Homophobia is Gay ~ Jeffmads ☆COMPLETED☆

XXI

James woke up earlier than Thomas and reluctantly rolled out of bed. Though he wanted to sleep, he also wanted to be out of the house before the other boy. James stretched and yawned, then continued on with his morning routine. 

As James went to leave, he caught a glimpse of Thomas... The boy was sitting on the couch with his head thrown back, his eyebrows knitted and soft snores emitting from his mouth. He had his phone hanging loosely in his hands so it was falling into his lap. And there were still tear streaks on his cheeks. 

James felt guilt rest at the bottom of his stomach, and the small voice in his head started screaming at him. 

Thomas didn't do anything wrong! Demyx lied! the voice yelled. James had the urge to apologize to him, tell him that he made a mistake, and they would be good again. But, he thought about how Thomas ignored him for two weeks, so he decided against it.

James walked out of the house and continued on to school at a slow pace. He listened to alternative music on his way to take his mind off of everything. He arrived at school before anybody, even administration. James sighed and went to sit on the concrete just off campus. 

Thomas slowly opened his eyes and felt a slight pain throughout his body. He groaned as he checked the time, which was 7:35 am. His eyes widened; it was ten minutes before school started! Thomas raced to get dressed and fix his hair.

When he finished, Thomas noticed that his phone was on 20%. Another groan escaped his lips as he walked out the door. Thomas didn't have a car, and he was too tired to walk, so he decided to call somebody. He scrolled through his contacts, trying to find the right  person. 

He couldn't call Lafayette, Demyx or Hercules. He definitely couldn't call James. The last contact he had was Aaron, so he went with that. It rang a few times before there was a small giggle and a hello from the other line. 

"Aaron, I uh, needs ride..." Thomas said, looking down and kicking the ground a bit. "Okay, where are you?" Aaron replied as Thomas heard a small jingle of keys. "James' house," Aaron replied with a 'mhm' and he heard him yell for Charles.

"See you in five minutes, okay?" Aaron said. Thomas nodded, then realized he couldn't be seen. "Okay," he responded, then hung up. Thomas sat down on the edge of the concrete step, waiting to see Aaron's black car to appear in the driveway. 

•••

The first half of the day was really uneventful. James stayed by himself, and Thomas either stuck with Aaron or Charles, or was by himself. So lunch came around, and James found himself sitting at a table by himself. Thomas sat with Aaron and Charles, not bothering to get anything to eat. 

James stole a glance to the boy, but quickly looked away as he felt a wave of tears. James thought he was going to be alone for the rest of lunch, but he didn't mind. He was kinda used to it. But, someone sat down in front of him. When he looked up, he saw Lafayette. 

"Laf! You came!" James exclaimed, smiling a bit. Lafayette chuckled and nodded. The boy stood up and went to hug his friend but he saw a black blob flash by them. James jumped and looked over, seeing Hercules wearing all black with his hoodie on. "H-Herc?" James gasped, holding a hand over his chest. 

"Alex is going to come looking for me, I don't have much time," he said, sitting down. James sat down next to him, facing him as well, trying to block him from view. Lafayette reluctantly took a seat as his eyes got glossy. "Laf, I'm so sorry..." Hercules started. He looked at the Frenchman, trying to make eye contact, but Lafayette looked anywhere else. 

"I love you, I do, so much..." He continued, trying not to let his voice break. Lafayette still avoided him, but a tear silently fell down his cheek. "I forgive you, for slapping me. I sure as hell deserved it," Hercules chuckled a bit. The Frenchman finally decided to look at him. 

"Hercules, mon amour... Je'taime..." He whispered. Lafayette rose from his seat and grabbed Hercules' arm, pulling him into an embrace. Hercules, who seemed surprised, melted into the hug and they held each other for a solid minute. Just as they pulled away, and just as Hercules was about to say something to James, Alexander stormed over. 

"Hercules, what the hell?" He yelled. Hercules shrunk back a bit. "Come on," he tried pulling on his arm, but the Irishman pulled back. "No! This is so stupid," Hercules put his hands on his forehead, inhaling deeply. 

"Thomas was abused and scared into homophobia. Does that make everything he did right? No, definitely not! But he's gay himself, and from what Lafayette has said about him, he's changed. So what we did was absolutely wrong." 

Alex stared at Hercules for a second, mouth slightly agape. "Does this mean you're not going to help us? That you're not against him?" When Hercules nodded, Alex's face first scrunched in surprise and confusion, but slowly twisted into a sinister smile. "Oh, so you want the whole school to know?"

Hercules, who had been standing tall before, shrunk down again. "I'll tell everyone your secret*." He said, darkly. "Secret?" Lafayette looked at Alex with narrowed eyes. "You'll find out soon enough," he replied.

"G-go ahead. Tell them." Hercules said, reluctantly. He initially didn't want anyone to know about who he really was, but putting it into thought, he decided it was time. Alex laughed and ran to the stage at the front of the cafeteria. 

He hoisted himself up and screamed to get attention. "Let's get closer," Hercules said shakily. James and Lafayette nodded, following him to the front. "I have something to say!" Alex yelled. Hercules cringed. 

"You know our beloved 'Hercules' Mulligan?" He asked, air-quoting Hercules. "He's not who you think he is. She is transgender. Her real name is Haley Mulligan!" 

The cafeteria got silent. Everybody turned to find Hercules, who was standing in the middle of the room. Then everyone erupted into conversation, some people supporting, but a lot of hate. Hercules mustered strength, though, to get up on the stage and start speaking. 

"And what's wrong with that? So what if I'm different? Everybody should be allowed to express who they are, even if that means you're a boy in a girl's body, or a girl in a boy's body, or you're a boy who likes boys, or a girl who likes girls!" Hercules exclaimed, letting a few tears fall. 

Lafayette smiled at him and climbed up on the stage as well, intertwining their fingers. A girl stumbled to get up too, smiling brightly. "I'm trans too! I'm male to female! You know me as Maria Lewis but my birth name was Marcus Lewis!"

More and more people got on the stage, the 'boo's being overpowered. James, Thomas, Hercules, Lafayette, Josh, Tyler, John, Charles, Aaron and almost half the cafeteria was standing up, chanting and yelling. Teachers and administration tried to stop it from happening, but ultimately failed. 

After 10 more minutes of this, things finally calmed down. Everybody had gotten down, either standing and talking or sitting back at their tables. Josh, Tyler, John and Hercules immediately ran to Thomas and James. 

"We are so sorry, Thomas, James!" John apologized profusely. Thomas chuckled a bit and placed a finger over his lips. "It's fine. I did worse to you..." John backed away from Thomas, finding Alex and Demyx and grabbi g them by their ears, pulling them along. 

Everybody apologized to each other, some more stubborn than others. Thomas and Alex did find a hatred towards each other still, though. But that didn't matter. 

Lafayette and Hercules sat and a table in the corner, just talking. A few times they came close to crying, and they were trying to patch things up. 

James stood next to Thomas, awkwardly, just as the bell rang. James stole a small glance at the boy next to him then quickly escaped the cafeteria after gathering his things, making his way to his locker. As he walked, he realized he had made a mistake. 

Like the voice had been telling him; Thomas did nothing wrong, both of them just believed he did.

~

A/N: a little note *alex is NOT being transphobic. he only did it to intimidate hercules because hes an ass

also, i know this chapter probably seems rushed and got bad during the end, but im in a bit lf a rush because 1. I want something out for yall before i probably disappear and 2. im excited to finish this story 

~T