I never thought I would fall in love this summer, especially not with another guy.
Theo boards a plane with his parents for a family vacation he's not excited about.
Without a summer job and facing two dreary weeks in Torrevieja, life feels bleak...
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Ulrik
He tossed restlessly in bed; the sheets crumpled around him. He stared up at the ceiling, where the moonlight traced faint patterns. His heart raced, and he could feel the warm blood rushing beneath his skin. The images of Theo laughing, accompanied by the persistent chime of his phone, played on repeat in his mind.
It was a girl sending messages, which should have been perfectly fine, but it didn't feel that way.
"Why did I feel this boiling anger inside?" was the question that surfaced in his mind as he sought to understand the reason behind it. Was it jealousy? It felt so senseless, so foreign. His shoulders tensed, and he took a deep breath. It was unsettling to experience this pressure in his chest every time Theo smiled for reasons other than himself.
Every time the phone vibrated, he instinctively hoped it was a message from him rather than someone else. When it turned out not to be the case, he felt a sense of disappointment wash over him. Was it normal to feel this way about a friend? He couldn't quite articulate it, but something was definitely different about Theo.
Ulrik rolled onto his side and gazed at the dark wall. It was as if every pattern and shadow he perceived morphed into a question mark, suspended in the night and compelling him to confront the tumultuous emotions swirling within him.
His friend Anders would likely have received a high-five for getting messages from a girl. "Well done, buddy," Ulrik would have said with a broad smile, not giving it much more thought.
With Theo, everything felt so different and intense. Was it jealousy? Possessiveness? He struggled to articulate his feelings.
He sank deeper under the duvet, as if he could escape from his own thoughts. His mind drifted back to the times when he had girlfriends—girls who laughed at his jokes, who hugged him, and with whom he held hands.
Beautiful girls, all of them, yet none had ignited a fire within him. None had made his heart race with excitement. There was always something lacking, something indefinable, that everyone else seemed to discover in their relationships.
"It's just how it is," he muttered into the edge of the pillow, unconvinced. Was this truly how it was supposed to feel? These emotions were new and frightening, yet at the same time, they were incredibly intense.
He thought of Theo, whose soft brown eyes shone with compassion, when Ulrik shared the news of his failed exam. On the cliffs, Theo's smile radiated warmth, even more so than the sunset they were watching.
Was it truly the word 'cute' that clung to these images? It felt inappropriate—almost forbidden—but, at the same time, it was so remarkably fitting.
"Oh, Theo, what have you done?" Ulrik whispered, closing his eyes for a moment in an attempt to push the image of Theo's smiling face away. However, the memories continued to flood in uninvited, forcing their way into his heart with such intensity that it almost hurt.
