Jimmy never replied to his message. Not the first and none after that, either. Ren tried calling him the next morning, but Jimmy didn’t pick up.

He didn’t know what he had done. He hadn’t even been the one to initiate the kiss that time, so how was he to blame? The way Jimmy had run off, he’d acted as if Ren had tried to harass him. At the very least, Ren wanted Jimmy to reply and say he was okay. That was the least he owed Ren, if anything. At best, he wanted Jimmy to call him and tell him he wanted to see him and tell him how much he loved him and how much he wanted to be with him. But Ren knew it wasn’t going to happen.

The hangover the next day was unbearable. Ren skipped uni. He was in no mood to deal with his imbecile classmates, and he had made a promise to not step foot in that university until action had been taken against his bullies. He did not need toxic people in his life.

Was Jimmy toxic?

The thought hit Ren and didn’t leave him for the rest of the day.

Jimmy was a nice person. He was handsome and sexy and funny. But was he toxic for Ren? Was he leading him on only to back down? He was in the closet. That much was certain. But he was also bad for Ren, and Ren didn’t need another bad relationship. He had given his heart too many times to invest in someone who was only going to break it again, either out of fear, hate, or ignorance.

He didn’t hear back by the end of the week, despite Ren’s daily messages, and he noticed Stelios didn’t invite him out for coffee anymore. He didn’t know if Jimmy had said anything to Stelios, or if Stelios could see the tension, or lack of contact, between the two.

By the start of the next week, he hadn’t seen any of the gang, including his flatmate, for four days in a row. He even went to class, which he had promised himself not to do, in hopes of catching Jimmy, but typically he wasn’t there. Thankfully, neither were the bullies.

Ren heard Stelios come in the flat later that day, and he ran to the living room to catch him before he locked himself away in his room.

‘Hey,’ he seemed startled. ‘I thought you were at school.’

‘I skipped it after an hour. It was way too boring. Are you all right? You look pale.’ Ren stood in the hallway, casually leaning against the wall, but, really, stopping Stelios from going in anywhere.

‘Do I?’ Stelios didn’t say anything else. He avoided Ren’s interrogating glare, looking at the switched-off TV, instead.

Ren approached him. ‘Have I done something, Stelios? Why aren’t you guys talking to me?’

Stelios shook his head and stepped back. ‘No. I’m sorry. No. God!’ he growled. ‘It’s Dimitris. He’s being weird. I haven’t stopped talking to you. I’m just—embarrassed by the way he’s behaving. I don’t know what to say to you. He says he doesn’t want to see you or go out with you again, so that’s why I haven’t invited you. I guess it was easier avoiding you than lying to you or saying it straight to your face.’

‘But what have I done?’

Stelios shrugged and put his bag on the couch. ‘I don’t know. We don’t know. He just says he doesn’t like you and doesn’t want to see you again. He’s being childish.’

‘He is. He is not replying to any of my messages or calls.’

Stelios walked to the kitchen and prepped his tools for his frappé. ‘Did something happen between you two?’

Ren didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to out Jimmy before he was ready, so he went for half the truth. ‘I don’t know. We went out the other night and he got a bit drunk, then stormed out and hasn’t talked to me since.’

‘Katerina thinks he’s going through PMS,’ Stelios said in the most serious face Ren had seen him put on.

Ren laughed. Stelios cracked up.

‘Sorry, it’s funny when she says it, and it looked like you needed a laugh.’

He did.

‘So, not everyone hates me?’ Ren walked to the kitchen and watched Stelios make his coffee.

‘No one hates you, Ren. It’s just our Jimmy being a dick. We’ll find out why. Don’t worry.’

Ren did worry, however. Was Jimmy acting like that because of a kiss? And why was he taking it out on Ren when he hadn’t been the one to initiate it?

Since Stelios didn’t know and neither did anyone else, Ren decided to go straight to the source. Friday was a usual work night for Jimmy, and so Ren made his way to Mitropoleos Street and went into to his shop. Jimmy was there, naturally, and serving a sole customer.

When he saw Ren, he turned back to the customer and focused on him. When the patron left, Ren stood in front of the counter. Jimmy walked away, cleaning the back counter and turned his back to Ren.

‘Can I get some service, please?’ Ren asked.

Jimmy rubbed the toaster clean with a spatula. ‘Go away, Ren.’

‘But I’m a customer. You need to serve me,’ Ren told him.

Jimmy stopped and paused. He didn’t turn around to look at him, but Ren could see the cogs turning in his head. Whenever he decided whatever it was he’d decided, he turned to face Ren. ‘What do you want?’

Ren wanted so many things. The truth for starters. An explanation of some sort. But he braced himself.

‘Can I have a toastie? The blue cheese and chicken one, please,’ he pointed at his choice behind the glass.

Jimmy prepared it for him.

