Dario entered his last class of the day and was only slightly surprised to see Kaid there again. He was about to say hello but the teen whirled around and pushed by him. Slightly puzzled, he turned and followed, not bothering to even acknowledge his professor.

The brunette found the teen in the red car he drove, his arms crossed on the steering wheel and hiding his face. He knocked on the window and Kaid jumped at the sound.

The dark-haired teen hastily wiped tears from his face and opened the door. "Don't you have a class to be in?"

"I decided to skip. What's wrong, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. It doesn't concern you," Kaid replied blankly and Dario could see that his eyes was the same dead green they'd been when he first saw him.

The shorter brunette leaned in the door and wiped a trickling tear from Kaid's cheek. "If you're fine then why are you crying?"

"Because it hurts," he whispered and buried his face in Dario's hair. "Oh, god, it hurts so much."

Dario wrapped his arms around Kaid's shoulders and hugged him tightly. "It's okay, the pain will go away. You'll be alright."

"It feels like my heart is breaking, Dario. Why does it hurt so much?" He didn't shed any more tears, he'd cried all the tears out already. But he held on to Dario like a lifeline and Dario clung to him just as hard, just so the taller teen knew he wasn't alone.

"Your heart is breaking, Kaid. It hurts like hell, I know, but it's going to stop and then it's going to heal. Whatever happened, don't beat yourself up, alright?"

"Thank you, Dario, for everything."

"I didn't do anything."

"You're here. That's all that matters," Kaid whispered and Dario blushed lightly.

"Come on, Kaid. Let's go home, we'll bake and get your mind off it. Alright?"

"Yeah, alright. Get in."

-:-:-

Dario flopped backwards onto the bottom bunk in Kaid's room and was ready to pass out right where he was. Baking the bread had been harder than he thought, but Kaid helped him so wonderfully, and the way the lanky teen's father and brother ate the bread, he knew he must've gotten it right. It was well pass his self-appointed time to get home, but he couldn't drive in the rain by himself, and was more than happy to stay here in the warm dark room.

A soft light flicked on in the corner farthest away from him and he lifted his head to find Kaid slipping a long un-floured shirt over his head. "Hey," Kaid's voice came to him. "I thought you were asleep already."

"Nah, I'm still awake," he answered.

Kaid climbed onto the bed next to him and flopped, making the bed jostle with the sudden weight. "You want me to drive you home or did you want my dad to?"

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to stay here. I'm too pooped to go anywhere."

"I don't mind," he said and climbed out of the bed again. He flipped the light out and shut the door before climbing up the ladder to the top bunk.

"Hey, Kaid?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for teaching me to bake."

"No problem. Go to sleep."

Dario hugged a pillow to his face and breathed in the intoxicating scent of the dark haired teen. "Good night, Kaid."

"Good night, Dar," Kaid whispered and rolled over so he could face the wall.

"Kaid?"

"What is it?"

"How come you were crying earlier?" the brunette asked. He got silence and he was sure that Kaid had gone to sleep before said teen's head popped from above the bed.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just....wanted to know."

"Hn," the dark haired teen replied and pulled back up, sitting cross-legged on his mattress. "It's really nothing important."

"Would you tell me if it was?"

"Sure."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Go to sleep, Dar. We have school in the morning," Kaid said and laid back down again and stared at the wall. He eventually drifted to sleep, only to be woken a couple hours later by a nightmare. Tears stung his eyes and he held back sobs, but a warm pair of arms encircled him and he heard a soft voice tell him everything was going to be okay and to go back to sleep. He clung to the warmth and dropped to a dreamless sleep.

It explained why he was hanging onto Dario's waist the next morning, but it didn't really explain their lack of pajama shirts. Kaid carefully slipped from the sleeping brunette's grasp and tugged on a pair of cut-off shorts before he made his way to the kitchen to make breakfast. His internal clock was clearly screwed up, because the clock on the oven stated it was well past the start of school. He shrugged and pulled a skillet from the cupboard. Right now breakfast was more important.

---

Kaid set the tray on his desk before he climbed up the ladder to wake his impromptu bedmate. Dario rolled over when his shoulder was shook and the green-rimmed brown eyes opened slowly. "Good morning, Dario," the dark haired teen said. "I have breakfast."

"You had a bad dream, are you okay?" Dario whispered softly then rubbed his left eye and yawned. "Are you?"

"Fine, just fine," the dark haired teen replied and tugged gently on a tress of light brown hair before stroking it with his fingers. Dario cocked one eyebrow at Kaid's words and stared up at him. "Really, I swear. It was just a bad dream, nothing more. I don't even remember it anymore."

"Promise?"

"Cross my die and swear to heart," Kaid replied and the screwed up promise made Dario laugh.

"So what's for breakfast, hmm?" the brunette teenager asked.

"I made waffles. We don't have any syrup, I forgot to buy some last time I went shopping, so you'll have to eat them with just butter."

"You are simply amazing. Are you going to be a chef when you grow up?"

Kaid's cheeks flushed at the compliment and he nodded. "Yes, I want to be a famous chef when I get out of school. Dad's been looking into the culinary schools for me."

"That's cool. I wish I knew what I'm going to do when I'm an adult," Dario said as he got up and shook his head to get what little sleep was left in his head out. "I mean, I have no clue, really."

