would help him clean their place and run some errands. He willingly accepted.

In the evening, when I went to his place, I met both his roommates - Jay and Adam (not their real name). Jay was the one moving out, and I was going to take his bed. Since, it was a two-bedroom apartment, and Adam had a girlfriend, who stayed over quite frequently, Jay and Justin shared the other room. This meant, that I was going to share room with Justin. I felt like I was in heavens. I also found out that day that Jay was moving, as he had found another job in they city - Chicago, and that Justin was not seeing anyone. I didn't know if this indicated anything, but I had high hopes.

Graduation day came, and I got to meet Justin's family - his two older brothers, mom and dad. They were all very nice, and accepting of me. Justin's mom inquired if I had a girlfriend, and I said a polite No. She asked a concerned why, and I simply said, "I come from a very orthodox family, and we are forbidden to have any physical contact before marriage. Human temptations have no bounds, and hence, to avoid committing the sin, I have decided not to be in a relationship." Her expressions were that of someone who has been relieved of a huge burden or tension. Being the surrounding I was in, I knew it was the homophobic behavior that prompted her question.

Justin and I had a bunk bed that we shared. He asked me if I wanted to use the top one, which he currently used, or use the one that Jay was using, the bottom one. I chose to stay with the bottom one. At home, Justin would always roam around in just boxers or gym shorts. It was really hard for me to not stare at him, but I did not want to get caught. Also, it was hard to sleep at night, as I knew that Justin lay "on top of me". We would go to work together (he would give me a ride). At lunch, he would let me borrow his pickup to go home. And in the evening, if he left early, would come to pick me up or if I left early, he would let me borrow his pickup to go home and I would come by to pick him up.

In the weeks that followed, I went with him to visit his family and also met up with his high school friends for a movie and bowling night. He also took me around to show his high school and his hang out spots as a teenager.

About three weeks into the summer, when we had become really close - dinners together at McDonalds or Burger King, shopping, movies, video games - I felt like I could finally express to him how I felt. I waited for the weekend, when after work we usually went out for lunch and Wal-Mart shopping, I would ask him to take a detour and go for a drive (which also we did quite often).

The Thursday before the weekend, Matrix Reloaded was released at midnight, and Adam had made arrangements for tickets for it. At the theatre, I was really looking forward to sitting with him, as Adam and Jay (who was still around) would be with their girlfriends and then I would get to sit with Justin. However, that afternoon at lunch, Justin informed