I'm Not Gay, I Swear! | McPriceley

Chapter Two

A knock came at the door, to a random tune that Kevin thought was quite familiar, though he couldn't exactly place it. No one else had bothered to try and stand up to open it, so Kevin got up from the couch and decided to answer it himself. He was quite sure that this was the companion that his parents had gotten for him. Yet he hadn't expected them to come so early in the morning-- it was only nine after all.

Behind the door was a shorter man who looked to be around Kevin's age-- maybe a tad older. His ginger hair was quite radiant in the sunlight, and his eyes were a magnificent blue color. Freckles were splattered all over his face, which also contained a large smile. He held out his hand for Kevin to shake, which he did hesitantly.

"Hello! My name is Connor McKinley! I am here to be Kevin's companion and help him come through to himself."

"Right..." Kevin said, finally taking his hand out of Connor's hold. "Well, uh, I'm Kevin."

"Ah! Well, it's nice to meet you, Kevin," Connor smiled even wider, if that was even possible.

"Yeah, it's... nice to meet you too." Kevin had to admit, he was a bit intimidated with how cheerful this boy was. Sure, Arnold could be fairly loud and energetic, but he didn't emit this amount of joy and friendliness.

"Kevin, be a dear and let your new friend inside," his mother called from the living room.

"Um, you should come inside," Kevin offered, stepping aside to give Connor room.

"Thank you," Connor nodded, grabbing his suitcase and walking inside, glancing around the new house with interest. "You have a very lovely home."

"Er, thanks," Kevin said. "Here, I can show you to your room."

"That would be great," Connor smiled again, following after the brunet as he started up the stairs. They turned down the hallway and Kevin opened the door to the guest room, motioning for Connor to step inside.

"My room is just across the hall if you need anything," Kevin told him. "But for now, this room is all yours."

"Well alright," Connor beamed. Why did he smile so much? It was quite contagious. He picked up his suitcase and set it on the bed, starting to unzip it so he could put away his things. But as he did, Kevin noticed something about the luggage. It was pink. An odd color for a "straight" companion. But he shrugged it off and went back downstairs to give Connor some privacy as he settled in.

Kevin walked up to the coat rack and grabbed his jacket, eager to get out of the house in any means to not interact with his new companion, when his father stopped him.

"What're you doing?" he asked, folding his arms.

"I was just going to go out and hang out with Arnold," Kevin told him.

"Well what about your new friend, huh? Are you just going to leave him here all alone?"

That's exactly what I'm going to do, Kevin thought. "I guess not..."

"You should take him with you and show him around town!" Kevin's mother suggested, suddenly popping into the conversation.

"That sounds like a great idea. You should do that, Kevin," his father demanded more than offered.

Kevin groaned. "Alright." He put his jacket on before dragging his feet up the stairs and back into the guest room, where Connor seemed to be just finishing up putting everything away. "Hey, d'you want to go for a walk with me? I could show you around town..."

Connor appeared to perk up at that. "That sounds lovely! Let me get my sweatshirt out and then we can go." He dug into the closet-- which seemed to be very neatly organized with his clothes-- before bringing out a simple light blue hoodie. He threw it on over his head before walking up to Kevin. "After you."

Kevin shoved his hands into his pockets and led Connor down the stairs, then outside of the house. He didn't know exactly what to show Connor-- there wasn't much in Salt Lake City besides large skyscrapers that he himself didn't know exactly what were for. So he led him to the only place he did know: he and Arnold's diner.

The place was rather empty, seeing on how early in the morning it was, though there were still a few people here and there. Kevin sat down in his usual spot, ordering a single black coffee like normal. Connor glanced around the building for a little while before sitting down next to him, taking Arnold's seat.

Connor ordered a small hot chocolate before turning back to Kevin. "So... do you come here a lot?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded, watching as the barista slid his cup of coffee down to him, which he caught easily. "My friend and I come down here at least once a week."

"Friend?" Connor asked as he watched the brunet take a sip of his coffee. "Only, uh, one?"

"Yep. We're a lonely bunch. Though his girlfriend comes with us sometimes," Kevin explained.

"Oh, I see. Well I'd love to meet them sometime," he smiled.

Kevin glanced over at Connor. "Why do you do that so much?"

Connor blinked. "Do what?"

"Smile. I don't think I've ever met someone who smiles as much as you do. It's pretty concerning how happy you are."

"Concerning? Would you rather me not be happy at all?" Connor furrowed his brows.

"No! That's... not what I meant," Kevin sighed. "I just don't know how someone could actually possibly be that happy."

"Really?" Connor quizzed, starting to become troubled by Kevin's tone. "Why is that?"

Kevin opened his mouth, as if he was about to answer him, before remembering his promise he had made to not get too close to his new companion. "Just... nothing."

Connor frowned at his failed attempt to get Kevin to open up. He just wanted to help him, whether it had anything to do with his sexuality or not. His main purpose was just to assist him so that he'd become less confused-- and so far, he wasn't doing a very good job at getting to know him.

But, an awkward silence was filling the space between them, and Connor absolutely hated silence. He watched as Kevin finished up his coffee. "So, aren't Mormons not allowed to have coffee?"

"Maybe..." Kevin said slowly. "You're not going to tell on me, are you?"

Connor put his hands up in defense. "I would never. My job here is to guide you, not rat you out to your parents."

"So how exactly does that work?" Kevin asked. "How're you going to so-called 'guide me?'"

"I'm just going to lead you away from any bad thoughts," Connor explained.

"Because being gay is bad," Kevin scoffed. "Even though I am not gay."

"Much to your dismay, yes, it is. We've all been taught how being gay is a sin. And now I am here to enforce that knowledge onto you, no matter how hard that will be."

"Alright then. I'm still not gay, though," Kevin said again.

"And that is a good mindset to have," Connor told him.

"Ugh. You sound like my mom," Kevin murmured.

Connor just shook his head. "I just want to help you, Kev."

Kevin froze at the name. "Who told you that you could call me that?"

"I'm sorry, am I not supposed to use nicknames?"

"No. I just..." Kevin trailed off. Nicknames were a sure way of becoming friends easier. Heck, he and Arnold used them all the time. But that was the problem. He didn't want to get close to Connor. It would be much harder to say goodbye to him that way. "Can you stick to just Kevin?"

Connor was silent for a few moments. "Yeah." Getting closer to Kevin was going to be much harder than he thought. And that was the complete opposite of what he wanted. But there was no way he was going to give up on him. Something about Kevin intrigued him, and he didn't want to let him go so fast. No, he'd just have to try harder to get him to open up. No matter what.