Alright, I think I need to say something that maybe I should've mentioned in the first chapter. I never intended this story to be the most original Holes fanfic in the world, ok? I know it isn't, and I've known that since I decided to write it. My intention was to create a relationship between Stanley and Zero that was believable and stayed in true form with and could easily fit into the actual film itself, and in my opinion I think I've achieved that. I took what was already there and I added to it, and to be honest, this was an experiment, because I've never written any fanfiction in this way before.

Yes, I suppose I could've rewritten the dialogue or even written it from different character's point of view, or I could've even just totally rewritten my own version of what happened at Camp Green Lake and done more with the characters. But I didn't. I know that some of you might find rereading the movie format to be a little boring, but hey, I knew that would happen right from the start. Each to their own opinions, after all. So thank you to people who have pointed out to me that they aren't fully onboard with the whole rewrite idea, but I started with this format, and it's too late for me to change it now. And I don't really intend to change it since this fanfic is so close to the end now. If you don't like it that much, well, I'm not forcing you to read it, am I? If it bores you, fair enough. Like I said, that's your own opinion.

So, to recap: This trial fic isn't completely 'original' as the movie parts outweigh my own additions. I know this, a'ight? Oh, and disclaimer: I own nothing of Holes, or it's characters, or it's plot, or movie dialogue or nothing. I just attempted to add a bit of romance to an awesome movie in an admittedly unoriginal way. Everyone with me now, yeah? Good.

Right, now that that's out of the way, I'd like to thank you guys who reviewed/faved/alerted the last chapter: xXSadistic BarbieXx, White-Tainted-Red, DaniMag-san, MonochromousRainbow, Stop Staring At Me, Agel222, August Mayhem, princessolivia3, John Faina, lifesong and vampsaf. THANK YOU! :D

Alrighty then, on with the chapter. OH, wait, warning for this one ^^ THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES INTIMACY. As in, PHYSICAL INTIMACY, people. I wanted to keep this T rating so it isn't very graphic, but just let me know if you think I should raise the rating to M, ok?

Read on and review for me, thanks! :D

Chapter 7:

Stanley wasn't entirely sure how long they'd spent out on the lakebed and on God's Thumb, including both climbing the mountain and recovering in the small muddy ditch at the top, but at a guess he would've said about three or four days. He and Zero were so exhausted by the climb that they'd both slept like the dead right up until about noon the next day, but even then Zero had slept quite a bit longer than Stanley.

Zero was still asleep now, curled up in a ball on a dry patch of banking, surrounded by several half-eaten onions and a sploosh jar that had been refilled with dirty water from the mud puddle. He was breathing deeply, softly exhaling through his slightly open mouth and making the blades of grass in front of his face flutter with each breath.

Stanley had been awake for a while, and he'd moved from his sitting position beside his friend to wander around their surroundings a little, watching the sun rise higher and higher in the sky above his head. It was perfect chance for Stanley to have some much-needed alone time to think some things through. Y'know, specific things, like his growing feelings for Zero for instance.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that no matter how much he tried to deny or ignore it, what he felt for Zero wasn't strictly platonic anymore. Sure, it had been at first, back when the occasional bursts of warmth in his stomach were practically non-existent and easily ignored, but it had rapidly grown, changed and intensified over the small amount of time he'd spent with Hector Zeroni and now… Well, now he was well out of his depth. Stanley couldn't stop admiring Zero's gorgeous features and slender body, and he'd even caught himself doing it without realising a couple of times. His thoughts just didn't seem to grasp that Zero was his friend and only his friend, nothing more.

Oh, who was he kidding? Of course they were more than friends! They'd kissed, hadn't they? Twice. Friends don't kiss, especially not like he and Zero had back in D tent that day, and not even like the second kiss they'd shared right here on the mountain. The first one might have been harsh and urging, but the second one had been something softer and definitely more meaningful, and if anything, that had scared and confused Stanley even more than the other.

Stanley was beginning to think that maybe it was more than just affection he felt for his best friend.

And to be completely honest, he was starting to think that maybe it was something more than just hormone-fuelled teenage lust too.

It was… so confusing! Zero was a boy, so Stanley shouldn't even be thinking about him in any way like that. It just didn't seem natural, since guys were supposed to like girls, not other guys… but why the hell did it feel so right? Zero just felt so right to Stanley, and he honestly couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather be with, boy or girl. It was either Zero, or nobody at all. Stanley didn't want anyone else.

So he fancied his best friend. So his best friend was a guy. So he wanted to do things to his best friend that he should probably be ashamed to admit to himself. So what? It was his life, and he'd live it how he damn well pleased.

Stanley smiled as he made his way back over to Zero, fully at peace with himself for the first time in his sixteen years of living.

"Rise and shine, onion man!" Stanley called loudly, pausing to pull up another onion from the ground and he took several large bites out of it, holding his canteen loosely by its strap in his other hand. Zero stirred, his eyelids fluttering a few times as he rolled over onto his back, squinting tiredly up at Stanley as the taller boy approached him.

Stanley made short work of the onion and took a final bite from it before he dropped the rest of the vegetable back into the long grass.

"You overslept." Stanley said. Zero slowly pulled himself upright and scooted to the side slightly so Stanley could sit down in the dirt beside him, frowning against the glare of the sun that shone down on his dusty features.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Zero asked as he drew his skinny legs up to his chest and used one hand to sleepily scratch at his head of corkscrew curls before he let his arms fall to rest loosely across his knees.

"Long time." Stanley replied, settling himself down next to Zero and unscrewing the lid off the top of his canteen so he could take a drink.

They sat in fairly companionable silence for a few moments as Stanley swigged from his plastic canteen, barely even registering the muddiness of the water any more. Zero stared straight ahead, the expression on his face one of deep thought before it slowly turned into a more resigned look and he lowered his gaze, turning his head slightly sideways so he could glance at Stanley out of the corner of his dark brown eyes.

"Stanley, I gotta tell you something." Zero said quietly. Stanley swallowed his mouthful of water and looked over at the smaller boy curiously. Zero had said the same thing before he'd passed out and Stanley had had to carry him the rest of the way up the mountain the other day. It must've been something important, or maybe even something bad, considering how Zero didn't seem to be able to look Stanley in the eye right now.

"What?" Stanley inquired. Zero fell quiet again for a few seconds, as though he was trying to think of the best way to word whatever it was that he wanted to share. His eyes were still downcast; his head carefully turned to face the front so Stanley didn't have a full view of his thin pointed face from where he sat.

"It's my fault you were sent to Camp Green Lake." Zero admitted, tilting his head back slightly on his neck. "I stole the shoes."

