Sorey and Mikleo had decided that they would meet today up today and spend the day in the countryside to celebrate finishing for the year. They had decided this last week.
Sorey looked through his wardrobe figuring out what would be best to wear. A loose cotton shirt would be best in the heat, or, or, he could wear that tight fitted T shirt that brought out his eyes.
Why am I over thinking this?
He wore the fitted T shirt.
He met Mikleo at the bus stop, and they both exchanged words about how nice it was to be finished for the year and how good they felt after sleeping.
Mikleo's hair was styled back again for the first time in weeks, and he had opted for a loose cotton shirt. The bags under his eyes had all but disappeared, the purple in his irises was a little brighter than they had been, but the whites were still a little bloodshot. His lips were pink.
On the bus they sat on seats in front of each other rather than next to each other, while struggling for words to say. But it was alright. They both looked out of the window, looking at the tall concrete structures of the sixties make way for modest buildings over a century old, which then made way for fields. The pastures rolled away into the distance, gentle undulations turning into valleys between steep rocky outcrops. The landscape dropped away. The road skirted around the edge of a bowl, woods, farmhouses and rivers laid out beneath them.
It was the kind of view that made you forget the social compulsion to talk. Sorey turned to watch Mikleo sat in front of him, how his nose was close to touching the glass and how his eyes were wide and transfixed on the moving landscape.
The bus pulled up at their stop, a small, sweet village, nestled cosily between steep hills. Their plan had been to go for a long walk around the area, which was full of Neolithic mines and abandoned millstones. They fumbled over the map, hastily agreed on a route and set off. It didn't take long for the silence to feel heavy, so they talked about current events. For over an hour they never let the conversation drop, one of them always piping up with another point whenever one of them hadn't talked for over five seconds. They didn't make eye contact this whole time.
They sat down on a rock at the top of the hill, looking back down on to the village. Mikleo kept switching between staring up at the sky and down at his feet. He was peeling the sticker off his water bottle and it looked like he was biting on the inside of his lip.
"Hey Mikleo."
"Yeah," he replied, turning to look towards him, but not truly at him.
"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with S."
Mikleo took a second to look surprised, then laughed a little under his breath. "Is it Sky?"
Sorey flashed a grin and gave a thumbs up. "You got it! Now it's your turn."
"That one was a bit too easy, don't you think?"
"No," Sorey said. "You've got to start super easy and then build up."
"OK. I spy something beginning with G."
"Is it grass?"
They made their way back to the village, and sat down in the beer garden of a nice pub, in full sun. The conversation had started to flow more easily, and Mikleo had started to loosen up.
"Have you thought about what optional modules you're taking next semester?" Mikleo asked.
Sorey put his beer back down on the table. "I was thinking of doing the Egyptology one, that 'Cradle of Mankind' one looked interesting, and the one on modern field methods. Doesn't seem that exciting, but looks good for employability purposes. What about you?"
"I wish I'd have gone first. It'll just sound like I've copied you now."
"That's a good thing, right? We can work and study together again next year." He gave Mikleo a hearty slap on the shoulder. "And great minds think alike, right."
Mikleo almost smiled, but turned it into a smirk. "But fools rarely differ."
Sorey cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow.
"Great minds think alike, but fools rarely differ. That's the phrase in full."
After taking a long sip of his drink Sorey replied. "So, are we great minds or fools? Or a bit of both."
"Hmm. I'd say I'm the great mind and you're the fool."
Sorey jokily agreed. But he thought no. Having spent a whole day pretending like nothing had happened, like nothing had changed . . . They were both fools.
They waited at the bus terminal, under a summer sun that had no intention of going down for several hours. Mikleo yawned and Sorey followed in suit. They had been sat at the stop for a while, a queue of people had formed behind them and the bus had failed to arrive.
It had been a hard day. He hadn't struggled to get Mikleo to talk so much since they had first met. He didn't want to think that his careless actions had set them back almost six months. It wasn't just Mikleo. Frequently and sporadically throughout the day his heartbeat had gone crazy. And as much as he'd wanted Mikleo to make eye contact with him, in the brief moments he had, he'd lost both his train of thought and his mastery of language.
They would have to move forward somehow.
