Warnings: Strong language, homophobic slurs.

Chapter 1: Only One Good Dream

"Time to wake up, sweetie," his mother said, pushing him slightly.

Lucas opened his eyes to find himself in a dark room, snuggling into a cotton blanket and closing his blue eyes again. It couldn't be morning yet, he had just fallen asleep. So, he turned over to the left side of his bed where he kept his alarm clock. He read a half past six, and let out a disappointed groan.

He wasn't whining because he was tired. It was because he finally had a vivid dream after countless nightmares. It was a good dream—so realistic, and worthy of sleeping in to extend it. He stretched out, letting a groan and running his fingers through his messy blonde hair. Maybe it was time for a haircut, he deeply thought, until he noticed that his mother had disappeared and his room lights were on. How did that happen? Maybe he fell asleep and he didn't notice.

Having a frequently wandering mind, it seemed to happen a lot.

He walked over to his closet and shoved on some jeans he had been wearing for the past few days—which no one ever noticed. He pulled off his striped shirt and put on a plain crimson sweater that hung loosely around his hands, and folded the sleeves to be just above his wrists. He slowly trudged into his bathroom, the thoughts from his recent dream still attacking his mind.

He remembered being in a genuine world, first-hand witnessing a dark-haired boy kissing him. The sensitive touch between their lips was perfect: not too rough, but also not too gentle. They held hands while an ocean wave wrapped their feet, and the sky was completely silent save the warm sun blanketing them. His dream was completely different than his usual, daily fantasies. It felt more…love filled.

"Heh, I sure think like a true gay," he thought and smiled after looking at his miserable self in the mirror. It wasn't a happy smile though—it was a strained smile that anyone could deduce at a glance to be an anguished one. He relished in whatever bits of amusement he could gather from his smile, and wiped it from his face. Never has he attempted to ruin his Christian family's happiness with his own misery, and it was not going to be today. He still thought of the consequences if he tried to, though. The best outcome would have him sent to an extremely religious church and have bibles shoved in his face, telling him he needed the blessings of Jesus to save him until his sexuality was completely turned around.

That was his life in a nutshell: just a burdening outlier that everyone knew about.

He still found it amazing that he survived three years of tormenting high school life. He didn't expect anything different each new day. It was his last year attending a horrible school, and with only five months left. At the very least, he could muster enough will to see it through to the end, right? It's not like he was going to college or anything; his family could never afford it. At least, for him.

He finished brushing his teeth and washed his face before walking down the hall way into the kitchen to see his twin brother shoving pancakes into his mouth and father calmly drinking coffee.

"Nice of you to finally join us Lucas," his mother said from her spot at the oven. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, actually. I didn't have a nightmare this time, so I guess that's normal?" he questioned, sitting himself down.

His mother walked over to the table with a single hot and ready omelet, the same size as Claus's pancakes, and smiled. "Must have been a pleasant dream then."

"I bet it was about something gay," his brother uttered right before stuffing his mouth with a pancake.

"Claus!" his mother hissed.

"It's okay, Mom. It's not like I haven't heard that joke before," Lucas declared, letting out an exhausted sigh as he sat down.

"Sorry, Lucas, I didn't mean it like that," Claus added.

"…Whatever." Lucas shrunk into his seat, his appetite suddenly gone. him placing his fork down and pushing the plate away.

Claus shrugged and casually grabbed Lucas's plate, eating its contents as if it was a daily routine.

The twins' father, not noticing what happened the past minute or two, checked his watch and thought about how long it usually took to escort his kids to school, and estimate when he would get back home. "I think it's time for us to get going."

Lucas looked to the other clock hanging on the wall. "Oh, we probably should." He carefully retreated from the table, staring at Claus in the process.

Claus smiled, and looked to his father. He ceased eating and exited his seat. "It's okay, Dad. We'll walk to school today."

The father nodded, grinning weakly. "Just be safe."

"We will," Lucas responded, returning the same grin.

Their mother handed the boys their backpacks and they turned their backs to the house, dashing out the door and onto the sidewalk. Claus was the only one that signaled back to their worrying mother as they strayed farther from the house.

