I Don't Mind

Chapter 21

Derek's POV

Me and Adrian leave the locker room together, and I'm still kind of worried about him. I hope he's not depressed or anything. I feel just so horrible for him. He's such an angel and people treat him like he's a devil. 

"Adrian, are you sure you're okay?" I ask. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. We should get some food." 

"Where do you wanna get food from?" 

"Anywhere. Honestly, anywhere. Chinese food maybe?" he suggests. 

"Yeah," I smile at him. "That would be great. I'll order when we get back to the dorms." 

"Cool. Thank you Derek." 

We get back to the dorms, and go straight to Adrian's room. Something is still off about his demeanor. He usually has his head up and looks comfortable, but now he looks uncomfortable, he's slouching while he walks. I just really hope he's okay. I want to hug him so fucking bad and just not let go until he tells me that he's 100% okay. 

I place the order for Chinese food, making sure we'll have plenty of leftovers for next week, and then I sit on the couch next to Adrian. He's just staring into the distance, or at the dark TV basically, and not saying anything. 

"Adri, you know you can tell me if something's up, right?" I ask. 

"Yeah. Just being called that word so many times really hurts. I know you might think I'm sensitive for it, but I really just can't handle that. Especially coming from someone like that, who is not saying it in a joking way, but in an obviously hateful way." 

"Adri, look at me," I say. He looks up at me, and I look into his gorgeous eyes. "Don't ever think you're sensitive, okay? It's normal for you to be hurt by a word that's meant to hurt people. If anything, you're so strong for still playing so well through all that hate. I envy your drive, Adrian, I really do. Your self control too. I would've just started wailing on his ass, but you're such a kind person, you would never do that." 

He smiles at me, making my day. "Thanks, Derek. I really don't know what I would do without you supporting me through all of this." 

"No problem. Do you wanna come with me to pick up the food?" I ask. 

"Yeah," he grins. "This time I want some of the fried rice, you can't eat it all." 

"Anything you want, Adri." 

Adrian has completely changed me. I can't believe where I am personality wise. I never though I'd be like this, so caring for someone. My mom raised me in such a pro-hate household, and while I never completely dove into being an extremely hateful person, I never was around to support people. I didn't really do that much to support Aaron when he came out, possibly because he didn't really face any backlash, but still. I told him I was cool with him being bisexual, but I never went straight out and told him I would defend him. He also never needed anyone to defend him, the entire school loved him. Guys and girls alike wanted to get with him, and I don't think anyone other than (kind of unbelievably) his current boyfriend hated him. 

But things are just so different with Adrian. It's probably because he's actually facing a hell of a lot of hate and backlash, but I want to just protect him. I know he's strong and he can protect himself, but if shit goes down that he can't control I should step in and help him out. It's also kind of great that I have feelings for him, because he's the nicest person I know. 

Me and Adrian pick up the food, which is like a fucking tower in a bag, and I carry it in the passenger seat as we make our way back to the dorms. Adrian really did put on muscle over the summer, I keep seeing how much more toned his body is. He also got a really good tan over the summer. That makes sense too, because he was outside the whole time. It doesn't even look like he got sunburned once.