Justin made his entrance, his father only a step behind him. He sat himself down on a plastic chair, taking a deep breath. This was it, this was the final game of the tournament. If he would win this he could call himself a state champion. But most importantly, his father would be ecstatic. Needless to say Justin was more nervous than ever. This was the most important game and he knew Josh was good. He shook his head, not wanting to think about Josh although he couldn’t help but think back to Wednesday when Josh had helped him relax for his semi final game. He didn’t need to expect it now. He forced himself not to think about Josh, he avoided eye contact because he knew the man would throw him off. He needed to focus on this game although he felt Josh’s eyes on him, nearly begging him to meet his eyes but Justin focussed on the bowling lane in front of him and his father who was giving him a pep talk disguised in a lecture because this was the big day. Whether his father would make the upcoming few weeks hard or easy on him depended on what Justin would do in this game and how everything would come out at the end of this day.

Josh watched Justin, how he sat, almost completely blocked by his father. Josh had seen a glimpse of his eyes though, had seen how sad they were and how miserable his expression was still. He wished they could have talked before this game, it would be a hell of a lot easier on both of them. But Justin steadily avoided his gaze and sadly there was nothing Josh could do to soothe both their minds.

Justin stretched a little to take his mind off of things, preparing in concentration for this game. When he was satisfied he took off his sweater, jumping up and down a little when the announcement sounded, “Would the finalists please step forward.” Justin left his place with a last shoulder pad from his father and stepped onto the lane. Josh wasn’t far behind.

Justin was ready. And so was Josh.

May the best man win.

Justin bit the nail of his right index finger nervously as he watched how Josh picked up his ball and took the few steps towards the lane in concentration. Justin had had his turn and now it was up to Josh. This moment felt very much like déjà vu.

It had been an exciting game, they were neck to neck and who would win this would be decided in the last frame. This was Josh’s second shot, if he would strike down the three pins that were left standing, he would the winner. There were two pins on the far left and one in the middle. Justin was nervous, he’d seen Josh make a similar shot without trouble, he shouldn’t have any trouble this time. The last time they’d went up against each other it had all come down to the final frame as well, Josh had let him win that time but Justin knew there was no chance in hell he would do that again, he could not expect that again. He didn’t think Josh would do that even if they’d been on good terms but with what happened on Thursday Justin was sure Josh wouldn’t even give it a moment’s thought. He was going to kick his butt.

Josh eyed the three pins carefully, preparing his shot to take down all three of them in one go, knowing perfectly well that if he succeeded it would make him the winner. He’d done this before, he needed to focus but he was confident that he could do it.

He took a step forward, angry words flew through his mind. Another step closer, a miserable voice sounded in his ears. The last step and sad eyes blue eyes danced in front of his own. He shook his head and made his choice. He repeated his action without a moment’s regret, he let the ball fly off his fingers heading towards the two pins on the left, knocking them down effectively but one pin was left standing and both competing knew what that meant: Justin was the winner.

Justin was in shock, Josh saw him when he turned back around. He shrugged his shoulders almost unnoticeably and saw how Justin’s father jumped up and down, whooping with joy as he ran towards his son, lifting him off the ground and bouncing him up and down in his arms. Josh watched the whole thing. He knew he’d made the right decision.

Josh had packed his suitcase, he was almost ready to go. He sat down on his bed, grabbing blindly for his prize. The award ceremony had already taken place, he’d gotten a relatively big statue and a chunk of change but of course the biggest trophy and the big bugs were for the winner. Josh smiled as he’d seen the smile on Justin’s face when he’d come to collect his trophy. His father had been taking pictures throughout the whole ceremony, he was clapping loudly and he had the biggest and friendliest smile on his face Josh had ever seen him wear. Justin had looked as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of his shoulders. Josh had been happy to see him so at ease, it was a lot better than the worried frown he’d worn for almost two weeks.

Josh sighed, eyed the statue again and then turned his head to look at the window. He thought about his own father and how he would probably laugh at him that he hadn’t gotten first place but that really didn’t matter to him right now. His father would laugh at him no matter what. Justin was more important. Unfortunately he hadn’t talked to Justin after the game, he’d briefly congratulated him but that had been all before his father and people from the bowling tournament had ushered them off to the ball room where they’d started the tournament fourteen days ago.

There had been a speech then and there had been one now. Justin’s smiling face had told him that he’d made the right decision. The moment he had to throw he’d thought back on the conversation he’d overheard between father and son the night before. Josh knew Justin would seriously get it if he didn’t win and Josh just couldn’t do that to him. Josh knew he could have made that shot but he still really liked Justin and didn’t want him to suffer. Justin probably didn’t think very highly of him after last night’s incident but Josh didn’t care because despite what Justin did or did not believe Josh would never intentionally want to hurt him.

