The seasons had changed in Hidden Creek. The weather was warmer, the holidays having come and gone. Life had gone back to more or less normal as the aftermath of the article quieted down. Shane no longer complained of people trying to get him fired, at least. Zach figured the closed-minded assholes that had been so persistent before had given up by now. The students had continued to rally around each other in the meantime. The members of the LGBT Alliance had nearly doubled over the past several months, and Shane had mentioned there were more students that were slowly gaining the courage to come out, in whatever ways they felt comfortable.

All the while, Shane and Zach had been together.

They spent a few months dating, making sure to spend at least a few nights a week with each other. That had increased as the weeks went on, and in the end Zach had offered for Shane to move in with him. He knew, without a doubt, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, so why not? It saved Shane a hell of a lot of money on rent, and allowed them both to live more comfortably and happily. He had to admit, he really loved waking up with Shane beside him every day. Their lives were never short of laughter, music, and comfort when they were together.

Zach fell more in love with him with each passing day.

Tonight it was a warm evening in late May. The high school’s spring semester was over, which meant the senior class was graduating tonight. The ceremony took place in the high school’s auditorium, and both Shane and Zach had come to watch Jesse and Millie receive their diplomas. It was nice to see the students coming full circle, months ago having been here defending their rights, and now taking their first steps as adults. Millie had even ended up being this year’s valedictorian, and had given a very passionate speech about how important it was to stand up for what you believed in and making sure your voice was heard among a crowd. Shane was teary-eyed throughout the whole ceremony, and Zach had made sure to hold his hand when he got the most emotional. Not that Zach had dry eyes the whole time, either.

He was so proud to see all of these kids succeed and go on to seek out their dreams and ambitions.

Once the ceremony was over, the two of them descended into the crowd, and Zach stood proudly by Shane’s side as he shook the hands of parents and gave students hugs. But all the while Shane was shooting glances his way, and seemed to be becoming increasingly nervous.

“Are you all right?” he finally asked, reaching out to squeeze his hand.

Shane cleared his throat. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m great. Just… emotional, you know.” He smiled brightly. “But really happy.”

Zach eyed him for a moment, but decided to let it go. It probably was an emotional time for a teacher. He couldn’t really blame him.

But Shane continued to act shifty as they finished off their greetings. Not only him, but some of the students were acting weird as well. They kept flashing wide mischievous smiles and giggling among each other when they passed them by.

Andre and Grayson were there too, loitering nearby, which he found a little surprising. Gwen wasn’t graduating, but maybe she had wanted to come in support of her friends.

Then he saw his parents among the crowd. His mother had a camera out, snapping pictures of them all. They gave him an excited wave, which he returned, but they didn’t approach.

Something was definitely up.

He squinted suspiciously towards Shane, who only smiled nervously in reply before turning to yell out, “Hey! Group photo time. Let me get the LGBT Alliance kids over here for a picture!”

Students came dashing closer, some in long graduation robes and still wearing their caps. Zach couldn’t shake the feeling they were all staring at him, knowing some secret that he didn’t, but before he could say anything else Shane was waving him over.

“Come on, take the picture with us,” he insisted.

“Okay…” Zach agreed with cautious confusion, and stepped over to stand in the middle of the group that was shuffling around so much that Zach found it unnecessary. But eventually everyone seemed settled, and Zach turned towards the photographer—which turned out to be Tina, who was practically bouncing on her heels with excitement.

Teachers really took taking pictures seriously, it seemed.

“Done,” Tina squeaked, lowering the camera to look at the screen. “Oh, oh! That’s a good one. Come here, Zach—take a look at it.”

Zach’s picture-taking smile dimmed into a more confused one. But he did step over, leaning over to peer at the camera when she held it up.

The picture was centered on Shane and Zach, with the students all crowded around with bright, excited smiles on all of their faces. But to his surprise, several of the students that had been standing behind them were holding up pieces of paper in front of themselves—ones he hadn’t noticed them pulling out while they posed. They spelled out a sentence.

Zach spun around in time to see Shane going down onto one knee, the students still standing behind him with the papers held up. His heart stopped, his body frozen with shock.

Shane’s smile turned more nervous as he pulled out a small jewelry box from his pocket. Inside was a beautiful silver band, inlaid with a few small diamonds.

“Zachary Calton, from the moment I met you, I knew that you were something special. I mean, you laughed at my lame jokes instead of rolling your eyes at me—so I knew I had a good catch then.” He grinned. “But ever since, you have proven just how much of a caring, generous, beautiful person you are. Every day you show me something new to fall in love with. I don’t want that to ever stop. I want to spend the rest of my life beside you. I want to spend every day showing you how much I adore you, and how honored I am that you’ve chosen me to love. And yeah—don’t worry, I’ll never run out of lame jokes. That’s a package deal.” He took a deep breath. “So… what do you say? Will you marry me?”

Tears blurred his vision. He could feel them pouring down his cheeks, but he didn’t bother trying to wipe them away. All he could do was stare, dumbstruck, at the love of his life as he kneeled in front of him.

There was no possible answer he could give except…

“Yes! Oh my god, yes, of course!”

Shane practically jumped back to his feet, stumbling a step before he laughed and straightened up. He plucked the ring from inside the box and took Zach’s hand, sliding the ring onto his finger.

He grabbed Shane by his tie and jerked him forward into a hard, passionate kiss, while their friends, family, and the students broke up into uproarious applause and cheers. Even Shane looked flustered and teary-eyed when the kiss broke, but Zach still didn’t let him go. He kept his arms wrapped around him, squeezing him against his chest and kissing his temple. Shane didn’t seem to mind at all.

“I love you. I love you so much,” he whimpered, barely managing to form words.

“I love you too,” Shane murmured while nuzzling into his shoulder. “God, I can’t wait to marry you.”

Zach stared down into the eyes of his partner, the man that had shown him what it felt like to be truly loved. The man that he knew, without any doubt or hesitation, he would spend the rest of his life with.

This time, he’d done things right.

This time, he’d have his happily ever after.