Pride

Chapter 6

"Do you love me?" A quiet voice asked. Bay's heart fell and he risked a glance up from the bottom bunk at the pink-haired boy sitting above him. The boy was pretty... Porcelain skin, dark hooded eyes, and tight pink curls. Always so stubborn and bright... But Bay only shrugged and set his book down on his chest.

"Love is subjective" He hummed, fighting back the urge to smile. "How can you even be sure it's real?"

"Oh fuck off. You love me you twat" Nien scoffed. "Which is exactly why I'm offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity to come home with me after this god-forsaken camp"

"Nien... You know I can't do that" Bay sighed. Both boys were artists in some way shape or form. Both boys attended an expensive summer camp for artistic youth to expand their abilities. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you had to be accepted into and lasted three months. Three months of falling for a boy in a foreign country. Three months of dreading the day where Nien would fly back to Vietnam and Bay would fly back to the United States.

"Why not?" Nien groaned. "Your parents won't even care... This is rare. What we have is rare and if you don't come with me you know we'll never see each other again" he reasoned. Bay bit down on his lip knowing what Nien was saying was true. His parents were absent and didn't care what Bay did as long as he didn't bother them. But deep down he knew that no matter how badly he wanted to go with Nien, he had to take care of things at home first. He had too many people relying on him...

"I'm sorry" Bay sighed. "I just-"

"Yeah, yeah... You have people back home" Nien muttered. "I don't know why you bother. You don't have any real connections with anyone there... You don't even like going to school"

"I can't just leave. Alright? Not until I can fix things... I'm sorry, Nien. I love you, but I can't" Bay sighed.

Bay stared down at the counter, seeing bits of his reflection through the water droplets. He sighed and finished scrubbing down the counter before heading back into the kitchen to pull out the sugar cookies baking in the oven. He didn't mind Asper Hollows... He didn't mind working at his family's shop. He was content there.

But that didn't mean Asper Hollows wasn't a project for him to fix. Bay knew he was the only person that provided a safe place for all of the queer people in Asper... It was a bigger responsibility than he cared to admit but he was good at it. He just needed to find a way to create a permanent one. He needed to find a way to reverse centuries of homophobia in his town... He knew it was impossible. That it wasn't his issue to fix, but Bay could never leave a project unfinished. He'd feel guilty if he left before it was all fixed.

Some days he regretted not going home with Nien... Not running off with the pretty boy to Vietnam where he'd find new inspiration for his art. Where he could watch Nien become a star through his music and he could just be happy. But he knew that if he had left he'd feel guilty about it with each passing day. Guilty for not staying to take care of the people in town that needed him most.

Bay didn't form connections with the people at Burrows Mansion. He knew them all by name, knew the things a friend would know like their favorite color or how to tell when they were interested in someone. But he never cared for them. He was affectionate with people, sure. He would hug and kiss them on the forehead as if they were family when in reality he didn't want much to do with them.

The closest thing to a friend he had were the people at the mansion. He knew all about them and was always their confidante all while nobody knew the first thing about him. He was okay with that... He got off fine with his only passion or interest being in art, sex, and baking. But he always thought something was missing... He had tried finding it in others. He had tried attending school and interacting with others to fill that void but it never worked. He was bored of people. Bored of repetition...