Throughout the Years (Tronnor AU)

Chapter 24

Joe lifted his head and spoke in small breathy sentences.

"All I said was I really care about you Caspar." He paused, the crying stopped. I could see the tears off of his face from the moonlight. "And he...he completely just...just..." He then slumped over again, his cries audible this time. I reached over and rubbed his back.

I let Joe cry for a good minute or two. I've been in his shoes before. And in most situations, I just cried it out. It seemed like the best emotional release. Whenever Mark and his gang bullied me, go home and cry it out. Parents yell at you for cutting, go home and cry. Teachers disappointed in your work, go home and cry. It was a vigorous and depressing release, but a release nonetheless.

At some point, Joe's cries softened to whimpers.

"Joe, listen to me." I said. He didn't look up nor did he change his body language, but I knew he was listening.

"You can't give up on Caspar now. He's blossoming into the person you want him to be. Not all of us have a good coming out or a good coming-to-terms-with-it attitude. Take me for example. For the past, like, six months, just completely denied and pushed it away. But I come here, and I practically have a boyfriend. You don't know much about Caspar. You don't know what his family thinks about homosexuality. Okay? But, you cannot stop fighting for him. You obviously really care about him. Okay?"

He didn't look up. I tugged on his shirt and said 'hey'. He looked up, face streaking of tears.

"Okay?" I restate.

"Okay." He replies.

"For right now, it's easier said than done, but go have fun and forget about him right now. I know Troye is pep-talking him right now. He'll be okay, I promise."

Joe gave me a weak, plastered on smile. I gave him a pat on the back, stood up, and pulled him up with me. I ushered him back into the mess hall where people immediately took him under their wings.

One boy down, on with the other.

I jogged down the bottom of the U to the beginning curve. I jogged down the dirt path through the woods and into the open area of the pond. I look around for Caspar and Troye somewhere in the benches or in the gazebo. In the gazebo, I saw a silhouette casted by the moonlight. It's Caspar. Troye must've been somewhere else. But, that wasn't possible. There was no one else around the pond and I would've passed on the path.

I walked closer to the gazebo where the silhouette was. I couldn't make a body out of the silhouette. It seemed like a blurb of darkness.

Then, the silhouette began to grow bigger before it split.

Two silhouettes.

One silhouette had the arms around the other. The taller silhouettes had spiky hair while the other had its hair down.

Tall

Messy hair

Shorter

Hair down

Oh my God

My stomach dropped and my heart fell into my lower intestines. I pinched myself to wake me up from this mad and insane nightmare. I felt my heart rate sky rocket and my palms got sweaty. My eyes brimmed with tears. My throat was dry. It felt like a dagger was driven into my chest There were so many things I could've said, but I couldn't. I managed to croak out a singular word.