Whatever Stanley had been expecting Zero to say, that had definitely not been it. What? Zero stole Clyde Livingston's shoes? No way, that couldn't be right. It didn't make sense at all! Zero had been at Camp Green Lake way longer than Stanley had, so how did that work? Stanley sat in a somewhat stunned and confused silence as his hazel eyes darted over the other boy's back in disbelief.

Zero sighed heavily before he continued on with his confession.

"I didn't know they were Sweet Feet's. I mean, a lot of people had donated all their old stuff to the homeless shelter, and I saw the shoes and I just… I liked 'em." Zero said as he inclined his head a little, his brow furrowing thoughtfully at the memory. Stanley honestly didn't know what to say at that moment, so he just listened intently, brushing dirt carelessly off his hands as he tried to work it all out in his head.

"I didn't know they were famous." Zero explained. "Next thing I know, everyone's bugging out: 'The shoes are gone, the shoes are gone, where are the shoes?'. Walking down the street and I heard the sirens coming after me… I got scared."

The smaller boy sighed again and Stanley still didn't say anything in reply, visualising in his mind Zero fearfully sprinting away from the oncoming sound of police cruisers, then stopping and bending down to quickly remove the stolen shoes he was wearing before throwing them over the bridge under which Stanley had been walking at the time.

Stanley felt his lips quirk upwards and he shook his head in fond delight as he remembered when the shoes had landed on his head with a painful thud that had literally knocked him straight on his face. Back then, Stanley thought that it'd been fate that the shoes had fallen from the sky and hit him, especially when his father was trying to find a cure for foot odour, but now he was struck with the realisation that it wasn't anything to do with his father's work. It had been fate for Stanley and Zero. It was way too much of a coincidence that that single insignificant moment had been so Goddamn significant, and had brought them both right here, right now.

"I ended up getting busted the next day, lifting a pair of shoes from a Payless." Zero finished, briefly glancing at Stanley out of the corner of his eye once more and then facing straight ahead again, hardly daring to witness Stanley's reaction to the bombshell he'd just dropped. Against his better judgement, Zero had told him because he thought he owed Stanley the truth, considering how the taller boy had saved his life so many times in the past few days. He hoped Stanley wasn't too angry about it, but really, how could he not be angry? He'd been sent to a juvenile detention centre in the middle of nowhere, digging holes every day for eighteen months for a crime he didn't commit, and Zero was the person responsible. If their positions had been switched, Zero knew he would've been a little annoyed with the other boy.

Stanley stayed quiet for a couple more seconds as everything finally clicked into place. Stanley's trial had been delayed due to Clyde Livingston's baseball schedule, so if Zero had been arrested the day after him, then the smaller boy must've been sent to Camp Green Lake no more than four weeks before Stanley had. It might've seemed like Zero had been at camp for a much longer time, but really there was only a month between them.

"It's destiny." Stanley said with a chuckle, his face stretching into a wide warm smile. Zero turned his head to meet Stanley's eyes with his questioning gaze and the taller boy laughed again, nodding at him. The corner of Zero's mouth lifted into a small smile in response before he turned away once more, his features partly relaxing in relief. But he still wasn't entirely sure that he was going to be forgiven that easily.

"You're not mad at me?" Zero asked quietly, summoning up enough courage to look back over his shoulder at Stanley, staring uncertainly up at the older boy from beneath the dark eyelashes that framed his darker eyes.

Stanley blinked, momentarily thrown, but then his face softened as he smiled reassuringly at the smaller boy and shook his head slightly from side to side. He should've been mad, but to be honest, Stanley didn't think there was a single person in the world who could be angry with Zero when faced with those wonderful twin orbs of rich chocolate brown of his. Well, Pendanski was probably the only exception, but he didn't count. Stanley was so caught up in those eyes that the only thing he could feel at that moment was total happiness.

"No, I'm not mad at you." Stanley replied. Zero still looked a little unsure, so Stanley did the only thing he could think of and leaned over, planting a light but lingering kiss on Zero's soft full lips. The smaller boy barely had time to gasp in surprise before Stanley pulled away again, reaching out to stroke the caramel skin of Zero's cheek with the back of one hand. "I could never stay mad at you."

Zero's face split into a warm smile, bringing up his own hand to cover Stanley's where it rested against his face, trailing his fingers down the warm pale skin of the other boy's wrist.

Maybe Stanley was right.

Maybe it really was destiny.

The rest of the day passed by pretty unremarkably. Stanley and Zero drank murky water, ate almost twice their own bodyweight in onions and lounged around in the mud and grass, watching the clouds float by above their heads. It was a good feeling, not having a care in the world. Stanley would gladly stay like this up here forever, but it was only a matter of time before they ran out of onions, and considering how many they'd already eaten, Stanley bet he and Zero seriously reeked. His nose had long since gotten used to the sharp acidic scent of onions, so now he couldn't smell them at all.

Judging by the position of the sun, it was late afternoon, and Stanley and Zero hadn't really moved much from where they'd been sat earlier that morning, side by side in the grass a few metres away from the large grey boulder Stanley had set his unconscious best friend down on when he'd first found this place a few days ago. It'd turned really hot during the day so Stanley had removed the top half of his orange jumpsuit and tied the sleeves around his waist, his chest now only covered by the plain white t-shirt he always wore beneath his overalls. Zero seemed fine in the heat though, since his own muddied jumpsuit was still completely fastened up to his throat, the sleeves not even rolled up to help him cool down.

Stanley brought his canteen to his lips for a drink as Zero reached down into the grass beside him and unearthed yet another onion, brushing the dirt off it before he took a large bite.

They hadn't said much to each other since this morning either, but they found they didn't need to because it was comforting enough just being in each other's presence. Stanley really enjoyed being around Zero, and not just because of his feelings for the smaller boy. Zero was practically the only person who'd being willing to get to know the real Stanley and vice versa. Stanley had had no friends at all at school, and it was highly unlikely that Zero had had many friends on the streets, but they'd been brought together by a twist of fate and realised they'd found a kindred spirit. Really, they were both outcasts, but when they were together that didn't matter to them, because they had each other.

"What're you smiling at?" Zero asked, the unexpected sound of his voice interrupting Stanley's thoughts and the taller boy blinked, turning his head to look at his best friend. The smaller boy was staring at him with warm chocolate eyes, one side of his mouth tilted upwards into half a smile as he munched on his mouthful of onion.

Stanley grinned back at him, refastening the lid on top of his bottle.

"I was just thinking."

"About?"

