After Theo comes out as gay to his best friend, his life becomes a living hell. Ruthlessly bullied, Theo falls deep into his depression, and is ready to give up on life. But then an unlikely ally steps in...
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-Theo-
The next couple of weeks followed pretty much the same pattern: at home I was the cleaning lady and the cook, and at school I was Deon's lackey. He didn't go out to drink even once during those two weeks – probably because his hangover had been so severe that he couldn't even get up from the bed before five in the afternoon – so I saw him only at school.
It was a good thing. He had turned into one hell of a rollercoaster with his mood swings. I had a really hard time guessing his moods. Sometimes he was nice, and sometimes he turned into a bitchy drama queen, and I believed it was only getting worse. I learned not to get too upset about his behavior, since he would eventually calm down and treat me like a friend again, but it sure was getting weird. If he didn't want us to be friends, then why did he bother? I just couldn't understand.
I wanted to know, but at the same time I couldn't care less. I didn't get beaten up or bullied anymore, and since he had told me to not ask any questions, I kept my end of the deal and stopped trying to understand him.
Another reason why I didn't pay too much attention to his hissy fits was Beau.
I met him again after the day of our first "date", and we had a long talk about everything. Beau told me he had started growing feelings for Allen soon after we started high school. He had confessed his feelings to Allen almost a year before I had confessed to him, but instead of returning his feelings, my brother had crushed Beau, just like Beau had crushed me. He said that it had taken him almost a year to recover from what Allen had said. He was grateful that I had been there for him during that awful time. He told me I had helped him to heal and learn to love his life again.
Then he told me something beautiful and devastating; he had started to grow feelings towards me as well. I couldn't have been happier to hear that, but it was also the saddest thing I had ever heard. Because of my brother, Beau had learned to think that being gay was wrong and disgusting, so when I told him I loved him, he reacted like everyone expected him to react: calling me a disgusting fag, just like Allen had once called him.
He also said he knew there wasn't anything he could do to change what happened, no matter how hard he wished for it. He knew he didn't deserve to be forgiven.
Yet, I forgave him. What else could I have done? He was a victim of hatred, just like I had been. I knew exactly what he had gone through, so all that was left was to start all over, rebuild our friendship, and start something even better together.
*****
"Beau, wait..." I gasped, lying on my back in his bed.
Beau was kissing my neck heatedly, his hands finding their way under the waist of my jeans, our legs tangled together. We had been making out for quite some time already and I knew Beau was getting fired up. I could literally feel it.
