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[ 11 ] not alone

Grayson's heart dropped and his stomach churned at the reminder. He tried so hard not to think of that, but it was the sad truth. 
When rumours spread at school he knew his fate was sealed as it was only a matter of time until someone told their parents who when told his parents they should take care of their misbehaving child. Grayson was surprised it even took two weeks. 
Naturally, his parents were outraged. His mother told him with gritted teeth he was a disappointment and a disgrace and left the room. His father gave him a long lecture about "being a good, Christian person" that was absolute bullshit. Grayson told him as much and barely got away without a beating after that. 
In wise foresight he kept a bag packed with some essentials hidden in the garden shed since the rumours started, so he had at least something with him when his father shouted to come back when "he came to his senses and stopped being a faggot" after him. 

Blinking away the tears in his eyes, he quietly answered Andrew's question, gaze firmly locked on the table. "They did. It's- it was really bad. I crashed at my brother's for the night but he doesn't know why. He just thought I got into an argument with Mom and Dad, but they will tell him and then…" He shrugged. He had no options. No friends, no family left. No idea what to do. 

A tear landed on the grey plastic of the table. Grayson hated himself for being… that. Himself. All of that. Why couldn't he just be straight? 
Warm hands wrapped around his, stilling his trembling fingers. Grayson's head whipped up, staring at Andrew. He had a mental breakdown here and this stranger was sitting here, holding his hand and smiling at him? 
"It's gonna be okay. Believe me on that. It will be okay." 
His voice was firm, confident. Grayson felt none of it. 
"Let me be your saviour, okay?", he smirked a little, trying to lighten the mood, and Grayson actually managed to stop crying and pull himself together at least a bit. 
"What do you mean?" His voice sounded so small and broken, he hated it. 

"Are you done with school for today?" 
"Huh?" Grayson didn't expect that. "Yeah, I just didn't wanna go ho- back. And the food is decent." 
"Good. Get your stuff and then you're coming home with me. You can stay for as long as you need to, that's fine." 
A pulled his hands away. "What?!" 
"I know you can't go back home right now and you don't seem to have other options. I'm offering you a place to stay - if you want to, of course."
"But- Why would you do that? You don't even know me! Hell, I don't even know you! You could be a, a… murderer or kidnapper or… whatever!" 
Andrew laughed. "I'm not, I swear! Yeah, I don't know you, but I can't stand by and watch every person in your life just… turn away. You don't deserve that, nobody deserves that, especially not for something as dumb as being gay. It makes my skin crawl and itch to do something about it. So I'm offering my help." 

Grayson swallowed, uncertain. He trusted Andrew but that might just be because he was the first one to show basic humanity and acceptance towards him since he was outed. But trust or no trust, could he afford to decline an offer like that?
The answer was no.
He was unsure if his parents would calm down, but knowing how unforgiving his mother and how easily aggravated his father was, it would probably take time. And even then he didn't know if he wanted to go back. Staying with his brother wasn't a long term option either, he would definitely be on their parents' side. 

"If… if you're serious about this…", he started. "I think I'd like to stay with you. Wait!", he added as a thought crossed his mind. "Your parents won't mind that?"
"Nah, not at all. They're the ones who suggested I should invite you over. They're chill." 
"Okay.", Grayson said slowly, then repeated more firmly: "Okay. Thank you, like, a lot. More than I can say." 
Andrew smiled at him and stood up. "I'm glad I can help. Let's go!" 

It turned out Andrew could drive and lent his parents' car today. They left the school immediately, Andrew dropped Grayson off at his brother's and waited for him to get his stuff. 
"What did he say?", he asked Grayson when he got back. 
Grayson laughed awkwardly. "I told him it wasn't that bad of an argument and I'm cool with mom and dad now. He bought it." 
"Good enough.", Andrew decided and shrugged, dropping the topic. Grayson was grateful for it. 

In retrospect it should have been obvious, but Grayson was still surprised when Andrew turned the car into the driveway of that particular house. It caught his eye as soon as it came in sight due to the unmissable, huge rainbow flag hanging out of one of the top story windows. Grayson loved it. 
"This-", he said in awe, watching the flag wave in the light breeze. "-is so cool." 
He never had a pride item, obviously, but always admired the people he saw online, having rainbows everywhere. Being so open about and proud of himself wasn't really a possibility for him. 

Andrew turned off the car and got out. "Thanks. It's pretty neat and it pisses off the neighbors to no end." 
Grayson picked up his stuff - it was a shame how little it was, just his school backpack and a duffel bag with clothes and a few personal items - and followed Andrew into his new refuge. 
"Mom! Erin! We're home!", the older yelled as soon as he opened the front door and Grayson couldn't help the warm feeling at two so simple words. We're home. 
"Is Erin your sister? Wait, how do I call your mom? What's your last name?"
He looked up at Andrew in slight panic, now that he thought about it he knew next to nothing about this guy. 
"Oh! Oh yeah. Shit, I should have prepared you. Okay, crash course." Andrew lowered his voice while a responding hello echoed in the house and the sound of steps became audible. "My mom's name is Kate, just call her that, otherwise she will think that you think she's old. Erin is my other parent, call them by their name too, use they/them pronouns." He gave Grayson - who was a bit overwhelmed and trying to memorize every information - an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "It's not the end of the world if you mess up, just correct yourself and move on. Here we go.", he added when a person came down the stairs, a bright smile appearing on their face when they spotted them. 

"Hello, boys! You have to be the poor kid Andrew told us about, right?" 
Grayson winced but nodded anyways. He hated being referred to as "that poor kid". 
"I'm Erin, I'm Andrew's parent. I'm so glad you're here!" 
And with that Grauson was pulled in an unexpected embrace. He went stiff for a second before allowing himself to relax and hesitantly put his arms around the person still strange to him. But after the cold, unwelcoming way he met his parents last it felt so good to just be held. Trying very hard not to cry he pulled back slightly and Erin let him go immediately, turning to Andrew. 
"Kate'll be back soon, shes grocery shopping." Then their eyes darted back to Grayson. "She'll want to meet you, but I can understand if you might just wanna get used to everything. Andrew will show you around, and if anything comes up or you need anything, talk to me- us. We want to help." 

They sounded sincere, honest to the bone, and Grayson believed it. He believed that finally someone accepted him, supported him, just like he was. A wide smile broke out on his face, a wave of hope and happiness washing away all of his problems and fears - at least momentarily. He knew he had to confront his parents sooner or later, he knew he had to go back to school tomorrow, but now he had people who would have his back. He was not alone anymore. 

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