One Shots 3.0 [boyxboy]

That Boy is Trouble

I was going through dealing with some typical teenage angst; all of my emotions felt very powerful and very negative and I didn't have any friends so I didn't have anybody to talk about them with. Those mornings provided me with a little daily pocket of zen, but it wasn't really enough - I was becoming an angry, sullen, withdrawn kid who spent most of his time with his earbuds in and the music turned up to eleven. I didn't have much in the way of aggression or outbursts, but I for damn sure wouldn't hesitate to snap at you and straight up refused to spend any of my free time outside of my room. I also spent a significant percentage of my time crying without really knowing why.

Midway through the first semester of that year, my sophomore year, Danny came out. The first person he told was Mason and I guess Mason handled it well because if possible they became even closer. Mason glued himself protectively to Danny's side, using his privileged position as the school's sports star to ensure that Danny didn't receive any hassle.

He wasn't quite able to use this influence at home though, and once word of Danny's sexuality got back to my parents, he was summarily banned from our house. They sat Mason down and tried to firmly insist that he drop Danny as a friend, but Mason literally just sat there and laughed and told them to get lost. He was the golden child; their perfect boy, their athlete, their genius. They dropped it, but made it clear they weren't happy.

It was witnessing this event, this surreal incident of watching my brother laugh in my parents' faces when they tried to get him to end his friendship with his gay friend, that made me grit my teeth and square my shoulders and decide that I would tell Mason about me, too. He had handled Danny's situation so well, he would protect me from my parents, he would believe me and stand up for me and accept me.

So, a few months later, just after winter break, I made my way through our shared ensuite and knocked on the door to his room. I heard him grunting an acquiescence from inside and opened the door to find him sitting on the floor with some of his textbooks, working on some of this senior year assignments.

'What do you want?' he muttered, glancing up at me briefly before returning his attention to his notes.

'Can I talk to you about something?' I asked nervously, holding onto the doorjamb and almost too anxious to go inside.

'I guess,' he said, still not looking at me, and I took a deep breath and went into the room, settling myself on the floor in front of him. We sat in silence for a few moments while I tried to work up the courage to say what I wanted to say, until he eventually sighed and asked, 'What? What is it?'

I looked down at my hands in my lap and finally managed to mumble, almost incoherently, 'I just wanted to tell you that I think I'm gay.'

There was another beat of silence and then I heard him tsking. 'Are you just doing this to be like Danny?' he demanded, disgusted. 'Why are you so obsessed with him anyway?'

I looked up at him, crestfallen, and he must have seen it on my face because his expression changed and I think he knew he'd fucked up.

'Is this for real?' he asked sharply.

I just shook my head and jumped to my feet, stuffing my hands in my pockets and keeping my head down as I walked quickly out of the room, locking the door on my side of the ensuite behind me in case he tried to follow. He didn't.

The next day on the drive to school he acted like nothing had happened, except he let me pick the music even though it was his turn. I avoided his eyes and made sure to keep a significant distance between us throughout the day, though I did see him pull Danny to the side at lunch from my position across the quad, talking very seriously and quietly with their heads together. At one point they both looked over at me and I looked away anxiously.