Knowing Me, Knowing You

My Mama Said

He made it to the nearby strip mall before Trevor had to sit down. His body ached, and the dizziness brought on a wave of nausea. Sitting on a lone park bench, he leaned over the trashcan beside him and heaved, throwing up everything in his stomach. Miraculously, there was no blood.

Without a phone, he had no way of calling Dante to tell him where he was. In his condition, he knew there was no way he wouldn't collapse on the way over. Mentally preparing himself to fall asleep on the bench, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Trevor?"

He opened his eyes, spotting Carter kneeling in front of him. "Hey," he whispered.

"Oh, God." She opened her bag of Chinese takeout and grabbed a few napkin, patting at the gash on his head. He hissed, and she whispered a small apology before wiping the rest of the excess blood. Throwing the napkins away, she pulled out a fresh one to hold to his still bleeding head. She helped him sit up and sat next to him.

"Boy, talk about convenience," he chuckled before groaning and lowering his head to his knees.

Carter rubbed his back. "What happened? Did you get drunk or something?"

"No, no. My parents kicked me out of the house."

Carter's hand stopped moving. "They what?"

"Yeah. I was expecting myself to be in far worse shape. Lord knows Kennedy was when she was kicked out."

"Kennedy?"

"My sister. She was outed, and our parents beat the hell out of her and kicked her out. She was homeless for about a week before I found her and called her girlfriend. They've been living in Chicago together ever since."

Carter's heart plummeted, and she inhaled a raspy breath before asking, "And you?"

"Same thing," he whispered. "Imagine being the most homophobic parents in the world, and getting two gay kids. Seems like a cruel joke, don't you think?"

"Trevor, I am so sorry this happened."

"You know what the weirdest thing is?" he asked, and she shook her head. "Despite what happened, a part of me is relieved. Like, I knew what was going to happen this whole time, and now that is has, it's like I can breathe again. After holding my breath around my parents for so long, I can finally breathe again." He shook his head, blinking his eyes rapidly. "But they kicked me out. And now I've lost everything."

Wiping away her own tears, Carter wrapped her arm around Trevor and grabbed her paper bag of takeout. "Come on. You're coming home with me."

"No, no. You can just-"

"I'm not going to leave you out here. Until we figure everything out, you can stay with me. I mean it. My parents will be more than happy to accommodate."

Too tired to explain, he allowed Carter to lead him to the parking lot and help him into the passenger seat. She threw the bag of takeout in the back and strapped herself in, driving back to her house.

In ten minutes, she was parked in her driveway. "Xander!" she loudly called out as she walked to the passenger side, helping Trevor out of the car.

Exiting the house, Xander looked for Carter. When he spotted her trying to pull Trevor out of the car, he ran to his side and carried him inside. He sat Trevor on the couch and quickly inspected his head and nose. "Where's your first aid kit?"

"Above the washing machine."

Xander ran to the laundry room and came back, sitting on the coffee table, and opened the kit. "How did your parents find out?"