The emotions behind Ethan’s silence were
more overwhelming than his new friend
could possibly know.  He fought an urge to
jump into the air and throw his fists toward
the heavens and yell at the top of his lungs.  
Here, sitting across from him, uncommitted
and vulnerable, was a man as perfect as any
that had ever walked the face of the earth,
the very man he had lain awake staring at
the night before.  Jhan had opened his heart
and announced that he was gay.  It was all
but impossible to believe.  Hands
trembling, Ethan took a deep breath to calm
down and reorder his thoughts, for within
Jhan’s eyes was the need for assurance.  
Ethan didn’t speak, he couldn’t.  Instead, he
got up and came down close to him on his
knee.  He reached up and ran his hand over
Jhan’s blonde hair, letting it rest on the back
of his head.   Relief spread over Jhan’s face.  
Ethan looked deeply into his bright blue
eyes, debating whether or not to tell him
now
.
THE PARTISANS
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Jhan nodded, then turned and walked toward
the living room.  Ethan pushed his britches
down and stepped out of them and glanced
toward the door.  Jhan had stopped and
turned in the doorframe.  He was staring,
distracted, like a man whose thoughts were a
million miles away, yet somehow relevant to
the image fixed in his gaze.

Accustomed to being stared at, being
something of an anomaly in Paris, Ethan had
never been stared at when he was about to
take a bath.  The moment stretched.  It felt
awkward.  He couldn’t read Jhan’s thoughts,
though the gaze could have been so easily
misinterpreted.  But he knew better.  He had
long ago learned the pitfalls of making
assumptions about what a man might be
thinking.  Must be my skin.  Not many black
men in Germany, no doubt.

THE PARTISANS
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THE PARTISANS, Chapter 1