To Zion

13

"So he...kissed you?" Cooper's eyes were wide, his voice anything but a confidential whisper.

"Yes, now shut up." I looked around the classroom quickly, making sure no one heard us. I caught Miller's eyes for a second, and felt my face heat up when they smiled at me. Since I hadn't heard their pronouns today, I always just thought of them in neutral pronouns. It seemed right.

"I didn't know he had it in him." Cooper looked past my shoulder at Miller, who I think knew they were being talked about.

"They." I corrected, and Cooper looked at me with a knowing smile.

"Whatever you say. Wouldn't want to offended your partner and get you mad at me."

"Cooper, can you take this seriously? I don't know how I'm going to answer them, and you should give them their proper pronouns for their sake and not mine. Also, I'm more worried about their home situation than anything else right now."

"You're right. I'm sorry, Zion." He looked genuinely sorry. "And I know you want to help Miller, but can you actually?"

I sighed, and shook my head. There was nothing much I could do. I told them that I would go with them to talk to the school counselor, and although I knew they didn't want to, they said they would do that soon. But as far as giving them a better place to stay, I could do nothing. I mean, I barely had a home of my own.

"So, since you told me about...them," His eyes met mine after the slight pause, but I just nodded at him. He was trying and that's what was important. "I can't help but think that there must be some way to help."

"But I can't! I literally have nothing." It was so frustrating I felt like hitting something. There was a person begging for help, and no one was listening. Someone who said they liked me...someone who kissed me.

"Zion." Cooper snapped in front of my eyes, and I blinked rapidly, the kiss Miller and I had shared fading to the back of my mind.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, dude." But the smile he gave me proved he knew what I was thinking about. I realized a few seconds later that I had actually brought my hand up to touch my lips. I blushed at the thought of my actions.

"So, my mom's the school nurse. She's knows about...well, cases like Miller's. What I'm saying is, she will take them seriously. She won't act like their mom."

"Okay..." I was watching him carefully, trying to figure out where all of this was heading.

"Well, I don't know if this is legal, but like, I'm sure she'd totally let them stay at our house. We'd probably have to ask their mom, but if she's really as much of a bitch as she sounds, she won't care if they are gone. I'm not saying permanently. I just mean until they...feel more stable."

"Cooper...are you...are you serious?" I felt tears gathering in my eyes. I was just staring at my best friend, trying to process everything he was saying. He was offering Miller a way out, even if it was just temporarily.

"Yeah, I mean, I need to ask my mom, and we can't tell them until I do, but I know she'll let me. They can stay in my room and everything. Mom will barely even notice that's there's another person in the house. Besides, once she knows their story, she's going take them under her wing."

I didn't know what to say. How could I thank him enough for what he was offering?

"They're looking at you." Cooper whispered, and I turned around slowly.

When I met Miller's eyes, I didn't pull away as quickly as I had before. Their hazel eyes softened, if that was even possible, and I felt...at peace looking in their eyes? Like they weren't asking for anything, but they knew what they were doing to me. I'm pretty sure they came close to smirking when I blushed and looked away.