"You, actually." Stanley admitted, brushing a hand sheepishly back through his hair, knocking off the battered red baseball hat he'd forgotten he was still wearing. A rush of colour dusted Zero's cheeks and he tried to hide it by ducking his head a little, letting his corkscrew curls fall around his face.

"Shut up, man." Zero mumbled, but Stanley caught sight of the pleased smile that spread across the springy-haired boy's features and he laughed at Zero's adorable embarrassment.

Zero mock-glared up at him and bumped his shoulder into Stanley's, knocking the other boy slightly to the side. Stanley just grinned and did the same back, his heart swelling happily in his chest as Zero let out a delighted chuckle before shaking his head fondly and returning his attention to the onion he still held in his hands.

He raised the onion to his mouth to take another big bite, but Stanley was feeling unusually mischievous and he darted forwards, biting a chunk out of the opposite side of the onion at the same time as Zero did. Zero's eyes widened in surprise and Stanley pulled back, snorting a laugh through his nose at the expression on the other boy's face as he chewed on his mouthful of stolen vegetable.

Zero just stared at him, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"You're weird." He smiled. Stanley grinned at him through a gobful of half-chewed onion mush and Zero wrinkled his nose in distaste, turning away from him and trying his damned hardest not to burst out laughing. "And that's disgusting."

Stanley sat back in the grass, swallowing the onion as he reached for his baseball cap where it lay beside him and put it back on it's rightful place on his head.

"Oh, you love it really." Stanley chuckled, setting his canteen aside. He relaxed back in the long grass, bringing his arms up to cross them behind his head, tilting the brim of his hat down to shade his eyes so only his wide grin was still visible to Zero.

Zero's lips quirked upwards again before his expression sobered a little as he turned over onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he just indulged in letting his eyes roam unhurriedly over every inch of the attractive boy beside him, greedily drinking in as much of his features as he possibly could. His stomach flooded with familiar warmth as the minutes crawled by, and after a while Zero couldn't just look without touching any longer and reached out to gently trace his fingertips over Stanley's nearest material-covered collarbone.

Stanley twitched, completely unprepared for Zero's sudden light touch, but he didn't look up from beneath the rim of his hat just yet. He subtly shivered at the wonderful feeling of Zero's calloused fingertips ghosting over his collarbone before slowly trailing up the side of his throat and brushing against his cheek, tracing small circles across the pale flesh beneath his darker fingers.

Stanley licked his dry lips and tilted his head back, making his baseball cap lift enough so he could fix his gaze on the smaller boy beside him. Zero was biting his bottom lip nervously as he flickered his eyes to Stanley's for a second, then gave him a brief but affectionate smile when he realised that the other boy wasn't going to object to Zero touching him. Object? Why the hell would he object to it? Zero could do this for the rest of eternity if he wanted to, Stanley seriously wouldn't mind a single bit.

"Hey." Stanley said softly, smiling tenderly up at him as he reached out to do some touching of his own and trailed his hands up Zero's arms, feeling the sinewy muscle hidden by the baggy sleeves of his orange jumpsuit tense and flex beneath his fingers.

"Hey." Zero murmured back as he traced a single finger across the skin just below Stanley's bottom lip, making the older boy shiver more visibly this time. Stanley's left hand moved from Zero's arm to curl gently around the back of his neck, threading through the springy curls at the nape.

"C'mere." Stanley smiled, and tugged Zero's head down to meet his waiting lips.

Zero moved one hundred percent willingly and pressed their mouths together in a sweet tender kiss, purely content to share the light pressure of one pair of lips against another even though the angle was a little bit awkward, since Zero was kissing Stanley from the side. Stanley didn't mind the position though. Any kiss he shared with Zero was perfect no matter what angle it was at.

They kissed unhurriedly like this for what felt like an eternity, but really couldn't have been longer than a couple of minutes. Stanley's hand was entangled in Zero's corkscrew curls at the back of his head, holding the other boy close to his face so he couldn't pull away even if he wanted to. But Zero clearly had no intention of pulling away, and he had one hand resting on Stanley's chest while the other took off the taller boy's red baseball cap and threw it uncaringly away from them, giving him more access to Stanley's mouth now the hat was out of the way.

As brilliant and amazing as the slow kiss was, Zero couldn't help but want more. He cast his mind back to that first kiss they'd shared in the tent and a shiver caressed its way up his spine as he remembered just how intense and fierce it had been, and how it'd made the heat in his stomach burn so deliciously hot with desire that he'd never felt before in his entire life.

"Yeah. I liked it. A lot. And… I think we should do it again."

Those had been Stanley's exact words to him the day after that kiss, the day Zero ran away from camp. And Zero agreed wholeheartedly with that statement… so why not do it again right now? They were all alone up on God's Thumb with no one to interrupt them this time. It was the perfect opportunity!

It was at that moment Stanley decided to open his eyes and look up at Zero, and he instantly caught sight of the sudden determined and mischievous glint in those swirling depths of chocolate brown, but before he could even think about what that meant, Zero caught Stanley's bottom lip between his teeth.

Stanley groaned before he could stop himself, a sharp spike of desire jolting through him like a lightning bolt. Zero's eyes flashed triumphantly as he swiped his tongue over the slight indents he'd made in the soft flesh of Stanley's lip to soothe it. He'd known that would work, just like it had when he'd accidentally done it back in the tent that day, and it had produced the exact same exhilarating result.

The kiss changed so abruptly that Stanley barely had time to figure out why something as small as having his lip bitten had sent them straight from sweet and chaste to fierce and desperate, but at that moment he didn't care. He'd released his fingers from Zero's hair and now both his hands were holding the smaller boy's thin pointed face steady, using them to turn Zero's head to whatever angle deepened the kiss even further. Zero's own hands were twisted in the coarse material of Stanley's shirt, practically holding on for dear life as Stanley attacked his mouth like a starving man.

Zero groaned into Stanley's mouth, then he let out a noise that sounded pretty much like a cat purring as he felt one of Stanley's hands move away from his face and slip down his back, massaging his shoulderblades almost absently.

Stanley honestly didn't know what had come over him, but his mind was so fogged with his lust for Zero that had been increasing over the last few days that he just couldn't stop himself from darting his tongue inside Zero's open mouth to explore and memorise every dip and curve, spurred on by every little sound the smaller boy made in response.

It wasn't long before Stanley rolled them both over, somehow managing to keep their lips connected as he trapped Zero beneath him. Zero let go of Stanley's chest to instead trail both hands down the length of the taller boy's back, his fingernails snagging a little against the cloth of his t-shirt. Stanley groaned, breaking the kiss to curve his back, allowing Zero's fingers to run down every nub of his spine.

