Jake Rivers is an England International Midfielder and Manchester United Youth product. He's the life and soul of the party, with buckets of talent. But he's hiding a secret to the rest of the World.
One he thought he was comfortable hiding, until h...
Capri was stunning. Jake had never been to the Neapolitan Rivera before, but it's stunning cliffs, huge mountains, and islands made it a beautiful location to get over a EURO final loss. Apart from one thing.
"Did you consider, at any point, that coming to Italy mere hours after they won the EUROs, not us, was going to potentially make it hard to avoid?" Jake laughed.
"Look, don't buy a newspaper, don't turn on the telly, we will be fine." Mason smiled. "Although the fact this was Italy, hadn't crossed my mind. I wasn't really sure which country Capri belonged to, or whether it was independent."
Jake belly laughed at Mason's dumbness. They had 3 days in Capri before they were going to join up with the masses in Greece. So they were taking their opportunity to do absolutely nothing while they could. Sun, Sea and Sex was very much the motto of their holiday.
***
They were out at dinner; eating at a stunning restaurant overlooking the island. Jake had just stuffed the final mouthful of a tiramisu down his gullet. Mase was just staring at him smiling. The sun casting a golden glow onto them both.
"What? Have I got tiramisu on my face?" Jake asked.
"No babe." Mase smiled.
"Then why are you staring at me?"
"Because I love you."
Jake blushed red, smiling too. A beautiful silence fell between them.
Mase took his hand. "I know that we haven't really addressed what our future looks like or really what even this is currently. And I know you'll have 100 questions, which you should. But I just know I love you, I'm done freaking out, I'm done being ashamed. I wanna scream it from the top of motherfucking Mount Vesuvius over there. I want to be with you."
A tear left Jake's eye.
"Jake, I'm ready to come out." Mase smiled, like he'd just decided to go for the calzone and not the Caesar salad.
Jake looked over the table at him. "What? Are you sure, Mase?"
"Never been more sure in my entire life. Look, losing the EUROs, I know it's football, but it just proves that you can't always affect what happens to you. You can't change something that already is, no matter how much it hurts. The only person I wanted that night was you. And seeing the strength of Marcus, Jadon, Bukayo. They can't change or hide the colour of their skin, not saying any of them would ever want to. But they have nowhere to hide, and yet they rise to new levels to deal with the abuse thrown their way. And it's made me think, I don't want to hide, it feels cowardly. They've shown me that actually you can survive the shit that get thrown at you, the comments, the hate. And I'm over it. I just want to live my live with who I want to live it with."
Jake was now crying across from the Chelsea midfielder.
"Why are you crying?" Mase asked, lovingly.
"Many reasons. One, I'm so happy for you that you've got to this place and that's how you feel. Two, I love you so much. Three, maybe I never thought this would happen and that I was always waiting til you decided it was over again and we couldn't be together. Four, it makes me think how I had to reach this acceptance with myself in 24 hours and how I probably scrambled around for it over the following months. Five, just a bit relief that it feels like there's stuff that I can let go of and you can let go of now and just move forward as ourselves."
Mase looked emotional too, as they stared out into the sunset. "I'm sorry for my part in the shit that's played out over the last year. I'll forever be trying to make up for the hurt I caused you. I know that 2020/21 hasn't been the best for you, and I'm so determined to make 21/22 amazing."
"I forgive you, Mase, there's nothing left to be made up. I know it wasn't the best year but I wouldn't change it. Obviously, if I could have my dad back, I'd jump at it, but the rest, it made me a better person. I can't wait for 21/22." Jake looked into his boyfriends eyes.
"Together forever?" Mase asked.
"Always."
***
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