Seifer was hanging around Twilight Town High. He did this often enough and still got bits and pieces of the rumor mill by sitting there watching and waiting. He just watched for Hayner and his group and watched them. And when they saw him, they'd get into fights. That was how it always worked. Even after Seifer told Hayner that he loved him a year ago after his graduation.

But it was killing him, waiting for Hayner's graduation for an answer. He told Hayner to wait that long to tell him, but he couldn't stand the question lingering in the air when he was around. The awkwardness when He and Hayner were together in each other's company without someone to interrupt for too long. The near pained look in Hayner's eye when you looked at him. The torn look Hayner had when Roxas and him broke out the fists. It was just too much, he needed to know.

This one time though, it wasn't the rumor mill he heard. It wasn't even from the mouth of someone who ever repeated a rumor in his life. But this piece of information made him hit the ground running to find Hayner.

"Yo, lamer!" Seifer called after the sandy blonde that he had purposely annoyed since elementary school. "Wait up!"

"What do you want, asshole? I need to get home and study." There was only a week of finals left for Hayner and Seifer knew how stressing that last stretch could be, so he almost felt sorry for cutting down his time. Almost. Because this was urgent.

"I overheard Roxas saying you were going to leave Twilight Town after you graduated, and before you started college," Seifer states expecting an explanation.

"Yeah, what of it? There's nothing to stay here for, all this shit-hole of a town does is hold you back. I'm tired of it and I hate it. There's nothing to do here either. I'm not staying here." Hayner shrugs, scowling slightly. Seifer surges forward, grabs Hayner's arm and mashes their lips together in a kiss that only lasted a second.

"What the hell, bastard?" Hayner growls, trying to pull out of Seifer's hold, looked pissed as a bat out of hell. Seifer only tightened his grip on the younger's arm. "What'd you do that for?"

"You know full well what I did that for. I told you when I graduated. It's your turn to reciprocate. Just… Tell me you love me. That you'll come with me after this year." Seifer responds, looking straight into Hayner's eyes.

"Come with you? Don't you mean you come with me?" Hayner asks perplexed and Seifer's grip loosens, knowing Hayner wasn't going to leave him standing there. He slid his hand down to the younger's wrist.

"No, I've been planning on leaving, with or without you. I would only be able to stand one more year of tormenting myself by only fighting with you when we were in the same vicinity. Just…tell me you'll come with me. I'll go however far you want." The older discretely moves his hand into Hayner's interlacing fingers, happy to find no rejection or repulsion from the younger.

"I love you Seifer. Have since the first time I punched you. Yes, I will come with you. Just give me the summer for a job." Hayner answers. "I need more money if I'm going to leave. It was always my plan anyway."

"I would give you another year if you needed, so long as we left together. That's all I want from you. All I've ever wanted from you."

"When did you turn into a sap, anyway? I was seriously convinced that you hated me until you told me otherwise a year ago and recently I don't know how I had ever believed it. Where'd all the spite go?" Hayner asks teasing but also curious.

"It left because I was scared you were going to leave me without an answer, or, well, that leaving me here would be your answer. That I was going to lose you simply because you didn't actually believed I cared and that I was just bullshitting you a year ago. It'll be back tomorrow if you miss it," Seifer jokes messing up Hayner's hair. "You should get home and study anyway."

Hayner worked in fast food for the duration of summer and Seifer stayed working part time at a delivery service and an automotive store. That way he got employee discounts on the parts he needed to fix up the old hand-me-down pick-up that he had received from his dad. He knew Hayner didn't have a car yet, although he did have a license, so this would be the car they would take, so it had to be able to withstand miles of open road and intense heat with maybe no intended destination.

They both made bank accounts specifically for moving out, and neither told their parents they were leaving, (although Seifer didn't live with them) much less whom with. Every once in a while Seifer would stop by Hayner's job to argue and start shit before asking him how much he had saved up, ordering something, and leaving with a quick peck to Hayner's lips when no one was watching. They were still very much in the closet, and Seifer wasn't even sure Hayner had told even Roxas about Seifer's confession, much less his own, or the slight change in leaving plans. But it didn't matter; it never mattered, because they were going somewhere new and building from the ground up. And Seifer had heard that Hayner had been accepted to Radiant Garden University starting in the January semester so maybe they'd end up there after driving wherever the fuck else they chose to, so long as they could stand each other's company.

