This Is The Time

Summary: As their three month anniversary approaches, Riley and Zane plan a special night together. But as the night continues on, Riley worries that he's not ready to do what's expected at the end of most dates. Two-shot.

A/N: Yes, I'm aware we don't know much about this couple yet, but I love them already and couldn't wait to write a fic about them so…here it is!

Riley was headed to his first period class, grinning to himself. It was September 16th, he and Zane's three month anniversary. He was surprised(and happy)that they had managed to last that long with barely any fights or issues. Just as he was approaching the classroom, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and he quickly turned around, knowing who it was.

"Happy three month!" Zane said, grinning widely.

"Happy three month to you too." Riley said, quickly kissing him when he saw nobody was looking. Zane slid his hand into Riley's, but Riley wouldn't accept.

"Um…not yet. Sorry, but…I'm just not there yet." Zane made it obvious to Riley that he was annoyed, but quickly changed his mood so he wouldn't ruin the day.

"So…after school today. We go to your house, then to dinner, then to our favorite romantic hideout, then back to my place to finish he night. Sound like a plan?" Zane asked.

"Sounds perfect." Riley agreed, trying desperately to hide his fear and nervousness under a forced smile.

It wasn't that he was afraid of Zane, he was just afraid of what "to end the night" meant. The most he and Zane had done was kiss and he was afraid to do anymore than that. He had never bothered to ask Zane if he was a virgin or not, but he knew Zane had way more experience with being gay and dating other guys, so Riley tried desperately to avoid any talk or attempt at sex to reduce his risk of embarrassment from not knowing what to do in front of his boyfriend.

As Riley left class later that day, he caught up with Peter to walk with him to lunch.

"Hey." Riley said, approaching his best friend.

"Hey, happy three month man! You've lasted longer than most of my relationships, so congratulations!" Peter joked, happily.

"Thanks man. I think this is gonna be a good one. Better than our two month." Riley lied, afraid to tell Peter he was scared.

"Oh yeah? What do you have planned?" Peter questioned as the two entered the cafeteria and went in search of open seats.

"Hang out at my place, go to dinner, hang out at a place Zane likes to call our "romantic hideout" and then finish the night off at his place." Peter nodded silently as the two took their seats at a some-what empty table.

"Not bad. Sounds like a decent night to me. Especially the part about finishing the night off at his place." He laughed, winking at Riley in a playful manner. Riley paused for a minute before giving in and revealing his fear to his friend.

"Yeah…um, that's the part I'm actually kind of…worried about." Peter looked at Riley with confusion.

"Worried? Why are you worried?" Considering that Peter wasn't the brightest of the bunch, Riley wasn't surprised that he didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"I'm worried because…" Riley looked around to make sure nobody was listening and lowered his voice. "I've never had sex before, not with anyone, especially not a guy, and I'm afraid I won't know what to do if we end up doing it tonight." He explained.

Peter took a swig from his water bottle and placed it back down on the table in a harsh manner. He nodded his head as he twisted the cap back on.

"Makes sense. But you've been with Zane for three months now…shouldn't you be comfortable with him by now?"

"I am! It's just…this is something really big. We haven't even said the "three big words yet" and that's the part that kind of worries me. I just don't know if we should be doing it or if its right if we haven't even managed to say "I love you" to each other."

"Well do you love him?" Peter asked. Riley opened his mouth to speak and shut it again. He knew he liked Zane, but he had never thought about the extent of his feelings for him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how infatuated with his boyfriend he really was and how he could easily be in love with him.

"I don't know…I think I actually might be. But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"Play it by year. Wait until the perfect moment tonight, and when it feels right, tell him you love him. If he can't say it back, don't have sex with him. Wait until you're both ready." Riley nodded.

"You're right. When I'm in the moment, I'll just…tell him. Thanks man. I didn't know you were so deep with this kind of stuff."

"Trust me, I've had enough experience with girlfriends who thought they knew everything about relationships, so I've learned a lot." Peter explained. The bell finally rang, signaling that lunch was over.

"Hey, wish me luck tonight." Riley said, as the two started to head off in opposite directions of the hallway.

"Be safe!" Peter called out loudly to purposely embarrass his friend.

Riley just shook his head and laughed it off, ready to face the rest of the school day and prepare himself for the night ahead of him.

Riley sat patiently on a picnic table outside after school, awaiting the arrival of his boyfriend. He knew that he had prior engagements(which really just meant speaking with teachers) and would be running a few minutes late. As he sat and stared aimlessly at the people around him, he realized how envious he was of all the couples that walked by, holding hands, gazing into each others eyes and looking genuinely happy together. It was everything he and Zane were…when they weren't in the public eye.

For a moment, Riley wished that he could forget about all the bad things that would happen if he publicly came out and he and Zane could be one of those couples that happily walked home from school together, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes. As he was getting deeper and deeper into his thoughts, Zane appeared and lightly squeezed his shoulder.

"Hey. Sorry about that. I had to clear a few things up with my calculus teacher. You ready to go?" Riley quickly clicked out of this thoughts and smiled at this boyfriend.

"Yeah. Let's go." Riley said, hoping down from the picnic table and taking the walking position next to his boyfriend.

About 5 seconds into their walk, Riley casually slid his hand into Zane's. Zane gave him a surprised look.

