"Good morning, daddy." His voice was soft and sweet, almost teasing. His hands toyed with a loose strand of Ezra's blonde hair.

Ezra sighed and swatted his hand away. "Hey, Finley."

"Oh. What's with the sour tone? I heard from Colby that you like being called daddy. Do I not do it for you?" Finley tried to hold in his laughter, but it kept slipping out in between words.

"You're just jealous that I got Colby to call me daddy before you got Brent to do it."

"How could I be jealous of somebody who's last name is Dickinson."

"Imagine having to moan out Finley during sex."

"Quit it!" Colby interrupted. "You guys are so mean to each other."

"I'm only teasing my little dicky-son." Finley pulled Ezra down into a headlock. "He knows I'm joking and he better be fucking joking too."

"Did I hurt your feelings, Finny?" Ezra's phone buzzed on the table but he didn't check it.

"Not as much as you hurt my man Colby's feelings. You really pulled a fast one on him, huh? Told him he could top and then went all power bottom on his ass. My boy didn't stand a chance."

"He still got to top. Didn't you, babe?" Ezra broke out of Finley's headlock and looked to Colby who had a smug grin on his face.

"I'm the top. Ezra even called me the best at it."

"That's just cruel." Finley scolded Ezra. Ezra's phone buzzed again, then again and again and again until it started to ring. "I think somebody is calling you."

"Leave it."

"Who is it?" Colby reached forward to look at the phone, but Ezra snatched his wrist. He tried to play it off by then holding Colby's hand, a way to try and convince him that the action hadn't been as brash as it was. However, the damage was already done.

"Are you okay, Ezra?" Colby asked.

"Fine, yeah." He picked up his phone and shoved it into the bottom of his school bag. It was still ringing and that was blatantly obvious to both Colby and Finley, but Ezra made no mention of it. He didn't even check the phone screen to see who was calling, because he already knew.

He was saved by the bell, literally. He threw his bag over his shoulder, gave Colby a quick kiss goodbye and headed off. He briefly heard Colby try to call him back for a second and Finley asking what was wrong with him. Ezra did not want to talk about it right now.

For the rest of the day he tried to act as casually as possible. He tried to pay attention in his classes -even with his phone periodically ringing- and he tried to act as normally as possible. He had lunch with Colby who tried to bring up his strange behaviour again, but he would successfully change the topic of conversation every time Colby tried. Luckily for Ezra, Colby had the attention span of a squirrel with ADHD so was easily distracted by other things. Ezra even had a personal theory that Colby could have ADHD, but he was still testing that hypothesis out.

At one point when Colby attempted to bring up Ezra's strange behaviour again, Ezra just pulled out his car keys, dangled them in front of Colby's face so that they shimmered in the light and let him play with them.

And Colby did for a solid ten minutes. He was the cutest and Ezra would do anything for him, except involve him in his own messy business. Colby didn't deserve that. Colby stopped asking after that, instead he went on his own phone for a little while, then did his regular thing of leaning against Ezra and telling him every random thought that came into his head.

Ezra's favourite Colby-thought of the day was: "If unicorns did exist, they would probably be used by the military as a weapon. They would spear the enemy with their horns and the pre-established love for unicorns in children would be great military propaganda."

Throughout all the time Ezra had spent listening to Colby (and he did listen very carefully to every word), Ezra still couldn't decide if Colby was a random idiot or a genius that just hadn't applied himself to the right thing yet. Either way, to listen to Colby's insane ramblings was to be soothed.

The final lesson of Ezra's day was English with Mr Williams, a.k.a his boyfriend's dad, a.k.a the man who was currently letting Ezra live at his house. Needless to say, Ezra tried very hard in English to impress him.

Mr Williams was the man Ezra aspired to be in the future. He loved his family, he loved his job, he loved living life. Today he was wearing a tie that had a very crude drawing of a stick man holding hands with a stick lady and a smaller stick man. It had been drawn by a child, specifically, it had been drawn by Colby when he was five -as Ezra had found out this morning- and Mr Williams still wore it to this day.

