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“Excuse me!” Nate called out. He held his camera, ready to start recording.
In the last few days of 2015, Nate had decided to try something new. He wanted to document love. Specifically, document people in love. His 2016 New Years’ resolution was to create short documentaries about people and their stories.
Today, he called out to two strangers who walked side-by-side, dopey smiles on their faces and a pleased look in their eyes. They seemed to be talking about something quietly amongst themselves as they tried to walk down the busy streets of New York City. This caused them to be in extreme close proximity to each other, shoulders constantly bumping as they focused on moving forward.
He called out again, “Excuse me!”
One of them, the shorter of the two, turned his head around. His features were beautiful—a gorgeous nose, hazel eyes shining beautifully in the glimmer of the bright lights of the city. His hair, a deep brown with some strands that seemed to be graying, showed how he aged beautifully—his smile lines were prominent. He wore a thick black coat that ended at his waist and a pair of dark blue jeans with a red scarf wrapped around his neck. His hands were wrapped in black gloves, protecting them from the cold. He must not have been protected from the cold that much, because there was a blush spread across his cheeks and nose.
The man stopped walking, and the other man shortly followed, noticing that he stopped moving. He turned around, too. They stopped to the side of the street to avoid people running into them, looking at Nate.
The taller man’s brown eyes and sharp cheekbones stood out to him. His hair, black—similar to the shorter man at his side, also graying in some areas—which rested just below his jaw and his bangs which were pulled back by the glasses that rested on his head, looked amazing on him. It amplified his features. His brown eyes were delicate, but there seemed to be a sense of cautiousness as he stared at Nate. He wore a navy trench coat that fell down to his knees, a matching scarf wrapped around his neck, but in black. His formal black trousers made him seem professional. He didn’t wear gloves—this showed off a simple gold wedding ring.
The two seemed to have almost matching wrinkles on their faces. It was endearing to look at.
“Yes?” The shorter man spoke with a polite smile. He must’ve noticed the camera in his hold, because he raised an eyebrow.
“I’m so sorry to bother you two—I’m recording right now for my channel. I interview people on the streets of NYC. Would it be okay if I interviewed you guys?” Nate spoke, hoping that they’d agree.
The two strangers shared a glance, and the taller one turned back to look at Nate. “What do you want to know?” he asked. Nate wasn’t sure what his face portrayed. Concern, for sure.
“I ask people if they’re a couple, and—”
He was cut off before he could finish, with a curt “We’re not interested, sorry.”
The shorter man raised his hand, slapping the other man’s shoulder lightly. “Yes, we are, Mike.”
“We are?”
“Yes. We are.”
‘Mike’ looked back at Nate again. He sighed, nodding towards his camera. “Alright, we’re interested.”
Nate celebrated in his head. He raised his camera, ready to start recording. He did.
“Are you two a couple?” he asked.
‘Mike’ and the other man looked at each other again. They nodded. The short man replied with: “Yes, we are a couple.”
“What are your names?”
“I’m Will, and this is—”
“Mike. Mike Wheeler.” Mike properly introduced himself, and Nate recognised the name immediately.
“Mike Wheeler? The author, right?”
“Yes, Mike is an author. He’s amazing—”
“Will. He asked us about our romance, not my books.” He rolled his eyes affectionately.
Nate smiled to himself, “Right. How long have you two been together?”
“How long has it been?” Will pondered. “We started dating in ‘92—the Summer of ‘92. God, that’s a long time ago.”
Mike was smiling at Will as he thought about it. They were holding hands now, Nate noticed. Their fingers were intertwined as Mike’s thumb stroked along Will’s knuckles. It looked natural to them.
“23 years! Gosh. Sorry. That took me a minute.” He chuckled, looking back at Mike. “Yes, the Summer of ‘92. We finished college, reunited in our hometown, and have been together since then. It is 2015, right?”
“Yes, Will. It’s not the new year yet.”
“Ha! Okay. Glad to know that I’m still good at math. Old age hasn’t gotten to me yet.”
“23 years—that’s a long time. And you two look amazing for your age. Does love do that for you? Anyways—how did you two meet? You said you reconnected after college, but before that..?”
“We were childhood friends,” Mike spoke this time. “We met in kindergarten. We both had no friends, really, and I asked Will if he wanted to be friends, and he said yes. We were on the swingset together.”
