Population 801

"Kellin!" Kellin's father called from down the stairs. "Kellin could you come down please? I'd like to talk to you before you leave for school!" Kellin sighed and shut off his stereo before grabbing his backpack and heading downstairs to his father.

"Yeah Dad?" He asked when he reached the bottom step and rounded the corner to the kitchen. His father slid him some coffee and gestured for him to take a seat.

"Well you know the new family down the street?" Kellin's father said, sipping his coffee. Kellin nodded and waited for his father to continue. "Well they have a son, you know. He goes to your school."

"Yeah, his name is Vic. He sits in front of me in music." I said nonchalantly. I didn't understand why my parents were so stuck on the idea of Vic's family living here. Sure they were new and we weren't used to that, but they didn't bother us any.

"Well I've heard word that you've been associating with him." Kellin's father said, standing up straighter and getting a more serious tone. "Now, Kellin, I'm going to continue to detest these rumors and ignore them, but I want to make something clear to you. Our town has a very strict way of running things. We've maintained our close-knit community by agreeing on what is right and what is not. We intend to keep what is right in our town and what is wrong out of it."

"Dad, we're a piece of land, not a cult." Kellin said, turning on his seat and heading for the door. Before he could stand though, Kellin felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Kellin this town is very important to us. It is the foundation of our entire lives. You better start acting like it." Kellin just nodded, feeling the slightest bit intimidated by his fathers stare. "And you will listen to me when I tell you I do not want you associated with that boy."

"Why, Dad? Because he's different?" Kellin spit back in his fathers face. He knew this was about Vic's sexuality and there was no point in denying it. Vic was proud of who he was and Kellin was proud of him for that. Frankly, Kellin was more bothered by the fact that if he ever did admit that he liked Vic, he would never be able to admit it to anyone in his community. Kellin waited for his father to respond and when he didn't, Kellin tore from his grasp and walked to the door. "Maybe different is good. This town needs different. We need different." With that he was out the door and headed to see Vic before school.
- - -
"Three in a row! I win again!" Vic whisper-screamed in music class. He and Kellin had found nothing of interest in Tarson's lesson today, so they found other ways to entertain themselves. Tic-Tac-Toe being one of them.

"You cheated." Kellin said, throwing his pencil down. He stuck his bottom lip out and gave Vic his best puppy dog eyes.

"You're cute when you pout." Vic blurted out, not realizing what he said. As soon as he said it his eyes went wide and he covered his mouth with one of his hands. Kellin noticed the blush rising to his cheeks and decided to do the only thing he could think to do. He grabbed Vic's hand under the desk and whispered a response.

"You're just cute." He said smiling. His perfect moment was soon ruined though as thoughts of his father's lecture today ran through his head. Vic noticed and cocked his head to the side in confusion, silently asking Kellin what was wrong. "It's nothing... just something my dad said today. It's kinda getting to me."

"Wanna talk about it?" Vic asked quietly. Kellin was a little bothered by the fact that Vic was able to ask him questions but he couldn't ask Vic any. He just shook his head, not really wanting to tell Vic how his father already hates him.

"No. I wanna beat you at this dumb game!"

- - -

Later that day, Kellin and Vic decided to have their first hockey lesson. Seeming as how the game was in about two weeks, they didn't really have a lot of time to get Vic up to speed. Since they were about the same size, Kellin loaned Vic some of his old skates, pads, and a stick. Then they drove down to Fink Lake and geared up.

"How the fuck am I supposed to stand in these?!" Vic said, digging the blade of his skates in the snow. He was sitting in the passenger seat of Kellin's car, bottom of his jeans wet while his UCLA sweatshirt and red beanie remained dry.

"Well, first you have to get off your ass." Kellin said walking over to Vic. He grabbed his hands and pulled him from the seat. They stood up for about 5 seconds before Vic lost his balance and toppled over, bringing Kellin with him.

"This is stupid." Vic said, spitting snow out of his mouth. Kellin just laughed and rolled away from Vic so he could stand. "Just leave me here to die." Vic groaned throwing his head back in the snow.

