64. Closure

-Max-

"So, this is how you've been spending your weekends lately?" Troy asked.

I turned to look back at him on a narrow trail. "Yeah. I really like this place. It's so nice and quiet," I said, and earned a happy smile from Sky, who was walking just behind me. But then that smile trembled.

"I know this isn't thrilling or anything... Some people think this is boring..." he spoke, looking at the ground.

How I hated to see him like that! Why was he always apologizing for getting excited, or believed that everyone else found everything related to nature boring and stupid? Why did he think everyone else thought he was boring and stupid?

"Only braindead people think this is boring," Luke said with a shrug.

Troy laughed. "What if I find this boring?" he asked, and I knew he was just teasing Luke, but he didn't see Sky's expression. Sky was way too damn insecure about everything related to himself, and even though he was smiling, I knew what he was thinking: what if Troy and Luke hated being there?

"Yeah, right," Luke scoffed. "I'll believe you once you wipe that grin off your face."

"What grin?" Troy grinned.

"Just look where you're going before you break your neck," Luke said, grabbed Troy by the arm and forced him around.

I followed his order as well and turned to see the pathway in front of me. Sky was in a better mood already. He skipped a couple of steps to me and continued walking by my side. I took his hand in mine and gave him a smile, which he returned.

Since we had so much time to spare, we had decided to go for a walk around the farm. We were heading up on the hill, with Bella dashing around like the happy little dog she was. When Luke was in Australia, and Sky was taking care of Bella, we had taken her with us to see the owls, so she was already an experienced camper, and I had to admit, I felt better when she was keeping guard.

"I can't believe I've spent so much time in the arcade when I could have come here for an adventure," Troy spoke cheerily, and Sky's smile grew wider. "I mean, look at this place! Hey! What's in there?"

I heard him stepping off the path and turned to look at him. Troy started jogging towards a big rock formation, Bella right at his heels. Sky grinned at me and pulled me off the pathway. We all followed Troy at a slower pace, and by the time we arrived at the rocks, Troy had already climbed up.

"This is so cool!" Troy said, looking around.

Sky let go of my hand and followed him up with such a radiant smile on his lips I couldn't help but smile as well. Bella tried to climb up to them, but she kept sliding down, until Luke went to help her past the steepest part.

"Just... don't fall and break your neck," I said.

The highest point was around ten feet above the ground, and there was barely enough room for all three of them. Sky – thankfully – sat down and wrapped his arms around Bella so she wouldn't go too close to the edge, but Troy continued looking around, not paying any attention to where he was placing his feet.

"I've been hanging out with you way too much," Luke muttered to me, looking just as concerned as I felt. "Troy, sit down before you fall."

"I'm fine!" Troy chuckled and started balancing on one foot. "See?"

Luke let out a quiet, frustrated moan, like he really wanted to tell him to stop fooling around.

"You always made fun of me for being too worried all the time," I said, and pointed at Troy, "That's the reason I'm always worried."

"I suddenly have a strong urge to apologize to you for making fun of you," Luke said, and continued with a louder voice, "If you break your neck I'll kick your ass, you hear me?"

"I'll be fine!" was the only reply he got.

Luke sighed and turned his back on the three of them. I chuckled at his reaction for a moment before I let it fade away.

"I'm happy for you two," I said quietly. "And I'm sorry he made you wait for so long."

Luke shrugged dismissively. "It wasn't an easy situation for him, with his dad and all..."

"It couldn't have been easy for you either, but you dealt with it really well. I'm sure he appreciates it," I spoke.

"There wasn't much else I could do about it," Luke said. "All I could do was wait."

"You could've been a complete dick about it. You know, harassing him and pushing him," I said.

"Like that would've helped," he sighed, and turned to look back at Troy. Sky was now telling him more about the forest and the animals living in it, pointing in different directions. "I'm just glad he decided to give me this chance."

"Me too," I said, and patted his shoulder.

He turned to glare at me, so I removed my hand slowly, holding back my laugh. He really wasn't used to friendly gestures. I found it funny how accurate Sky was when he said Luke was the alpha wolf. Sometimes it really felt like I was dealing with an angry wolf instead of a teenage boy. And the thing that made it even funnier was that when he was with Troy, he turned into a happy little Golden Retriever. It was adorable really.

"All right, we should get going," I turned to inform Sky and Troy.

"Sure," they spoke in unison.

Then Troy looked around and stopped for a moment. "How do we get down?"

Luke started to laugh, shaking his head, and walked to the rocks. "Bella, jump," he spoke her name and patted his chest. Bella wagged her tail, stepping right on the edge, and without any hesitation, she jumped toward Luke, who caught her in midair. "Good girl."