They were analysing a poem by Carol Ann Duffy. "Ezra," Mr Williams called on him, "what do you think Duffy was trying to say about the power balance between Mrs Midas and her husband?"

"I believe-" Ezra's phone started ringing, again. "I'm sorry, I'm just going to turn it off."

"That's alright, Ezra. Trisha you answer the question and then we can come back to Ezra."

Ezra searched through his bag, Trisha's high pitched voice becoming background noise to him now. Why did he keep calling? There was no reason to. He thought things were clear between them now. Why was he trying to ruin what Ezra had now?! Ezra became more and more furious the longer he contemplated that man's motives for harassing him.

Finally, he found his phone and powered it off. He was tempted to smash the damn thing. That would, of course, cause problems as then Colby wouldn't be able to contact him.

He sighed and sat back into his chair. Mr Williams didn't come back to him to finish answering the question, he left Ezra alone for the rest of the lesson, for which, Ezra was quite thankful for. He needed a moment to think about things.

It had come out of nowhere, but his father had decided that after weeks of Ezra being kicked out the house, he would try and get back in contact with him again. It was ridiculous and selfish and Ezra had no idea what to do about it.

It had started last night with a simple text from his father asking how Ezra was. What was Ezra supposed to reply to that? If it hadn't been for Colby and his family's generosity, he would still have been living out of his car. His father didn't stop at that though. Now, Ezra received frequent texts from him saying things like: I hope you've learnt your lesson and I'm willing to forgive you.

If Ezra was to theorise what had happened to change his father's attitude, it would be that he too had realised just how big and empty the house they lived in was. There was no welcoming energy or warmth to that house. The neighbours were rich assholes who bitched about you behind your back and, when there was no one else in the house, it almost felt like the wide space of the thing was swallowing you whole. It wouldn't surprise Ezra if his father had now come to understand how isolating that place was.

Despite all this, Ezra contemplated going back. Not because he had suddenly forgiven his father or that he missed his old room. No, nothing of the sort. It was the fact that the Williams family had let him stay in the house due to Ezra not being able to go home.

Technically, since Ezra now had a house to go back to -until his father's next temper tantrum- then he should return to it. Ezra was literally freeloading at this point and forcing an unnecessary burden onto Colby's family. He was now imposing himself onto them for nothing as he now was allowed back in with his father.

He didn't want to go back. The very idea of it made him feel physically sick.

If his closeted younger self could see that he now lived with his crush, he would probably- well Ezra wasn't sure what he would do. He was quite the angsty teen when he was younger so he probably would've punched a hole in a wall somewhere. Yikes. He was glad he was over that.

The time had passed without Ezra really realising it. Everyone began to pack up their things and go, so he did the same.

"Ezra, stay behind for a moment, please." Said Mr Williams.

A few boys whistled at Ezra. "Somebody's in trouble." They joked, slapping him on the back as they left.

"He is not in trouble, I assure you. Don't you boys have other lessons to be in? Shoo, go." Mr Williams ushered them out the room until it was only himself and Ezra left. "You seem a little distracted today, Ezra. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Perhaps it was the gentle look from Mr Williams or the fact that Ezra was literally exhausted today, but he couldn't be bothered to put up a front anymore. He'd tried to do it when he was closeted and that backfired on him. He tried to do it when he was kicked out his house and that didn't work at all. There was no reason to keep pretending. "No, actually. I'm a bit... fuck, I don't even know. My dad has been trying to get back in contact with me."

"I see. So, that's who has been trying to call you all day?"

"Yeah. For some reason, he's being pretty relentless about it. I think he's finally had the epiphany that he's really just some sad lonely old man."

"What has he been saying to you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Basically, that he's willing to forgive me. I haven't even done anything wrong, I never did do anything wrong to begin with. He kicked me out for liking Colby- for liking guys."

"Has he ever met Colby?"

"Yes, he has. Colby decided it would be a good idea to randomly come round one evening and accidentally got himself invited to dinner. It didn't go well." It felt like ages ago when that had happened. It was funny in hindsight, but it had been terrifying in the moment. He couldn't help but laugh when he remembered Colby's bold statement that he loved meat, how Colby had managed to ignore his father's interrogation techniques, Ezra had no idea.

