Chapter 26

~Drew's POV~

"That boyfriend of yours is really knowledgeable" Reggie says to me.

We were at one of KC's swim meets, and I wasn't really listening to him. But who would? Seeing KC in such little clothing is hard to ignore.

"Drew are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Oh yea, KC, genius. Yeah." I mumbled, practically drooling.

"Drew!" he said, snapping me out of my dirty thoughts.

"Sorry Reg, it's just-"

"I know, I know. Trust me I'm having a difficult time too, Liam's right next to him."

"Speaking of which, How are you and him doing?" I asked curiously

"It's only been two days and we know almost everything about each other. It's almost as if he's coming on to me." He said. I quickly smiled to myself. Our plan was coming into play quite smoothly.

"So are you guys hanging out soon?"

"Yeah after the meet. We're gonna hit The Dot."

I think two days is long enough for poor Liam. So after the meet, I told KC to tell Liam to go in for the kill.

~KC's POV~

So I just got the word from Drew. I'm surprised that Reggie didn't notice yet, but then again he is a little slow.

"So Liam, how are you and Reggie doing?" I asked

"Great actually. We're gonna hit the Dot once I'm dressed and whatnot." He said, pulling on his jeans on. "Thank God for Degrassi showers. They make dates come along a lot quicker."

I raised an eyebrow. "Date?"

"Well, to me it is."

"You know, I think you've kept Reg waiting long enough." I said. "I think it's time."

"Oh… " he said, then flushing himself with cologne and deodorant. "Do I look ok? Any tips."

"You look fine, and lay off the cologne. We don't want him to taste you from a mile away." I said

"So how should I go about it? I mean, I can't just say 'Hey I'm gay too! Wanna go out?'"

"Just take it slow man."

"Well how did you ask Drew out?"

"Actually… he was crying in my arms. It was kind of a REALLY serious situation." I said, temporarily flashing back to that April day.

"Oh… what was that all about?"

"Long story."

"Well, i have half an hour so, short version?"

I actually had to think about that. I didn't really want people all around to know about my boyfriend's personal life, but Liam seemed trustworthy so I decided to tell him.

"Well.." I said sitting down. "Drew's a former self-abuser." Liam's eyes widened

"Oh… Oh my God, you mean like…. Cutting himself?"

"Cutting, bruising, burning. He went through it by himself until I came along."

"Gosh, that's intense. Sorry I asked." He started to walk out, but stopped and said "Do you… Do you know why?"

" Well, you know how he has a hard time in school?"

"Uhh, yeah. That shouldn't be a reason to cut." He said.

"Yeah I thought that too, but then I learned that he hasn't ever been that great in life. His parents pretty much disowned him. They were even embarrassed to have him as a son. They'd always call him their 'idiot son' or the 'retarded one'. This went on for almost two years until he started cutting, even sometimes having suicidal thoughts. He had this little journal under his bed with words. Just words about how he thinks he's an embarrassment to everyone. He was so negative about himself. He needed someone, and that just so happened to be me." I said.

"Wow… I never would've expected that. Especially from Drew. He's usually so happy and giddy."

"Well yeah until that gang came and-" I stopped, realizing I've said too much.

"Wait, that was him?" he asked, clearly knowing what I was talking about.

"Yeah it was."

"Wow… I'm sorry KC. That really sucks." He said, an awkward silence following. "I guess that's out."

I chuckled, not really knowing if it were a joke or if it was serious.

"I guess I'm wingin' it." He said, giving me a quick hug. "I'll tell you how it goes. See you later, KC."

~Liam's POV~

Well, I think I'm ready for this. I've been hanging with Reggie for about 2 days now, and I think it's time for me to go in. I'm not completely sure how I'm going to do it, especially after hearing Drew's story. I felt pretty bad for the guy. I had no idea he'd been through any of that.

So I was sitting at the dot in my usual wear; a regular t-shirt with a tie (trademark wardrobe), regular jeans and boots. I waited for about five minutes and Reggie finally arrived. He wouldn't look at me for some odd reason.

"Hey man." he said at a whisper.

"Hi, whats up? Are you ok, you seem distant."

"I'm fine Liam, thanks." He said, still not looking at me.

I had thought for a second. I think he's hiding something. I want to know what it is, but The Dot is kinda public, so I decided to go somewhere else.

"The food isn't really that good here.. do you wanna go somewhere else? More private maybe?"

"Uhh… yeah, yeah can we?"

"Sure."

So we walked out of the Dot and headed out down the street. He put his hood on, for some reason probably not wanting me to see something. When no one was looking, I pulled him into an empty alley.

"Dude what's up." I asked. He didn't answer. "Say something man, and why wont you look at me?"

He still didn't say anything but instead he turned his head and looked at me. His eye was bruised. And it looked pretty bad. "Oh my God, what happened Reg?"

"Not much Liam, just came home to a drunken dad….. again." He said, his face as still as a stone.

"Your dad's a drunk?" I asked, not really realizing how rude my tone sounded.

"Of course not, he just drinks a lot." He said sarcastically. "Yeah he's a drunk."

"Oh, damn dude I'm sorry. What happened?" I asked, once again feeling a bit nosy.

"Well, it all started when my mom died when I was 12, then… well that's it he started drinking."

Gosh, that's rough. I'd be a wreck too if my wife, I mean husband, died.

"Oh Reg, I'm so sorry." I said. It was the only thing I could really say.

"No man, it's not your fault, it's mine." He said coldly.

"What do you mean your fault?"

"My mom was a little late picking me up from school, so I tried to get a hold of her. I…. I texted her." He said, shaking his head. "God, that was retarded of me."

"Oh come on Reg, you seriously don't think that's your fault, do you? It could've been anyone that texted her. The fact that she tried to answer was what killed her." I said. As soon as I said those words, I regretted them. Before I could apologize, I felt a cold hand fly straight across my face. He had slapped me.

"Are you fucking calling my mother stupid?" he said, with the biggest death stare on his tear-filled face. i was shocked. I didn't even answer; I just stood there and held my face, eyes widened.

His face had softened down and his expression changed from anger to regret.

"Oh… Oh my God Liam I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me!"

Without him noticing, I wiped a tear from my eye. He hit me pretty fucking hard.

"It's ok, it's fine really just… AHH damn!" I shouted in agony. He might have just broken my jaw.

"Liam I am so sorry, I didn't know I hit you that hard, I didn't mean to!" he was saying.

"No it's fine, I get it. I should be the sorry one; I shouldn't have said anything like that man."

"No, I overreacted. Here let me see it." He said, lightly caressing my jaw.

While he rubbed my left cheek with his cold, but smooth hands, I eyed his eye. I think that bruise was more of a problem than my face, but he stayed at my cheek, slowly rubbing it.

Then, for some reason, he kissed it. I was thinking it was one of those mommy-make-it-better kisses, but it was… seductive. Like he was just… begging for it. So as he pulled away, I pressed his lips against mine. At first, he rejected it (I could feel it), but then he took me in completely, even lightly biting my lip. When he pulled away, he was lightly smirking.

"Uhh… what was that?" he said blushing.

"Well… what do you think it was?" I chuckled, blushing as well.

"So what does this mean?" he asked.

"Why don't we discuss that over dinner." I said, putting an arm around him.