Earth blushed profusely the second he stepped into the classroom on Tuesday morning and made eye contact with Mix. After leaving the village and traveling back home, the two barely looked at each other, even though they held hands the entire bus trip home. As embarrassed as they both were, neither one had any regrets for getting that naughty on a school trip. Mix spent his weekend rewinding that moment in his mind, over and over, so much so that even his mother has teased him for grinning stupidly from morning till night. Monday in school Mix pouted a little for his boyfriend's absence, but now that Tuesday came, he wasn't sure he could face him. When Earth waved at him from across the classroom, Mix felt his cheeks get hot and he awkwardly waved back, flinching when the bell rang.

They glanced at each other every now and then, until it was time to go home and Earth waited at Mix by the bicycle stand, eagerly looking around. When he noticed Mix approaching with his cousin in tow, Earth's smile fell, but as they got closer, he realised Mix wasn't responding. He was rushing to get away from his cousin who stopped in his tracks once he noticed Earth glaring at him. Niam quickly turned tail and run off, but not before he flipped Earth off behind Mix's back. Embarrassment from earlier was replaced by anger that Mix felt as he grumpily kicked his bicycle before turning to his boyfriend and leaning his forehead against Earth's chest. "What a dickhead." Mix muttered. He let out a sigh of relief when Earth's big hand run through his hair and scratched his scalp. "What did he say?" Earth asked cautiously when Mix peeled his face off his shirt and unlocked his bicycle. "Nothing special. Just that he's excited for our family to come cheer us up next week, at the graduation ceremony." Mix pulled his bicycle out of the stand, hooking one leg over the seat. "Uhm...why are you mad for that?" "The ass face said he wants to invite my dad."

Earth grabbed Mix's waist as he sat on the back, his chin pressed between his boyfriend's shoulder blades. "He can't do that...can he?" "Niam is failing math class. He said unless I agree to tutor him for the secondary exam, he will call my dad and tell him I want to see him." Mix said bitterly before kicking off the stand and slowly riding the bike out of school premises. "Me and mom have a restraining order against him, but still, it just...it pisses me off! Honestly I can't wait to be out of this place already." He said over his shoulder. Earth's arm around his waist tightened and Mix nearly threw them off as he realised what he has said. He abruptly parked the bike and turned around, panicking. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant...I want to get away from him. Not you." "I know." Earth sighed, wrapping his arms even tighter around Mix's torso. "It's just...you're moving so far away in three weeks, and the closer the date gets, the less I want to let you go. I'm super proud of you and happy for you, but...I wish we had more time together." He then let out a whiny sound, kind of like a puppy, nuzzling his face into Mix's back. It caused the other boy to smile and he sighed. "I know. I will visit every three months, okay? And every break and holiday, I promise. And we will call every day, right?"

Oh how he wished that was true. After graduating and moving to a different city, which seemed incredibly scary for Mix, the boy barely had any time to even sit down and eat. The workload professors gave them was so overwhelming, Mix spent most of his time buried in the books, most days so busy he barely ate or slept. He tried hard to give his mother a call once a week, sometimes it was just too difficult to pick up the phone, but he always managed to find time to call Earth, even if it was just for a couple of minutes. Texting 'good morning' and 'good night' every day was sweet, but it was very special just to hear his voice, especially on those days Mix felt the most overwhelmed. His promise to visit every three months however didn't come to fruition, and it was nearly six months later that Mix managed to squeeze in a long weekend of free time.

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"Stop being grumpy, your face looks ugly." Nuean jabbed her younger brother in the shoulder when he continued refreshing the chat window with brows furrowed. Earth sighed. "I thought he would at least text, you know?" He admitted sheepishly as he finally put his phone back into the pocket before grabbing the wide comb and brushing Snicker's mane. He worked on a stubborn knot for a couple of minutes until it all brushed out and Snickers nudged his arm. "See, even your lady knows you're being a grumpy butt." Nuean chuckled. She grabbed Earth's shoulders, shoving him out of the barn. "Go wait in your room, I'll bring you your present in a minute." "But-" "Just go."

Earth stomped through the house with pursed lips. His parents had to leave early in the morning for some work related thing, Khao wouldn't get home until tomorrow, and now even Nuean shooed him away. It was his birthday for goodness sake, and even though he never made a fuss about it, this time it was different. He didn't want to openly admit it, but not receiving even a text from his boyfriend hurt him, and he flopped on the bed face down, groaning, his hands hitting the pillow in frustration.

When there was a knock on the door, he ignored it, knowing that Nuean won't enter his room uninvited, but when he didn't answer the second knock either, the door opened and Earth was ready to shoo her away, except... "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Mix's cheeks were bright red as he sang the birthday song, walking carefully into Earth's room holding a cake. "You came..." Earth jumped out of the bed with a surprised smile. "Of course. It's my boyfriend's 19th birthday, I wanted to surprise you." Mix grinned, pushing the cake forward. It was almost shapeless, with messy frosting and sloppy writing of his name, but it was quite cute, and Earth closed his eyes before making a wish and blowing the candle. "I wanted to come earlier, but I didn't anticipate making this would take so long." "You made this?" Earth raised an eyebrow. Mix baked for him once before, and in general he wasn't the most skilled cook, so the older boy was slightly wary as he cut himself a slice and stabbed the fork to it. To his surprise, the chocolate cake was actually really good, the frosting sweet and banana flavoured, like his favourite ice cream.

"Did you think I forgot? Is that why you were sulking?" Mix teased. "I wasn't-!" "Yeah you were." Mix chuckled with cake in his mouth. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner, the curriculum is..." Mix didn't want to complain, but after so long he let like he could finally take a proper breath. "It's intense. I study through out the weekends all the time, I don't really go out with friends because I get tired." Earth felt a pinch of guilt in his gut. Mix told him over the phone how much he's studying, he didn't really put that much weight to his words until Mix sat a little closer and Earth could clearly see his boyfriend's eyebags. He even seemed to lost a bit of weight as his jaw now seemed just a little more defined. "It's okay Mix, you don't have to push yourself to call me and stuff. If you have free time, use it to rest, okay?"

After cake and quick catching up, Mix sprawled himself across Earth's bed and let out a heavy sigh. "Earth..." "Hm?" "Can I stay with you?" Mix scratched his tummy cutely. "I have to leave Monday afternoon and go back to Bangkok, but the whole weekend I'm free, and I was with my mom the entire morning today, so..." Earth's mouth curled into a smile as he laid beside Mix and put his arm around the boy's waist, pulling him into a hug. "I wasn't going to let you go anyway. Besides, aren't you forgetting to give me something?" Mix, confused, frowned a little. "Uhm...I gave you a cake...?" "Not the cake. Think." Earth pinched his cheek. "A present? I have one, but it's downstairs in my bag." "That's not it either." Earth suddenly got closer, Mix could see the already sprouting stubble on his face. "Think harder..." "Oh." Finally, a lightbulb went off in his brain and he touched Earth's cheek. "I know what I forgot to give you." Then, he closed his eyes, pressing his lips against Earth's in a soft, gentle kiss.