Unexpected

| xiv | he left

xiv~how could he break my heart without a second thought?

It had been a trial for them. For Ian, after he finally came out of the closet-a rather bland event following the one that prompted his bravery-, life was... difficult. He faced ridiculous prejudice everywhere he went, and UGA withdrew their scholarship upon hearing about his sexuality.

But, life went on and Ian found a place at a relatively small school. There, in his Psyche 101 class, he met Gerry. Gerard Gomez was a student new to not only the school but also to the country. With skin a shade lighter than Erin's, but hair and eyes even warmer in color, Gerry was an exotic beauty to all the girls on campus and also to Ian. Despite his own cautionary conscience, Ian fell in love.

It was not until a chance encounter on the quad that Gerry knew who Ian was. While walking and not paying attention, Gerry was hit by Ian's roommate Kenneth (whose sister was gay and therefore was fairly tolerant towards the whole thing)when Ken threw a football that missed Ian by a long shot and hit Gerry over the head.

Gerry likes to claim that he fell in love the moment that Ian bent over him with worry in his eyes. Ian always rolls his eyes and says that it was not until Ian proved to Gerry that he was not pretending to be gay. They tease each other frequently, but always in good nature. They are a perfect fit.

Erin gets released from the hospital for her old friend's wedding. There is a little girl who looks awfully familiar being held in Mrs. Carin's arms. At the worst moment, Erin realizes that she looks just like Grayson. Their eyes are the same pale blue. Grayson's little sister is held by Mr. Carin. Stephanie sucks on her thumb like the petulant child she pretends that she is not. The girls appear similar in age, both around four or five.

Erin is chaperoned by her personal nurse for the wedding. It is really a simple thing; Ian and Gerry fought to get their marriage license from the Washington government, and once they did they threw a little mock wedding to have all the grandeur of a traditional, Christian wedding. Gerry is the 'bride', and he is given away by his sassy Spanish aunt. He wears a white tuxedo to contrast Ian's black one.

Will stands at the 'alter' and reads aloud the vows. Of course, Gerry and Ian agree. They kiss, and the crowd cheers.

Erin catches sight of him lurking in the shadows. Her heart clenches. She should have known that it was a bad idea to return to Cidson. Sometimes she wonders if she deserves the treatment that Phil has placed upon her.

After the attempt on her life, Erin was released from the hospital. She refused to go with Phil, screaming and crying. Because of some other things she said, it was believable that she was insane. Therefore, she was sent to Holdingstone, the local crazy house. She still feels betrayed by the nervous looks in her friends' eyes as they watched her get dragged away.

The ceremony ends, and soon Ian makes his way to Erin. He smiles widely, his ruddy cheeks nearly splitting from the exertion. "Erin!" He embraces her, nearly crushing her (now) delicate bones under the weight of his arms.

"Ian, I'm so happy for you!" She says, but she knows that she sounds insincere. She can see it in Ian's eyes. She sighs and her shoulders droop forward. "I'm sorry, just... I don't belong there. It's killing me, Ian. I shouldn't be there. I should have seen Stephanie grow up. I didn't even know Madie had a kid," she indicates where Madie is scolding a pretty, coffee-and-crème colored girl.

"Erin, you're mentally unstable, it seemed like the right-"

"I am not!" Erin nearly screams. Almost everyone looks over at her. Embarrassed, she flushes and goes to walk away. Ian grabs her arm and pulls her back. The entire room has gone silent; everyone is watching.