Josh pulled his gaze away from the window and pushed himself to his feet. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and lifted his suitcase from the bed. He picked up his trophy and took the handle of his suitcase with the other hand, dragging it behind him to the door. He stole one more glance into the room, making sure he’d left nothing behind before he opened the door. He was ready to go home.

“You were gonna leave without saying goodbye?” a voice wondered behind him.

Josh pulled his hand back, he’d intended to press the elevator button but he retracted it immediately at hearing the voice and turned swiftly. Justin.

He ducked his head a little, “I didn’t know if you wanted me to.” Justin pushed himself off from the wall and walked towards him.

“You let me win.” Justin stated and Josh looked up, searching his beautiful face for clues.

Was he mad?

Was he upset?

Was he happy?

Josh couldn’t read him. He decided to play it safe. “I’m sorry.”

Justin frowned, wondering, “For what?”

“You… you’re not mad I let you win?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“Well…” Josh started, remembering when he’d done it the first time. “Last time you…”

“I know,” Justin cut him off. “But it was different this time.”

Josh found himself nodding.

“I know why you did it and I’m sorry for that.” Justin apologized, he hated the fact that Josh had deliberately lost because of his father. He shouldn’t have to do that but he had.

Josh shook his head, “It’s not your fault,” he denied, knowing what Justin meant. He could see the blush staining his cheeks.

“I just wanted to let you know how… thankful I am. You shouldn’t have let me win but…” The red was back on his cheeks.

“I’m really grateful you did. You don’t know what you’ve done for me.”

“I do.”

“You what?” Justin asked confused.

“Last night I came by to talk to you and I heard… some things your father said.”

Justin’s eyes grew. “You heard him?”

Josh nodded. “I’m glad I let you win,”

Justin sighed, still embarrassed. “You let me win, even though I doubted you.”

“You doubted me, how?”

“It was because of Eric. Thursday night, I was a little early so Eric let me in. He told me you’d said to him that hanging out with me was just a scam to win. That you wanted my trust and then you could take me down.”

“Why would you ever believe that?” Josh wondered shocked, had that been it? How could Justin have thought it was real?

“I’m sorry! He just had all these details he shouldn’t know, I thought… the only way he could know about them is when you’d told him.” Josh stood a little shocked.

“I let him play with my head, I was nervous about the final game if we had to go up against each other and I wondered if maybe… you were too good to be true.” Josh pulled Justin towards him, looking him straight in the eye.

“I would never do something like that,” Josh said firmly.

“I don’t know what Eric said and I don’t know how he got the information, maybe he listened in or spied on us but I would never even think about doing something like that.”

“I know,” Justin said, very sure now.

“I’m sorry I doubted you. You even let me win and…” Josh saw the tears building in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry!” he cried, letting the tears fall. Josh released the handle of his suitcase, dropped his bag and trophy blindly and pulled Justin against him immediately.

“It’s okay, Justin. I understand, you were under a lot of pressure and you had to win. It’s alright.” Josh soothed as he simply held Justin. Justin cried out all the stress, the nerves, the sorrow and the pain.

After a few minutes the sobs turned into sniffles and he pulled his head off of Josh’s shoulder. Justin’s teary eyes met Josh’s, their faces only inches apart. They stared at one another for a few moments, taking in the other before them, both a little insecure but when they started to lean in it became natural again. Their lips touched gently at first. The touch of their lips soon became more urgent and needy as they greeted one another, silently agreeing to let bygones be bygones. It was like everything fell back in place. They stood in front of the elevator, wrapped in each other’s arms and oblivious to the world around them. As if the past few days had never taken place, Justin wasn’t a winner and Josh wasn’t a loser. They were just two guys, immensely enjoying being in each other’s embrace and feeling the other’s lips on theirs again.

“Wow.” Justin breathed once they finally pulled back. The kisses between them had always been overwhelming and literally breathtaking. Justin had missed it, he couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid but thank God Josh forgave him.

“Yeah.” Josh smiled.

“We’re okay now right?” Justin wondered still a little insecure, needing confirmation.

Josh nodded, still holding Justin close. “More than okay.”

“Good.” Justin sighed.

“You on your way home?”

Josh nodded. “Yeah.” He’d totally forgotten about his luggage that was laying abandoned around them. He hadn’t even given his trophy a moment’s thought when he’d dropped it to take Justin into his arms.

“Do you think that we could, maybe, meet up again?” Justin wondered, they had never talked about a romance after the tournament. Both had wondered if they would even get that far but the tournament was over and here they were.

“I’d like that.” Josh agreed, he’d had no hope that this would happen just an hour ago but now that Justin asked and they were okay again Josh made sure to grab onto it with both hands. He’d really like to see Justin again and by the smile Justin passed his way, Josh reckoned the feeling was mutual.

As he looked into Josh’s eyes, Justin smiled at their happy ending; he’d never expected to have had such a good time. He’d been dreading this tournament for months but he was glad to realize that his worries had been unnecessary because these two weeks had not been a complete waste.

Not at all.