Turning Tides

Behind the Veil

The duo had been walking for around five minutes and up until this point it had been in just about absolute silence: there had been the usual, obligatory, small talk; the how are you's and the what have you been up to's but other than that not a word had been spoken. Liam's whole body language suggested that there was a metaphorical elephant in the room, only they were outdoors...regardless, it was obvious that something was bothering him- needless to say Brett had picked up on it, running his eyes up and down Liam from time to time when he though he wasn't looking, and being the sort of person to tackle things head on he pressed him on it.

"So, what's bothering you?" Brett's voice was such that it had all the undertones of serious caring and genuine interest in what was bothering him, but didn't create the awkward atmosphere synonymous with such emotions.

"Nothin'...well I guess something but..." he stumbled a little further before deciding that the best course of action was to just be out with it, "how come you used to hate me so much?"

'Well shit' are the words that could accurately summarise the atmosphere that fell in that second. Liam proceeded to simply just stare at the ground then, slowly, raised his eyes back up onto Brett. What he saw was not what he had expected. Brett was rubbing the back of his neck and his cheeks had flushed pink, this wasn't awkward Brett that was, not so subtly, subtly looking Liam over, this was something else, it was almost as though he was, embarrassed. It took a few minutes but Brett finally responded.

"I didn't hate you." The words were barely audible, even to Liam, so he gave a look that begged clarification. Brett complied. "I didn't hate you, Liam. In fact, it was quite the opposite; I'm going to sound like a twelve-year old spreading gossip when I say this but, I actually liked you, you know..." he took a short but sharp breath, "liked you, liked you". Now it was Liam's turn to go red and awkward. (well isn't this going well)

Brett once again broke the silence, "believe it or not I used to struggle with huge self-confidence issues and my only way to deal with them was to become a different person, wear a mask so to speak, and become a person that I knew would be popular. It's just unfortunate that that person was the macho straight guy" he laughed a little before continuing, "the dick". Suddenly, Liam felt an air of sadness and understanding rush over him. Brett had just opened up to him about something so personal and the fact that he felt he had to hide who he really was made Liam want to wrap his arms around him and just hold him for a while- but he did nothing, he stayed silent and allowed Brett to continue. "You wear a mask for so long you forget who you were beneath it, I'm just sorry that I allowed pretending to dislike you appear to be what I actually felt." His eyes began to glisten in the fading sunlight, as he looked on towards the sunset, the orange tints highlighting his sharp jawline. He managed to hold back the tears and put back on his usual happy face, that in this moment seemed to be genuine, "but hey, that's in the past right? And the truth will out. In all honesty, I'm glad, glad you finally know how I really felt about you...how I still feel about you. I'm happy you came along Liam Dunbar, I promise you tonight will be awesome!" with that he smiled and looked out forward, leaving Liam to process everything.

"I'm glad I came too, and I'm glad I ran into you and that we decided to start over. I like the real you." A smile made its way onto his face, a genuine smile that showed just how happy he was in that moment. After another couple of minutes they were there, music blaring through every crack in the house. Brett looked at Liam and lightly punched his upper arm which caused him to stare directly at Brett. The cheeky grin that Liam was growing to love so much, once again plastered on his face, Brett said, "This is where the fun begins."