to eat.

  Rocco took his seat and unfastened the spork from the plate. He had not realized how hungry he was. The breakfast that Mike had fixed did not take long for him to devour. He sat sipping on his hot coffee watching Mike slowly eat.

  “You’re a slow eater,” Rocco noted.

  “I like to savor the flavor,” Mike replied smiling and showing his mouth full of eggs. Rocco made a face and laughed. He continued watching Mike eat his breakfast.

  Rocco sipped his coffee as Mike finished his breakfast. “Listen, I know we weren’t going to talk about it, but my mom is not at all supportive of me going to California next fall.”

  Mike put his plate down and looked up at Rocco. He hadn’t thought about this until now. “She’s not?”

  “No, she’s not. She said she can’t help me out with tuition or living expenses. It’ll be up to me to get myself out there,” Rocco said looking at his coffee.

  “What are you going to do?” Mike said staring at Rocco.

  “I don’t know. UCLA is the only place I want to go. I don’t have a Plan B,” Rocco said looking off in the distance.

  “Have you ever been to Los Angeles?” Mike asked.

  “No,” Rocco answered.

  “So, you want to go to a school that is in a place you’ve never been?” Mike asked.

  “Yes, kinda stupid, isn’t it?” Rocco looked at the water rippling.

  “I would call it…” Mike searched for the words, “bold, ballsy.”

  “The thing is, if I don’t get a scholarship or a student loan or something, I won’t be able to do it,” Rocco said. “I mean, I’d have to move out there right after graduation and get a job.”

  “That’s a lot right after graduation,” Mike said sipping his coffee.

  “Yeah, I know,” Rocco said distantly.

  “I mean, there’s nowhere else you’d consider going?” Mike asked.

  “I guess I’ll just have to talk to a guidance counselor next week about it,” Rocco said.

  “What about the community college? I mean, you can at least work on some courses and transfer next year,” Mike thought.

  “Yeah, I guess that’s always an option. It’s just not how I wanted things to work out,” Rocco looked over at Mike.

  “You know, Los Angeles ain’t going anywhere. It’ll always be there. It could be easier to get a decent job if you have a degree first,” Mike pondered.

  “I guess so,” Rocco said sighing heavily.

  “You could actually just go out there for a week or two this summer to see if you even like it,” Mike said.

  “Yeah, I guess I could do something like that,” Rocco thought.

  “More coffee?” Mike said trying to change the subject. He didn’t want to think about Rocco leaving for Los Angeles for good. Maybe his proposal to give it a trial run would mean Rocco would return to him. Even though there was a chance Rocco wouldn’t come back, it sounded more likely to Mike that Rocco would find out LA was not the place for him. He knew Rocco had his heart set on California, but he was more than a little happy that Rocco’s mother wasn’t on board with this move. That was something he and Rocco’s mother agree on even though he had never met the woman.

  “Sure,” Rocco said handing his cup to Mike. Mike scooped some more coffee in each of their cups and poured some of the water. He walked back over to the chairs where Rocco was staring out at the lake. He handed Rocco his coffee.

  “Look, Rocco, I want you to go out and live your dream. I want you to experience everything you want to experience. But I meant what I said last night. I love you. I want you here with me…but only after you’ve lived your dream. I don’t want to be what holds you back,” Mike explained.

  Rocco had tears welling up in his eyes. “I love you too, Mike. You don’t know how much you mean to me.” Mike sat back in his chair.

  “Can we just leave it at that? I don’t really want to talk about you leaving me anymore,” Mike said with a tear falling down his cheek.

  Rocco wiped away his tears. “Yes, please! I didn’t mean to bring it up over this wonderful breakfast you made us.”

  “Yeah, but it was on your mind. I’m glad you brought it up because I felt like I was in limbo ever since you first told me about going to California,” Mike said.

  “What do you mean?” Rocco asked.

  “Like, I didn’t want to fall in love with you because you were going to leave, but it happened anyway,” Mike explained.

  “Yeah, it happened anyway,” Rocco smiled.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Mike asked smiling coyly.

  “Of course you can,” Rocco said bracing himself for something bad.

  “Did you know that Joe has hooked up with a guy before?” Mike said.

