Special

I Love You

The first thing he noticed when he entered the café was the comfortable atmosphere. The bell above the blue painted door gave off a faint ding to announce him. Colourful furniture made the room feel vibrant and buzzing with a calming energy and a barista was whistling a happy tune while making some coffee for a young lady in a flowery dress.

Matt breathed in the air that was surprisingly fresh and smelled of coffee and flowers. He took another less aimless look around until his eyes focused on Daniel who was sitting to the left of the entrance in a corner by the window and drew the little purple flower that stood on the table in front of him. He still seemed small even though Matt was sure that he had grown, the blonde curls fell into his forehead hiding his expression and he bit down on his lip in concentration as he looked from the paper to the tiny plant and back again. Matt smiled brightly and his heart leapt with joy as he made his way over to him.

Sure, they had stayed in touch but the last year of school had been so stressful that neither of them had had the time to come visit the other. As Daniel had predicted his father's reaction hadn't been the best and as a result Daniel and his mother had moved in with his aunt. It had made him switch towns and that way it had been over a year since they had last seen each other. Their long talks on the phone, frequent messages and handwritten letters were no match to meeting him in person, holding his hand, kissing him. It had only made Matt miss him more. Now finally they could see each other again in person.

Daniel was so absorbed by his drawing that he didn't notice Matt until he stood right next to the table and watched him grace the paper with delicate lines.

"Oh hey!" He put down his pencil and jumped from the bench. The small green cushion he had been sitting on slowly fell to the ground as he slung his arms around Matt and hugged him tightly.

"Hey there," Matt laughed and hugged him back equally enthusiastically. Neither of them really wanted to let go but when they finally did break the hug and sat down Matt took the chance to take a closer look at Daniel. Of course he had gotten older but he was still surprised by the little wrinkle around the corner of his mouth being proof of the many times that Daniel must have laughed. A few really short hairs were poking out of his chin as well but other than that he didn't really seem to have changed much at all.

"So, how is it going? Did you do great in all the exams as expected?" he asked and was greeted with the biggest grin he had ever seen on Daniel's face as he pulled out a white envelope from his backpack. Matt wasn't surprised that it still was the same backpack that Daniel had taken to school with him every single day since grade four.

"I got accepted to Oxford," Daniel exclaimed happy and waved the envelope in front of Matt's face who took it from him to read the letter of acceptance himself.

"Wow, that's amazing!" he laughed as his eyes were flying over the page and he felt overwhelmed by the joy of not only getting to meet Daniel again but also seeing him so happy and achieving the dreams he had had for a very long time. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks! It's for physics. I'm really getting to go there. I still can't believe it. Can you?"

"Oh, I can," Matt said and handed the letter back to Daniel. "You always were the best!"

Daniel still grinned widely. "My mum and my aunt threw a little party for me and made a cake and all that. I feel like they were more excited about it than I was at first. I really couldn't believe it. It feels so unreal."

Matt chuckled. "Well, you better believe it. The semester starts soon, doesn't it?"

Daniel nodded excitedly. "Yeah it does. It worries me a little. I'm suddenly not sure if I'm ready to go there and live with other students and study physics. At freaking Oxford. I'm not ready to be an adult yet."