Every once in a while, Nick would have wet dreams about Josh. He picured the two of them together on the locker room floor.
Except in his dreams, no one was there to taunt them.
It was just Nick and Josh, exploring each other in peace.

When Nick woke up, he would feel a mix of contentment, shame, and dissapointment, for that was all it had been.
A dream.

The next day in school, Nick saw Josh in the hallway. Usually, they would just exchange a brief glance, out of the fear that people would think something else was between them.

This time, Nick stared into Josh’s striking green eyes, which also had specks of brown. They held each other’s gaze much longer this time; the mutual penetrating look transfixing the both of them.
It was as if to say, “I love you, and we could love each other together, if only the definition of love wasn’t so rigid.”

Someday, perhaps, deep affection would be restrained no longer.