AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello my readers! Yes, this is a Trez friendship fiction. I should state that I personally don't ship Dez and Trish, but I do understand why some people do. Trish dates Jace in my universe, because not only are Trish and Jace the most underrated couple on the show, but also I really wasn't happy with Trish marrying Chuck. I find Chuck's ways of flirting with her to be problematic and more like sexual harassment than affection. But Dez and Trish still have a strong friendship and I definitely love their friendship, but I personally don't ship them. OK, that's about it for the disclaimer, here's Out in the open.
TRISH:
Ugh. I'm so bored and lonely. I was supposed to celebrate my anniversary with my boyfriend, Jace Dillon, but he's away in Albuquerque to go to his great grandma's funeral. I can't believe Jace and I have been together for five years already- we met over seven years ago, at freshman orientation, right before starting high school. At that time, he had moved to Miami from Albuquerque because his dad, who was a lawyer, got a job promotion and it was in Miami. We became very close as of then, and despite being just friends, many people mistook us for a couple as we spent a lot of time together and we acted like a couple.
Jace had also done some pretty boyfriend-y things for me before we started dating. At my quinceanera, my dress matched his tie, he danced with me, and as a present, he got me flowers and tickets and backstage passes to see Eminem in concert (Eminem was one of my favorite singers ever). There was a time in junior year when we attended the Marino High homecoming dance, and Chuck McCoy, a guy we went to high school with who had a morbid obsession with me and who would sexually harass me sometimes, conned me into bringing him as my date and later he drugged me with booze and roofies (Even to this day, I had no idea how he managed to get his Donald Trump hands on roofies. They were illegal, weren't they?) and then he raped me while I was so heavily intoxicated and passed out. Jace, with help from my best friend Ally Dawson and her boyfriend Austin Moon, punched Chuck in the face for sexually assaulting me and then I ended up in the hospital. From that point on, Chuck was expelled from school and he had been incarcerated, facing felony charges for rape and sexual assault and he was on the sex offender registry. He deserved it.
When Chuck had raped me, I was in a coma for two days and I was hospitalized for two weeks. I was out of school for a month and my Abuelita stayed and took care of me because my parents had to go to work. That wasn't even the end of my injuries- I had a black eye, I had a fat lip, my face was covered in abrasions and I even had a mild concussion because according to Ally, Chuck had dragged me by my ankles down a flight of stairs, causing me to hit my head repeatedly and then he had pinned me down on the concrete and from there he raped me, and then she called my parents and then 911. What had prompted her to do that was when Austin tried to perform CPR on me and I wasn't responding. Jace also told Chuck that if he ever came near me again, he didn't even want to know what would happen to him.
I was so thankful that Jace, along with my friends, and even people I wasn't friends with had given me an influx of support and sending me gifts. From then on, Jace started dating me and we had been very happy together ever since. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket- I was getting a text message from Jace. My phone was a silver iPhone X covered in a pink and purple cheetah print case. He sent me a picture of himself shirtless, with his six-pack and his guns on full display.
The message said,
"Hey, girl."
Holy fuck. That picture of Jace was sexy as hell. I texted him back,
"You're flirty af."
I sent him an emoji with hearts in the eyes and an emoji with the tongue out. I then took off my cheetah print tank top, sending a picture of my bra to him. I was twenty-one, and I was just showing him my bra and not my topless chest. I put my tank top back on and ironically enough, I got a FaceTime request from Jace, or according to my phone, his contact name was Papi with a purple heart emoji.
I answered,
"Hola, Papi hermoso."
I was latina and Jace was white. I was the first person in my Mexican-catholic family to be in a romantic relationship with someone who was not Mexican, let alone caucasian. Jace was the first person in his family to date a person of color. I spoke Spanish in front of him a lot and when I was asking him for something or even when I was just trying to flirt with him, I would call him "Papa", "Mi Amor," "Bebé" or "Papi."
Jace laughed.
"Hey, Trish. I'm just calling to say, I'm really sorry I'm missing our anniversary and I'm really missing you."
I said,
"It's OK. I don't care as much about that. I miss you, too, and I'm sorry about the passing of your great-grandmother."
Jace sighed.
"I am, too, but you know what? It was her time. Her health was declining and it just wouldn't have been fair for her to live anymore."
"It's still really sad when a family member dies, though."
"True, true. I promise, Trish, I'm gonna make up missing our anniversary to you. I'm gonna do something special. More special than anything I've ever done for you, from when we met up until this point."
I had been so in love with Jace, that sometimes, I dreamed about us getting married, having kids (three or four kids max), growing older, having grandkids and dying together, even have our tombs next to each other when we died. I would make jokes that if Jace and I got married and had children, if our first child was a boy, I would have to buy testosterone pills and condoms. I made him promise me if our child was a girl, he would buy her bras and makeup. I loved Jace like a fat kid loved cake. I really missed him, and I was excited to see him again in two days.
"Oh, I know you will, because you love me. What did I ever do to deserve you?"
I asked him.
"I'll tell you-you kick ass, when you want something, you don't take no for an answer and you fight hard, you don't take jackshit from anyone, you're funny and you're sexy. You're a perfect mix of telling it like it is and you have this caring side to you. I love you, Trish De La Rosa, and I can't wait to see you when I come back to Miami."
I said,
"I love you, too, Jace. I love you like Mary and Joseph love Jesus."
I laughed. My phone lock screen was a picture of Jace shirtless and my home screen was a picture of us both cuddling up together on the sofa in my living room and I was kissing him on his cheek. I loved him so much. Jace eventually had to go because he had to pack to go back home, and not long after we hung up on FaceTime, I got a text from Dez Wade.
