You are not alone

Deeper

I woke up, and hoped it had all been a dream. I could tell from the soreness of my face that it was not. I just laid in bed and tried to go back to sleep, I didn't feel at all like getting up.

I did manage to doze, almost to a full sleep, as Jace and some others walked up to my bed.

"Hey." Jace said, softly as as he rocked me to try and wake me up.

"What?" I replied, still not opening my eyes or moving.

"Are you ok? You're usually up by now."

"What time is it?" I asked, thinking it could only be about 8 o' clock or so.

"Almost noon." Jace replied.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, that's why I was worried."

"Oh."

"So are you getting up?"

"I don't really want to."

"You should." Jace tried to persuade me, but I really didn't feel like getting out of bed.

"I guess I will." I said, as I opened my eyes and saw everyone standing there, but Jace was sitting on my bed.

I sat up, and looked at everyone. "So, what are you all doing here?" I asked.

"Sorry, we can leave you alone." Jupiter said, as she ushered everyone out, but leaving Jace.

"How are you?" Jace asked.

"Not feeling too great."

"You look terrible, like you look hungover."

"Well, I'm not."

"Are you sure you didn't go drinking and I don't know about it?"

"No, although I wish I had, I'd prefer to not remember any of that."

"Really?"

"Yes Jace, I don't want to remember my dad beating me up, or me running away crying, like some coward." I snapped.

"Oh."

"That's like the first time he ever really hit me or anything."

"I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, my dad beat me up to, when I came out."

"It was hard wasn't it?"

"Well, he had a record for getting drunk and coming home late. He would burst into my room, yelling, and he'd just start hitting me and yelling at me."

"Oh, I'm sorry that happened to you."

"I used to hide from him, so when he got home he couldn't find me, or I would stay out late so I wouldn't be home. Then one day, he didn't come home." Jace paused, and looked at the ground. "That was when I had to go to a foster home, for a little while."

"The house we went to that one night." I said, remembering Jace telling me about it.

"Yeah, but I didn't mind the foster home."

"Really?"

"There was this guy in the foster home, and he was really the first person I had feelings for, but I had been questioning for a while."

"Wow, didn't expect that."

"Yeah, me neither, but I liked him. we shared a room, so late one night I told him that I liked him." He paused. "He said he liked me too. We became really close, and he became my boyfriend."

"Aww, this is so cute."

"Yeah, it was. We were almost inseparable, and since we shared a room, it was easy to be ourselves. We would go to our room, and talk, and we had our first kiss." He paused. "He was my first... for everything."

"A little too much information there." I joked.

"Well, it's true. He was my first boyfriend, he was my first kiss, and he was the first one I went all the way with."

"So, what happened between you?" I asked.

"Well, he found out the day after we slept together, that he was being moved. That afternoon, he was moved to another home and I never saw him again."

"Oh."

"It's ok though, I miss him, but there wasn't anything we could do to make him stay."

"What was his name?" I asked.

"Brendon Ryer."

"That's a nice name." I said, not sure how to make it less depressing for him.

"Yeah." He started, while getting up. "I can leave you alone if you want."

"You don't have to." I said, also getting up. I caught my reflection, in a mirror and walked over to it. "This is what he did?" I asked, sidetracked from our conversation.

"Umm, yeah."

"Oh, I didn't look at myself after." I said, as I looked at the dry blood on the corner of my mouth and cheek and the side of my face was bruised.

"It's not so bad." Jace tried to comfort me.

"I know it's bad, you don't have to say anything."

"Well, our furniture for the center is being delivered today if you want to go. it might take your mind off things."

"Yeah, I'm excited for this, and nothing's going to ruin it."

"Well, let's go." Jace took my hand, and we started toward the LGBT center.