(Aaron's POV)
Two months before the college graduation where me and Liam where going to step in a different path for real this time. Just the thought of it makes my whole life turn upside down as I can't picture myself without the presence of him besides me.
I remember the ridiculous idea he have in that one afternoon because we thought we were about to go in college separately.
Flashback
"Hey, Aaron! Wake up, sleeping beauty, we're going to the woods."
I blinked against the dim light of my basement, a couch cushion practically glued to my face. Standing over me was Liam, looking like a manic lumberjack. He was covered in dirt, his dark curls were a wild, static mess, and he was triumphantly wielding two rusted shovels.
"Liam? What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes, groaning. "It's three in the afternoon. Why are you holding weapons?"
"Because, my lazy friend, we have an empire to construct." He dropped one of the shovels onto my shins with a heavy *thud*. "Come on. Get up. We're building it."
I sat up, tossing a pillow at his head, which he ducked with a laugh. "Building *what*, exactly? A trench?"
"The castle, Aaron. Our castle." The playful smirk left his face for just a fraction of a second, replaced by a gaze so intense it made my stomach do a dangerous little flip. "A real one. Out by the old fallen oak. A house where nobody else can find us. Just you and me."
*Just you and me.* The words echoed in my chest, a beautiful, terrifying ghost of the promise we'd made as kids. For four years, I had been burying my feelings, trying to survive high school by keeping him at arm's length.
And now, three weeks before we both left for college, he was dragging me right back into our private universe.
"Liam, we leave for college in twenty-one days," I said, swinging my legs off the couch and picking up the shovel. "You choice *now* to become an architect?"
"Hey, no time like the present!" he yelled, already bounding up the basement stairs. "Last one to the tree line has to carry the water jugs!"
"You absolute cheat!" I panted, catching up to him in the clearing by the rushing stream. He was already leaning against his shovel, looking smug, beneath the dense canopy of Maplewood trees.
"Hey, a king uses every tactical advantage," Liam grinned, wiping sweat from his forehead. He pointed to a hidden alcove shielded by thick briars and overgrown ferns. "Look at this spot. Right between these three maples. It's a natural foundation."
"Liam, it's a pile of dirt and weeds," I scoffed, though a smile was already tugging at my lips.
"It's a *canvas*, Aaron. Have some vision!" He lunged forward, crowding my space just like he used to do at our shared high school locker, and shoved a branch into my hands. "Now stop complaining and start clearing. I don't care if it's made of wood, mud, or your tears—it's going to be *ours*."
Looking at him standing there, so fiercely enthusiastic, the walls I had spent four years building around my heart didn't just crack—they started to crumble. He wanted the sanctuary of our childhood; I wanted a future I could never ask for. But right now, with the sun filtering through the leaves like liquid gold, it was impossible to stay heavy.
"Fine," I laughed, swinging the shovel into the dirt. "But if a structural beam collapses on my head, I'm haunting you at college."
"Deal!" he shouted.
For the next few hours, the woods were alive with our noise. It wasn't the agonizing, heavy silence of the past few years; it was the easy, breathless rhythm of us. We dug up the rich forest dirt, dragged massive logs into a perimeter, and accidentally knocked into each other at least a dozen times.
"Hey, structural engineer, catch!" Liam yelled.
I turned just in time to catch a thick, straight branch he tossed my way. I locked it into place against the support beam we'd wedged between the maple trees. "This is going to be the sturdiest wall in the state, Dawson. Unlike your side, which looks like a stiff breeze could take it down."
"Excuse me?" Liam gasped dramatically, marching over to inspect my work. "My side has *character*. Yours looks like an IKEA display."
He stood right next to me, his shoulder pressed firmly against mine. He was radiating heat, smelling of sweat and pine, and his chest was heaving from the workout. He leaned his weight into me playfully, nudging me with his elbow. "Admit it, though. It's pretty awesome."
"Yeah," I laughed, looking around the small, skeletal structure of our hidden house. My heart was beating fast, a mix of the heavy lifting and the intoxicating proximity of him. "It is."
Liam's laughter faded into a soft, breathless smile. He didn't pull away. He just kept his shoulder pressed against mine, looking out at the fortress we were building out of nothing.
"You know... when everything gets too loud out there, this is the only place where I feel like I can actually breathe. With you."
