ALEX POINT OF VIEW
Alex sat alone on a rock. He needed to get away from everybody; he had a lot to think about. That day Gia had kissed him for the first time, and... it wasn't what he expected. He thought it would be amazing, he thought it would show him how much he was meant to be with her. But... it wasn't like that at all.
'Why am I like this?' He thought to himself. He just wanted to be normal. Everybody he saw had a partner these days. He wanted to fit in. When he saw Gia, he thought that that was his chance to have somebody, after all, she seemed interested in him from the beginning!
But then, he remembered what this was all about. He liked Marty - no, he loved him. He had felt this way for so long, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it. He had always thought it wasn't normal and that he needed to keep it to himself.
That day when Marty felt like he wasn't special to Alex, like he wasn't unique, and he was about to cross over the reserve line, he wanted so badly to tell him. Oh, how he wished he had had the courage to say it that day. But he didn't, he just told Marty how he was one in a million, but really... He was the ONLY one to Alex.
All the sudden Gia came out from around the corner, startling Alex from his thoughts.
"Hey, Alex, are you okay?"
"Yeah..." Alex replied, unconvincingly.
"Alex, I know you better than that. I can tell when you're feeling down by now. What's wrong?"
Alex knew he needed to stop being afraid, this was his chance to finally come out of his shell!
"Gia... you know how you kissed me today?"
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I... I need to tell you something." Gia looked mildly concerned, but nodded for him to continue.
"Please don't be mad at me, but I'm gay... I didn't mean to lead you on, I... I have been too scared to tell anybody this my whole life, I... I thought I could love you, but I just can't betray who I am..."
Alex started crying and sniffling, and then Gia surprised him. She hugged him tightly.
"Alex, you're brave to tell me this, I am NOT mad at you! I kind of suspected it, but I didn't want to offend you by asking because I really liked you. We are friends, you know that. I'm just as happy being your friend. We can still be friends, right?"
Alex's tears turned from sadness and fear, to tears of joy. "Of course we can be! Thank you for not being mad at me..."
"I could never be mad at you over something like this, silly," Gia said, smiling at him.
"Now that I've finally accepted who I am... I have to tell somebody something."
Gia smiled, knowing he was going to talk to Marty. Some part of her knew this all along, it was obvious to her now that she thought about it from how he acted around Marty. She was glad that he had found the courage to tell her.
'He's so cute... what a lucky zebra Marty is.' She thought to herself, sitting on the rock as Alex ran to go find Marty.
MARTY POINT OF VIEW
Marty was walking on a trail near the circus, thinking. This wasn't the first time, he thought about this every day, and it always made him depressed. Alex, his buddy, had a girlfriend. They always look so happy together, Marty thought to himself.
Little did he know, Alex had always tried to act happy. He didn't want to risk somebody thinking he wasn't, because he didn't want people to know who he really liked.
Marty had done the same thing without realizing it, when he tried to get the Okapi to like him that one day. His situation was so similar to Alex's, without either of them ever realizing it.
'If only Alex loved me... We have always been together. If only he realized how much I appreciate him, how much I love his valentine cards he makes me, how much I love everything about him... But he loves Gia...'
Just then, Alex finally found Marty, and Marty saw him running over the hill.
TOGETHER POINT OF VIEW LOL
"Alex! What are you running for, looking for somebody?"
"Marty! Yeah, I've been looking for you, what have you been up to?"
"Oh, just thinking about stuff. Anyways, what's up?"
All the sudden, Alex started blushing.
Alex thought to himself, 'Come on Alex! Keep it together! You have to do this! If he doesn't like you, you can still be friends just like Gia did for you!'
"You okay Alex? Your cheeks look a little red, you got a fever or something?"
"I'm fine, but I need to tell you something Marty..."
"Yeah, you can tell me anything buddy," Marty replied.
"I... I tried to love Gia, but that isn't who I am... I don't know why I'm telling you this, because you like that Okapi you met, maybe you don't feel the same way, but... I love you..."
Marty's eyes got really wide for a second.
This was the single best thing that had ever happened to the zebra!
Before Alex could realize what was happening, Marty was hugging Alex tight.
"Alex, those words just made me the happiest zebra in the world... I love you too Alex! It seems we have been in a similar situation, because I was just trying to fit in when I tried to get that Okapi's attention."
Both had tears in their eyes when they looked each other in the eyes, and kissed their first kiss of many to follow in their new relationship.
Both Alex and Marty knew from the kiss, that this was what they had wanted for so long.
"I love you, Marty." Alex said, smiling.
"I love you too, Alex. Don't you forget it!" Marty replied, laughing happily.
Prologue
Alex and Marty stayed in the Circus and pretty soon everybody knew they loved each other. Gia turned out fine, and she eventually found somebody, and they all remained good friends and even had double dates with Alex and Marty sometimes. Of course, they all lived happily ever after. How could they not now that they had each other?
END
