Keeping Secrets: Baljeet X Buford

Chapter 8

The roaring in his ears helped distract Buford from the distinct feeling of oppression and powerlessness. When he was on his motorbike, he felt free. He felt like all he had to do was just stay on and everything would work out fine. He knew, deep down, that life just didn't work that way. But it was a temporary relief and he'd take it any day. It was around ten at night and the streets of Danville were empty, silent except for the deep rumbling of his bike as he finally parked it up in front of the Flynn-Fletcher household.

Taking off his helmet, Buford glanced up at the second story windows, half expecting to see one of the brothers up there, waving at him. The windows were dark, however, and Buford let out a puff of air, watching it mist in the cool night air. He was wondering whether he should knock. It had only been around ten minutes since he'd sent the text that had sealed his fate, and Ferb had simply replied, Come over, bring your bike. We'll go for a ride.

He knew he'd be able to rely on Ferb to listen to his problems. The main thing was, Buford was still unsure how much he was going to reveal. Part of him still recoiled at telling anything, but it was simply too much to bear on his own. Even the tiniest part of his worries shared would take a weight off his shoulders. Recently, he'd begun to feel like Atlas.

He caught a glimpse of movement at the front door and saw Ferb exiting. He shouted a hello and Ferb waved in response. There was muffled yelling from inside the house and Ferb turned back to shout, "Mum said I'm fine to go out! Leave off, Candace!"

An amused smirk twisted Buford's lips as Ferb made his way to the garage and walked his own motorbike out. The two of them had, years ago, expressed a desire to get their own bikes. No one else in the group had wanted to, so Buford and Ferb worked together to come up with the money to get them. Those experiences had been what caused them to become closer friends. Ferb ended up tinkling with both bikes and making them better. They hadn't been able to drive them until they got their licences, but once they had, they'd gone out on rides together constantly. Eventually they settled down and only went out occasionally, but it was still something they shared, something that connected them.

Ferb stopped his bike beside Buford's and hopped on. There was a loud screech from inside and both boys ducked as a spoon was thrown out the window towards them. It clattered harmlessly to the ground behind them and Ferb's mouth thinned. "Let's go before she starts throwing knives. Damn hormones."

They both walked the bikes to the road and Ferb glanced over at Buford before they pulled their helmets on. "Been a while since we've been on these babies together," he said, staring pointedly at the other boy.

"I have a boyfriend," Buford countered, giving a small grin. "You have no idea how much of your time they eat up."

Ferb only laughed before pulling on his helmet and riding off. Buford followed suit. He wasn't paying much attention to where they were going, he knew Ferb had a destination in mind and wasn't too worried about what that was. He was just relieved to be able to act like things were normal again. The last time they'd ridden together had been before all of this mission business, and he allowed himself to pretend he was back in that moment, without all this worry.

But then, a niggling thought reminded him, he wouldn't have been able to realize his feelings for Baljeet. That had to count for something, didn't it? He wasn't sure if it made up for the rest of the shit he'd had to put up with, but at least there was something good about all this.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Buford finally managed to pay attention to the road they were travelling on. He recognized it immediately. They were already on their way out of Danville and were heading towards the small beach town Eurgh, where Ferb and Buford always used to go when they rode their bikes together. The wind was whistling inside his helmet, and it helped calm him, although it start to make his head hurt after a while.