Practically all the blood in his body had fled down south, and the second Zero's hands slipped underneath the hem of his shirt to explore the warm skin beneath, Stanley reacted without thinking and pressed the lower half of his body down into Zero's.

Zero's eyes shot open at the feeling of Stanley's obvious hardness against his thigh and he gasped loudly, his entire body freezing rigid in place without meaning to.

That single noise from the smaller boy was enough to bring Stanley abruptly back from his hormone-induced stupor, and the way Zero stiffened in shock was more than enough to make Stanley realise exactly what he'd just done. Shame and embarrassment starting to swell through Stanley's chest and he scrambled to his feet faster than he'd ever moved in his life.

"Shit!" He swore, hurriedly backing away until his back hit the large grey boulder and effectively stopped his hasty retreat. "I… Oh God, I'm so sorry, Zero!"

Zero just lay there in dumbstruck silence for a second, Stanley having moved so speedily away from him that he'd literally blinked and missed it. He pulled himself up onto his elbows, staring over at Stanley questioningly. Stanley had to avert his gaze. He couldn't look Zero in the eyes just yet without jumping him right there and then.

The silence stretched on between them for several long moments before Stanley heard rather than saw Zero pull himself up off the ground and take a couple of hesitant steps towards him. Stanley immediately tried to flatten himself further against the rock behind him, terrified that if Zero got any closer then he wouldn't be able to control himself. Oh God, he wanted him so much. Too much.

Stanley inhaled sharply when a familiar pair of hands came into gentle contact with his chest, his heart pounding so hard in his ribcage that he knew Zero could feel every furious beat beneath his fingertips. That beautiful thin pointed face came directly into Stanley's view and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut to resist the temptation of those soft full lips hovering barely more than a few inches below his own. He had to hold himself back. However much he craved Zero at that moment, he needed to ignore it, because the very last thing he wanted to do right now was to force Zero into doing something he definitely wasn't ready for.

He heard Zero swallow anxiously, feeling his fingers twitch where they lay on his chest. Then those hands began to move, inching slowly down Stanley's torso, and it was Stanley's turn to swallow thickly, still not trusting himself to open his eyes yet.

But he didn't really have a choice a second later when they flew abruptly open against his will as Zero tentatively ran a trembling hand over the bulge between Stanley's legs.

"Z-Zero!" He cried out in complete shock, his body jerking at the feeling of being touched there by the person he needed the most. His fingernails scrabbled at the rock behind him as he held onto it desperately.

Stanley's eyes met Zero's, and the smaller boy's gaze flickered momentarily, dropping almost nervously to the ground before he lifted his chin again and pressed his palm a little more forcefully against Stanley. The older boy fought to stifle a groan from escaping between his gritted teeth, trying desperately not to arc his hips further up into that wonderful hand. God, Zero was barely touching him and already it felt almost too damn good to bear. He wouldn't be able to hold himself back for much longer if Zero kept touching him like that.

After a moment, Stanley thought he'd actually managed to restrain himself, but Zero clearly had other ideas. The smaller boy's face scrunched up into a scowl when he realised that Stanley was trying to fight the heated feeling that he knew was swirling deep in both their stomachs and he narrowed his eyes slightly in determination, taking the initiative and reaching around Stanley for one of his hands that were still gripping onto the boulder behind him.

Stanley jerked slightly when he felt Zero's free hand tenderly encircle around his right wrist, pulling his arm towards him and he barely had time to realise just what Zero's intention was before it was too late, and Stanley's hand was pressed against the exact same place on Zero as Zero's was on him.

Zero sighed blissfully, tilting his head back as his eyes slid slowly shut. Stanley's own eyes were so wide now they felt like they were about to pop out of his head, but he didn't care. All he could think of right now was that Zero was just as hard as he was, maybe even more so, if that was even possible.

"Stanley…" Zero breathed, his voice barely louder than a whisper. And that single sound was definitely Stanley's undoing.

It was right then that he literally stopped thinking, instead starting to gently knead at Zero's groin with his fingertips. The smaller boy's hands immediately fell away from Stanley at the feeling, and the sharp gasp he made was music to Stanley's ears that was quickly followed by more gorgeous breathy pants as Stanley grew a little bolder with every second that passed.

"S-S… Stan…" Zero stuttered, his breath hitching halfway through trying to say Stanley's name again as the taller boy cupped Zero in his palm, stroking him through the orange material. Zero's entire body twitched with pleasure and his knees trembled, threatening to fold beneath him. God, it felt so good! Zero had never felt anything like this before, and it was just incredible. And the fact that it was Stanley touching him like that… It couldn't possibly get any better than this.

How wrong he was.

Stanley could feel Zero shaking, so he reached out with his free hand and pulled Zero closer to him, bringing the springy-haired boy flush against Stanley's body, still touching him through his jumpsuit as Zero gratefully collapsed against him, resting his forehead on Stanley's collarbone and moaning helplessly into his pale throat.

Taking advantage of their position, Stanley brushed his lips against Zero's closest ear, cheek and jaw line, savouring the taste of that heated soft caramel skin beneath his mouth. He worked his way down the side of Zero's throat, leaving a trail of sweet butterfly kisses before he buried his face into the junction between the smaller boy's neck and shoulder, feeling Zero's pulse pounding in the hollow of his throat.

"P-please… Stanley…" Zero groaned breathlessly, pressing his hips even closer to the taller boy, attempting to increase the delicious friction that made heat spread all the way from his head to his toes, burning him up from the inside out. Stanley let out a gasp of his own as he found Zero's thigh suddenly pushed against his own groin due to their closeness and he unconsciously bucked against him at the feeling.

Zero pressed his leg against Stanley again and the taller boy groaned in response, taking revenge by attaching his mouth to the soft caramel flesh of Zero's collarbone and sucking and gently nibbling at it, raising blood to the surface beneath the skin, creating a bruise-like lovebite for all the world to see.

The smaller boy's chest was rising and falling against Stanley's as he breathed shallowly, little moans spilling from his lips as the wonderful pressure in his abdomen steadily increased. His hands darted down the taller boy's back once more, sliding under the hem of his t-shirt to splay out across bare flesh, tilting his head as far to the side as it would go to give Stanley better access to his throat and shoulder.

When satisfied with the mark he'd made on Zero's dark skin, Stanley moved his face up from the other boy's neck to instead capture his lips passionately.

"Zero…" Stanley panted against his best friend's mouth when they eventually broke apart to breathe, "Zero, we can't do this."