"Hey," Hayner said once, dropping Seifer a surprise visit in his garage as he was working on the pick up. Surprised, Seifer lifted his head, narrowly missing hitting it on the hood of the pick-up, and took the rag out of his back pocket to clean the grease from his hands. He wasn't wearing a shirt, because even after sunset, as it was getting close to being, it never dropped below 80 degrees during summer in Twilight Town.

"Hey, what are you doing here? You never come by," Seifer asks closing the hood and sitting on it after putting the rag back in his pocket.

"What, can I not visit my boyfriend?" he asks, walking up to the other blonde, putting his hands on either side of his waist and kissing him. "God, I've wanted to do that since I first saw you at the auto store."

Seifer laughs. "You're such a lamer. You got a mechanic fetish or something?" He asks jokingly, pulling Hayner up on his lap.

"Or something. Maybe I just have a sweaty shirtless Seifer fetish," The younger teases back. "So, I don't know if you know, I'm enrolled in Radiant Garden for the January semester. So we have to end up there. But we can go wherever else we can afford until then. And I've already got a job held for me for when I start school and an apartment nearby that's cheep and we could probably afford. I can email it all to you, and I think there should be a mechanics shop too far away, and they have to make some kind of money, with all the young college students who haven't a clue what they're doing. If this is all okay with you, that is."

"Sounds great, and emailing it to me would be great," Seifer shifts slightly and pulls a pen from his pocket. "Wrist." He commands and writes both his cell number and email address on it before Hayner does the same with his. Hayner leans up a kisses Seifer once more.

"I gotta get going, I'm going to Roxas's and I told my mom that's where I would be, so if she starts looking for me, that's where I better be. I've got tomorrow off. Call me, if you wanna do something with any free time you may have during the day." Hayner hops off Seifer's lap and leaves out the garage door, the way he came.

"Hey lamer," Seifer says into the mouth piece of his phone.

"Seifer? What the fuck. It's nine in the morning. Why the fuck are you calling me. Aren't you at work?" Hayner grumbles into the phone, obviously not having been up long.

"Called in sick. Figured hanging out and fighting with you would be more fun than hauling around boxes and sitting behind a register." Seifer shrugs even though Hayner can't see him.

Seifer hears a thud from Hayner's side of the line. "Fuck! Shit. Stupid step…" Hayner mutters before clearing his throat. "Okay. Wanna meet for lunch? Sand lot at twelve and we decide from there?"

"I could pack up a picnic, if you want me to," Seifer offers, lounging out on his couch, remembering what he still had in the fridge.

"What if someone finds us…?" Hayner asks nervously.

"And no one would if we went to a restaurant?"

"It's less…intimate than a picnic." Seifer can hear Hayner shifting in the background. Probably on his couch. Seifer sighs internally. He hoped Hayner wasn't still like this after they moved out, he might go insane.

"Okay, restaurant, but I'm paying. You can pick which one," He concedes

"Seifer…." Hayner groans.

"Look, it won't be that obvious. I'm older, thusly one can assume I've more money than the teen just starting a summer job and I asked you, you just set the time and place, and so, according to the rules of dates, I pay. Besides I've more savings than you and thus have more leisure money."

"Fine, just….I'll see you there, okay?" Hayner sighs in defeat.

"Of course."

(scene break)

Seifer was there ten minutes early. He didn't have anything better to do with his day and there was nothing on the TV. He figured that maybe he'd run into someone, like Hayner's friends, that he could annoy to stifle the niggling annoyance in the back of his mind that Hayner, maybe didn't actually want to be with him. He kept telling himself that this was a conservative town and that he just wanted to stay closeted. Eventually he may believe it, too.

With no such luck as having anyone to annoy, Hayner walks up, looking a little awkward. Seifer ruffles the younger's hair earning a playful glare. "Where do you want to go, lamer?"

"Well, there's this little hole in the wall Chinese place a couple blocks away. I'll lead the way." Hayner says, doing just that as Seifer falls into step beside him.

On the walk there, they playfully argue and bicker to keep a familiarity to all the past years and because it was what they both did to pass time with anyone. They were seated, and their orders came quickly due to being the only people in the restaurant at that point.

"So, you, um, don't mind me telling no one about…us?" Hayner asks, not making eye contact and biting his lip. Seifer swallows his sigh.

"I want you to be comfortable. If that means closeted, so be it. This is a small town and word travels fast, and I do understand you wanting to be able to actually enjoy your last summer here with your friends. So no, I don't mind," Seifer answers. "But won't it be hard to hide form Roxas and them?"

