Cameron, 6

He slept late next morning. He barely had time to grab something to eat before rushing out to the bus. He didn't get to sit with Giles, he was busy.

Giles was down at the back of the bus, with a girl. He did that sometimes. They exchanged grins, and then he took a seat on his own.

He was soon joined there by another friend. Rusty Williams flopped down next to him. "Hey Sweetie. Nearly missed the bus, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," Cameron grinned. "But we got here. What's this 'sweetie' business?"

"That's you, innit? Want to go on a date this weekend?"

"Only if you've had a sex-change since the last time I saw you naked."

"Cut my dick off? Not bloody likely! Anyway, there's a party on Saturday, at Billetts. You coming?"

"Nah, I can't. I'm going away for the hols."

"Sounds good. Where are you going?"

"Going to my granddad's."

"That'll be exciting. Sure you wouldn't rather party?"

"I'm sure. Granddad does live in Nelson."

"Oh, right. Nelson's pretty cool - great beaches."

"They are. Excellent beaches and all covered in babes."

"Oh yeah! Stuff the party, I'll come with you."

"You can if you really want to."

"Nah. I can't. We're going to my granddad's on Monday.:"

Sounds exciting. He lives in Wellington, doesn't he? Crap beaches."

"They've got some good beaches if you know where to go. Better than ours anyway. Our beaches really are crap."

"You're not wrong."

"Am I ever?"

"Well. . ."

"Shut it, Cameron!"

They went to school, which was all a bit of a non-event really. No-one was nasty to him, except for Ellie and her clique. That was expected and he just flipped them off. Everyone else had their minds on other things.

Tomorrow was the last day of school for the year and they were all full of their plans for the holidays. He was old news already. He didn't know what he'd been so worried about.

Gabriel's email with directions to his home, complete with a map, had arrived when he got home. He replied and said thanks, and then printed it off. Choice. Now he wouldn't get lost.

He gave his bike a good going over - oiled and greased it and checked the tyre pressures, and then started packing gear that he'd need.

After dinner, he was going to phone Gabriel, but didn't. Thinking about it, he realised that Gabriel hadn't rung him once. It was always him calling Gabriel, not the other way around. He was starting to look needy. He was needy, but he didn't want to look like it, so he left it. He'd wait and see if Gabriel called him.

He didn't. Cameron waited around, trying to keep busy, until nearly midnight before he went to bed. There was school tomorrow - the last day of the year! Yay! He wasn't worried, much.Why didn't Gabriel want to talk to him? Didn't he like him or something? Because he sure did like him.

He woke up next morning and - whoah! If he thought he was late yesterday, he was wrong. Now he was seriously late. He was still getting his clothes together as he ran down the drive to the waiting bus. Good of the driver to wait for him, but he could've done without all the cheers and applause from all of the other dorks on the bus.

Thursday was just another day in school. No it wasn't! It was a great day, best day of the year, because it was the last. It finished at lunchtime and they were free to go. Well, those who lived in town were free to go , the other poor sods had to sit and wait, the longest hour of the year, talking and waiting for the blasted buses!

Giles was SO going to have his own car by the end of next term. Cameron thought that was a good idea, but he didn't really need his own car if he could cadge a lift with Giles. As long as someone had wheels!

They cheered when the bus arrived, got on and went home, at last. It was earlier than normal, but the townies were well gone. So not fair. They reached his stop, he looked back down the aisle when he got off.

"Bye Ladies. Be good."

A chorus of raspberries came back. He got out and did an imaginary brown-eye. His pants stayed on but he went through the motions.

His father was there waiting for him when they walked into the house. "All right then." He got to his feet. "You kids can stay here. Cameron come with me."

"With you?" Cameron gulped, instantly nervous.

"Yes, with me. I want to talk to you. Come out to the back."

Cameron dropped his bag and followed him out to the tractor shed. They walked in and stood in the shade there.

"You're going to my dad's tomorrow?"

"I am. Well, I'm starting to. I'm biking up there so it'll take a few days."

"Fun for you. Wish I could do something like that. Cameron, you like your granddad, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Granddad's really cool.

"Cool. He wasn't always like that, you know. He's mellowed as he's got older. He was really hard on me when I was a boy, I don't want to be like that with you. I owe you an apology, Cam. Several apologies in fact."

"You do?"

"I do. I'm sorry for the way I exploded at you the other night, and I'm sorry too for sulking all week. Your mum says that it's about time I grew up and she's right. If you're gay, you're gay. There's nothing you can do about it and nothing that we can either. It's a long way for you to bike up there and back and the roads will be busy. If anything happened to you and I hadn't made things right between us, I'd never forgive myself. So, sorry. Okay? Are we friends again?"

"Thanks, Dad. But no, we're not friends. We're not now and we never will be."

"We won't? Why not then?"

"Because we can't. I've got lots of friends, heaps of them, but I'll only ever have one father. That's you and that's all I want. Shake?" He offered his hand but his father shook his head.