He felt Zero's fingernails dig slightly into his back as he said that, as though the smaller boy was scared that he'd try to pull away from him.

"Why not?" Zero gasped in reply, unable to stop himself from crushing their mouths together again, completely addicted to the taste Stanley's kisses.

"We can't…" Stanley started to say, but Zero wouldn't let him finish a full sentence, interrupting him with his lips moving urgently against his whenever he tried to speak, "You're just a kid… we shouldn't… you don't know what you're doing…"

"I'm not a kid, I'm fourteen!" Zero practically growled, leaning back to glare defiantly up at Stanley through narrowed dark chocolate eyes. "And I know exactly what I'm doing."

And with that, Zero seized the hem of Stanley's shirt and tugged the material roughly up over his head, Stanley's arms flying upwards from the force of it. The removed shirt was just as swiftly tossed away to the side, and Zero's palms greedily set about exploring Stanley's bare chest.

"Oh God." Stanley groaned hoarsely, desire rapidly taking over the rest of his brain as he reached out with hands trembling in anticipation, fumbling with the buttons of Zero's orange jumpsuit, trying to unfasten them as fast as he possibly could.

Zero laughed softly at Stanley's clumsiness in his haste to undress him, but soon enough the muddied orange material was being pushed down his arms, baring his thin shoulders and the white tank top he wore beneath. Stanley quickly rid Zero of that shirt just as easily as Zero had his and touched the smooth golden-brown skin of his chest for the first time, loving the feel of it beneath his fingers.

Zero shivered at the touch, then almost cried out when Stanley's thumb teasingly brushed over one nipple, making him arch his back a little at the strange but fantastic sensation.

Stanley literally couldn't take any more. He needed Zero so badly that it actually hurt.

He lunged downwards, wrapping his arms around Zero's thighs and hoisting the smaller boy up off the ground. Zero's eyes widened to double their normal size and he yelped in shock, his legs instinctively locking around Stanley's waist and his arms coiling around the taller boy's neck to prevent himself from falling.

Stanley planted a small peck on the boy's lips before he turned around and lowered Zero down onto the nearest surface he could find, which turned out to be the flat top off the large grey boulder they'd been standing in front of, and then he climbed up onto it as well, moving so he was on all fours above his springy-haired best friend.

"You sure you want to do this?" Stanley murmured, giving the boy one last chance to change his mind. Zero stared up at him, looking deep into lust-filled hazel eyes.

"I'm sure." He nodded.

"Positive?"

Zero rolled his eyes and chuckled fondly, reaching up to bury his hands in Stanley's hair.

"Stanley, just shut up and kiss me already!" He laughed. Stanley grinned down at him and happily obliged.

Their mouths devoured each other as their hands frantically ran over every inch of skin they could reach. The rest of their jumpsuits were hurriedly unfastened and pushed down their legs, followed almost immediately by their underwear, kicking off their boots and socks so their overalls could fall into a pile at the base of the boulder, totally forgotten.

Stanley and Zero groaned at the first press of naked skin against naked skin, Stanley lowering his body down to lay the full length against Zero's. They kissed fiercely and Stanley began to move against him, grinding their hips together in a way that made them both moan loudly at the friction. Zero arched his spine and threw his head back, too caught up in the pleasure he was feeling to care that he'd just nearly knocked himself out when the back of his skull banged on the rock he was laid on.

As their movements turned faster and harder and their moans grew louder, Stanley reached down and entwined his fingers with Zero's, holding his hand tightly against the rock. Zero squeezed his hand back, drawing his legs up beneath him and using them to give him more leverage when he arched his hips more forcefully up into Stanley's.

Much too soon, the touching, kissing and friction mounted their combined pleasure right to the very peak, both of them gasping and moaning helplessly against each other's lips as they writhed frantically, their bodies slicked in a sheen of sweat that glistened wetly in the harsh sunlight the bore down on them from above. The dam finally broke, and pure white-hot ecstasy overwhelmed them like a tidal wave.

"Stanley!" Zero cried, his body shuddering uncontrollably as he was tipped straight over the edge into the most indescribable euphoric bliss he never imagined he would've been able to feel.

The way Zero shouted his name combined with just that breathtaking expression on his face as he came was more than enough to send Stanley's body jerking haphazardly as he followed his best friend less than a second after him, shouting Zero's name in reply as his vision turned into nothing but a wondrous white haze. At that moment, Stanley was completely lost to the world, the boy writhing beneath him literally the only thing keeping him grounded. For the first time, Stanley felt whole, like he actually meant something. Before all this, before Zero and Camp Green Lake, Stanley had believed that he was actually the most insignificant and unluckiest guy on the whole damn planet. But not now.

Because right now, the most beautiful pair of dark chocolate eyes were staring up at him, their rich brown depths swirling with so much emotion as they gazed at Stanley almost in reverence. As though, to Zero, Stanley was the very centre of his universe.

And to be honest, he really was. Stanley didn't yet realise just how strongly Zero felt for him.

But someday he would, Zero knew. Someday Stanley Yelnats would realise exactly how much he meant to Hector Zeroni.

"Hector, I'm glad you stole those shoes and threw 'em at my head." Stanley announced absently, staring up at the night sky above them that sparkled with thousands of bright white stars. After the intimacy they shared on top of that boulder a few hours earlier, Stanley and Zero had had barely enough energy to climb down, clean themselves off as best they could, pull on enough clothes to pass for decency and settle themselves comfortably on the muddy banking, just laying there together as they watched the sun set and the moon rise.

They were still sat there now, Stanley lounging back on his arms and Zero sitting in front of him between the taller boy's spread legs, resting back against Stanley's still bare chest as he chomped his way through yet another onion. The older boy had knotted the sleeves of his orange jumpsuit around his waist again, but had left his t-shirt wherever Zero had previously thrown it. Zero, on the other hand, had found his own tank top and had covered his thin chest back up with it (much to Stanley's disappointment), but he too had also tied his overalls around his skinny waist.

Zero twisted his head around to stare at Stanley with an incredulous expression on his face.

"What?" Zero asked, frowning. Stanley tore his gaze away from the stars and looked down at his best friend, reaching with one hand to stroke the mop of corkscrew curls that tickled his skin whenever Zero moved. He loved Zero's hair. It was so springy and uncontrollably curly but at the same time so incredibly soft to the touch. Stanley found that when he teased out one of Zero's many tight curls, it reached well down past the boy's shoulders, then sprang immediately back up when he let go, straight back into place. It was pretty amusing actually, and Zero didn't really mind, happy to just sit there and let Stanley play with his hair for hours on end.

