Caleb's forgiveness isn't a thing that Gabe had known he craved but now that he has it, all of him floods with a kind of relief. "Thank you," he says, deeply grateful. Their parents would have told them that forgiveness is basically required of others but they aren't part of that world anymore. Neither of them.

Then he frowns and shakes his head immediately. "You didn't hurt me." If it had been awful, then the decision to reject it would have been easy. That night with Caleb was the first time Gabe thought he'd felt something like real desire, passion. "I was confused and then I was scared."