"That boy, I swear. He is his mother's son, inherited her recklessness and lack of forethought, can't help but love them though."

Ezra nodded in agreement. His eyes wandered to Mr Williams' tie again. He wanted a family like that, he wanted to have that with Colby, he couldn't go back to his father because there was no family there. He couldn't go back.

"I know this is selfish of me and I hate being a burden to you and Jemma, but I don't want to go back to living with my dad. I can't."

"You are such a serious boy, Ezra. Got the weight of the world on your shoulders and yet you refuse to ever give yourself a break. Jemma and I have no considered you a burden. You're like a second son to me and Colby adores you. You do not have to move out, nor would I let you return to a poor excuse of a father who would even contemplate kicking out his own son in the first place."

"Thank you." It was all Ezra could manage to choke out, too overwhelmed with emotions to risk anything more.

Ezra pulled out his phone from the bottom of his bag and turned it back on. He opened up the messages from his father and simply typed: 'I'm not coming back.' With a deep breath and a reassurance of himself, he sent it. Jemma was right, Mr Williams was right; he had to start doing what was best for him. He blocked his father's number.

Mr Williams placed his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "I'm glad you could talk to me, Ezra. However, I do believe you should tell Colby this as well, he texted me earlier about how he was concerned about you. You very much have won over my son's heart, you know."

"I'll take good care of it."

"Yes, I believe you will."

*

Colby and Ezra lay on top of each other on the sofa in the living room. Jemma had made quite the dramatic show of washing the pillows and covers of the sofa in front of the boys to really hammer in her point of no sex on family furniture.

Ezra's head rested on Colby's chest as Colby ran his fingers through this hair absentmindedly. They were watching a film called 'Borat' that Colby kept laughing at, but Ezra hadn't been paying too much attention to it. It was a warm and comfortable moment that Ezra was afraid to break. Mr Williams was right, though.

"It was my dad that kept calling today."

Colby paused the movie but kept stroking Ezra's hair. "Okay. What's he been saying?"

Ezra explained all that his father had done in the last 24 hours to Colby, who was very pissed off by the end of Ezra's explanation.

"What the fuck!" Colby raged. "Who does he think he is? What an asshole! Wait till I tell my mom about this she's going to be fuming." Ezra could imagine Jemma reacting with the exact same exclamations and lack of chill as her son.

It made Ezra smile. "I don't deserve you."

"What do you mean you don't deserve me?"

"I mean, you are far too good and beautiful and all around one of the most wonderful human beings, for a dickhead like me."

Colby pouted. "I don't actually mean it when I call you dickhead, it's just a joke."

"I know."

"And I am not too... everything you just said for you. It's the complete opposite, but don't let that stroke your ego too much. You're really intelligent and everybody likes you and everybody thinks you're super handsome, especially me. So, you're the one out of my league." Colby pressed his index finger and thumb together. "Only by a little bit though, I am pretty cool."

Ezra stared up at him. "I love you."

Colby's face instantly flushed red and covered his face with his hands to hide it.

Ezra couldn't help but tease him. "What, am I embarrassing you, Colby?" He leaned in close to Colby's ears, which were also flushed red. "Because it's true. I love you. I love you so much."

A muffled sound came from behind Colby's hands.

"What was that?"

Colby peeked through his fingers. "I said, I love you too. Dickhead."

Ezra removed Colby's hands and kissed all over his crimson coloured face. He pulled Colby tight to himself and hugged him as if he was never going to let him go.
They finished watching the movie and went through to the kitchen for some snacks before dinner.

"We don't have anything." Colby complained. He didn't give Ezra a chance to look through the cupboards to check for anything. He closed the cupboard then turned to Ezra with his big puppy dog eyes. "Can we go out and get some?"

The only answer was yes.

