DAN'S P.O.V

"Dad."

"Hey, dad."

"Dad!"

"Daddy!"

"What is it, Danny?!" My dad yelled, abruptly dropping the box he had in his hands and falling back onto the couch with a thud.

"Do we really have to move?" I groaned.

He sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath... as if trying not to show his aggravation. I didn't blame him though, he looked exhausted and I wasn't helping him by crying and whining about how I didn't want to move. "For the 100th damn time, yes."

I groaned. "Why can't we just stay here?" I knew I was being childish, I was seventeen not seven, I should not be acting like this but I couldn't help it. He was telling me to leave all of my friends behind, how could I do that? I loved my friends and everyone at school. How was I supposed to just erase them all from my mind and move on to a new place and start a completely new life? Impossible, I have lived here my whole damn life. There were too many memories attached to this place, I couldn't just get up and go.

But as much as I didn't want to leave this place, I also didn't want to upset my parents. They were all I had, they loved me more than anything. They were my backbone, my pillar of support. Besides I knew this was a great opportunity for my dad. He had been sitting at home, jobless, doing nothing for the past three months. Apparently he had a fight with one of his co-workers which got him fired from his previous job, I didn't know the whole story behind it but I knew it was pretty bad. Otherwise we wouldn't be leaving this place.

"You know we can't do that. We're practically broke, son. I don't want us to starve to death." He said, giving me an apologetic smile. "Besides are you seriously asking me this while we're literally loading our furniture onto the truck?"

"I'll be all alone there," I huffed.

"Erika'll be there. Now stop being a child and let me do my job," He sighed.

I rolled my eyes exasperatedly. I already knew Erika would be there. In fact, the one who was responsible for all of this was her father, Mike. My dad knew him since high school, they were best buddies back then and still were, that was why he offered to help the moment he came to know about our desperate situation.

"She's stupid." It was not like I hated her or anything, she was actually really nice and a really reliable friend but right now, I was searching for reasons to sulk so everything about her and her father was pernicious in my eyes.

He sighed, ruffling my hair. "Don't be mean to her, okay? Believe it or not, Mike helped us out a lot. In fact, even the house we'll be staying in is his cousin's so we only have to pay like- half the rent."

I grumbled, dramatically waving my hands around. "Why is this happening to me?! Why me?!"

"Danny, I know this is sudden and all but you have to understand that not everything will be just like you want it to be." He explained with a warm smile. "Maybe this is for the best and it's definitely an opportunity to make even more awesome friends than you already have. Who knows, maybe you'll even find yourself a cute girl." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right." He chuckled and ruffled my hair once again before picking up the box and going back to whatever he was doing before.

"By the way, do you need me for anything else?" I called after his retreating figure.

"No, it's okay. I'll manage. Take a break." He smiled.

I nodded and leaned back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling and sighing softly. Cute girls, huh? I wonder...

"If you liked girls, that is." I jumped, squeaking in shock.

"Dammit, Luke! Don't scare me like that." I spluttered. I completely forgot that he was here, I mean the guy was sprawled across the couch, texting his girlfriend since he got here, the reason why he came here completely forgotten.

"Aren't you here to help? Why are you sitting here doing nothing?" I glared at him, watching as he shrugged and went back to texting.

"You're good at avoiding topics that make you uncomfortable, aren't you?" He said calmly, without looking up from his phone, reminding me yet again that he knew me better than anyone else. Well, we had known each other since forever so it was only natural.

"I like girls, okay?" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and looking down at him with overwhelming confidence... Or so I thought.

He scoffed. "Yeah. You keep telling yourself that."

What was his problem? I knew he meant well but why was it so hard to fathom the idea of me being straight? Did I really act that gay? Or maybe he couldn't accept the fact that he was wrong this time? I mean he could literally tell what I was feeling just by looking at me, he even predicted stuff about my life and it always turned out to be true but this one time, he was wrong. I agreed that there was a certain point in my life where I was confused about my sexuality but I was over it now. It was probably just a phase anyway, for now I knew for sure that I was straight.

"I'm sure you staring at the wallpaper of a nude guy yesterday was fairly coincidental." He smirked, his eyes holding a mischievous glint.

I flushed, dropping my gaze to the floor and opening my mouth to explain. "That was one time, Luke. It-"

"How can you say that?!"

I frowned at the loud shout that came from behind me and looked up at Luke to see him staring straight back. He nudged his head towards the source of the outburst and I turned, furrowing my eyebrows when I saw my dad pacing back and forth angrily while arguing on the phone.

"We were going to move today! ....You said you were going to make it in time! ....Huh? What do you mean it's my fault?..... It's not my fault! I told you clearly that we're doing it today..... whatever ....Look, I know you're busy, okay? .....Yeah, I'm sorry....No, the trucks are already here.... we can't cancel it! ...No, we're moving today even if it's in the middle of the night, end of discussion." He gritted his teeth while grabbing his hair in frustration.

"Let's go, he can't make it. Apparently the stupid business trip is far more important than us." My dad said in almost a whisper, clearly upset and on the brink of a break down.

I frowned. "But what about- "

"I said let's go, okay? He can handle the rest of the stuff," He cut me off, glaring at me and I snapped my jaw shut, obviously aware of the fact that he was too exasperated right now to care about anything. I understood though, he made the arrangements to move all on his own, he even packed everything by himself, that must've been stressful. Besides we had been waiting since morning and dad wasn't exactly the patient type.

"So you're finally leaving, huh?" Luke whispered, his tone hurt and dejected. Now that I thought about it, Luke was the exact opposite of me. Meaning, he wasn't comfortable with showing emotions and such. That was probably why he used the excuse of helping me to stay close to me for as long as he can.

"Yeah." I said, my voice barely audible as I looked over at him fondly. This was it, I was leaving everyone behind, all my friends, my neighbours and acquaintances, whatever. Everything I had built for myself here over the years, gone. Gone forever. I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to come back here. This place, where I had lived my whole life, every moment, will all be just a memory now. Days I spent wandering around the town with my friends, all the surprise birthday parties thrown for me in that small coffee shop around the corner, all the silly fights I had with Luke on this very couch will soon be nothing more than just a story waiting to be told.

I sighed, biting my tongue and trying not to feel too hurt, my heart aching so bad that my whole body trembled, wanting only to scream and yell until I got what I wanted. But I knew I couldn't do that, I had to stay calm.

Stay calm.

"Dan, it's okay. We'll keep in touch, yeah? I'll call you everyday." Luke said and I looked up, only noticing him now. He had stopped texting, his phone lying deserted on the couch. We were leaving all our furniture behind, taking only what was necessary. Apparently, the house we were going to live in already had all the furniture we would need. Mike's cousin was some super rich dude and he said he would deal with everything else, including the stuff we were leaving behind.

I bit my lip as he hugged me tightly, trying hard not to feel too sad about all of this. "I'll miss you..." I whispered against his shoulder and he tightened his grip, pulling me closer.

"Y-yeah... me too." He said, barely audible and his voice cracking by the end. Despite my best efforts a small smile invaded my lips, he really was stubborn, huh? Hugging me so I wouldn't see him cry. This guy...

Somehow I felt happy and sad. Happy that I had someone who cared about me so much in my life. Happy that I had such an amazing friend who was always there for me for as long as I could remember but sad that I won't have him in my life anymore, he won't be there when I need him anymore.

I was happy but sad at the same time.