Gabriel was too frightened to look up. He ducked his head down as the weight of the gaze became too heavy a burden to bear. He shifted uneasily as his locker’s metal casing started to dig into his back.

“So, it’s true, then,” A soft voice came from above his left.

Gabriel answered with only loud catch of breath. The more he waited the more he felt the tremors in his body increase.

He was so caught up in his own panicked state that he didn’t see the shadows increase around him.

“Yeah, question the asshole,” A different voice spat at him.

Gabe winced as the hot breath burned him. He felt the tingling pain in his head start to throb at an alarming rate.

Taking in a deep breath Gabriel looked up. He was almost relieved to see his constant tormentor standing alongside with his permanent crush, Daniel. Gabe really didn’t want to face Daniel alone.

“Say something, freak,”

“I, I-“was all Gabriel could say before he was pushed into the locker.

“I told you this sneak’s been following you around,” The boy holding onto his sweatshirt leaned in closer. Gabe made a face as the smell of what the boy had eaten earlier wafted to his nose.

“Let him go, Mike,” Dan, spoke wearily.

Gabriel made the mistake of looking past the redhead holding him, at Dan. His blue eyes were fixed on him; evaluating and sizing him up. Never in his whole life had the boy even looked at him much less given him such focused attention. The second their eyes met, Dan looked away, abashed. Gabe felt his own knees turn to jelly.

Mike looked like he was going to protest but he did what he was told. He let go of Gabe with knock on his head and wiped his hands with his own shirt.

“Don’t want to get his germs,” He snickered and Daniel gave a half-hearted smile at the joke.

Gabe’s legs finally buckled under his feet and he slid down to the floor.

“See, he ended up where he belonged, sick little freak,” Mike sneered at Gabe who was wishing that the earth would open to swallow him up.

“Come on, Danny,” Mike motioned towards the exit.

Daniel gave Gabriel a pained look as he turned to follow Mike out of the school corridor. Gabriel had never felt so miserable in his whole life.

---

The pier was not very windy that night. The stars were twinkling in full show but Gabriel was in no mood to enjoy the clear sky. He had been in a complete state the whole day and his cheerless mood hadn’t gotten any better. He hadn’t even gone back to his house after school.

Gabriel took out his digital camera and started browsing through the pictures. Pictures, he had many, but there was very little variety in them. Some were of his pets, some of his parents but most of them were of Daniel. Gabriel had spent the past three months taking pictures of the boy at every opportunity he got.

And that was the information that had leaked out and caused the drama earlier that day. Gabriel had been so engrossed in following Daniel around that he had never noticed people were starting to become aware of his obsessions. Taking pictures was just the gist of them. He would follow Daniel around to the mall, the beach and even to his house.

“Hey, you here alone,” a solemn voice came from behind Gabriel.

Gabriel jerked in surprise and nearly let go of his camera. His surprise grew ten fold when he realized to whom the voice belonged to.

“D…Daniel,” Gabriel’s voice cracked and he looked down at his lap in embarrassment. He wished with all his might that his voice actually take his side for once and not cause him humiliation at every moment it got. His hair covered most of his face but he could still sense Daniel moving. Gabe was stunned to find the lanky teen, come closer, squat down and cross his legs; their knees almost touching, instead of running away the path that he came. The other teen looked almost serene as he looked towards the heavens.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it,” Daniel murmured in the soft tones of his.

“uh… yeah,” Gabe replied feeling very apprehensive. He was expecting physical violence at any moment.

“You like taking pictures,” Daniel pointed casually to the camera.

Gabe swallowed heavily before nodding; his throat felt too dry to speak.

“Can I see,” Daniel leaned in closer but Gabe flinched away.

“Don’t,” Gabriel winced at what he was about to say, but decided it was best to let everything out, “they’re mostly of you anyway.”

Gabriel glanced up and saw Daniel’s eyes widen like round pennies.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel bit his lip, half in tears.

Daniel moved so suddenly that Gabriel didn’t have the time to move. He swooped in and planted his lips on Gabriel’s.

Gabriel flinched back, almost as if he’d hit him.

“What was that for,” His panicked tone expressed most of what he was feeling.

“I like you,” Daniel smiled as Gabriel’s jaw dropped slightly. He reached over and tapped it lightly as he leaned in once again to close the distance.