‘Why won’t you talk to me?’ Ren asked him.

‘Because I don’t want to,’ Jimmy mumbled.

‘But what did I do?’

‘Nothing. You’re not the kind of person I want to be friends with.’

The words shot straight through Ren’s chest. He didn’t know what they meant to Jimmy, but they hurt the hell out of Ren. What did one respond to a comment like that? Was it even worth it?

‘You didn’t seem to have a problem with me until last week,’ Ren said.

Jimmy shrugged. ‘What can I say? I got to know you better and decided you’re not someone I’d like to hang out with.’

And another shot. This one made his breath hitch. Why was Jimmy being so hurtful?

‘Is it because of that kiss? Because, you know, Jimmy, it’s oka—’ he told him.

Jimmy smacked the toast on the toaster and turned to look at Ren. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, and you better stop talking about such lies.’

‘Lies? Inconvenient truths? What’s the difference, huh?’

‘Can you leave?’ Jimmy asked Ren, staring at the traffic outside.

Ren backed up. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I will leave. But know this. I’m sorry for whatever it is you think I did and I’m sorry you think there’s anything wrong with what you did. Take care.’

Ren opened the door.

‘Your toast,’ Jimmy reminded him.

Ren turned around to look at him, one last time. ‘You have it, handsome.’

He took a cab back home. He couldn’t bother with buses, and walking was too much for his nerves. Facing Jimmy like that, so different, so distant and cold, had been exhausting. All he wanted to do was lie in bed and never get up.

He came back to a deathly silence, and a knock on Stelios’s door told him his flatmate was out. It was a Friday night, after all. Of course he was. Only Ren wasn’t. Because Ren had no friends. And the one he thought he did have was being an arsehole to him.

Ren went to his room and opened his laptop. He opened Netflix and put a show on as he went through the pictures on his phone. He had taken loads of them during his time in Thessaloniki, and they all felt as if they were from a different era. There was Jimmy and him, the guys and him, just him, but they were all from a time when he had all of them in his life, teaching him things.

He didn’t know what the point was of him staying there if the guys would not, or could not, talk to him anymore, and every other person in this town seemed hell bent on bullying him. He opened Google and typed ‘how to finish your Erasmus exchange early.’ He didn’t want to. He loved Greece and Thessaloniki, but he didn’t know if he had any other options. The answer was not easy to find, and when he gave up he decided to go to the Erasmus exchange office at the university and enquire about it there. Which gave him the whole weekend to do absolutely nothing.

On Monday, he visited the office first thing.

‘Such a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Thomas. Please take a seat,’ Papa said and Ren followed her instructions, thanking her. ‘How may I help you today?’

‘Well,’ he started, ‘I have been thinking a lot, and I was wondering how I would go about finishing my exchange early.’

She twisted her head and put her palms flat on the desk. ‘Why would you ever want to do such a thing? Is it because of those kids? Because if it is, I promise you, it is being dealt with. The dean is looking after the matter personally.’

Ren shook his head. ‘That’s not it.’

‘Is it the landlord, then? I do have good news about the landlord, as a matter of fact. I just received word of it, so I was going to call you today, but you’re one step ahead of me.’ She opened a drawer and took a slip of paper out. ‘I have your deposit and your rent right here. When you told me what he did, I contacted him, and we had a good chat about his behaviour. You’ll be pleased to know he has been blacklisted from our university records and the police are looking into his activities and actions.’

She passed the slip of paper to Ren, and he read the sum of money on it. It was the entire amount he’d paid before he arrived in Thessaloniki. While it was a huge relief for his wrong to be righted, he didn’t really need the money, and it didn’t change things with Jimmy. He had no purpose here. He hated the subject he was studying at the best of times. Having Jimmy in his life had been a pleasant surprise and had given him a lot more motivation to brave through the academic days. Without him, he had little interest in the course or the exchange programme.

‘Did you still want to discuss leaving?’ she asked.

Ren nodded.

With a defeated face, she turned to the computer and told him the next steps.

When he came out of the building, his chest felt heavy and his mind confounded. He didn’t know if it was the best decision he could make, but he had to do something. At least back home he had Daisy. And his brother. Although he was now pubescent and less interested in hanging out with his older brother. Here, he had no one.

His phone chimed, and he saw a preview of a message from Stelios.

Hey dude, do you want to go camping for the weekend? It’s only €20 a night and a lot of my classmates are going. It’s right by the beach. Beautiful place. You can’t miss it.

Ren sat at the bus stop and waited for the bus. Is Jimmy going? I can’t go if he’s going.

The reply came not too long after. He’s not. I thought you could use a friend and I know you two aren’t talking, so I haven’t invited him.

That didn’t sound bad, at all. Plus, he’d never been to a Greek beach before. How could he miss that?

Ok, I guess. When are we leaving?

Friday! And yeah! Happy you’re coming.