“But, Mum…” Tom protested loudly, digging in his heels stubbornly. “I don’t wanna meet the new neighbours! What if they’re mean?!”

Although I keep my hand firm against his five-year-old back, nudging him towards the door, I made my voice low and calm- sensing the full-fledged tantrum that could very easily breakout if I said so much as one thing wrong. “But, honey, you have to. They won’t be mean… I met the mother this morning.” Met as in waved to, but he didn’t need to know that. “She has a son your age. You could be friends.”

“I have friends,” he insisted, crossing his arms and crying out in anguish as he was shunted forward about a metre. “I don’t wanna…” he whined, catching hold of the countertop and clinging on for dear life.

“Well, you have to,” I grunted, trying to detach him, prying at his fingers. “Your sister and Dad have gone out, so it’s just you and me. You don’t want me to go on my own, do you?”

Wrong thing to say. He began to nod eagerly, a triumphant look on his face. He was already too smart for his own good… I frowned at him, and noticed that his grip had loosened. Quicker than he could react, I scooped him up and slung him over my shoulder to carry him out of the back door connected to the kitchen. “No!” he squealed. “No, Mum! Put me down!”

“No,” I announced cheerfully, carrying him down the side path and round the front to next door’s house. I set him down on the doorstep, but kept a firm grip of his upper arm so he couldn’t run away.

As I rang the doorbell, he managed to shake me off, but instead his hand slipped into mine, pleasantly surprising me. The door opened upon a woman who was smiling more than I was entirely sure was physically possible. Primary school teacher, I thought to myself. “Hi,” she said kindly. I felt Tom squeeze my hand nervously.

“Hello,” I responded. “We live next door. I’m Sheena, and this is my son, Tom. We just thought we’d come over and introduce ourselves.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind,” she said. “It’s just me and my son here, but I’m sure Danny would love to meet you, Tom.”

If he squeezed any harder he was going to crush my fingers. His eyes were fixed on the ground. “He’s shy,” I explained. “He’s not normally this quiet.”

She nodded, “I understand. I’m a primary school teacher.” Bingo. “I start at the school down the road on Monday. Tom’s nerves aren’t unusual.”

I smiled, and saw a young boy bound down the stairs behind her. He was taller than Tom, though certainly the same age. He had a freckled, happy face, big light blue eyes and dark brown hair that was cut short. His face darkened as he laid eyes on Tom. “Mum?” he said boldly, tugging on her sleeve. “Who’s he?”

Tom had looked up upon the child’s arrival, and I felt him tense in insult at the distinct tone he was being referred to in. That was more like the Tom I knew. He picked up on feelings very easily, and clearly wasn’t getting a good vibe off this boy. “Danny,” she hissed. “Don’t be so rude! This is Tom, and his mum, Sheena. They live next door.”

“Yes, but why are they here?”

She offered me a sympathetic smile. “Sorry about him. He’s yet to grasp the concept of manners. This is Danny, and I’m Julie.”

I nodded, “Well, if you need anything, we’re next door, with my husband and daughter. Don’t be afraid to drop by. Come on, Tom.” He dropped my hand and walked on ahead. I could tell by the slump of his shoulders that he was upset. For all the good he was at reading feelings, he couldn’t conceal his own very well.

There was the sound of running behind us. “Wait! Tom!” Danny ran past me and took Tom’s arm, leading him off to the side and talking to him quietly. I glanced back at Julie, who looked mildly confused. Then I turned back to the children. Tom didn’t look very happy- nor did Danny, come to that.

My son shook his head after a moment, and Danny nodded. “Go away,” I heard Tom tell him.

Danny headed back to his house, a self satisfied smile on his face. “Nice to meet you, Sheena,” he said sweetly on the way past.

*****

“Tom, are you okay?”

“Yes,” he muttered, stabbing his fork lethally into the bowl of chopped strawberries I’d given him.

“What did Danny say to you?” I asked casually. His eyes flicked up, met mine, before returning to his bowl.

“Nothing.” But I knew that wasn’t the case. It took a lot to terribly upset Tom, but Danny Jones had managed it without even trying. He’d barely spoken to me since we’d gotten home- which was bizarre for him.

