Hollywood Undead One Shots Book 2

by AiriaMurillo

A collection of one shots for Hollywood Undead. I accept requests for a lot of pairings so leave a comment or pm me to send one in. Most are Danny x - as that is who I write the most but I do accept the other pairings too. WARNING RATED M FOR A REASON. I do a lot of types of one shots so there will be a few angsty ones mixed in with happy ones.

8. Outcasts or friends DM x J3T

Outcast or Friend?

Hey everyone, this might have a few darker elements to it so if you are triggered by bullying or anything that goes with it please go and check out my other works where they might be a bit nicer.

Also, I wanna give a big shout out to AwokenMonster, Jess and Danneh! Go and check out their works they make good stuff

High School AU

A mother stands at the door frame to her son's bedroom. It is late at night, but she was feeling restless. Raising her only child all by herself since the day he was born has been rough, but she always thought that she was doing the right thing. Her fifteen year old son was a great young man, it wasn't his fault that she has had to transfer him three times in the last two years that she has had to move him into a new school. The bullying he suffered through has been none of his fault and she tried to do everything she could do in her power to make it stop. It has been particularly bad the last 6 months while he has been at the new one. He had been rushed to hospital and almost died twice as he has not come home and has been found somewhere in the school grounds.

She watches as her son rolls over in her sleep, the moonlight shining on his innocent face which was covered in fresh bruises because the bullies didn't allow him to run away from his lesson fast enough for his liking. She had complained to the schools multiple times as they claim to have an anti-bullying and zero tolerance policy. They use the feeble excuse that they never see the bullying occur therefore they did not need to do anything. Her son told her that some teachers had seen him being beaten up, but they didn't do anything to help. She knew that his current school hadn't seen anything, but they would keep their eye out. It didn't reassure both mother and son completely but the 15 year old was not ready to give up on his education just yet.

She had been talking to her friend who also has a son round about his age to see if there was anything, they could do to encourage a friendship between them and then maybe if they could expand that group of friends. Unfortunately, despite going to the same high school they have not actually crossed paths as of yet because of how the one who is being bullied runs away from everyone. They knew they had their work cut out getting their sons to get along with each other, but it would happen eventually. They just have to keep trying. Even though they want their children to be friends, they are not going to force the issue. If they don't want to be friends, then they were going to have to think of something else and never pressure their two boys to be friends.

Just as she was about to leave the room to go to her own room, she heard her son whimper as he started tossing and turning in his bed. The nightmares were a direct result from the bullying he has suffered through. People think the way she deals with the nightmares is weird, but it helps with the close and transparent relationship she has with her son. She goes back into the room and gently shakes her son's shoulder to wake him up. It takes a couple of tries but he bolts upright and needs a minute or two to get himself adjusted to the fact that he is awake, and his nightmare has just come to a sudden end. His mom stayed at the end of his bed, so that she didn't scare him anymore than the nightmare did. "Calm down darling it was just a nightmare," she tells him.

Part of the mom guilt within her was telling her that he was reliving some of his previous beatings and bullying moments that have already happened. There was nothing she could tell him which would make him feel one hundred percent better with all of this. There was nothing she could do which would make the pain that he suffers go away. "Mom why does this have to happen to me?" the young teen asks before breaking down in tears. She immediately goes in for the hug and holds her son as tightly as she dares to at least comfort him while he cries. He hugs her back tighter than she was hugging him, but it was clear to her that her son needed the comfort right now. "I don't know my boy, but I will do everything I can to make it stop," she tells him. All she can do is provide the same level of comfort and support that she has been doing for the last few years.

When her son finally calmed down, she lay down with him to help him settle back to sleep. It might have been weird and something that you would do with your 5 to 7 year old child. However, it was another part of their relationship that she still treasured as he has grown into a teenager. If her son still wanted cuddles in the privacy of his own home with his mother. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors, so it doesn't affect the bullying. "I love you so much, always remember that" she tells him. She couldn't see him that well, but he was smiling at her. "I love you too mom," he replies. It doesn't take long with some circles being rubbed into his back for the young teen to fall back to sleep. She was going to stay with him until she was certain that he wasn't going to have another nightmare again.

She knew there was a possibility that he could have a second or even a third nightmare during the rest of his night, but she would be in her room ready and willing to comfort him again and to help him to go back to sleep. "If I could take your place and go through all of this pain I would do it in a heartbeat," she whispers. It was another aspect of the mom guilt that she faced every day that her world was being destroyed by some nasty kids who didn't deal with their own issues in the way that always resulted in the innocent person minding their own business getting hurt. That person happened to be her son and if she could have come into the class and shown the boys and girls a thing or two, however there is the fact that it was illegal, and she didn't thing going to jail when her son needed her was a good idea.

She was there for about two hours and then went to her own room. It was only 1 am and she was tired. She had the day off from work, so it didn't really matter that much to her if she didn't get much sleep. All that she wanted to do was be there for her son as best as she could. She felt like she had to make it up to him for what she felt was failing him when it came to how she had been dealing with the bullying. She also knew deep down that there was not a perfect recipe for dealing with bulling and her son still loved her just as much as he did before the bullying happened. Her thoughts often repeated themselves over and over again because there was no resolution for him. He was going to go to school tomorrow and still be bullied and maybe even assaulted again.

3 weeks later – George p.o.v

"Hey George, are you going to meet us at the skate park later on" Jordon asks me, he had been texting both Matthew and Jorel all day since they don't go to high school and he wasn't particularly interested in the work. "I'll think about it, I'll text you when I make my decision," I tell him. I love hanging out at the skate park, but Aron was being a bit of an asshole today and I didn't want to spend any more time with him today. Dylan just shook his head. They have always considered me to be a bit of nerd because out of everyone in the group I was the one who was most likely to be doing all my schoolwork on time and end up helping them out with theirs. It was definitely one of those moments where you get asked "oh hey can I copy your homework?" and you just respond with "sure but don't make it look like you copied it"

We had just finished school for the day, and I was honestly glad that we were done and that I could go home. I had a small headache forming and I was the only one who was driving home and just wanted to leave. Dylan was waiting for Jorel and Matt so they could go and buy food or whatever and then hang out at the skate park for the rest of the afternoon into the evening. "Alright then, don't leave us hanging for too long though," Dylan tells me. I swear he has the patience of a two year old at times. It has only been a few minutes since I said maybe to him. "I won't I'll let you know before I have eaten dinner what my decision is," I tell him. He seem to accept my answer and I left before Matt and Jorel arrived, but I'll text them later.

I saw a group of guys running away from the dumpsters like they had done something. They had bloody baseball bats which instantly made me concerned. I'll bring my car around so it's closer in case I need to do something. I have a first aid kid, after all the injuries the boys get at the skatepark I felt that it was worth it to do some first aid training and buy a kit. You never know when it will be needed. I have a feeling I am going to need it with the state those baseball bats were in. Who even brings a baseball bat to school? We don't have a baseball program here as far as I know. I could be wrong though; I don't pay attention to the sports events other than the basketball so I can remind Dylan and Jordon when they have matches coming up.

There was a kid unconscious right behind the dumpster. I've never seen him before, but he must be a student here. He was in a pretty rough shape, but it's not the worst I have ever seen. "Don't worry kiddo. I'm not going to hurt you, but I am going to help you," I tell him. There was little chance he could hear me, but I did that anyways which was part of my first aid training. If he wakes up between now and me getting him back to the house then I wanted to make sure he knew he was okay, and he wasn't being kidnapped or something. I opened the door to my backseats and lifted the kid into it. He couldn't have been much younger than Jordon. Speaking of Jordon, I have to tell them that I am not going to be there after all. I am not going to go into specifics though.

