Adam was sitting out on the verandah, a glass of wine in one hand and his dead blackberry phone in the other. It was dark out, and he watched as the stars began to peep their heads through the black clouds. It was strange for him to be by himself - no cellphone beeping, no phone ringing, no Drake, no band behind him. He wasn't sure if he liked the eery silence. He took off his glasses and headed back inside. As he closed the sliding door, he heard the other door open and then bang shut. Excited that he was no longer alone, Adam quickly put his blackberry on the table and then turned around. Tommy stood before him, his arms red, his head hung low, a slow stream of blood bubbling from his bottom lip and a cut above his left eye. Adam looked at him in shock "Tommy, what the fuck happened?" he asked, suddenly panicked. He rushed over to get a closer look, his hands finding the sides of Tommy's head as he gently moved his hands examining the cuts to his friend's face. Tommy stayed silent, his eyes bearing into Adam's as the taller man slowly dropped his hands back to his side. "Fuck Tommy, you're freezing!" concern was written all over Adam's face and he began to take his own jacket off and drape it around Tommy's shoulders. Tommy had forgotten about how cold he was, his throbbing lip and stinging eye had kept his mind away from his bare arms, but now that Adam said it, his skin suddenly filled with goosebumps. Adam led him over to the couch, holding his own jacket over Tommy's shoulders. Tommy walked with a mild limp, the pain in his knees beginning to wake up from the cold. "Its fine, just some little punks" mumbled Tommy finally. Adam wasn't convinced, he busied himself in eyeing up the cut above Tommy's eye again. He shot Tommy a tell-the-truth glance. "Its nothing, honestly" and Tommy stood up and moved towards the bathroom, remembering halfway there that there wasn't a mirror in there anymore. His hands were stinging from when he had tried to break his fall. He didn't want to talk about it, but he heard Adam's footsteps behind him and felt Adam's hand on his shoulder as he spun him around. "Talk to me" Adam pleaded with him. Adam watched as Tommy's big brown eyes slowly looked up at him. They were filled with sadness and Adam couldn't help but reach out and touch Tommy's bleeding lip gently, before retreating his hand and staring at his now blood-covered finger. Part of him thinking that if he simply touched it, it would magically go away. Tommy's sad eyes widened, and he seemed to snap into action, turning his head and storming off to his room. He slammed the door behind him and sat down on his bed, hugging his knees to his face. He could hear Adam on the other side of the door - he just wouldn't quit! "just piss off" growled Tommy but his voice broke as tears bubbled at his throat. He heard Adam's fingers lightly slide down the other side of the door. He was obviously just standing there waiting to see if Tommy was going to let him in. Tommy placed his own shaking finger to his lips, observing the damage. There was a shuffling noise from the door. "They called me a fag, ok!" Tommy shouted, but his voice still came off as quiet as tears ran down his face. He listened as he heard Adam's back slide down the other side of the door and the quiet slap as Adam's hands moved down his face, smearing his makeup. There was silence on both sides of the door. Tommy's stinging, blood-stained hand buried its way into his pocket and drew out the oh too familiar pills - the last one. He popped it into his mouth, not caring that he had no water. Adam heard the popping of the canister from behind the door. He drew his own head out of his hands, and leaned his head back onto the door, making a slight thud "Im sorry, Tommy" he breathed. With that he heaved himself up off the floor, one hand lingering on the hard wood of the door before he turned into his own room and shut the door.
Tommy emerged from his room an hour or so later. He went to the bathroom and dabbed a wet cloth over his eye and lip. He heard the quiet creak of Adam's bedroom door opening, and he moved to stand in the doorway. Adam looked terrible - his hair a mess, his eyes puffy from crying, his jeans unironed and crinkled at the bottoms. He opened the fridge and drew out a bottle of wine, drawing a glass from the top cupboard and placing it on the bench. He paused, feeling Tommy's eyes watching him, but didn't turn around. "Want one?" he asked instead. Tommy stayed in the doorway, his head resting on the doorframe - still holding the damp cloth to his lip "Why not?" he replied. He watched as Adam pulled the cork out of the bottle effortlessly and slowly poured two glasses of red wine. He moved Tommy's glass to the side, instead of going over and giving it to him. He then took his own glass and sculled it back in one lot. Tommy moved from the doorway and cautiously picked up his glass from the benchtop. He watched as Adam's eyes shifted to look at him. Adam carefully placed his now empty glass on the bench again, and began to pour another. He licked his lips as he gulped down half the glass, before looking back at Tommy. Neither of them really knew what to say. "Im real sorry about what happened" Adam broke the silence. Tommy took a small sip from his glass "Its not your fault." he said quietly. Adam's eyes were now focusing on his drink, he swished the liquid around, watching the whirlwind effect that it made as it moved. "When i was in high school," Adam began, "There were these three guys who were just jerks. I would go to school late to avoid them. Everyday it was 'fag', 'queer', 'homo' you know the story. But you learn to deal with it, because judgmental people cant dim your shine and in the end - its just words." Adam looked up at Tommy now "Ive been that kid on the ground…i know what its like. But when they walked away and they called me shit or they came back to get that second boot in, my stomach would do a somersault because i knew that i WAS a fag…and at the time, i thought that that would be my life. I thought that was what it was like when you didn't fit in, when you didn't fit the norm…and i feared that life. I didn't want to lie on the ground everyday, treated like skum because i was different." Adam took another sip of his wine. "I wouldn't wish that life on anyone. Especially when the person is wrongly accused…" his voice trailed off and he watched as Tommy sat his glass down on the bench. "I make my show about love to show all those kids lying on the ground, that its ok. That even only for one night, they can dust themselves off, pick themselves up and for once they can be the winners - they can kick the bullies for once if we prove that this life…this tiny aspect is ok….but tommy, if the entertainment means that you are going to get this kind of treatment….if it means that you have to go through what i went through…i wouldn't wish that on you. not for anything in this world." Tommy looked at him, those sad, conflicted eyes again - "i told you its nothing…i don't wanna change the show just coz i got a couple of bruises…. coz then they win, right? Plus its just for entertainment….now can we just talk about something else now?" Adam nodded slowly. As he filled his wine glass one last time, the words repeated in his head 'just for entertainment'.