They went to the store and it was weird. Ezra had expected for a short trip like that to take about fifteen minutes top. All he had to do was take Colby to buy him some junk to eat. Whilst he was out, he decided he may as well get more of the coffee that Trevor liked to drink because he was running short and he got a pack of gum for Jemma as well. It was not supposed to be a big trip.

However, Colby had different ideas. He took half an hour in the store to pick between the usual chocolate bar he always got and another one he'd never shown interest in before.

"Get your usual." Ezra told him. "The other one's got raisins in, you hate raisins."

"Yeah." Colby agreed, but not really.

It took Ezra two minutes to get the stuff he wanted to get for Trevor and Jemma, he even had time to pick up some extra bits and pieces. The rest of the time was filled with Colby staring at the two chocolate bars. Half an hour. Thirty straight minutes of watching Colby do that, only for him to repeat what Ezra had said to him not so long ago.

"I'm going to get my usual." Colby told him. "The other one's got raisins in, I hate raisins."

Ezra didn't say anything, he didn't dare. He kept repeating in his head the mantra of patience is a virtue. He dragged Colby to the front of the store, paid for everything, then swiftly got out. Trevor would insist to repay Ezra for everything when he got home, but Ezra would refuse. He wasn't using his money to pay for things, he was using his mother's 'Never speak to me again' money. He hadn't told her that he had found a place to live, she'd stop sending money otherwise. He was going to use every penny on the Williams family until he felt his debt repaid. He doubted he ever would feel that way.

They were about to get in the car and go home, when Colby suddenly told him to wait.

"Do you mind if we go pick up Sophie?" Asked Colby. "She's stranded on the other side of town and doesn't have a lift. Do you mind giving her a ride home?"

Ezra checked the time, it wasn't close to dinner time yet so he supposed they had the time. He wouldn't leave Sophie alone in town. "Sure, we can pick her up."

The entire ride, Colby kept texting on his phone.

"Who you talking to?"

Colby put his phone away. "Oh, nobody. Just Finley. Talking to him about some things he's gotta do."

"What kind of things?"

"Um, hair things. Yeah, he's getting his hair redone."

"Didn't he get his hair redone quite recently?"

Colby laughed nervously. "He doesn't like it very much."

"Really?" Asked Ezra. "I saw him yesterday and he said it was his favourite hairstyle ever. His mom did it for him."

"He did say that, didn't he?" Colby looked back at his phone. "Sophie's just around the corner... there!" He pointed to her waiting by the road.

She hopped in. "Thanks for coming to get me, guys. I didn't want my parents to know where I was going, they would've slaughtered me."

"Your parents don't like the friends you were out with today?" Asked Ezra.

"What? No, they like my friends who I was with just now. I meant they're not big fans of you two."

"How would they know you were with us? Also, we're about to drop you off in front of your house they're going to see us."

Sophie glanced at Colby who shook his head. What the hell?

"Change of plans." Colby announced. "Sophie is coming round to ours and then a different friend can take her home."

"Why didn't a different friend take her home straight away instead of this weird relay thing we got going? No offence, Sophie. I don't mind driving you at all, I'm just a bit confused."

"No offence taken." Sophie assured, smiling for good measure.

"Why are you asking so money questions today?" Nagged Colby. "I forgot that her parents don't like me, alright? You gonna be a dick or you gonna take her to our house."

Ezra was getting far too fed up to keep asking questions. It'd been a long day. He didn't speak the whole drive home, he only listened in on the small talk between Sophie and Colby. Colby must've realised that he'd been a bit harsh earlier because he reached across and placed a hand on Ezra's thigh.

He wasn't angry at Colby, he didn't know what the hell he was up to, but he wasn't angry at him. The texts and calls from his father kept swarming in his mind like buzzing wasps using his brain as a nest. Why now? Why today especially?

He was fine before his father started calling, he was happy and more than content with his life. There were some nights when Ezra would stay awake much longer than Colby and think about his father. He hated himself for not being able to completely move on, for sometimes being moved to tears when he had moments of weakness and missed his dad. Jemma said it was completely natural and that she too missed her parents from time to time even after all the time that had passed for her. It brought him some comfort, but not much.