He found Mikleos hand, palm down on the bench next to him, picked it up and squeezed it, without turning to face him. Mikleo remained staring intently ahead, a rush of blood to his face adding even more red to his complexion than the sun had already left there. He twisted his hand around and threaded his fingers in between Soreys.
He leaned forwards to catch Mikleo's gaze.
"Hey. I don't really know the right way to talk about this kind of thing, but if it means a thing to you, I . . ." He paused. "Well, if it means anything to you, I think you're absolutely beautiful."
Mikleo stayed still, but Sorey could feel the blood pumping faster in his hand. Sorey continued. "And I'll miss you over summer, even if we keep in contact."
Mikleo finally turned to face him.
"I'll miss you too."
He could feel it in the air between them, thick, heavy and intoxicating, stronger than it had been all day. He leaned forward, leaning his forehead against Mikleos, his hand drawn towards the back of his head, fingers lacing through his fine silvery hair. Mikleo's eyes widened as Sorey's started to close, and he could feel Mikleo's breath against his lips.
The bus pulled in next to them with a screech, and the doors folded open. They both froze, sensing the impatience of those queueing behind them.
Sorey dashed to the bus and jumped in, not letting go of Mikleos hand. They both hastily showed their tickets and clambered up to the top deck of the bus, and sat next to each other at the front. Sorey placed his hands on either side of Mikleo's head, and pulled him closer.
Mikleo was impatient, diving forward. Their forehead hit each other's a little too hard, but their lips were finally pressed together.
In the moments that came next, everything was alright. The tension, the nerves, the uncertainty, was gone. Sorey couldn't have called it clarity, or peace, it was something different entirely.
He could feel Mikleo gently biting on his lip, his fingers gently playing with the hair around the nape of his neck.
Joy, maybe?
They pulled apart in good time, with smiles on their faces, rolling hills and countless sheep passing them by in the windows on all sides.
"You know, I think it probably would have been better if we'd have done this first thing," Sorey said.
"Honestly, I was really hoping that you would."
Mikleo took a deep breath.
"I may not talk like this much, but I think you're beautiful too. I have since the very first time I saw you, walking in late to the introductory lecture. I thought you were the most attractive person I'd ever seen. I thought it was just a dispassionate observation at first but . . . It wasn't. I don't know if you've ever been in the same position, but when you watch someone from a distance for long enough you build up this version of who they are as a person from the little you do know. And you fall for that person.
"So becoming your friend was strange. Not just because I found it hard to talk to you initially, but because every day I spent with you, you were stripping more and more of my imagined version of you away. And it was painful. But after some time, I realised that the real you was far better than he ever was. That didn't make it easier though. I mean, I found it far easier to talk to you and to be myself around you, but I never believed for a second that you'd ever kiss me. I had resigned myself to just being happy that I'd made a friend like you.
"Maybe that was over sharing. Maybe you think I'm a little crazy now. I should have stopped at you're beautiful."
Sorey took his hand again.
"It's OK. A bit weird, but fine. It explains a lot actually."
He felt Mikleo squeeze.
"What was this other me like anyway?" Sorey asked.
"Oh? Just a lot more like me, actually."
"Yeah, I'm definitely better than that guy then."
Mikleo laughed. "I was just trying to say that I like you a lot."
"I like you a lot too."
The country had started to make way for city and the sun had painted the concrete orange.
"I have to ask," Mikleo said with a note of concern in his voice, "what is it that you want?"
"Generally speaking, I want to be happy, and I want as many other people as possible to be happy. And then I want to see the world."
"You know full well I didn't mean generally."
"I told you, I don't really know the words to talk about this stuff. Not a single one."
"You just want me to go first don't you?"
Sorey nodded.
"Alright. I want us to be together."
Sorey shot upright. "Yes! 'To be together' It's so simple."
He felt Mikleo squeeze his hand harder again.
"Wait, what does being together entail, exactly?"
"What do you want it to?" Mikleo asked.
Sorey paused for thought. "I want to see you a lot. And kiss you several times a day. And know everything there is to know about you."
"I want that too."
Sorey looked to Mikleo as he was smiling, profile silhouetted against the tower blocks that were coming into view in the distance.
"I want to see the world with you Mikleo."
Mikleos smile turned to a cunning grin. "Are you free tomorrow?" he asked.
"I can be."
"We can get a hire car for a day. I heard of a Neolithic burial complex within easy driving distance. I know it's not the world, but it's a start."
