The pain in my head woke me up, and I reached over into my holdall for the painkillers I’d thankfully packed. I knocked back the glass of water on the bedside table.

I could tell from the bright room that it was morning, and I could hear the cars from the main street and the voices of people chatting close by. I sat up, holding my head and reached blindly for my cell to check the time. Shit. Ten a.m. I wanted to leave much earlier than that. Every extra hour I stayed, it was more likely that something else prevented me from going, and I just wanted to leave. I wanted to get back to the city, back to the uncomplicated men with whom I could drown my sorrows and forget this godforsaken place ever existed.

I noticed a message on my cell from Lewis and toyed with the idea of opening it. Did I want to hear his empty excuses? He’d made his choice pretty clear when he left me the day before. He’d walked out when I’d begged him to stay.

I put it down and got out of bed, throwing open the curtains. The sky was overcast, and I could tell it was going to rain. The sooner I left the better.

I booked a cab and took a shower, trying to wash the last few days from my memory, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about him and about his hands on my body, his mouth on my… I held onto my growing erection as I washed myself. Even the thought of him was enough to make me hard almost instantaneously. Was I ever going to get over him? Was I ever going to be able to go back to the city and start over, and close the chapter on the one person who always had my heart?

I thought about it, thought about someone else touching him and about his hands exploring another person’s body, and the jealousy that coursed through my veins was so intense that I shut the shower off and jumped out, diving onto the bed with my wet naked body to grab my cell. I opened his message and scanned over the words eagerly.

‘Max, I need to see you. I need to tell you what’s inside. Can you meet me? I’ll be on the lookout mountain until 11. If you still remember everything that we had, then you’ll come and give us a chance. I have every faith in you. Lewis’

I felt my heart beating in my chest. Still remember? I hadn’t forgotten a thing. I’d spent the last ten years thinking of every moment we’d ever shared. I looked at the time. Shit, shit, shit! It was already ten forty. Would I make it?

I dressed quickly, pulled clothes onto my wet body, grabbed my keys and cell, and left the room. My cab wasn’t due to arrive until eleven thirty, so I ran to the main street, waving my hand like a lunatic as car after car drove past me.

Please stop, I begged as I felt the first drops of rain on my bare arms. I wasn’t going to make it. Lewis was going to go, and that was it.

I started to run along the road towards the mountain, panting heavily with my hand still held out. I’d run the whole way if I had to, but just as I neared the end of the main town, a cab pulled up by my side.

“Where you headed?” he asked, winding his window down.

“Lookout Mountain!” I shouted back.

“Get in!”

I sat down, willing him to drive faster as he pulled away from the curb. I was wet and panicked, but it was ten past eleven, and if I didn’t get there in time, all my efforts would have been in vain.

I took my cell out to call him, but there was no signal. Damnit.

If we were meant to be, then he’d be there. We’d meet, and the rest would fall into place.

The cab sped up the winding roads as visibility worsened with the thick downpour of rain.

Please be there, I thought. I’d never wanted anything more in my life.

We pulled into the car park, and I saw his car, instantly relaxing in my seat as I paid the driver and jumped out into the rain.

“Lewis!” I called, running over the gravel to the grass. “I’m here!”

I couldn’t see him, so I kept running. I ran to the place I knew we’d spent a lot of time as teenagers.

My feet slipped on the wet grass and mud, and my soaked clothes clung to my body as I ran through the trees, my heart beating in my chest. As I reached the clearing, I saw him there facing me.

With my heart beating, I ran right up to him, holding his face in my hands. We didn’t speak, just looked at each other, and then I pulled his face towards mine, kissing him so hard and urgently that I lost myself completely in him. I didn’t want to let him go, and as the rain drenched us both, I knew that no matter what, I wasn’t going to leave his side ever again.