"None of this would've happened." Stanley explained, "When I first got sent to Camp Green Lake, I thought that I got sent there because of my family's curse. But we're not even at camp any more! Y'know, we're on God's Thumb."

Zero shook his head fondly and turned back to face forwards again, bringing the half-eaten onion up to his lips and taking a large bite. Stanley's fingers continued to brush lightly through Zero's curls as the taller boy lifted his eyes skywards once more, lost in his thoughts.

"I just have this weird feeling… everything's cool." Stanley finished softly. Zero swallowed his mouthful of onion and tilted his head back again, his lips quirking into a small smile as he squirmed a little to get more comfy in his position leaning against Stanley.

"Yeah, same here." Zero admitted, shivering slightly as Stanley's fingers caressed their way through his mass of curls in a sweet way that made pleasant goosebumps erupt all the way down his spine.

"You got the same feeling?"

"Same feeling."

"It's a good one." Stanley smiled, trailing a single fingertip around the delicate shell of Zero's ear, enjoying the smaller boy's slight hitch of breath in response. They sat in companionable silence for a moment, both watching the stars crawl by above their heads. Zero ran the tip of his pink tongue around his lips to get rid of any traces of onion juice as he focused his gaze on a particular patch of stars.

"Y'know, those stars look like a shovel to me." He said, pointing the stars in question out to Stanley with one hand. Stanley followed the line of Zero's finger until he too was staring at the cluster of stars Zero was obviously referring to. Hmm, they actually did look pretty much like a shovel, albeit a weirdly shaped one.

And suddenly, inspiration struck Stanley, the shovel made of stars in the sky giving him the best and worst idea he'd ever had.

"Exactly…" Stanley mumbled to himself thoughtfully, a plan forming in his head. He started to smile, and that smile kept on growing until it was a fully-fledged wide white grin in danger of splitting his face in two.

"Hector?"

"What's up?" Zero answered, his head lolling back against Stanley's collarbone as he gazed up at the dark sky, absently counting the stars.

"I feel lucky." Stanley grinned, stroking his hand through Zero's corkscrew curls again. Zero twisted around in Stanley's loose hold to stare at him in confusion for a second before he let out a soft laugh, a wide dimpled grin of his own broadening across his features. Stanley laughed too at just how ridiculous his little statement had sounded even to his own ears. Stanley Yelnats feeling lucky? That was a definite first, considering how hard it was to be anywhere remotely near lucky with the Yelnats family curse lingering over his head. But now something was different. Something had drastically changed over the last few days that he just couldn't put his finger on.

"The onions have gone to your head." Zero chuckled. He craned his neck so he could plant a brief light kiss on Stanley's cheek and then turned back around again, smiling as he bit another chunk out of his half-eaten onion.

Stanley stared skywards, his previous delighted expression sobering and becoming something more determined. His fingers ran gently down the side of Zero's throat, tracing absent-mindedly over the jugular vein that pulsed steadily beneath his calloused fingertips.

"What d'you say we dig one more hole?"

Surprisingly, coming back down God's Thumb hadn't taken anywhere near as long as climbing it had. In the early hours of the morning, before the sun had even risen in the sky, Stanley and Zero packed their burlap sack with onions and several sploosh jars filled with muddy water, grabbed their shovel and set off on their descent down the mountainside.

Maybe it was the fact that it didn't take as much effort descending than it had ascending, or maybe it was because they were stronger and well rested, and had food and water with them this time, but whatever the reason, they made it down to the base of the mountain in record time, with the minimum of injuries. Yeah, so Zero had slipped at one point and bruised his elbow, and Stanley had caught his foot on a small ledge and scraped his ankle, but compared to the several near-death experiences they'd had climbing the bloody thing, those tiny injuries were easily ignored.

Even crossing the vast dried up lakebed hadn't taken as long as they'd expected it to. They'd had basically no idea which direction the camp was, but once they found their way back to the overturned boat 'Mary Lou', Zero figured out which way they had to go, and though Stanley was sceptical at first, it turned out Zero's instincts were right and Camp Green Lake soon loomed into view on the horizon.

A huge dust cloud had been whipped up by the wind across the lakebed, and that helped to hide Zero and Stanley from view as they ran towards the camp. It was late evening now and the sky was a rapidly darkening orangey-pink colour. All the boys who'd been out digging their holes for the day would've definitely finished by now so the hole-filled area around the camp was completely deserted.

Stanley and Zero were running side by side through the dust that hung thick in the air, Zero holding the burlap sack and Stanley carrying the shovel as they sprinted around holes and scrambled over dirt mounds in their way.

They skidded to a halt and crouched behind a pile of dirt beside one of the many holes that surrounded them, their eyes darting around nervously, keeping a sharp lookout in case anyone happened to spot them. Stanley had no intention of being caught when they were so impossibly close.

"Ready?" Zero asked. Stanley nodded once and they set off again, darting out from behind the dirt pile and running forwards a couple more metres, Zero leading and Stanley bringing up the rear. They threw themselves down behind another mound, kneeling in the loose earth and peering cautiously over the top of it. Taking a quick glance around, Stanley suddenly caught sight of exactly what he'd been looking for, recognising a familiar white rock that looked almost like a face. Stanley had purposely set it on the dirt pile beside his hole back when he'd unearthed Kissin' Kate Barlow's lipstick tube, using the rock as a marker so he wouldn't forget which hole he'd found it in.

Stanley raised one hand and pointed the hole in question out to Zero. He'd filled the smaller boy in on his plan when they'd been making their way down the mountain earlier, since Zero had refused to return to Camp Green Lake unless Stanley gave him a damn good reason for it. Buried treasure definitely qualified as a damn good reason.

"You see right there?" Stanley panted, breathing heavily from running. Even Zero was trying to get his breath back, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he cast his eyes in the direction Stanley was pointing.

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"Go!" Zero urged, lurching to his feet and sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him towards the hole, hugging the burlap sack close to his chest. Stanley followed behind him, crouched over to make himself smaller, looking for all the world like an army commando trying to outrun imaginary snipers hiding in the dust clouds behind him.

They darted around a couple of holes in their path and then Stanley hit the ground running, sliding across the dirt and landing in the intended hole in a plume of dust a little less gracefully than he'd intended. Zero dropped down onto the dirt mound beside the hole, setting the burlap sack aside as Stanley reached back up to grab the shovel he'd accidentally let go of. More streams of dust were thrown up into the air as the wind blew around them, whipping Zero's corkscrew curls back from his thin pointed face.

"Is this the hole?" Zero asked.

