Brad didn't build it up, didn't say any fancy words, he just took the plunge. "I want you to know . . ."
His mother turned towards him and his father raised an eyebrow.
". . . that I'm gay."
"Good for you, son," his father said. Brad sighed in relief.
He looked over at his mother, whose back was a bit stiffer and the smile on her face just slightly more forced. "I'll always love you, Brad, sweetie, bu-"
His father interrupted his mother with a "No" and a shake of his head. "Hun, it's who he is."
His mother took a deep breath and nodded.
"And look on the bright side, now you can talk about boys together."
"Dad," Brad exclaimed.
Yes, dinner was weird after that. The conversation between Brad and his parents didn't flow as easily as it had before, but Brad knew it could be much worse.
When dinner was over, Brad helped his mother clear the dishes from the table and put them in the dishwasher. When he looked up to grab another dish, his mother handed one to him and looked him in the eye.
"I may not be used to homosexuality, honey, but I do accept you, I do. And no matter how long it takes me, I will get to that point where I can embarrass you by setting you up with boys and asking which ones you think are cute."
Brad replied, "I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but - yeah, I'm looking forward to it."
His mother hugged him, and if it was longer than usual, it's because they needed it.
"I've got to go back, Mum," Brad finally said when his mother let go.
"Okay."
Brad said goodbye to his Dad, and they hugged the way they always did, with a "Love you, son" and "Love you, Dad".
Brad slid into his jacket, waved to his mother in the kitchen, and slipped out the door.
When Brad walked into his house, the first thing he saw was Tristan, sitting in a chair at the table. To say he was surprised was an understatement.
"Hey...Tris," Brad said with confusion.
Tris turned towards Brad. "Where were you?"
"I was at my parent's house. Why are you here exactly?"
"I was looking for you," Tris replied.
"Well I wasn't here." Way to state the obvious, Brad, he thought. "So you just...waited?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Tris, are you okay?"
"Not exactly."
Brad walked over and sat in the chair opposite Tris. "Not exactly? What is that supposed to mean?"
"So I was going to the store to get some grapes-"
Brad chuckled and looked at Tris quizzically.
"Right, right, not important. So I saw a group of guys, just, like, high school teens, and I didn't think much of it, until one of the guys punched another. Full-on punched him!"
Brad nodded to show he was listening and waited for Tris to get to the point.
"And all the guys started called the punched one 'fag' and 'fairy' and the one who had punched him was now kicking him, and he was on the ground for god's sake and it was horrifying. They bashed him, Brad; they bashed him for being gay."
"Well, I understand why this would have affected you. But Tris, there will always be people like that but you're strong and I'm sure that you'd know how to handle them if someone ever started ridiculing you like they did to that boy-"
"And then I didn't do anything to stop them." Tris interrupted Brad in a soft voice.
"Oh," Brad responded. He didn't know what to say to that.
"It's not like I was scared, I'm proud of who I am, they were younger than me, and I'm sure that I could've done something, but I didn't. Why didn't I?"
"I don't know, Tris. I don't know."
Tris sighed.
"But I don't blame you. It's not your fault. And knowing you, the next time you see something even remotely like that, you're going to scare those high school losers so badly. But you can't save everybody."
"I could've."
"Maybe not. And hey, maybe that guy needed a little toughening up, to be more like you, because there need to be more people like you."
Tris let out a breath. "Thanks."
He made a move to get up, pushing his chair back.
"You don't have to go," Brad stated.
"I-no I think I should go," Tris said. He picked up his coat and opened Brad's front door. He waved and flashed Brad a small smile before he left.
After the door closed Brad put his elbows on the table and let his shoulders drop.
He went to his room and took off his socks and shoes, changing into pajama pants and a tee-shirt.
He came downstairs and slumped on the couch, flicking through channels every so often until he fell asleep.
When Brad woke up, a jewelry infomercial was playing on his television. He shut it off and trudged into the kitchen, yawning.
The tile on the floor was cold against his feet, and Brad walked with an irritated bounce to try to evade the icy feeling. Eventually he just gave up and dealt with his cold feet as he made himself a sandwich.
The next morning, Brad didn't feel half as on-top-of-the-world as Tris looked. Tris was talking to James and neither of them had seen Brad, so Brad just decided to duck back out into the hallway. He shouldn't have stayed and listened. He knew it was none of his business, but Tris looked happy and Brad was curious, so he rested his back against the wall right next to the door and listened.
"Yeah, of course you can always trust me," James said.
"Cool," Tris replied. "Wanted to tell you that I'm bisexual."
"Awesome," James stated. "It's not like you need my permission or anything, but I'm fine with it, if that's what you wanted to know."
Brad could hear the smile in Tris's voice. "You're the best."
You're the best.
He's the best.
He's the best.
