Prologue

"Thank you," I whispered, resting my forehead against his.

"For what?" He asked, peering into my eyes.

"For giving me a chance."

"Well then, thank you, too," he murmured.

"For what?"

"For taking a chance." I kissed his lips softly. We both jumped as my phone beeped, signaling us that our free period was over, and it was time to back to class—back to reality. "Time to go," he sighed sadly before getting up and gathering his stuff.

"I—I'm sorry," I murmured as I stood up, dusting the dirt off of my pants.

"It's fine—really, it's all fine." He assured me, but I knew he was lying, I knew he was hurting. I was about to respond when I heard someone calling my name. When I looked to see who it was, my stomach dropped. I saw Tim, Jeff, and Dan, guys from the football team, approaching us.

"H-Hi, guys," I greeted, stepping away from Spencer.

"Hanging out with a fag, Morgan?" Tim asked in disgust as he walked towards us.

"I—uh—o-of course not!" I responded quickly, putting more distance between Spencer and me. I chanced a look at him, and my heart clenched when I saw the hurt in his eyes.

"Good, we don't want you catching the gay." I flinched slightly at Tim's words, but said nothing. Tim, Jeff, and Dan were all inching closer to Spencer. I clenched and unclenched my fist, trying my best to control the rage bubbling inside of me. "So what do you have to say for yourself, fag?" Tim asked, invading Spencer's personal space. Spencer didn't say anything. After a few moments, Tim grew angrier. "Answer me, fag!" He pushed Spencer hard, so hard that Spencer ended up falling to the ground with a loud thud. He groaned, clutching his midsection, and curling into himself, but otherwise remained silent. I eyed Tim and the others, who looked like they were about to attack. Before I knew it, they were on top of him, kicking and punching as they saw fit.

"Stop!" I yelled, pulling them off of him.

"Why? We need to teach this fag some respect!" Tim raged.

"Just leave it alone, you three can't afford to get into anymore trouble, Mr. Hotchner will expel you!" I said as earnestly as I could, hoping they would fall for it.

"Fine," Tim turned to Spencer, "make sure you keep yourself in line, faggot. Next time, you won't be so lucky." I looked down at the ground, not daring to meet Spencer's eyes. "Come on guys, let's get out of here." Numbly, I followed along. When we got to the doors of the school, I told them that my class was the other way, and said goodbye. When I was sure they were out of sight, I ran back to the field, praying that Spencer was still there.

"Spencer," I yelled, seeing his frail figure struggling to get up. I reached out to help him, but he yanked his arm out of grasp.

"Don't touch me!" He spat, forcing himself to stand up straight.

"Baby—"

"No, you do not get to call me that."

"I'm sorry—"

"You know, I didn't want to make you come out of closet so soon because I didn't want to rush you. I understand that. But I never took you for such a spineless coward!" His words pierced my heart, and I felt like I was just punched in the gut.

"I—"

"No, don't. I know where I stand now, Derek. Thank you for making it perfect clear just how much you "love" me." And just like that, I watched the best thing that has ever happened to me walk away—walk out of my life, all because I'm a fucking coward.

Author's Note

Hello, readers.
If you're returning to this story confused, it's because I've deleted the original and I am now rewriting it, albeit slowly. My writing has progressed, and I've decided I'm going rewrite most (if not all) of my stories. This was my longest, most worked on story, so it's going first. For the next few weeks, posting will be a little slow. However, I already have the first few chapters written, so it shouldn't be too bad. I apologize for everyone who was confused and looking for the story. Hopefully, you'll like this version even better.

Thank you for all your patience.