Ward of Depression

Sexuality vs Gender

Hunter was proud of himself. He and Logan had managed to keep their relationship a secret for about a year now. Neither of them had wanted to bring it out in the open for different reasons. Hunter wasn't ready to be rejected because of his sexuality again, and Logan just didn't want to push his boyfriend to come out. 

Hunter had told one of his friends about his sexuality, and they hadn't taken it well. They had stormed out on him. Logan had come over to the Hollingsworth residence later that same day to comfort him.

High school was better junior year, and Hunter knew that the reason for the change was because he'd gotten help. Vijay, Baaz, Yael, and him had been hanging out, and it was nice. Things got better when Lola joined their group, but that was because she was fun to be around, and she made everything better when times were hard. 

Yael seemed to enjoy having another girl around, and Vijay obviously liked having someone to gossip with. Baaz avoided her as much as possible, and their subscribers loved her- if the comments were anything to go by. Hunter liked her too. She was well informed on gender and sexuality, as well as some serious political opinions. She and Hunter had been discussing adding a segment where the two of them talked that stuff.

"Can we please have our video game team back?" Hunter asked as he came up behind Goldie.

"Hunter, we talked about this. The game could be a serious trigger for some people, and it promotes male violence against females." Goldie frowned. Zoe nodded her head in visible agreement.

"But that's not why we play them. We play them as an escape, or as a way to meet people. We don't play as a way to trigger people, Yael is literally one of the best players on our team, and she's female." He attempted, putting on his best puppy face.

"I can't."

He had sailed and sunk again, and it felt terrible. He'd failed his friends again, and Logan was away for the week, so he was alone. Well, technically his friends would stick around, and they could talk.

"Guys, I need to tell you something." Yael blurted out. They looked at her, confused. She had changed. She had one side of her actual hair pinned back, and there was a black vest over shirt. "I'd like it if you used they/them pronouns when referring to me."

Hunter wasn't as surprised as he'd thought he would be. Of course there were subtle clues, such as the binder, and the fact that Yael hadn't been shaving. His automatic response was, "No."

His friends asked him why as Yael stood off to the side, frowning. He didn't respond. He just walked off to the tech room, grabbing Lola as he went. Lola looked confused at first, but with one look at where they were headed, she let him drag her along. When they arrived, Hunter set up the camera in front of a gray background with two pink chairs that the room had, and started a live stream.

"As you know, I'm Hunter Hollingsworth-"

"-and I'm Lola Pacini."

"We'd like to introduce a new part of our show, where we talk about sexuality and gender-"

"-to hopefully help you figure out how you identify."

Hunter stood up, and looked towards the camera. "I'd like to discuss demisexuality today, but before I do, we have an interesting announcement. Our very own Yael Baron has come out as gender queer, and they expect us to just go with it. I wouldn't say I'm one to disrespect someone's pronouns, but until Yael apologizes, I will be using she/her pronouns for her.

"You might be wondering why. Am I a secret bigot? Do I not respect her? The answer to those questions is no. I respect Yael, but she doesn't respect me. About four months ago, I told her that I was demisexual. That means that I only find people attractive, once I know them on an emotional level. When I told her this, she basically told me that it wasn't a real thing, and that made me scared to tell other people. And for those of you watching, being demisexual is something no one should be scared about. It's always exciting to get to know a person before you start to date them."

He ended the live stream, and Lola looked at him like he was a prize. She squealed, and jumped to hug him. He hugged back, but was extremely uncomfortable. She asked him lots of questions, and even told him that they could be besties. He let a small smile escape at that thought, but quickly let it go.

That was how he found himself walking into school the next day, while listening to Lola chat up a storm, putting in a word or two every now and then. She met up with Shay, and eventually Frankie showed up as well (she had decided that she wanted to sleep later, and he had told Lola that he would give her a ride to school). When his sister had questioned why he was hanging around with them, he had responded by telling her to watch the latest video on their channel. 

Yael, Baaz, and Vijay had seemingly avoided him throughout the day, and his new "group" had decided to sit next to him in any classes that they had with each other. It was nice, and it made him feel less alone, but he wished his boyfriends was with him. Only three days left to go.

"I'm sorry I said being demisexual was fake. I was being insensitive to how you felt, and I should have just listened to what you had to say." Yael murmured, scratching the back of their head.

"And Vijay and I should have asked why you refused to use their pronouns before we got mad." Baaz looked down at his sneakers.

"Thanks." Hunter replied, giving them a smile. His and his sisters friends all hung out at lunch that day.

"You never mentioned that you would be revealing your sexual identity while I was gone, Socio." Logan hummed as he draped himself over Hunter. 

"Wasn't the original plan, Gorgon." He replied, moving his head to kiss the other males cheek.

Logan pounced on the younger male. He was pushed back against the bed, and their lips met. Hunter automatically brought a hand up to the blue tipped, black hair while the other clutched at his his left shoulder. Hunter could feel Logan's right hand on his hip, rubbing comforting circles, while his left arm laid next to younger males head. It was a battle for dominance soon enough, but Logan pulled away to attack Hunter's neck instead.

Logan tugged at the bottom of Hunters t-shirt, and began to take it off once his lover gave the affirmative. To say the least, they went all the way.