"So, Lucas," Claus voiced once they were far enough.

Lucas stopped his thoughts from wandering, and looked over to his brother. "Yeah?"

"How have you been? You're still getting bullied at school…" his words trailed off at this, looking away from Lucas. The blonde looked down, not wanting to meet his brother's eyes should they turn back to him.

"Yeah, I am, but I'm learning to ignore it," he answered. "I just don't like it when it gets physical. Luckily, that doesn't happen too often."

Claus couldn't find his words, and just stared at him sadly. The rest of the walk was quiet. Lucas returned to studying where the cemented path they walked was cracked and where the weeds and flowers grew, mesmerized by the different shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns he saw. He had to learn this stuff if he was to become an artist.

They arrived at their school around ten minutes later, reaching the parking lot for students. Claus waved to Lucas and left to go to his friend group, leaving Lucas to just walk to his class or sit on the curb of the road, drawing something until the bell for first period rang. He would often stare at some trees that grew in the front of the school, drawing them each half season to later compare their differences and his growing art ability. Today was a good day, as the new semester brought the middle of winter. And at times, a kid would forget the existence of rules and climb it, allowing Lucas to study how each person sat or how they climbed. It was better practice than it seemed it would be.

Lucas only managed to make a base sketch of the few trees he typically drew in a new page of his drawing pad. The bell rang sooner than expected, or perhaps he lost himself in his thoughts more than usual. No matter—maybe the next time he got to school early, he'd finish it hopefully no longer than a week later because he knew a lot could change in a week.

Just as Lucas was about to cross the lot, a car that he almost failed to notice suddenly pulled in front of him and settled in a nearby parking spot. He looked to see who was in the car—and if the sole, young looking boy in the driver's seat was a senior student, then he was an unfamiliar face as Lucas was positive he had good memory of all the students that progressed high school with him. It then became obvious he was a student—likely new at that—slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he left his car. Lucas analyzed his characteristics: disheveled dark hair, a leather jacket over a blue shirt, and jeans of same design brand of his own. For now, the male wore a stern expression on his face, and looked like someone who wouldn't let his feelings show so easily in the open. Although, Lucas caught a very rare glimpse of what looked like the boy scowling at the sight of the school just for a moment.

Remembering that the race to first period was still in effect, Lucas rushed into the crowd, trying to hide in the mess of people, but that was his first mistake of the day. Still, he ignored the brunette and blonde cheerleaders who spotted and yelled out to him of how much a fag he was as he continued walking. He snuck into his classroom, in there before the teacher as usual. He took out his drawing pad, studying a nearby plant to the desk he chose to sit at. He studied the deformed shadows made by the leaves, how the plant sat in the dirt, how the leaves slanted and curved, and noted every detail as he scratched the sheet with his pencil. It took him until the teacher walked in to finish the drawing, putting on the last mark.

"Oh, good morning, Lucas," Mr. Duster voiced, not surprised at all.

"Hi Mr. Duster," the boy answered quickly though quietly. Lucas put his pencil back at the top of the desk, before changing his mind and grabbing it, going to the pencil sharpener.

"Just drawing again?" his teacher asked, placing his laptop on the desk and turning it on before grabbing an insane amount of test papers, all looking to be graded.

"Yeah, I was drawing your plant over there. Which, by the way, may need some water," Lucas remarked, smiling and pulling his pencil out.

Mr. Duster was always his favorite teacher, as he was one who knew about his sexuality and never questioned it, and made sure the kids would not tease him in his class. It was a comforting thought to know that one person out there would not mind if he kissed another male in his presence. The only annoying thing about Mr. Duster was that "Duster" was his first name, that there was a lack of a true last name, and no one in the class could never discover what it was or why he would intentionally hide it.

Mr. Duster beamed innocently and laughed, still striking a pure connection of friendliness with his student. "Yeah, it probably should. Do you mind doing it for me?"

"It can the water from my water bottle as long as you promise to let me go get some more," Lucas answered jokingly.

