silent storms | AWAE

bravery

gilbert

Gilbert quietly shut his door and breathed a deep sigh of relief. All the thoughts that had been traveling through his head had finally disappeared and he could not have been happier. He had no idea why, but the thought that Anne was cheating on him with Diana had crossed his mind more than he'd like to admit.

"Why so quiet?" Jerry asked, his eyebrows raised. Jerry knew Gilbert more than anyone in the entire world and he was incredibly thankful that Jerry had stuck by him through all the hard times in his life. "Were your thoughts right on the whole Diana and Anne situation?"

"You know, if my thoughts were right and my heart had just been broken, that would not be the way you should bring it up," Gilbert scoffed. He took a seat in his chair by his desk and turned it so that he was facing Jerry. "We'll work on it though."

Jerry nodded his head to himself as he set down his pencil. He glanced at his roommate before opening his mouth. "So, I'm assuming everything is alright?" he dared to ask and he hoped his assumption was correct.

"Everything is alright," Gilbert repeated and put Jerry's mind at ease. Well, it was at ease on at least that situation and Gilbert could tell there was something on his mind. "Hey Jer, what's on your mind?"

Jerry kicked his legs so that they were hanging off the side of his bed. He stared intensely at his hands that were folded in front of him. Gilbert knew Jerry wanted to tell him something, but it was seemingly difficult to do that.

"Hey bud, what's up?" Gilbert asked as he got up from his chair. He made his way over to Jerry's bed and sat down without saying any more words. He placed his hand on his best friend's back and tried to gain eye contact with him, but failed miserably. "Jerry..."

"Gilbert," Jerry started and tried his best to hide the cracking in his voice but his roommate noticed it immediately.

"Jerry, seriously, tell me," Gilbert begged. He grabbed Jerry's shoulders and forced him to face him. He was getting seriously concerned for the boy sitting in front of him. What on earth was so nerve-wracking that Jerry couldn't tell him?

"I'm gay," Jerry whispered.

Oh, that.

Before he could think straight, Gilbert wrapped his arms around Jerry. He hugged him tighter than anyone ever had before. Gilbert did not dare let go of him, knowing that Jerry needed all the support he could have.

Jerry weakly hugged him back, digging his face into Gilbert's shoulder. A couple seconds later, Gilbert could hear muffled sobs coming from his shoulder. He didn't say anything and just let Jerry have a good cry, he probably needed it.

"Jerry," Gilbert said as he carelessly started running his hands through Jerry's hair. "It's okay, you're going to be okay."

"That was so hard," Jerry cried. He sat up and stared at Gilbert, his eyes bloodshot. His face was a tad puffy, but that was expected.

"I know," Gilbert said as though he understood. He didn't understand, how could he? He liked girls, the social norm. Jerry went against the social norm and Gilbert knew that even Jerry didn't accept himself. There of course was Anne, who was bisexual, Diana, who was gay, Ruby, who was apart of the lgbtq+ community, and countless other students. The fact was, most of them were girls. There were barely any boys that had come out, probably because they were scared. They had a right to be scared, Billy Andrews had made it very obvious that he was homophobic.

"God, I look like such a wimp," Jerry laughed, but there was still a hint of sadness left in his voice. Gilbert shook his head and placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You are the bravest person I know," Gilbert smiled as he told Jerry the truth. He wanted Jerry to feel proud of himself, and he was going to accomplish that goal, even if it took him until the world.

"Now, what guys here are you into?" Gilbert asked, a smirk never leaving his face as he gently shoved Jerry.

an: honestly what a bromance