Long Way Home ~ Reggie Peters

Chapter 9: Luke's Birthday (Edited)

(Flashback)

1994

Zach and Alex were having a sleepover at Zach's place, like they always did every weekend. Right now, they were playing 21 questions while they're eating a tub of ice cream in Zach's room.

"Seriously? Out of all the music, you would choose to listen to No Doubt for the rest of your life?" Zach asked him before taking a scoop of ice cream.

"In my defense, you're the one who recommended me to listen to them," Alex defended. "Besides, you can't deny that their music's good."

"Yeah, I know, but still. No Doubt?" Zach repeated.

"I chose what I chose. End of discussion," Alex said before taking another scoop. Zach shook his head at him.

"Alright, your turn," Zach said.

"Have you ever been in love?"

Zach looked at Alex with surprise by the question. He thought about it for a moment before responding, "I don't know. I mean, I had a couple of crushes on some girls, but... I never really fell for them." Alex nodded in response and Zach took another scoop of ice cream.

He gulped his ice cream. "Have you ever had a crush on anyone before?" Zach asked Alex.

"No," Alex sighed. "Honestly, I don't think I have any crushes on girls, as far as I can remember."

"Maybe you just haven't found the right one yet," Zach suggested.

"No, I mean... I've never been into girls at all," Alex said and Zach look at him confused. Alex sighed and put down his ice cream tub on the nightstand, then he starts rubbing his palms together.

"Is everything okay, Lex?" Zach asked.

"Yeah, it's just, um..." Alex paused for a second before taking a deep breath. "I... need to tell you something."

"Okay. What is it?"

"I have this huge secret that I've been keeping from everyone, which includes you too. But then I realized... that I shouldn't keep things from you, and I don't wanna lie to you anymore," Alex said. "But you have to promise me that no matter what I say, I'll still be your best friend, right?"

Zach puts his ice cream tub on the other nightstand before turning back to him. "Alex, why would you even say that? Of course, you'll still be my best friend! We're practically like brothers now."

Alex took another deep breath before he moved to face Zach. "Zach, the truth is..." Alex paused for a moment before saying the words that he's been afraid of saying out loud ever since he knew about what it meant.

"I'm gay."

Zach's face turned into shock as Alex continued, "and I know that I should've told you earlier, but I was just... so afraid of how you or the guys or my parents would react to this, I-I thought I was gonna lose my best friend, a-and---" As he says this, tears were starting to form in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! You're not gonna lose me," Zach said before pulling him into a tight hug. "Never in a million years."

Alex stayed frozen, shocked by the sudden reaction to return the hug. "Really? You're not...weird about this at all?"

"Why would I be? I'm so glad that you told me," Zach said.

Alex finally returned the hug. He sniffed on Zach's shoulder and lets his tears soak his shirt. They sat there for a while before Zach pulled away and cupped Alex's face so that he can look directly at him. His eyes were slightly puffy from the tears.