I talk to the kid all the way home. Mom isn't going to mind him being there as I am helping him, and he doesn't need to go to the hospital because I can pretty accurately diagnose his injuries myself. I know there was a baseball bat involved so he might have some broken ribs. I will just have to wait until I can assess him properly. Mom wasn't home when I got there, and neither was dad or little bro, "so I am guessing they were expecting me to be out and went to see our aunt or something. I take him straight to my room; I don't care that my sheets might get some blood on them. I have some spares which I can change when I am done. I don't think he's bleeding that badly either, there are a few cuts cause some idiot had so barbed wire on their baseball bat.

"Right then, let's find out what those bastards did to you," I tell the unconscious teen I had on my bed. It did sound weird, but he wasn't going to know, and neither was anyone else. Well he will know when he wakes up, I guess. It felt weird, the last few times I had patched the guys up, even if they had been beaten up it wasn't quite this bad, and it wasn't when they were unconscious. I still talked through the actions I was doing while I was doing them to make sure that he knew, and I was making sure I was making the right choices for him. I had to take the tattered remains of his shirt off. I have plenty of shirts that my mom was wanting to pass down to my brother. I am sure she won't mind if this guy had one of them. My brother won't wear all of them anyways.

I was right about the broken rib theory, but even if I had taken him to the hospital, it wasn't like they weren't going to do everything that I am going to do for this guy. You can't put a cast or a bandage on broken ribs they have to heal on their own. I am also fairly certain that there was no internal bleeding which was good. If there was then I would feel bad if I did have to take him to the hospital when I had said multiple times already that it wasn't going to happen. He's already gonna be scared enough waking up with me here patching him up. Imagine how much worse it is gonna be if he woke up in a hospital surrounded by more strange people without knowing how the hell he got there. It's didn't take me too long to patch up my new friend and text the guys to let them know something had come up and I wasn't going to be there.

They were both understanding but disappointed at the same time. I probably would not have gone anyways because I was still frustrated with Aron after his shit that he had done today. I could have told them I was angry with Aron, but they were also angry with him and he probably would not have come back to the skatepark knowing that people were angry with him. My evening has probably gotten more interesting having this mysterious teen anyways. My mom was talking about how her friend was struggling to help her son go through bullying in high school and if I would help them and I was sure that I had never seen this boy before so I have not been able to help him, but I am sure if I knew him I would help.

I cover him with the blanket because I was worried that he was going to get cold while I go to make myself something to eat. Mom trusts me to make my own dinner if she works late and I discovered that Dad is away on a business trip, so he wasn't going to be here. Connor was most likely out with his friends again partying or something. It wasn't anything fancy because I just wanted some mac and cheese. I made enough that if the guy I rescued wakes up and gets hungry. That's if he is hungry, I am starting to over think things a little too much. I am considering ways of being a good host to someone I don't know who I rescued from behind a dumpster who is still unconscious. He might want to leave as soon as he wakes up.

He might not be in a fit enough state to do that. However, when you are in that fight or flight mode it doesn't matter to you at the time you just want to get out of the situation which you feel is dangerous or that your life is in danger. I will have to wait and see what happens when that time comes, there is no use speculating on what he will or will not do. He will be scared though, that is one thing that I can be certain of. The last thing he remembers will be that attack behind that dumpster. He isn't going to know that I found him there and that I have brought him back because I want to help him. There was nothing interesting on the TV, but I still ate my dinner in the living room. I go back to my room once I am done though to check on him.

He's still unconscious but he seemed to respond a little when I touched his cheek. There was a bruise there, so he responded to the pain. "Sorry," I tell him. I think he might be starting to wake up, but I am not sure. Then I hear a car pull into the driveway, that has to be my mom. It was confirmed when I heard "George, I'm home," when she entered the house. I didn't realize that I have been home for 3 hours at this point. I am slightly concerned for my new friend here. Then again being knocked about with several baseball bats is enough to knock you out for a while. "Hello? I hear mom answer the house phone as it started ringing. I couldn't hear who was on the other end though. "Calm down hun and start again," I hear mom say next.

"Danny hasn't come home yet. Has he texted you to say why?" she asks next. I think that was the name of her friends son that she has been worrying about a lot lately. The one who was being bullied in high school and had to transfer a bunch of times already. "Alright, just take a deep breath. I'll go ask George if he has seen him," mom says, and I smile. I knew mom was so kind and helpful towards others and I really hope we can find that kid. Mom walks into my room and stops when she sees the unconscious person on my bed. "What happened George?" she asks me. He moved a little when she spoke which made us both look at him. I hope he wakes up soon. "I saw some kids run from the dumpster with bloody baseball bats at the end of the school day and found him lying there," I tell her.

I have no reason to lie to my mother. "He's here with me hun. I think it's best if he stays here under my boy's care for tonight and then you can come get him in the morning. From what George just told me he was assaulted this afternoon," she says, then she leaves to further explain to Danny's mom why her son was now in my house and what I needed to do. "Don't worry Danny. Your mom knows where you are now, you're safe with me," I tell him. It is nice to have a name for him now instead of calling him kid or teen. Danny stirs a little bit more, and I just moved some of his hair out of his eyes as gently as I possibly can without scaring him. I tell him anything and everything reassuring that I could think of off the top of my head.

I was just about to pick up a book five minutes later when Danny finally opened his eyes. I was sitting a little bit away from him, so I didn't instantly scare him. I watch as he looks around frantically trying to get an idea of where he is when his eyes land on me. "Hey Danny, my name is George and I want to help you," I tell him. No use overloading his poor brain with information now. He will know where I rescued him from so there is no use in making him relive the trauma of it all over again. "Thanks George," he tells me, and I smile. I give him the chance to just get used to where he is and let him calm down a little bit. I am not expecting him to trust me straight away, but I want to tell him at some point that I want to protect him from the bullies.

Mom came in with two glasses of water and sat on the edge of the bed. Danny was sitting up on the bed with the aid of pillows I had gathered. She helped Danny hold the glass while he took a few sips from it. I hope mom lets him know that his mom knows where he is. I bet he will be worried that she is worried about him. "Oh shit, mom's gonna be worried about me," Danny says, he had a little bit more water and he was more alert now. He tried to get out of bed but the pain he is in stopped him. Mom would have stopped him too because he need the rest right now. "She was, but since we are friends, she phoned me and I have told her that you are here and she's coming in the morning," she tells him. He relaxes a little, but he's not completely at ease.

It's understandable though, he is with people he doesn't know. Sure, he might have heard our moms conversations before like I had but it doesn't mean if we see the other mom we will know who they are. He is probably not happy or comfortable with the idea of staying over tonight, but I will make sure that I can do my best to make sure that he is as comfortable as possible. "Don't worry Danny, you can phone her in a bit. We both just think for now George can help you with some of the injuries you have and keep an eye on any concussion symptoms," mom tells him. I sit next to him and I put my arm around his shoulder to offer some comfort. He tenses up but then completely relaxes into my side which made us all smile.

"Okay, thank you Mrs Ragan," he tells her. Mom was still smiling but left the room. I am not one hundred percent sure what for though. I started rubbing circles in his arm, it was just something I felt like I needed to do to help keep him calm. "Oh, Danny if you want you could hang out with me and my friends the day after tomorrow. We'll make sure no one bullies you ever again," I tell him. He looks up at me with a mixture of both shock and disbelief. It hurts my heart to think that he has been bullied so much that he thinks that no one cares about him anymore outside of his family. "You'd really make this hell stop?" Danny asks me, I think it was a lot for him to get his head around. This whole evening has been a lot for him to deal with if I was being completely honest.

