The salty sea air whipped around Daniel's face as he ran down to the water's edge. He had dropped Darren back to his dorm earlier that morning and immediately crashed out himself.

Now it was late afternoon and he was back doing what he loved.

Wading out until he was waist deep, he floated his board and scrambled aboard, laying flat on his stomach so that he could scull out further to where the bigger waves were breaking.

His mind went back to the events of the previous night. He never dreamt that things would turn out the way they did. Yes, he had been attracted to Darren but was so unsure of how to convey this to him. One false move and he would probably have received a black eye for his troubles.

He had only ever kissed one guy before and it had scared him so much. Not that it was a guy as such but it had been a clumsy, necessarily furtive, hasty meeting of lips. A quick fumbling with no love involved.

Last night with Darren was different. They had both still been hesitant but it had been tender, it had been as Daniel had always imagined it should be.

Bringing himself up to a crouching position he got his balance and waited for the roller that was rapidly heading his way. When it hit he let out a whoop and began to skilfully ride the wave, using his body to turn the board this way and that to get the maximum enjoyment out of the ride.

Wiping out as he neared the shore Daniel went crashing over, the water coming up to greet him as he splashed in.

Surfacing he hollered with the exhilaration and shook his head madly, sweeping one hand over his face to wipe the water from his eyes and push back his hair.

Righting his board, he clambered onto it once more and paddled out again.

This was what life was all about. The spray on his face, the breeze in his hair, the pounding surf, the freedom of the water, out in the open. Just him and the elements.

Daniel smiled.

Darren ran his fingers over his lips, trying to conjure up the feel and taste of Dan upon them. So soft, so delicate yet so different from kissing a woman.

He had been pleasantly shocked when he realised that the look in Daniel's eyes as he had held his face mirrored his own emotions. Darren had taken to him immediately from when he first stopped to offer him a ride but to then discover that he was open to the possibility of something more than friendship. It was more than he had dared hope.

Sighing he turned his attention back to the half-finished assignment in front of him. Much as he loved his studies he couldn't help but feel that by graduating he was signing his own death warrant, perhaps quite literally.

There was no way that he was going to go and fight. He knew his parents would be horrified if they knew he was thinking like that. His older brother had already gone and done his 'bit.' Had come back in one piece and promptly fallen into a heavy drinking habit that Darren knew had resulted in his sister-in-law walking into more than one door.

But his family were six hundred miles away and he was here. And here was where it was all happening. Here people were standing up and saying no, enough was enough. Darren knew that the tide of popular opinion was turning against the government and the warmongers. His generation was different from the one before.

His generation was going to change the world and Darren intended to be there as they did.