  “WHAT???” Rocco almost dropped his cup of coffee.

  “Yeah, we were talking about you and I and Joe told me he hooked up with a guy before one night when he was drunk,” Mike said excitedly as he told this secret.

  “Who was it?” Rocco asked begging for more.

  “He won’t tell me that, but Joe said he didn’t enjoy it,” Mike said.

  “Wow! Mr. Quarterback,” Rocco was stunned.

  “He told me that it felt weird to know what another guy was packing. Like there was no mystery about how the other guy measured up,” Mike said.

  Rocco sat back and thought about this. “Yeah, I guess that could be weird to know.”

  “I was thinking about that the first time we hooked up in your bedroom,” Mike smirked.

  “And how do you feel now that you know how I measure up? Are you weirded out?” Rocco asked jokingly.

  “Not at all. Why would I be weirded out by my boyfriend?” Mike replied.

  “Good answer,” Rocco stated.

  “Well, you asked,” Rocco replied.

  “Yeah, I did. Okay, help me clean up and let’s go for a little hike,” Mike said getting up.

  The hike was more like a light stroll along the shore of the lake. The cool October late morning made the trek easy and peaceful. Occasionally, Mike would point out various plants and land formations that stood out to him. They walked up a small bluff overlooking an inlet off from the lake. The bluff was a large rock formation jutting out over the inlet. When they reached the top, the two found a cleared off spot at the most forward point to sit and admire the lake in the autumn stillness. As they looked over the water, Rocco reached out and took Mike’s hand. Mike turned to Rocco and stared into his brown eyes. Rocco gave him a smile and leaned in to give him a kiss. Mike tasted like bacon and coffee. They both laid back on the rock and made out in the open for several minutes.

  Mike broke away and whispered into Rocco’s ear. “Let’s go back to the tent.”

  Rocco looked up at Mike and gave him another kiss. Mike got up and extended his hand towards Rocco. Rocco reached up and took his hand. He got up from the rock. Mike led them back to the camp, his heart pounding in his chest. He was both nervous and excited to get back into the tent.

  It was clear to Rocco that Mike had physically enjoyed the act more than he had last night. He arched up and saw Mike glowing in satisfaction.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Rocco said and laughed nervously.

  “You can say we will do this a lot more!” Mike exclaimed.

  “You are fucking amazing,” Rocco said. “I love you, Mike Barber.”

  “I love you, Marcus Antonius Rocio.” Mike said smirking at Rocco. “The only thing is that I’m going to need to take a dip in the lake if you know what I mean.”

  Rocco nodded. They both crawled out of the tent and grabbed the towels to wrap around them. The towels were hanging from a tree branch to dry out from last night. Once they were covered, they made their way to the shore and placed their towels on the tree stump as they did the previous night. The water was frigid but bearable within a few minutes. Since it was close to noon, they were able to go out further into the water to swim a little. Rocco dunked his head into the deep lake water and propelled himself a few feet. Mike did the same and made his way towards Rocco. They were only able to stay in the water for 10 minutes before getting too cold to stay any longer. They made their way out of the water and dried themselves off. Both were eager to get into dry, warm clothing. As they did the previous night, they hung the towels back on the tree branch and went inside the tent.

  “Let’s get in the sleeping bag,” Mike said. “I don’t want to get dressed just yet.”

  They both laid back in the sleeping bag allowing their body heat to warm themselves up.

  “I’m thinking before the sun goes down, I can start a fire. I can cook us dinner and we can sit by the fire together,” Mike said planning ahead.

  “That sounds wonderful,” Rocco said pushing Mike close to him. They continued to lay together for a while when suddenly they started to hear rain hitting the tarp.

  “Oh man, I love the sound of rain,” Mike dreamily said.

  “Yeah, it makes me drowsy,” Rocco said feeling his lids get heavy.

  Mike got up on one elbow to get the radio to see if he could find anything to listen to. The jazz station from last night was still playing news. Mike searched the stations and found a station that played adult contemporary music. He turned it down just enough to be barely audible and got back under the sleeping bag. The warmth inside the bag started to make him drowsy as well. They dozed off warm and cozy to the sound of the rain.

