This is based around season 2 episode 13 (Wherefore art thou Lennox) specifically the events surrounding Ryder [Spoilers]- him getting a hickey from a mystery someone but it turns out that it was actually just from the hoover but in this story it wasn't, it was another person- Ryder did cheat on Holly.

I've often wondered what the series would be like if there was a regular LGBTQ+ character and think that it would work really well if it were Ryder.

I've changed the time of day from the evening (the time in the episode) to the morning- just before Ryder heads to school for the scene where he and Joe have a conversation about the hickey. I also changed the way Holly and Ryder break up.

I think Holly might be a bit OOC but the rest should be relatively okay... I hope.

"Hey Aunt Mel." I say as I walk into the kitchen desperately pulling at my collar to cover the bruised skin on my neck.

"Hey Ryder, nice hickey" She draws out the last word, like she's taunting me.

"Oh god." I can't go to out with a gaping red mark in full view. "Is it that noticeable?" I pull my shirt down to give my Aunt a better look.

"No..." shaking her head. That's a relief. "Only from space." What am I going to do?!

"Okay, help me! How do I get rid of it?!"

"Oh, nothing works" She continues typing on her laptop. "From what I hear..." She's trying- and failing- to make up an excuse. "But if you wanna cover it up I have some make-up."

"Make-up's for girls, no way." I can't wear make-up to school; I'll be a laughing stalk.

I hear clunky footsteps coming from behind me and when I turn around I see Lennox strutting into the room. "Damn... monster hickey."

I have no other choice here. "Gimme the make-up"

Laughing at my pain, Aunt Mel says- pointing me in the direction. "Top drawer of my bathroom vanity"

and I run upstairs thinking Great, now I won't just be the gay kid- I'll be the gay kid who wears make-up.

...

I hear Aunt Mel and Lennox talking as I head downstairs, hickey-remover in hand, and as I reach the bottom step I notice I strange boy at the door but when I see Lennox fawning over him I decide not to get involved and continue looking through Aunt Mel's make-up bag.

"Did you see that?! Promise me you'll never do that."

I look up from my digging confused "I-I don't even know what we're talking about..."

"Good! Boy's are so much simpler."

Not really caring about what she's talking about I continue "Yeah... Which one of these matches my skin tone better; bisk or ivory?" this is so messed up.

"Neither! Anyone can see you're a buff peach." THIS IS SO MESSED UP.

Aunt Mel and I continue for the next hour or so trying to make it look natural. She then spends a further half an hour teaching me how to apply it so when it comes to getting ready for school so I don't need to ask her for help.

...

I spent half the night up stressing about this dumb hickey and now I'm tired and my make-up's blotchy. ...I'm just going to forget I said that...

I sigh looking in the bathroom mirror before heading down the stairs to start a truly awful day.

I push the kitchen door open to see Joe placing breakfast on the table- pancakes and fresh fruit- so I sit down and start to poke at my food- I notice him looking at me so I try to act natural- despite the nervous knot in my stomach. "Sup Joe"

"Hey Buddy" He puts a hand on my arm, adjusting me to have a better view of my neck. "Wow, that's a lot of make-up on that hickey man." I nod but let him continue "You know when I was your age, which was not that long ago, that was like a badge of honour. Don't you want to show that off to all your friends? Show 'em what Holly did to you?"

Crap, I didn't think anybody would bring up who gave me the bruise... I contemplate telling him a lie but I can't do that, it'll just make this whole situation worse."The thing is... uh... it's not from Holly..." I already regret this.

There's silence for a few seconds before Joe speaks up "Oh... wow... okay... well, uh, if Holly finds out you better get in the boyfriend protection programme, brother." He has a point... I can't do this anymore; I have to break up with her, today. "So who's the, um, lovely little lady who, uh, wouldn't let go." He laughs. This is not a laughing matter.

Shit... should I tell him? No... I can't tell him before Aunt Mel... She'll freak. "I don't wanna to talk about it." I'll talk to them all at one point, just not right now- I'm not ready for that level of exposure because god knows Aunt Mel can't keep a secret.

"Understood, alright" Joe continues with what he was doing before I came into the room- pouring coffee, cooking- that sort of thing- but then he continues speaking. Can't he just let it go?! "Why don't you wear a turtle neck? Or, um, get a bodyguard?" I know he's joking but it's not a bad idea... "Breakfast's ready!" He calls through to everyone.