The smiles on their faces were beautiful. Nate nearly ‘aww’ed out loud.
“Yeah, he hasn’t left me alone since then! Imagine being stuck with the same person for your whole life.” Will said with a laugh.
Nate thought he was going to tear up. “It must be beautiful.”
They both looked at him, their smiles turning more solemn. “It really is. Especially when you’re from a small town in Indiana. No one really knew about us until we were stable enough to move out of there. Our families and friends were extremely supportive of us the whole time. We were extremely lucky.” Will spoke. “Some people weren’t as lucky as we were—still aren’t. It upsets me a lot. I wish we could all just love each other. Love is what ties us together, after all.”
Nate nodded, his breath taken away. “Thank you for that. You guys are amazing.” he said. “Sorry—didn’t mean to make this so emotional. Next question. You’ve been together for twenty three years, and in love for even longer, what’s the secret to staying happy together for that long?”
“Hmm…” Will pondered; before he could speak, he was cut off by Mike.
“Just… talking about things. Truly being there for each other. Communication. We went through a lot. Us and our friends and families. But at the end of the day, Will and I were there for each other. Every time I felt like I was slipping, I could just look at him, and… things were okay. I knew that they would be okay. And it turns out that yeah, things are okay.”
“I was going to say good sex.”
Mike laughed out loud and this time he was the one to smack Will’s arm. “Will! Sorry, cut that part out. We don’t need people to know about that part.”
Nate laughed out loud, “Consider it done! It’ll be deleted, don’t worry.” he kept letting small laughs split past his lips. “But that’s beautiful, Mike. Thank you. Communication is so important.” he cleared his throat. “Okay, sorry. Next question—what’s your favorite thing about each other?”
Will glanced towards Mike, and after being in thought for a few seconds again, he replied with “How he always protects me.” which got a small smile from Mike again. “He’s always there. Physically, mentally, emotionally—in every way. I’ve always been able to just talk to him. It’s always been easy… well, aside from my teenage years. But that’s besides the point.”
Mike laughed. “Yeah, uh—my favorite thing about Will is how he always makes me smile. Again, we went through a lot when we were younger. He was the only person who could make me… me, again. I was lost for a while, but when we reconnected, things changed. And I couldn’t imagine myself without him anymore.”
Nate could cry. These two were so in love that it hurt him. He craved for a love like theirs. “Thank you so much. Is there any advice you have for people? For young queer people out there? Who might be struggling like you did?”
“Yes.” Mike said. “It gets easier. You find people who love you. People who will understand. It might seem futile now but it won’t be in the future, when you’re happy and surrounded by people who you want to be surrounded by.” he answered. Will looked emotional. He let out a happy sigh and leaned up to kiss Mike’s cheek. Mike smiled again.
“Thank you, Mike. That’s amazing.”
“He is amazing, isn’t he?” Will quipped, “But yes, I agree. Things might seem difficult now, but you will find your community, your people, your friends, and maybe even a new family. Things in the 80s and 90s were terrifying. But the queer community stayed together and fought together. And you have to stay together and fight together. Stand alongside each other. Help each other when you need it. Love is love, and it always will be.” he finished speaking. Nate noticed that they both took some steps, standing closer together than when they first started talking. Their shoulders were touching, a constant warmth, similar to when Nate first noticed them and they were simply bumping together.
“You two are amazing. Thank you so much.” Nate sniffled. If they asked, he could blame the cold. “That means a lot. To me and to so many other people.”
“You’re welcome, and thank you. What’s your name?” Will spoke and extended his hand into a handshake.
He took the hand and shook it. “Nate. It was awesome to meet you two today.”
“Once you post that video on your channel, just contact me on Instagram. It’s just at Mike underscore Wheeler. We’ll be sure to watch it and show our families.”
“Of course I will.” Nate put his camera down, turning it off. The footage was safe there.
“Have an amazing rest of your day, Nate! We hope to see you again one day! Maybe when you’re famous, right?”
Nate thanked them again, smiled and waved as he watched them walk away together, back into the busy streets of New York City, this time, holding hands confidently.
He sighed, a tear slipping from his face after trying to keep it together for minutes on end. He wiped it away.
Someone bumped into his shoulder, and he took that as his queue to start moving too, walking the opposite direction from Mike and Will.
He loved love.