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Of course he knew the answer to the question. Jeremy’s grandmother was ill and needed her only daughter nearby to help care for her. Still, he had always pictured the two of them going through high school, graduating, and going to college together. With Jeremy moving and his plan obliterated, he had no idea what would happen in the future.

As much as he didn’t want to talk about the move, they couldn’t avoid the topic forever. After a moment Jeremy continued in a quiet voice. “Craig. You are my best friend in the world. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you by my side.“

A sense of relief filled Craig, knowing Jeremy struggled with the move too. His relief quickly shifted to concern. He didn’t want Jeremy to be upset, especially on their last day together. “You didn’t create the situation and we can’t do anything to change it.

We’ll still call each other, and email, and we can talk using Skype. It won’t be so bad.”

The lie didn’t even convince him.

Jeremy frowned. “It’s not the same. I want to tell you something, Craig. You’ve been the one I’ve trusted with everything. You’re the first person I think of when I have a secret to share or if I’m upset about something. You’ve been the best friend anyone could ever hope to have.” Craig understood Jeremy wanted to ease his pain, but the words cut at him. “What I’m trying to say is that I love you, Craig.”

Craig’s head snapped up. He loved Jeremy too, but had never dared to say the words fearing Jeremy might freak out and never speak to him again. His mind reeled, 3

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wondering whether Jeremy meant he loved him as a friend or something more. He had realized his own feelings for Jeremy ran deeper than friendship, something that scared the shit out of him. Still, Jeremy had the courage to say the words. Craig needed to say the words or he would regret never having taken the chance to say how he really felt.

“I love you too. You are the one who always sticks up for me when Dickhead Donald tries to beat me up. You’re the one who picks my sorry ass off the ground when I fall. That’s why I’m so bummed. I’m never going to find someone like you. It’s too late to start over.” Craig’s sadness intensified as the lump in his throat became larger and his eyes began to blur. He almost started crying, something he desperately wanted to avoid in front of Jeremy, and had to fight back the tears.

Tenderness crossed Jeremy’s face and he reached his hand out, touching Craig’s cheek. Surprised, Craig almost lost his balance. He tightened his grip on an overhead branch and peered at Jeremy, whose eyes were fixed on him. No nervousness or hesitancy showed in Jeremy’s face as his hand remained on his cheek, slowly caressing.

Without realizing what he was doing, Craig leaned into Jeremy’s hand as a tear escaped his eye and trickled down his cheek.

Jeremy’s used his thumb to stop the tear in its track, cupped the back of Craig’s neck, and leaned towards him. He closed the distance between them and kissed Craig on the lips. Craig began to pull back, fearing Jeremy would get angry with him. How many times had he dreamed of kissing Jeremy? How many fantasies played out in his mind?

Heat travelled to the spot where Jeremy’s hand touched him. The slickness of Jeremy’s tongue, sliding against his own, triggered tingling fingers of electricity throughout his body, sending currents along his skin and forcing blood to his groin as his penis hardened inside his jeans. A moment of panic took hold, but then Craig remembered Jeremy had initiated this.

He allowed Jeremy to take the lead, relaxing as Jeremy put his other hand on Craig’s shoulder. What started as a chaste kiss quickly turned passionate. Jeremy ran his tongue over Craig’s lips and instinctively, Craig opened to Jeremy, their tongues exploring each other’s mouths.

Jeremy’s mouth contained a hint of orange flavor, probably from lunch, but his scent was purely Jeremy. The fresh, crisp smell of spring air and new leaves wafted between them, causing his head to spin as Jeremy pulled them closer, deepening the kiss, pressing their lips tightly together. He had to grip the branch above his head to prevent them from falling.

Jeremy’s hands roamed down Craig’s body, gently touching pectorals, brushing over nipples, and resting on his waist, leaving a tingling trail of excitement in their wake. Craig’s vision funneled until the only the two of them existed, nestled together high up in the branches of The Love Tree.

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After a few minutes which seemed like years, they pulled apart and stared at each other. “Whoa.” Blood rushed to Craig’s head and he had to grab onto the branch with both hands to stabilize himself. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

Jeremy laughed. “You want me to take it back? I’ve wanted to do that for a while and I couldn’t leave without at least kissing you once. I really do love you, Craig.”

Craig didn’t know what to say. Even though he had begun to question his feelings for Jeremy, he had never imagined actually kissing him for real. Now that they had kissed, he was amazed at how incredibly right it had felt. It was almost cruel. On the day he had to say goodbye, he discovered they could have been so much more than best friends. The discovery was bittersweet and the irony caused another wave of grief to pass over him.

The moments ticked by. They remained silent as they shifted on the branch until Jeremy finally spoke. “Come on, we should probably get out of the tree. I’m sure our parents will be pissed if we’re late for the dinner they planned for us. Craig nodded in agreement and they worked their way back down the tree.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. Craig couldn’t stop thinking about his kiss with Jeremy. On the spare moments when he did push the thought from his mind, he remembered Jeremy had to leave the next morning which replaced the thrill from their kiss with depression. When they finished dinner, everyone hugged and said their goodbyes.

That night in bed, Craig replayed the kiss over and over. Even as a first kiss, he knew no one else could have made him feel the way Jeremy had. In one instant, he realized how much he loved his best friend and had also discovered something much more important about himself. Tears began to stream down his cheeks and Craig flipped over, burying his head in his pillow, sobbing.

The next morning, Craig woke up earlier than usual. His head was heavy from not having gotten a good night’s sleep, but he jumped out of bed anyway, threw on his jeans and a sweatshirt, and ran outside. Jeremy was just getting into his car.

“Jeremy!”

