Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Twelve - Ross

Tell mum not to worry you all, I'm fine. It was oddly cathartic for me. Jasper's a bit shook but he's mostly just being quiet to stop his parents finding anything out.

I sighed.

****

That night, I found myself wondering what the hell I was even doing at Fruits. No matter who I saw, I couldn't help but be reminded of Jasper, alone at his house, beaten and bruised. I wanted to see him. I felt ridiculous, and slightly like a teenage girl, but I reminded myself that I wanted to see him because he was a nice person and didn't deserve to be alone with a broken rib and a bust-up face. He wasn't my problem – and definitely not my responsibility. I just didn't want to see him end up like so many queer kids did; alone and hurt.

"Ross, are you alright?"

I looked up to see Harper frowning at me in concern. "I'm fine," I sighed, downing my drink quickly. "Yourself?"

He nodded. "Fine, but that's not important. You look worried. Is it Tom and Jazz?"

"No," I said quickly. Too quickly.

Harper nodded understandingly. "You know, it might help Jasper if you visited him."

"I'm sure his parents would love that," I said sarcastically. "Isn't he trying to refrain from coming out to people? Plus, I don't know where he lives. I only know his school."

"We know his address, dummy," Harper suggested.

I indicated to Sapphire that I needed another drink. "Nah," I said dismissively. "It's not my place to be nosy. I went to see Tom, he looks like shit but he's got his spirits up - he said Jasper isn't even answering his messages now. Tom thinks he's avoiding facing it all."

"Can you blame him?" Harper asked, leaning against the bar. "He's probably freaked out by what happened - plus he's in a lot of pain right now, if my experience with a broken rib is anything to go by."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," I reminded him. "But sitting around ignoring the issue isn't going to make it go away - he can't just run from everything."

Harper was patient with me. "It's easy for us to say, we've had years of experience. That happened on his first day of being out - no wonder he's hiding. He could use more support."

I hesitated. "I can't do anything for him, Harper."

"Yes you can," he said, and then said, "You just won't do anything for him."

"He's not my responsibility," I said flatly.

Harper snorted. "He is; he's all of our responsibility now. We are all responsible for him coming out. He came into our group, and it's pushed him into coming out. It's not a bad thing - it's a freaking awesome thing that he wants to be around us so much that he came out, but it's something we should be aware of. He's part of our family now. We protect our own."

I hadn't thought of that. "Oh fucking hell," I grumbled. "Is this my fault?"

Harper shrugged. "I don't think it's a bad thing, or your fault. You took him home his first night, you showed him how fun it can be to be living a life where he's openly out. You're really surprised that he wanted more of that?" When I didn't respond, he said, "You knew the risks of going after someone who was young and inexperienced, and you did it anyway - it's very on-brand for you. But hey, now you get to deal with the consequences of your actions."

"He didn't come out because of me," I muttered, but I wasn't sure if I believed that. I didn't intend to cause it, but perhaps I had, indirectly. I groaned. "I don't want to deal with consequences."