lay with me

two.

Greyson and Benny are soulmates. They don't know that their other half is of the same gender, however. The two have thought they were straight their entire lives. Greyson's home life isn't what one would call ideal. With a father that left when he was conceived and a mother that takes it out on her son, Greyson's time at home is almost nonexistent. Any chance he gets, he stays at a friend's house or even out on the streets when his mother is especially bitter. She has a drinking problem; now, she'll never admit that, but one day when Greyson was 7, getting off the bus from school, she threw an empty beer bottle at him because his teachers called home. They were concerned about if he was getting enough to eat, as he never got school lunch but didn't have a packed lunch either. That's when Greyson fully realized that he was never going to be a normal kid, like the others at school. Their only income was the small amount that his mother made from working as a waitress at the beaten down old diner in town. She barely kept her job most days, coming in hungover or slightly tipsy. The only reason they didn't fire her is that they knew she needed this job and the money. Otherwise, poor Greyson would be taken by CPS and put in the foster system; a very unforgiving solution at times. He began working, although against the child labor laws, at the age of 13. He was paid under the counter to deliver newspapers around town and run miscellaneous errands for Ms. Jessica. She was always sweet to him; she knew he was struggling in life, even at his young age. She became a better mother to him than his biological mother ever was.