Flynn told me why he'd changed his mind and decided that "The Starry Night" was still his favorite painting that afternoon, many years ago, as we strolled north through Central Park, gazing at the gloriously beautiful orange, red, and yellow autumn leaves. We'd spent a few hours in MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art, and were making our way through the park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to take in some more culture.

He said he'd been telling people that Lee Krasner's "Gaea" was his favorite painting for a year or so, but having seen them both again, he realized he preferred the Van Gogh.

"I think, at one point, I felt embarrassed to call 'The Starry Night' my favorite because, let's face it, it's such a famous painting, it's almost a cliche to choose it as your favorite," he said. "But it's famous for a reason. It's amazing. I do love the Krasner painting, too, but, no, 'The Starry Night' has really been my favorite all along. I felt the need to pick something more obscure and less obvious, I guess, but I was just putting on airs and showing off like an immature, pretentious little dickhead."

I laughed. I loved the way Flynn talked. He'd always sound thoughtful, intelligent, erudite, then throw a ridiculous vulgarity such as dickhead into the mix just to keep it real.

He continued to talk as we strolled along, but I lost track of what he said. My mind was preoccupied with thoughts of what I suspected we would do later that evening and reminiscences about the events that led up to this moment.

My initial impression of Flynn, when we met the previous year as college freshmen, was that he was the ultimate ladies' man. He was so smooth. He picked up chicks with astonishing ease and had affairs with several of the most beautiful girls on campus. As the year progressed, though, I came to realize that he wasn't entirely straight. He was bi or maybe even in the process of figuring out he was gay. Nowadays, it seems many people tend to talk about those points on the spectrum of desire as if they are rigidly defined, solid boxes people live inside. It's important to remember that for many people, sexuality is experienced more as a set of tendencies with blurry edges.

Anyhow, I was pretty sure Flynn planned to make a pass at me that weekend. I wasn't sure how to feel about that or how I should react. I'd considered myself to be completely straight until I met Flynn. I had never even imagined the possibility that I might, you know, go there, with a guy, until one afternoon in the public dorm showers when I became aroused by the sight of Flynn's slim, smooth, sexy body...