"You don't have to decide now, ya know," Kaid said reassuringly. "Besides the waffles are getting cold."

Dario laughed again and smiled at the dark haired teen. "Then let's eat, shall we?"

"You stay right here, I'll get the waffles," the taller teen said and he climbed down the ladder to get the tray. He delivered the tray onto Dario's lap and they shared the stack of waffles on the top bunk, careful not to drop any onto the bedspread. "So tell me, Dar," Kaid said during a slight lag in their conversation, "why were we both shirtless when I woke up?"

Kaid had never seen a person turn that particular shade of pink before and he cocked his head when Dario coughed. "I....uhm.... I don't know?" the brunette teen said. "I don't remember taking anything off."

"I get the sneaking suspicion you know exactly what happened," the dark haired teen said.

"Cross my die and swear to heart," Dario replied. He was stared at, making him duck his head. "I really don't know. I swear, it must've happened when we were sleeping, because I don't remember taking my shirt off."

"Alright," Kaid said with a single-shoulder shrug. "Must've gotten over-heated at some point. I apologize for doubting you."

"It's... it's okay..." Dario looked up when a hand rested on the top of his head and Kaid pushed his bangs back from his eyes. "I... think I should be going...." The shorter teen whispered. "Th-thank you for letting me stay the night, Kaid."

The brunette teen made to go down the ladder and his face was captured in both of Kaid's hands. "Don't forget to come back, Dario," Kaid murmured in Dario's ear.

"I'll come back," he promised.

Kaid nodded and released the younger teen. "As it should be."

Dario picked up his shirt and slipped it over his head. His sneakers and backpack was relocated and he sneaked a left-over cinnamon muffin from the kitchen. He was stopped at the door when a hand cupped his chin and Kaid nuzzled just below his ear.

"Don't forget," he whispered and it made Dario blush hard. "Ha, I just one-upped ya. That's for making me blush so much."

Dario glared lightly at the chuckling teen and stuck his tongue out. "Make a menu for this afternoon."

"Aye aye, little captain," Kaid replied and shot a salute before waving to the younger teen and closing the door.

-:-:-

"Mama, I'm home," Dario called when he arrived at his house soon after leaving Kaid's. "I'm gonna change and head to school, okay?"

"Dario Angelo Summerlin-Delaney!"

The teenager froze at the usage of his full name, including his father's surname, and looked in the general direction of the yell from his mother. "Y-yes, ma'am?"

"You missed half the day so you might as well stay home and you were supposed to call if you were going to be late-late," came her voice and Dario made his way towards it.

"I'm sorry, Mama. Are you angry?" he asked as he poked his head into the pantry to find his mother sitting on the floor with a sheet of paper in her hands.

"No, I can understand that learning something new can be difficult and I know that it can sometimes take over your mind and make you forget other things. But call next time or I tell Anthony about it."

He ducked his head in mild shame and nodded, "Yes, Mama." He turned to leave and paused at the door. "Hey, Mama?"

"Yes, dear?"

"You weren't serious about telling Dad, were you?"

She looked up and hid her mouth behind the sheet of paper so only her eyes could be seen. "Maybe, maybe not," she replied and turned back to her grocery list. "Go change, dear."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied and left. She wasn't actually serious, was she?

I dunno, his conscious said. She can be pretty sneaky sometimes.

Not as sneaky as Dad, though, he reasoned and shrugged the thoughts away. Who knew what his father would do for punishment. Probably make him help out in his darkroom or something. Great, chemicals. Just what he needed when he was learning to cook.

He mentally gagged and pulled on fresh clothes.

"It's not like I object to helping him, but I really really hate the smell of the camera chemicals. And the darkroom's creepy," he mused. "I wonder what he does, though, with some of the pictures he takes."

"I have them printed in a kiddie-porn magazine and sell it over the internet, what do you THINK I do with them?" a voice said from behind him and he yelped and spun around, staring in surprised shock at his redheaded father leaning on the doorjamb fiddling with his always present camera. He looked up at the look on his son's face and laughed. "Oh, come on! I was kidding, you dork!"

"DAD! One; you scared the crap outta me! And two; you're a freak, you know that?"

"Ha! You're the one who wasn't paying any attention," Anthony said and thumped Dario on his head. "You really wanna know what I do with the pictures of you and your mother?"

"Only if it's not perverted."

"I'm not your uncle Charlie, Dar. I use them in a photo album, screwball," he growled and thumped his head again. "Hey, wait a second, why aren't you in school?"

"Uh......half day?"

"Why?"

"Teacher work afternoon," Dario replied and made to leave the room but his father grabbed the back of his shirt.

"You ditched school, didn't you?"

"No, just slept late."

"You didn't come home last night. Your mother said you were at this Kaid-kid's house for cooking lessons and that you probably slept over."

"How do you know everything that's going on in my life, Dad?"

Anthony grinned and finally released Dario's shirt. "That's easy! I'm Daddy and Daddy knows everything! Besides I went through the same thing when I was your age."

You were gay? Dario thought. "Cooking lessons?"

"Yeah. Well, no, not really cooking lessons per se. It was my photography lessons. Duh."

"Oh."

Meanwhile, Kaid was searching his library for a cookbook to give to Dario so he could teach himself at home as well as the McMura residence. He pulled several books out and flipped through them before setting them one by one on a table. He'd choose one later, right now his stomach was rumbling.

TBC