"Go right ahead."

Lucas smiled as he grabbed his transparent water bottle, walking over to the plant and pouring some in. Half of it was gone by the time the plant received enough to fill its surface area, so he traveled to the nearest water fountain to go refill it.

On the way there, he passed by the new student again, who once had a stern look but now had a frown, staring at the wall and looking lonely. Lucas kept his head turned in a different direction and walked towards the water fountain inconveniently besides the unsuspecting male. He refilled his bottle and then walked back, ignoring the snide comments that were thrown at him.

When Lucas arrived back at the room, there were three additional classmates. All were sitting in a small group, and talking to each other, not perceiving Lucas's entry. Mr. Duster didn't notice as one hopped on top of a desk, something that he never really liked, nor did Lucas's often lawfully good personality. But, not wanting to put any more attention on him, Lucas just shrunk back into his desk, pulling out a blank piece of paper and started drawing again.

Soon enough, everyone started to pile into the classroom, with the noise levels desensitizing Mr. Duster's hearing enough for him to ignore the critical occurrences before the beginning of his class. This included the many incoming students who shared their morning jab at Lucas, with a few going as far as flicking his forehead. The blonde ignored the taps at his skull, since it was not something that happened every day.

And by the time all the desks were filled except for a few, was when the new kid walked in with the same old smug but dead expression on his face he had on the other two times Lucas had seen him. He gave something to the teacher, who took his time to smooth out the crumbled paper. Mr. Duster cleared his throat before he read it in the front of the room, catching everyone's attention.

"This is Ness Hudgens. He just started school here, so be nice to him," he announced. He tapped Ness's shoulder, and pointed him to the empty desks around Lucas. Ness started to walk to one of the desks as the teacher turned around and started to write something about grammar on the board, talking while doing so.

Ness's eyes lingered a bit longer on Lucas than did the rest of the room, enough for the blonde to notice the other's eye colors. They were violet—a strong violet, so vibrant and vigorous. Lucas never expected to meet someone with an astonishing eye color. Perhaps he made a mistake and the room lighting had darkened for a moment, and maybe they were pink or red, but that was still a case of eccentricity. It was at that point Lucas wished he was born with purple eyes, as the new boy must be seeing the world so differently like he was.

The lesson went on, but thoughts about Ness lingered through Lucas's mind, until he realized his pencil needed sharpening again. So, he got up and went to pencil sharpener, listening to the silent sounds it made as each spin made its way around. Being satisfied with how sharp it was, he made his way back to his desk. But when he saw a foot stick out in front of him, there wasn't enough time to walk over it. He fell onto the cold tiled floor, almost breaking his nose had he not put out his arm in time, but it quickly collapsed under his weight and he stumbled onto the floor while banging parts of his body against a few desk foundations. Lucas let out a groan, focusing on his own pain and ignored the laughter from the entire class.

As he slowly made his way up, he looked over at Ness to see if he was just another sheep in the crowd who would join in mocking him, yet he wasn't laughing. He actually looked angry, and when their eyes locked for just a second, Lucas could feel the anger resonating. But the dark-haired boy didn't move. It was as if he wanted to, but was taught not to interfere, or was trying to teach Lucas to stand up for himself. Before the blonde could figure anything out, Ness was looking away, his frown going deeper.

"Pokey!" Lucas heard Mr. Duster shout at the front of the class. "Outside, now!" he shouted, making Pokey grumble and get up, kicking Lucas's head and bruising his cheek. Lucas gave another grunt and stood up, sitting back into his desk, after catching a quick glance to Ness who was looking the other way, towards the direction of the windows.

Even nastier comments were passed to him throughout the day as Mr. Duster took his time phoning for an escort to pick up the troublemaker standing outside, and when he was resuming the lesson. He never noticed the notes and whispers flowing around the room as they were said while he was talking. The most significant one was a comment from a blonde female with a red bow in her hair who told him as they were passing around worksheets.

"Nice trip earlier, faggot," she added while smirking.

"Yeah, nice," Lucas remarked exhaustedly.