“You know you can tell me anything?” I asked gently.

“Yes,” he lisped, but didn’t expand.

I set the dishcloth to the side, “What did you think of them?”

“I don’t like him.”

Ah-ha, I thought to myself. Here we were. “Why?”

He shrugged, and pulled the fork from between his lips with a small pop, “Just don’t.”

*****

Six years later

I heard the door open and shut, only to be opened again. Tom’s angry voice filled the house: “I didn’t tell you you could come in!”

“Well, just let me say this, then I’ll go,” another voice responded, this one heavily accented with Bolton. I froze in my polishing of the living room cabinets. Was that Danny?!

“I don’t want to hear it,” Tom snapped. “Just leave.” I had never found out what Danny had said to Tom on the day the Jones’ moved into next door half a dozen years ago- he had never told me. But the two boys had been at odds ever since, and nothing Julie or I could do would change that. Even at eleven, they couldn’t be within two feet of each other without an argument breaking out.

“I’m trying to say thank you!”

I heard a rattle as Tom dropped his keys into the bowl on the table next to the door, and heard him take off his coat. “They’re jerks, Jones. Don’t take it personally.”

Even although the time didn’t really call for it, I found myself marvelling at the maturity of Tom’s speech. It always shocked me. All that reading had done him good… “So you’re saying you got kept in at break in punishment for punching him when he was giving me hassle, and it meant nowt.” There was a pause. “Nah. That don’t slide, Fletcher.”

Another pause, and when Tom spoke his voice was low and dangerous: “And what d’you think we should do about that?”

I moved over to the door- too curious to resist anymore- and peered through the gap to see Danny hold out his hand to my son. “Truce.”

Tom’s jaw dropped, “What?”

“A truce,” Danny repeated, with no hint of the smirk that would usually mar his features. “Try to get along.”

Tom eyed his hand apprehensively, “Why?”

“I’m sick of fighting with you,” he said with a shrug, his eyes fixed on Tom’s. Tom nodded slowly, before moving forward and grasping his hand firmly.

*****

Three years later

Hallowe’en. The day every child upon our street appeared to go completely insane, and Tom got me in trouble with the neighbours. As soon as I heard the door bang shut, and the unmistakable sound of their laughter, I moved out into the hall. “What have you done?” I asked sternly, taking in the guilty looks that appeared on their faces the second they saw me.

“Nothing,” the zombie said innocently, batting his eyelashes at me like that was going to do him any good.

“I can see right through you, Danny Jones,” I warned. “Now what did you do?”

“Nothing, Mum!” his partner in crime, a.k.a. the mummy, protested. “Honestly! Anyone would think you didn’t trust us!”

“I don’t,” I remarked darkly, causing them to roll their eyes playfully at one another.

“That’s rude, that’s insulting, that’s degrading, that’s assumption, that’s-”

“Stop it.” I held up a hand before my son could unleash more of his impressive vocabulary upon us. Danny looked a little dazed, right enough. “What did you do? Seriously.”

Tom crossed his arms across his chest stubbornly, “We didn’t do anything! And it’s getting irritating that you keep insisting we did!”

“However,” Danny began, and my gaze flicked to him. “Due to our past of pulling knock-and-runs and other endlessly childish pranks, we may be blamed for someone else’s wrongdoing.”

“For example,” Tom continued. I could tell they’d rehearsed this. It was flowing too smooth. And the words that had slid so effortlessly from Danny’s mouth hadn’t been his own. “If Mr. Connelly turned up claiming that we had been so ignorant as to TP his house… It wouldn’t be true.”

“We worked out he was grassing on us, so we don’t go there anymore,” Danny remarked helpfully. Tom elbowed him in the ribs- meaning that hadn’t been part of the script

“Or anyone else comes to complain…” Tom said innocently.

“Y’know, about anything…”

“It wasn’t us,” was the firm finish.

“And who might come to complain?” I asked slowly.

“Just people,” my son chirped. “We’re gonna go up to my room, ‘kay?”