The text said,
"Hey, Trish. Can you meet me at Eternity Roasters in 20 minutes? I need to talk to you about something."
Dez and I had a very interesting friendship, to say the least. We met in high school and we loved to fuck with each other and drive each other insane. He was very good friends with Jace and Austin (Very much like Ally and me, Dez and Austin had been best friends since childhood. They'd been best friends since they were in pre-kindergarten), and when Jace wasn't hanging out with me, he often would be hanging out with Dez and Austin and they would play video games, drink booze, smoke weed and watch movies together. Or in high school, all three of them would buy candy and soda and characterize them as drugs and alcohol and they would get fake high.
What would Dez want to talk to me about? Dez and I would (jokingly) make fun of each other, but I didn't think he would ever want to confide in me. What would he want to tell me? I thought Austin would be the first person he would ever tell a secret to. Ironically, Dez had a very hard time with keeping secrets, and I had a feeling he was going to tell me a very earth-shattering one to me.
I met him at the coffee shop like he'd asked me to, and he walked in, clearly trying to maintain a brave face.
"Hey, Trish. I'm glad you're here."
he said, clearly tense and agitated.
"Dez? What's going on? Are you OK?"
He said,
"Let's go find a table outside."
We did and I was sitting across from Dez. He asked me,
"Did you not have anything better to do?"
I said,
"Actually, I didn't have anything to do, period. It's Jace's and my anniversary, but he's away at a funeral in Albuquerque. At least he promised to make it up to me, and he called me to wish me a happy anniversary. That's what I care about. Dez, come on. Clearly, something's bothering you."
Dez said,
"I broke up with Carrie."
I said,
"What? Oh my god, Dez. I'm so sorry. What happened, if you don't mind telling me?"
He said,
"It's not her. We didn't do anything wrong. I love Carrie, I care about her, I want what's best for her, I'm just not in love with her."
I asked,
"What happened?"
"I love her, but I don't love her. It's not anything personal, I just am not into her like that. She's been crying for like a week, and I honestly don't blame her. I'm not into her, but it was hurting me to see her hurt. Basically, I was trying to please her so much that I wasn't pleasing myself."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I see Austin, and how he and Ally are like magnets when they're together and how they make out almost all time and do their little baby talk and how they cuddle and love each other, and that's just not who I am. Of course, that's not his fault, it just hits me a lot harder than I want it to."
"I'm still confused. Dez, what are you trying to tell me?"
He said,
"I've never told this to anyone, not even Austin knows this. I'm not into Carrie. In fact, I'm not into girls at all."
I asked,
"Dez, are you telling me you're gay?"
"Yes, Trish. I am, in fact, gay. I'm a homosexual."
I had never seen Dez as a homosexual. He would watch shows like What not to wear, Teen Mom, 16 & Pregnant, Botched, and Queer Eye, but I always perceived that Dez was just like a girly boy. I didn't know he identified as gay. I guess I should pay attention to red flags more- like when he participated in the Marino High drag show all four years, and the fact there was a time when there was a lesbian student, Bethany Long, at Marino High and she killed herself after being bullied mercilessly and continually having homophobic slander thrown at her like "dyke", "she-faggot", "tranny girl" and "homo-ette", and after her suicide, we had to go to an assembly and Dez was crying hysterically after hearing all those homophobic, derogatory slander. It hit him harder than it would hit a heterosexual person.
I felt bad for Bethany, too, and I didn't even know she was a lesbian. If she was still alive, she would have been able to find an awesome girlfriend who she would be able to marry and have children with. With Dez, he would always become hypersensitive to homosexual slurs like "faggot," "homo", "pansy" "fairy" and all those other derogatory slurs used towards gay people. Not that I blamed him, of course.
I felt that way when I heard the word "beaner" or even when I heard people say "All lives matter." I felt triggered and upset when I heard people who supported Donald Trump and how they supported his idea to build a wall and force the country of my ethnic background to pay for it and how he labeled people of my race and ethnicity as "drug dealers" and "rapists". Worst of all, how ICE agents were locking up immigrants and their children, treating them worse than actual criminals. Although I had been targeted more by racism than homophobia, I could fully understand where Dez was coming from. No one deserved discrimination of any kind.
"How long have you known you were gay?"
I asked.
"Since ninth grade. I don't want to say who I crushed on because it'll bring up a sore subject for you."
"Was it Chuck?"
He said,
"Yeah. Of course, I thought he was hot and I had fantasies about us getting married and having sex, but I hated him after he pulled a Brock Turner and sexually assaulted you while you were passed out."
I chuckled.
"Come on, Dez. You could do so much better than Chuck, even when you fantasize."
Dez chuckled.
"You're right. I hate Chuck's guts now."
I said,
"Dez, I accept you for who you are, and you can trust me to stand up for you when I hear people use homophobic slander to and about you. I'm your safe place."
I came over and I locked him in a tight hug.
"I'm here for you. Now and forever."
Dez said to me,
"Thanks, Trish. I love you. As a friend."
I said,
"I love you, too. As a friend. One of these days, you're going to find a guy who really likes you, appreciates you and cares for you. You deserve it."
I hugged the redheaded goober again. Dez said to me,
"Trish, you're the best."
I said,
"I might mess with you and make fun of you a lot, but it doesn't mean I don't care about you and don't want you to be happy."
I locked him in another hug that lasted like five minutes. I admired that he had been so brave to come out, and I didn't think I'd be the first person he'd come out to. I guess he trusted me enough to come out to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
If you guys are wondering where I got the inspiration to write this one-shot, it was Andi Mack, when Cyrus comes out as gay to Buffy and she assures him that she accepts him for who he is. If you like the one-shot, please favorite and review! Love you, my readers!