Until I Met Her

Chapter 14

"It was about time we had a chat." Gio put his phone down, I'm still looking at mine.

We're in a little coffee shop, there's a Gym right where we stood and a little PokeStop in front of us. Sometimes, my little avatar would randomly move and I'd be able to get to the PokeStop. The Gym's already ours.

We still play Pokémon Go.

"You got so much shit to spill," I put my phone down, fighting with it. We already ordered and were waiting for our food. I wanted a ham and cheese sandwich while he wanted the bacon, chicken and cheese one. "What's going on with your boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend." Gio looks away, biting his lower lip.

My eyes open wide as soon as I see his neck. "First of all, don't deny it and then show me evidence." I laugh, pointing at his neck. He has little love bites all over his left side. Gio tries to hide his neck with his hoodie but it's too late. "There's one that looks like a heart. You're with an art student, aren't you?"

"Ha-ha, funny." He looks down at his phone and spins it on the table. He has a little smile on his lips. "He's nice."

I swallow and bite my lip, normally when Gio started describing a boy with 'he's nice,' he was making up for something not so nice. "Does he treat you nice?"

"Yeah," He looks back up, there's a light in his eyes that makes me relax. "Freddie says we all need to meet, like with him and all but... I don't know, too soon to be public about it."

"He isn't out?"

"He is but only a few people know."

"What do you like about him?" I smile when his smile gets bigger, his hair was growing and his black roots were showing more. "If you say everything, I'll punch you."

"Don't you like everything about Eleanor?" His comment makes me choke on air. Before I can even deny it, he rolls his eyes and says, "Don't even deny it, I'm getting 50 quid because of you, easiest money making in history."

"Fuck off, don't even remind me you guys made a bet." I'm half annoyed and half embarrassed. I thought I was good at hiding it. I wait for him to go back to his unknown boyfriend.

"I guess... I like how he treats me despite all the things he's heard about me." He finally says, "You know how boys are— they say I'm too much, I'm too feminine, apparently." He scoffs and looks away, "Most of the boys I've been with, they say they don't want a relationship with me, I'm just for fun. That shit kinda hurts after a while. But him? He doesn't care. I— Ty, the reason why we're not public with it is because I'm a little bit scared?

"It's like, I don't want to get my hopes up for it to end up being nothing, you see? I don't want to hold his hand while we're out just so a week later he breaks up with me and I'm the idiot who thought I could be in a serious relationship—"

"You deserve so fucking much, Gio—"

"I just— I think after Alfie, I deserve a little more, you know?"

Alfie was a boy from high school, a closeted boy. He'd bully Gio for no reason at all and then one day, Gio comes to see me with a bruised cheek and a love bite on his neck... what happened?I asked him, Alfie happened. Gio defended Alfie for so long, until he had enough and broke it off. Gio tried to date other boys but Alfie, out of bitterness, spread a rumour that Gio kept trying to get straight boys to make out with him. From then on, Gio got mocked daily.

Gio and I eat in silence, I want to tell him about Eleanor, maybe if I speak about it, if I say these things out loud, my thoughts won't be so all over the place anymore. Perhaps he can help me put my thoughts in order and maybe even understand them.