Reunited

“Hey Sam!” Leo called out, running to catch up to the girl. “Man, you walk fast…”

“Sorry.” Sam laughed, she patted the smaller boy on the back. “What’s up bud?”

“Oh. Um, I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me to the lake later.” Leo’s face flushed.

“That’s a weird thing to ask.” Sam’s brows furrowed. “Why me? Why not ask Blake?”

"N-no!” Leo’s face burned up. “I-I’m not ready for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to swim.” Leo whispered. “But I don’t want him to know that yet.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sam shoved the boy playfully. “He can just save you if you drown.”

“Sam!” Leo stopped his foot. “I don’t want him knowing that. Could you please just teach me?”

“Teach you what?” The voice caused the brunette to freeze up. “Making plans without me?”

Leo quickly turned around to see the raven haired boy standing behind him. He wore his practice uniform for baseball, his clothes were slightly dirtied from his practice. Leo took a step back, realizing how close the boys were standing next to each other.

“I-I was just asking Sam if she could teach me how to use the new camera my dad bought me.” Leo lied, looking at Sam to see if she was going to take the hint.

“Yeah!” Sam said, playfully nudging the boy in the gut. “So I suggested that for our first lesson we go to the lake.”

Leo shot an icy glare towards the latter. Sam giggled and continued with her joke. Leo dropped his head, giving up and letting Sam play out her plan. Blake agreed not sure of what was exactly going on. The trio made plans to meet up later in the evening.

Leo and Sam walked home together after they passed Blake’s house. They lived right next to each other so they always had extra time to talk to each other on the way home. Leo used this time to vent to Sam of his feelings.

“Why would you do that Sam?” Leo asked, distraught. “That was so uncool.”

“Come on L, how are you gonna ever get a chance with him if you don’t do anything?” Sam said, patting the brunette on the back. “You’re so crazy for the guy.”

“Yeah but I can’t go to the lake with him.” Leo exclaimed. “What if he asks me to swim with him?”

“You’re going to be taking pictures.” Sam winked. “You can’t go in the water.”

“I-I guess that’s true.” Leo sighed. “You’re a very sneaky person. It worries me.”

“I only use my powers for good.” Sam smiled, proudly. “Or at least what I think is good.”

The pair stopped in front of their houses. Sam gave Leo a pat on the back before they walked into their own homes to get ready for the later evening. Leo walked into his house to find his father was still at work. He walked passed the pictures that sat on the table in the living room, stopping at the picture of a young brunette haired woman.

“I’m home Mom.” Leo said, running his finger down the frame of the picture. “Dad’s probably going to be home late again huh?”

Leo turns to walk into the kitchen where he pours two glasses of orange juice then walks back into the living room and sits on the couch, his mother’s picture in his hand. He switches on the radio, soft country music played as he placed his mother’s picture on the coffee table in front of him as well as one of the glasses.

“So, I’ll be going out in a little bit.” Leo began talking. “I’m going to hang out with some friends down at the lake.”

He stared at the picture of his mother in silence before he continues to speak.

“It’s with my friends Sam and Blake.” He said, a smile forming at the corner of his lips as he said the boy’s name. “Yeah. He’s the one that I’ve been telling you about.”

Leo looked at his watch. 4:30. He excused himself and ran upstairs to his room. About 10 minutes later, Leo came running down the stairs. He was wearing a tank top, shorts and holding a DSLR camera that was strapped around his neck. Checking his watch again, he smiled and took a seat on the couch again.

“Sam should be here soon.” Leo said, switching off the radio. “Don’t worry mom. I’ll be safe.”

Leo fixed his hair. His mother’s picture staring at him with a warm smile. Leo smiled at the picture. “I’ll be sure to come home in time for dinner.”

A knock on the door caused Leo to jump. He placed a kiss on the picture frame and headed for the door. He opened it to see Sam dressed up in her surf shorts and a tank top.

“Ready to go?” She asked as she made way for Leo to exit the house.

“Yeah!” Leo said excitedly. He closed the door and they made their way down the street towards Blake’s house. “So what’re you planning?”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked confused.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Leo said, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re gonna take pictures and Blake will be your model.” Sam said with a smirk. “He’s the perfect person to practice on.”

