One hand held the picture while the other was squeezing Brian’s fingers, hoping that it would be enough to convey words that couldn’t find strength to form and escape from Nick’s lips. There had been sadness coloring Brian’s voice when he had pronounced the word “mom” and it had made his chest tighten around his heart, pushing him to stop because he didn’t want to see him in pain. That was the reason why he never asked why Brian never talked about his family or why there weren’t any pictures of his parents around the house. He understood that it was a tricky topic for Brian so, for the first time in his life, he waited.

“This is the only one that I keep around. All of her things are in a box buried in the apartment. I couldn’t throw it away but still couldn’t keep see her everywhere around me.”

The picture showed a young woman behind the counter of that cafeteria where Nick met Brian and there was no doubt that the two were related: the features of the face but, most of all, that smile that seemed to bright everywhere, chasing away dark clouds and storm about to pour rain.

“This place was hers. She bought it when she was really young, a few months before she found out being pregnant with me. My first memories are about this place, the sounds of laughter and chatting and the scent of coffee. Basically, she raised me here.”

“Your father?”

Only a shadow appeared on Brian’s face. “I never met him. He left even before my mom could tell him that she was expecting his son. - There was no pain or sadness behind those words, just a simple and unstressed resignation. Nick did the only thing he could think of, encircling Brian inside his arms and putting his chin upon his hair. – It wasn’t that hard, I never really missed his presence. We, me and mom, we were a team. And we weren’t totally alone. She had this gift, she was able to make everyone in love with her so I had aunts and uncles, big brothers and grandparents more than willing to come and cheer me when I had a match if she couldn’t leave the cafeteria.”

Nick couldn’t help but smile, knowing exactly what kind of gift Brian’s mother had because she passed it along to his son: that had been one of the reasons why he kept coming back to the cafeteria even before he admitted to himself that he was infatuated and attracted to Brian. There was an aura of warmth and family every time you set foot in that place and now Nick knew where, or better from who, Brian learned to always smile and be happy no matter what.

So Nick hated himself for the question he was about to ask: the answer was implied inside the past tense Brian used while speaking about her or why there was no pictures or photos in his house. But he had to ask, only because he felt how hard it had been for Brian only starting to let him inside his life and what he wanted to convey was that he didn’t have to do all by himself. “How did she die?”

No matter how long it had passed from that day, a shiver ran through Brian’s body, a tangible proof that he was turning like that young boy that suddenly had found himself all alone in the world. “Car accident. She... she was coming to get me from school, I had basket practice and then I had to stay a little longer for the choir practice. A kid appeared from nowhere, she managed to avoid him but not the car that was coming from the other side. She died shortly after at the hospital. At least, I got to say her goodbye. – Warmth and comfort attracted him inside Nick’s embrace. – I was only sixteen. I still don’t remember anything from the days after her... after the accident. The only thing that I recall is coming here, in this place, after the funeral and realizing that I was truly alone and that was what I was going to be for all my life. Yes, I had friends, family... but there wouldn’t be anymore that person that had been always by my side, that person who I spent days and days sharing every little thing. There wouldn’t be someone waiting for him when I got home from school and be proud of my grades or for the fact that I won the scholarship for the NYU.”

No sobbing or cries raised up inside those words, silent witnesses of years and years spent counting only on his strengths. Only tears made their way on Brian’s face, tears that Nick wiped away quickly and gently with his fingertips. Now he really and truly understood what real love meant, that sudden and instinctive surge to be able to go back in time and erase whatever was bringing pain and suffer to their other part of the heart. He couldn’t do it, that was the saddest thing. But he could do something else, he could change Brian’s future. Their future. “You’re not alone anymore, Brian. I’m here and I promise you. I’m not gonna anywhere.”

For the first time Brian believed those words. Safe and protected inside Nick’s arms, there was no room for doubts or qualms. “I know.”