"Of course, I will Danny. There is no way you deserve that hell any longer. It's time you have some people who will look after you," I tell him. I am slowly remembering some of the things that mom has told me that he has been through already. I know most of the guys would be on board for Danny being under our wing and being in our friendship circle. There will be one who won't be happy but that is just the way he is with everyone pretty much. "Thank you, George," he tells me, just as mom walks back into the room with a bowl of the mac and cheese I had made a short while ago. She smiles when she sees that we are still sitting next to each other in bed. "I know you might not feel hungry but try and eat something," she tells Danny.

He accepts the bowl from her which is a good start. I am not expecting him to eat much though, he was hit in the stomach quite a few times. It would be enough to put anyone off eating for a while, so I was surprised when he put a fork full into his mouth. I also guess in a not so good way he is used to this way of life. "Thank you Mrs Ragan, this is amazing," Danny says, and mom looks at me. She technically made it in a way because she was the one who taught me how to make it from scratch. "Don't thank me for making it sweetheart. George was the one who made it," she tells him. I don't think he could be shocked anymore with what he was learning about me and what I have already said I am willing to do for him as well.

"Damn you're a good cook," he tells me, and I chuckle. Obviously, I am not as good as his momma, no one is a better cook than their moms or dads. "Thanks Dan. Also, you're welcome for everything you have thanked me for so far and will thank me for," I tell him, and he chuckles. It is easier than saying you're welcome every few minutes when he finds something to thank me for. It is painful to think that he has not had a decent friendship for at least the last couple of years if not longer. I am not going to delve deeper into that past until he wants to and feels ready for it. "You're welcome. I guess it's been a while since I have really had a friend, so part of me is like I have no idea what I am doing right now," he tells me. Mom gives him a sad smile.

She leaves again saying something about getting the phone. "You're stuck with me now Dan. I'm going to message a couple of my friends in a bit to let them know that you're going to be joining us on Monday," I tell him. I am quite close to Jorel, so he already knew, but he doesn't go to high school so he's no help really. I suppose he can help when we hang out after school together. He also told me that he wasn't going to tell the others unless I wanted him too and he had my support regardless. That was good because I was hoping that he would keep it secret for me so that it doesn't have the potential to spoil their evening because of a certain jealous person. "Fair enough, it doesn't quite feel like a Friday evening to me yet," he tells me.

It won't do for a little while. I keep checking my phone and reminding myself that it is Friday, and we have two days of no school and the potential for Danny to get to know some of the guys before we go to school on Monday. I personally think it is better than turning up to school tomorrow like "Hey by the way the real reason I bailed last night was because I found this dude behind a dumpster passed out and he's gonna be with us from now on." I don't see it working too well. I don't think that they are going to get along as well as Danny and I have so far. They will be friends, but not instantly, I think. Danny was happy to sit next to me and eat the mac and cheese I had made. I was talking to Jorel about Danny and how I couldn't wait to get him new friends.

"Danny, do you want to talk to your mom?" mom asks him once she came back to take his bowl away to wash it. It might help how he feels and how much he is probably going to miss his mom tonight because I don't think they have spent much time apart. "Yes please," he replies. He still stayed as close to me as possible which I was not going to complain about if I was being honest. He needs the comfort, and I am more than willing to give it to him. Mom leaves and quickly returns with the phone. Danny presses the buttons and I guess it was his mom's number. "Hey mom, sorry I scared you earlier," he tells her when she picks up the phone. I could just about hear her tell him that she was a lot happier knowing that he was somewhere safe.

They were talking about how I was going to look after him tonight and then he was going home at some point during the afternoon. This is handy for me to see if I could plan for Danny to meet Jorel, Jordon, Dylan, and Matt over the next couple of days so they can start that process of getting to know each other. I really want this to go well and Danny needs some new friends who aren't going to stab his back or hurt him in anyway. He was happier talking to his mom now as well. I could tell he was the type who didn't want to worry anyone in anyway and now that he is awake and able to talk to his mom, she will be less worried, and he will be happier. "I will see you tomorrow Mom. Goodnight," he tells her at the end of the call.

"This feels weird. I've not spent a night away from mom ever. She's always been home at night," he tells me. I start rubbing the comforting circles in Danny's arm again to see if that would help him. I have been used to my mom being away from me overnight. "It will feel weird at first, but it might not be a bad thing to start now. You have at least one friend who will be with you whenever you need it," I tell him. I want to be as honest with him as possible right from the get-go. I want him to feel like he now has that friend he can call at 8 pm and say hey my mom's not home tonight do you want to come over? And to be there within 10 minutes like I already take for granted with the guys I call my friends. Knowing about what he has gone through is seriously making me evaluate my own friendships and if I take those for granted or not.

I definitely feel like there are moments where I have taken my friendships for granted with them. Then again, they can say the same thing about their friendships with me because I am the one they go to when they need advice or support. I don't mind though; I would rather be the one who they feel as if they can confide in rather than someone who they might feel intimidated by for whatever reason. I have been trying my best to channel my frustration and anger through work outs. As a result of that I am a bit more muscular than some of my friends and it can scare people thinking that I am about the beat the living shit out of them or something. I would definitely beat someone up if they tried to lay a finger on my friends and Danny is included in that now.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see what happens now I have at least one friend. You said there were other guys, right?" he asks me. It is 9 pm right now and neither of us particularly feel like sleeping right now. I am getting a little buzz of excitement and happiness from having Danny ask about the friends. Now I can start to sow the seeds of friendship between him, Jorel, Jordon, Matt and Dylan tonight and see if he might be up to meeting them on Sunday so he can have tomorrow off to rest and recover as best as he can. I talk to him and tell him as much about those four as I can as well as letting him know more about myself. He deserves that much at least. We are already getting along great and it has only been six hours since the whole thing started.

He lets me know more about himself at the same time. I figured he was quite shy anyways, but when you get to know him better, he is a bright and bubbly person. He has no siblings that he knows of and his father left before he was born. It's just him and his mom which explains why they are so close to each other. It has only been her and him for the last 15 years and it's going to change now. He now has at least me, and my mom and Jorel. I was still keeping him updated on how things are going just so that he was aware of it. I want everything to go as best as it possible could and that means everyone who matters needs to be comfortable with the idea of there being a new member to our friendship group who will be with us every day from Monday onwards.

It is a big change to get used to, especially when you have a routine, and you know things are a certain way and have been like that for two years. A new person is like throwing in a whole new personality to the mix and seeing how that personality is going to get along with the rest of the guys can bring a lot of anxiety. If this doesn't work, then I have potentially ruined the entire group dynamic and that is the last thing that I want. Danny gave me permission to tell Jorel some of the basic information tonight, so they have an idea of what he is like as a person when they meet on Sunday. "I am sure now mom knows that I have at least one new friend she is going to be pushing for me to go out and be a normal teen," he tells me, basically letting me know that Sunday is going to be fine as long as he is feeling okay.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing Danny. She only wants the best for you," I tell him. I know for sure that is all that any parent who is involved in their children's life wants for them. He smiles and I think he knows that is what his mother intends. "Yeah, I think it is just weird to go from being friendless to boom suddenly I have like six friends," he tells me. It makes sense when you consider he has had no social life from the moment the horrific bullying began till about two minutes ago. I think it is safe to say that Danny and I are friends now. "Makes sense though I am sure you will get used to it pretty quickly," I tell him. I am also starting to think that he is getting tired now, but he wants to stay awake and talk to me a little longer. He yawned and I tried so hard not to do the same.

