Brendon woke up that fateful morning with a smile on his face, not knowing how his day would ultimately end. He headed off to school, hung out with his friends, then came back home to his family for dinner. When he walked into the house, his parents, Greta and Boyd Urie, sat waiting on the couch.
"Come in, Brendon." His mom called out.
"Uh, okay?" He walked in, confused. "Um, what's going on, you guys?"
Boyd gave his wife a look before speaking. "Look, son, your mother and I heard a rumor about you from other members of the church."
At the unexpected words, Brendon thought, Oh shit. That's not good. "Why do you guys even care about something like that? Most of the time they're just lying to get to you."
Greta sighed. "Because they claimed that you were gay. That looks bad for our name. You must understand how serious of a threat this is to our standing in the church, right Brendon?"
The teenager simply froze in shock, not listening to his mother speak anymore. How could someone have learned about that? He had only ever told one person, in his entire life. His best friend, Sarah. That was it. He was crushed. Why would she tell? Who would she tell? She knew how much this meant to me, how much it could ruin me.
"Brendon?" His dad asked, hoping to God that his son was going to disclaim what his wife said. "Is this, this rumor true?"
He only swallowed. He couldn't say it. Not right now, not when he felt his world was imploding around him. How could this be happening to him? What did he deserve for this to happen? He was only fifteen.
"Brendon?" Boyd repeated, not wanting to believe his silence. "Please just say no. Please."
He shook his head. He couldn't do it. He couldn't. He tried speaking, but he just couldn't emit noise. I'm so sorry! I can't! He tried answering, but no sound was released. Oh my god, I can't tell them!
"Brendon! Answer your father!" Greta exclaimed, feeling more and more nervous as seconds ticked by.
Brendon stood there, motionless. "I can't." He said in the quietest voice, barely a whisper.
"What?" His dad asked furiously, "Repeat what you just said."
The teen trembled at the tone. "I can't." He gulped once before continuing. "I'm gay. The rumors are true."
His parents sat there, disbelief and fury growing in their expressions. They were stunned into silence.
Brendon nearly sobbed looking at them. "I'm so sorry!" He said. He couldn't help himself. Seeing his family in that state made him yearn for their forgiveness. He felt wrecked inside, knowing that he was the one that made them feel that way. He did this.
His father glared at him with hatred at his apology. "Shut up. You don't get to apologize for what you've turned into. How dare you? How dare you do this to us! We didn't raise you to be a sinner!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm -" Brendon was cut off by his mother wrapping a hand around his throat. The teen started to choke, shocked that his mom would do such a thing.
He raised one of his hands to try to pull her off, while doing his best to keep breathing. He started to panic, dots appearing in his vision. Oh god! I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe. Suddenly, the force was lifted. Brendon fell to the ground, sucking air back into his body. He felt like he was slowly sinking into himself, trying to make his figure disappear, or look smaller. He couldn't shake the fear he now felt towards his mother, someone who used to be loving and kind towards him. Once he recovered, he glanced back up to see his dad holding back his mom.
His dad spoke, clearing the silence that had crept upon them. "Brendon, I can't stand to look at you right now. No son of mine would ever be this way. We're disowning you, and you must leave now. I probably should have let Greta kill you but you were my flesh and blood, so think of this as my last favor to you. Go!"
The teenager nodded, still freaked out that his own mother tried to kill him. He wheezed before running up the stairs to his room. He grabbed random clothes and stuffed them into his backpack, trying to be as quick as possible. Not wanting to see his parents anymore, he decided to chance jumping out a window to leave the house.
Brendon headed off in a random direction, trying to think of places he could live in for the moment. He immediately thought of Sarah, but then dismissed it. She was the only I told, the only one that knew. She must have been the person who spread the rumor. I can't trust her, not anymore. He then realized that he truly had no one else, besides a few of his school friends, who he never would have entrusted his secret to. But, what do I do now? How am I gonna get thought his mess? I mean, my parents basically abandoned me! I'm only fifteen! How the hell am I supposed to take care of myself?
