In real life

No more than human

After Mr Brown was done talking to Troye and me we were aloud to go home. ''I don't want you two to walk home after what happened, do you have anyone who can pick you up?" Mr Brown asked. I looked over at Troye. Both my parents were working and I was pretty sure his parents were to. And Spencer didn't have a license. ''I don't think-'' I started but Troye cut me of. ''It's okay'', he said, ''my boyfriend can pick us up.'' I froze at the word ''boyfriend''. What if Mr Brown didn't like the fact that Troye wad gay? We had had enough homophobic comments for a day. Enough for a lifetime actually.

Fortunately Mr Brown just smiled. ''I see'', he said. ''I'll give you some space so you can call him.''

Troye made the call as soon as Mr Brown had left the room. I listened as Troye explained the situation to Tyler and held his hand the whole time. Troye squeezed my hand several times during the call and looked at me gratefully. I just smiled back. I understood that he needed the comfort, and I was more than happy to give it to him.

A couple of minutes later Tyler arrived and Troye and I hurried out to him. When we got to his car Tyler pulled Troye close and held him tight. Troye clung to him like his life depended on it and started to cry. Tyler's eyes filled with tears too as he wrapped his arms around the other boys neck and buried his face in Troye's shirt. ''Don't worry", Tyler whispered, his voice muffled by the soft material. "I'm here now."

The ride home was depressing. There is literally no other way to put it. After what happened that morning no one felt in the mood to talk and silence filled the car like thick fog, clinging to my body and weighing me down. It was only broken twice. First by Tyler's hushed voice as he asked me for my address so he could drive me home. Then by the sound of water splashing down on the world around us. The dark clouds we saw earlier had finally reached us; it had started to rain.

"We are here", Tyler said after a couple of minutes of driving. I looked up and found him looking at me. "Thank you Tyler", I said and gave him a weak smile. It was all I could master in that moment. The shock I had experienced earlier had left me drained of energy and I felt really weak. All I wanted to do was go to sleep. Troye had already given in to the weariness; he was asleep in the front seat.

I opened the door and slowly climbed out of the car. My muscles felt stiff and sore. When I finally got out I turned to Tyler and thanked him once more. "Seriously Tyler", I said, "I don't know what we would have done without you." "It was the least I could do", he said and leaned over from the driver seat. He gave me a hug and said: "Just call me if you need anything, okay?" I nodded. "Take care of him", I said and looked over at Troye. His face looked so beautiful and peaceful when he was asleep. Like the face of an angel. Tyler looked over at Troye as well, his face telling me that he was thinking the exact same thing. "I will take care of him. You know I will", he said. A little smile found it's way to my lips. "Yes, I know you will."

I walked trough the rain to my front door. The water was falling from the sky with full speed now and by the time I made it inside I was pretty much soaked. I quickly pulled of my dripping sweater and walked into the living room to get a blanket. In the living room I found Spencer sitting on the couch. He was watching some kind of reality show and had curled up with his comforter and a cup of coffee. "You are home early!" he said as I walked into the room. "Enjoying the weather little sister?" I didn't answer him. I just went straight to the other end of the couch to look for a blanket, turning my back against him. "Hey, why are you so grumpy?" he asked and tried to turn me around. I refused and stayed with my back against him. "I don't want to talk right now Spencer", I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I failed miserably. "Come on Tay- tay, what's wrong?" Spencer asked. His voice was filled with kindness and concern. That was it, I couldn't hold it back anymore.

The tears started to flow down my cheeks as I slowly turned around to face my brother. His eyes went wide with shock as he saw my beaten up face. Then he opened up his arms and gave me a silent invitation to come and sit down next to him. I gladly did and he wrapped his arms around me. It felt good. Safe.