Special

Is It Too Late to Apologise?

Matt was standing in front of the school building waiting for Daniel. His thoughts had been drifting back to the date with Daniel all weekend and even during school he hadn't really been able to focus properly. He and Daniel had spent the entire day together, they had watched the film, cuddled in the theatre, and sat in a café judging people who were passing by the window for their fashion choices. When they had taken the last bus back the sun had already been setting and Matt had barely been able to keep his eyes open as he stumbled from the bus stop to his house. He had been grateful for Daniel who had insisted on accompanying him because otherwise Matt was sure that he would have fallen asleep on the pavement somewhere. They had said goodnight and kissed again in the shadows of a tree blocking them from both the street light and the view from the house.

Matt giggled and leaned against the wall of the school building. He had slung his arms around Daniel when they had kissed and he still couldn't believe the feeling of holding someone he loved in his arms, feeling his gentle touches and knowing that he made his heart race just as much as his own. He wished that he could do that everyday wherever they were. But as usual they both had ignored each other during school. As much as Matt hated the fact that they couldn't be open about their relationship he couldn't argue with Daniel's reasoning. Even if Daniel's parents were more accepting, he wouldn't want to force Daniel to come out before he felt ready for it.

Matt looked at his watch. Daniel was already half an hour late, which was unusual to say the least. At first Matt hadn't thought anything by it but now he found himself restlessly shifting his weight from one foot to the other and ruffling his hair. Daniel hadn't even replied to his texts. Worry suddenly clouded his mind, pushing back the enjoyable memories of the date. Had Emily talked to Daniel already? He still had today.

Again Matt pulled out his phone and began typing but was interrupted by Dan's voice.

"Hey," Daniel said. His voice sounded much softer than usual and he looked down at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked. His breath caught in his throat. Something was definitely not right.

Daniel shrugged. "I don't even know why I'm still talking to you," he mumbled.

"What are you talking about?"

Finally Daniel raised his head and looked at Matt. Matt wasn't sure if what he saw in his eyes was anger or sadness or a mixture of both.

"Joe and Jonathan told me what's up. I'll give you guys the money."

With that Daniel turned around and tried to walk away but Matt shook off the shock that was trying to freeze him in place and walked in front of Daniel to stand in his way.

"What?" Matt couldn't believe Daniel's words. How would the other two have found out? He hadn't really spoken to either of them for weeks. At school he mostly just kept to himself these days and except for his mother he certainly hadn't told anybody. Had one of them overheard the conversation he had had with Emily?

"You can stop pretending now, I know the truth," Daniel yelled. Now he was clearly angry.

"How did they find out?" Matt asked. The question was not really directed at Daniel but more a thought that had hijacked his tongue.

"Because you told them. Because you set me up. Stop pretending like you don't know anything about this," Daniel hissed. He shoved Matt out of his way and marched down the pavement.

"No, Daniel, wait," Matt shouted and ran after him. "Give me a chance to explain."

"Your friends did a good job at explaining already. Leave me alone," Daniel said and again tried to push Matt out of his way but Matt grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.