Quartier de La Sorbonne, Paris, França. 2018.

POV Milo

- Milo. Milo. Wake up.

Someone was shaking Milo's shoulder slightly. Milo did not want to wake up, he didn't like that. He wanted your comfort, from your bed.

- Milo, we need to wake up soon, let's go.

Milo fell asleep again. He loved to sleep. But he could not sleep for a long time because he had to open his eyes. And when he opened it, he saw that he was on his white, comfortable blankets, and the sunlight came out through the curtains. He smiled as he stretched on the bed, lazy. He got up and went to the tiny bathroom, brushed his teeth, and did a quick ablution. He wore what he considered to be his favorite outfit: a simple red shirt, black pants and his old but much-loved leather jacket and went to the kitchen.

There he was, preparing a coffee with the French press, like a typical Frenchman he was, instead of throwing the coffee powder in the hot water and mixing it, as Milo would do, because he is a Greek who likes Greek coffees.

Camus.

He never had words to describe Camus's beauty, so he was always as descriptive as possible, as he wanted everyone to be able to imagine how handsome he was. But even the most fertile imagination would not be able to conceive of his beauty.

Camus had long blue hair that reached to his waist, he was tall and strong. His hands were firm, but they still maintained a certain delicacy and smoothness. Camus also always had a serious face. His blue eyebrows were almost always wrinkled, with the ends almost touching one another, showing seriousness. From the middle to the end, the eyebrow forked slightly, which made his face different, exotic. He had a little messy bang, which Milo thought was adorable because it gave him an incredibly young face. His eyes were blue as the sea, and he could see all the feelings there that Camus did not like to show. He had white, straight teeth, thick lips, silk skin. Milo joked and said that he looked like a tantrum child when he got serious (or more serious than he already was) and that he made Camus even more serious and angry. And even frowning, he was still handsome.

Milo hugged him from behind, very tight, placing a kiss on the side of his neck.

- It is a miracle that you woke up today without me having to beg.

- You ask me something shouting; I give what you want smiling.

Camus faced him and gave him a good morning kiss. Milo took one of his strands of hair and put it behind his ear while looking at him tenderly. He never doubted Camus' love, because, in those rare moments when they were sharing their intimacies, Camus also looked tenderly at him back. And he felt overflowing with the purest love that anyone could have.

- Let's have a petit-déjeuner instead of looking at each other.

Camus, like the other French, did not pay much attention to coffee. Breakfast was literally a petit-déjeuner, and the French cared a lot about lunch. Milo watched him drinking plain coffee on the table, while he devoured cereals, fruits, yogurts. And today, he had reason to wake up early, have a good coffee and admire Camus.

They were celebrating a year of dating.

Milo was just a Greek exchange student, who was still at school, when he came to Paris to spend a few weeks to improve his French. He was so enchanted with the place that he decided that one day he would live there, no matter what the reason. And he soon got one, when he decided to study at the Sorbonne Université, to enroll in medicine. The selection process was not easy, but there he was, in his 20s, taking the course he wanted in the city he loved.

He only had one problem, which was the fact that he did not have a roof.

He received a good scholarship from college, a little help from his parents and got a job as a waiter in a restaurant on weekends. He could live, but rents in Paris were exorbitant. He even thought about living in the cities around Paris, which were cheaper, but he wanted to live in that city so badly. Something told him it was his place.

Until, one day, looking at his social media, he discovered that a freshman, the same age as his and who was a philosophy freshman at the same university as his, was offering a place in his apartment, which he had managed to rent, but that he needed someone to help pay. According to the ad, the freshman seemed dry and boring (I can't tolerate mess, a lot of noise or confusion) but the price was too good to go unnoticed.

