Symphony of Sound.

There’s a calendar on the wall in the common room. It’s across the room from the fireplace and the TV, and the only reason this is relevant in this moment is because of what is written on today’s date.

In Rian’s handwriting, scrawled –for some reason- in bright pink, glittered gel pen, is just the word ‘Merrick’ written in block capitals, filling the entire calendar square.

“Well, I wonder what could be happening today.” Paul says with a soft laugh, reading the calendar and then turning to David and William with a smile.

“I have a feeling,” David smirks, holding back a giggle, “that Zack might be coming back today.”

At this point, Rian comes, quite literally, skipping down the boy’s dorm corridor, down the few stairs and into the common room. Alex and Jack appear from their own rooms and trail after him with dejected expressions. They’re going to have to put up with this all morning.

“If I didn’t know that you were, in fact, a raging homosexual, I’d definitely be questioning you.” Greta comments as she steps down the few stairs into the common room from the girls’ corridor, Tegan and Sara not far behind.

“I take it a certain boyfriend of his is back today?” Sara asks as her and her sister follow behind the three boys to breakfast.

“How on earth did you guess?” Alex sighs as he watches Rian skip exuberantly across the courtyard and into the lunch hall, grinning at everyone he passes.

“Check out the little ray of sunshine over here.” Dan laughs, reaching over the table as the other juniors sit down around him and ruffling Rian’s already messy brown curls. David laughs from beside Dan as he begins to peel his idea of breakfast –a three day old, wilting orange- and Alex sighs as he realizes it’ll be a miracle if Rian actually does anything productive today.

Alex and Jack are both dragged by their wrists to their German class when the bell rings to signify the start of the school day, and both boys silently thank God that they don’t have to sit next to him for the next hour. Paul has that joy.

Rian spends the entire of the lesson being suitably annoying, tugging at Paul’s sleeves and stealing his work until Paul finally bats him around the head. Alex pokes Jack in the back the whole time, watching absently as William makes a paper plane out of his worksheet and throws it at the side of David’s head, only for the dark auburn haired boy to throw it right back.

They’re all scolded a number of times, but are so past caring that the threat of detention is rendered pointless, even more so when Nick points out, ‘We live here, isn’t any time after class is over detention anyway?’

When classes are over and the juniors have returned to their dorm block, relatively pleased with the amount of hell-raising that has happened, a certain tanned blonde boy is sitting in one of the large, black chairs beside the bookcase. He stands when David smirks at him, tilting his head backwards in a gesture of ‘he’s on his way.’

Rian enters with Alex and Jack, talking loudly and animatedly when he notices the figure watching him from a few feet away. He squeaks (quite literally, and he realizes that Alex and Jack will never let him forget that) and runs at him, the blonde scooping him up and laughing.

“I take it you missed me then?” Zack laughs, kissing Rian’s forehead lightly. Rian nods exuberantly, and cuts off whatever Zack was about to say by kissing him hard.

“For the love of God, get a room!” Greta cries over her shoulder as she settles herself onto the couch beside Nick, who has somehow wriggled his way out of at least three detentions tonight.

“Technically, they’re already in one.” Alex says with a small laugh as Greta glares at him. “What? It’s true.”

Greta rolls her eyes and laughs a little, brushing her blonde curls behind her ear and shuffling closer to Nick again.

“Come on, lovebirds.” Jack sighs, catching Zack by the arm and pulling him toward the boys’ dorm corridor. “We need a catch up.”

They’re all settled in Jack’s room with blankets and candy and Jack’s laptop is playing the new Jack’s Mannequin album in the background. Alex snuggles against the boy in glasses and Jack laughs, tucking the older boy under his arm and squeezing his shoulder lightly. Alex laughs and stretches up to kiss him.

“Ew, gross. And you call us lovebirds?” Rian laughs, leaning in and resting his head in the crook of Zack’s neck.

“Yeah, at least we have an excuse. I have been gone nearly a month.” Zack says, sticking his tongue out before instinctively turning his head to press a kiss to Rian’s forehead.

“Speaking of you being gone,” Alex jumps at the chance to interrogate the blonde, “give me details, now. Tell me everything.”

