Guy was avoiding him.

That was the only valid conclusion John could reach. He wasn’t answering his door, or his mobile for that matter.

John might have thought he’d left town, except for the fact that Guy was still attending the local high school each day for his teaching job. John hadn’t quite got to the point of accosting him there. Yet.

Instead, he was reduced to sitting in his car outside the After Dark Club for the second night in a row, hoping to catch sight of him. Déjà vu, anyone?

It was over a week since their dramatic escape from the fire and John was still dwelling on those events, going over and over them in his head. In hindsight, he wished he’d thrown discretion to the winds and kissed Guy when he had the chance, despite the risk of being captured on camera. But he hadn’t. Years of keeping his sexuality a private matter had been too hard to overcome in a single instant and he’d hesitated.

And then it was too late, the moment had passed. All too soon, he and Guy were surrounded, the centre of attention. Apart from the flock of eager reporters, a couple of firemen were there, carefully deflating the airbag, while several ambulance officers examined them both in minute detail, amazed that nothing was broken and they were still conscious after the fall. It took a considerable amount of effort, insisting that neither of them needed to go to hospital for observation.

Then, afterwards, there had been interviews, television appearances and numerous YouTube videos to put up with. A spectator’s record of the fall had reached several hundred thousand hits. Luckily, his hand had been shaking somewhat with excitement at the time.

Now that the publicity had finally died down, John wanted to see Guy and talk, but it seemed Guy was not prepared to listen. John spent sleepless hours wondering why.

Surely Guy didn’t think John was going to interrogate him about using his powers? After all they’d been through together, that seemed somewhat irrelevant. Or maybe, Guy simply didn’t want to see him. Just because they were both gay, didn’t mean they had to be attracted to each other.

Lost in his own thoughts, John nearly had a heart attack when Guy knocked on the car window. At least he hadn’t teleported himself inside the car! John thought, opening the door.

“Hi! Can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Guy. And teleported himself into the passenger seat. Shaking his head, John closed his car door.

“So what do you want to talk about?” asked Guy, twisting around in his seat to face him. The car, which had seemed so spacious a moment ago, seemed suddenly close and intimate. Guy looked hot, dressed in dark trousers, a crisp white shirt and his favourite grey coat, and the subtle waft of expensive cologne had John’s senses stirring.

“I-I just wanted to explain...” John’s voice trailed away. This was harder than he’d thought.

“Why you keep your sexuality a secret?”asked Guy, in an interested tone. “You are gay, aren’t you? I couldn’t be wrong about that.”

“Yes, you’re right, I’m gay. Can you imagine how well a gay policeman would fit in to the squad? Mind you, I don’t actually lie, and tell people I’m hetero—I just keep my private life... private.” John defended himself.

“I could understand that if we were living in the 1980s,”agreed Guy, “but haven’t things changed? Isn’t this the 21st century?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” said John, with more than a touch of bitterness.

“I think you’re underestimating your colleagues,” said Guy, after a moment’s thought. “I’ve met your partner, Alison, and some of your team. They didn’t seem fussed at all about me being gay. Give them a bit of time to adjust and you might be surprised. As someone who keeps a huge secret himself, I know how secrets create a barrier between you and the rest of the world. There are only a handful of people I can really be myself with.”

“So why have you been avoiding me?” blurted John.

“I wanted to give you some time to think about our situation. Me too, if it comes to that. Time to consider whether that spark of attraction was just a heat-of-the-moment sort of thing, or whether... it might be something more.” Guy looked serious. “And, honestly, the fact that you keep your sexuality a secret is a problem for me. I really don’t need any more secrets in my life.”

John felt a cold hand grip his heart. So this was it, then. The end before anything had really started.

“I understand,” he said, looking away. He waited impatiently for Guy to leave, his jaw clenched tight—but when he looked sideways after a few minutes, Guy was still there. Watching him.

“How about we make a deal?” said Guy. “You give some serious thought to coming out, and I’ll see whether I can handle one more secret while you’re thinking.”

“We could do that,” said John, leaning closer, the tension suddenly draining from his body.

Guy reached across and ran his fingers lightly through John’s short hair. A shiver ran through him, right down to his toes.

“You really think we might make this work?” asked John, his voice husky.

“I don’t know.” Guy smiled suddenly, “but I’d really like to find out.”