April 1993

Something was off with George. Fred knew it, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and that bothered him. He really wished that George would just tell him what was wrong, but knew that his twin only confided in him on stormy nights, when he was at his most vulnerable. So Fred waited, knowing that it couldn't be too long before another storm.

Sure enough, that night a storm came through, worse than any other they had endured in previous years. Once Fred was sure that the rest of their roommates were asleep, he quietly climbed into his twin's bed, wrapping his arms around his trembling brother.

"Shh, everything will be alright. I'm here now," he whispered soothingly, stroking his brother's hair. After a few minutes, when George's trembling had all but stopped, Fred decided finally ask the question that had been on his mind the past few weeks.

"George? Why have you been acting so oddly lately?" he whispered.

George stiffened, and tried to pull away. Fred just tightened his hold in response.

"C'mon Georgie, you can tell me anything. I would never betray your trust. I even still let Ron think that I was the one who turned his teddy bear into a spider all those years ago," Fred said, producing a brief chuckle from his twin.

After a moment's silence, interrupted only by another crack of thunder, George finally spoke.

"I've been seeing someone."

That was certainly not what Fred had been expecting. He felt hurt that his own twin would wait so long to share such news. Feigning nonchalance, he replied, "Oh really? And who might this lucky bird be?"

George remained quiet for another minute, causing Fred to wonder what he could possibly have said wrong this time.

"'ts not a girl."

"What?"

"I'm seeing another bloke, you idiot."

This further shocked Fred. How could he have possibly not noticed that his own twin was gay? And why had George never said anything earlier?

"Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"About the dating?"

"Well, that too, but I was talking about the liking blokes thing. We're supposed to share everything with each other. That's what twins are for, right?" Fred asked, sounding distraught until George cut off his rambling.

"I was scared. Didn't really know how you felt about gay people. Just didn't want you to hate me," he mumbled, hiding his tear-filled eyes from his brother's view.

Fred hugged his twin tighter. "I could never hate you, George. You're my other half, remember? I would be lost without you."

George finally let the tears fall, not really caring whether or not his brother noticed anymore.

"Really? You'll never hate me, no matter what?"

"No matter what."