The next few weeks went by with no bullying at school. Eventually Mom allowed Mike to walk to school again and Mike was glad he got to walk to school with Xander. Everything was going great until later that weekend. Mom took Mike to a family gathering that his aunt had put together at the tracksite. He had fun running around with his cousins and playing tag with the little kids. He decided to take a break and went to one of the picnic tables. He saw Alex talking to a group of elders and one of them called Mike over.
"Mike, what is this I hear of you being gay and dating a guy?" Great Aunt Nicole asked. "Auntie, I'm not gay, I'm bi. Also, yes currently I have a boyfriend." Mike replied. "No one in our family is like this." Uncle Jerry spoke up. "You are meant to be straight, not anything else!"
A few people nearby heard Uncle Jerry's voice. "Uncle Jerry, can we drop this? And Alex, why did you even bring this crap up?"
"Because it is disgusting. You are not natural." Alex shouted.
"Does your mom approve of this?" Aunt Nicole asks.
"She doesn't like it." Alex answered her question.
"Who would like it?!" Uncle Jerry yelled.
Others began whispering and pointing. Mom came over.
"What's the commotion about?" Mom asked
"Your son is gay and is a disgrace to this family." Uncle Jerry shouted.
Mike looked around. His cousins, aunts, uncles, Gabe, sister, nephew, nieces, everyone was staring at him.
"You shouldn't be in this family." Alex added.
He looked towards mom. She looked down.
"Tell your son he isn't meant to be in this family." Uncle Jerry pressured.
Mike had a hard stare at mom. She didn't move a muscle. Something inside Mike froze. He was tired of everything... The bullying at school, Alex jumping Xander, Being forced to stay away from Xander for a couple of weeks, now this. Mike had enough. He got up with tears in his eyes. He walked over to his nephew and nieces and hugged them.
"Where are you going?" Ben asked as Mike turned around and ran out of the tracksite. He ran down the street. He felt he wasn't meant to live. He called Edlie and he told her everything. "I'm sorry Edlie but I can't anymore. Thanks for being here for me but I'm done." Mike hung up before Edlie could say a word. He called Xander. He told Xander everything and said "Xander I'm sorry. It's my fault you got jumped by my cousin. It's my fault i'm getting bullied. I know what my next solution is."
"Mike, where are you?! Don't do it!!! Don't leave me!" Xander screamed.
"I'm away." Then he hung up and sent Xander a picture of the train tracks on 10th Street.
Xander began calling nonstop.
He then called the cops and told them Mike's location and he raced over there.
Xander arrived 3 minutes later and couldn't find Mike anywhere.
Multiple officers arrived and so did Mom and Gabe.
Xander looked down the tracks. He saw someone stepping towards the tracks. At that moment, the red lights began flashing. The train was coming. "Mike NO!"
Xander ran down the rocky path and pulled Mike off of the tracks. The train went by and Xander held Mike. Mike began crying.
"Why didn't you let me do it?" Mike asked.
"Mike, I love you too much to let you do something like this. I know things are hard but who cares about what your family thinks. You keep thinking it's your fault I got jumped that day and that's not true. My love for you made the pain okay. The reason I didn't fight back was for your sake. I didn't want to beat up someone close to you. Remember what I said the night of prom? I said I wanted to be with you forever no matter what happens. Remember how you said that night was the best day of your life? Mike don't kill yourself. You mean everything to me and I don't want to lose you!" Xander exclaimed.
Mike looked into Xander's eyes. He noticed they were red and a tear came out. Mike hugged Xander. "I'm sorry." He whimpered.
At that moment, Xander and Mike leaned into each other and they kissed. Mom saw and heard everything. She began to get mellow. Xander hugged Mike tight. "I will not lose you." He kept repeating.
Officer Zayn came over and asked, "You think you're okay now Mike?"
"Yeah I'm fine. All thanks to Xander." He smiled.
"Okay, so I don't think I'll need to take you in but please be safe." Officer Zayn said.
Officer Zayn had a chat with Mom and Gabe and then left.
"Mike. I'm sorry for not supporting you. You're free to like anyone you please. I'm sorry." Mom sobbed.
Mom hugged Mike and he whispered "It's okay mom but can I ask you something?"
"Sure" She replied.
"Can Xander and I go to the park? That's the spot of our tree." Mike asked.
"Of Course" She smiled.
Mike got into Xander's car and they went to Barwick Park. When they arrived to the park, they walked holding hands to their tree. Mike looked up at the tree realizing if he did take his life away, he would never see that tree again.
"I want to sing a song." Xander said.
"Go ahead."
Xander pulled Mike towards him and held him and began to sing the lyrics of their song.
"We gon' do it like it's 'bout to be the end of the world
And they depended on us to make earth shaking love
As we lay down, lay down...."
Xander and Mike danced a little by their tree and they kissed as soon as Xander was done singing. At that moment, Mike looked into Xander's eyes and realized he found his happiness in Xander and made sure to never lose it. Together Xander and Mike found Mike's happiness and he never wanted to let it go.
YOU ARE READING
"Trouble In Paradise"
Romance17-year-old Mike is uncertain about himself. He is trying to keep a secret hidden from his family which is tearing him up. His friends try to be supportive as possible but it just isn't enough. Eventually, Mike finds someone who makes him feel a bit...
