All Because of You

Chapter 1

Living with a homophobic Christian family when you're gay isn't easy. Every relationship I've ever had was hidden carefully so that my parents wouldn't notice it. Every family gathering that I've had to go to was me sitting through a weekend full of homophobic slurs. Every time my family asked why I didn't have a girlfriend yet, I had to come up with a new excuse so that I could still have somewhere to live. It was hard, but doable, and I got away with it. But everyone fucks up eventually.

"You're gay?" My mom cried, horror and disgust written across her face. "Do you know how much love and affection it took to raise you? You, the poor old orphan from Australia, who was found on the streets. We should have left you there!"

"I'm sorry, mom!" I cried, tears rolling freely down my face. "I didn't mean to! I didn't choose this, it's part of who I am!"

"No," she cut me off. "No, it's not part of who you are, because God would have never made you that way. It's gross, unnatural, and your father and I don't want it in our house. Goodbye, Troye Sivan." She walked out of the room, leaving me to pack my stuff alone. I threw random things into a bag, tears obscuring my vision. I knew I needed to keep it light, so I packed everything I could into a backpack. I knew my savings wouldn't get me very far, but I was hoping my boyfriend would be able to help me for a while, maybe give me a place to live while I got back on my feet.

I climbed out my window and dropped to the ground carefully before I just started walking towards my boyfriends' house Once I hit the road, I fumbled to pull out my phone and call Danny.

"What?" He answered, sass rolling off of his voice.

"Danny, please. My parents found out; they kicked me out of the house. Can I crash at your place? Just for a couple of weeks, until I can get back on my feet?"

"No, Troye. You and your gayness ruined my life. My parents are threatening to take me off the football team, and if the school finds out, my entire social life will be fucked. I don't need fags like you in my life."

"But you said you loved me!" I cried, choking back tears. Silence answered me and then finally, the click showing that Danny had hung up. The tears rolled freely then; what was I going to do? My life was in shambles, my boyfriend hated me, and now I had no where to live. I considered breaking down and just sitting on the side of the road to cry for a few hours, but logically I knew that it wouldn't be safe, so instead, I started walking. I wasn't going anywhere in particular, just away from there.

The city, I decided, would probably be a good place to start off. Jobs would be easy to find, plus there would always be park benches that I could sleep on, and food would be abundant and cheap (if I did it right).

It took me a while to walk there, and by the time I was fully in the city, the sun had set and most of the stores were closed. I looked up at the sky, making sure that it wouldn't rain before curling up on a nearby bench to sit out the night. Tomorrow would be the say that I figured out what I was going to do, got a job, and started fixing my life.