‘How did you do?’ Antonis asked him.

Ren looked at his frappé and almost threw half of it up. ‘Shit. Half the questions didn’t make any sense and the other half I felt like I knew the answer to, but once I started answering them, I realised I didn’t.’

Jimmy bit his lips. Ren really needed a hug from him, but that would have to wait until they were alone back in his apartment.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jimmy said.

‘What for? It’s not your fault I didn’t pay any attention during class. All semester.’

Jimmy rolled his eyes. ‘I know, but I feel like if we hadn’t dragged you into the Greek student life, you’d have done better.’

Ren laughed. Katerina smiled.

‘Jimmy, I would have sucked even more. I told you, I’m only studying to get my parents off my case. I really hate the subject and academic life.’

Jimmy nodded. ‘I know, but still.’

Ren looked into Jimmy’s eyes and saw the sadness. He wasn’t as sorry that Ren had done terribly, but with what having exams meant. Only another month together before he had to fly back to England. Technically, he didn’t have to fly back anywhere until September, but he couldn’t justify to his parents staying for the whole summer. They already believed his Erasmus exchange in Greece was a waste of time and would rather have seen him study in Germany, France or even Sweden, but that was a different story altogether.

‘I can’t believe you’re leaving us.’ Katerina spoke the unspoken.

‘I wish I didn’t have to,’ Ren replied and rested his head on her shoulder.

‘You don’t have to,’ she said.

Ren sat back up and looked from her to Antonis and from him to Jimmy.

‘My parents won’t support me if I stay here, especially if it means quitting uni,’ Ren explained.

‘Then you’ll get a job,’ Jimmy said. ‘I can speak to my boss, see if he can give you a job.’

Ren took a deep breath. ‘I can’t speak the language, guys. And it’s not like English is as widely used as it is in Denmark or Switzerland.’

‘I’m sure there’s jobs you can do. English people live and work in Greece, and not all of them speak Greek,’ Antonis said.

Ren took a sip of his coffee even though his throat felt swollen and his stomach knotted. ‘And those people most probably live on the islands, work in tourism, and cater to English and German holidaymakers.’

‘We have hotels,’ Katerina exclaimed.

Ren put his coffee down with a loud bang. ‘Guys, you said it yourselves. There are not enough jobs in this city. How am I supposed to get one when you guys are having such a hard time too? It sucks, but I will have to go back.’

‘But you’ll visit us, yes?’ Katerina asked, fluttering her lashes.

Ren stole a glance at Jimmy who was staring at his hands. Ren wished he could take Jimmy in his arms and tell him it’d be okay. ‘Of course.’

Katerina gave Ren a hug, and Antonis sucked on his straw with a sulk.

‘Look, guys, I’ve got at least another month here. I’m not gone yet. Let’s look at the bright side.’

‘We have so many places to take you,’ Katerina said.

‘That’s the spirit,’ Ren replied trying to live by his words. The truth was, he was dreading his return home.

Jimmy and Ren shared a cab to Ren’s house, and they cuddled on the couch once there.

‘Don’t go,’ Jimmy begged. ‘Please.’

Ren squeezed him tighter in his arms. His heart felt heavy. He didn’t know how he was supposed to fix this. He’d gone through all the scenarios, and the only one that had any validity was one he hadn’t shared with Jimmy. Until now.

‘What if you came to London?’

Jimmy froze in his arms. ‘London?’

Ren looked at him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. ‘Yeah. You speak English; you can find work there. I know it’s not ideal, but at least we don’t have to hide there.’

Jimmy sat up on the couch, his hand settling on Ren’s knee. ‘What about my studies?’

‘You can sign up for an exchange. You can continue your studies, and in the meantime, we can find out if you can transfer altogether.’

‘But I’ve never been to London. What if I don’t like it there?’

Ren didn’t know the answer. He didn’t like London, but he didn’t mind living there. ‘There’s so many other places we can try. Berlin is beautiful and so is Brussels. Or we could try somewhere new, like Italy or, I don’t know, Spain.’

‘Baby,’ he said and for the first time in the seven weeks they’d been together, the word felt like a knife. ‘I—I’ve never been anywhere abroad. I can’t—’

Ren stood up and walked to the fridge. He didn’t want to look at Jimmy when he said it. ‘That’s fine. Then it was good while it lasted, but I guess it will have to end when I go.’ It felt a crime saying the words, but they needed to be said.

‘Baby,’ Jimmy said again, this time with more love. ‘Don’t say that. Let me think about it. I’m still trying to wrap my head around you leaving me. We’ll come up with something. We have a month to figure it out.’

His hands reached around Ren’s waist and Ren leaned against him, both of them looking in the fridge as if it was a work of art. It wasn’t.

‘Do you want to order take-out?’ Jimmy whispered in his ear.

‘Uh-huh,’ Ren grumbled.

Jimmy slid his hands off Ren and turned him around to face him. ‘Hey! Don’t be like that. We’ll figure it out. Promise?’

‘Okay. Promise.’

They sat back down and ordered gyros with extra fries on the side, which they inhaled as soon as it arrived. When they finished, Ren followed Jimmy outside, where he lit a cigarette and Ren watched him, taken by the ritual he’d become so accustomed to observing.

‘So, let’s think this through. If I do apply for Erasmus, what guarantees I will get in London?’

Ren felt a breath of relief come out of him and a stillness he didn’t know he had. ‘Because you will only choose London universities. You choose where you want to go. I chose a few others, but my grades were not great, so not all of them accepted me, but in the end, I decided to come to Thessaloniki.’

‘Okay, and what happens after the semester finishes? What do we do then?’

Ren shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or a minute from now on. Maybe you’ll love London and want to stay, maybe you’ll find out I’m the worst boyfriend in the world and hate my guts. We won’t know until we get there.’ Even uttering those words hurt his chest.

‘I won’t hate your guts,’ Jimmy said.

‘I might. We don’t know each other. Maybe as friends, but not as boyfriends. What’s the point of planning so far ahead if we don’t live in the now?’

Jimmy mulled over Ren’s words as he sucked on his cigarette and Ren was given the chance for the hundredth time to study his boyfriend’s face.

‘Okay. You’re right. But I still don’t know how it will work. My dad won’t take it well. He’ll forbid me from going. And what about the money? London is so expensive and I make breadcrumbs in comparison.’

‘I don’t know. We’ll find a cheap apartment, somewhere in the outskirts. We only need a studio or a room. It’s not that expensive if you’re sharing the expenses.’

Jimmy took a few more puffs in silence.

‘Yeah. I’m overthinking this. We’ll make it work. Together.’

Ren smiled. ‘Together. But you have to tell your dad.’

‘I know. I just—I don’t know if I’m ready yet.’

‘We’ve got plenty of time,’ Ren reassured him.