A Blessing In Disguise (BoyxBoy)

Confessions Of A Homosexual

Ch. 4

"What is it, honey?" aunt Claire asked. I could feel the tension rising, they probably did too. Henry lowered the volume of the TV so that all we heard was a low murmur. I had their full attention now, Henry sitting opposite of me and aunt Claire sitting next to him, both turned towards me.

   "I want to tell you about the reason I'm here. But first, I have a confession to make. It's pretty much what started all of this." I paused to gather my thoughts and pick up the courage to tell them something that could possibly make them never want to see me, or let me see my cousins, ever again.

   Aunt Claire gave me an encouraging smile, though I could see the worry in her eyes. Henry just sat there, waiting for me to go on, but he looked relaxed and had a special warmth in his eyes despite his serious expression.

   "Go on, dear. It can't be that bad, can it?" she looked apprehensive.

   "Well, the thing is... I'm gay." I looked them straight in the eyes. I wanted to see their first reaction, the most honest one, before they masked it.

   Aunt Claire just looked like she was waiting for me to drop the bomb, like I hadn't just done that. Henry, on the other hand, got this weird expression on his face. He didn't exactly look mad or disgusted, but maybe a mix of surprise and... I don't know, but something else too.

   Aunt Claire saw me looking at Henry and she turned to look at him before she looked back at me, then she turned to him with a stern face.

   "What? Don't tell me you have something against homosexuals?" she asked him. Henry's eyebrows shot up and he looked even more surprised and maybe a bit offended.

   "Seriously? No, of course not! I have nothing against them, and I'm certainly not about to treat Marc any differently because he told me something that he's been for all this time, which means that he's not any different now than before." He took aunt Claire's hand in his, "I was just surprised, I didn't expect it, that's all." Aunt Claire looked at him suspiciously for a second before nodding approvingly and giving him a kiss. They then turned back to me and I was able to breathe again, the worst part was over and it went a lot better than I had imagined.

   "Though I think I know where this is going, will you tell us how you ended up on our doorstep?" aunt Claire said encouragingly, with a sweet smile.

   "Well, it happened about two or three month before I came here. I told my parents that I was gay, I had known for some time but I didn't dare tell them. When I finally did, I was first met by silence and I guess disappointment. My dad then very calmly told me to get out of his sight and my mom just sat there quietly. I didn't want to make things worse and I thought that they might need time to process things, so I went to my room. From the next day and until the day I left it was like I didn't exist in their world. They wouldn't talk to me, not even look at me, they wouldn't make enough dinner for me and they wouldn't even put out a plate for me. I wouldn't get any money so I couldn't even buy my own food. I got a job but I had to work so late that I barely got any sleep and my grades fell drastically. I would fall asleep in school and when they called in my parents, I had to go alone and come up with some stupid excuse for their absence. I finally had enough when I came home one day and saw half of my stuff gone, my desk, my bed, my computer, everything except for some clothes and other used stuff they probably couldn't sell. So I packed everything up, went to one of their 'secret' places where they kept some money, took enough for a ticket to get me here and then I left." I had dropped my gaze while I told them what had happened, but now I looked up and saw tears in the eyes of my aunt and some of them had trailed down her cheeks. She held a hand over her mouth, leaning on her other arm that rested on her knees. Henry looked a bit more collected with his arm over his chest and the other on his chin, but he still looked pained.