When they arrived back home, Sophie immediately went inside and Colby asked him if he wanted to sit outside for a few minutes.

"I thought you were allergic to being outside?" Ezra japed.

"I love being outside, asshole. It is getting chilly though."

"You go in." Said Ezra. "I need to make a call, so I'll be in in a few minutes."

"Try make it exactly four minutes."

Oddly specific, but alright. Once Colby had disappeared inside, Ezra turned his phone back on. Twelve missed calls, ten voice mails, twenty six text notifications. The phone rang and his father's number showed up on screen, Ezra answered.

"What do you want?" He wasted no time with pointless formalities or insincere niceties.

"I've been calling you all day." His father complained. "I thought you'd be happy to here from me."

"I'm not."

It was silent on his father's end for a moment. "How have you been?" He eventually asked.

"Why do you care?"

"I'm your dad, Ezra. Of course I care, that's my job."

"Well, you're pretty shit at it. I'm not sure if you've somehow forgotten, but you kicked me out. I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for you."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Ezra."

He wasn't expecting an apology, he'd never gotten one before. He didn't validate it by saying that Ezra had somehow managed to forgive him, if that's what his father wanted, he'd have to try a lot harder than that.

"I'm so sorry, Ezra. I was wrong, okay? I admit it. I thought that you'd come crawling back after one night and everything would go back to normal. Where are you staying now?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Is it somewhere safe? At least, tell me that."

"Yes, it's safe."

"Okay then. I miss you, Ezra. This house wasn't made for one man alone. Don't you want to come home? You must be desperate to come back. Your mother said that you even tried to move in with her, you must've been pretty desperate, huh? Could you imagine living with her? She'd probably make you apply her botox and rub her feet at night."

That actually made Ezra laugh a bit. "She probably would've made me her personal pool boy."

"Yeah." His dad laughed. "She missed a trick there."

"When I saw her, she looked completely different. You remember that nose job she kept on going on about?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she got it. She looks like Voldemort's ugly twin sister now, except she was all decked out in some stupid fur coat."

"Jesus. How many puppies do you think she skinned for that thing?"

Ezra laughed. He hated himself for enjoying the conversation. He had to keep reminding himself that this was his father in one of his good moments and if he went back home, those moments would be few and far between. "Why are you calling?" He forced himself to ask.

"Because, I want my son back. I made a mistake kicking you out, I know that now. You can't be happier wherever you are than you were at home with your own stuff. I'll tell you what, I've made some dinner reservations at that fancy restaurant on fourth street that you like. You swing by there and we can have a big meal to celebrate your birthday."

Is was his birthday? He'd completely forgotten. No one had said happy birthday to him, so it's not like he had any reminders. Even his mother didn't bother calling this year, she must be terrified that if they spoke again he'd ask her to let him live with her again. As if.

"No, I'm okay." Said Ezra.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that. The dinner is completely on me."

"I'm not very hungry."

"You can even bring that boy you like!" His father bargained frantically. "You can bring Cody or whatever his name was. Please, Ezra."

"You'd be okay with me bringing Colby?"

"Yes! Colby, that was his name. Sure, you can bring him. God, wasn't he hilarious that time he came round to dinner. I really liked him. He was such a riot."

That's not how Ezra remembered that dinner at all.

"What happened to your precious reputation? You want to ruin it by having a gay son?"

"Well, none of the people I know need to know you're gay. Who knows what they might say? But, I accept you, Ezra. You're my boy."

There it was. The character growth was all a facade and he wasn't even trying to hide it. "You can cancel the reservation, I'm not coming. Goodbye-"

"Ezra, please." He had never heard his father sound so desperate before. "I'm begging here. We don't have to go to dinner, it can be whatever you want."

"I don't know if I'm ready to talk to you after what you did. If one day I do feel ready, then I'll call you. That could be soon or it might be never. Don't try and call me again because I won't pick up."

"But, you might call me one day?"

"Yeah, maybe one day. Is that alright with you? Because that's the only deal I'm offering."

"Yes. I'm okay with that. Happy Birthday, Ezra."

