Mr. Lone Boy /BoyxBoy/

||Twenty-nine||

The night before we left was chillier than the previous nights.

Ian and I sat huddled under our blankets by the fire, occasionally stretching our hands towards the flames for warmth.

We moved closer to each other unintentionally, feeling the need for even more warmth.

We'd already had our dinner, and roasted marshmallows as a sort of desert. We had nothing else to do but stare at the blazing fire and try not to crawl back into the tent.

It was a beautiful night if you could get past the cold. The wind was a perfect breeze, not too strong and not too limp. It breezed by the fire occasionally, causing the flames to flicker and produce bright sparks that wavered in the air, almost looking like tinier versions of fireflies.

I was about to point out how beautiful the stars looked, when I spotted Jesse and Tom walking towards us, and tried with much reluctance to move away from Ian a few inches.

Jesse had his guitar case with him in one hand, the other hand clasped around Tom's. My eyes landed on their intertwined fingers and I forced my gaze away down a bit, glancing at Ian by the corner of my eye.

"It's cold," Tom shivered as he took a seat across from me. "How was your day?"

"I dragged Nate into the lake," Ian said.

I shivered at the memory, and not only because it was cold.

Tom's eyes widened. "It must have been freezing!"

"It was," I deadpanned.

Jesse chuckled, retrieving the guitar from its case before fiddling with the strings. "Ian, you've heard Nate sing, right?"

Ian nodded. "Yup, karaoke night."

I groaned. "Please don't."

"Oh, c'mon!" Tom argued. "You're the only one of us, aside from Jesse, who can sing."

"So let him sing."

"No, we want to change things up. Maybe you can sing together?"

It was late and I was tired, so I just nodded my head. "Fine, but you start."

Jesse agreed and began strumming the guitar strings, producing a familiar tune. I cleared my throat and swallowed, trying to calm my breath and not freak out.

I was nervous, and instantly regretted agreeing to this.

Jesse started singing and I felt even worse. His voice was clear, and smooth as he hit all the right notes and still managed to keep playing the guitar.

Jesse's eyes flickered to me before the part where I was supposed to jump in. I sucked in one last breath before giving up on my fight, singing along with Jesse, my voice hidden beneath his.

I occasionally glanced at Ian when I sang, but he all he did was stare back at me. I didn't know if it was because I was bad at singing, but I didn't care because I was slowly starting to have fun. Eventually Tom began singing along, and so did Ian, which definitely made things easier.

No one said anything when the song ended. Jesse played another one, and another.

I grew tired, my throat throbbing faintly. Without even knowing it, I had inched my body closer to Ian so that I was almost leaning against him.

Tom and Jesse got up and left at some point, yet it felt like nothing had happened. I could still hear the music, still feel the way it had calmed me.

Ian pulled me in for a kiss and whispered something in my ear. I couldn't catch what he said, but I could hear its sincerity and nothing else really mattered to me.