Milo, despite the somewhat messy way, was approved by Camus to live with him. Or maybe, he was the only one to accept to subject himself to living that way, as the apartment only had one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The place was a real captivity. Laundry? There are the community ones. Living room? Unnecessary. Privacy? Old people thing. But the place had an extremely cute little balcony, the building looked like those romantic, charming, and historic buildings that only exist in Paris and Camus was very capricious and clean with the house. In addition, it was close to the university.

Camus, too, had just moved in and had few things in the house. He had a used fridge and stove, a coffee and study table, and the single beds were actually air mattresses that were on the floor. They had no wardrobe, no lockers, nothing. But they had each other and Milo was happy.

It took a few months for them to adjust. Camus did not follow the pattern of people studying humanities. He was methodical, boring, and demanding. He came home at 8 pm every day. He did not go to college parties, did not go to bars, did not use illegal substances, did not smoke, and rarely enjoyed some wines or vodkas. He was a quiet person whose favorite pastime was reading, going to the movies, or going to the cafe.

Milo... Well, he wanted to enjoy college life. He liked to go to parties, bars, and other places. He has already placed licit and illicit substances in his mouth, many with dubious origins. But he was organized and was always very studious and methodical with the college, never relaxing, a student model. But come on, he was a son of God too.

Camus had everything he could to expel him and find someone more relaxed, but he did not. And Milo had everything to ask to leave the apartment and find a bigger space and someone with his profile, but he did not. On the contrary, the two became enchanted by each other and the most cliché story happened: in the most romantic city in the world, opposites were attracted. And they did not part ways anymore. Now they were there, celebrating a year of dating.

"Shall we define our tour?" Asked Camus, taking him out of his daydreams.

"With 'shall we define our tour?' you mean 'I already planned everything days ago and we cannot harm our journey,'" said Milo, laughing.

"I would only make suggestions!" Exclaimed Camus.

"I know you Camus. You have already planned everything and if I want to change, you will be angry with me because 'I didn't say it before.'"

"And what is your suggestion?"

"I don't know..., but the last stop has to be the Eiffel Tower. The two of us, together, enjoying the night."

"Milo, this is cliché."

"Camye, let me live my teenage love. Once in a lifetime!"

Camus laughed and asked:

"But what about before? I would suggest spending the rest of the morning at the Jardin du Luxembourg (1), which is nearby."

"Excellent! Then in the afternoon we would look for a cinema to watch some cult movie that you like. Then I can take a nap."

Camus hit him, laughing.

"Okay, but I won't watch your horrible American films."

"And finally?"

"Finally, we look for a restaurant to make a romantic dinner. Then we will go to the Eiffel Tower."

"And then to some gay party?"

"THEN IT'S HOME, Milo!"

They both laughed.

"Okay Camye, we have college jobs to do."

"Oui."

"But you could accept my offer."

"Va te faire foutre" (2).

The two got on their bikes and left. Milo never got tired of Paris, despite being Greek. He was born on the island of Milos, in Greece and his parents owned an inn and a souvenir shop for tourists. They earned reasonably well from tourism and were happy. And yes, they paid tribute to Milo on behalf of the island. The family lived there for a long time, so he was always surrounded by uncles, cousins, and family members. And he also loved the place. But as much as he loved the region, he did not want to accept the fate that would be imposed on him. The father wanted him to inherit the inn and the shop, and the mother wanted him to marry a woman and have many children, which she would very much like to have, but cannot because of the difficulty in getting pregnant.

Milo could not give both to his parents. He could not marry a woman because he was gay. And that the parents accepted well, they had an open mind. The problem was that Milo did not want to inherit the shop or the inn, he wanted to go to Paris, to study medicine. His parents were dismayed to see their baby coming out of the nest, but Milo wanted to see life and, above all, wanted to live Paris. Something told him that he had something special in Paris.

And pedaling side by side with Camus, seeing his long hair flying in the wind, Milo realized that he was right, that it was worth following his own instincts.