"What? Can't a guy hold his boyfriend's hand?" Riley asked, as if it hadn't been a problem that morning. Zane grinned and shook his head.

"No, not at all. But I thought-"

"I know I was afraid this morning, but I've been thinking and…I'm tired of pretending and lying. Every other couple at this school gets to walk around and be happy and hold hands in public without getting made fun of, so why shouldn't we be able to?" Zane's smile had gotten increasingly bigger as he listened to his boyfriend finally start to become comfortable with himself.

Riley continued to make intelligent proclamations about the freedom gay couples in high school should be granted and was impressing his significant other immensely. Once the pair was completely off school grounds and had reached Riley's house, Zane pulled the taller boy in by the front of his shirt and placed a passionate kiss on his lips. When the kiss had finished, Riley pulled away with surprise and a wide smile on.

"Wow…happy anniversary to you too." He said. Zane placed another light kiss on his lips and held both his hands before speaking again.

"I'm so proud of you."

"For…?"

"For learning how to be you in public. You've been through so much and I'm so glad you've finally become comfortable with yourself and with us being together. You've come such a long way and…Riley, this is the perfect anniversary gift. I don't need anything else but a boyfriend who's happy with who he is."

"Really? Because I have a gift for you inside, but if I'm all you need…" Riley joked. Zane laughed and playfully hit the jock.

"Of course you're all I need…you're always the only thing I need." Riley gently kissed the top of Zane's head and took his hand to lead him inside.

The couple instantly went upstairs to Riley's room and lied down in their respective places on his bed, their hands and legs intertwined, talking to each other in soft, calming voices. They would occasionally give each other a small peck on the lips, but neither of them decided to go in for a make out session, knowing they still had the night at Zane's house for that. Make out sessions didn't usually tend to happen at Riley's house either, with his fear of his parents walking in on them.

After a relaxing time at Riley's, the couple traveled to one of their favorite restaurants downtown for dinner. Riley had been happy up until this point, when it hit him that the night was moving along nicely and they would soon be arriving at Zane's house to "finish the night off." The image of him not being able to go through with sex because he had no idea what he was doing was scary to Riley. When dinner was over, he and Zane left to go to their secret romantic hideout. During this time, Riley's fear became more apparent.

"Wow, I'm getting pretty tired. I might just crash as soon as I get to your place." He said, laughing nervously.

"Oh come on, you can't go to sleep yet. We still have the rest of the night." Zane grinned seductively. Riley turned away, nervous by that statement. Zane seemed so ready and prepared and it made Riley feel inexperienced. The questions inside of Riley were edging to get out and he finally gave in and asked them.

"You've had boyfriends other than me, right?" Zane looked slightly taken aback by his question, but answered anyways.

"Yeah, I have…I came out in grade 9, got my first boyfriend that summer, we broke up during grade 10 and I got my second boyfriend the summer going into grade 11. Then we broke up right before grade 12, before I came here."

"So…have you had sex with another guy before?" Riley felt bad asking so bluntly, and Zane laughed quietly, but again, answered.

"Well…these aren't exactly the types of questions you expect on your three month, but we haven't talked about them yet, and it's important." Zane paused and sighed before delving into his story.

"My second boyfriend, Wes, the one I had during grade 11. He was…amazing when I first met him. He was in my grade, so I knew him, but we really became friends over the summer and we had so much in common. We finally started dating towards the end of the summer, and everything was great. Around Christmas of that year, we finally confessed that we were in love with each other and had sex for the first time. After that…everything just…changed. All he wanted to do after that was have sex. We got to a point where we had it everyday and there were times when we would only see each other just to have sex. Then one day, he wanted to have sex and I said no. He…hit me. More than once. And forced me to do it with him. That happened more than one time too. Finally, it got too out of hand and he knocked me unconscious. I broke up with him after that, filed a restraining order and transferred here to Degrassi, where I met you." Zane explained, managing to finish off his sad story with a hint of happiness.

"Wow…so um…how were you able to date again after that? I mean, were you scared, were you afraid that every guy was like Wes?"

"A little. I mean, of course I knew that there were good guys out there, but I wasn't' sure. Anyone can seem like a god on the outside and really be a devil on the inside."

"So what about when you met me?" Zane turned to his boyfriend and smiled.

"I knew you weren't like that. I just felt it. Everything about you told me that you weren't like Wes in any way. You were more like me when I came out. Afraid, worried, uncomfortable with yourself. I realized that if I started dating you, I would be able to help you, and it would help me get over what happened with Wes." Riley took his boyfriend's hand and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"Zane…I'm really sorry that you had to go through all of that. I had no idea any of that happened to you. I promise I'll never do that to you or let that happen to you again. I'll always be here." Riley said comfortingly.

Zane leaned in and kissed Riley again. After they pulled apart, Riley stood up and pulled Zane up with him.

"Come on. Let's go to your house." Zane grinned and allowed Riley to take his hand and lead the way to his apartment. The two kept a steady pace to Zane's apartment until they finally arrived and kissed their way onto the 6th floor, where Zane's room was.

They made their way to the bedroom, where Riley's nerves started to settle in and he became frightened as his boyfriend began to move in on him and kiss him with more force. He wanted to get into it, but couldn't seem to. It finally became to much for him and he stopped his lover from going any further.

"Wait! Zane, stop."