You're My Baby Boy (Boy x Boy)

Chapter 25

Author's POV 

 Kiran had come straight home from school that day, as requested—or rather, ordered—by his mother. The Jaeger family was coming over again in the evening for dinner, and both Kiran and Leo were dreading it. 

It's not that they didn't like each other; they actually enjoyed being with each other. The problem was that they didn't see each other the way their parents expected them to, and the other problem was that Kiran's mother was being way too friendly for anyone's liking. 

The boys tried to act like it wasn't bothering them, but it was easier said than done. The day seemed to drag on, and by the time school ended, they were exhausted and done with life. 

Kiran sat in his room, trying to concentrate on his homework, when he heard a knock on the door. Xander poked his head in the room and smiled. 

"Hey... Am I interrupting?" 

"No, come in." 

Both Kiran and his father sat down on the bed in silence, until Kiran decided to speak. 

"Why? Why now, of all times?" 

Xander sighed. "Kiran, if I knew, I would tell you. Your mother didn't even tell me anything about this arrangement. Had I known, I would have disagreed immediately." 

"I know..." 

Xander took Kiran's hand in his. "I'm so sorry, Kiran... I wish I could stop it, but I can't... Everything has already been done..." 

It was times like this that Kiran wished he and his dad could just run away. But he knows his father won't do anything of the sort.... 

Well... Okay never mind, back to the story! 

Kiran's POV

All too soon, evening came, along with the Jaeger family. Leo came in looking exhausted and red-eyed, almost as if he'd been crying. He greeted us politely and walked in with a slight limp. Of course, all this didn't go unnoticed by me.  

We both quietly went to my room and sat in silence, not wanting to say anything. However, Leo was the first to break the silence. 

"You okay...?" 

"Just barely... At this point I'm ready to run away and change my name and everything... What about you?" 

Leo looked down and scratched his arm. "Same..." 

I  was itching to ask any further questions, especially about why he seemed to be in physical pain. So I did. 

"Leo, are you really okay? You don't seem so good, physically at least. Did you fall or something?" 

Leo looked at me with an unreadable emotion in his eyes, maybe it was just me, but it looked like something akin to despair. 

He sighed, "Well, I guess I would have had to tell you all this at some point... After all, we're getting married," he added with an empty smile. 

"You could say I fell... Or rather, I was pushed." 

"Pushed...?" 

Leo stared straight in my eyes desperately. 

"Listen, Kiran... What I'm about to tell you now... It's extremely personal and I don't want it leaving this room, okay? Only Jaxon and Hunter know about this, and Mason and Noah only know snippets of it. So please, promise me you won't mention this to anyone." 

Hearing those words from Leo in that tone sparked a tiny bit of fear in me, but I nodded nonetheless. Was it really that bad...? 

Exhaling in relief, Leo whispered, "My parents... My parents pushed me down..." 

My  breath caught in my throat in utter shock. "Your parents...? But why?" 

Leo laughed sadly. "I don't even know. I guess they just hate me." 

He rolled up his pants to reveal a slightly stained bandage covering his lower leg. I gasped, wondering why this boy's own parents would do such a thing to him. 

"When I fell, my leg landed on a broken glass bottle and created a cut along my calf..." 

"How could they...? How could your own parents hurt you like this?" 

"It's because they're homophobic... My mother witnessed me kissing a boy when I was twelve years old. It was innocent, but not to her. Since then, I've become a hindrance to the family and that's when the abuse began... Every day, they would find new ways to hurt me, physically or emotionally, threaten me and ultimately beat me... It was because of them... That I ended up with DID... "

"DID?"

"Dissociative Identity Disorder... The abuse had traumatized me as a child, so I ended up creating another personality in me to help me cope with the abuse. That's why I sometimes end up having gaps in my memory; when that personality is in control, I don't know what goes on."

I was utterly baffled and confused at this point. This was all hitting me like a pile of bricks. I mean, I'd read books and watched shows and anime where characters had multiple personalities, but I never thought I would ever know someone who has DID. 

"I don't understand... How did you know about this other personality in you?"

"I didn't. It was Jaxon and Hunter who told me about it. This happened when I was about fourteen or fifteen, but definitely before I started going out with Jaxon. I went to their house after school one day, and for some reason I couldn't remember anything that happened from the moment I left my room till I got to school and saw Jaxon. I went about the school day as normal and then went to Jaxon's house afterwards. 

When we went to his room, he and Hunter then asked me if I was okay. I realized they were watching, even Hunter. They knew something was off, especially since I'd been having frequent memory gaps. That's when they asked me what was going on at home. I knew I couldn't lie to them, I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I told them about the abuse and the beatings. Now, you know Jaxon is really smart... He's the one who suggested to take me to the doctor to get checked up. That's when I found out I had DID. When we found that out, both Jaxon and Hunter admitted that they figured that would be the case, but they never said anything. After that, every time I had a blank moment, Jaxon would tell me that Carson had showed up."

"Carson?"

"Apparently that's what my other personality calls himself. I asked Jaxon to describe it to me one day. When Carson appears, my eyes become like an olive green and my voice changes slightly. His personality is very arrogant and comes off as rude sometimes... Though I suppose that's just a defense mechanism; he's quite caring to Hunter and Jaxon. When I think about it, he's helped me cope with the abuse so far. Everything Carson does are things I could never be confident enough to do myself. Nowadays, it seems like he stops showing up so often now, but he does come up occasionally when I can't handle it..." 

As he trailed off, I sat there with wide eyes and felt nothing but sympathy for the boy next to me. To think that Leo, a kind-hearted and gentle boy, was suffering so much because of his very own parents... How cruel could they be to their only son? 

"Leo, I am so sorry..." 

"Don't be, no one can do anything about this. Who knows? At some point, maybe you might end up meeting Carson." 

I looked down, not knowing what to say in this kind of situation. This is all too unreal. 

Leo sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess we both have our fair share of personal issues in our lives, huh? But we can't let this get us down. We'll find a way to get through this. For now, we just have to pit up with it and not let ourselves be overwhelmed by negativity." 

Just by hearing his voice, I could tell how determined he was to get through this. I'm sure he is; he'd do anything to be happy with Jaxon, just as I would with Hunter. 

I can't wait for the days when everything will be better than it is now. Until then, I'll just have to put up with the mess my mother caused.