𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑, ; 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥

26

it wasn't until two hours later they reached their destination. jeff had called anna to tell her that they wouldn't be back until late. they drove in silence,  as if they both had an unspoken agreement to stay quiet. when the truck had parked, they both got out. daniel recognized where they were immediately.

he looked out at the sand that stretched out in front of them. he could hear the water, hear the waves jumping up and crashing down on the shore. he found himself walking towards the big rocks, the rocks he remembered climbing every time they came here. he remembered all the times they had had picnics on this very sand, how much fun they used to be.

he sat down on a flat rock, facing the water. he couldn't help the tears forming in his eyes as happy memories came flooding back to him. he fought them back though, biting his lip to keep any sound that wanted to come out inside. his dad came and sat down next to him, and daniel could feel him staring at him

"are you okay?" jeff asked softly.

and that's all it took. he could no longer keep it in. the storm that had been brewing inside of him, the one that he had tried so hard to keep tame, had been unleashed. hot tears rushed down his face as his father put his arms around him, pulling him close. he sobbed into his chest, letting all the sadness he had been feeling out, from recent events and from the past.

they sat like that until daniel had calmed down. he slowly pulled away from his dad and wiped his face. he sighed before he started talking. he put every grieving thought he had kept inside of himself out there, and jeff listened. when he finished talking, they both sat silently.

"i'm sorry you never had anyone to talk to about any of this. i should have been there," his dad said.

"it's okay," he replied, meaning it since he could tell that jeff felt guilty for ignoring them. he could tell that things would be different from now on.

now that things had calmed down, his mind returned to jack and the journal. if jack didn't know about his crush before, it was more than likely that he would've found out by now.

"is there anything else on your mind you wanna talk about?" jeff asked. he could tell that something was occupying daniel's thoughts.

daniel looked up at him, wondering how his dad would react if he told him. would it unravel all the progress they had just made? would he stop talking to daniel all together? he had never heard his dad's opinion on the topic before, so he had no way of knowing what he would think.

"there is something you should know," he said, biting his lip.

"you can tell me anything, you know."

he nodded and took a deep breath before speaking the words that had been hiding in the back of his mind out loud for the first time.

"dad, i'm gay."