As always,
ENJOY!
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"Hey," Drew said, coming in and closing the gate behind him. On his back was a full backpack and in one hand were my shoes and socks.
"What's going on?" I asked, frowning. He turned around and I blinked, stunned. A black eye was forming under his left eyebrow, he'd just been punched in the face.
"My parents kicked me out, can I crash here for a bit?" he asked, his shoulders slumped and defeated.
"Um, yeah," I replied, still shocked. Drew walked up the side of the house and came over to me. I sat back down on the porch and he sat beside me.
"What happened? You don't have to talk about it," I said, biting my lip. I wasn't sure what exactly he wanted from me.Was he just here because he hadn't told anyone else yet about being gay so couldn't explain why his parents had kicked him out?
"It's fine. I was just sick of them treating me like I was broken or something, you know? Mum kept going on that you'd made me sick and I needed to see a doctor and get help. Dad didn't say anything, but today he snapped and hit me, and I decided that was it," Drew explained.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stayed over," I apologized. He shook his head.
"No, it's not your fault. I was always going to be gay. You just helped me come to terms with it better," he said. He smiled, nudging my arm with his. I smiled back, though I still didn't really feel it.
"There's also something else that... that I've come to terms with," Drew continued.
"Oh?" I asked, not looking at him.
"Yeah, um... you know when I said I wasn't going to date for a while?" he prompted.
"Yeah," I sighed. Holding tighter onto my mug. Here it comes, the official rejection to make it official.
"And you said what if I missed being with the love of my life, or something," he continued. My heart flickered.
"Yeah?" I sighed again, louder and a little more urgent. Drew dropped my shoes at my foot and reached out, taking one of my hands from my mug and holding onto it, entwining his fingers with mine.
"Well... I came to realize over the past week that there's a reason I care about you so much. I'd been blocking out being gay for so long I'd refused to see it. And I distanced myself from you because I didn't want to admit it. But when I realized I was probably gay, and then kissing you last Friday finally confirmed it..." My knees were beginning to shake, and it wasn't just because it was cold. But I still couldn't look at him. My mum was the only good real thing in my life, and I'd learnt never to expect anything else good from the world. I had a few online friends who kept me somewhat sane, but they were always going to be miles away, and I'd accepted that. I'd established I was probably never going to have areal boyfriend, and I'd acknowledged that it wasn't just because I was gay that I was so different from everyone else. I was weird, and I was okay with that. I had to be.
"What are you saying?" I asked Drew, because I couldn't handle the suspense.
"Aaron," he said softly, lifting his free hand up slowly towards my face. He cupped my cheek gently and turned my face round to his so that he could look me in the eyes. "I want... I want to see if we can try and make this work. I wouldn't want to look back and realize I'd missed out on you." My heart was doing a salsa against my rib cage.
"Huh?" I asked, feeling faint. I was dreaming,right? This wasn't actually happening, right?
Drew smiled. "I'm going to be busy at Uni studying like crazy and commuting from here and back, though I'm not sure if I will now I've left home, but... what I mean is, I want to try dating you."