"Yeah, maybe I should get some sleep," he says after a minute or two of fighting more yawns. I was also getting pretty tired so going to sleep now was not going to do us any harm. "Good idea. I can stay with you if you want or I will go and sleep on the couch," I tell him. He definitely was not expecting me to say that I was going to be the one sleeping on the couch. I bet he thought because this is my room, I would kick him out and make him sleep there instead of me. "You can stay here, this is your room after all," he tells me. I still can't understand why people are so keen to bully him, he is literally the kindest most considerate 15 year old I know. "I know, but I thought that you might have wanted a bit of privacy that's all. I would be more than happy to sleep on the couch," I tell him.

Since he has said he wants me to stay I don't mind staying. We both lay down properly and I just watch as his eyes immediately close and a few short minutes later his breathing evens out and he's fast asleep. "Goodnight Danny," I whisper, not wanting to wake him. I close my eyes just as I hear footsteps approach the doorway. "Goodnight boys," I hear my mom say, but she thinks we are both asleep, so I don't say anything back. I think she had been talking to dad on the phone like she usually does when he's away on these trips. "Yeah, he's so kind. Danny is literally the sweetest too," she says, obviously she had told dad about what happened today. I manage to fall asleep before I hear anything else mom has to say about us.

Monday morning – Danny p.o.v

For the first time since I started middle school and then high school, I am awake and not terrified for my life. I don't have to get the bus anymore, George said he is going to be picking me up and dropping me off again which is something mom has definitely approved. I am not going to get bullied today, I am not going to be found unconscious behind another dumpster for as long as George and my other friends are around. "Morning Danny," mom tells me when I walk into our little kitchen dining room. She was already making toast and coffee for us both. "Morning Mom," I reply, and I smile at her. Even though I had no control over what happened to me on Friday I still feel bad for worrying her so much. She hugged me as tight as she dared when I saw her the next morning.

"How are you feeling today?" she asks, I had just stretched but winced as I did so. I spent most of Saturday resting and not moving much. Then on Sunday I still spent a good chunk of time resting but I had also gone to the skate park by the school to meet up with George and the others and to meet them in person for the first time. "Still a bit sore, but I think if I take Tylenol when I need to and just not do gym today then I should be okay," I tell her, she already had a doctor's note from the hospital after we went to double check my ribs to see if they were definitely broken and they are. "Alright, but don't forget you can phone me or Mrs Ragan at any time if you feel like you can't do it anymore," she tells me. We are quite close to the Ragan's now.

"I will mom," I tell her. She has work today but I know she will probably give me a call at lunch time to see how I am doing. She knows if I feel like I can't go through with the whole school day that I will sign myself out or get the nurse to call her to come and get me. I think I am going to be fine though. "That's good," she says, as she puts my breakfast in front of me. I thank her and get started eating. George texted me about 5 minutes ago to say he's going to be outside at 7.45 am to pick me up. It's only 7 am now so I have plenty of time to eat, take some pain meds and get ready for the day. "Yeah I am glad George is taking me in today. I don't think I would have coped being on the bus," I tell her. She knows some of the bullying happens there.

The bus drivers never said anything though. There was one who shouted loudly if I see any bullying happen on my bus then whoever did it will have to walk to school. It made the bullying stop that one day, but I never saw that bus driver again. Someone told us that she had been fired for something she had done elsewhere, but I missed her. "I know hun, I would have been more worried if you were going on the bus too. At least you have those five lovely lads to protect you," she says, it came out sounding as if I am a damsel in distress, but I know her intentions are good. They want to protect me as I would do for them in that situation. It is so weird to go from not having any friends to having 5 like I told George on the Friday night.

I don't think 3 days is really enough time to let the situation sink in really. Especially because I slept quite a fair bit more than usual on Saturday once I had gotten home, I barely responded to any texts from the guys. They understood though, since they know what I have been through and have been given a rundown of my injuries after I went to the emergency room on Saturday morning. George already knew because he had treated me on Friday and did a really good job on it. I downed most of my coffee and walked into my room. I had already eaten the toast and taken my painkillers while I was talking to mom. I was starting to get nervous even though I know them already. I feel like it is going to be different being in school with them.

"Hey, it's okay to be nervous sweetie. It is perfectly fine because you don't know if people are different in school than they are outside of the school setting," she tells me. I know I won't see Matt and Jorel until after school but that's okay. I am going to be overwhelmed if this all goes the way it is planned anyways. I don't think the bullying will move to the classroom because the teachers have been told about the assault on Friday and are keeping a close eye on the class. Once the hospital found out how I got all my injuries it was nearly impossible for them to not involve the police and last I heard all of the ones who did it have been arrested because of George's quick identification. I don't remember any of their faces because I was looking down until I passed out.

"I know, I just don't know if I am worrying unnecessarily. They have been really nice to me so far," I tell her. There are so many thoughts rushing through my head at the moment it is becoming hard to keep up with them all. Mom walks up behind me and rubs my shoulders and I look at her. "It's okay to feel all of these things, this is something new and you haven't experienced this before. I am still only a phone call away whenever you need me," she tells me. I know she is working, but her boss will understand if it is a family call. I appreciate mom offering me the advice and support. I am all dressed and ready to go. All I need to do is make sure everything is in my bag that I need for the lessons. If I make sure everything is prepared now, I can use what little time I have left trying to calm myself down and make sure that I am not going to have a panic attack.

George texted me to tell me he is outside, and I replied saying he could come up if he wanted. I had forgotten to put my shoes on, and I was struggling with every aspect of putting them on and I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed and frustrated. Mom was getting herself ready for work and I didn't want to disturb her having a little bit of me time since she has been taking good care of me the last two days and it will continue while my recovery continues from the beating. George knocked on the door and then I told him that he could just walk in because we trust him. "Having shoe trouble again?" he asks after we tell each other hello. I nod, feeling like I would probably cuss a whole lot because of how I feel right at this moment.

"I am taking that as a yes, let me help," he tells me. He crouches down and with barely any effort he puts my shoes on my feet and ties the laces. I felt rather embarrassed really as he had done this on the Saturday and my mom has done it every time, I have needed to put my shoes on since. It was just sitting down on the floor to get them on was painful with all the internal and external bruising and broken ribs. "Yeah, thanks George," I tell him. He then gently helps me to my feet because that was something else that the pain made difficult for me. "Have you taken pain meds this morning?" he asks me. I have never had a friend care so much about me. "Yeah, about twenty minutes ago. They haven't kicked in yet," I tell him.

It is so weird to have someone who actually genuinely cares about you and wants to make sure you're doing everything possible to make sure you are okay. He grabs my bag for me on the way out of my room. We both shout bye to my mom who shouts back and tells us both to have a good day. An older neighbor smiles at us when we walk past on the way to his car. "You've got extra Tylenol in your bag right in case you need it?" George asks me, and I nod. It was one of the first things that I made sure I had when I was packing my bag this morning. "Good Danny. I have some in my bag as well just in case," he tells me. I already knew he was the kind of guy who would have all the things someone would need. He is absolutely amazing.

Jordon and Dylan were already waiting for us by the time we arrived at school. They both gently hugged me when I saw them. "Morning Dan and George," they tell us and we both say morning back. Then Jordon asks to see my timetable. I hand over my little homework diary without questioning it and he flips straight to where my timetable had been glued in. "Oh, I didn't realize that I had so many classes with you. You can come sit next to me if that makes you feel more comfortable," Jordon tells me, and it was like all my nerves from earlier just fell away. They are just as nice to me in school as they are outside of school. "That would be amazing Jordon," I tell him. No one has ever sat next to me; they would avoid me like I was diseased or something.

