Sunny Day

Riley liked when the weather was nice and warm, a nice spring day. He didn't like when it was too hot and the sun was out way too much, he always had a problem with burning. Today was one of those 'it's too hot' days and the fourth year wondered why he had decided to go outside in the first place. He took shelter underneath a shady tree and pulled the book he had recently started out of his bag. He let out a long sigh before opening the book. It was about a killer on the loose and the main character had to figure out who it was. He liked the idea of a murder mystery and it would be a fun game to play with other students in the castle.

A stick cracking made the fourteen year old put down his book and look around to see who had made that noise. A small grin appeared on his face when he saw the face of the person that had almost scared him. "Hello," he said, he turned back to his book with a bigger smile. "Come sit," he patted the spot beside him without looking up from his book. Once his friend was seated, he put his head on his shoulder. They had just gotten back from summer vacation and he had yet to have a decent conversation with his best friend since they had arrived at Beauxbatons. Even though they were roommates, the busyness of the first days of school made it hard to talk. It was mostly Riley's fault since he was already studying and reading from his textbooks. "How was your summer?" He set his book down.

The weekend was unbearably hot, but inside the palace was worse, so Bo figured he'd out to go out and get some sun. He put on a bleak colored cut off tank and jeans and grabbed his skateboard and headed to the paved surface of the courtyard to skate around. He hadn't been at it for more than twenty minutes before he fell from a grind and tore open his knee. The wound bore minimal pain and he sort of like the cool torn look of his jeans so he didn't mind it too much. However, as he tried to get back into the grove of skating, he found with each move of his injured leg, the pain got worse and decided to stop.

On his way back to the castle, he spotted Riley sitting with a book comfortably in the shade. Bo smiled and went over to greet him. He was sure Riley was involved in his book but wouldn't have minded sitting next to him in silence, which is what he ended up doing. He greeted Riley in return and eased himself down in the grass in a way that didn't irritate his bloody knee too badly and allowed for his best mate to rest his head on his shoulder. Bo felt compelled to wrap an arm around Riley but figured it might be too weird. Plus, it was too warm to be that close.

"It was boring without you," Beauregard answered. He didn't have any friends in Dresden. He only had his family, which they were pretty decent, but he didn't have as much in common with them as he did with Riley. His whole family seemed to be artists, yet Bo couldn't draw to save his life nor play an instrument. Though, he was rather good at quidditch, most of his family only liked watching quidditch and not playing it. "I did get the chance to practice flying, though. Hopefully I'll do better on the team this year," Bo added as a side note. He plucked a piece of long grass from the ground and chewed on it's end. "How was your summer?" He asked, in return.

To keep his hands busy, he began to run his fingers over the cover of his book. He had been a bit bored over the summer since Guen was gone but he also visited David a lot. But he had missed his best friend and wished that they had got to see each other over the summer. "Flying is scary," he said softly. "You be careful while you're in the air." He did not want to see his friend get hurt. "I still think you're a pretty awesome quidditch player." He didn't understand the sport and he could hardly watch it without looking away but he was still there for his friend. If Bo wasn't playing then he was far from the games.

He had been too busy messing with his book to notice that his friend had hurt his knee. But when he did, he lifted his head from his shoulder and began searching through his bag. He had just about everything in there and he never left without it. "You're bleeding," he pointed out. He pulled his first aid kit out of his bag and opened it. "You gotta be more careful." He carefully cleaned the cut then put a bandaid over it. He set the garbage in the glass beside him so he could throw it away later. "My summer was fine, I had some fun."

Bo recalled Riley's extreme fear of flying and smiled softly. Falling off a broom could be pretty scary but fortunately he hadn't had any close calls with it. "Don't worry. It's not so bad once you know how to do it correctly," Though he wouldn't dare ask Riley to fly a broom if he didn't want to. There was no use in pushing it. He smiled Riley said he thought he was a good quidditch player. "Makes up for how bad of a skater I am," He joked, pointing towards his bleeding knee.

It wasn't a big deal to him, yet he did not protest when Riley jumped to pull out a first aid kit. He flinched as Riley cleaned out the cut, as whatever solution he put on it made it sting. Once he eased again, he looked up at Riley, who was still fixing up a bandage for his cut. He admired Riley's long eyelashes and soft lips, so much easier to see being that close to him, and suddenly recalled the kiss Riley gave him on the cheek the previous year. Bo felt his cheeks heat up at the memory. He had thought about it a lot, especially during the summer when Riley was so far away. He wondered why Riley had kissed him on the cheek and what it meant. Was it an act of intimate friendship? Or was Riley trying to show his affection for him? More importantly, Bo wondered why Riley hadn't kissed him on the lips instead.

