Want to hear a naughty story? About two boys who grew up together and confused their platonic bond with sexual attraction and ended their friendship because of it?
Once upon a time, in a land once known by Aboriginals and Emu's and Kangaroo's, there lived two boys called Bruce and Andy. Bruce began to suspect at the soul-destroying age of 13 that he was going to become a lifelong cock-lover. Having grown up with Andy and listening to Andy's diatribe on the beautiful girls in their school, he was pretty sure that Andy didn't have the same feelings.
One bright, sunny day, several days after Bruce's 14th birthday, after he and Andy escaped Andy's Mother's dreadful cooking and stole some of Andy's Father's delicious wine, they hid in the bushes behind their street and giggled over wine-fueled stories. Fuzzy from the alcohol and feeling like he was on top of the world and practically untouchable, Bruce told Andy that he kind of, might sorta, well...maybe, kind of ish in a really not so direct and incriminating way that he may or may not actually like boys sexually.
Andy didn't seem to care. He told Bruce he kind of thought that was the case but didn't share Bruce's tastes. Bruce loved Andy more for his acceptance and Andy loved Bruce more for his honesty.
Several years later, when Bruce left University to visit Andy at his new apartment in a funky hood somewhere in the coffee-smelling part of Melbourne where it was cool to be young, free and happening. His intention was to find a job near Andy, an apartment near Andy and a life where Andy would be a big part.
They moved in together as best friends should.
When Andy broke up with his girlfriend, and no amount of alcohol-fueled memory-loss sessions worked, and all the previously shiny new things looked tired and old and lifeless, he turned his aggression into an obsession with the gym.
He joined Bruce's gym and they even begun playing football together on Thursday nights.
On a summer's evening, after more beer than was good for even the bravest of drinkers, Andy listened to Bruce's sage advice and felt the years of friendship, the years of bonding, the years of shared secrets, hopes and dreams and did what he never imagined he could. He kissed Bruce.
Bruce took Andy to his bed and showed Andy all the things he'd dreamed of doing to him since he'd been a child. Andy enjoyed it and saw a side to Bruce that only select other men had seen.
When the two awoke the next morning, a new dawn had come.
Andy fled. He showered, he dressed and he left the house on a sudden secret errand that had materialized as the words were spoken.
Bruce's messages and pleas for a discussion went ignored for days as Andy stayed with his parents.
2 years later, Bruce bumped into Andy in a bar and both men felt the years of friendship return. The chasm between them was too great to compare it to the glue they'd once been accustomed to, but vowed to remain in contact.
When Bruce finally met the man of his dreams and decided to marry him, Andy was unfortunately out of town that weekend and couldn't make it, even though his social media proved otherwise.
Sometime after his 39th birthday, Andy went looking for Bruce. A sudden realization that his life had been missing something important led him to embark on a search that resulted in a heart-wrenching discovery that filled Andy with regret for the first time. A part of Andy died that day, because he realized that they’d both made a mistake, and sought repair where there was none. Regret can run very deep.
On those rare days when Andy thinks about Bruce, a sharp pain stabs at him and he silently wishes he could go back in time and make amends.
When Time Becomes Your Enemy, learn to work with it, not against it. You'll only get one shot at life.
