"I am not gay"

Original Rendezvous

He looked at me "You've gotta be fucking kidding me".

My heart dropped, he seemed so unimpressed.  Upset, unamused, anything but excited or happy.  I looked slightly disappointed in myself as I let go of his hand and slowly looked up at the forest.  He grabbed my hand again and lifted my chin with the index finger of his free hand.  "I fucking love hiking" He smiled and lean in giving me a quick kiss.  But, when he pulled away I leaned forward again quickly kissing him again.  He stumbled back slightly now leaning against the car and smiled through the kiss.  He pulled away again, putting his hand on my chest to keep me back "Alright, alright, that's enough.  Let's go."  He said standing up straight making our faces only a centimeter away.  He turned before I could get him again, so we started walking toward the immense plain of trees and foliage.  I had been on this hike more times then I can count.  I came here with my parent when I was young and we were still a family.  It's been my escape ever since.  I knew this area like the back of my hand, and had no problem getting around without the trails.  I lead Carl through with ease, going at a pace so he can keep up and we can both avoid any obstacles.  

"Do you even know where we're going?  We left the trail like 20 minutes ago." Carl said realizing he hadn't a clue how to get back.  "Oh definitely, I've spent so much time out here." I said as I maneuvered us through winding trees and shrubbery.  "Where are we even going?" Carl asked for about the thousandth time.  "I told, it's a surprise." I said firmly, with a slight sass in my tone.  "I thought the hike itself was a surprise, not that I had to hike to get to the surprise" He whined slightly.  I rolled my eyes and chuckled.  "When will we be there?" He probed.  I stopped abruptly and whipped around to face him, pulling him close to me.  "Soon enough if you stop complaining like a kid." I smirked and gave him a peck on the cheek and then continued.  That seemed to make him be quiet for a while.  I heard a few quiet gasps and "woah's" from him when we would pass animals or strange plants.  It's obvious he doesn't spend any time in the actual wilderness.  Just the concrete jungle of Chicago.

After another half an hour, an hour of hiking in total, I made him close his eyes.  "Elliot I swear to god, if you walk me off of a cliff, or like into some bear den,  I'll kill you." He said sounding slightly nervous.  "I promise it's worth it." I say walking backwards leading him to the waterfall.  "Okay, okay.. and... Now you can open your eyes!" I said moving out of the way revealing a grand, crystal clear waterfall.  His eyes grew wide as he looked at it, his eyes trailing down into the small lake that channeled back into a narrow river.  We were standing on a slight cliff about 20 feet over the small lake.  I took off the backpack and started laying out everything I packed as a small picnic.  Carl stood and stared at the clean waters so long that when he looked over I was sitting down on the blanket with our entire lunch set out neatly.  He walked over slowly and sat down with me and smiled.  "So is this like a date?" He asked seeming slightly awkward about the idea of us going on a date.  I can't blame him, I don't really think I would like to call this a first date, it's too soon and unpredictable for that.  "Kind of.. but no.  We can call it, our original rendezvous" I told him.  "Our what?" He looked at me confused as he chuckled.  "Original as in it's the first time we've done this, and a rendezvous instead of a date" I smiled slightly "I thought it was clever" I said quietly.  Carl shook his head "It is.  It's really clever." He picked up his water and held it up as if for a toast "To our Original Rendezvous" He smiled.  I lightly tapped my water against his.

We ate our lunch, played music on the speaker, and took a while to enjoy the view.  He still didn't know that I brought the towels.  I stood up and started stripping.  "What are you doing?" Carl asked confused and curious.  "Going for a swim, come on, I brought towels" I smile.  When he finally stood up I walked away from the edge, then sprinted and jumped off of the short cliff we had set up on.  I came crashing into the cool water, and Carl came soon after.  We swam for about two hours and just had a blast.  We finally made our way back up to our little base and started drying off.  "How did you even find out about this place?" Carl finally asked me.  As I started getting dressed and packing up I began "Well, when I was young, and my parents were still together.. When we were still a family." I sighed.  He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile.  The sun was about to set, so I started walking and he followed.  "We came out here all of the time, and would even camp out in these woods.  I spent a lot of time out here when I was a kid" I continued as we walked.  Although he was behind me, and I couldn't see him, I could tell he was actually listening.  "So, when my parents decided to separate, they took me out here a lot, to make it all seem normal and like we were still a happy family.  Once the divorce was final, my dad would take me out here all of the time.  It was our escape.. And when he passed, everything seemed like it went to shit.  My mom was already distant, and that didn't help.  By then I was of driving age and had a car.  So, I spent almost all of my free time out here." I explained.

My story took up the majority of the hike back.  I could see the sun hanging lower in the sky as we finally got to the clearing with my car.  Carl came up and hugged me from behind.  "Elliot, we've been through so much shit, known each other for so long, been best friends for so many years, and you never told me that" He said resting his chin on my shoulder, tightening his arms around my waist.  I sighed "Yeah, not really something I try to flaunt" I chuckle trying to lighten the mood.  "Come on, it'll be dark before we know it." I said peeling his arms off of me and walking to the car.  I threw the bag in the back as Carl got into the passenger's seat.  I got in the car and turned the key, the engine rumbling to a start.  I cracked the windows open and started on our drive back.  We watched the sun set and the stars sparkle in the sky.  You can't see that too well in Chicago.  That's why I love coming out here.  Soon Carl fell asleep and I didn't wake him up until we were five minutes from the house.  I grabbed the bag as he got out and we headed back inside.  We rushed downstairs and got changed quickly, climbing into bed and turning on the T.V.  We murmured sleep deprived nonsense to each other.  Then we sat quietly for a few minutes, and I thought he was asleep.  Right before I dozed off I heard him say something.  I pretended to be asleep afraid to respond.  "I love you Elliot" He muttered.