He was so lost in thought, he hadn't even listened to Riley as he spoke about his summer. His eyes traced over Riley's face and as Riley finished fixing up his knee, Bo rose a hand and rested it on the side of Riley's face. He hesitated a moment, thinking over what he was about to do. He needed to know what was going on with the kiss last year. He wanted to know why Riley made him feel nervous sometimes when they were so close. Did he fancy his friend? He was about to find out and was determined that the best way was to kiss him. Without exchanged another word, Bo moved in closer to press a kiss to Riley's lips.

He had just finished talking about his summer when Bo kissed him. Riley was in shock and quickly pulled away. He couldn't look his friend in the eyes so he instead looked at the green grass. If things were different, maybe he would have kissed back. But he was in a relationship and he really liked David. "Sorry," he said softly. He stuffed his first aid kit back into his bag and then began to pick at his finger nails. "I have a boyfriend." Maybe he should have said that before, before Bo kissed him.

Should he get up and leave? Should he say something? Even if he knew what to say, he couldn't talk at the moment. It was like his mouth was dry and felt like sand paper. "Sorry," he repeated. What did you say to your friend that just kissed you but you have a boyfriend and you dodnt feel the same way? "I-I don't know what to say." Walking away felt wrong to him so he just stayed where he was, avoiding looking at his friend.

The kiss lasted for only a few brief seconds before Bo felt embarrassed and pulled away. He had never kissed anyone before but was confident that the other person was supposed to kiss back, which Riley didn't do. As soon as their lips parted, he retreated his hand and refused to look Riley in the eyes. He felt his face burning and a small ache in his chest. Oh boy did he mess things up with Riley now.

"No," He finally mustered, after Riley apologized a handful of times and mentioned that he had a boyfriend. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Please just forget that ever happened." Tears prickled at his eyes but Bo fought them back. He brought his knees to his chest and hugged them, still avoiding looking at Riley.

"You have a boyfriend now? That's great news," Bo tried, after a few moments of awkward silence, but his tone sounded like he wasn't happy at all. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, somewhat bitterly. He thought they were best friends and best friends were supposed to tell each other when they started to date. But more importantly Bo felt upset because if he'd have known about Riley's boyfriend, he wouldn't have kissed him in the first place and wouldn't be feeling like he did right then. He didn't know how he felt. He felt irritated at both himself and Riley and whoever it was that Riley was seeing.

Even though he was told to forget about it, he knew he couldn't. His best friend just kissed him, he couldn't forget that. "I-I'll forget about it," he lied. Finally, he snuck a glance at his friend. He hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. That was the last thing Riley wanted, he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings." Even though none of this was his fault, he still wanted and needed to say he was sorry. Because he was. He was sorry that he hadn't said anything about his boyfriend. He was sorry that he had hurt Bo. And he was sorry that Bo even liked him, that he had kissed him.

His attention was back on his nails and he let out a long sigh. "I was going to say something," he swore. He was, it just slipped his mind. "It happened over the summer." He had been busy worrying over Bo's wound to bring it up. "Don't be angry with me, it slipped my mind. I was taking care of you and I didn't think about it." He couldn't help but be a little angry by Bo's tone. "It's not my fault you kissed me," he grumbled.

Bo didn't believe Riley when he said he'd forget about it. After all, if he was going to, he'd have dropped the topic rather than hold onto it and continue to rub the salt in Bo's wounds. His brow furrowed and he wasn't sure why he said what he said next but something about the whole situation really irked him. "Who says my feelings are hurt? Maybe I don't even like you like that, Riley, huh? Did you think about that?" Bo snapped in respond. He wasn't sure why he was being so harsh. He wasn't sure how he felt about Riley and something compelled him to kiss him in the first place, but in that moment he was convinced he didn't like Riley one bit. "I only kissed you because I thought you liked me. I mean, after all, you do always lean on my shoulder and hug me all the time. I thought I was just doing you a favor, okay? So...it doesn't matter that you don't like me. I'm glad you have someone else," He added, sounded just as irritated as ever.

"It's fine," Bo hissed. "I just thought it was something we should be able to talk about," Bo added, but with his tone, he didn't sound like he wanted to hear any more details about the boyfriend Riley was dating. "I thought we agreed to forget about that kiss?" He pointed out as Riley told him it wasn't his fault that he had kissed him. Yes, it was entirely Bo's own fault and it hurt like hell to know that. Part of him wanted to stand up and walk away, but his exit would be entirely ungraceful with his banged up knee so he remained where he was but instead turned his body slightly away from Riley.

The only thing that Riley could recall that ever made him angry was his dad. But now his was angry and this time it had nothing to do with his father. He quickly packed up his book. "Can you not be an asshole for five seconds?" As soon as he said it, he wanted to take it back. He bit his lip and shook his head. He wasn't going to apologize again. "Your my friend! That's what friends do!" He wanted to get up and leave but Bo continued to talk.