“Well, for starters, Holly and John have finally set a date for their wedding. It only took them two years.” Zack says with a short laugh. Alex looks at him, as if to press for an answer.

“Yeah, after the accident John decided he didn’t want to procrastinate anymore. Said he’d already nearly lost her too many times, and so they’re getting married in August. I think she insisted you were all invited, too.”

Alex claps his hands together excitedly because a wedding, awesome. Jack watches him affectionately, kissing his forehead.

“Yeah, Holly and Andy are recovering fine, if you’re interested.” Zack continues, seeing that Rian was dying to know. “My aunt came down from Washington to check Holly was okay, and she took them back home with her. They’re still doing a little physiotherapy but they should be fine in the long run.”

“That’s good.” Rian says with a smile, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Zack’s cheek. The blonde still blushes pink across his cheeks.

“Oh, and this is cute.” Zack continues, clapping his hands together gently. “Emily always talks about this boy in her class at school. Like, all the time. It’s either him or the dog.”

Rian laughs and nods, because in his experiences with the twelve year old, yeah, that’s pretty accurate.

“She came home from school one time when I was at her house helping my aunts, and she started telling me all about this kid –his name’s Matthew or something- and apparently he’d asked her to be his girlfriend.”

Alex immediately starts cooing and making baby noises beside Jack, and the boy in glasses stares at him for a moment.

“But they’re twelve.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s so cute!” Alex counters. Jack rolls his eyes at the older boy, laughing affectionately.

“My uncle got a promotion too, which is awesome.” Zack says with a smile. “Not that it really matters that much to any of you, but hey.”

“My dad also seems pretty set on the idea of you all coming over to stay for at least a week in summer, by the way.” Zack continues with a slight smirk. “I can’t imagine why he’d want to meet you idiots though.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jack grins. “We’re awesome.”

“Yeah, okay.” Zack replies, smirk evident in his voice. “That’s totally the reason. Definitely not that you’re my best friends and my boyfriend. Never.”

Jack is about to make a suitably witty and genius response, but there’s a knock on the door that stops him from doing so.

“Jack!” Kara’s voice comes loudly through the door. “Let us in, now!”

Jack instantly looks terrified, but he stands anyway and slowly opens the door to the younger girl and Evan. She eyes the room carefully until her gaze falls on the blonde boy sitting on the floor with Rian.

“Zee!” She says when the blonde turns to her and rolls his eyes. The boy laughs, scoops her up into a hug and she giggles.

“Hey, Kara. Evan.”

The taller sophomore smiles, runs his fingers through his short, dirty blonde waves and watches his girlfriend and her best friend fondly.

“We were wondering if you all wanted to come see a movie with us.” Evan says, and Kara nods exuberantly, as if to reiterate the boy’s statement.

“Yeah!” She says, finally releasing Zack. He laughs and rolls his eyes at the girl. “I think The Green Lantern is showing in one of the theatres in Augusta.”

“I suppose we could-” Jack begins to respond.

“Let’s go!” Alex interrupts, grabbing his boyfriend by the arm and dragging him out of the door.

“I take it that means we should follow them?” Evan says with a smirk, leaning out of the doorway to watch Alex pull Jack all the way down the corridor.

“Unless you want to try and find them later, yes, it does.” Zack replies, standing up and holding his hand out to Rian. The brunette smiles at him and takes hold of his hand, allowing himself to be pulled down the corridor.

They get back from Augusta at around nine, just a half hour before Evan and Kara’s curfew comes into effect and they earn themselves a month of detention.

The four juniors all make sure they make it to their dorms okay, Evan still arguing pettily with Rian over whether the movie was a good adaptation of the comic or not. Zack and Kara just roll their eyes and exchange a hug before Kara pulls Evan inside the building.

Alex and Jack retire to Alex’s dorm room almost immediately when they get back to the junior block, and Nick makes a very obvious sex joke as they leave.

Zack just laughs and pulls Rian into his room, settling himself comfortably on his bed and tugging the older boy down beside him. Rian smiles, soft and somewhat innocent, knocks his forehead against Zack’s and kisses him gently.

“Hi.” Zack says quietly, rubbing his nose with Rian’s.

“I missed you.”