I can't feel the tension as Lennox and Aunt Mel walk into the room so I just decide to keep my head down and eat my pancakes but there was really know point because as soon as they sat down they were gone again; leaving the room with their plates so they don't have to see each other. Neither me nor Joe know what to say so there's a silence between us apart from the occasional noise of chewing for the next 5 minutes before bother of us are finished our meals.

"Right, buddy, lets get you to school." He says picking up the plates and taking them to the sink. He then lifts his keys and ushers me to the front door.

I grab my bag and check I have everything I need before my hellish day can start.

...

The 15 minute car journey is quiet; to be honest I'm not really in the mood to spark up conversation since I know that any topic we speak of will just end up back at me and my hickey.

When we arrive at the rusty school gates I thank Joe for the ride and head through the doors hoping that no-one will notice the, hardly convincingly covered, blemish on my neck and for the few minutes that it takes for me to walk from the front gates to my locker I believe that my plan is working but as soon as I hear the childish laughing and chanting of my friends I know that they can see the mark.

I wave them off as I close my locker when Ryan- the oldest one in my 3 friends- speaks up "Are you wearing make-up, mate?" The others wait in suspense. I just nod as I slug my bag over my shoulder. "WHY THOUGH?!" I hear Ryan say over the laughing of my so called "friends".

"Becau- BECAUSE" I raise my voice to be heard over these idiots. "I have a hickey!" The bell then goes and we all head off to class but Oliver- my best friend- sticks close to me, presumably so he can ask questions. We walk in silence for a few seconds before Oli speaks "It wasn't Holly was it?" I wait a second debating on whether I should answer or not before just shaking my head and he nods.

Oliver and I have been friends since my very first day- neither of us were particularly popular so we ended up hanging out a lot because we didn't have many other options but I'm glad that we didn't, he's my best friend and I tell him everything- he was the first, and only, person I told about being gay (well I say tell, more like showed; I was in my room being... intimate... with a guy I met online, Jake, when Oliver stormed in with news of a brand new game- this wasn't uncommon of Oli but he was supposed to be in Ohio visiting some family). He took it really well, naturally it was a little awkward at first; not knowing whether he was okay with me acting like we usually did anymore but after about 2 weeks of weird touching and clumsy conversation he sat me down and we had an excruciatingly long and uncomfortable talk about... everything. Ever since then we've been thick as thieves.

As soon as he found out Oliver was against me dating girls, he understood why I did it but he didn't want me or the girls getting hurt. So when I felt Oliver pull me aside in the currently empty hallway I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about. "You have to break up with Holly."

"Oli..."

"No, listen." He says keeping a firm grip on my arms so I can't walk away "I get that it's hard and everything and I'm not going to force you to come out if you're not ready but you can't keep leading her on like this, man. It's not right."

"I know, I know." I say covering my face with my hands. "I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"Well, man..." Putting an arm around my shoulder as he ushers me up a set of stairs- towards our class room. "You should've thought of that before you agreed to date her. And it's not just her you're hurting, how do you think Jake feels about this? I doubt he has some random chick act as his beard. You guys have been going out for how long? 2 months? and you've still not broken up with Holly."

"Okay, okay! I get it. I'll do it tonight, alright? She's coming over so we can do homework anyways."

"It's for the best, mate."

...

"RYDER SCANLON!"

I look up from my lunch when I hear the voice of a raging teen female echoing throughout the lunch hall "Oh god." I cautiously look around for the source of the noise desperately hoping for it to have come from someone, anyone other than Holly. I turn around to see a distraught looking Holly with her bag slumped half way down her shoudlers and 2 very displeased looking girls standing behind her.

"Ryder." I stand up only to have my wide eyes meet her watery ones. "Is it true?"

"Uh..." Everyone in the canteen is watching us.

"Did you cheat on me?"

"Holly-"

"No. Don't try to explain. Yes or no, did you cheat on me?" She looks impatient; her pink flats are tapping gently on the lionel and her arms are folded tightly across her chest- her hands only breaking their bond to wipe a solitary tear dripping down her cheek.

