Help Me (sequel to Save Me)

Chapter 56

There's some homophobic stuff in this. Apart from that, no trigger warning.

The journey home isn't as easy as the journey out.

The taxi driver happened to be a homophobe who couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Gonna have to clean my car now," was the first thing he said when the men got in. It made Remington hurt inside. Why must he feel bad for loving Andy?

"What's the problem?" Andy asked, squeezing his lover's hand.

The man glanced at them and made a visually disgusted face. "You two." The blunt way he said it made Remington scared. He isn't good at handling people talking to him like this.

Andy wasn't having it. He could see how the man was upsetting Remington and he wanted to shout at him, but he will never shout around Remington. "We're not doing anything," he said, frowning when the younger pulled his hand away. He knew why. Remington felt so judged and hated and he wanted to pretend like he wasn't gay so the driver would stop being so mean.

"It's unnatural," the driver said, and Remington turned his head towards the window, trying to hide his face. "And unnecessary."

Andy shook his head. "You need to learn some fucking respect, man. You can't say shit like that to someone who's literally paying you."

"You need to learn that being with him isn't normal." The way he said 'him' was so ugly and Remington blinked back tears, pushing Andy's hand away when the man touched his shoulder.

"Love is normal. Who cares who I love? It's so fucking sad."

"Who the fuck are you calling sad?" His voice was louder now, and Remington flinched.

Andy was getting angry. He had to tell himself not to shout. "Just take us to the fucking airport and keep your mouth shut."

"Ooh, gay boy's telling me what to do!"

"Stop the fucking car. We're getting out." Andy demanded, and the man did, keen on getting rid of the lovers. He pulled into a lay by, waited for them to get their things, held his middle finger up at them, and drove off.

Remington was shivering. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked at the ground. "You can touch me now," he mumbled, "please."

Andy put the bags down and held the boy to him. "He's a stuck up idiot, sweetheart, don't let it get to you. You're okay."

The boy sniffled. "We need another taxi."

"I'll sort that, princess. I'm sorry he scared you." Andy had phoned up for a taxi with his husband in his arms, kissing his head while the operator talked and making sure he felt protected and loved.

Once they finally got the airport, Remington was tired and shaken up and curled into Andy while they waited for the gates to open.

And now they're in the plane on the way home. When they sat down, Andy made sure Remington was by the window and not next to a stranger. That makes him very anxious. It's a shame that the taxi driver had to ruin the journey for them, specially Remington, who takes things like that straight to heart.

The younger finds his sketchbook in the bag they were allowed to keep with them, putting it on the little table that's connected to the seat in front of him, and opens it to find the most recent drawing. It's a portrait of a picture him and Andy took together, all smiley and cheerful. He still had his hair to finish, as well as Andy's hand.

Andy reads his book while Remington is drawing, and smiles when Remington rests his head on his shoulder. The boy puts his earphones in and listens to music quietly, sitting up when Andy gets up to go to the toilet, and giving the stranger in the seat by the isle a gentle smile. He carries on with his drawing, and can't help but to think about the things the man in the taxi said. He hated how the man was talking about him like he wasn't important, like he didn't matter.

It's not fair that people make him feel bad for something out of his control. He didn't exactly choose to be gay. It's not like eh woke up one morning and decided he wanted to be gay. That's not how it works. It's just that he isn't attracted to women. What's so bad about that? "Andy?" He asks when the man returns, "is it wrong to be gay?"

"No, sweetheart. Don't ever let yourself believe that." Andy holds his hand, and Remington just sighs. "No one, baby, no one has the right to tell you who you can and can't love, and anyone who makes you feel bad for loving me is wrong and irrelevant and not worth your time." He looks at the drawing. "That's really amazing!"

Remington lets himself smile at the kind words. "Really?"

"Absolutely. Don't you start criticising it."

In the airport, the men collect their suitcase from baggage claim, and spend ten minutes looking for their car, which results in fits of giggles. They get home at around six pm, and order a takeaway, and Remington creates a new Instagram account without mentioning it to Andy. He's sure the comments will have died down by now.

But they haven't.

Many might say they've gotten a whole lot worse.