The one time people did sit next to me they would just hit me until the teacher moved them away so I could get on with my work and they could do whatever they wanted, I guess. Jordon got a pen out and wrote a small J on all of the lessons he had with me this week and he was right; it was about 80% of our overall classes. That mean I don't even have to worry about someone hurting me in the lessons because someone will be protecting me. the 20% of lessons he's not there I will just have to try my best to stay invisible like I always do. They will realize that I am not somebody that they can mess with anymore once they see that I have friends who will do anything to protect me and to teach me to protect myself. No more hiding from bullies.

Once I am healed up, I am going to start defending myself and showing them that NOBODY can push Daniel Murillo around. From now on I am going to show everyone how much they should regret ever beating or bullying me. George was happy, he told me in the car it was something that he was worried about now that they had intervened and reduced the opportunities for the bullies to get to me. He said for the lessons where no one is with me then he's going to meet me outside of the classroom and either walk me to the next one or walk with me to meet up with the others during our breaks or our lunch time. "Let's make today the best day of school for Danny boy ever," Dylan cheers as we walk through the school gates.

Mom is going to be so happy when I go home later on. She already encouraged me to hang out with the guys after school so long as my pain wasn't flaring up too badly. I am sure I could ask George to take me home if we agreed it was too much for me. I just want to feel like I am a normal teenager for once instead of all this running from bullies and what not. George and Dylan still walk with Jordon and I to our first lesson of the day where I see Aron for the first time. He wasn't invited to the hang out yesterday because George had forewarned me that he was more than likely going to be jealous of me because I am currently more popular with the group because I am new, and they all feel sorry for me. It was not meant in a nasty way either, but I can understand where he is coming from.

From what they have all told me about Aron is that he is very narcissistic and self-centered, so he is going to think that everyone he ever meets is less important than him and I am no exception to that. I am not going to let it bother me because I know that he is going to get over it eventually and he might end up liking me. Then again, I am not going to feel any different if he suddenly decides that he is just going to straight up hate me. It was something that I was not particularly concerned with. I have people who actually give a shit about me and I would be lying to myself if I said there wasn't part of me that wanted to take a little bit of advantage of this. Who wouldn't if they went from 0 friends to 5 in the space of 72 hours roughly?

Aron glares at me but he doesn't say or do anything because he knows the guys will jump to defend me even if they have known him for longer. There is no good reason for his shitty behavior so it's not going to be tolerated. He didn't say anything and also didn't do anything other than glare at me which I responded to with a poker face. I am too used to people glaring at me at this point, so I have stopped reacting to it. They won't win the satisfaction of seeing me afraid that easily. Also today is a day where I have all the lessons with Jordon which is a bonus because then I don't have to worry about the other potential bullies. The teacher didn't even question when I walked in a little more confidently than usual and sat in the empty seat next to Jordon.

From what mom has told me after numerous phone calls to the school since I have started at this high school is that the teachers really want to make a change and try and prevent and punish those who bully me but it is difficult when they don't see it happening and it ends up being the my words vs theirs deal and then the bullies parents try and muscle in too. Our first lesson is one of those where we discuss topics that effect our teenage lives and how we can overcome issues in society. From what I can remember bullying has not been a topic that has been brought up yet. However, due to the teachers being informed of the assault on Friday and being asked to report all those who speak of bullying me in the past to the headmaster I have a feeling that's what todays lesson is going to be focusing on.

"In this class we have spoken about honesty before. Therefore, I would like to ask anyone who has bullied another person before to put their hands up," she says, and everyone was looking around to see who would do it first. I know most of those who have bullied me are in this class. I could point at every single one of them. It's not everyone in our grade, but it's more than enough of a chunk of them. Eventually after a few minutes and them looking a little bit guilty in my direction some of the bullies put their hands up. "That's good, but I know there is more than this in this classroom," the teacher says, and eventually the rest did put their hands up too. Some of the more unaware people in the class were shocked there were this many.

"Right, that's all of you. Now I want to talk to everyone about why bullying is wrong and hope that you realize that there will be consequences to your actions," she says, and Jordon smiles at me. He knows that all of the people who put their hands up have bullied me at least once. He asked me while we were waiting, and I told him the truth like I always have done. I also told him that I was not expecting them to all come up to me at some point and apologize either if they didn't want to. I know that is what most people will expect them to do. However sorry isn't going to take away all the nightmares that they have given me from past trauma and it's not going to make the pain I feel from my current injures any better. Sorry isn't going to change the fact that they might still hate my guts.

I know that will sound really petty from me. I don't care really; I am done with all of these empty apologies when I know they will just either attack me either physically or verbally as soon as the opportunity presents itself. The lesson went as well as it could have gone if I were honest. I feel like in most places bullying doesn't become an issue until someone brings it up and then it explodes then it is a massive problem and teachers are scrambling to take control of the situation. There were a couple and I accepted them, but I will believe they mean it when I see that they have stopped attempting to bully me. I didn't want to give them the wrong idea either if I were rude and refused their apologies because it wouldn't be something I would do.

Mom prides herself on my ability to see the good in people and try and given them another chance to prove themselves to me. A lot of the bullies I have already given a second chance to and they bullied me again, so I am not going to bother with them. There are some in the classes though that I would give a second chance to. I stay close to Jordon as we move from that lesson to our next one because I am still nervous about someone trying to beat me up again. Jordon didn't seem to mind too much that I was sticking to him like glue. He probably had a chat with George last night that involved if you're in a class with Danny then protect him or something along those lines. I sat next to Jordon again and paid attention to the teacher as much as I could.

I think I might have bumped into someone by accident when I was walking to this lesson because my ribs started hurting a bit more and I know it was not time to take more medication yet. I have another hour to wait before then and I think if I keep taking them every four hours then I am going to be fine. "Are you okay Dan?" Jordon whispers. The teacher wasn't paying attention to the conversations in the class because he was marking our tests we had just finished. "Yeah, my ribs are starting to hurt again that's all," I whisper back. I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself because of it though, I know I will be fine. After this lesson it is break time and time to take more pain killers to help me through till after school.

I seem to remember the schedule going like homeroom then 2 lessons then a break. After the break there were another 2 lessons then lunch. After lunch there was another 2 lessons then it was home time. I don't know if I mentioned it before though because my actual memory of them was blurred because I had been focusing so much on when it was going to be home time. Jordon had my schedule out again and was matching it with his to make sure that he had it right. I was watching what he was doing to distract myself from the pain somewhat. The teacher was a little surprised that everyone is getting along so well, and no one is calling him because I was being hit or anything like that. I was happy to be sitting next to Jordon and just getting on with work like I usually do.

About 5 minutes before the end of the lesson the teacher announces our grades from the test we had just done. Both Jordon and I had gotten A which was a first for both of us. We hadn't even look at each other's papers once the entire time. "George is gonna be so impressed," Jordon tells me, as we make our way to meet up with them. "George isn't the only one who is gonna be impressed," I tell him, I know my mom will be so happy and so will the rest of the guys. I can't believe I actually managed to get an A on a test, then again this was the first test where I could actually concentrate on the questions I had been given. Now I can finally prove to everyone how smart I really am. Although right now I am a little distracted by the pain.