“If I call, I want you down here within ten seconds,” I ordered. Tom gave me a sharp salute and ran off up the stairs. Danny grinned at me and followed. Fourteen. Just after they’d declared a truce, they’d become inseparable. I guessed they’d found something in common. They were trouble-makers, no doubt, I thought fondly. But that was better than them being enemies, and you couldn’t deny it was entertaining on occasion.

The doorbell rang behind me, and I turned to open it, “Yes?”

*****

Seven minutes later, I closed it again. I walked over to the stairs casually, and leaned against the banister. “TOM FLETCHER AND DANNY JONES!!” I hollered up them. “GET DOWN HERE NOW!!!”

*****

Four years later

“Stephanie, go to bed,” I commanded my fifteen-year-old daughter- who was leaning out the doorway to her room, pouting at me pathetically.

“C’mon, Mum! Tom’s not even home yet!”

“There’s a subtle difference,” I informed her. “Tom’s eighteen. Tom doesn’t have school tomorrow. I’m not telling Tom to go to bed, I’m telling you.”

“Fine.” She sulked. “But when I’m eighteen, I’m never coming home at night.”

“The house will be a quieter place for it,” I promised her, closing the door in her face.

I heard the front door opening, some scuffling, then a thump. “Jeez. Wait ‘til we get upstairs…” I heard Tom say with a laugh. He didn’t sound too drunk, but he clearly had company. I knew he wouldn’t thank me if he brought them up to find me standing there.

I moved into our room, which was right next to his. As I slipped into bed next to my sleeping husband, I heard them move into his room. Well, they were hardly quiet about it. I thanked God that we’d had his room partly soundproofed because of his guitar as muffled moans sounded.

After all, no mother wanted to hear their son having sex.

*****

The next morning, I stood at the stove, contemplating making eggs. “Can I be bothered?” I muttered to myself. As I reached for the eggs, there was a groggy voice behind me:

“Sheena, d’you have any drugs? My head’s killing me…”

I snapped round to see Danny standing by the door, one hand held to his forehead, and a pained look on his face. His hair was a mess, and he was dressed in just boxers and a t-shirt. “Danny!” I exclaimed in shock. Then I registered what he’d said. “Only the legal kind, I’m afraid.”

“That’ll do,” he replied, taking the box of aspirin I handed him and getting out the right dosage.

“Did you stay overnight?” I asked, pouring him a glass of water.

“Yeah. Hope you don’t mind. We just got back and… Oh, God. I can’t even remember what the logic was…”

I laughed, handing him the glass. He smiled at me and took the painkiller, drinking all of the water in the process. “You’re always welcome, Danny. You know that.”

“Appreciate it.”

“Though not enough to get dressed before coming downstairs,” Tom intoned, coming into the kitchen.

Danny winked at me, leaning on the breakfast counter, “It’s nothing she hasn’t seen before.”

I nodded, “I may have encountered legs before, yes.” I took the empty glass off Danny and turned away.

I turned back to find the cutest image ever. Danny had his arms slung round Tom’s neck, and was whispering in his ear. Tom looked worried, so I assumed it was to soothe him. He giggled lightly at something Danny said. “Something wrong Mum?” he asked curiously upon noticing me watching them.

I shook my head, “No.” It was true. I was glowing inside to think the two boys who had hated each other so venomously for six years could be this close now. “Tom, did anyone else stay over last night?”

He frowned, “No. Why?”

“Just wondering,” I replied. I left the kitchen, my breakfast forgotten. If no-one else had stayed over last night, then what had I heard? I could have just been making something big out of the perfectly innocent. Nothing had happened. Unless… Danny and Tom…? Surely not.

“Sheena…?” someone asked sweetly. I twisted back to see Danny leaning against the kitchen doorframe, batting the baby-blues at me- as he did every time he had either done something wrong or wanted something.

“What is it?”

“You couldn’t possibly make some of your amazing eggs, could you…?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “That talent must have skipped over him.” He laughed loudly as Tom attacked him from behind, jumping on his back.

I tutted, heading back into the kitchen, past their play-fight. “Now, boys… Behave yourselves… Or no-one’s getting any eggs.”