"Thanks, dad." He hung up the phone and looked up at the sky for a moment. Colby was right, it was getting chilly.

Did he make the wrong decision by not accepting his father's peace offering. The power rested with him on how he wanted to handle things. He'd meant what he said. Maybe some day in the future, Ezra would reach out to his father and get back in contact with him. Maybe some day, they could have a functional relationship, but that could never happen if his father held all the power. His father had always lofted his financial power and age superiority over Ezra's head. Until Ezra has no reason to rely on his father for support, they could not have a relationship like Trevor and Colby did. A sad fact, but nonetheless true.

Colby poked his head out from the front door. "Phone call done?" He asked.

"Yep, all done."

He smiled and came pattering down the driveway, he took Ezra's hand and dragged him inside. Ezra was unsure what he'd done to get escorted inside.

"Close your eyes." Colby instructed.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Ezra did as asked and Colby placed his hands over Ezra's eyes as well. Colby attempted to lead Ezra to the living room. By the amount of walls and furniture he bumped Ezra into, you would've thought that Colby had been blindfolded too.

"We're almost there." Colby announced.

"Ow!" Ezra's knee collided with some sort of wall.

"Sorry." Colby's hands moved away. "Okay, open your eyes."

"SURPRISE!"

In the living room, Trevor, Jemma, Finley, Brent and Sophie all stood around the central coffee table that had a huge cake on it. They were all decked out with party hats, streamers, party poppers and balloons that had 18 printed on them. The cake was the most delicious looking chocolate cake Ezra had ever seen and it had 'Happy Birthday Ezra!' iced on top with white frosting.

"What-" Ezra had no words. He barely noticed when Colby put a party hat on him, he was woken up when the elastic band slapped his chin.

"Happy Birthday!" Congratulated Colby. "Did we surprise you?"

Ezra could only nod. He'd thought they'd forgotten. If he couldn't remember his birthday, why should all of them? But, they did. They all remembered.

"Go sit, go sit." Colby ushered him to the sofa and sat next to him.

It was a surreal experience. Brent came up to him first and wished him happy birthday and gave him a present. It was beautifully wrapped with a big bow on top, as expected from a gift given by Brent. It was a new video game that they'd been talking about recently, Ezra was desperate to play it. Other presents followed after. Sophie gave him two PlayStation remote controls, Jemma and Trevor gave him a PlayStation, Colby gave him a bunch of other games for his console and —last but not least— Finley gave him a pair of white gym socks with the Gucci brand label drawn on with a black marker that had bled through the fabric.

"I didn't know about the PlayStation shit." Finley explained.

"I told him multiple times, he just doesn't listen." Brent said to Ezra. "He did make your cake though."

They all talked and laughed together. Finley was nice to him for the very first time, he said that it was only because it was Ezra's birthday though and that nice Finley would be none when the clock hit midnight. Colby stuck to his side the entire time and Trevor kept taking photos of the event whilst Jemma complained at him for constantly getting his thumb in the photo. Brent and Ezra gushed about how the new game was multiplayer and that they would always be down to play it with each other. Ezra even had a nice chat with Sophie who apologised for the seven millionth time about her behaviour earlier in the year, he assured her all was well then they talked about anything they could think of.

"Make a wish." Trevor told him when it was time to blow out the candles. "How do I get this thing to record? Oh. Jemma I've done something."

Jemma took the phone off him. "You've taken three pictures of your feet, just press the record button!"

"And which button is that?"

"The big red one."

"I don't see it."

Jemma was put in charge of the camera after that.

Ezra looked to all the friends he had around him. They all smiled at him and sat with anticipation, waiting for Ezra to make a wish. He closed his eyes and blew all the candles out at once. Everyone clapped and began to sing him happy birthday.

"What did you wish for?" Colby asked once the song was over.

"For a better boyfriend."

Colby whacked his arm. "You've already got the best of the best."

Ezra kissed him. "I know." He was so happy.

He wished to always be happy. With the people he had around him at that moment, the wish, in Ezra's opinion, could easily be granted.