“Somehow I feel like that’s not the only thing you plan on doing.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

When Sam and Leo arrived at Blake’s house he was already sitting outside on the porch, talking on the phone. Leo and Sam stood and waited quietly for him to finish his conversation.

“Yes Mom.” Blake said, his eyebrows furrowed. “I will. Okay. See you later. Love you too.” He hung up his phone and scratched the back of his head embarrassed

“You ready?” Sam said with a motherly tone, teasing.

“Shut up Sam.” Blake playfully pushed the girl. “Let’s go.”

When the trio arrived at the lake, most of the patrons were starting to head home. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, making the lighting just right. They set up a spot close to the pier. Blake emptied the pockets of his surf shorts, placing them on the towel he had brought. Sam did the same and took a seat next to Leo who was setting up his camera.

“I thought we were here to teach you how to use that?” Blake asked, looking over the brunette’s shoulder to see the photos on the camera. “Looks like you already know what you’re doing.”
Leo’s face flushed.

“I just wanted you to come with us to take pictures that’s all.” Sam interrupted. “I don’t like taking pictures but you’re perfect for them.”

Blake raised an eyebrow. “Well, if we’re taking photos catch some photos of me jumping off the pier.” He pulled off his shirt revealing his well built body.

Leo gasped and quickly turned his head. “B-Blake!”

Blake and Sam laughed at the brunette's astonishment.

“We’re at a lake Leo,” Blake stated. “I’m not gonna swim with my shirt on just cuz you’re here.” He winked at the brunette.

“O-okay.” Leo said, his face was flushed.

The teens spent the evening snapping several different photos. As it started growing darker, they started packing up their things and started heading home. Leo was going through the photos as they walked down the street, while Blake and Sam discussed their upcoming class project.

“So when am I gonna get to see those?” Blake asked, interrupting Leo’s thoughts.

“O-oh, well I still have to load them to my computer, sort through the junk ones and then edit them.” Leo said, still scrolling through the camera roll.

“Edit them?” Blake tilted his head in confusion. “Why edit them?”

“Not crazy edits like you see people posting.” Leo responded. “Like clear up any blemishes, fix anything that needs fixing.” He smiled at the raven haired boy.

“That’s cool.” Blake said, looking at the camera screen as Leo scrolled through it. “You know how to do all that?”

“Yeah.” Leo said, proudly. “I can come over some time and we can sort through the ones you like and don’t like if you want.”

“Why don’t we do it now?” Blake asked, blushing.

“O-Oh,” Leo was unsure of what to say. “S-sure. I-if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah! We can totally do it now!” Blake said excited. “It would be easier to just sort through it while it’s on your camera right?”

“Y-yeah. Actually it would.” Blake nodded. “Then all I would have to do is edit the photos that you like.”

When they arrived at Blake’s house, they wished Sam a good night and made their way into the house. Blake introduced Leo to his parents and they made their way up to his room. Leo walked into the room slowly, taking in every moment. Blake sat on the edge of his bed, motioning the latter to have a seat.

“Your mom guys seem nice.” Leo said, sitting on the bed.

“Yeah.” Blake smiled. “They’re pretty cool. So let’s look through those pictures.” Blake couldn’t contain his excitement as Leo started up his camera.

They spent a couple of hours sorting through the photos that they had taken. Laughing at some and cringing at others. Focused on what they were doing, they didn’t realize that their faces slowly grew closer.

“I really like this one.” Leo said. “It really captures a softer side of you.”

“Are you saying I don’t have a soft side?” Blake asked, turning towards the brunette.

Realizing how close their faces were, Leo started to get flustered. “N-no. I-I wasn’t s-saying that.”
“Good.” Blake smirked, leaning closer. “Because I have quite the soft side.” His voice soft and seductive.

Feeling a soft graze against his lips he quickly stood up. “L-look at the time!” He quickly grabbed his things. “I-I gotta get home.”

Leo scurried out of the room, leaving Blake sitting on his bed. Blake let out a sigh and dropped his head.