>>938042436E
E never told anyone why he only went to the beach at sunrise.
It wasn’t for the quiet or the colors — though both were nice.
It was the stillness, the in-between.
No crowds. No eyes. Just waves.
He lived in a small town. The kind where people knew before you told them, but still expected you to keep it a secret.
And E was tired of secrets.
E worked at the mechanic’s shop. Good with his hands, quiet with his words.
The boys joked about girls.
E smiled, but never joined in.
He had a notebook full of drawings.
Of cities he wanted to escape to.
Of boys he wanted to kiss.
Of a life where he wasn’t just surviving.
One day, a new guy came into the shop. His name was Liam.
He had a chipped tooth, kind eyes, and music in his voice.
He asked E about the drawing pinned above his workbench — a streetlight and two shadows almost touching.
E lied.
Said it was nothing.
But Liam looked at him like it was everything.
They started talking.
Then walking.
Then meeting by the dunes before the sun woke up the town.
And one morning, E kissed him.
It was soft, and scared, and right.
He didn't tell anyone.
Not yet.
But that day, when the boys joked again, E didn’t fake a laugh.
He just smiled.
Because he had kissed the boy with the kind eyes.
And in that moment, E was not a secret.
He was real.
And free.