Ryan flipped another page of the book he was reading when he felt Troy's fingers start traveling up his sides. He tried to ignore the questing hands at first, but when they passed over his ribs, his ticklish nature took over and he jerked back, trying to get his boyfriend to stop.

"Troy," Ryan whined, squirming atop the comforter on his bed. "I'm trying to read."

"I know," Troy said burying his face in the crook of the blond's neck. "But I haven't got to spend much time with you lately and now we're together and all you want to do is read a book."

Ryan sighed and set the book off to the side so that he could turn to face Troy. "You're the one who wanted to be so involved with this end-of-the-year senior stuff. I didn't make you sign up for it," Ryan said, looking at Troy pointedly.

"You could have signed up with me," Troy said. "Don't you even care that we're graduating in a few weeks? We're leaving behind everything we know."

Ryan closed his eyes and raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I do care," he finally said. "I just don't want to focus on the fact that I'll be losing everything, everyone I love in just a little bit."

Understanding finally dawned on Troy. He knew Ryan still hadn't gotten over the fact that they would be going to different schools next year. Troy never really thought he would actually ever go to the same school as his boyfriend — their interests were just too different to go to the same place — but he had faith that the two of them would persevere and their relationship would only become stronger.

"Ry," Troy said, reaching his arms out and wrapping them around the blond's trim waist. "What are you worried about?"

Ryan just buried his head in Troy's chest, mumbling something incoherent and Troy sighed. "Look," he said, bringing Ryan's face away from his body, "I know you're worried about next year, but you don't have to be."

The blond just gave him a pointed look, telling him that he wasn't buying what Troy was selling.

"I'm serious," Troy said, moving down on the bed so that he was face to face with his boyfriend. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're it for me? You're the only one I care about?"

"But we'll be so far away from each other next year," Ryan said softly. "What if you find someone else?"

"And what if you find someone else?" Troy countered. "Do you think that I haven't been thinking about that? Do you realize how many people give you looks everywhere we go? You're gorgeous and everyone knows it. And then you actually befriend them and they can't help but love you even more. If there is anyone who should be worried it's me."

Ryan scoffed and Troy picked up on it immediately. "Trust me, Ry," he said. "And if the distance is something you're worried about, we're only going to be two hours away from each other. I can still come visit you, and you can come visit me. Everything will be just fine."

Ryan looked as though his walls were crumbling, but Troy could still sense some hesitation and so he decided to seal the deal. "Look," he said, before pulling his boyfriend into a soft kiss. "I love you. Only you. And nothing is going to change that."

His boyfriend finally let out a sigh, signaling that he had finally given into his boyfriend's words.

"Okay," Ryan said. "What do you want me to help out with? And just remember that I don't do manual labor."

Troy laughed and hugged the blond tighter to his body.

A/N: Well, friends. That's it. I hope the last chapter wasn't too much of a letdown and I hope the wait wasn't too unbearable.