Ryan pressed his face up to the glass of the ice cream counter, looking like a complete child. "Caramel, Bubblegum, Pistachio, Rocky Road..." He looked up to Makato. "Anything that interests you?"

The shorter boy paced ever so slightly. "Hmm..maybe vanilla and.." He looked over at the multitude of rainbow and pastel colours in small slippery scoops hidden inside of the glass counter. "Peanut butter?"

"I'll have strawberry," Ryan added. The man behind the counter nodded and went to the back.

"Again, I'm really sor-" Ryan began quickly.

Makato stuck out his tongue slightly. "Dude - honestly, there's nothing to apologize for. Plus - that party was kinda overwhelming anyways."

Ryan smiled. "True - everyone's probably jealous that we left."

Moments later, the man reappeared with two bowls and he began to scoop up their chosen ice cream treats. Makato heard a sudden buzzing and saw Ryan lift up his phone. The blond-haired boy typed something in response, then glanced at Makato.

"Oh, sorry, Leo just apologized for the party." Ryan turned his phone to let the other boy read the messages.

Leo:

sorry about all that - those guys were being disrespectful and u didn't deserve that. tell makato he's chill

Ryan:

np it wasn't ur fault. see u guys tmrrw at practice!

"You guys have terrible grammar," Makato commented.

Ryan shrugged. "We're jocks, what do you expect?"

Makato laughed slightly and dug into his ice cream, and his stomach rumbled in contentment. He looked up at Ryan. "So- are there any other parties we can go to that aren't homophobic?" He half-joked.

Ryan laughed. "Maybe! We'll probably have to host one ourselves though, what with our school."

A small silence.

"We kissed," Makato smiled.

"Yeah - I know. I've had a few other boyfriends and...girlfriends, before, when I was a bit confused. But-" He reached forwards and booped Makato on the nose with a small dollop of ice cream. "I think you're my favorite."

"R-Really?"

"Really."

"So..we-we're- a thing?"

Ryan smirked slightly, taking another bite of his ice cream. "Maybe - we kissed so I think it'd be weird if we weren't dating, ya know?"

Wow. Wowwowwowwow.

"That's - that's great! I- okay!" He beamed.

The two spent the rest of the time laughing, joking and chatting and eating their ice cream in the warm summer evening.

When it came time to go home, the boys walked side by side back to their neighborhood. Yellow-orange lights from houses contrasted against the violet-blue sky, and the distinct smell of BBQ steak wafted from somewhere in the distance.

"You know what, Makato Snow?" Ryan asked as they strolled, hand in hand.

"What?"

"I think I'm melting for you."