***

“Okay Jake,” Danny said seriously as he continued to make eye contact, “I will tell you, but you have to promise me that you won’t flip out at me like you did last time. I don’t want this to turn into a huge drama like it did then. And I still don’t want you to tell anyone about any of this shit that’s been happening lately ok? ”

“Fine!” Jake responded acceptingly. “I won’t say anything”.

Danny took a deep breath.

“Huh,” he sighed, “well obviously, you know that I’m gay”

“Obviously!” Jake replied.

Danny stared down at the dirty gravel covered ground, trying to find the right words.

“Well you … you are the only person Jake … and, and …”

“Yeah I figured that out already from the way you acted that night at the club, but you’ve got to tell everyone sometime right?” Jake asked, “Hey, I’m in the same situation as well, nobody knows about me except you, alright so I’m bi … I guess … and maybe that’s different to being gay, but I’m still going to have to tell everyone.”

Danny interrupted before Jake could say anything further, “Yeah but it’s not that simple for me!”.

“What are you talking about? Of course it is, you just have to explain it to people and they will understand!”.

“But that’s just it Jake! Not everyone does understand, some people hate it, they think that the whole thing is wrong, sick … unnatural!”

“And do you think that?!”

“No, of course I don’t but…”

“But what? Isn’t that all that matters? Danny believe me, if people really care about you, and I know a lot of people who do, then they aren’t going to be bothered by the fact that your gay! As long as you’re happy they won’t care! If people really care about you then the fact that you’re happy is what should really be important to them.”

“BUT THEY WILL FUCKING CARE!” Danny screamed as he burst out crying, tears immediately gushing down his face.

Danny ran off down the road, barely able to see as his vision of the world blurred and distorted as he continued to cry more and more. Jake didn’t understand what was up with him; he just knew that something was clearly not right. He ran after him, still exhausted after the mad day that he’d had.

“Danny!” he shouted, “Danny wait up!”

“Leave me alone, you don’t understand Jake!”

“No you’re right I don’t!” Jake panted, trying his best to catch Danny but failing miserably as he ran, “But, if you … don’t tell me … then … then I never will!”

Danny ran quicker, not wanting to allow Jake to see him in this state, not wanting to talk about the reason why he wanted Jake to remain silent. Faster and faster he ran, picking up incredible speed even though he had been locked in a barn for well over 24 hours, and had been fooling around with Jake in between. He was now running so fast that Jake was unable to keep up with him. He sprinted faster than he’d ever ran before, as if trying to escape from a pack of hungry wolves!

Jake ran as fast as he could to try and keep up with Danny but there was nothing he could do but watch as Danny edged away from him. Then, he watched in horror as a flicker of light temporarily blinded him and he saw it! A truck. `Oh shit!` Jake thought to himself as he came grinding to a halt.

“DANNY LOOK OUT!” he yelled out, almost straining his voice with the sheer volume of his scream!

Danny’s eyes widened and the tears seemed to vanish instantly as his vision became crystal clear. Neither of them will ever forget the horrible, violent, piercing screech which howled through their heads as all of the trucks massive tires locked up and scraped across the surface of the road when the burly truck driver stomped on the brake pedal of the gigantic articulated truck! Danny suddenly reacted and Jake could only stand back and watch, terrified as Danny threw himself into the air using all the energy he had left as he leapt for his life! Daniel went flying though the air! SMACK! He hit the ground, landing flat on his face at the side of the dusty road as the monstrous truck screamed past the spot where Jake was previously stood and eventually slid to a stop. Jake was horrified as the man he loved laid motionless, face down at the side of the road. He started to run again until he reached the spot where Danny was led.

“Danny!” He exclaimed as he grabbed his friends shoulder and flipped him onto his back.

Jake panicked when he saw the blood pouring from Danny’s nose down his youthful face.

“Danny talk to me, please Danny, please just say something, oh god Danny just say something! ANYTHING!” Jake squealed trembling with fear, hoping that his best friend wasn’t badly hurt.

“I’m alright” Danny replied as his big brown eyes opened and stared back at Jake, who now held Danny’s head in his hands. “I think I broke my arm though” He moaned in agony.

Jake wept as he pulled Daniel carefully up off of the ground towards his own body, grabbing both of his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around his best friend, crying in relief as he tried his best to avoid his arm as they embraced. They both knew that Daniel had been very lucky to keep his life, but they said nothing. They didn’t have to. Suddenly their attention was grabbed by the sound of a door closing. It was the truck driver. Danny and Jake looked blankly into each other’s eyes, unsure of what to expect from the big, burly driver as he stomped towards them. Would he be angry that he was forced to stomp on the brakes? Or happy that everybody was ok?

Simultaneously, both emotionally drained young men turned their heads to face the driver, trying to identify from his body language what kind of mood he was in. The driver was a giant compared to Danny and Jake, towering above them and with a much wider build. This made him instantly intimidating to both of them.

They’re thought processes were broken when the driver said; “Are you boy’s ok? It’s a good thing you dived or I don’t think you’d be stood there right now!”

“Uh, yeah I think so” Danny answered confidently.

“What about your arm?” the man said as he reached them and stopped, noticing the intimidated and slightly scared look on their faces, “it looks hurt, is it broken?”

“I think so,” Danny said holding his left arm up with his right hand, “it sure as hell hurts enough to be!”

“Okay, is it just your arm that hurts?”

“Yes sir”

“You can call me Bill, we should probably call your parents and explain to them what happened, do you have a mobile phone?”

“No, please don’t make me call my parents” Daniel said in a moment of panic as Jake glared at him quizzically, “I…I don’t want to worry them!”

“Danny…?” Jake responded questioningly in a concerned tone.

“Jake, please, I don’t want them to hear about this.”

“What, do you think that they won’t notice a broken arm?” Jake responded wondering what the hell Danny was thinking of. “Don’t be stupid Daniel, they’re going to find out!”.

“Just leave it, please… for me.”

The truck driver butted in saying “Well alright but at least let me drive you to the hospital”.

“Well, I don’t wanna cause you any more hassle Bill…”

“Yes,” Jake interrupted, “yes, it would be great if you could give us a lift, that’s very kind of you Bill”.

“Really,” Bill acknowledged, “it’s the least I can do”.

Danny gave Jake an evil look as he reluctantly followed Bill towards the truck. Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance and then slowly followed after him.

***

At the hospital, Jake sat impatiently in the waiting area as Danny was being taken care of by the nurses. Bill had already left because he had to get his shipment to London later that night and thanks to this, he was already behind schedule. Jake tapped his feet on the shiny white hospital floor, nothing to do but sit and wait. He looked around the room reading the boring posters which offered him advice about various illnesses and problems, all of which he didn’t have. Then, he noticed the red payphone in the corner of the waiting room. It was as if it was calling him, luring him over, persuading him to pick it up. He had a few coins in his pocket and wondered if he should call his parents to let them know where he was. Then he thought about calling Danny’s parents. He knew that Danny really didn’t want him to, but he didn’t know why and deep down inside, he thought that they really ought to know what the situation was. He decided to do it. He didn’t understand what Danny was talking about. `They have to know` he thought as he walked over to the phone. He pulled the loose change out from his pocket, picked out what he needed and inserted it into the slot. He was just about to dial the number when he heard a voice say “alright then, you just need to change the dressing twice a week and I’ll see you in 2 weeks time”. The voice cut through his thoughts and brought him back into the real world! He had no time to react.

“Okay thank you”. Danny replied to the nurse.

Jake slammed the phone down and turned around quickly to see Daniel glaring at him from the other end of the empty white room.

TO BE CONTINUED…

***

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