  Rocco awoke alone in the tent. It was no longer raining, and he could hear birds chirping in the distance. The rain must have been a quick moving system. He peeked out the tent window to see Mike sitting out where they had breakfast this morning. He was working on something in his sketch book. Rocco got out of the sleeping bag and put on the same clothes he wore that morning. He crawled out of the tent and walked over to where Mike was sitting. Mike looked up at Rocco.

  “What are you working on?” Rocco asked.

  “Just sketching some random stuff, waiting on you to wake up,” Mike said jokingly.

  Rocco looked down to see Mike drawing a picture of the two of them in the sleeping bag. Rocco smiled at the sketch.

  “That’s not very random,” Rocco pointed out.

  “Draw what makes you happy, right?” Mike said grinning. Rocco glowed with love and smiled.

  “I love you, Garth,” Rocco said with a wink.

  “Awww,” Mike sighed. “I love you too, Wayne.”

  “Do you care if I see some more?” Rocco asked extending his hands towards Mike’s sketch book.

  “Sure,” Mike said handing Rocco the book. Rocco flipped through the book and stopped at a picture Mike drew of a guy on a skateboard.

  “Is this the start of the drawing you did of me?” Rocco asked showing Mike the drawing. Mike looked over at the book.

  “Oh, no. That’s something I’m working on for a friend. Do you know Jared?” Mike asked.

  “Jared?” Rocco asked. “Jared who?”

  Mike thought for a moment. “Well, shit, I don’t even know his last name. Jared is this guy I’ve been having lunch with lately. He skates at the park sometimes,” Mike was careful not to give too many details such as learning how to skateboard from Jared. He wanted to keep that as a surprise.

  “What’s he look like?” Rocco asked.

  “He’s my age, short and skinny. Wears a knit cap a lot, he has big blue eyes,” Mike described Jared feeling guilty he didn’t really know that much about his new friend.

  Rocco looked up at the sky in thought. There were a lot of guys at the park that sort of fit this description. “I may know who he is.”

  “Well, I told him I would design a flyer for him so that he could teach people how to skate. That’s what I am drawing,” Mike replied.

  Rocco raised his eyebrows, very impressed at both Mike’s skill and that he was using his art for something. “Wow! An art gig!”

  Mike laughed nervously. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “That’s impressive. I didn’t know you had a new friend…much less a new skater friend,” Rocco said.

  “Well, I can have skater friends other than my boyfriend!” Mike laughed.

  “Of course, you can,” Rocco smiled at Mike. “Wait a minute!” Rocco had a spark of recognition. “Does this guy hang out with Rusty?”

  “Yes! I met Rusty the other day. He’s super cool,” Mike exclaimed.

  “I think I know who you are talking about. If it’s the same guy, yeah! He’s good. He should be a teacher. That’s rad you are using your art to help him out.” Rocco said.

  “Well, since my dad is now on board, I’m thinking about taking art next year. See if I can learn some stuff,” Mike said flipping back to the drawing of the two of them. He continued to shade the drawing.

  “Really? That’s wonderful news!” Rocco exclaimed.

  “I can’t believe I haven’t even asked you this. What do you plan on doing with your music?” Mike said stopping his shading.

  “I really haven’t given it much thought. For me, it’s just a hobby. I never considered a career or anything—I just like to play,” Rocco thought out loud.

  “You’ve been asking me all the time about my art! What about yours?” Mike said. He put his pad down. “You guys are seniors. Fred will be no more at the end of the year. You all are going to go your separate ways, you know.”

  “Yeah, I hadn’t even thought about that. I know Austin will be kinda close by. I think Raz is going abroad a while. Who knows what Pete is going to do…” Rocco looked off in the distance.

  “And you’re going to California,” Mike said sadly.

  “Well, not at this rate,” Rocco pondered. “Out of all of us, I could be the only one stuck here.”

  “Don’t say that,” Mike replied with a frown. “If you stay here, you’ll have me.”

  Rocco looked back over at Mike and smiled. “Yeah, I will have you.” Rocco leaned over and kissed Mike who eagerly kissed Rocco back. They continued to kiss for several minutes enjoying the outdoors.

