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I stalk through the site, trying to find Baby, and I eventually track him down curled up in a chair in the dance studio.

His eyes are closed and he looks so innocent and young.

But I know his young body holds a wise mind and a courageous heart.

Not that it’s done him any good. I gently shake him until he wakes up.

“Johnny!” The joy in his face fills me with warmth, even though I know I’m about to shatter us both.

“I’ve been sacked, Baby.”

“What?” He launches out of the chair and towards me.

“I’m out of here.”

“I said they had the wrong person, and they sacked you anyway?” His voice rises in disbelief.

“What we did was illegal. We both knew that. So that’s why. And if I go quietly now Max won’t call the police. No doubt he doesn’t want the scandal, or for his park to be tarnished by this.”

“I stood up for you. I came out to my family, in front of Max and the whole bloody room, all for nothing?” He starts pacing the studio like a small ball of fury. I catch him, holding him by the shoulders until he looks at me.

“Hey. It wasn’t for nothing. No one has ever stood up for me like that before, it took real courage.”

His shoulders slump. “My dad won’t even acknowledge my existence.”

I can see in his eyes he’s defeated. I can’t stand to see his light dimmed this way; he deserves better. I need to try to make that happen for him, but first I draw him into a hug and hold him close one last time.

I tentatively knock on the cabin door. Mr Houseman’s face is like stone as he answers it.

“Sir, I’m out of here, but I wanted to say thank you for helping Penny, and to ask you not to be too hard on Baby. He’s a good person. He looks up to you. He is worthy of your love. I hope you can see that.”

He looks me up and down.

“All I see is a law-breaking sodomite, who after getting his girlfriend in trouble, preys on innocent young men. If I see you again, I will call the police, no matter what Max wants.” He crosses his arms and I realise I’m wasting my time.

It rankles me that he gets to judge me. People like him are all the same, only accepting if people conform to their narrow-minded ideals.

It pisses me off and I want to shout at him, but for Baby’s sake I contain myself and just manage to utter.

“Well, I guess that’s all you would see, isn’t it?”

I don’t wait for an answer, I just jump down the steps and walk away.

When I get to my car, Baby is leaning against it waiting for me. I stand in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Don’t be, sweetheart.”

I cup his face and wipe away the tracks of his tears with my thumb.

I rest my forehead against his and breathe deeply.

I knew it was too good to last, but I hate that it’s ended this way.

I’ll never find anyone with as much goodness and bravery as him.

I swallow back my own tears. I’m not going to let them out here.

I don’t want him to see me like that. I’ll save them for later, when I’m alone, like I’m destined to be.

I think of all the dreams Baby talked about. I’m right that they’d never happen, but I wish I was wrong, as it hurts like hell to be right.

There’s nothing more to say. Goodbye seems so final, and if I don’t say it then maybe I can borrow a bit of his hope and pretend it isn’t real. My heart breaks from the weight of both love and sadness.

I ghost a kiss across his lips, just a touch, like it’s already a memory, resisting the urge to never let him go, but that isn’t for us.

I climb into my car and drive away, looking at him in my rear-view mirror until he’s no longer in sight.