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He was going to do it. This was the day. Nothing was left for him. The only thing left was this last sunrise, then he would do it. He was going to jump. He leaned against the edge of the bridge, taking deep, calming breaths. This was it. He was panicking a little, of course this was scary, but there wasn’t anything else for him in this world. It had always been just himself and his dog, but his dog would be okay. His dog was a survivor. He, on the other hand, was not.
The sky was a beautiful pink and orange, the sun slowly coming up over the skyline of the city. It was a truly breathtaking sight, and he thought back to the last time he had seen a sunrise like this. It was the morning his parents kicked him out and his boyfriend broke up with him.
It had been early in the morning. His boyfriend had snuck over during the night, and his parents found the two of them, laying in bed together. His parents furious, he was kicked out. His boyfriend dumped him for not already being out to his parents, and then he had no where else to turn. His brother never returned his calls. He traveled to New York, in hopes of making it as an actor, but got no where. He had been living on the street with little odd jobs, but spent most of his days and nights either drunk or high. It just wasn’t worth it anymore.
He climbed up onto the ledge and sat, looking down into the water. This was it.
“Wow, it’s a beautiful morning,” a voice behind him said. Startled, he turned and brushed his hair from his face.
“Yeah, I guess.” “Did you come to watch the sunrise?” The man who spoke to him was dressed in a sweater and sweat pants, with dark running shoes on his feet. He certainly was handsome, with a bright smile and a kind face. He could almost swear he looked familiar.
“Uh, yeah.” He climbed back down onto the bridge, giving the man an awkward smile. He fiddled with his sleeves and stood next to the man.
“Do you mind if I join you? I need a break, I’ve been running for almost an hour.”
“No, of course, please join me.” He looked the man up and down, almost unsure of what to think. He should be angry for being interrupted, but he almost felt relieved.
“What’s your name?” The man asked him. No one had asked him that in a long time. Not many people even noticed him anymore.
“Stefon,” he mumbled in response.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Seth.” The man held out his hand and Stefon just touched it slightly. Seth had rough hands, and Stefon enjoyed the feel, but quickly pulled away. He went to touch his hair once more and he turned towards the sunrise. The sun was slowly making its way up the sky.
“What do you do, Stefon?”
“Uh, just odd jobs here and there. Nothing much,” Stefon was actually enjoying the conversation. It didn’t feel forced, just casual and out of a general kindness. “What do you do?”
“I work for SNL,” Seth replied. Stefon’s eyes widened and his hands flew to his mouth. He was speechless. “Yeah, I get that reaction a lot.” Seth chuckled and smiled at Stefon.
Stefon felt butterflies in his stomach. No, that wasn’t butterflies. He forgot that he hadn’t eaten in about two days. His stomach was grumbling loudly. Food was hard to come by, since he had practically no money. A concerned look came across Seth’s face.
“Have you eaten, Stefon?” Stefon shook his head and Seth gave him a small smile. “Come on, I’ll take you out for breakfast.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that…”
“No, I insist. I’ll take you to my favorite place.” Seth placed his arm around Stefon’s shoulder and steered him off the bridge and into the city.
Seth set Stefon up with a steady job as a barista and then as the City Correspondent for SNL, and found him a place to live. Seth was very kind towards Stefon and Stefon never knew why. He often wondered what made the man stop on the bridge that day, but figured he would never find out. He stopped by the SNL studio often to do his job, reporting about the hottest clubs, but that was the only time he ever really saw Seth. Stefon soon started inviting the strangely kind man to clubs, on vacations. After being denied a few times, he soon began inviting himself on Seth’s vacations, and Seth agreed. He visited the Meyer’s family home many times and the family enjoyed him.
After a few years of working on the show and inviting himself places with Seth, the two had a blooming friendship. Seth even gave in and started going to clubs with Stefon, and though they were insane, he admitted to Stefon that he had enjoyed his company. This always made Stefon smile. They didn’t spend much time together, but the time they did spent together was quality. The two laughed, made messes, ate so much they couldn’t eat more, drank until they couldn’t remember, and Stefon figured this was the best his life had been since his family kicked him out.
He soon began flirting with Seth on the show, kissing him on the cheek and soon, on the mouth. He always mentioned his girlfriend, but Stefon ignored it. He made it clearly obvious that he was attracted to the kind man, but Seth never responded.
Suddenly, they were married. They ran into the SNL studio hand in hand and listened as the world cheered, and as Seth yelled that he loved him. This was the happiest moment of his life.
The two lay on the couch together, Seth laying in Stefon’s lap. Stefon was stroking Seth’s hair, enjoying the feel of the softness of it without gel hardening it up. Stefon smiled down at his husband and watched Seth’s eyes follow the action of the movie on the tv. Seth seemed extremely into the movie, but Stefon wasn’t too much of a fan of action movies. He preferred the ones that were either sad or almost extremely childish, but that was his personality.
As he played with Seth’s hair, Stefon let his mind wander to the day they met, and remembered that he was going to commit that morning. He remembered how awful his life had been up until he met Seth, who was too kind and basically set up a whole new life for him. A few happy tears welled up in his eyes and one fell onto Seth’s face.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He looked concerned as he adjusted so he could look up at his husband.
“I was just thinking about the morning we met,” Stefon replied. He finally felt ready to tell Seth the reason why he was on the bridge that morning.
“I remember. You were sitting on the bridge and I thought the sunrise was too beautiful to not stop and watch. And I was so fortunate to meet you.”
“Well, I had a reason to be on the bridge, too,” Stefon joked. His eyes were bright, but suddenly his face became quite serious. “I was going to commit that day, you know. I was really sad and thought I had nothing left for me. But you were suddenly there and I had to get down.”
Seth’s face fell and his brows furrowed. “Oh, honey, wow, I didn’t know…”
A few more tears welled up in Stefon’s eyes and Seth reached up and wiped away the ones that began to roll down his face.
“I was so sad. I had no life, then suddenly there was this kind man who got me breakfast and soon gave me a whole new life.” His voice trembled and Seth stood, bringing Stefon with him, and hugged him tightly. “Sethy, I’m not sad anymore, so please don’t think that I’m crying because I’m sad. I’m crying because I’m so happy that I met you.” Seth hugged him tighter, and soon it wasn’t even possible for the two to be any closer. “Can we just lay down and cuddle?” Stefon questioned, slightly pulling away and wiping tears from his face. Seth nodded and pulled his partner towards their bedroom.
The two lay down and held each other closely, Seth shocked upon hearing this news, and Stefon quite relieved that he had finally told his loving husband.
“You know I love you, right? I think I have since I met you on the bridge that morning. I don’t think I knew you were sad, I just think I knew you were for me. I’m glad I took you away from the bridge.” Seth whispered.
“I am, too, Sethy.” Stefon replied. “I love you very much.”
Stefon and Seth held each other as they both cried, sad, happy, and relieved all at once. They drifted off to sleep in the late hours and woke the next morning still in each other’s arms.
“I’m never letting you go,” Seth whispered. Stefon smiled sleepily and felt the same butterflies he felt that morning long ago. No, not butterflies, grumbles from hunger.
“Hungry?” Seth asked. Stefon nodded and Seth began to roll out of bed. “I’ll make breakfast.”
Seth smiled down at his husband and disappeared into the kitchen. Stefon smiled and followed, feeling more on top of the world than he had in years.