Then, Brendon remembered the one place he had come across when he walked to school. He once noticed a sign by the door that read "We can help you." Even if it was a little cliched, he truly needed help. That was his only hope and surviving the next couple years if his dad truly meant that part of disowning him. I'm not sure if they will ever forgive me, but the best thing I can give them is time, right? Brendon had to keep his hope about his future. It was the last thing he had left. No family, no true friends, no anything after all that happened.
Let's hope that they can help me. Feeling desperate, the teenager started to pick up his pace, wanting to make it the house before sunset. It was starting to get cold, and all he had on was a light jacket and shorts, since he was used to the Las Vegas heat during the day.
He found the place after ten minutes of near jogging. He breathed out a sigh of relief; he had come this far, please let all his effort not come to waste. Swallowing, he rang the doorbell. Please, he thought, let me have a little luck here, and there be somebody who can help me.
The door was opened by a handsome man with dyed blond hair. "Can I help you?" He asked the figure in front of him.
Brendon scratched the back of his neck nervously, taken aback by the sheer attractiveness the older male had. "This is a shelter right? People can get help from here?"
The other nodded in answer. "Yeah." Turning on the porch light, the man did a double take as he glanced down. "Holy crap! You're just a kid! What the heck happened to you?"
The teen sighed in answer. "My parents kicked me out, okay? Can you help me or not?"
"Yes, of course. Hey, Patrick! We got another person here! Hurry up!" The blond yelled inside the house.
Feeling a breeze, Brendon unconsciously shivered. It was getting colder and colder outside. Couldn't they just please let him in?
"Really Pete?" The so-called Patrick said once he arrived at the door. "Jeez it's cold. Alright kid, come on in. Before Pete and I can agree to let you stay we're gonna have to ask you something before we let you stay here."
The cold teenager who started to shiver from being outside so long, quietly thanked the pair before walking into the place. He breathed a sign of relief when he felt the warm emitting from the room. Brendon felt his body involuntarily begin to relax, despite being in front of two complete strangers.
He turned to look at Pete and Patrick, only to be met with their gazes. "What? Why are you guys looking at me like that? Do my clothes really look that weird?"
Waiting for them to reply, Brendon took a quick peek into the room itself. It almost felt welcoming, in the way that a fireplace stood lit in a corner of the room, and that the two couches were very large and comfortable.
The two lightly blushed in answer to his question, and gave each other a glance before turning back to him. "Sorry," Patrick replied, taking off his fedora and playing with it, "You just look so young."
Brendon rolled his eyes at the statement. "I'm fifteen. That's not that young."
Pete laughed. "Really? I thought you were twelve." Patrick giggled
The teen looked back at the amused pair. Sucking in air to try to get rid of his nervousness, he asked them, "What do you want to know?"
Pete answered with, "We just want to know why you were kicked out. Drugs, alcohol, sex? What was it?"
Brendon covered his mouth for a moment before speaking in a low murmur, barely loud enough to hear. "No it wasn't because of that. I'm gay, and that's a sin, to them at least."
He closed his eyes at the silence before him; great, are these people going to react the same way as his parents did? They were his last hope. He opened his eyes in shock when Patrick ran towards him and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so sorry! There's nothing wrong with being gay!" Patrick let out before gently releasing Brendon. "You are perfectly normal and a human being."
The teen was shocked by the others words. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault. Thank you though." He reached up at patted the man's head. "Does this mean I can stay?"
Patrick nodded in answer. "Of course! Here, I'll set you up in one of the rooms for the night. It's getting late. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"
"Alright."
Patrick and Pete showed the teen to a room, and helped him with his minimal belongings. After getting comfortable in bed, Brendon quickly fell asleep, feeling slight relief at the position he was now in. I think I might end up okay here. I just gotta wait and see what happens next.