"Stop being so melodramatic!" Kellin said rolling his eyes. He walked over so that he had one foot on each side of Vic and he was standing over the top of him. "Now, I'm going to pull you up. When I do, I want you to just stand, okay? Pretend you aren't even wearing skates. Just stand." Vic nodded and when Kellin pulled him up he did as he was told.

"Okay this isn't that bad." He said, finally gaining some balance.

"Good, now we just have to walk the twenty feet to the actual ice." Kellin said, starting to walk towards the lake. Vic groaned in frustration and started to walk, slowly but surely, towards Kellin.

"Wait!" Vic said, causing Kellin to turn around. It was at that moment that Kellin wished he had his camera. Vic opened his mouth to continue speaking but Kellin told him to shut up and Vic obliged.

Vic had tiny snowflakes stuck to him everywhere- his hair, his eyelashes, the tip of his nose. His skin was glowing in contrast to the white landscape around him while his bottom lip was taken into his teeth as he tried to concentrate on staying upright. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly in frustration and his entire face had adapted the pink shade that it got when he blushed.

"Are you done?" Vic asked, standing awkwardly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... Sorry it's just... wow." Kellin was having trouble getting his thoughts in check so he walked back to Vic and stood directly in front of him. "It's just I... I have to..." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Vic's in a burst of adoration. Both of their mouths were chilled due to the cold Michigan climate, but they didn't really notice. Kellin put his hands on both sides of Vic's face and gently ran the pad of his thumb along Vic's cheekbone, while Vic wrapped his arms around Kellin's neck. Soon though, Vic got so wrapped up in their kiss that he forgot to focus on his balance and they went falling to the floor.

"Wow, Vic, way to ruin the moment." Vic muttered to himself, hitting the snow by his side. Kellin just laughed and rolled over to face the older boy.

"That was really random I'm sorry it's just I..." He let his sentance trail off as he thought once again to the words of his father. What would his father say if he saw what just happened? What would his mother say? What would everyone say? There wasn't enough room in this town for secrets to float freely- they were always caught in the hands of someone- and he couldn't keep his friendship, or whatever-ship, with Vic a secret from his parents for long.

"Kellin what' s going on with you?" Vic said, reaching over to put a hand on Kellin's arm. "Secrets are my thing, not yours."

"It's just my dad. He... he's really into the whole 'keeping the town how it's been for decades.' and so he doesn't really like the fact that you moved here..." Kellin said, hesitating before he told Vic the rest. "And... and he doesn't want me hanging out with you because you're gay." Vic cringed at the last part of his confession. Kellin noticed, of course, and immediatly became protective.
"But I don't really care because after hanging out with you I'm starting to realize that maybe I am too and I don't want the town to stay the same. I don't want to keep being judged for who I am and who I'm not and I don't want to be stuck here. If I want to be different I can be different, if I want to leave Denning, then I'll fucking leave, if I want to call you my boyfriend-" Now it was Kellin's turn to be shocked by what he blurted out. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"Oh... Um... It's okay Kellin..." Vic said, sitting up. The entire mood of the situation changed in a matter of seconds. Instead of Kellin stating his defiance, now Vic was retreating back into himself like he did when he was uncomfortable. He started to undo his skates and slipped one of them off, working on the other one.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Kellin asked.

"I'm sorry, Kellin but I can't... I can't do that. I told you before everyone that I get close to leaves and I'm not ready to be left again." He slipped off his other skate and started to stand before Kellin tackled him back down and pinned him to the ground. "Kellin stop!"

"Nope. You are not gonna do this again. You aren't going to keep running away. You can have you're secrets, okay? I'm okay with it now. But you promised me, you promised, that I would have you."

"I know I did, Kels, but... But what if you get taken away, too?" Vic looked away from Kellin as his voice cracked.

"Vic, I couldn't leave. And you wanna know why?" Vic nodded, finally looking up at Kellin. "Because if I did you'd be stuck on your ass in a pair of ice skates. Can't have that can we?" Vic laughed for a few seconds before a look of seriousness washed over him.

"You really wanna call me your boyfriend?" He said cheekily.

"I think I do." Kellin said nodding. Vic beamed beneath him, grabbing Kellin's shirt at the chest and pulling him down for a kiss.

"Only if I can call you mine." Vic replied.