Soft (Kleinsen)

"How Did You Know You Liked Guys?"

The rest of the day was filled with awkward gestures and remarks. Jared wasn't really used to complimenting Evan so much but they were so easy to point out.

Meanwhile, Evan didn't know how to respond to this. His face usually turned red and turned away with a small, "thanks."

They spend their "sick day" (as they told the school) in Evan's house binge watching The Office. The short boy was surprised at how frustrated Jared could get when it came to the parts such as when Jim was with Karen and when Michael outed Oscar.

He would usually just giggle and go back to the screen. But.. There was something going on inside Evan. It was a weird yet warm sensation. It happened every time Jared spoke and laughed. It happened whenever he turned his head to look at Evan. It happened when he complimented him. It happened every time their arms accidentally brushed off each other.

But he didn't pay attention to it though. It was just a feeling that would go away soon. He tried to distract those feelings by thinking about the beloved Zoe. Oh, how he loved her.

Yet that didn't seem to work either. For some strange reason, whenever she came to his mind, he didn't feel that sweet sweet feeling he did whenever he thought of her. He went on, thinking of every attractive female he knew, but none gave him that sensation.

Jared had noticed Evan's wandering eyes and paused the episode. "You okay?" He nudged him and there it was.

That warm, sweet feeling that he had felt for Zoe for the past two years. And he panicked, a lot. He stood up and walked his way over to the bathroom, not answering Jared's question.

He opened the door and walked over to the bathtub, in which he stepped inside and layed his body. He looked at the ceiling with wonder. Why? He had thought. He was an asshole to me. Anyone who has ever fallen for their tormentor would be a total idiot.

Jared followed after Evan after realizing he wasn't coming back. He walked into the bathroom and looked at the bathtub with scrunched up eyebrows. "Acorn, are you okay?"

Evan sighed, "No." He was afraid that if he said anything else he would have a breakdown in front of Jared. Afraid that he'd go back to being cruel to him. Oh, but why did he care? He stood up and faced the other. "Can I ask you something, personal?"

Jared gave him a nod as he sat on the toilet seat which was down.

"How did you find out you liked guys?" Evan's eyes were filled with an emotion he could not describe.

Jared cleared his throat. "Well I.. I found them uh.." He moved his gaze on to the floor. "I just found them attractive and I don't have control over that. It just sort of happens without my will."

After a few seconds of quiet, Evan looked at the bathtub floor. "I think I'm like you then. I think I find boys attractive too." He looked at Jared who was now looking at him with a shocked expression. "Is that bad?"

Jared shook his head with a chuckle. "No, no it's not." He performed a small shrug. "It's just who you like, there's nothing wrong with it."

They talked a bit more about this. Evan settled on bisexuality. He had stared at Jared with a confident smile and said, "I'm bisexual."

"Why are you so suddenly saying that? The last time-" He cut himself off, not wanting to flashback to the memory.

"I wasn't sure," he answered, knowing what he would bring up. "It's just that I met a part of someone who cared."

Jared felt his heart shatter into a million small pieces. Someone had crawled their way into Evan's heart and he sure as hell knew it wasn't him. He was too much of an asshole to him for way too long. He shrugged off the rejected feeling and gave him a fake smile.

"I'm happy for you. I hope you get the guy!" Jared said in encouragement.

"Actually," started Evan. "I think I already have him, I'm not quite sure, it's complicated."

Jared felt tears prick his eyes and stood up quickly. "I have to go home, my mom is probably worried sick about me!"

Surprised, Evan nodded and stood up as well. "Oh okay. Bye!"

Just like that, Jared walked outside and ran to his house, crying along the way.