If I Could Tell Him

Chapter seventeen

EVAN POV

Evan breezed through the day, holding Connor's hand between classes and openly flirting and kissing. It felt great. Thomas and his guys would occasionally make rude comments or give them looks, but Connor only had to take a step towards them to get them to back off. Everything felt right in the world until Jared approached him.

"Dude. Listen it's not like I care, but something's gonna happen. You've gotta be careful." He took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt.

"What do you know?" Connor asked him, appearing out of nowhere.

"Why do you care?" Jared spat. Why couldn't they just get along?

"Um maybe because that's my boyfriend and if someone's going to mess with him I need to know so I can fuck them up." Connor responded.

"You're not fucking anyone up looking like that," Jared countered. Evan pushed between them.

"C-can't you guys just, like, b-be nice to each other?" Evan asked almost angrily. He was sick and tired of their bullshit. They both looked at him, surprised.

"Right. Sorry, Evan. He just pisses me off." Connor said, glaring at Jared.

"The feeling's mutual." Jared said back. "Anyways, like I was saying to Evan," he shot a look at Connor. "They're mad. Thomas and those guys. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I think something will. But it's whatever I just wanted to let you know." He spun around and walked away.

Evan looked up at Connor. What the hell? He thought to himself. There was concern in Connor's eyes.

"You okay?"

He faked a smile. "Yeah! Y-yeah I'm f-fine." Evan lied. Truth be told, he was terrified, but he didn't want Connor going through any more trauma. He was already beat up enough.

"No you're not." Connor said confidently. "I'm taking you home anyways, so I'll stick around to make sure you're okay."

"N-no you don't h-have to..." Evan was so focused on Connor that he didn't notice someone coming up behind him.

He felt a hand on his back and he screamed, causing people to look over at him. He turned and saw Alana holding her hands up in surrender.

"Hey! Sorry, Evan, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just wondering if you guys would put in your nominations for prom queen and king? I was put in charge of it because the principal said that I'm the most responsible one in the student body. Anyways, do you have any nominations?" She adjusted her jacket professionally and looked at them, pen poised over a notebook.

"Not now, Alana." Connor said, pinching the bridge of his nose. She shrugged and turned as if to leave, but Connor grabbed her wrist. "Just so you know if you hurt my sister I have no problem breaking your arm."

"Let's start a broken arm club." She said cooly. "I would never hurt Zoe," she said, untangling her arm from Connor, and Evan noticed how her voice softened when she said the name. He grinned widely, happy that she was happy.

As the school day drew to a close, Evan could hardly keep himself from shaking all over. What did Jared mean by 'something's gonna happen?' The only comfort he had was his boyfriends oversized hoodie around him like an extended hug. He wished he could disappear into it forever.

He met Connor outside the front of the school. Connor was standing there with one earphone in, staring into space. Evan allowed himself to look at him, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

"Hey, Evan. Ready to go?" Connor asked when he realized Evan was looking at him.

"I st-still don't like th-this. You should j-just drop me off. I don't want y-you to get hurt." Evan tried to protest, but Connor walked over and put a finger on his lips.

"Nope I'm going whether you like it or not." He responded. He gently took Evan's hand and walked him out to the car. Evan couldn't stop looking around anxiously, expecting someone to attack him, or worse, Connor, at any moment. When they were safely in the car, Evan was able to breathe again.

When they pulled up to the Hansen residence, Evan began to wonder if Jared had made up the rumor. Everything seemed fine, until he and got in the house and went to the backyard.

Arnold was a mess. Branches were torn, marks were all in the trunk, and worst of all, he was completely blackened as if he'd been burned to charcoal. The word "FAGGOT" had been spray painted around it in blood red letters.

Evan involuntarily screamed and rushed to the tree, trying in vain to figure out how to fix Arnold. He hugged the trees trunk and wept.

Connor was standing on the back porch frozen with his mouth open.  He ran over to Evan and tried to cradle him in his arms, but Evan was refusing to let go of his beloved tree. Connor stood next to him, trying in vain to comfort him.

How could people be so cruel?