He Says He's Just A Friend

Chapter 69 - The Story of Us

- Emmett -

I held Clay in my arms, stroking his hair as we laid in my bed watching light-hearted comedies and Disney movies to take his mind off the video. He put his phone on Do Not Disturb to silence the notifications every time someone left a comment. By the time we got to "I'll Make A Man Out of You" in Mulan, Clay had finally relaxed. He even belted the song with gusto, adorably off-key. We didn't make it much further into the movie because I started tickling him, teasing him about his singing. That soon turned into kissing, which turned into more.

"I can't believe how lucky I am." Clay said as we were getting dressed again. It was almost time for the football game.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, even if everyone at school hates me and starts calling me names, or bullying me, I know I have a lot of people in my life who love me for who I am." Clay turned around to face me, taking hold of my good hand. "Ever since I started having feelings for you, I got scared I'd lose everyone. That they wouldn't understand why I am the way I am. Or they might hate me for it. But they didn't. My family, my friends, they all know, and it's okay."

I fought back the urge to cry. Clay didn't need me sobbing. I leaned forward to offer him a chaste kiss on the lips. "I felt that way too before I came out. Even though I knew Carrie would get it. And my mom has always been a very progressive person. I still worried about being accepted."

"Does it ever go away? That feeling that you have to hide who you are?"

"I don't want to lie to you and say I never feel like that, because I still do. It's probably worse where we live, in the goddamn Heart of Dixie." I groaned and let out a long sigh. "Where people fly confederate flags as a symbol of pride. As if that stupid flag wasn't a mockery to everything our country is supposed to be about. I mean, it's literally the flag of traitors to America. Like, how fucking dumb do you have to be to not understand that?"

I shook my head, shaking off my annoyance, and said, "I'm sorry for raging at you."

He smiled at me. "Never apologize for being passionate about what you believe in. It's very sexy."

"Thanks."

"We should probably get going." Clay stood up. "I'm just gonna use the bathroom real quick. Maybe splash some water on my face. My heart is beating like a million miles a minute."

I picked up my phone as Clay headed out the door. I knew he didn't want to see his post, but I was dying to see the reaction. It had been almost four hours since Clay posted it. There had to be a few people who said nice things. I thought that would give him more courage to face them at the game.

Several notifications cluttered my lockscreen, just from sharing the post. I didn't bother checking those. They would all be from people I knew, none of whom would be at the game tonight. Even Carrie was going to be at our school's game, now that she was a cheerleader. I scrolled through my feed past pictures of celebrities, interior design shots, adorable animals, and lunch orders to find Clay's video.

I couldn't believe it when I saw it. "Oh my God!"

Clay rushed back into the room. "What is it?"

"Babe, your post has hundreds of comments. And it's up to over a thousand likes."

"What?" Clay looked confused. "I only have a hundred and fifty-seven followers. I don't even think there are a thousand people at my school."

"I'm not sure they're all from your school."

"Who else would care about this?"

I clicked on the comment section, scrolling through. I reported a nasty comment that didn't get flagged because the person used creative spelling in their insult. But most of them seemed overwhelmingly positive. "This guy says 'love from Brazil.'"

Clay sat down on the bed, leaning on me to look over my shoulder. "What else are they saying?"

"It's mostly just about how brave you are. Some people are saying you're inspiring. There's lots of hearts. This person thinks we're an adorable couple."

"Well, can you blame them?" Clay joked. He kissed my cheek and laughed.

As my eyes scanned the comments, Clay asked, "How did all these people even find it?"

"You have like twenty-seven hashtags on the post."

"I wanted it to get attention. So everybody at school would see it and I don't have to keep coming out again and again."

I looked up at him. "You know you've probably got tons of DMs, too."

Clay nodded. He was practically glowing.

Curious about something, I clicked on Clay's profile. "You have over four hundred followers."

"No fucking way." Clay grabbed my hand, pulling it closer so he could look at the phone. His eyes went wide.

I set my phone aside and took his face in my hands, staring into those dreamy big brown eyes. "There are hateful people in this world, but there are also wonderful, kind, inspiring people, too. And you're one of them."

Clay's eyes suddenly teared up. "I don't even know how to feel about this."

"I think you should feel good about it. The people are speaking, saying you deserve happiness and love. Listen to them. Believe it."

Clay kissed me before wrapping me in his arms. "I never could've done it without you."

I squeezed Clay tighter. "I'm just happy to be part of your life."