Population 801

Kellin walked down the hallways of the school waited for something to go wrong. The past few days have been perfect and he knew that something was going to ruin it all. He had successfully taught Vic the basics of hockey, plus a few tricks, and he was pretty prepared for the Fink Rink Match in a week. Kellin was pretty new at this relationship thing, but Vic wasn't expecting much out of him. They were both more happy than they had been in a while and it had been a fantastic few days.

Now Kellin had something he had to do. Not for Vic, but for him. He hadn't taken his camera out of the closet since the day he packed it away. Everything was okay with him and Vic, so it was time that Kellin start getting back to his old self. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and swung his bag around his side, reaching in the side pocket and pulling out his camera. He pointed it down the hall and started recording.

"So, I haven't been recording the past week or so... and I guess I could go over why, but it's not important. The point is, I'm back now." The bell rang, signaling that students should head to class, and Kellin headed towards his locker. "As you suspected, nothing has changed in the grand scheme of things. Denning is still Denning and it's still boring and I still hate it." He reached his destination and opened it, setting his camera on the shelf so that it was facing him. "It's still just as lame as it always was and nothings gotten any better."

"I wouldn't say that..." Kellin heard a voice behind him say before he felt a pair of arms wrap around him for a hug.

"Vic, not here, someone could see." Kellin said pulling away. They had to keep their relationship a secret still because Kellin was afraid of what everyone in the town would say. It wasn't that he was ashamed of Vic, it was just that he couldn't handle the judgement, and Vic understood that.

"Everyone is already in class!" Vic said pouting. Kellin looked the hallway up and down, made sure no one was there, and leaned in to peck Vic quickly on the lips.

"Happy?" Kellin asked, smirking himself. He reached into his locker and grabbed his books.

"Very." Vic said smiling back. He reached up to grab Kellin's camera and laughed. "And even better, you got it on tape. Ah, look how cute my boyfriend is today." Vic said pointing the camera at Kellin, who immediatly put his hands in front of his face.

"No, stop! I like being on the other side of the camera!" Kellin said grabbing it out of Vic's hands and pointing it away from himself. Vic sighed in defeat and the two headed to class, playfully bumping into each other while Kellin filmed Vic making funny faces.

- - -

"Hey, Kellin!" Jesse got Kellin's attention while the group sat around the lunch table. "You're coming to practice tonight right?"

"Yeah, I always do don't I?" He replied shrugging. Vic looked at Kellin quizically and Kellin felt obligated to give him an explination. " Um, the guys are in a band and they usually practice on Thursdays and I take pictures and stuff. It's pretty boring."

"It is not boring." Justin said, throwing a french fry at Kellin. "We rock."

"Why don't you come, Vic?" Jack half demanded. "It'd be good to see what someone besides Kellin thinks."

"Um, I don't know..." Vic said, looking at Kellin for approval. He was afraid to intrude on Kellin's thing with his friends, but Kellin nodded his head eagerly. "Um, yeah, okay, sure."

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch, so Vic and Kellin headed off to music to see what torture Tarson had in mind. They took their seats in the back of the room and immediatly started not caring. Kellin figured that since there was a band practice tonight he would have to have some new material for the guys, otherwise why would Jesse bring it up. Kellin was glad that he and Jesse had thier agreement, that way Kellin's anxiety was somewhat relieved when it came to revealing a new song.

Kellin took out his notebook and began writing random lyrics down.
'I've been thinking lately, about you and me, and all the questions left unanswered, and how it all could be.'
'I've seen you around here lately, you smile brighter than you should, and me I've been so lonely, I'm glad you're doing good.'
'And I hope you know, you never left my head, and if I ever let you down, I'm sorry.'

He had become so invested in his writing that before he knew it he had an entire song written. He looked over it and smiled slightly to himself, almost liking what he had written. Almost. For some reason he was always repulsed by what he wrote and the more he read it over the more he hated it. He read over the lines- anazlyzing their imperfections and blowing everything out of porportion. There was no way he could let anyone hear this, it was horrendous. He began to erase the work before he felt a hand on top of his own.

"What are you doing?" Vic asked next to him. Kellin hadn't noticed, but Vic was leaning dramatically out of his chair to catch a glimpse of Kellin's writing. "Don't erase it, that's really good, Kels."