Danny had Tom in a headlock by this point, “Well, that wouldn’t do…”

*****

One year later

“Don’t slam the door,” I scolded Tom as he slouched into the kitchen. He shot me a glare before moving over to the fridge. He’d been really moody over the past fortnight, and I had no idea why. I sighed, setting the wooden spoon to the side and turning the soup down to simmer. “Okay. What’s wrong?”

Tom took a sip out of his can of juice, shrugged, “Nothing.” When I didn’t respond, but simply stared at him evenly, he sighed, “It’s nothing, Mum. I’m just a little stressed right now… Work things.”

I leaned against the breakfast counter, “D’you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head, “Nah. I wouldn’t want to bore you. Thanks, though. I’ll work it out.”

“I’m sure you will. Just…remember I’m here, okay?”

He smiled for the first time I recalled in ages, and came over to me. “Mum…” he said carefully, taking my hand in his and gripping it. “You’re not easily forgotten…”

He burst out laughing as my jaw dropped at the condescending note in his voice. “Get out of here, you brat!” I commanded. He saluted and ducked out of the kitchen. I would never tell him that, but I’d been so glad- not to mention relieved- to see his true self shine through just then. I’d missed him.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, you moron!”

At the sound of Stephanie’s voice out in the hall, I turned to look at the door- just in time to hear Tom’s sneering response: “Aw… I’m sorry… Did I ruin your pedicure…?”

“I’ll be ruining my manicure as well if you don’t get the hell out of my way!”

“Or- here’s a novel idea- you could just walk round me…”

“Here’s another idea…” Stephanie suggested mildly as I started towards the door to break them up. “Go make up with Danny. Then maybe you’ll stop being such a bastard!”

“Maybe,” Tom agreed. “But it won’t stop you being a bitch.”

“At least I still have my best friend…” she said in a slow, patronising voice. There was movement, and someone ran up the stairs. I moved back again.

“That was a little harsh, wasn’t it?” I asked as Stephanie stalked into the kitchen, turning back to the soup to check on it.

She shrugged carelessly, “He deserved it. Just because he has a bust up with Danny, that doesn’t give him the right to give the rest of us hell.”

A frown came onto my face, “What happened with Danny?” I hadn’t seen as much of him lately, but they were both working now. Tom had told me joyfully about six or seven months ago that they were going to buy a flat together- something I was fully supportive of.

Another shrug. Ladies and gentlemen: My daughter the information bank. “I’m not sure.” She bit into an apple, chewed, swallowed. “But the diva up there stormed out of Danny’s house in tears two weeks back, and has been refusing to talk to him ever since.”

“Any idea why?” Like her brother, Stephanie was extra sensitive when it came to people’s feelings.

She looked momentarily awkward, nibbling on her apple, “I dunno. Maybe Danny decided he was straight or something… Broke him.”

I stared at her, “What d’you mean?”

“Well, they’ve been sleeping togeth-” She gasped, choked on apple. I moved forward to thump her on the back. She stared at me, “Oh, man… You didn’t know?! But… it’s obvious! You can’t tell Tom I told you!”

It was, I realised as I thought back. I just hadn’t registered. It explained a lot, though. And that night, last year. I hadn’t been imagining things. “I just… I didn’t…”

She nodded, “They didn’t say. Never. I’ve gotta go. I’m meeting some friends at the cinema. I’ll be back for tea. See you later.” She left the kitchen, and I heard the front door close.

Only a few minutes later, there was a knock on the screen door. “Come in,” I called. The door opened a fraction and Danny peered round.

“Hey, Sheena,” he greeted, coming all the way in, a plate balanced in one hand. “Brownie delivery. Mum told me to bring them round for Steph’s bake sale…thing.”

I smiled at him, “As literate as ever, Danny. Just put them down on the counter.” I watched him as he did so. You’d never be able to tell he wasn’t talking to Tom- his demeanour was as careless as ever. “Did you help to make them?”

He considered, pulling a face, “I tried, but it was only a matter of time until she swatted me away claiming I’m useless at baking.”

“Just as you were considering it as a possible career,” I sympathised.

