I Must Be Dreaming

Chapter 4

Adam knows that Ronan brought him to the Barns for a reason, and it isn't to look for a fancy screwdriver. "Why are we really here, Ronan?" Adam, abandoning his search for the screwdriver that probably doesn't even exist, walks around the shelf to where the desk is.

Ronan stops his search through the old desk to look up at Adam, who is giving him a look that says I know you're up to something. Exhaling, Ronan finally speaks.

"I brought you here so that we could be alone." Ronan's hard shell of a face softens, and his brow relaxes from its seemingly-permanent scowl. He looks at Adam for a reply. The soft-featured boy is frowning, and has his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why? Why do you want us to be alone?"

Ronan runs a hand over his shaved head. He parts his lips to speak, and closes them again.

"Ronan, why the hell are we here? Just tell me!" Adam shouts, causing Ronan to close his eyes and wrinkle his eyebrows back into a scowl.

"Because I like you." The words that left Ronan's mouth cut through the space between them like a knife through butter. The air suddenly turns thick.

"What do you mean, you like me?" Adam's jaw gapes open and closed, like a fish's mouth.

Ronan stands too quickly, his chair toppling to the floor behind him. "How can I be any more clear? I like you! As in I want to hold your hand and shit." He breathes out fast. "I don't know how else to describe it. God, I'm so stupid. Why did I even bring you he--"

"You aren't stupid," Adam interrupts.

"What?"

"I said," Adam walks closer to Ronan, "You aren't stupid." He looks down, face reddening. Adam has a face like a sunset: white and shadowed, with bursts of pink and red clouds. "I like you too."

Ronan looks up at Adam. "Oh my god," he whispers, pink clouds of his own moving onto his cheeks.