Special

Kisses in the Alleyway

Their dates were rather unspectacular. The first one had felt a little bit awkward to them as they were sitting in the café that they usually met at suddenly struggling again to find a topic for conversation until they both broke down with nervous laughter which lifted the tension.

After that the dates were less awkward. They were simple in style but nonetheless special to them. It was not the act of sitting in a café or walking in the park but rather the fact that they were getting to know each other more and more deeply and truly enjoyed each other's company and love. Physical closeness like holding hands or kissing however was reserved to quiet and private moments when they were watching the sunset or looking at the stars in Daniel's favourite place and when they were at Matt's home where they were often baking cupcakes together or they cuddled on the sofa while watching a film since Matt's parents worked long hours and usually came home quite late. Stressful as it was for them to keep it a secret it made them treasure every second that they could spend together like that. And they met every day to get more of them. Matt felt like he could almost forget that Emily's deadline was approaching at rapid pace. But he did have a plan. All that he was lacking was courage.

It had been the last day of exams and since it was a Friday he and Daniel had decided to skip the last class to be able to have a slightly fancier date. With all the stress of the exams and the pressure to get good grades gone they felt the need to celebrate surviving school for the past few weeks. While everyone else was sitting in art class learning about perspective in drawing they were taking the bus to the next bigger town which had a cinema where they were hoping to get tickets to a film that Matt seemed to be rather excited about. Daniel knew nothing about the topic but he loved the idea of sitting in the last row of the room where he hoped to be able to cuddle closer to Matt than they usually would in public. He listened intently to Matt gushing about the film and smiled widely at his inability to hide his excitement. His boyfriend's inability to hide his excitement! Daniel's smile turned into a giggle that interrupted Matt's explanation of why he already loved the film.

"What?" he asked although he probably already knew the answer and blushed a little as Daniel grabbed his arm and pressed his forehead against his shoulder.

Matt raised his head and quickly looked around in the bus. The seats around them were empty. There was only an elderly woman sitting in the front row trying to tell the bus driver all about her grandchildren and a young man in wheelchair was reading a book in the middle section of the bus. But neither of them would be able to hear them over the sound of the traffic that seeped into the bus from the outside.

"I just realised that you are my boyfriend now," Daniel voiced his thoughts emphasising the word that woke up the butterflies in his gut. Matt answered with a giggle himself. Even though they had been dating for a while now it still felt new and every time they realised that the other loved them back it elicited laughter of joy and disbelief.

"I love you," Matt whispered and quickly left a well placed kiss on Daniel's temple. Daniel grinned. He was holding Matt's hand in his lap, slowly caressed the soft skin and watched how a hint of red crept onto his boyfriend's cheeks.

"I wish moments like these would never end," he sighed finally as his thoughts drifted off into his worries. Matt tugged at his sleeve to catch his attention.

"What's wrong?" he asked and watched Daniel stare off into the distance where the landscape passed by in a blur of colours.

"My parents will hate me," Daniel mumbled. He felt bad, not just because of the constant worry that was living in not so distant corners of his mind but also because he hadn't intended on ruining a nice day by talking about it. The warmth of Matt's hand between his own got so intense he had to push him away and another flash of guilt shot through his mind. "Sorry," he said and laced through Matt's fingers again.