“Totally! You could see me in the kitchen, with my little electronic whisk.” He mimed it in mid-air, making me laugh. I couldn’t imagine him as anything other than Danny- whether he was sleeping with Tom or not, he was still the same. Then he looked up, and the smile dropped off his face. “I have to talk to you. Sorry, Sheena.”

I shrugged off the apology, watching Tom in the doorway- who’s eyes were fixed on Danny. He came further into the kitchen, his voice when he spoke was low, and devoid of expression: “Tough. ‘Cause right now I don’t want to talk to you.”

“But we have to-”

Tom cut across him, “There’s nothing to talk about, Danny. Get out of here.”

He took a seat at the counter, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Mum?” Tom asked, his eyes never once leaving the brunette’s face. “Give us a minute?” I nodded, and left the kitchen, but motherly concern had me pausing by the door, even though I knew I shouldn’t.

“Why the hell have you been avoiding me?” Danny demanded.

I heard Tom laughing softly, “Why? Danny, I bared my soul to you. I offered you all of me, and d’you know what you did…? You stared at me like I was fucking insane. D’you know what that felt like?”

“What? I didn’t-”

“Well, you definitely didn’t look happy about it!” Tom had lost all his composure, and his emotions were running riot. “Was this all a game to you? Was it never meant to get serious? Was I never meant to take it seriously?!”

“Tom, I-”

“Don’t try to justify it! I gave you everything that night! I lost my bloody virginity to you! I love you! I still love you! I wish I didn’t…”

There was movement, then a moment of silence, but I sensed the sizzle of passion in the air. “Don’t you dare say that!” Danny snarled. “Don’t you dare! It was a shock, okay? And you claim I didn’t respond, but consider this: Did you give me time before you stormed off?”

There was a gasp, “Danny!”

“Just forget it,” he spat. The door snapped closed.

Tom turned to me as I entered the kitchen. His eyes were red, and silent tears were pouring down his face. I crossed to him without a second thought. “Come here,” I murmured, pulling him into a hug. His arms came round me tightly as he broke down properly, sobs wracking his body as he mourned Danny’s disappearance from possibly his life even if never left his heart.

*****

Something had to be done. And that’s what had me ringing on Danny’s doorbell the next morning. Tom was at work, so was Julie, but I knew Danny was home. He looked surprised as he pulled it open to find me there. “Hey, Sheena. Mum isn’t here just now. She left for work.”

I nodded, “Well… You’re here. And since it was you I was hoping to talk to…?”

He blinked, “Erm… Sure.” He stepped back to let me past. “What’s up?”

I turned to face him. I knew I should see someone awful and terrible for hurting my son so badly, but I still saw the same Danny that I had liked the second he bounded down the stairs fourteen years ago. The brutally honest, blunt, occasionally slow boy who I had grown to love as a second son over the years. “How are you, Danny?”

“Okay, I guess.”

I leaned against the wall, “And your mother?”

He frowned, “She’s alright.”

“And how’s work going?”

“It’s good. Got a new boss who seems insistent on flirting with me. Not about to happen…”

“Is she good looking?”

“Yes.”

“Are you tempted?”

“No.”

“Is that because you’re in love with my son?”

“Yes.” His jaw dropped, “No! I mean- Oh, crap!” He ran a hand through his hair and jogged off. I followed him, moving slowly to give him some time to absorb what he’d just done.

I entered the kitchen to find him demolishing a glass of water in record time. He was leaning heavily against the counter. “I knew.”

He had grown into an extremely attractive young man. And when you combined that with his fun personality and caring nature, I couldn’t blame Tom for falling for him. His hair was longer, falling softly into his eyes, and his face was slimmer, more defined. He was well-built also- muscular without appearing too bulging. “I figured.”

I smiled, “Really?”

He let out a shuddering breath, and when he spoke he did so slowly: “You don’t exactly ask a question like that if you’re clueless.”

“Right enough.” I acknowledged, “I heard your argument.”

“Eavesdropping!” he said with a laugh. “Sheena! I’m appalled! No… Wait… I’m not.”

I grinned back at him, “What happened, Danny?”

He shook his head heavily, looking more pained than I’d ever seen him, “There’s no point, Sheena. I’ve already messed it up once. Please don’t make me relive it.”