"They…still hate you. Probably won't stop anytime soon. I just…they hold grudges and I don't…I mean, they probably wouldn't care, they'd probably put aside their petty quarrels, hell Olette's even told me so when she decided that I liked you no matter what I said. Women's intuition, she said, but I….I can't do it. You're the one person I'd never be able to tell anyone here I was dating."

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with telling them? They're your friends and you even said they wouldn't care." Seifer takes a deep breath. "Sorry. Out of line."

Seifer awoke in the middle of the night to his phone ringing. Glancing at the time, he groans and is prepared to hit ignore until he sees Hayner's name on the screen. "'ello?" He answers groggily, trying to wake up enough to talk.

"O-oh, Seifer. I didn't mean to wake you. I was…I was gonna leave a voicemail…." Hayner's voice trails off. Seifer sits up with concern at the distress in Hayner's voice.

"Hayner? What happened?" Seifer asks, sitting up to hopefully wake himself up more.

"It's nothing. It's insignificant. It's nothing I didn't already know," He replies with a self-demeaning chuckle.

"But it still bothers you. Tell me. I'll do my best to help."

"No. It's just….my parents found out that I was leaving in a month instead of in December like they thought since I'm only starting in January. They…they didn't like it at all. They just….It's like they never realize that I only stay because they need me. Like they don't realize that I want out, and that RGU is far and I probably won't visit on holidays because I'll be studying and working. And…they've just kept me on this leash and I want out…They said they're not going to let me go."

"Bullshit Hayner, you're legal, they have no say over you. You get to do whatever the fuck you want to do and they can't say a single thing about it, except for the fact that you're still under their roof. All they can do is set house rules, not forbid you from leaving when you want to. This is your life now and you need to be able to tell them to like it or lump it. It's awful late, how long ago was this conversation?'

"Two hours ago…" Hayner mumbles.

"At 10?"

"I….I just excused myself to bed. I was…mad. I've only just recently calmed enough to be coherent."

"What were you going to say to my voicemail? I know you wouldn't have explained to my machine."

"I was just going to say that I had an argument with my parents and that I love you," he mutters embarrassed.

Seifer chuckles. "Do you want to sleep? Or do you want a distraction?"

"Oh, but I woke you up, I don't want to impose on your sleep."

"Hayner, answer the damn question."

"Distract me?"

Seifer smiles at the darkness of his room. "What's your major going to be?"

"You swear you won't laugh?"

"Nope, but tell me anyway."

"Asshole. It's literature. I wanna be a teacher and teach all those idiots in class that annoy me so much. And make them learn or fail them."

Seifer laughs at his statement and the visual of Hayner trying to teach the jocks that he and his friends complained about so much. "Well, good luck with that."

"What would you have majored in if you went to college?" Hayner asks and Seifer can hear the curiosity in his voice.

"Nothing. I chose not to go to college. I've no problem with the money; I could have gotten a full ride at a few colleges with my grades." He shrugs. "I just don't have a goal to fight for. And I figured that working with cars is good enough for me and I don't need college for that."

"Wait up; you passed up full rides because you didn't care? You could have gone just for the fuck of it!" Hayner says, incredulous.

Seifer sighs and shrugs again. "Then I wouldn't have been able to watch you and annoy your little friends, would I?"

"Bastard."

"And you're still here. Funny how that works." Seifer yawns before he knows he's doing it. "You okay now, lamer?"

"Yeah, thanks asshole."

"No problem, goodnight."

"'night."

"So, you're leaving because your parents don't want you to become a teacher?" Seifer asks one day, working on his pickup, Hayner sitting on the work bench, occasionally handing him a tool. He had just shown up, not that Seifer minded, sat down, and spewed his guts. Seifer didn't mind this at all.

"Yeah, they say that if I've gotten into RGU, I should make the most of it. That I should be a lawyer or a Doctor just because I'm going to some big-shot college. I don't want to be a lawyer, or doctor or any of that. I want something less…publicized. I don't care if I save a life, I care if someone comes home at the end of the day to tell their parents how great of a teacher their English teacher is and how much fun they're going to have in that class this year. But they don't understand. So before they do something that'll fuck up my plans and ensure theirs. I have to leave, because I know they'll find a way to do just that if I stay. And I don't want that. I love them, but I don't want them to ignore me for what they think is right. I don't want to end up hating them over this."

