The bridge. His bridge. How his heart has longed to see it again. He can already smell the flowers, and the nostalgia comes. But as his excitement bubbles, he freezes. A figure is emerging from the trees, head down, and walking slowly. He knows that stride.
The bus's brakes screech as its doors close and it pulls away down the road. The figure looks up at the sound.
Zach can't believe his eyes. He wasn't ready. He thought he was, but his heart wasn't prepared. It's pounding so fast he thinks he might pass out. Adrenaline is coursing through him, but instead of being pushed on, he can't move at all. Not until the figure at the line of trees bolts forward toward the bridge and toward him. As the person gets closer, his truth is confirmed: It's Shane. Of course it's Shane.
So he drags his feet. He drags his suitcase. He drags his fears and regrets. He'll drag it all if he can just get himself on those stones. He can't stop the smile from lighting up his face.
At almost the exact moment, they reach the center of the bridge. He knows he's smiling like an idiot, but Shane looks so out of breath and confused. He wants him to say something. He'd do anything to listen to Shane break the silence first. But what if he's too late?
"Hey."
His greeting hangs untouched in the air between them.
"Um, I had a realization lately and it made me—I mean, I almost made a horrible mistake, but..." He swallows hard, not sure which direction to take his thoughts first. Could things go back? Would Shane accept his feelings after all this time? He can't help but think not. And why should he? Insecurity had caused him to leave. And fear had kept him away. There was no reason for him to be forgiven.
Finally, Shane speaks.
"I missed you."
That's when Zach realizes his fears were meaningless. Nothing has changed in the last four years. Nothing at all.
Taking the next steps forward would be as if he had never taken steps backward to begin with. Sure, some things had changed. They're both different people now, he can tell. Shane is different. But, it feels the same. Things between them are the same. It brings warmth to his exhausted eyes.
Shane is taking another step forward, and Zach follows. What can he do? Can his heart even handle this amount of happiness? He just wants to stare at him for hours and take in everything about him. But the urge to touch him is so much stronger.
"It's been a while, huh?" Zach can feel his eyes heating up even more.
"A bit."
"You grew a little."
"Did I?"
"Yeah. And your hair is so long," Zach laughs through the tears.
"Really let myself go, huh?"
"You're still as beautiful as I remember."
Shane shakes his head and reaches for him as if he thinks he'll disappear. Being touched by Shane again is like the hum of electricity after an endless blackout.
"I can't believe you're here. Maddie's gonna be so excited. Oh." He looks down. "Granny…she's..."
Zach nods sadly, understanding, as he closes the final gap and pulls the boy into his chest.
Shane realizes that he never did have the chance to mourn his grandmother's passing. She was more like a mother, and she's been gone for more than a year. Without his permission, his body and heart choose this moment to let everything out and for healing to come. He cries in Zach's arms and into his neck while the boy pats his head and touches his hair soothingly.
Finally, he gains his composure. "I'm sorry. I'm so happy you're here, but look at me."
Even though they are just words, Zach obliges and pulls away to look at him. He'll look at Shane forever if he can.
"Do you have any idea how much I missed you?" Shane's forehead pushing into him just to be nearer once more, hands through his hair to ruffle his scent.
"I think I have some idea."
Suddenly, Shane stops, tense.
"Are—how long are you here? Are you...staying?"
"Can I? I mean, I convinced myself that if packed like I was never leaving then maybe I wouldn't have to. Then I got scared thinking maybe there was no point in coming back and that you-"
His answer comes in the form of a kiss. Not just a kiss, though. The kiss Zach longed for every day since being here last. Shane's kiss. Then they just stand there once more, embracing each other as the same young boys who found each other so alluring and mysterious before, trying to make up for lost hugs. Lost touches. Lost time.
Zach says nothing, only continues to hold Shane. He never wants to let him go. Tears threaten his eyes once more as Shane's voice reverberates through him.
"Zach?"
"Yeah?" He bites his lip so hard he thinks he'll bust it open.
"I love you."
He blinks hard, pushing the tears from his eyes. "I know."
"What about you?"
Shane pushes him back from their hug to look at him. What a pair they are with wet faces and red noses. "Do you love me?"
"Yeah."
"Just yeah?"
Zach has waited for this moment for so long. He would say it so many more times after today. He would say it a million times if he had to. But this time, in their spot, the bridge that drew his eye to the town, over the waters where they shared their first kiss, it would mean more than anything.
"I love you, Shane. I fell in love with you almost ten years ago through the dusty window of a bus. It's just taken me this long to realize what that means. I want to be with you every moment starting today, because when I'm with you, the world stands still and seems to spin faster. I breathe easier and not at all. I'm comfortable and nervous, excited, and scared. But all of that makes you, and this place—us—feel like home."
"And you told me you don't write poetry." He pushes his forehead against him.
"I know, I know." He takes a deep breath before he says the other words he's wanted to say for so long. "Shane?"
"Hm."
"Let's go home."
"You sure?" he asks, lifting Zach's suitcase with one hand and taking his hand in the other, leading him toward the overgrown path they know so well. "I'll probably put you to work…"
How long it has been since laughter echoed off the stones of the bridge, still standing.
"That sounds perfect."
End.