"What about us?" Troy asked.

"Jump?" Luke chuckled, letting Bella down on the ground. She immediately ran to me to say hi, and then ran back to Luke.

I walked to the rock when Sky started making his way back down. He stopped just above the steep part and tried to see a way to get past it. I stopped next to it and climbed a bit closer to him. "Carefully now," I said when he started sliding down to me as slowly as possible.

When he was close enough, I placed my hands on his waist and helped him down before turning to look at Troy, who was following Sky's example. He was a lot bigger than my boyfriend, but Luke came for our aid and finally all three of them were safely back on the ground.

"Where to next?" Troy asked, and the expression on his face was quite similar to Sky's whenever he got excited.

"Well," Sky smirked, "There are caves nearby."

"Caves?" Troy breathed out like it was his biggest dream to see them.

I was having a hard time holding back my laugh, when Sky and Troy started marching toward the caves like two little explorers in unknown land, leaving me and Luke no other choice but to follow them. It was really great that Troy was so excited about the trip. Even Luke seemed to enjoy it. I could see how happy Sky was about them being there, and that made me happy. I, of course, enjoyed their company as well.

Soon we arrived at the caves. They weren't anything amazingly special, but fun nonetheless. There were three caves, and the biggest one of them was large enough for us all to go in. The floor of the cave was about two feet lower than the forest floor, so we had to climb down a little to get inside. Once we all were in, Luke had to keep his head down to fit in, but the rest of us were able to stand inside without hitting our heads.

"This is so cool," Troy grinned, tracing his fingers through the dusty walls. "I wish I'd known about this when I was little. This could've been the perfect place to play."

"Definitely!" Sky chirped. "Back in my old home, there were caves like these close by, and it was so much fun to play there."

His smile trembled a little, and I knew why. When Sky showed me these caves for the first time, he told me the same story, but added that he didn't have any friends to play with. He was almost always alone.

I stepped behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my chin on his shoulder. He laughed lightly and turned to look at me shortly, his eyes shining brightly again. I hugged him tightly and planted a kiss on his cheek, which seemed to make him even happier. I was glad I could bring up his mood, since he always had that effect on me, and I was happy I could return the favor. Just the way he was looking at me now made me ridiculously happy.

"OHH!" Sky suddenly squealed and turned to look at Troy. "You need to see this one place!"

I laughed and let go of him. Sky had a grin on his face when he grabbed Troy's hand and pulled him out of the cave with him.

"Here we go again," Luke muttered, but he, too, was smiling.

When the two of us managed to climb out of the cave, Sky and Troy were already on their way to their next location. Seeing what direction they had taken gave me a good idea of where they were going. There was a rocky hill close by, and the view up there was amazing.

"You know, I was a bit surprised to find out you had feelings for Troy," I said carefully while we followed Sky, Troy, and Bella.

"Why?" he asked, and his expression turned a bit hostile.

"Well, for one, I was surprised you are gay. And you two are so different," I explained. "Don't get me wrong, I think you two are a really good fit, but I was surprised you'd like someone like him."

I had the feeling I should just shut up before I said something rude or angered him. He glared at me for a short moment before he turned to look away with a sigh.

"Why wouldn't I like him? Everybody likes him," he said quietly. "What I find surprising is that he would like someone like me."

"I'm actually not surprised about that," I said. "Honestly, I don't think it had anything to do with sexualities when you asked him out last summer and he told you to give him some time. It was just a convenient excuse for him to freak out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he grunted at me.

"Well, his mother is dead, his father is a major asshole, and he has basically no one to take care of him. He really hates letting people close to him. Sure, he's good with people, he loves the company, and everyone just adores him, but he doesn't like getting close to anyone. He can't take it if people he cares about leaves him. I think he wanted to say yes there at the beginning, but he was too afraid to do so. But, you waited for him, no matter how hard he tried to push you away."

Luke was silent for a moment. We reached the bottom of the hill and continued walking up on the vide pathway. Sky and Troy were already halfway up, and I could see the top peeking behind the trees.

"That doesn't explain why he would like someone like me," he then spoke.

"A good guy like you? A guy who is loyal and takes care of his friends?" I chuckled. "Don't forget, Troy is good at reading people, and he's definitely not a coward."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he squinted his eyes at me.

I laughed lightly. "You can be a bit terrifying, with teeth and claws out, ready to slash some throats, but he thinks you're just a sweet, cute little puppy who wants to play."

"Again with the wolf thing," he sighed, but shortly later, he let out a chuckle. "I'm not sweet. Or cute."

"To him, you are," I said and patted his shoulder, knowing I might lose an arm for doing so.

