**Chap­ter Sum­ma­ry: Miles**

In this emo­tion­al­ly charged chap­ter, Miles rides with Felix, crammed beside their dog San­dro as they rush to the hos­pi­tal for a fam­i­ly reunion that could save Wyn­ton’s life. Felix reveals to Miles his like­ly impend­ing blind­ness, a shock­ing con­fes­sion that almost rais­es Miles’ spir­its as he mis­con­strues it for some­thing more dire. Their con­ver­sa­tion flows between feel­ings of appre­ci­a­tion and the heavy weight of Felix’s diag­no­sis, which has forced him to con­front life dif­fer­ent­ly. Felix, amidst laugh­ter, reflects on his new­found love for life and its won­ders, attribut­ing his joy to the time spent with Miles.

As they nav­i­gate deep feel­ings of fear and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty, Felix admits he has become obsessed with the faces of his loved ones, espe­cial­ly his friend Eddie, cre­at­ing ten­sion with under­ly­ing feel­ings of love that Miles can’t ignore. Despite the grav­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion, a bud­ding con­nec­tiv­i­ty grows between Miles and Felix, marked by sub­tle touch­es and lin­ger­ing gazes, ignit­ing mutu­al desire with­in the con­fines of the truck. Their bond inten­si­fies as they approach their des­ti­na­tion, height­ened by unspo­ken feel­ings and the impend­ing real­i­ty of sep­a­ra­tion.

When Felix reveals his plans to return to Col­orado for culi­nary school, a crush­ing silence fol­lows. Miles grap­ples with his dis­ap­point­ment, re-eval­u­at­ing his rela­tion­ships and sense of self amidst the emo­tion­al tur­moil. It dawns on him that while his broth­er is fight­ing for his life, he too must con­front his own fears and con­nec­tions. Just as he resolves to sup­port Felix in his jour­ney, Felix grabs him, con­fess­ing an over­whelm­ing con­nec­tion. This piv­otal moment sparks a fer­vent kiss between the two boys, cement­ing their deep­en­ing bond amidst chaos.

The chap­ter con­cludes with a bit­ter­sweet farewell. Miles express­es grat­i­tude to Felix and reflects on the pro­found con­nec­tion they shared—one borne of adven­ture, hon­esty, and unex­pect­ed love. As they part, Miles enter­tains the pos­si­bil­i­ty of vis­it­ing Felix in Den­ver, though doubts linger about the future of their rela­tion­ship. The chap­ter encap­su­lates themes of love and self-dis­cov­ery against the back­drop of impend­ing loss, high­light­ing the intri­cate dance of friend­ship, desire, and life’s unpre­dictable path.