The Pros and Cons of Being Outed | Peterick

Chapter Eleven

A few more days passed by of reluctantly texting "Satan" before he finally agreed to meet up with Patrick. It was obvious he was nervous about it, but also strangely confident.

But he made Patrick promise he'd come alone. Patrick was making him nervous enough, he explained. And Patrick agreed, although he still wished he could bring Pete along. It was finally time to find out who took away his opportunity to come out.

The deal was that they'd meet up in the second floor boys bathroom about five minutes after school ended. After whatever happened, Patrick planned to go back to see Pete, who would be conveniently waiting outside school on his phone, pretending to be waiting for his ride.

"Stay safe," Pete told him, just a few minutes before the bell.

"It'll be fine," Patrick shrugged. "I'll get in, probably question him, and get out."

Pete chuckled. "Alright."

And the bell rang. Patrick grabbed his backpack and calmly made his way out of class, watching as his fellow classmates basically ran out of there. It was obvious everyone hated school, even the teacher's pets and the smart kids.

Eventually he was there, outside of the bathroom. He knew "Satan" would already be in there, and that terrified him to no end. Patrick hated this guy with all he had, and the fact that he might even be friends with him made him feel awful. Why would a friend do what he did?

But he was ready to find out who he is. All of his intense anger had faded away over time, and things were better now anyway.

So he walked into the bathroom and froze in his spot when he saw him, the person behind the fake name. His fear had been all too real, because this was a friend of his.

It was Brendon, his nice and funny friend who cheered him up when he was feeling down. It was Brendon, who made sure he was fine after The Coming Out incident. It was Brendon, who he made out with at the party. Brendon, who was now smiling shyly and looked so infatuated that Patrick wanted to puke.

"Hey, Patrick," he greeted eagerly, eyes wide and fond.

Patrick blinked rapidly, backing up. "How could you?" he whispered.

"How could I what?" Brendon asked, tilting his head in confusion. It was as if he had no idea what Patrick was talking about... Maybe he wasn't "Satan". Maybe Patrick accidentally went to the wrong bathroom, or maybe he just hasn't walked in yet.

But it was just hopeful thinking, because Brendon took a step forward to even out the distance between them and smiled cheerfully. "I've been so nervous to reveal myself," Brendon stated, making Patrick's heart stop.

There was no mistake now. It was him.

"You should be," Patrick shook his head. "I can't believe you would do something so cruel to someone. God, it wasn't your call."

Brendon frowned. "I thought you were over that."

Patrick was outraged. "Over it?" he laughed. "How could I be? Don't you know the things I go through because you decided to out me? How would you feel if I outed you?"

"I wouldn't care," Brendon shrugged. "I'm intending to come out, after we start dating. I don't want you to be my secret."

Patrick had realized due to dating Pete that he didn't mind being a secret. He'd do anything to keep him happy, and if they were public, he knew there would be people that would get in the way of that. Patrick had always been content to secretly be gay, as long as he could come out the way he wanted to.

But he didn't get to, and it was Brendon's fault. "Why would I want to date you?"

"We had a connection," Brendon sighed. "Don't you remember?"

And he did. It had been great until Brendon turned out to be an awful person. Now, Patrick wants nothing to do with him.

"Listen," Patrick started. "I don't like you, and I don't want to date you. Maybe I would have ages ago, but not now. I have a boyfriend anyway."

"A boyfriend?" Brendon exclaimed, confused. "You were flirting with me just the other day!"

"To get you to reveal yourself," he explained.

"Then who are you dating?"

He had a feeling this question was coming, but he didn't know if he wanted to answer it. What if Brendon spread this around too? Patrick can't trust him anymore.

"Will you tell everyone this too?" Patrick asked bitterly, crossing his arms.

Brendon shook his head and sighed.

"Pete," Patrick said. "I'm dating Pete."

Brendon was in disbelief and shock. "You said he wasn't your type!"

"I was lying," Patrick muttered, before turning and walking out of there. He knew who it was, and that was all he wanted.

He hurried out of the school and made his way over to Pete, who was standing by his mom's car. Pete smiled and motioned him in.

Once they got settled in the car, Pete asked the question. "So who was it?"

And Patrick couldn't help but sigh. "It was Brendon."

---

Hey guys, sorry about the wait. I kinda got stuck near the beginning of this chapter. But that shouldn't happen anymore.

Thank you so much for reading thus far. Don't be silent, though. Even if you don't know what to comment, you can always leave a vote. I'd be very grateful.