They arrived at the garden and went straight to their favorite place: the trees near the Luxembourg Palace. There were some lanes with pruned trees, forming small parallel streets. In the interval between one street and another, there was a lawn, where people liked to sit, sunbathe, read under the trees, or laugh with their group of friends.

"It was here, mon amour, remember?" Said Camus, walking hand in hand with him.

Yes, it was right there. Their dating request. Unlike the films, there were no rings or flowers. But it was still special.

Milo and Camus had already kissed and even had sex, when, on one of the rare days of rebellion, Camus had dropped his books and went to a busy pub. There, after a few doses and a lot of exchange of looks, they kissed and then, when they returned home, they had sex (and they had a lot, by the way). Days later, there was a lot of romance between the two in the air, but they were still undecided on whether they would date seriously or not. And it was there that, while Milo was with his head in his lap, looking at the sky, that Camus said, while stroking his hair:

"I believe we should date, Milo."

He said it as if it were a conclusion to his theory, tested and validated by the method. After much analysis, Camus came up with the most logical answer for both: they should date. Milo remembered raising his head and smiled the widest smile of his life.

"Yeah, we should be dating," said Milo. A logical and rational conclusion, based on the scientific method. After much evidence, the hypotheses were consolidated as theories that confirmed the reality. And they were there again. Milo lying on Camus' lap, Camus stroking Milo's hair. From time to time, he would bend over and kiss Milo. Milo, from time to time, took pictures of the two on their cell phones, taking Camus by surprise, who never looked ugly in the photos. And so, they spent the morning, lying on the lawn, enjoying each other.

In the afternoon, they went to the cinema. After much insistence on the part of Camus, they went to Espace Saint-Michel, an art house cinema (3) very well known in France. And this time, Milo did not sleep during the film chosen by Camus, but he did not kiss him like two teenage sweethearts, because Camus liked to pay attention to the films he watched.

At the end of the afternoon, they left their bikes at home and went to the subway, and Milo could choose which restaurant they would eat at, and they decided that they would go to Le Kanon Pub (4), which although it had a sports atmosphere and a little bit... heterosexual, there was a good menu there. So, the two attacked hamburgers and fries, and had a few glasses of beer.

"Camye, we haven't been to the Eiffel Tower yet!"

"Mi, we'll go later."

"No, Camye, it has to be today, today is our day."

"We've already spent a lot."

"We saved only so that today was a special day!"

And there they go, take the metro again to see the Eiffel Tower at night. Not before going to the market and buying some cheap drink to share.

Sitting in the Champ de Mars, admiring the beauty of the Eiffel Tower full of lights, sharing the drink, Camus, who was already more relaxed, leaned his head on Milo's shoulder. Milo smelled her sweet and delicious scent while admiring the Parisian night. The two kissed, feeling their breath hot and with a faint smell of alcohol from each other. If Milo were one of the Greek gods that ancient Greece worshiped so much, he would stop time at that moment, and kiss Camus for the rest of his life.

They were just two young people in love, slightly intoxicated and happy to be in the most romantic city in the world living their romance.

"Happy anniversary of dating, Camye."

"Joyeux anniversaire de rencontre, Mi." (5)

(1) Jardin du Luxembourg is a park located in Paris. The place houses the Luxembourg Palace and is close to where our couple lives/studies/works.

(2) Go fuck yourself, in French.

(3) Espace Saint-Michel is a famous cinema in Paris, known for presenting art cinema (or art house) which are more independent films, which go to the festival etc. There, he was also known for having an arson in 1988, when he showed Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ.

(4) AND DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE BAR EXISTS? Le Kanon Pub is real, and it's like a pub where people get together to watch games (like football), it reminded me a lot of craft beer stores in São Paulo, Brazil (my country) and prices are reasonable due to the average French salary, so I imagine that for Milo and Camus it would be ok to go to a place like that (it's okay that there would be a man shouting at the players on TV but they don't mind). And well, I couldn't lose the reference, right.

(5) Happy anniversary of dating, Mi.