  “It’s starting to get a little chilly,” Mike said. “How about I get that fire started. I’d say by the time I get it going, we will be very happy to have it.”

  “I’m in for that. What do I need to do?” Rocco asked.

  “Well,” Mike thought. “I’ve got kindling, but we will need some larger pieces of wood to maintain the fire. How about you start looking around for that. We will go closer to shore to have the fire.”

  “How big does the wood need to be?” Rocco asked. Mike gestured the length and width of an imaginary piece of wood. Rocco understood and started looking around for dry pieces of wood that fit Mike’s description. He searched the radius and found 7 pieces of potential firewood. Each time he found a piece, he brought it back for Mike’s approval. All but two were sufficient. While Rocco searched for wood, Mike began to find large rocks to make a circle and cleared out the center of the circle. When Rocco had completed his task, he had worked up a sweat and need to sit down. Mike built up a small pyramid of small sticks and tucked pieces of paper between the sticks. He lit the paper and fanned the flames until the sticks caught fire. He started putting larger sticks in the small fire. Within ten minutes, the fire had grown enough for even larger sticks. In half an hour of caring for the fire, Mike was ready to use some of Rocco’s selections. As this went on, Rocco had caught his breath and had enough of a break to search further for more pieces of wood.

  “I think that will be enough,” Mike said. “How about bringing the chairs and the cooler down?”

  Rocco complied with Mike’s request. He brought the cooler first followed by the chairs. Rocco heard the pop of the wood and knew that this is what he imagined camping would be like—snuggling up by a warm fire with his boyfriend. This moment was all that he needed.

  Mike was right. By the time the fire was going, the evening air had settled into a chill. Mike situated one of the chairs facing the lake and took a seat. Rocco had an idea. He remembered Mike had brought some extra blankets. He walked up to the tent and located the blankets. He transported them down to the fire. He spread them out in front of Mike. Rocco sat on the blankets situating himself between Mike’s legs. Mike played with Rocco’s hair as they watched the fire. The lake rippled in the distance. It was calm and peaceful as they watched the sun begin its decent below the horizon.

  “I want this moment to last forever,” Mike sighed.

  “I agree,” Rocco said.

  “You starting to get hungry?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah, but let’s sit here a little while longer.” Rocco said. He was hungry but didn’t want Mike to move just yet. They stared out at the lake embracing each other for a good thirty minutes. When Mike could no longer take it from hunger, he started to move in his seat.

  “I’m really getting hungry. It’ll take a little while before the burgers are ready so let’s get started,” Mike said.

  “We’re going to have burgers?” Rocco sat up.

  “Yeah, I brought a couple of patties and some hot dogs. Is that alright?” Mike asked.

  “If you are making it, then it’s perfect,” Rocco smiled up at Mike. Mike kissed Rocco on the top of his head and got up. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Nothing. Just sit and look pretty,” Mike said as he went to the cooler to dig out the meat which Mike had wrapped up in foil. Mike had each of the hamburgers wrapped individually in foil which he placed at the bottom of the fire. He then grabbed a couple of thin switches and stabbed a couple of hot dogs. He placed them so that the dogs were over the fire. It didn’t take the hot dogs long to start to form a burnt skin on both sides. He went over to the cooler to get buns out. The ice in the cooler had almost melted at this point but there were still a few cold packs that were sufficiently cold. He pulled the hot dogs off the stick and place one in each of the buns. “Well, the hot dogs are ready. The burger will take a little while longer. I’ve already cooked them, but they are cold. Consider this your appetizer.”

  Rocco and Mike quickly ate the hot dogs. When they finished, Mike pulled out one of the foil packets to check on the hamburgers. They would need a few more minutes so Mike put two more hot dogs on his cooking stick. By the time they ate the other two hot dogs, the hamburgers were done. They devoured the hamburgers.

  “That was delicious,” Rocco said. “My compliments to the chef.”

  “Well, thank you, Wayne!” Mike replied.

  “You know what I most want to do now?” Rocco said with a smirk.

  “What’s that?” Mike asked already knowing the answer.

  “I want to cuddle up in bed with my boyfriend,” Rocco said.