He turned his head to look at me. The fading sunlight caught the dark depths of his eyes, turning them warm and golden. He was so close. If I just leaned in two inches, I could tell him. I could tell him why I had been withdrawing, why my heart broke every time he smiled.
"Aaron..." he murmured. His eyes dropped to my mouth for a split second, his voice completely losing its teaseful edge.
My knuckles turned white against the wooden beam. The playful banter vanished, leaving a silence between us that felt heavy, electric, and terrifyingly fragile. I stood on the edge of a dark, inevitable storm, looking at my best friend, utterly terrified of what would happen if I finally found the courage to speak my truth.
Two weeks later
"If you drop that corner, Aaron, I swear I'm framing you for the murder of our childhood."
"Then stop vibrating with excitement and hold your end steady!" I gasped, my arms shaking as we hoisted the final, massive sheet of overlapping bark and pine branches onto the roof.
With one synchronized, breathless heave, we slotted it into place. A heavy, satisfying *thud* echoed through the clearing.
Two weeks. Fourteen days of blisters, scraped knuckles, stolen milk crates, and more mud than any two eighteen-year-olds had a right to be covered in. But standing there in the damp, quiet heat of the Maplewood trees, we weren't just looking at a pile of forestry debris anymore. We had actually done it.
It was a small, hidden house-castle, perfectly camouflaged between the three giant maples. The walls were made of tightly woven logs and packed clay, a sturdy little door hung on hinges salvaged from my dad's old shed, and a small porch faced the rushing stream. It was chaotic, beautiful, and completely hidden from the rest of the world.
"We did it," Liam breathed, his voice dropping all its teasing edge. He took a step back, wiping a streak of dirt across his forehead, his dark curls sticking up in every direction. He looked completely exhausted, totally filthy, and absolutely radiant. "The kingdom is secure."
"The dandelion moat is missing," I pointed out, leaning against my shovel, trying to catch my breath while my heart hammered a frantic, familiar rhythm against my ribs.
"We'll forage for them tomorrow," he laughed, turning a brilliant, wide smile on me. He grabbed my shoulder, shaking me playfully.
"Come on. Let's inaugurate the place."
He pulled open the creaky wooden door and stepped inside. The interior was small but cozy, the ground packed flat and covered in a thick layer of soft, dried moss we'd spent three days harvesting. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the log walls like tiny beams of liquid gold, dancing in the dust motes.
Liam collapsed backward onto the moss, throwing his arms out wide. "Oh, man. This is elite. Sit down, Aaron, you're making the place look crowded."
I laughed, shaking my head, and sat down cross-legged a few feet away from him, leaning my back against the sturdy maple trunk that made up the corner of our cabin. "I still can't believe your 'IKEA wall' actually held up."
"Hey! That wall is a masterpiece of modern engineering," Liam protested, kicking his sneaker playfully against my knee. "Admit it, you doubted the vision."
"I doubted your mathematical skills, Dawson. Big difference."
"Details, details." He rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his hand, looking out the small entryway toward the stream. The playful smirk lingered on his lips, but his dark eyes were intensely warm, reflecting the golden light cutting through the room.
"Seriously, though. Thanks for building this with me. I know I went a little crazy with the whole 'we need a castle before college' thing."
"A little?" I teased, though the mention of college sent a sharp, agonizing pang straight through my chest.
*One week left.* Seven days until we packed our separate cars and drove toward different states. For four years, I had hidden my love for him, terrified that speaking the truth would destroy the only sanctuary I had. He was talking about the future with the easy comfort of a best friend, completely unaware of the internal warfare raging inside me.
"Yeah, well," Liam murmured, turning his head back to look at me, his expression softening into something genuinely nostalgic. "I just... I couldn't bear the thought of leaving without making sure we had a place that was just ours. No matter how far away we go, or how loud the world gets... we have this. You and me."
"Yeah," I said softly, forcing a reassuring smile even as my heart fractured completely under the weight of my secret. "You and me."
The silence inside the little house-castle became peaceful, filled only with the distant rush of the stream outside and the sound of our breathing. I looked at my best friend, holding my truth tight against my ribs right where it belonged, grateful for this final, golden snapshot of us before the world changed forever.
End of Flashback.
And now here I am. In the middle of my emotion. Thinking if I should cross the boundaries or let the boy I love fade into the dust as the moon disappears in the clouds full of rain and thunder aches.