measured by nights » holes

9.

Hector is sleeping on the couch when he gets home, and he smiles slightly before going to the kitchen to fix himself some coffee; a habit he picked up after Camp Green Lake and has been unable to kick since.

His parents have gone away for the week with Mrs Zeroni, and Hector and Stanley have been left alone in Stanley's house. Mrs Zeroni joked that Hector spent so much time there anyway it probably wouldn't make a difference.

It's graduation week, and there have been a hundred different parties that they were invited to and a million hangovers to follow, and once, in a dark, quiet corner away from the ever present crowd of too many friends, a drunken kiss that neither of them has mentioned since.

Stanley stares out of the window, the tiny espresso cup clutched in his hand, and wonders if he should tell Hector where he has been.

"Hey."

Hector's voice is sleepy and he rubs his eyes as he stands in the doorway.

Stanley smiles.

"Hey."

"Where were you man?" Hector asks through a yawn. "I got back from basketball and you were gone."

Hector is quick and light on his feet, and the star of the school basketball team. He pretends like it's no big deal, but every time he makes that impossible jump shot, his smile is too big for his face. Every girl on the cheerleading squad wants to date Hector. They think he has allure because he doesn't say much. Stanley knows he just doesn't like answering their questions.

Stanley hesitates, watching him, unsure what to say.

"I went to see Pendanski."

Hector's reaction is immediate. He suddenly doesn't look so sleepy and his fingers are white on the door jam.

They never talk about Pendanski.

"Why?"

His voice is scratchy, and Stanley feels his heart clench a little.

"Because we never talk about it."

He puts his still full espresso cup on the counter and steps around the kitchen island.

"Because as much as you like to pretend it didn't happen, it did."

Stanley knows Hector knows where Pendanski is, because Stanley very pointedly left the article about his arrest on Hector's coffee table.

"And because if he does get out, I wanted to make sure he would never come near you again,"

Hector is standing very still, and Stanley is afraid he will bolt like a frightened animal.

"Hector," he says softly, and closes the gap between them.

Hector is only a few inches shorter than him now, and he stares into Stanley's eyes, pleading silently with him to make it all okay.

Stanley places a shaking hand on Hector's cheek, and Hector closes his eyes as Stanley presses their lips together.

It feels as if it's been a long time coming, this kiss, because the drunken one doesn't really count, and Stanley thinks maybe he has been subconsciously wanting this ever since that night that Hector pressed his lips against Stanley's throat in gratitude.

Their kiss now is soft and undemanding, and all too soon it's over and Hector rests his forehead on Stanley's shoulder as Stanley runs his fingers up and down Hector's spine.

"It's okay," he says.