I woke up gently the next day, Steve was no where to be seen. I quickly pulled on a pair of trousers and went downstairs to find him. I crept down the narrow stairs to find Steve sitting on the sofa staring blankly out of the window. I dare not speak a word as he seemed in serious reflection.
“Hi, … you okay” I said in the most friendly voice I muster.
“Oh … yeah I’m fine”
I could see that he wasn’t, his eyes were a bright shade of red as if he had been crying.
“Look I eh I … doesn’t matter” I then and there had the chance to say everything was okay and that I felt the same way yet I was a coward, I took the easy way out and said nothing.
“Sorry I had to tell you all that, you must think I’m a right weirdo”
I couldn’t believe he was apologising to me, it was tearing me up that he was going through all this and I could make it so much easier by telling him one simple thing.
“No I don’t … look I am so sorry I didn’t tell you this before but I have thought I was gay for quite a while and … and I think I like you”
I studied his reaction for a few seconds, it was completely expressionless.
“Are you serious” Steve said the words so quickly I barely picked them up.
“Yeah, I probably should have said something before today”
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to, not the easiest thing to do is it” smirked Steve, this was the first time since he had came out I had seen a smile on his face.
“No … it isn’t … so what about you mum, you gonna tell her”
“Already have, told her this morning”
“Really, what she say” I was seriously shocked, I had no intentions of telling my parents, not yet anyway.
“Not thrilled but she accepted it”
What got to me about Steve was he wasn’t making eye contact with me at all, and hadn’t all the time I had been talking to him.
“I don’t mean to be nosy but eh … your eyes look red, you been crying”
I immediately saw him hide his eyes from view, I could feel that there was something wrong something he wasn’t telling me.
“Yeah … a little”
I sat beside him and tried to put my hand on his shoulder when he suddenly moved away. I said nothing for a few minutes, hoping beyond hope for him to say something, anything.
“I’m gonna go get my stuff then”
“I didn’t mean to do that, it’s just …”
“Look Steve I get it, you thought I was hitting on you, no big deal”
“I didn’t think, I hoped”
“What, you hoped I would hit on you, why”
“The guy I said I liked last night … it was you… that’s the reason I decided to tell you first”
I saw him turn around and all emotion just swept me off my feet as I couldn’t believe a word he was saying. This was everything I had fantasised about for the last couple months all culminating in this one moment.
“Well … eh … I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do now” I laughed trying to hide the true fear that I had in what to do next.
Steve laughed a little, I stress a little as he, as I was, was confused and scared as to what was going to happen next.
“Eh so … what’s going to happen then” He said softly.
“I’m going to be quite forward and just say it Steve … I want to go out with you and … I want to be with you” I had no clue where all this courageousness was coming from, but I just thought I would go with it and see where it took me, it already worked for me once.
“Thank god you said that David … I …I do too”
Steve smiled and shifted his eyes from me to the floor several times before saying anything else.
“So you … going to come on to me or am I going to have to do it this time” said Steve with much more confidence than he had possessed in the past 24 hours.
I decided to not say or do anything, mostly because I was petrified and couldn’t move or speak but also to see if Steve would really make the first move. And he did, he slowly walked up to me grasped me around the waist and delicately kissed me on the lips. As I basked in the moment I gradually fell on the sofa with Steve on top of me, we spent the good part of 30 minutes kissing each other.
After another few hours spent in Steve’s house my mum felt it was time for me to get home as I had football practise in the morning and it was already 10o’clock. I said my goodbyes and we shared a secret undisclosed kiss.