I touched his arm gently, giving him every option to shift away, “Danny, I want to help you…but first I have to know what you did wrong…”

He nodded nervously, and his hand turned over so it was holding mine. “We were kissing. Long, perfect kisses that made me feel like the luckiest guy ever. It had been an amazing evening. Mum was out, so we had the house to ourselves. We rented a film. I made the mistake of letting Tom pick, so we ended up with some crappy action flick that had more explosions than actual plot.”

I smiled and nodded, “He’s always liked them.”

The smile that appeared on his face was fond and loving, “Yeah… I hate them myself, but I didn’t care. I was with Tom- nothing else mattered. So we watched the film, cuddled together on the sofa like a proper couple. It always seemed weird to me that Tom didn’t want us to tell anyone yet. We were no different from a straight couple.”

“I know. But he would have worried that you would fizzle out. The excitement, the passion would cease. The pleasure would lessen.”

“I would never let it,” he vowed. He took a deep breath before continuing, “I turned off the film, and we just sat there for a while. Absorbing each others company, he would say. He was lying in my arms, and I was playing with his hair. He hates it when I do that- so I do it even more just to annoy him.”

He broke off with a half sob. I squeezed his hand comfortingly. “Then?” I prompted.

A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips again now, “He turned to look up at me again, told me to stop it. He was pouting. He knows I can’t say no when he pouts. So I ruffled his hair instead, and he swatted at me.” He shook his head slightly, a light laugh escaping his lips, “The next thing I knew he was kissing me. I was floating. The guy of my dreams was looking at me like I meant something. Like I wasn’t just a stupid, brainless moron who managed to tank half his GCSEs. Like he wanted me for me.”

A tear rolled down his cheek, but he made no move to brush it away. I wasn’t sure he even knew it was there. “You were never stupid, Danny,” I said firmly. “Exams aren’t one hundred percent reliable. Most of them are just memory tests. Different people have better or worse memories. You could still pass your GCSEs. Go to college. Take a course. You’re capable.”

“I’m useless,” he corrected. And my heart broke at the look on his face- he honestly believed this. “I managed to mess up the best thing in my life.”

I stared at him, “Tell me the rest, Danny.”

“He took my hand and led me up to my room. He shut the door behind us, even though no-one else was in, and turned to me. The way he smiled at me, I had to kiss him. He responded, but I could tell he wanted to say something, so I didn’t try to get too deep. After, he framed my face in his hands and whispered the three words I’d been longing to hear for five years…”

I found myself blinking back tears, “He told you he loved you.”

Misery lined his face. “I froze up. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was he finally saying that? Or had my frantic wishing lead to a dream that I never wanted to wake up from? I needed to hear this. I wanted to take him in my arms and whisper my heartfelt response straight into his ear. But I couldn’t. He’s perfect. He loves me. And I couldn’t say it when he needed me to. I just stared at him. God, I am so fucking stupid!” he exclaimed, slamming his free hand down on the countertop.

I grabbed it before he could seriously injure himself, so we formed a little circle. “Stop saying that! You are not stupid. Say that one more time, and I’ll walk away and never let you near my son again, is that clear?”

He nodded, seeing the rage in my eyes. I couldn’t believe he thought this little of himself. So convinced he was worthless and stupid- why hadn’t Julie noticed? “After about a minute, he let out this strangled gasp, and just ran. I went after him, but he was gone. He wouldn’t talk to me, or take my calls.” Another tear slid free, but his voice never faltered, “I’ve seen that moment in my head a thousand times, but never so perfect. Only, in my predictions, I never fucked it up…”

I could see the love he held for my son. The same love I had felt radiating from Tom as he cried in my arms last night. Those two were meant to be- and I wasn’t going to stand back and watch them regret this moment, wishing they had worked it out. “Then fix it.”

He stared at me, “What?”

“Tell him. Tell him exactly what you just told me.”

A look of pure confusion came onto his face, “What? And make him hate me even more?! He knows what happened. He doesn’t need to hear it again!”

A laugh bubbled to the surface before I could stop it, “No… Tell him that you love him. While you were telling me that story, you kept going off track and talking about him. He needs to know how you feel.”

