The Losers

.:1:.

"Thomas!" I heard a shout from outside my window.
"Thomas! God damn it!" It was James, of course. Who else would be in the tree outside my window at- I turned my phone on- two thirty-seven in the morning.

James showed up at my house a lot, actually, randomly just knocking at the window. My parents are almost never home anyway, so its never a problem with them. They wouldn't care anyway.

They don't know about me and James being gay. Nobody except us knows. Our area isn't exactly renowned on its acceptance of queer folk. People just think we're realllll close friends.

I scrambled over to the window and pushed it open, moving back so he could pull himself in. I sat down on my bed, placing my glasses on my face.

"Tommy, we have a problem." James said, sitting on my window sill, no trace of a smile on his face.
"What do ya mean?" I asked, shuffling closer. He placed a large hand on my knee.
"You haven't seen?"
"Seen what?"

James was always vauge when he was nervous about telling anyone something. It probably came from being a nervous kid, but its kinda just... James at this point.

He sighed, running a his massive hand through my hair. He kissed my forehead gently, then pulled out his phone.
"I don't know how this happened, and I'm really sorry it did. Prepare yourself."
I bit my lip.

Whatever this is, it's got to be important. Jemmy is really touchy with me normally, because, well, we're dating. He gets more so when he's really freaking out.

He quickly typed in his password, 846627, and showed me the screen that came up. It was Charles Lee's instagram page, and his most recent picture was-

Oh shit-

It was a picture of me and James missing. It was blurry and probably taken from far away, put you could totally tell it was us between my afro and flamboyant pink jeans, and James' towering height and giant hands tangled in my hair.

The caption read "Look who i caught locking lips- @/the.thomas and @/jimmy.james freaks"

I sucked in a breath as he pulled his phone back and went on his account. He tapped on his tagged pictures. There were already so many reposts of Lee's picture, and every one I clicked on had a worst caption then the last.

Shit

"Peaches, I'm so sorry." He swiped his thumb under my eye. I didn't even know I was crying. James gently took my glasses off and set them aside. He sat beside me on the bed, and pulled me into his lap.

"It wasn't your fault." I tried to make it sound like I wasn't crying, but my voice just came out weak and pathetic. Exactly how I was feeling. I curled around him and let him pet my hair in silence.

"James, what are we going to do?" I knew that most- if not all- of our friends were homophobic. Hell, I've seen some of them hit or yell at other lgbt folks. James and I had always been really careful about our relationship because of it. I guess none of that matters now.

He shook his head.
"I don't know, Peaches." James sighed softly.
"Mind if I bunk here tonight? It'd probably be easier to deal with tomorrow if I did." I scoffed.
"Have I ever said no to you staying the night?"
"No."
"Does that answer your question? I think there's still a pair of your sweatpants in the closet." As he got up to find his pants, I shut off my lamp and slid under the silk sheets. James came back shirtless and threw himself at the bed, then slid under with me.

He pulled me close to his chest, my head burried in his shoulder. James had one hand on the small of my back and the other in my hair, per usual. What's with it with my hair?
"Good night Peaches, I love you."
"I love you too, Jemmy."

_______________

Waking up next to James is much better when he hadn't stayed the night because of a social disaster, but it was still good. He groaned when the alarm went off, rolling over and tapping my phone blindly until it stopped ringing. I could feel him streach under me.

"Good morning, Beautiful." James said, moving down to kiss my forehead, then nose, then catching my lips.
"'Mornin' Jem."

He pushed the blanket off us, and pushed me off him. I stretched out.
"Rude." He shrugged, pulling his arms over his head. God damn, is he fit. He caught my eye.
"Like what you see?"
"You know it."

I stood up, putting my glasses on. I grabbed a hair tie from a small pile on my side table and pulled my hair into a tight pony tail.
"Hey, are your parents home?" He asked, looking around the room. I walked past him to the door.
"Nope, but are they ever?"

I opened the door and strolled down the hall, James on my heels.

I pressed start on the coffee machine, then sat on the counter. James took the first cup of coffee, pouring cream and sugar in without really measuring and handed it to me, then put another k-cup in the machine. As I sat there, I realized that this fleeting moment may be the last minute of peice I had today.

_________________

I was right.

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Continued next week
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Hello hello I'm Tommy and welcome to The Losers.

A couple things before I sign off,

One: this story will deal with topics such as homophobia, transphobia, anxiety and panic attacks, child neglect/abuse. If you  are triggered by this or need/want to talk about a sensitive subject, feel free to dm me here or on my instagram

Two: i dont have a specific update schedule as im going into a rather tough semester of school (which starts a week after im writing this) so please be patient, im always thinking of my books, and writing constantly, even if its just twenty or thirty words at a time. Im hoping to get a chapter out a week

Three: if you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or just want to talk, leave a comment or dm me because im always down to talk

And hey,

Thanks

-Tommy