Letters To A Stranger

Shut your mind off and let your heart breathe

"Vilde, huh?" Isak asked and turned his head to shoot the blonde girl a look through the room.
"Yeah.." David said and took another bite of his toast. "Not that I'm into her or anything, just out of pure curiosity." he said and shrugged his shoulders.

Even had to prevent himself from shaking his head. David really needed to be more open about his feelings for Vilde. Trying to be this unapproachable and cool guy, wouldn't get him far.

"Sure." Isak responded, trying to keep a straight face.
David shot him a thankful look and continued to eat.

After school, Even and Isak had agreed to meet up at Even's place, to face another one of their fears: Even's father.

Although Isak had spent quite a lot of time at Even's house, his father never seemed to have gotten suspicious that they might be more than friends.
Even knew he shouldn't be, but he was still terrified of telling him.
After all, his father was very religious, more than his mum, and was overall just a very conservative person.
But Even trusted in the fact, that if his father could love his bipolar son, he might as well love his son if he's bisexual.

"Thanks for being by my side through this, Isak. Means a lot." Even said to his boyfriend as they made their way to the kitchen, in which Even's father talked to his mum.
"Of course I am, baby." Isak responded and gave Even an encouraging smile.
"Well, if you could do it in front of the whole school, I might as well do it in front of my father, right?" Even asked chuckling, trying to swallow down the fear creeping up inside of him.
"Right." Isak responded, smiling at the older boy.

As they stood in front of the door, Even took Isak's hand in his own, and together, they opened it.

His parents greeted Even and Isak, his mum warmly smiling at their intertwined hands. A second later, she must've realized what the two boys were up to, because her eyes wandered to her husband and she examined him carefully.

"Even?" his father asked, confusion in his voice.
"Yeah?" Even responded, his voice sounding very scratchy all of a sudden.
"Is this some kind of joke?" his father asked, as his eyes lingered on their hands.
"Uhm..no?" Even said, awkwardly scratching his neck with his free hand.
"But I..don't understand..you had a girlfriend..you..you're.." his father went on and looked to his wife, searching for help.
His eyes narrowed as he examined her.

"You knew about this?" Even's father asked, suddenly not so calm anymore.
"Yes, I do." she responded, looking him directly in the eyes.
"Even." his father said, turning to his son again. "You're bipolar. It's normal to imagine stuff. Maybe you just need a higher medication dose?" he asked, obviously trying to sound lenient.
"Don!" Even's mother hissed, looking at him outraged.

Even could feel Isak's hand tense. This was not going the way neither of them had expected.
"I..I'm not imagining things, dad." Even said quietly, his voice a bit shaky.
"This..we..are real!" he continued and looked at his dad, trying to find a trace of accept and love in his eyes.
But in vain, the most dominant emotions in them were disbelief, disgust and anger.

"This-" his father gestured to their hands, "-is not real!" He shook his head. "It is unnatural!"

"And you accept it?" Don turned to his wife, questioning her.
She nodded. "Of course I do, Don! He's our son, I love him no matter what, no matter who he loves. And so should you." she said forcefully and glared at him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept this. Anything, but not this." Even's father said and with those words, he walked past Even and Isak and left the kitchen. Even heard how the front door was being opened and then closed.

He felt like being stabbed into his heart with a large, thorny spear.
This wasn't just anyone. It was his dad. The one who had raised him.
The one who had always been there for him and he could go to if he ever needed advice.
The man who he'd played football with as a child and watched baseball games with, now had just left because he couldn't accept who his son really was. It hurt like hell.

His mum walked up to them.
"I'm so sorry, honey." she said as she looked at him compassionately.
"I'm sure he'll come around. I'll talk to him." she whispered and gently rubbed her son's arm. Even couldn't respond.
He knew that if he attempted to say anything, he would just burst out into tears.
Then, she left as well, hurrying to catch up with her husband.

Isak and Even were now alone, standing in the kitchen, hands still intertwined as if it was the only thing keeping Even from falling.

Isak turned around to face his boyfriend. No words were needed, all the younger boy did was throw his arms around Even's body and pull him close.
And then, Even couldn't hold it anymore.
He cried and cried and cried, until his eyes couldn't keep up anymore and Isak's sweater was soaked with tears.