George noticed as soon as we got there because he guided me to the seat he was just sitting at and told me to take the Tylenol and to eat my snack while Jordon filled him in on what we had been up to this morning so far. When he got to our test results, he had a big pause before he revealed that we had both gotten an A. It was pretty interesting to see that all of their jaws dropped. I think Jordon's had bad grades in the past, especially after the teacher said, "Maybe letting you two sit together will be good after all." It was very weird. Then again, I never really paid attention to the comments from the teachers. "That's incredible both of you," George says. I smiled and I felt really good about myself and what I have achieved.

"Yeah, I already knew Danny was a smart one, but I was not expecting to get that kind of grade," Jordon says. I believe it was a math's test and maths was never my strong suit, especially addition. I look at him with a smile. "I knew you could do it, you're smarter than you give yourself credit for," I tell him. There was something about this friendship that gave me more confidence then I had ever had before now. I've only really known Jordon for less than 24 hours and I am complimenting him like I have known him my whole life. "Danny's right you know, all of you are smarter than you think you are. You just need to believe in yourselves more," George tells me. It's true, they don't have much faith in their academic abilities. I don't either to be honest.

Years of being told you're not good enough or smart enough takes its toll on your mental health, especially your self-confidence. It's going to take a long time before I start fully believing it when they tell me that I am smart. They don't need to know that though, I am still proud of the grade I got today. The rest of the school day wasn't as exciting though. We didn't have any more tests and I almost got bullied for not participating in gym, but the teacher told them off. It wasn't my fault that the ER doctor made a note because he didn't agree with me doing any sort of physical exercise while my ribs are still healing. I would have taken my shirt off, exposing the dark purple bruises around my chest to prove a point but it wasn't worth it.

The teacher believed my note anyways. I had also gotten permission to eat the snack Jordon had given me and take more pain killers during that lesson because I was due to take some more. It will allow me to spend a little bit of time with the guys at the skate park after school and then I will go home and tell mom that I have finally had a good day in school, and I got an A in my test. This will be her dream come true as all she ever wanted was me to be happy. I am still pretty nervous about being hurt again, but I know that as long as I am with the five guys then I am going to be safe. George and the others were waiting for us when we got out of our final lesson a little late. Apparently, all teachers have been encouraged to start clamping down on bullying now.

Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly happy that they are finally acting on what's been going on for the last few years. Part of me is just feeling that it it's a little bit late. They have already gotten away with it for so long. George wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I look up at him with a smile. "Just let me know if this is too much for you and I'll take you home," he whispers to me. The others were walking just a little bit ahead of us and had already met up with Jorel and Matt. "I know, I think I'll be alright," I whisper back, part me of me is wondering if I am pushing things too far too soon. Then I am thinking about how I finally get to be a normal teenager for once and I want to enjoy it. I think George would tell me off if I did push myself too far.

Both Matt and Jorel seemed really excited to have me around again. They both hugged me as tightly as they wanted to, and I hugged them back. "George, how come it feels like we've known Danny for longer than a day or two?" Matt asks, we were all sitting down to chat before a few use the skate park. I had lost track of how long it has been already. I know I met George on Friday and got everyone's numbers on Saturday. "This is what happens when a friendship works from the moment you meet them. It just means that the friendship is meant to be," George explains. It makes sense, even though Friday was the weirdest day of my life I don't regret a single thing about it because it led me to 5 amazing friendships that I wouldn't have had.

I managed to last about three hours with the guys before I felt that it was too much, and I asked George to take me home. They were all fine with it and said they were proud of me for what I had managed to achieve today. "How was your day my love?" mom asks me when I walk in. I couldn't wait to tell her how much of a good day I have had. "It was really good, I got an A in my test and no bullying whatsoever," I tell her. She hugged me and I could tell that it had just made her so happy. She won't admit it, but she was worried about me today. "That's brilliant, I bet this is the first of many awesome school days," she tells me. For the first time in a long while I now genuinely think that she is right, and I am going to have many more awesome school days.

3 weeks later- Danny p.o.v

George has asked me to go spend the day with him. He's not said what we're going to be doing, but I am not worried about things like that anymore. The last three weeks have been the best. I have not been bullied whatsoever and finally all my grades are going up. I've been surprised and able to deal with that without being terrified. Mom was doing my hair because he had told me to dress sort of smart but casually and I was anxious about my hair because it's usually pretty messy and I don't put much effort into it. She also knows that I have developed some romantic feelings for George, and I have been too scared to admit anything to him. We've been getting along really well and are often up late at night talking to each other over texts.

"Don't worry I am sure everything will go well with George and who knows he might make the moves first," she tells me. I trust her, she has been watching George and I interact with each other while we have been here at home hanging out with each other. A mother knows more than you think they do. You could sneak around behind her back and boom she knows without even catching you doing it. She's been watching us for a while now and seeing how we look at each other and I think she thinks it's in a more than friendly way between both of us. "I know but I am really nervous," I tell her. Just because I think there might be something more between us doesn't mean that George is going to see it the same way. Mum puts some hair gel in, and I just sit as still as possible.

George was going to be picking me up and I was slowly starting to become more nervous as he texted me to say he was outside. Mum rubs my shoulders was she was done with my hair. "Take a deep breath. You'll be just fine," she tells me. We've gotten to the point where I am comfortable texting George, he is fine to walk in if he wants to which he did just after mom started and finished her little pep talk to me. He smiles at my mom and I went to go and grab my phone and wallet from my room while they talk to each other for a minute or so. It's nice to know that mom approves if we do decide to become boyfriends. I know some parents want the boys to date girls because they think that gay people are not able to have babies.

They can't have them in the normal when a mommy and daddy love each other very much way but there is such thing as surrogacy and adoption in the future. That is if both people in the relationship want children though. I am so anxious I think my mind is rambling through random stuff way too quickly. I am not even in a relationship yet. I walk back into the living room and George hugs me. "Now you two stay safe and have fun okay?" mom says, and she smiles at us. George knows what we are going to be doing, I still don't know. "We will Margo don't you worry," George tells her. In the beginning all of them would call my mom Miss Murillo but now they call her Margo because she said she preferred that to Miss Murillo or Danny's mom.

"We will mom," I tell her, then she kisses the top of my head before we leave. I am starting to feel a little less nervous as we walk to the car, but I was still unsure of where we were going or what we are going to be doing today. "Your mom told me that you're a little nervous about today, don't worry. I hadn't planned things out until I was on my way here which is why I hadn't told you yet. We're going to head to a sandwich shop, then a donut shop and then go to Venice beach for the day," he tells me. That sounds like a good plan to me. A beach style picnic is just a nice relaxing time and I haven't been to Venice for a long time. "That sounds amazing," I tell him. I would consider myself to be quite low maintenance if I am honest. I don't need a lot to be happy.

"That's good Dan. I'm glad you like it. I know things have been rough lately and I just want to do whatever I can to make you happy and have a good day. That also means you're not paying for anything," he tells me. We're on our way to the sandwich place first. I guess that is easier that way because then I will choose the sandwich fillings and donuts, I know I will like and all he has to do is pay for it. I am not sure I 100% agree with him paying for absolutely everything though. What if there was a gift I saw, and I wanted to get it for him? I will find a way round it probably because George deserves something nice. He saved my life that night and has improved my school life as well. This is something that I never expected a complete stranger to do for me.

