ten

                                    

                                          
it took about 15 more minutes for matt to find the entrance. the whole time, both he and tord were silent.
                          
matt tiredly trudged out of the forest, sighing softly in relief as the dirt transformed into hard cement. a nearby street light shone brightly, illuminating the teen's faces.
                          
tord almost flinched, catching a glimpse of matt's tear-stained face. god. 
                          
the walk back to their houses was still quiet. on any other day, matt would've been blabbering away. tord would've been pretending to listen but enjoying his company.
                          
tord stood in front of his house after reaching it and watched matt continue walking, arms hanging limply at his side.
                          
before matt disappeared over the hill, he spared one last glance at tord over his shoulder, eyes watering once again. "bye, tord."
                          
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                          
tord walked into school the next morning. matt hadn't been at the bus stop and there was no sign of him in the hall, either. he mindlessly opened his locker, taking out whatever he needed as his mind wandered. 
                          
maybe he got sick since we were out so late yesterday. i really hurt him, didn't i? maybe he just wanted to stay home. maybe he slept in. why did i have to say all that? maybe he'll be here tomorrow.

                          
after school, tord did what he normally did. get on the bus, get dropped off, and walk the rest of the way home. but this time, alone. he never realized how lonely he could be without matt.
                          
tord sighed as he unlocked the door to his house and walked to his room. he flung his backpack by the side of his desk and flopped onto his bed, face-up. his green eyes examined the room matt had helped him decorate. a small smile appeared on his face at the thought of matt. but i was so mean to him. the frown returned.
                          
looking for a distraction, tord sat up in bed, scanning the small room.
                          
then, something caught his eye.
                          
a white envelope was lodged between his window and the bottom of it. tord suspiciously raised an eyebrow and pulled it off, running his thumb over it in thought. he turned it over and in red pen it read, tord larsin.
                          
"hm." tord carefully lifted the flap that had been closed using a sticker of a purple heart. he pulled out the paper inside, unfolding it and beginning to read.
                          
tord, 
                          
i'm not entirely sure how to start this. we didn't exactly end on a good note. 
                          
i should probably start by saying that, by the time you're reading this, i'm in a plane on my way to another random town. remember when i said i have a military family? yeah, it doesn't exactly come with a lot of benefits on my part. i'm sorry. 
                          
you're probably mad, although it'd be hard to imagine your beautiful face with an expression of anger. (i've only seen that once. first time and last time.)
                          
i should've told you, but i was scared to. i brought you to that lake because a part of me knew that's where our first kiss would be. thank you for making a move though, haha!
                          
my dad took away my phone, so we can't talk anymore. he found selfies of us. he found them after i got home from the forest and was extremely... angry. that's an understatement. he just knew i was gay. i'm so sorry, tord. i can barely write this.
                          
i enjoyed the small time we got to spend together. it was just me and you. i know i'll miss you.
                          
love, your darling matt
                          
p.s. i love you

                          
with each word tord's thumbs dug harder into the paper, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. he slowly shook his head, breathing beginning to hitch up.
                          
"n- no... matt? no, no, this- it's-" tord scanned the words over and over for some kind of sign that this was some sick joke.
                          
but it wasn't.
                          
it was real.
                          
tord began to sob uncontrollably into his knees, rocking back and forth as his body was racked with wails and cries as he realized he'd never be able to talk to matt again. 
                          
he barely noticed himself scream at the top of his lungs. he barely noticed the way his nails dug so deep into his skin that blood welled up. he barely noticed the dull pounding in his head. 
                          
all he could feel was as if someone had plunged a knife straight through him. 
                          
he'd have to go back to life without matt.

                          
the end