Jeremy stopped, turning to face Craig. Time stood still, before Jeremy ran over to him, grabbing him in a tight hug. Craig wrapped his arms around Jeremy, hot tears spilling out of his eyes. When they pulled apart, Craig looked at Jeremy and saw his eyes filled with tears as well. Jeremy wiped his face and sniffled. “I’ll call you once we get there.”

Craig nodded, but said nothing, his grief making it too difficult to speak. As Jeremy returned to the car and climbed in, a piece of Craig closed off with the same finality as the car door. He ran about half a block once the car started to drive away, waving frantically to Jeremy’s retreating face, which gazed out the back window at him. And then the car turned the corner. Jeremy was gone.

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Fifteen Years Later…

Craig stared at his computer screen, lost in thought, something that had been happening more often lately. The business he and his college friends had started, Spectacular Designs, had a steady flow of clients which kept the five of them busy. But busy didn’t fix the other problems Craig had to deal with outside of work. Namely, his boyfriend, Robert. What had once been a source of happiness in his life now hung as a dark cloud. In fact, he had taken to spending more and more time at work, avoiding the criticism he had to deal with at home. Just this morning they had argued once again about his work. Robert was constantly pushing him to leave the business he had created in order to take a job which would pay more. How many times did they have to have the same discussion before Robert would realize that a major reason Craig loved his job was because he had helped to start the business.

Janet came out of her office, her head tilted to the side holding her cell phone to her ear while she scribbled madly on her notepad. Craig smiled and watched her on her phone call, remembering the first time he had met her.

Second semester his sophomore year of college, he took his first graphics arts course and met Janet. She had been incredibly intense, wanting to double major in business and graphic arts, but Craig loved her upbeat and fun nature. She made him laugh and cry. They spent all their time together and quickly became best friends. Meeting her had saved him from coasting through college in the fog that had followed him for four long and lonely years following Jeremy’s move.

Janet’s energy and friendship had brought him back to the person he had been when Jeremy had been around; a vibrant, upbeat person who loved life and lived fully.

Still, he had never been able to let go of the memory of loss. No one, not even Robert, measured up to the feelings he had for Jeremy.

Craig was distracted by Janet’s voice next to him. “You’re working late tonight.” He glanced up from his computer screen and turned to face her. He hadn’t heard her end her phone call.

She grinned at him. “I swear, if you keep working as hard as you do, you’re going to have to take over my position. I’m not earning my paycheck with you around.”

Craig smiled a devilish grin, allowing exaggerated innocence to play across his face.

“I work this hard for the sheer love of the job.” He did love his work, but he had other reasons for staying late so often.

Janet punched his shoulder. “You don’t have to be a wise ass.”

Craig laughed, rubbing his arm in mock-pain. “I’m working late because I can’t get a solid idea on how to proceed with this project.” Again, not the real reason, but one Janet would believe.

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Janet leaned over to glance at his screen. “A bed and breakfast job, huh? What do they want you to design?”

Craig pushed the file across his desk. Fran and Berma, two lesbians who lived in Provincetown, Massachusetts, had contacted him to reinvent their logo for their annual mailing to advertise their small but cozy business. “The place is called Earth and Sea.

They want me to create a design which represents land and water, but they want the two images to blend somehow so you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.

I’m seriously stuck.”

“Well, I’m sure you‘ll manage. Why did they choose you though? You do the modern stuff. Kevin would have been a much better choice for this project. He does the natural designs.”

Craig knew Janet was right, but he had been the only person in the building when Fran and Berma stopped in. After talking to him, they refused to allow anyone else to work on the job. They said karma had brought them to Spectacular and to him. Craig agreed to do the job, but thought the two ladies had been nut jobs.

He leaned back in his chair, turning to face Janet and folding his arms behind his head. “I’m only staying a little longer. I want to develop some kind of a concept for this project. It’s been sitting on my desk taunting me for the past week.” Leaning forward and staring at his computer, Craig tried to will the screen to give him inspiration.

“Ok, hon, but don’t stay too late. You do have a life after all.” Janet stood but didn’t walk away. When he looked up, he saw a perplexed expression on her face as she assessed him.

“What?”

She reached over and tousled his blond hair. ”Nothing. I’m just wondering…” She clamped her mouth shut.

“What!”

“I was just thinking how handsome you are. That casual sloppy hairdo is so in right now, combine that with your dazzlingly blue eyes, high cheekbones with sun-kissed red highlighting them, your perfectly smooth creamy skin and those muscles.” She sighed. “And you barely go to the gym. You’re just blessed with naturally rounded shoulders and no body fat. Finish it off with you clothes which hug your body in all the right places…” her voice trailed off as she stood back to check out his ass. “If you weren’t gay, I would jump your bones.”

“Shut up Janet.” He hated when she complimented his physical appearance, although deep down, he reveled in the adoration. He wasn’t getting any satisfying attention at home; hadn’t for a couple of years now.

Janet shook her head. “Sorry, babe.” She gave Craig a peck on the cheek, and headed towards the door.

Craig remained at his desk, staring at his screen, decidedly uninspired.

Exasperated, he got up and grabbed his Marlboro Lights from the desk drawer. He 7

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walked outside, leaned against the wall next to the door, and lit up. He took a drag and exhaled forcefully, hoping some of his frustration would exit his body with the smoke.

Chelsea was exactly the kind of neighborhood Craig enjoyed in Manhattan. Unlike midtown, the streets were never overcrowded and the businesses were warm and fun.

The tall buildings, mostly red-brick, filled with apartments, towered on either side of the streets, while the avenues were lined with stores. The stores catered to the largely gay population; natural food, clothing, alternative medicine, coffee shops. Craig never minded the constant flow of eye candy either. Something about Chelsea screamed New York City to him; upscale-cozy with a great deal of pretention and a fast pace. Perfect for a working environment.