I liked Bruno, he was the kind of guy who sat in the front row of the class, fiddling with his curls and smiling at everyone who walked by. He was a "popular guy" and I was his "weird friend", although I never told him so, I was always enamored with the way he treated me and his silly comments about the "weird relationship" we both had. While he bragged about how well he was doing with the girls in high school, I looked up to him with much admiration.
I longed to be as straight as he was and not look at him any other way. But, in the end, the years separated us and I didn't have to face the obvious love I felt for him. Although it was an open secret among our friends, everyone seemed to know that I was dying for his beautiful cheeks, except him. In his head I was his best friend, someone to talk to, a person who helped him because I loved him. And I didn't want him to think my friendship was fake.
In fact, I attended each and every game he played. Soccer was his passion, but, although my heart insisted, I knew that my relationship with him was impossible, so I started to distance myself, until I succeeded. However, as the years went by, we saw each other three or four times and when we did, we hugged each other, with no feelings in between. On one of those occasions, he asked me for my phone number.
Ten years had passed, I had already graduated from college and he was the father of two children. Days went by and he started writing, I didn't think wrong, after all he was my friend. A very straight friend, at least that's what I thought. The biggest surprise was when in a message, he wrote me that he would like to see me and invited me to go for a coffee; by then he had separated from his wife and I thought he wanted to tell me his problems, to talk as we used to do before.
But, I couldn't help feeling nervous. I didn't understand, how was it that an invitation to a simple coffee was making me feel emotions that I thought had been left in the past, buried among a million painful memories. I thought about not going, I wanted to excuse myself not to face seeing him again, to bury the past and never return to the same place, but at the same time I thought that he needed a friend. That friend I was, understanding and kind.
So, with a lot of emotions, I decided to cling to sanity and attend that meeting. I put on a blue tracksuit, because if I wore any pink or red, it was going to make my blushing cheeks more obvious. When I finally arrived at the café, I had to make room for myself in the crowd. That night, especially, there was a "divorce party" going on, I thought it was a joke, but separating from a bad relationship was now a cause for celebration.
I looked at the back of the place and I could glimpse Bruno, perfectly dressed and combed as which host. I felt like swooning at such manliness, but at the same time I started walking in his direction without taking my eyes off his eyes for a moment. "Now they celebrate divorces" I said in a joking tone, "yes, I had to celebrate mine too" he replied and we both laughed loudly. I sat with him, as we watched the rest of the attendees having a good time.
"Dylan, I loved you too, but you know back then it was very hard to admit that you liked a man" Bruno uttered that and I felt the world stop, did he love me, "10 years later I don't know what the point of knowing this is, really. I always loved you, but I also knew you couldn't love me back" I answered and we stayed for a long time without saying a single word. And when I was finally going to say something, he interrupted me "I think I was always in love with you, sorry to say it 10 years later. After a divorce, two children and many experiences I guess now I can face the love I never gave you."
I was terrified, living what I would describe as a nightmare. Suddenly the love of my adolescence was showing up 10 years later telling me that he loved me too, but just like me I decided not to face it. Tears were streaming down my face, I tried to calm down, but I couldn't stop thinking about those nights we didn't live, the dates we couldn't enjoy, the time we lost just because society wasn't ready.
I took his hand and told him to go outside, we started walking down those same streets we walked as kids, the same places, the same houses and the same moon. We played a game of soccer on the improvised soccer field in the neighborhood, we laughed out loud as we played in the mud and fog. We shouted in unison to the same sky that had witnessed our best years. And by the time the sun announced its arrival, we both sat gazing up at it. "Thank you for this" I whispered to him and suddenly, a kiss sealed our meeting. The force of destiny and its designs.
THE END
A love from the past returns, joining the maturity of the present with the illusion of adolescent love. A beautiful love story, @franchalad. Thank you very much for this story.
Appreciate your presence in the comments of the other stories.
One shouldn’t hide from who they really are, I am glad that they eventually found their way back to each other.
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