"Okay but if I see something which I think is a cool gift for you I am buying it," I tell him, and he chuckles. I can be quite stubborn when I need to be. I think I won that compromise too because he nodded after he'd finished chuckling. "I suppose I can accept that. Your mom has been going on about how both of you have been wanting to repay me for everything," he tells me, and I nodded. It was something mom told me three weeks ago when I was at home after he rescued me that it was something, she wanted to pay him back for. I think back to that night and get shivers down my spine. I could have easily died that night because of my injuries but George was there, and he patched me up as best as he could, and the ER helped too.

"Yeah, because you are literally like the angel who swopped in and saved me from the darkness," I tell him. My thoughts are a little bit all over the place I am still quite nervous about today. I even made him a little embarrassed it looked like cause his cheeks went red as we got to the sandwich shop. Getting the food was pretty boring really. George paid for it all like he told me he was going to, and we got some weird smiles from some of the little old ladies that were in sitting and eating in. I don't know if it was just me over thinking the situation again or not. "Right donuts then the beach," he tells me. We're still about a good half an hour or so drive from the beach, I think. I never paid attention to how long journeys took when I was growing up.

The donut place wasn't that interesting to me either. The only thing that was mildly interesting was that we got a mystery box of donuts as well as the two we wanted. There was no one here to give us weird looks luckily. I definitely think I have developed anxiety, so I am always nervous when people start staring at me and I think it is because they want to jump me. George had his arm around me, and I held the donuts as we left the shop. "Right to the beach so we can devour our lovely lunch," he told me. He had asked me the night before what drinks I like and bought those from Walmart on his way to my house this morning and kept them in a little lunch bag with some ice packs in them. Mom was very impressed by how prepared he is all the time.

"Yeah let's go," I tell him. I had a little bag with some swim trunks and a towel in case that was something we were going to be doing. I was honest with him though and I told him that I wasn't one hundred percent sure if I felt confident enough to go and mess around in the water today and he told me it was fine. He wants us to have a fun and relaxing time anyway, so it wasn't something he was that bothered about. It's not like we're on a date or something where there are set expectations. It is just two teen boys on a day out to have some fun together. Soon we're at the beach although on the way George had asked if I wanted to walk on the boardwalk later on and I said sure. I wasn't even sure what we were going to be doing until he picked me up.

"Let's go find a nice little quiet spot where there's not many people around. I don't know about you but the last thing I need is either a seagull or a seagull disguised as a small human stealing our donuts," he tells me, and I laugh. He's got a fair point though; seagulls are known to be a pain in the ass on beaches when it comes to stealing people's food and toddlers and small children are literally the same. Well that is what my uncle always told me about toddlers. I grew up without my two brothers around because of how much older they were from me, so I was technically an only child. It didn't bother me though because I see them every now and then. "Definitely," I tell him, then we narrowly avoid tripping over a toddler who was in the middle of a tantrum on the floor.

"You gotta watch out for them floor seagulls, they are the loudest but also the most dangerous. You can hear them but not always see them unless you watch the floor if not then bam you're on the floor and the food is gone because they suddenly stop and devour the food quicker than you can get up," he tells me, I saw the mother in the corner of my eye so I had to stifle my laughter. Then again, she wasn't really paying attention to her screaming child, I think she was making them cry it out because it was probably over a stupid reason like the mom wouldn't buy them an ice cream or something. When we were out of earshot, we both started laughing. I had never heard toddlers being compared with seagulls before, but it made a lot of sense.

We spent about 5 minutes looking for a really good spot for our little picnic lunch and we found the perfect spot. There was a bit of natural shade and even though there were some people around we had a good bit of privacy. "I hereby declare this spot to be ours," George says, and I just shake my head and chuckle. I like seeing the less serious side of George. It was nice for him to have just some fun instead of watching over 5 slightly younger men. I put the blanket down and sat down while George was putting rocks around the edges. That way if I do feel like going into the water with him then we could feel safe about our blanket being there and not blowing away in the wind. "Let's eat," I tell him. It was lunchtime by now and I was definitely hungry.

Lunch was really good; we even tore off a chunk of our sandwiches for the other one to try. I didn't really like George's choices, but I tried it anyway. It was pretty funny for him to see my reaction. The best part was definitely the donuts. We opened the mystery box first because we wanted to be a bit more adventurous. "Oh by the way, we probably won't be able to eat all of these or might not like them all so you can take them home with you and your mom can have some," he tells me because I think we both knew the 14 donuts we have might be a bit too much for us. Especially considering our sandwiches were pretty big too. "You sure? You bought them after all" I ask him, I feel like he should take them home instead.

"Yeah, your mom is amazing, and I think you know that she deserves a little treat," he tells me. I do think about it for a minute. Mom has been working really hard and been raising me on her own for the last 15 years and I want to give her something to show how much I appreciate everything that she has done for me. Yeah donuts won't last as long as an expensive meaningful gift, but the thought and the love is still there. "That's true I think she does deserve something nice. She's been working more lately and hasn't had any spare money for donuts or something to treat herself," I tell him. I would like to spend more time with my mom, but I understand why she has been working so hard lately. Those bills aren't going to pay themselves.

George had decided after a little while that he was going to go to the water and swim for a bit and asked if I wanted to join him. I was still a little unsure and decided to stay where I was. He didn't mind it and took his shirt off. He already had his trunks on, and I was liking the view I was getting for sure. It definitely confirmed the thought I had that I like boys romantically and not girls. I tried to date a girl called Theresa, but it didn't work out and it was then that I realized it might be gay. I even came out to my mom after I had thought about it and she was supportive. It was probably one of the reasons why I have been bullied so much but it never occurred to me until now. I was blushing as soon as George turned away from me to start running to the water.

If I ever needed confirmation that I have a massive crush on George now was the moment. Like oh my god is he hot as heck. I don't think he would feel the same way though. I know that a girl called Asia has been trying to get his attention for weeks now. Jorel told me they did go out at one point, but they broke up and she's been desperate to get back with him, but he's said no once and just kept ignoring her from then onwards. Just because I knew that was a fact doesn't mean that George is looking for men, he just doesn't want to get back with her. I keep debating in my head whether or not I should join George in the water. I end up just staying on the towel watching him swim. He even told me he has two outfits in his bag to try and encourage me.

After a while he came and sat next to me. "Are you okay? I haven't ruined things, have I?" George asks me, and I hug him. "I'm fine, I was enjoying watching you swim. I just don't feel like I am in the mood for swimming today that's all," I tell him. He hugs me back and I didn't care about him getting me slightly damp. I felt a little bad that I had somehow worried or upset him. "That's okay, I was just nervous about today that's all," he tells me. Nervous? Why on earth would George be nervous? He is like the king of being calm, cool, and collected. We keep hugging each other for a few more minutes. I don't want him to be nervous, he has no reason to be nervous that I could think of off the top of my head. I'm having a great time.

"Why would you be nervous? I'm having a great time being here with you," I tell him. I was being honest with him. I don't think this day could have gone any better so far. I get to spend time with an amazing guy while we eat lunch on a beach and then I watch as he goes for a swim. "I'm glad, but there was something that I had been meaning to ask you," he tells me. Now I am curious to find out what he wants to ask me. I think the silence was making him slightly more nervous than he was before he mentioned that he has something to ask me. "You know you can ask me anything right? I won't judge," I tell him. He would know by now that I am one of the least judgmental people in our group. After everything they have done for me it is the least, I can do.

"I know. You know that feeling when you are about to ask someone something big but then you're like he's never going to agree to that? That's how I feel right now," he tells me. It makes perfect sense to me; anyone can get nervous like that. I remember Dylan telling me about it because he wanted to ask a girl to the dance with him and he was so scared of her saying no. He never told me how that story ended though, I think he was too high to tell me that part. "Yeah, but you know anything you have to say won't change how I feel about you," I tell him. I want him to ask me whatever it is he wants to without worrying about whatever my reaction might be to it. Like 3 weeks ago I had just gained 5 friends I am not about to throw that all away.