I sigh "Yes but-"

"Shut up!" Her arms jump out in front of her and I step back in fear almost tripping over the chair I was previously sitting on. "What's her name?"

I can't lie to her again but I definitely can't tell her the truth, not in front of the whole school. I look back at Oliver for help but only getting a wide eyed shrug in answer. "Can we please do this somewhere else?"

"Answer the question!"

I rub my face in frustration "It's not important who it was, what's important is that I'm sorry and you deserve someone better."

She looks about for a second casually nodding her head and running her tongue along her teeth. "You're right, I do deserve someone better." She steps forward speaking in a surprisingly low, rough voice "We're through." before storming off while her minions follow- but not before giving me a look of disgust.

I slump back down in my chair listening to the loud chatter that's erupted around me

I'm wondering what to do when Oliver speaks up with an awkward yet hopeful smirk on his face. "On the bright side... you don't have to break up with her anymore."

...

I spent the rest of the day trying my best to avoid Holly and any of her followers but it turned out to be surprisingly difficult, I was getting death glares and pushed into lockers at every corner I turned so now I'm just thankful to be home.

I head up stairs to change in to a turtle neck to try and avoid any further questioning on my hickey. No doubt one of Lennox's friends have updated her the whole Holly situation.

I take one last look at my current attire in the mirror before walking down stairs and sitting with Joe relaxing playing cards.

About 2 and a half games of poker later, Aunt Mel and Lennox return home seeming oddly happy. There's a few minutes of mindless chatter before the 2 women start bickering again.

"Well you're entitle to your opinion- even if it's wrong, dummy head." Aunt Mel states.

Lennox retaliates "You're wrong, stupid-pants"

Joe interrupts them "I think we're missing out on something important here, when you going to tell us all, Ryder, who actually gave you that, uh, love-bite?"

"Yeah... Who hick-afied ya?" Aunt Mel says childishly.

What should I say?! I know I should come out but I don't know how to go about the actual coming out part... My train of thought is interrupted when Lennox speaks.

"Oh yeah! Phoebe texted me telling me that it didn't go so well today... Holly broke up with you?"

"Yeah, she did."

Aunt Mel comes over to comfort me, sighing. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It was for the best."

"What'd you mean, buddy?" Joe says from his now standing position, since Aunt Mel took his space on the cramped couch.

"'Cause, uh," Am I actually doing this? "'Cause..." I scratch the back of my head before clasping them again, one elbow on each of my knees- squinting a bit, avoiding eye-contact. "I'm gay."

There's an explosion of noise on either side of me as all 3 of the other people in the room scream an in sync "WHAT?!" I jump slightly at the sound, unable to figure out whether it's a positive or negative reaction.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Lennox asks with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Yeah" Aunt Mel replies, hitting me on the arm. "We're fine with it, we're cool, we're hip." She says looking around with an open grin on her face.

Joe makes a face as he takes a seat on the floral foot stool next to the couch "I think what your Aunt is trying to say is that we all love you, even if it was a guy who gave you that massive hickey." Everybody laughs.

There's a comfortable silence and for a second I'm glad that I came out, there's no more keeping secrets from my family, no more sneaking around-

"WAIT!" Lennox bursts out, grabbing my arm. "We still don't know who gave you the hickey."

Aunt Mel laughs "Oohh, was it Oliver? I bet it was Oliver!"

"Ooohh, they would be so cute together!" Lennox says squeezing my cheeks.

"Enough!" I jump up, straightening my jumper. "It wasn't Oliver, he's just a friend."

"A good friend..." Lennox makes suggestive movements with her eye-brows.

I roll my eyes as I walk away. "No, okay. It was someone else."

Lennox follows me- poking me in the back- as I walk upstairs "Come on! The whole point of having a gay brother is that we get to talk about boys!"

I reach the top of the stairs and turn around the meet her gaze. "No. I will not do all that girly crap with you." I continue walking into my bedroom before slamming the door, hearing a faint "please" behind the door.

I'm beginning to regret this already.

...

That's a wrap. I know the ending is a monstrosity but I couldn't think of anything else and it's half past 1 in the morning so... In saying that, I'm pretty happy with how the majority of this turned out...

If you want me to continue this then please leave a comment and any suggestions you may have :)