Luke shook his head with an amused look on his face. At least he was getting used to the friendly gestures. Then, he suddenly stopped, and his expression turned blank. He looked around before turning his gaze up to Troy and Sky, who were now close to the top.

"What?" I asked, but he didn't even flinch. Not at first.

He grit his teeth together and shook his head again. "Move your ass..." he muttered quietly, and continued walking, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I wondered if I said or did something wrong when I followed him. I didn't have the guts to ask him what was bothering him. I didn't have the guts to start a new conversation either – something about his expression told me to keep quiet.

"What's taking you guys so long?" Troy laughed at us when they reached the top.

"We're coming, we're coming..." I muttered, peeking at Luke from time to time. He was not in a good mood anymore.

Just a moment later, we arrived at the top of the hill, and Sky took my hand. "What's wrong?" he whispered quietly, and I shook my head. He didn't ask again, thankfully.

I turned to look at Luke, who had stopped a couple of feet away from me. The path ended right where we were standing, on the edge of a cliff, and the forest floor was far down below us. I didn't dare to go too close to the edge since it was quite a big fall all the way down.

But the view was breathtaking. We could see the tallest buildings of the city looming in the distance. During sunset, it was even more miraculous.

"Luke?" I heard Troy speaking his name quietly, and I turned my attention back to the two of them. Troy was standing in front of Luke, who was staring somewhere down at the forest behind the edge.

Luke didn't say anything in a while. He looked like he had forgotten all about the rest of us. Eventually, Troy turned to look in the same direction Luke was staring at, and for some reason, I had the feeling he understood what was wrong.

"This..." Troy whispered, looking like he just realized something.

"This is where I broke my leg," Luke said quietly.

"God..." Troy muttered with a muffled voice, and turned his back on the cliff, like he couldn't look at it anymore. "It's so far down..."

"You... what?" I asked in shock.

"I was... driving my ATV, and I... I forgot where I was. I drove over the edge just about here," Luke said, and took a step closer to the edge. "I fell down, and broke my leg, but the ATV took most of the impact, so I was otherwise fine..."

"Goodness..." Sky whispered, squeezing my hand tighter. "I had no idea... I'm sorry I took you guys here."

"It's fine," Luke breathed out slowly. "I haven't been here since the accident. I always knew I should come back here, one more time. I just never had the chance..."

He backed away from the edge and took a deep breath.

"Are you all right?" Troy asked, placing his hands on Luke's sides.

"Yeah. I'm good," he muttered as a reply. "I don't seem to like heights anymore," he added with a shaky laugh.

"We should go back down," Sky said.

"No. Not yet..." Luke said, and took a deep breath, gently pushing Troy's hands away.

He stepped back to the edge, even though he was clearly uncomfortable. Troy stayed right beside him with a worried and sad look on his face when he watched him carefully. I saw him touching Luke's hand carefully, and Luke took it in his, trying to give him a smile.

I couldn't even begin to understand how scary it must've been for Luke to fall all the way down. Even the thought of it started suffocating me. Thank God, he survived. It was a really bad fall.

Luke took another deep breath, looking down at the ground so many feet below us. A long moment later, he looked up at the sky. I could see him taking a stronger hold on Troy's hand, but otherwise, he didn't move a muscle. Sky and I both stayed absolutely quiet. We didn't want to bother him. He clearly needed the moment of silence. It was clear that he still wasn't quite over with the accident.

"I'm being a complete idiot now, aren't I?" Luke chuckled and stepped back. "I just fell. No need to get sentimental about it..." he added, like he was talking to himself.

"You almost died here," Troy said softly. "This isn't just some hill in some forest."

Luke stared at him for a moment before he nodded shortly. "Yeah, I suppose..."

"We should head back to the camp," Sky said carefully, and the rest of us nodded.

When we started making our way back down, I spotted Luke turning to look at the cliff one more time. There was something in his eyes I couldn't put my finger on, but I guess it was none of my business, anyway. Then he took a deep breath before he turned to look at Troy again. For a moment, he had a small smile on his lips, but then he squinted his eyes, and the smile vanished.

"I am not a sweet, cute little puppy who wants to play," he told Troy.

Troy tilted his head before he started laughing. "You sure about that?" he asked with a wink.

"Yes," Luke said with a ferocious expression on his face, but Troy just patted his cheek, his smile never faltering.

"Aren't you just adorable," he cooed.

Luke turned to glare at me over his shoulder, like it was somehow my fault Troy called him adorable. I just laughed, and so did Sky. That didn't help the situation at all, and Luke ended up pouting the rest of the way back to our tents.

Poor Luke. It couldn't have been easy for someone like him to let people know he was actually a really good guy.