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Mike replied. “Help me put out the fire first.” Rocco got up and went to their equipment to find something to draw some of the lake water. Mike took out the contents of the cooler and dumped the melted ice onto the fire. The campfire started to smoke and sizzle, but it took a few trips to the lake before the fire was sufficiently out. Once Mike was confident that there were no remaining burning coals, the two made their way back up to the tent.

  Night had settled over the lake and the chilly air made it perfect for snuggling. They both crawled into the tent. It smelled like their musk inside. Mike turned on the flashlight hanging from the top of the tent. He reached over for the radio and found the station that played jazz from last night.

  The two fell asleep in each other’s arms to the sound of light jazz.

  Mike and Rocco woke up early the final morning unaware that they had fallen asleep so early after last night’s activities. Mike sat up on his elbows and rubbed his eyes. Rocco inhaled deeply and stretched.

  “I guess we fell asleep,” Rocco said and smiled at Mike. The morning light hit Mike’s chest making his pale skin glow radiantly.

  “I guess so,” Mike said and laid his head on Rocco’s chest. Mike inhaled Rocco’s scent. He smelled dark and musky. The scent took Mike into an alternate universe. “Damnit, we gotta pack up and go home.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Rocco said wistfully. He thoroughly enjoyed this weekend and did not want to leave Mike. Not only did he not want to return to the mundane world, he also did not to part ways from Mike even for a few moments. Mike was becoming an extension of himself. He felt like every inch of Mike’s body was a part of his. He wanted to take care of him forever. He started to feel a slight tinge of heartbreak in preparation of their parting after the trip. Rocco leaned in and inhaled the scent of Mike’s hair. Every trace of Mike’s smell made Rocco fall deeper in love with this guy. “I want to stay here forever.”

  Mike looked into Rocco’s dark eyes. He rested his chin on Rocco’s sternum. “Yeah, me too.”

  Rocco continued to play with Mike’s rusty locks of hair. They stared at each other for a long time before Mike lifted his torso up to give Rocco a kiss.

  “I love you, Rocco,” Mike said keeping his eye contact with him.

  “I love you too, Mike,” Rocco said and held Mike’s chin in his hand.

  They laid in the sleeping bag a few more minutes before Mike finally sat up. “If we don’t get packed up soon, we’ll have parents sending out search parties for us.”

  Rocco sighed. “Fuck, I know.” He sat up and ran his hand down Mike’s back. His skin tightened into goosebumps. Rocco watched intently as Mike put on the clothes Rocco wore last night.

  “Is it okay if I wear your clothes?” Mike asked after the fact.

  “What’s mine is yours,” Rocco said and put on Mike’s shirt. Mike was shorter than Rocco so the pants would be too short. He put on the jeans he wore Friday.

  Slowly, they started packing up their gear first starting with the chairs they left at the lake side. As Rocco gathered up the equipment outside of the tent, Mike started to disassemble the tarp and the tent. It took almost an hour to get everything in the car. Once the final item was secured in the trunk, Rocco turned and looked at the spot where the tent had been. That spot would forever be seared into his brain. It would hold a special place in his heart. Mike sensed Rocco’s hesitation.

  “Don’t be sad, Rocco. We will do this again,” Mike said and kissed Rocco’s hand. Rocco looked over at Mike and smiled fondly.

  “We better,” Rocco said and got into the car.

  When they got to Mike’s house, the family was gone. Rocco and Mike unpacked his car putting all the equipment that did not need to be washed into the garage. The towels, Mike’s dirty clothes, and the sleeping bag would go inside to get washed.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow?” Mike said standing on the stoop of the front door.

  “That’s the plan,” Rocco said giving Mike a good-bye kiss.

  “Hey, wait a second,” Mike said before Rocco got into the car. “These are yours.” Mike took Rocco’s pants off and threw them at Rocco. Rocco tried to catch them but missed from the shock of seeing Mike standing in his briefs and Rocco’s shirt at the front door. Rocco laughed and picked up his pants. Mike pulled his briefs down quickly to flash Rocco.

  “Remember our weekend!” Mike said pulling the briefs back up and gathering the dirty items to take inside.

  Neither of them took a shower until the next morning.