"Yeah, this is it." Stanley replied. Zero frowned, his expression sceptical.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive." Stanley said, slamming the metal blade of his shovel down into the earth at his feet. Zero shook his head slightly as he watched, briefly glancing around to make sure they hadn't been discovered yet.

"It's gonna take too long, man. I gotta go find another shovel." Zero told him, scrambling to his feet. Stanley paused in his digging to squint up at the smaller boy.

"Alright. Be careful, though." Stanley warned, a little worried about Zero going into camp. It was already dangerous enough right now where they were, never mind getting any closer, and Stanley really didn't like the thought of Zero creeping in there on his own. He just hoped to God that his best friend didn't get caught by anyone, especially the Warden with her rattlesnake fingers, or Dr Pendanski with a grudge to settle against the smaller boy responsible for the bruises on his face.

"Alright." Zero nodded, giving Stanley a quick reassuring smile before he set off running in the direction of the camp, dodging easily around holes and dirt piles. Stanley stared after him until Zero's skinny form disappeared out of sight behind what looked to be either the Mess Hall or the Wreck Room, then he tore his gaze away and turned back to his hole, striking at the dirt with his shovel and upending earth onto the growing pile beside him.

Either it was later in the evening than Stanley had first thought or Zero was taking a really long time, because the sun seemed to set all at once and the sky turned pitch black, and the only things now lighting Stanley's progress were the big floodlights that always lit up Camp Green Lake at night. His muscles were starting to ache, since he hadn't dug any holes over the past few days, but Stanley refused to let that slow him down. He dug like he'd never dug before, working away furiously in the dimly lit darkness.

Stanley was starting to seriously worry about Zero when he heard light quick footsteps approaching and he looked up sharply, breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw Zero running back towards him with a shovel in his hands. The springy-haired boy drew closer and slowed to a stop, staring down in disbelief at the hole which had pretty much doubled in size since he'd last seen it.

"Whoa, man, you really been working!" Zero breathed in awe, and Stanley couldn't really blame him for that, considering how Stanley had never been one of the fastest diggers in the world. But now he'd put his mind to it, he found he was quite speedy with a shovel when he wanted to be. Maybe it was the fact that he was digging for treasure that motivated him more.

"Yeah." Stanley replied, realising for what must've been the very first time that he was actually proud of himself for something. Zero flashed him a brief glimpse of pearly white teeth as he turned the shovel in his hands so the blade pointed down into Stanley's hole.

"Coming down." He said, jumping down into the hole and landing easily beside Stanley. The taller boy carelessly tossed aside yet another shovelful of dirt as Zero started to dig alongside him.

"How's it going?" Zero asked.

"I don't know, I could be digging up diamonds and not see 'em." Stanley sighed, forcing the blade of his shovel back down into the earth.

"I don't think Kissin' Kate Barlow would've buried her treasure this deep." Zero said as he upended his shovel on the dirt mound. Stanley stopped digging, turning around to cast a critical eye around the inside of the hole.

"C'mon, we gotta make it wider."

Zero straightened up and paused with his shovel hovering a few inches away from the side of the hole, looking over at Stanley with his head tilted slightly to one side and a small frown creasing his features.

"How do we know one of her gang didn't already come back and dig up the treasure?" Zero asked, making a very good point that had already crossed Stanley's mind about a thousand times since they'd set off from the top of God's Thumb. To be honest, Stanley had no idea if they were actually going to find any treasure or not, but there was that weird feeling in his chest again that made him believe that they were definitely going to find something in this hole.

"We don't." Stanley admitted. Zero shook his head again and turned back to his digging as Stanley struck the side of the hole with his shovel a few times, making crunching sounds of metal against dirt.

But on the third hit, there was a very different sound that made Stanley's entire body freeze rigid and Zero turn around swiftly, both of them staring with wide eyes at the place where Stanley's shovel still rested.

"You hear that?" Stanley murmured, glancing over at Zero just to make sure he wasn't hearing things. Zero looked back at him, his dark chocolate eyes gleaming as a triumphant smile starting to stretch across his face.

Stanley drew back his shovel and struck the same place again, making the same dull thud sound as before.

"What's this?" Zero grinned as he moved to Stanley's side, and together they brought up their shovels and pounded them down against the side, the metal blades clanging loudly against the dirt and each other. After several knocks, a layer of earth fell away from the side of the hole and scattered around their feet, revealing a dusty old chest in the open gap left behind.

Stanley's heart was beating furiously with excitement, his hands shaking slightly as he moved forwards, gently pushing Zero's shovel out of the way before he crouched down in front of the opening and reached in to grab hold of the chest. Zero moved around to the other side to help him.

"We found it!" Stanley laughed delightedly. Zero laughed too and shoved lightly at Stanley's shoulder in excited anticipation, both of them scrabbling through the dirt to remove the trunk from where it was stuck inside the wall of the hole.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Zero said eagerly as they eventually managed to get a firm enough grip on the chest to yank it out from the gap. It came free easier than they'd expected it to, but neither boy cared at that moment as they let it drop heavily to the floor before they grabbed hold of the handles at either end and hoisted the chest up into the air for a better look.

Stanley was still laughing breathlessly, his hazel eyes roaming every inch of the chest, unable to believe what they'd just unearthed. Oh God, this was it! This was Kissin' Kate Barlow's long-lost treasure!

"This is it!" Zero cried, his grin wide and white, practically glowing in the darkness.

"What did I say, what did I say!" Stanley shouted joyously in reply, releasing the chest with one hand to quickly brush his now-free fingers through Zero's springy curls.

"Oh, man!" Zero grinned triumphantly.

Suddenly there was a burst of harsh white light shining directly in their faces, damn near blinding them as they squinted fiercely through the brightness to see the Warden and Mr Sir standing at the top of the hole, both in their pyjamas and wielding flashlights, the glaring beam of which they obviously had no intention of moving away from Stanley and Zero's stunned features. The Warden's grin was prominent on her freckled face as she stared down at them, her long wavy red hair flying loose in the breeze.

"Thank you, boys, you've been a big help." She smiled. Stanley's heart dropped straight to his feet at that, and he and Zero both gaped up at the adults in shock and fear at being caught red-handed with Kissin' Kate Barlow's treasure chest, their eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Oh God, they were done for now. They were in some seriously deep shit, and Stanley had absolutely no idea how they could possibly get out of it in one piece.

The Warden's tawny eyes glinted greedily as she moved her flashlight down from the boys' faces to the weathered old trunk they still held in their grasp, but then her expression unexpectedly faltered and she gasped loudly, taking a hasty step back.

"Holy – !" Mr Sir started to shout, staggering backwards along with her. "Get back!"

