No Going Back

Stan punches his dad in the face and steals his truck.

He drives to Kyle's and somehow persuades him to come running away.

"Just to rebel and get out of here for a few days," Stan says.

Kyle replies saying how it's a bad idea, as he's packing to go.

Stan never mentions how he's also taken a knife.

That's how it starts.

After breaking into some random guy's house and also into his alcohol, Stan kisses Kyle.

Kyle kisses him back and it lasts for a good minute before he then pulls away.

"Wait...you're not just drunk, right?"

"Kyle, I've been in love with you for years now. It's taken alcohol to give me the fucking confidence to make a move, but my feelings for you are real."

Stan finally lets the truth out, at last.

It's later when shit goes down.

Kyle says it's fine to share a bed, they're just sleeping and it's for one night.

Stan's the only one awake to hear someone else come in the house.

He tries to wake Kyle before anything else, but the other boy won't stir and Stan is an unbelievable coward.

So this is an explanation as to why he hides under the bed as the footsteps come closer.

Kyle only wakes up when the light comes on, and Stan can hear how scared he is.

But he manages to give a good enough sob story.

Things get dark pretty fast after that, and the next thing Stan knows...

His knife is in the man's neck, who has Kyle pinned to the bed.

It becomes a bloody scene very quickly, it sprays onto Kyle until there's no more left.

The man's lifeless body falls to the floor, his eyes still open.

Neither of the boys move for a few seconds.

"Oh god, it's everywhere," Kyle then whispers, horrified at having someone else's blood all over him.

Stan can't help himself and throws up.

...

Kyle showers, needing  to be clean before dealing with anything else.

Stan sits outside the door with his bloody knife in case anyone else comes into the house and he has to defend Kyle again.

He's killed someone.

He's actually killed a person.

Obviously, it's hard to come to terms with. 

Kyle comes out of the bathroom in his spare clothes, which he is now glad he brought.

"I'll clean up, you find a lighter or anything like that," he says to Stan.

Stan doesn't question it, he does what he's told so he doesn't have to look at the body again.

At least he can look around and be helpful in another way.

Downstairs, Stan finds a lighter but keeps snooping around the place.

This is how he finds the camera and the photos. 

It adds to Stan's horror, the things this man has done to other boys.

What he would have done to Kyle.

Speaking of...

"Did you find a lighter?" he asks, coming down the stairs.

Stan quickly shoves the camera and photos in a drawer.

Kyle has been through enough, he doesn't need to see all that on top of it all.

"Yeah, right here," Stan takes it out of his pocket and tosses it to him.

"Thanks. Okay, so the blood's been cleaned off the floor and I've got the sheets and my clothes ready to burn."

"...b-burning?"

Distant memories of a burning barn and his sister's screams pass by.

"We need to get rid of anything that ties us to this, Stan. I can do it myself and meet you at the car."

He isn't a fan of either of these options.

"I'll go, just...get a head start and I can catch up."

Kyle leaves through the back with bloody sheets and clothes.

And Stan goes back upstairs with the camera and photos, leaving them outside the bedroom.

He leaves the house soon after.

...

Kyle burns the bloody things and tells Stan to clean the knife and hide it.

"It's better to not carry the murder weapon, or any weapon."

Stan thinks about arguing, but instead just does it.

They leave soon after, twenty minutes before the man's mother will arrive and find his body.

"So, what did you find?" Kyle asks when they're a good distance away.

"Nothing you want to hear about," Stan replies.

He knows it's only a matter of time before someone finds him.

The evidence of what he's done.

Stan feels less guilty, at least.