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"God, it's been forever since I've been here." Ethan breathed as he stepped out into the small Texas town littered with friendly faces and traffic consisting mostly of oil rig trucks. In truth, it had been a year since he left for Black Rose, but the events that took place certainly made it feel like forever.
Turning to his lover, Ethan smiled brightly and waved a hand behind him to the town. "Let me be the first to welcome you to Big Spring, Texas!" he welcomed cheerfully.

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"Umm... There's a Western Wear store." Ethan shrugged sheepishly. "They've got cowboy hats...?" He had to admit, though, that he should get his own - Although he was sure there were still a few in his house- Oh! His house! He could finally take Lock to his house! Ah, but they should wait first. He wanted to show Lock around the town and get used to Texas. But they really did need a hat, or some water. The sun was relentless today. That, and he kinda wanted to see Lock in a cowboy hat.

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Ethan's eyebrow twitched. "Of course we don't!" he snapped. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, offended? Was that even a form of racism? No, that was just stereotyping, but isn't that in the racism family? He didn't even care how upset Lock was, how many times was he asked if people in his hometown chased Indians and ranched cattle?!
The brunette scratched his neck and looked northward. "But, uh, there's a few ranches around here." he said and looked back at Lock. "Just a little farther is Lamesa, and it's got some cattle and dusty plains if you want to see that." he mused. "Honestly there's a good amount of ranches here, and I'm sure if you walk around long enough you'll find a rancher. Of course, most of them speak Spanish now." He smiled brightly. "Why don't we get you a cowboy hat? It's great against this heat." he said and started dragging the pop star down the sidewalk.

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"It's because you're a flashy Asian." Ethan replied without hesitation and only turned when he realized Lock had stopped. "Texas doesn't see a lot of Asians, especially ones dressed in fancy suits." he said and motioned to the blonde's attire. "Just don't think about it. Most Texans are judgmental. Screw 'em, I like you just fine." he assured.

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Ethan paled and quickly let go of their hands. It was nothing personal, just more of a safety precaution. "It's bad here." he explained. "There's still loads of mega-Catholics roaming around, and a lot of Texans are close-minded. You saw my dad when I confessed to him. Seriously, people begrudgingly accept it, but the hate's still clear in their eyes." he mumbled.

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"I don't know, I might get a little jealous." Ethan smirked, though excitement was bubbling in his stomach at the thought of seeing his old friends again.

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"They should just be getting out of school. C'mon!" Ethan said excitedly and practically dragged Lock through town. The buildings were old and looked as though they didn't see too much excitement, but still had plenty of common folks walking in and greeting each other. There were even a few people that waved at Ethan and stopped him to greet him. After about an hour under the hot sun and bright smiles, the duo reached the large school that was currently littered with random teens.
Seated on one of the tables stationed outside for lunch breaks were two men, one who wore a beanie and had a skateboard at his side, and another that was dressed well and held books to his side. The two were conversing when the skater caught something out of the corner of his eye, making his head turned. He blinked at Ethan then smiled brightly and waved at him, seeming to shout something. The paler man blinked at his friend's outburst and followed his gaze, gaining his own bright smile when he saw their old friend returning.

"Jesus, Ethan, it's been months!" the skater beamed when Ethan ran up to them. Upon closer inspection, the skater was taller by a few inches, and the bookworm was the same height as the orange addict. "When'd you get in town? You coulda texted me at least!"
"Sorry, it was kinda on impulse." Ethan shrugged and kept his wide smile.
The skater guffawed and crossed his lengthy arms. "Impulse? Sh_t, if I had the luxury of doing that I'd be moving to Vegas."
The three laughed before the shorter-haired male looked over to the blonde, giving him an odd look. "Who's that?" he whispered to Ethan.
Ethan blinked then looked over his shoulder at Lock. "Oh! I almost forgot! This is Lock." He smiled at the Korean and pointed at the grinning skater. "That's Alex, and that's Arby." he introduced.
"Nice ta meet ya, dude." Alex smirked while rubbing his nose. "You must be a good friend of Ethan's if he took you here, too."
"I'd imagine you've had some bad luck?" Arby chuckled lightly while setting his books down on the table.