Noa is attending the Northern School of Ballet in Manchester; his dream is to become a ballerino for the London Royal Ballet. Noa dances into Karl’s life from nowhere, and even when Karl shows no interest, Noa will not let him go. Instead, he finds a way to nestle into that lonely slot in Karl’s heart, where music once lived, and makes a home there.
Only when things start to change, for the better, does Karl realise what it all means, and by then, he’s so far into the deep end he has no choice but to start swimming.
(Part of Never Too Late - a collection of nine stories featuring LGBTQIA characters over the age of fifty)