First period ended, and Lucas rushed out the class. He didn't see Pokey's unpleasantness for now, and traveled to his locker to retrieve his art binder while ignoring the callouts of bullies trying to catch up to him. But as soon as he grasped his binder, it slipped out of his hand from the shock of pain shooting his back, feeling the presence of a familiar body behind him.

"Why'd you get me in trouble, you fucking faggot?" Pokey hissed to the smaller teenager. He had him in a neck lock, keeping the blonde from escaping.

"I didn't—" Lucas stammered, closing his eyes. His hands fumbled to grasp his loose shirt. Pokey insisted it was Lucas's intention, and continued to ask him the same question, pressing harder into Lucas's neck.

"Hey!"

Both boys heard the yell coming from someone else. Lucas lifted his head back up and opened his eyes, only to find Ness running his way, his backpack on the floor behind him. His expression was fiercer this time as Pokey quickly let go of Lucas, causing him to fall to the ground in a coughing fit.

"What the fuck do you want?" Pokey shouted. He straightened up his back, pulling out his shoulders to make himself seem bigger to the taller male. But Ness didn't back down, and when he saw the state Lucas was in, his knuckles balled up tight and turned white.

"Why are you picking on him?" Ness growled with clenched teeth.

"Why wouldn't I? He's just a stupid fag," Pokey spat out. He turned his attention back to Lucas, readying a punch to send his way, but was stopped as his shirt collar was grabbed.

"Don't call him a fag." The word made Ness crack, causing him to punch Pokey under his jaw and knocking him into the lockers with a loud bang.

Ness didn't have much more time to do anything else to the downed boy, as the blonde from first period caught attention of the scene and grabbed Ness to suddenly kiss him, leaving a shocked expression all over his face.

"Nice job, hottie," the girl said as soon as she pulled away. "But let's just leave them, and maybe spend more time with me instead?"

A grin was then painted on Ness's face, and he let her grab him by the arm as they walked away. Lucas watched the two leave the scene, staring mainly at Ness's back. He found it odd how sudden his mood had changed with a kiss, and how willing he was to go with the girl.

Lucas slowly got up, looking at Pokey only to see his eyes closed and a small amount of blood coming from his mouth. Ness had surely hit him that hard, and the only thought that came after was that he probably should not mess with the new guy.

The rest of the day went by normally, the usual people still bullying him, but they consisted of the usual verbal attacks and nothing more. Lucas walked back home with Claus, telling him about the few highlights of his day before Claus went on about how he got a B+ on a test and was irritated about it because he clearly did everything right. His rant made Lucas grin as he continued to look at the ground.

It wasn't until they got home that their mother noticed and fretted about the bruise that was painted on Lucas's cheek. Their mother convinced Lucas to put an ice pack on it, insisting on telling him to tell her how it happened.

Though the cause of the bruise was admitted, their father forced Lucas to explain any other happenings at their new school day, which Lucas obliged after Claus mistakenly slipped out a word of his struggle with a classmate. His mother only gasped as the story continued, and his father emotionless, almost looking rather disappointed. Then, Claus grabbed the conversation and talked about his grades, followed by regular dinner at the Westwood household.

Not even the shower refreshed his mind and heart like it normally did. Instead, he broke down this time, the tears coming naturally. He didn't know what happened to himself—things like this happened every day for nearly three and a half years already and he rarely ever cried, but this one day was just worse than he imagined. He didn't know whether it was from the new guy, or from the rough physical contact he got and how his family treated it as a casual conversation save his mother, or from his lingering regret of letting his sexuality be outed by bullies from a mistake. He couldn't tell what the reasons were, he just knew he needed the world to stop for a moment for him to let it all out. As a result, his shower was longer than normal, no matter how hard he forced the tears to slide down his cheeks.

By the time he came out of the bathroom, it was not only late, but Claus was already tucked into the bed next to Lucas's. Lucas crept over and lied down, refusing to cover himself with his blanket.

And as he slowly fell asleep, his thoughts boiled back to Ness Hudgens.