"No, I'm not shaking your hand. That's what strangers do. Fathers should hug their sons, agreed?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely!" Cameron grinned. He hugged his dad. Life had never been so good.

Walking back to the house, his father said, "I've put a couple of hundred dollars in your bank account. That's for your holiday and don't you dare spend it on anything sensible."

"Wow. Thanks, Dad, and I won't. That's great."

"See that you don't. Have a great holiday, don't do anything stupid and come home safely."

"I'll try to, thanks. I, umm, I do love you, you know."

"I love you too. Now go and take care of your chores, I've got work to do."

They parted at the house. His dad got into his ute and drove away. He didn't really have any chores to do anyway, so he went to the computer to check on his mail.

There wasn't a lot, but there was some. There was a note from Gabriel which was really good, but he was writing to say goodbye, which was not so good. His dad and Garth had returned a day early from their last trip of the season, they were full-up all ready. So they came back, cleaned-up and now they were about to hit the road - going home at last! He said to remember to call in to see them. As if he'd forget! He was looking forward to that and so was Cameron.

The message was sent early that morning, so they'd be gone by now. They were probably already back up in his beloved hills. Oh well, he'd see him up there for sure.

He loaded his bike up, hung the carrier bags over both front and back wheels and took the dorky flag off it. He wasn't ever riding around with that thing again. He filled his backpack and left it in the garage, next to the bike. Damm, there was a lot of stuff that he might need. Well, he'd be gone for a couple of weeks. Better to be safe than sorry. He ate with the family, and then went to bed early to avoid any awkward questions about who was going to be going with him.

Consequently, he was awake way early in the morning. He showered, dressed, ate and was gone before any of the others were awake. He just left a note to say goodbye and he was gone. That was good and leaving so early meant that he'd clock-up some k's before the day got too hot.

The town was, mostly, still sleeping when he passed through there. He didn't stop, just went up and over the hill and down to the bays on the south side. The coastal scenery was spectacular, but he'd seen it all a million times before.

It was hard going up the Hundalees where the highway wound up into the North Canterbury hills. He was tempted to get off and walk in places, but no. Dammit, he was not going to let it beat him. He had a long, long way to go and these were just the start of the hills. They lived in one hilly country!

'Must be nice to live somewhere flat.'

Going up hills was hard, but coming down them was fun and easy and for every up there'd be a down. He had to keep telling himself that. He took the inland road, through Waiau to Culverden. It was a back-country road but in good condition and it cut 67k's off the journey. At about 20k's per hour, that was well worth it.

He had a pie for lunch, at Culverden, and then carried on. There was nothing else to do and he was on a mission here. He biked for 10 hours on that first day and didn't stop until he got to Springs Junction. He was well-knackered when he got there, but he was determined and he made it.

This was the nearest 'town' to Gabriel's house and he was tempted to press on and reach there today, but no. He'd had enough, more than enough and he needed a rest. He'd sleep like a bloody log! He wasn't camping there in the settlement though - too many people around. He started up the road towards the Shenandoah.

There were a handful of places around there that were named after memorable battles and sites in the American Civil War. Gabriel had told him that a local explorer had named them that way because he'd heard about them from his cousin who had risen to be a General in the Union Army - fancy that!

He stopped in the first Rest Area he came to, found a riverside spot to camp in the back there and pitched his tent. Someone had been there before him, there were several circles of fire-blackened stones. He gathered some dead wood and lit a fire, cooked and ate sausages and baked beans, (high energy food), and washed it down with an instant coffee.

Only a couple of cars had gone past since he stopped. It was a quiet and peaceful place. He should've brought some music, but hadn't thought of that. Dammit. It was still far from dark but the day was well advanced and the sun had gone down behind the mountains. Even sitting close to the fire, he was getting chilly. He was cold! (Summertime in the mountains). He dug his jacket out and put it on.

It had been getting cloudier all day, which was good when he was biking, but now he wouldn't be surprised if it started raining. He bloody hoped not! So much for the weather forecast.

He let the fire burn down and he went to bed early, in the tent. He was comfortable enough in there, with his bed-roll, and heavy duty sleeping-bag, but it seemed like hours before he went to sleep. Maybe he was just too damm tired or something? He thought of having a wank, but decided not to. Who knew what tomorrow might bring? He hadn't done it all day actually. That must've been some sort of record.

It was raining heavily when he woke next morning. Oh joy! What to do? He could sit here and wait for the weather to improve, but that could take a week up in this country. They were almost on the West Coast here and it rained a lot there, especially in the hills.

No, it wasn't far to Gabriel's now. He'd pack-up, load-up and bike there in the rain if he had to. He had a decent coat with him. He'd still get wet but he could dry out once he got there.

He found the map and instructions that Gabriel had sent him, studied them, and tucked them safely into an inside pocket. He put the coat on, packed everything up, doing the tent last, loaded up the bike and started on the road. It wasn't far to go, just a couple of kilometers, but he was wet to the skin and freezing cold by the time he got there.