He didn't say anything, he just stood then looked down at his friend. "I've apologized," he stated. "Now it's your turn." He grabbed his bag. He didn't like the weather anyways. "I don't want to fight. So I'm just gonna be quiet." He sighed and turned to walk away. He wanted to say something else but he didn't know what to say. So he just walked away with tears in his eyes.

As if Bo hadn't been hurt enough, Riley's words cut like daggers through him. He'd never heard Riley swear before and he had never been called an asshole. He was silenced by the words and continued to hurt as Riley continued to be upset. Riley started to pack up and insisted that Bo owed him an apology, but Bo was silent. He didn't know what to say and it wasn't until Riley started walking away that Bo finally snapped out of it.

The tall boy stumpled to get up, banging his injured knee against the hard ground and making it throb as he limped after Riley. "Riley," Bo called after his friend, this time much more calmer. He had a hunch Riley was crying, which was never okay in his book, especially if he was the reason why the tears were there. "I'm sorry," He said, reaching out a hand and gently grasping Riley's sleeve so he didn't have to chase after him anymore. "Look, I'm just really confused and I kissed you thinking it'd clear things up, but it didn't. It just made me more confused. And I'm just full of all these emotions and I don't understand any of it. I didn't mean to take it out on you," Beauregard explained. He then let go of Riley's sleeve. "It's good you have a boyfriend. I'd be a shitty boyfriend anyway if I make you feel like this." He added, genuinely. Riley deserved someone who made him feel good. No wonder he didn't choose him. Riley was right. He was an asshole.

Riley heard his name being called but he didn't look back, he allow himself to. More tears rolled down his face when he apologized and grabbed his sleeve. He didn't turn, he couldn't face him. He knew if he did then there would be a lot more crying. With his free arm, he wiped at his face. He let out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a sob. He didn't know what to say so he just turned and wrapped his friend into a hug.

Bo wasn't a bad person, he really wasn't. "You didn't mean to," he said softly. "You'd be a good boyfriend, just not my boyfriend." He let go of his friend and contiued to wipe at his eyes. "I didn't mean what I said. You're not an asshole." He felt so bad about what he had said. He wanted to take it back so bad.

Bo didn't mean to make Riley cry and he frowned as he watched Riley wipe his own tears away before turning back towards him and embracing him. Bo gently returned the hug, resting his cheek against Riley's head. He felt like they were never going to be the same after this. Like he had ruined their friendship, and it was entirely his own fault. He was quiet as Riley told him he'd be a good boyfriend, not believing him. It felt to him like he was bound to be alone forever.

He never wanted to let go of Riley but soon Riley retreated his arms. His friends face was still wet, but he allowed Riley to clean it off for himself. "It's okay, I was acting like an ass," Bo replied, melancholic. He didn't know what to do, so he backed up a bit and then went to retrieve his skateboard from where he left it in the grass, limping his way over. He hoisted it onto his shoulder and started to make his way back to the school. He paused, turning back towards Riley. "I'm sorry if I ruined our friendship. You mean a lot to me, Riley," He told him.

Riley let out another sigh. He really didn't believe that Bo was an asshole, but he couldn't take it back now. And now Bo was calling himself an ass. He wished he hadn't had set it because now he might believe he was actually a bad person. "I didn't mean it," he argued. "I didn't mean to say it and what I said wasn't true." He didn't want to hear him call himself mean things, especially when it started because of him. "You are a great friend."

He thought Bo was going to leave when he went to grab his skateboard. Riley thought he was going to come back but he kept going. What was happening? "You didn't ruin amything." What was he supposed to do now? Just watch him walk away? Or should he just go the opposite way? He stood there, rocking back and forth and waiting for something to happen.

He felt Riley's eyes on him as he moved. He figured his sudden leave would be a surprise to Riley, but he thought his friend would get over it and move on quickly. He paused and turned his head to speak as Riley claimed he hadn't ruined things. "I've made things awkward between us. Plus, now you feel bad because you have a boyfriend and that's not something you should feel bad about. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I am acting this way. I don't know why..." He broke off. "Anyway, I think it's best I go now." He needed some time away from Riley to clear his head. He was being unusually mopey about this when it shouldn't have been a big deal to him at all. He hoped that if he spent a little time away from Riley, he'd forget about how he felt being rejected and move on already. It was clear that Riley didn't want him.

Feeling bad was an understatement. The teen felt horrible about everything. The worst part about it was that he was the reason that Bo was feeling down in the dumps. But why did he like him? Why did anyone like him? He was nothing special and he was surprised that anyone thought he was worth their time. Maybe this was for the best, but maybe it wasn't. It hurt like hell to see his friend walk away from him. It hurt that he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't chase after him and pull him into a hug, he just couldn't. Maybe time was something they needed. "You can't avoid me," he said calmly though he wanted to break down again. "Even if you don't want to see me now, you'll have to see me later." Then they could talk, right?

Or would it be an awkward silence until who knows when? He hoped not. He needed his friend. "I'll see you later," he called after his friend