Sweet Boy ✔

twenty two

asher
(warning: this chapter will contain features that may involve drug abuse, alcohol abuse, bullying, use of derogatory lgbtq+ terms, and death. please read with care.)
{sorry about all the warnings, i want everyone to feel safe reading this book, so any triggering features that may be involved will have a warning, even if it's a single word or sentence. thank you}
also, please listen to the song this chapter xx
that's all for now ♡
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"Please Asher! Could you please just hear me out!" I could hear the stress in his voice. I wasn't angry that he was beating someone up. I just wanted to go somewhere to talk to him where nobody else would be. 

"Shut up Zander, just follow me," I walked towards our car. Even though I couldn't drive it, I did have a spare key. Just in case Conan's stopped working or I needed it for an emergency. 

I sat down in the backseat of the car, Zander hopped in next to me. His face was bloody and the cut above his eyebrow was swelling. I hated to see him look like this, but I knew there was a reason behind it. Zander isn't the type of person to go around starting fights with people for the fun of it. 

"Look, I'll tell you everything if that's what you want to know. If that's what it will take for you to forgive me, then I'll tell you absolutely everything. Please Asher, just forgiv-."

"Hey, hey. Calm down. I'm not angry with you," he visibly settled at that. His breathing began to slow down and he didn't look so stressed anymore. "Just tell me what happened, I can tell you want to get it off your chest."

Zander nodded his head, taking one last deep breath before looking at me properly. "That guy was Mitchell. He went to my old school. And he used to be my best friend."

I wasn't expecting that. I didn't say anything though, pushing him to continue. 

"I was over at his house one day, we were doing dumb sixteen year old things. Drinking, smoking weed, being dumb. You get the jist. I suddenly had the urge to come out to him. I knew I was gay and I just wanted to tell someone. So I told him. He actually didn't care, like, he thought it was fine and was supporting me like a best friend should."

"The next morning, we had lacrosse training. I don't remember why it was moved to that morning, but I went anyway. When I got there, the team didn't speak to me. I thought it was because it was so early in the morning, but that wasn't the reason at all," I could see it in his face that he was getting emotional. It was hard for him to talk about it, but deep down, I knew he needed to get it off his chest. 

"Thomas, who was the biggest dick known to man kind, started calling me a fag. He said that Mitchell told him. It kind of went downhill from there. He told Mitchell that the training was cancelled. He used it as time to beat the living shit out of me, along with the rest of the team while Mitchell wasn't there," my eyes started to well up. Even though it wasn't me that went through that pain, it was like Zander shared some of it with me.

"I ended up in hospital. I had a concussion that put me in a coma for three days. I had four broken ribs. Thankfully, nothing in my back, legs, or arms got broken so I was able to recover quickly, but it still mentally drained me. After that, I sort of spiraled out of control. I didn't go back to school, I refused too. Mitchell tried to contact me, he was wondering why I never showed up at school anymore and wanted to know why I always ignored him. No one told him what they did to me. I started stealing my uncle's alcohol and cigarettes. I was drinking and smoking all day. I started taking really bad drugs, I didn't even know what type they were. If it was something that would get me properly fucked up, I would take it. I didn't even think about the consequences."