On Tuesday, Brad came to practice late.
"You're here," Tristan said.
Brad mumbled something about traffic. Connor looked at him quizzically.
Brad walked over and plugged in his guitar. He slung the strap over his shoulder, and James handed him a microphone.
Brad went through the motions. Sing, smile, stop and play his guitar. Walk to one side, walk to the other, jump a bit, and repeat.
When practice was over, the boys were talking, but Brad had tuned them out. He packed up his stuff, and left with a mumbled, "See you tomorrow."
Connor bounced along behind him. "Hey Brad!" he said cheerily.
"Hello," Brad grumbled. He walked a little faster.
"Yo, what's the rush?" Connor asked as he skipped up next to Brad.
"I'm just...not in the mood for anything," Brad replied.
"For anything? At all?" Connor responded incredulously. "Come on, everyone's always in the mood for, say, a nice slice of cake or some mac-and-cheese."
"No," Brad stated.
"And dude, you love music, why are you fleeing from the scene?"
Brad was at the end of his fuse. "I just can't deal with this, Con!"
"What's wrong?" Connor asked.
"Everything!" Brad retorted. "Nothing's been going right since I came out. Everything's just wrong!"
"Came out?" Connor prodded.
"Yeah, I'm gay, get over it," Brad spat. He really wasn't enjoying this conversation.
"Brad, I've got no problem with that."
Brad sighed.
"I mean," Connor continued, "I may not be much help. I'm straight. You probably want to talk to Tris though, because...well-"
"I already know Tris is bi," Brad replied. "I don't want to talk to Tris. I don't want to talk to anybody. Would you please just go away?"
"Nope!" Connor exclaimed. "Dude, what's up with you?"
"Nothing, leave," Brad said.
Connor didn't say anything, but bobbed along beside Brad until they got to Brad's house. Then he left. He promised he'd be back, much to Brad's disappointment.
------------------------------------------------
Connor showed up at Brad's house around noon the next day. "James and Tris and I are going to lunch, and we'd like you to join us," he said.
Brad just looked at him with an expression that said, Seriously?
"It'd do you some good to get out of the house," Connor advised.
Brad replied, "You don't know what's good for me."
Connor's mouth tightened reluctantly, but he said, "Okay," and walked away. Brad closed the door.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Connor was back again on Thursday to bring Brad some chocolate chip cookies. He rang the doorbell fervently until Brad had no choice but to answer the door. "Here, they're to cheer you up," Connor said as he shoved a container into Brad's arms.
"What are you doing, Connor?" Brad asked.
"Giving you cookies to cheer you up," Connor responded. "Isn't that what I just said?"