"Oh my God!" The Warden cried, her eyes so wide they were practically bulging out of her head. What the hell was that all about? Stanley's forehead furrowed in confusion as he switched his questioning gaze from the red-haired woman to Mr Sir, and then back to the Warden again. But they weren't even looking at him or Zero. Their matching fearful stares were fixed almost unblinkingly on the treasure chest, which caused a very bad feeling to abruptly swell in the pit of Stanley's stomach.

Against his better judgement, Stanley looked down at the chest.

And immediately regretted it.

"AAAH!" Stanley yelled in pure undiluted fear at the sight of about five or six yellow spotted lizards crawling over the top of the trunk, his scream causing Zero to jerk in shock, glance sharply downwards and let out a horrified shout of his own. At the back of Stanley's mind, the tiniest amount of rationality he had left told him that the lizards must've been clinging to the underside of the chest when he and Zero had pulled it out of the hole, but sheer panic and terror overruled that thought in a heartbeat. All he knew now was that he could count all eleven yellow spots on each lizard's back, and that was definitely not good.

"Did you know that each one's got exactly eleven spots?"

"Yeah, man. If you ever get close enough to count 'em… you're dead."

Without warning, a couple of the reptiles hissed viciously and leapt for freedom, landing straight on Stanley and Zero and starting to climb their way up the boys' heaving chests, hanging easily from the coarse orange material of their jumpsuits.

Stanley's breath came out in harsh pants as a single lizard crawled along his torso, it's tiny sharp claws scraping slightly against the soft skin of his throat. Across from him, Zero pressed his lips tightly together, trying desperately hard not to react as another lizard made it's way up to join the first that already balanced precariously on his thin shoulder.

His entire body trembling uncontrollably, Stanley turned his head around as slowly as he dared to glance fearfully at the lizard that was now coiling itself around the back of his neck.

The Warden tossed her hair back from her face before she looked over at Mr Sir, clutching the flashlight with both hands in a white-knuckle grip as she kept the beam of light directly aimed at the remaining reptiles that still rested on the top of the trunk.

"Well, get in there." She told him, "Pull it out."

Mr Sir shot an incredulous glance back at her in response.

"You get in there." He muttered. They both exchanged a look and then returned their undivided attention back to the two boys and the squirming, hissing lizards that crawled over their bodies that were now literally all that stood between them and Kissin' Kate Barlow's treasure.

"Fine, I'll just wait." The Warden said, watching as the lizard on Zero's shoulder hissed, it's small pointed tongue darting out and flicking against the springy-haired boy's earlobe, making Zero flinch and shut his eyes, biting down hard on his bottom lip. "It won't take long."

Mr Sir pulled out a packet of cigarettes from the breast pocket of his pink pyjamas, lighting one and bringing it to his lips, letting it dangle there as ash blew off the glowing end in the breeze.

"No, it won't take long." He agreed.

No more than a couple of seconds later, Stanley could just about make out the sound of footsteps approaching over the hissing of the lizards and Dr Pendanski walked into view at the top of the hole, coming to a stop beside Mr Sir and the Warden. He was smiling slightly at first, but when he trained his flashlight down into the hole below, that grin slipped straight off his face pretty damn quick.

"Oh my goodness!" Pendanski cried, his eyes widening almost comically. Stanley's breath hitched in his throat as the lizard leapt off his shoulder and another one crawled purposefully up his arm.

"Yeah, check it out." Mr Sir said. Pendanski inched a little closer to get a better look.

The reptile travelled with astonishing speed up Stanley's arm and across his chest, then it suddenly stopped, clinging to the material that covered the taller boy's collarbone. Stanley could feel the tiny pinpricks of pain as the creature's sharp claws dug into his neck, it's head pausing ominously right beside Stanley's jugular vein. Stanley's eyes were closed so tightly that it hurt, his lips pressed together as he held his breath in dread.

"Here we go." Mr Sir murmured, thinking that the lizard was about to go in for the kill and bite a chunk out of Stanley's throat. To be honest, Stanley seriously thought it was about to do that too, and that just made his pulse pound even harder next to the lizard's angular face.

"Hey, Stanley, guess what?" Pendanski called mockingly, unable to resist a parting spiteful shot at him. "You're innocent. Your lawyer came by yesterday to get you. Too bad you weren't there!"

What? His lawyer? That couldn't be right. Stanley knew his parents couldn't afford a lawyer, especially not now they were about to be evicted from their apartment because the landlord had had enough of the smell of feet. His mom had told him that in one of her letters. So how the hell…?

"Don't listen to 'em, Stanley." Zero whispered, trying to be reassuring as he stared at Stanley with his dark chocolate eyes wide and fearful, barely blinking as he watched the lizard poised to strike at the other boy's neck. And that didn't really make Stanley feel any better.

"At least now we'll have a body to give her." Mr Sir commented casually. A whimper left Stanley's mouth before he could bite it back.

"What about Zero?" Pendanski asked, smiling cruelly down at the smaller boy. The side of his face was still a nasty shade of purple from where Zero had hit him with the shovel, but Stanley felt absolutely no sympathy for the man. After the way he'd treated Zero, Stanley despised the councillor almost as much as his springy-haired best friend did.

A lizard hissed loudly in front of Zero, baring its venomous fangs. Zero eyed it apprehensively, moistening his dry lips nervously with the tip of his tongue.

"Zero was never here. We got lots of holes to choose from." The Warden said, her voice icy cold. Zero tore his gaze from the reptile and glared up at the red-haired woman with so much open hatred that Stanley hadn't even known that the other boy had had the facial muscles to pull off such an intense burning expression.

"D'you know how long I've been waiting for this?" The Warden murmured, Zero's furious stare having no effect on her whatsoever, "My granddaddy owned the whole lake, then it dried up. He drove himself crazy out here digging holes. Made me dig too. Even on Christmas."

Zero's dark brown eyes flickered back to meet Stanley's hazel ones, all hatred swiftly disappearing to be replaced with complete hopelessness.

And Stanley couldn't even think of anything to say to reassure the smaller boy, because that lizard still hadn't moved from it's position at Stanley's throat. It could decide to strike at any moment, and then it'd be nothing but a slow painful death for him. After everything he'd been through, was it really about to end with a single bite from a venomous reptile?

The lizard in question let out a low ominous hiss, and Stanley abruptly forgot how to breathe.

Nearly at the end of this now, only one chapter left :( This will be the first multi-chaptered fanfic I've ever finished, but I don't want it to end!

Oh, and in response to Agel222, it wasn't so much as a 'handjob', rather 'clothed groping', hope that's ok haha :D