Seifer takes the rag out of his back pocket, and sits next to Hayner. "Do what you want to do. I can see you enjoying being a teacher more than a lawyer or doctor anyway. Bigger dreams have come from smaller things. Just tell me when you're ready to leave and we're outta here. Even if it's a spur of the moment text in the middle of the day. I will drop everything and leave on your command. Jump in this pickup and go. Well, I'd probably have to grab the tarp so our bags and boxes and whatnot don't get wet when and if it rains and whatnot."

"I think…give me a week. There shouldn't be anything more here for me after a week. I want….I need out of here." Hayner twiddles his thumbs in his lap, staring at them. Seifer frowns slightly, reaches out, tilts the younger's head towards him and kisses him softly.

He pulls back just and inch and whispers, "I'm not trying to rush you. We leave when you're ready. That's all I'm saying. We can wait until Roxas and them are off to college if you want. Where it's only you and me in the first place, so you don't have anything to come back to and no regrets. I will wait as long as you want. Don't rush because you think I want out, okay?" Hayner nods slightly. "One last thing. Promise you'll run with me. We will run without looking back for as long as we want, okay? You can call home all you want; I'll pay long distance for you to call anyone and everyone you want to. Just promise that you'll run with me."

"I promise," Hayner whispers back, breath ghosting over Seifer's lips as they both lean in again.

It was late. Seifer didn't even know why he was still sitting in his open garage this late. The sun had set an hour ago, but he was still sitting there with his half-full water bottle in his hand, the ice long since melted, as he stared at and thought of nothing. Because he was in this state, he didn't notice Hayner standing silently in his garage, but when he did, he immediately sat up and looked over. "It's late. Why are you over here? Fight with your parents again?"

"Yes, well, no, we haven't-I haven't been talking to them. And, well, I snuck out to tell you…I'm ready to leave. I mean, if you still have ends to tie I can just hide out at your house, I guess…" Hayner rambles shifting awkwardly.

It took Seifer a short while to adjust to the dim lighting of the single light in the garage but when he could see into Hayner's eyes he could see just how restless and fed up the younger was, and he remembered what that felt like. Seifer had stayed for the hope of Hayner since Rai and Fuu left him for college. Now he had Hayner and nothing to lose. Seifer stands and ruffles the younger's hair. "I've told you we can leave the moment you're ready. However, driving when you're as tired as both of us have to be, is never a good idea. Stay the night here, I can take the couch. I'll call my jobs first thing in the morning and quit and we can be off before your parents realize that you're gone."

"No, you can have the bed, well, maybe….we could have the bed," Hayner chews on his lip.

"Are you sure Hayner? Because I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

"Yes I'm sure." Hayner nods before mumbling something.

"What was that?"

"I said I've only been dreaming about it since puberty."

Seifer chuckles. "Well, we're not going that far even if we both agree, not tonight anyway. Come on, I'll show you the room." The elder leads his boyfriend into his house and into the bedroom before stripping off his shirt. "You going to be fine if I just sleep in boxers? It's fucking hot during summer."

"Only if you let me do the same, I don't want to dig around in my bags." Hayner responds pulling off his shirt too and dropping it to the floor.

"I wouldn't dream of stopping you," Seifer teases pulling Hayner into a quick kiss before pulling off his shorts and walking over to the light switch. Hayner drops his pants and crawls into the bed before Seifer flicks the switch and does the same. The younger snuggles back into Seifer's chest and the elder wraps his arms around him, the dirty blonde tucking his head under the golden blonde's chin.

"Mm, love you Seifer," Hayner whispers shifting slightly, yawning, and shutting his eyes.

"Love you too."

The sun had barely risen as both blondes climb into the cab of the pick up, after securing a tarp over the top of their bags in the bed of the truck. Seifer sticks the key into the ignition and the engine revving got them both jittery in anticipation of leaving this town that tended to suck people in and never let them back out. They were breaking free and they felt good.

Seifer pulled out and hit the button to close the garage as he turned onto the empty roads and wove his way out of the town vaguely in the direction of Radiant Garden, stopping at the light to leave, both practically bouncing in their seats. Once they passed the "You are now leaving Twilight Town, come back soon!" sign Hayner let out a laugh and muttered "Yeah, you wish." Earning a smile from Seifer.

"There's only one question left to answer now." Seifer says, speaking for the first time since they got in the car.

"What question is that?" Hayner asks looking at him quizzically and cocking his head to the side in question.

Seifer smiles and rolls down the windows, turning up the music to be the asshole teens they were. "How far do you wanna go?"