When Lucas and Gabriel meet online, they are both teenagers struggling with normal teenage stressors as well as the additional stress of coming out to their families. Just before they had committed to sharing with their families together and being there to support each other, Gabriel disappeared, leaving Lucas to face his fears alone. 
 Lucas's choices spiraled after Gabriel's disappearance, landing him in jail and leaving him with guilt about his mother's death. Gabriel didn't leave Lucas alone on purpose, nor did he have any choice in his sudden lack of contact. 
 Five years later, a chance encounter puts them face to face in the same city. Their lives have changed drastically since they were teenagers, but both held on to the memories of the friendship they once shared. 
 I love the way their friendship was the most important thing to each of them. Having that basis in their past meant that while they had some issues to overcome when they first meet again, that friendship was a strong one and would serve them positively even as they worked through the past. 
 As they share their dreams, it becomes clear that each is holding on to past pain that is preventing them from reaching their dreams and goals. Those dreams haven't changed from when they were younger, but the belief that they could reach their dreams hits a roadblock. 
 Mental health is such a huge part of this storyline that from the very beginning it was clear this was going to be an emotional journey for the characters. Not only is one of the characters diagnosed with a mental health concern, but the other character hold guilt and grief in unhealthy ways. Both characters had a mine field of mental challenges to overcome before he could truly give his heart away. 
 At times, particularly at the beginning, I had a hard time differentiating the characters in my mind. After a few chapters I was able to sort it out and clear the fog, so part of the confusion was definitely my own mental clouds rather than confusing writing. 
 It was nice to read a MM where both men were already out prior to the beginning of the main timeline. It seems that several of my recent MM reads have had coming out of the closet as a large part of the character conflict. I enjoyed not having that additional drama added to the story -- these two men know who they are and are comfortable with that aspect of their lives. 
 There were much deeper emotions than I was anticipating. Lucas and Gabriel's dreams, their pasts, and their current hangups combined to make a story that was full of depth and emotion. 
 ARC provided by authors in exchange for an honest review.