He looked straight into my eyes, “Will he take me back? Will he forgive me?”

I couldn’t lie to him. He didn’t need that right now. Instead, I squeezed his hands once more to let him know I was behind him, “That’s his choice. But he’d be a fool not to take you back. And I don’t raise fools.”

*****

The front door closed. “I’m home!” I gasped. Tom! I hadn’t realised the time! I quickly ran to the sink, and attempted to wash away all the tears that had fallen since I’d gotten back from Danny’s. It really was a beautiful tragedy. But neither of them could see it… Tom’s voice was suddenly directly behind me, making me jump, “Mum. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m just washing my face,” I replied- as cheerfully as I could manage.

His hand came to rest on my back, “In the kitchen sink?”

“It was the closest one.” I straightened up, grabbing some kitchen towel and starting to dab my face dry. “Are you going to be home for tea tonight? Because if so-”

“Why have you been crying?” he asked sharply.

“I haven’t.”

“Mum,” he said softly. “You still have tears in your eyes. Why are you crying?”

I turned away, scrubbed at my eyes, “It’s nothing.”

“If something’s upsetting you, just tell me,” he demanded. I turned back to face him. He looked really worried. I guessed me crying wasn’t exactly a common occurrence.

“Nothing’s upsetting me, Tom,” I lied. “I’m just…letting some things out.”

“Letting what out?” he pressed, putting his hands on my shoulders. I opened my mouth to respond, and there was a knock on the screen door. “Bugger off! We’re talking!” he snapped, not even knowing who it was.

I laughed, “Tom, don’t be so rude.” Tapping him on the shoulder, I moved over to the door. “Is that you?” I called.

“Who?” Tom asked with a frown. He froze as Danny came in, “What’s going on?”

“Danny has something to say to you,” I told him, nudging Danny with my foot to make him come in properly, before shutting the door behind him.

“There’s nothing to say!” he said forcefully.

“Tom…” Danny begged, catching his shoulder before he could run off. “If I never get another chance to say this, let me say it now.”

Tom met his gaze, and shrugged off his hand. “Fine. Talk.”

“I know you hate me right now, and I don’t blame you. But the fact of the matter is that no matter how much you loathe me, how much you want to kill me right now, I love you. For five years, I have been in love with you- so sure that you would never feel the same.”

Tom’s lower lip trembled, and he stumbled back, “No, Danny… Don’t…”

“I fucked up,” he continued. He let out a little laugh, “Typical Danny. I couldn’t say it when you did, Tom. ‘Cause I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve you.” He threw up his hands, “This whole mess is proof of that! I’m not worthy of your love, ‘cause I’m nowhere near as perfect as you are.”

“Danny,” I said warningly, but he shook his head, sending me into silence.

“I’m not smart. I don’t have a good job. I don’t have a bright future ahead of me. I don’t have a supportive, loving family behind me. All I have is what you see here- and clearly that disgusts you right now.”

“Dan-”

He grasped his hands, “I love you, though, Tom. And, by some fluke, you love me. But we’re not going to work. I always knew that. Look at us. Look at how different we are. You need someone who can challenge you, and I can’t do that.” He dropped Tom’s hands, and moved towards the door.

“You’re walking away?” Tom asked incredulously. “You can’t tell me that and just walk off!”

Danny looked back at him, his eyes glassy with unshed tears, “I’m sorry, Tom. I’m stepping away. From you. For you.” He took a breath, “You may wish you didn’t love me…but I don’t regret one second of the five years I’ve loved you.” Nodding at me, he left, closing the door gently behind him.

“What are you doing?” I asked Tom.

His head snapped round to look at me, “What?”

“Go after him.” He stared at me for a long second, then nodded. He ran towards the door and up the back garden, where Danny was making his way towards the gate in the fence connecting our gardens.

He caught his arm and pulled him round. “I’ll decide whether or not you’re worthy,” I heard him say, before he pulled Danny into one of the most passionate kisses I’ve ever seen. I leaned against the kitchen counter heavily, a smile on my face. Love like that was very rare in this day and age, and when it did arise, you had to make sure it remained.