"How come you can read my lyrics, but I can't read yours?" Kellin asked, suddenly defensive. He was angry that Vic had read his lyrics when he was so embarressed by them.

"That never stopped you , did it?" Vic asked sarcastically. He had a point though, and Kellin couldn't exactly be mad at him. "But I'm serious, don't erase these. They're amazing."

"No they aren't... They're terrible." Kellin said, closing his notebook and putting it in his backpack.

"Who has ever told you that?" Vic asked, to which Kellin couldn't honestly answer, since no one had ever said that. Kellin was never satisfied with his writing, so why would anyone else be? "I bet no one has, because they're amazing, just like you." Vic said, smiling and grabbing Kellin's hand under the desk. "The only person you're hurting by putting yourself down like that is yourself, Kels."

"Yeah I guess you're right..." Kellin said, although he wasn't convinced. There was nothing anyone could say that would convince Kellin that his writing was even remotely good, because he didn't think so. If he didn't think that his writing was good then it really wasn't, because it can only be as good as the creator's image, right? "Let's not focus on that though. Wanna lose at Tic-Tac-Toe?"

- - -

"Hey guys, so I have a new song for us to try out." Jesse said towards the end of practice. Kellin had been taking pictures and running around for angles the entire practice and Vic had been watching his boyfriend in adoration. Vic loved how passionate Kellin was about whatever he did, especially photography. Vic hadn't known that Kellin wrote lyrics prior to music class today, but as soon as he saw Kellin in the act of writing he could tell that it was a passion of his. There was something about how invested he got in it, or how focused he was, that Vic found absolutely endearing.

Kellin walked over and sat by Vic, going through his camera roll, when Jesse suggested the idea of a new song. Kellin looked rather uninterested, whereas Vic was extremely excited. The guys were amazing and their lyrics really hit Vic. He loved the bands sound but in the end it was the lyrics that got him hook, line, and sinker. So he was extremely confused when Jesse pulled out a notebook from his bag that was identical to the one Kellin was writing in that day during Tarson's class. Vic looked at Kellin with a confused expression, hoping he might explain, but Kellin was going through his camera roll. Vic had convinced himself that it must just be the same brand, after all, there was one department store in the whole town.

"I really like this line- 'Cause I can't forget, the way it used to be, and if I ever let you down, I'm sorry.'" Gabe said, reading aloud the words on the page. Vic sat shocked for a second, before Kellin realized what was happening and stood up suddenly.

"Hey Vic lets go get my polaroid camera from my car, yeah?" Kellin said, grabbing Vic's hand and practically dragging Vic out of the garage before he could ask questions.

"What the hell?!" Vic asked as soon as they were outside. "Those were your lyrics!"

"I know, Vic, I know they were. There's a very logical explanation as to why Jesse is claiming them, if you would listen." Kellin said, trying to get Vic to calm down. He was absolutely fuming.

"Alright, I'm listening."

"Well, I don't like what I write, ya know? But Jesse and they guys, they do. So when Jesse wanted to start up a band he needed songs, and I offered up mine. I don't need recognition for them, because it's enough to see Jesse so happy. He's my best friend, Vic, let me at least give him this." Kellin was pleading with Vic now, begging him not to blow their secret.

"I just wish you would get credit for it, Kels. I won't say anything because you don't want me to, but I mean, I wish everyone knew how incredible you are." Vic said, stepping closer and running his hands up and down Kellin's arms.

"I don't need everyone to know, I just need you to know." Kellin replied, smiling. Vic laughed and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss lasted a little longer than usual and both boys were smiling into it by the end. Kellin eventually broke away and went to the trunk of his car to grab his polaroid camera. He was startled though, when Vic whirled him back around and kissed him again, more passionately this time.
Their lips moved in a syncronized pattern against each other while they wrapped their arms around each other. Vic, in a sudden burst of blatent courage, ran his tongue across Kellin's bottom lip. Kellin, startled droppen his camera on the cement at their feet. They broke apart and stared down at the broken contraption on the sidewalk. Kellin sighed, picking up the pieces of his camera.

"Well, there's eighty dollars down the drain."