I love me

Chapter 6

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING: ⚠️
This chapter contains thoughts of self harm and suicide. If you're not okay with that, PLEASE skip.

-Aiden

"...and then he just left me. Just there in the bathroom." I was sitting on Tayeln's couch, telling her everything that happened. Including my crush on Ryan. Turns out I was wrong, Taylen accepted me fully for being who I am. Even if I was gay, and even if I wasn't.

I looked back up to find her face scrunched up in disgust. "That asshole just left you there!? Who does that!? Nobody does that! Not to my Addie." She wiped the tears from my cheek while I chuckled at her for flailing her arms around like a crazy person.

This was what best friends were all about. "You know what, I'm going to talk to him okay? Don't you worry Addie, my little cub. Mama is going to protect you."

"What? Tay, what are you doing? Please don't talk to him, and please don't refer to yourself as 'mama' ever again." She rolled her eyes at me and we both started laughing just like always. For a moment I almost forgot about my shitty day.

That moment was short lived. I could feel the anxiety creep back inside of me. The whole school now probably thinks that I came out as gay, or that I was outed. What am I going to do if this reaches my parents?! My mother knows the whole town!

Taylen noticed my expression change, and no doubt she knew exactly what I was thinking. "Hey, it's going to be okay. If your parents get out of control, we'll come pick you up and then you can stay here for as long as you need. Even if that means your annoying ass will be here until graduation." I snorted and instantly grabbed my best friend into a big hug. She had no idea what this meant to me.

Tay always felt something was off about my parents whenever she came to visit and confronted me about it on several occasions. I never had much to say. I don't know how to explain any of them.

"Thanks, Tay."

We pulled back from the hug and decided to watch some tv until it was time for me to go back home. I mindlessly stared at the color flashes on the screen. Watching without really watching. I was absentmindedly digging my teeth into my lips until they started bleeding a little.

I looked over at Taylen, she was staring at the television, directing all of her focus towards it. She was always so easily distracted.

Without me even realizing it, two hours went by and it was time for me to go.

I said my goodbyes to Tay and her annoying brother and started my walk home. It was such a peaceful and beautiful day, yet nothing about my life was like that right now. My life was chaotic and everything was out of place.

Even though I felt like I had so many things going wrong at the moment, I also felt relieved. I'm either a psychopath, or nature really does heal.

I passed multiple houses, but only one of them stood out to me. The yellow suburban. It had a big sunroom with huge windows that spanned from the floor to the ceiling.

The room had a dining table right in the middle, along with some chairs and a few decorative items to pull everything together. I saw a family sitting there. They were all laughing and enjoying each other's company. I wondered what it would be like if my family was like that, or if we ever could be like that in the future. Let's not be naïve.

I kept walking down the street. God forbid I get home after my parents do. I could see my house from where I was. Fortunately I didn't see any cars in the driveway.