"Okay, well I recently discovered that I am gay and that I have romantic feelings for someone. That someone is you," he tells me. He took a lot of pauses to think about how he was going to word it and I might have creeped him out by smiling. At least I know that my feelings for him are not one sided as I was worried about. I suppose I have to think about how I am going to reply to that before he gets worried, he's scared me off again. "Well, I suppose it might be cheesy but about a couple of weeks after you found me, I developed feelings for you. I am happy they are not one sided though," I tell him. I could have said it a lot better, but I wanted to say something before I worried him even further. We had stopped hugging once he said he had something to ask me.

He sighed in relief before hugging me again quite tightly and I hugged him back. "I'm so happy. So, I guess the follow up question is.. will you be my boyfriend?" he asks me. It feels like the best day that I could have hoped for. Everything is going amazingly well in my life and I have no idea why or how I have deserved this. "Of course, I'll be your boyfriend," I tell him. Monday morning is going to be interesting unless the rest of the guys find out before then. Everyone but Aron will be happy for us. Then again I have never cared about what Aron thought about me so if he showed disgust towards us I wouldn't even notice. "You have made me so happy," George tells me. I could get even cheesier and say that he is my knight in shining armor.

"You've made me so happy too," I tell him. He decides that he wants to go back into the water for a little longer before we move on to the boardwalk and then possibly go and have some dinner before he drops me off back home. Mom never gave me a curfew; all she wants to know is where I am going and what time roughly I am going to be back. That way if I am late home or don't turn up when I am supposed to then she will know where to look. I can now say I am watching my hot boyfriend swim in the sea. I still don't want to swim today but I am sure next time we go on a beach date that I will join him. I will be more confident with my body by then maybe. I am not one hundred percent sure just yet though; a lot of things could change between now and then.

He scooped me up when he was done and acted like he was about to dump me into the sea. I thought he was going to do something like this but then he turned and ran back and dumped me on the blanket we had. "Would you have dumped me in the water?" I ask him, as he grabs his towel and starts drying himself off. I had grabbed one of his spare t-shirts and changed into it because I was considerably damper than earlier. "Yeah I would have. Then I remembered you said you didn't want to go into the water so I thought that it would be mean of me," he tells me. That's very considerate to be fair, I don't think I would have been angry with him if he had carried it out though. We'd just have less time to do stuff because we'd both be getting changed.

"I wouldn't have been angry if you had done it, but thank you for considering it," I tell him, trying hard to not bite my lip into non-existence as he changes in front of me. he's just so freaking hot and sexy and then there is me, the little gay guy who is as thin as a twig and has no muscle definition whatsoever. "Right let's go on the boardwalk and see what we can find. Maybe we can find somewhere nice to eat dinner," he tells me, then gently pulls me to my feet. I am still happy to be with my boyfriend and I am still having a good time. It feels amazing and weird at the same time to say that George is my boyfriend, we're not just best friends anymore. Got to stop before the musical kid in me starts singing There! Right There! from the Legally Blonde musical.

"What are you thinking about with that cheeky smirk on your face?" George asks, we have just walked and put the rubbish from lunch in the trash can and we are heading back to his car to dump our beach stuff before we go on a walk. "Oh, just how funny it would be if we announced our relationship to the others with the song There! Right There! from the Legally Blonde musical," I tell him. I give him a minute for it to sink in, he has heard that song before. We've all heard it before; I just tend to get it stuck into my head more than the others. "That would be pretty funny not gonna lie. Especially because Asia keeps trying to get back with me. I can imagine you going it's me not her he's seeing," he tells me, and I crack up laughing.

There's another line which I also find equally funny if not funnier. There is the bit towards the end where the guy is like "I'm straight," and the other guy is all like "You were not yesterday" and considering today is Sunday it would totally work in our favor. We both know we cannot go through a whole school day without them finding out. I whisper those lines into George's ear, and he cracks up laughing. We're both dorks but at the end of the day we love each other a lot and that is all that matters to me. "Yeah we're totally going to use that to come out to the guys if they don't figure it out by tomorrow after school," he tells me. I think I would give it away though if Asia did the bend and snap to try and get George's attention.

"Yeah, let's just hope for both our sakes Asia doesn't bend and snap in front of you tomorrow," I tell him. We both look at each other and groan. We are about to go onto the boardwalk but stopped because we had just dumped our stuff and we were laughing too hard. "I hate the bend and snap, the easiest way to tell a guy is gay is to do that in front of them. Straight men melt to the floor and the gays are like yeah whatever," he tells me. It is like a slutty version of the gaydar in my opinion, like why else would someone do that if they didn't want a man in their trousers? The correct answer is no one. "I could just imagine the looks on Dylan and Jordon's faces as she does the bend and snap and you just look, but don't respond and keep talking to me the whole time," I tell him.

"Yeah I could just picture them with the cogs turning in their heads as they try and work things out on their own and then like ohhh so your boyfriends now cool," he tells me. He was right on that; they would take a while to figure it out and then as soon as they realize what is going on then they are gonna be like yeah cool. I think Jorel is going to have the I knew it reaction out of all of them. He's like that one who is like oh yeah I totally knew this whole time even if he is just bluffing because we didn't know ourselves until like an hour ago. Well, by the time they find it we hope it's been 24 hours since we found out ourselves. These things can be unpredictable though. He slips his hand into mine now that we have finally calmed down from our laughing outburst.

It just felt so right to be holding his hand while we walk on the boardwalk. Yeah people were giving us strange looks, but I was already used to that and I was trying to do my best to ignore them like I had being doing in high school. People are going to have some level of disapproval for gay relationships no matter what you do or where you go in life. For those people it's been too hardwired into their brain for them to be able to educate themselves on why being gay actually isn't a crime anymore. "Still thinking about how funny it would be?" George asks me, we have been walking for a few minutes and I was taking in the scenery just not talking about it. I think we were looking for an ice cream shop to have a snack in before we think about dinner later.

"Yeah, the look on some of their faces will be really funny" I tell him. The look on Asia's face will be the most interesting in my opinion. She's still convincing herself that George is going to be asking her back out any day now. She is going to be so disappointed when she finds out that he is taken now. "Yeah, but even if people hate on us I will never let you be bullied again," he tells me. He promised that to me right from the start when dating wasn't even a possibility and I know that I don't even need to hold him to his word because he will make sure no one ever lays their hand on me to potentially cause me harm while he's around. "I know you won't because you're my knight in shining armor," I tell him. Someone said aww, but we weren't sure if it was aimed at us or not.

"And you're my prince destined to become king and I will be loyal to you until the end," he tells me. It was cheesy but it fits our situation perfectly. He is my knight and I guess I am gonna be his king one day. If we ever get married and don't mention this in our vows I think some people will get very angry with us. We found a shop that sells little tubs of Ben and Jerry's ice cream which I think is a perfect snack on a hot Los Angeles afternoon. I had gone red at his comment about how I am his prince, and I was a little bit warm. "How about we get some ice cream and sit on a bench for a bit?" I ask him. It was his idea, but he also wanted my say in how some of the things were going to go, so he could make sure I was happy with the whole day.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea," he replies and it's exactly what we do. I tell him what I want while I go and find a nice bench in an area where actual seagulls won't attack us, and the toddler seagulls won't either for that matter. There was a few benches with some graffiti on them that I know that the parents won't let their toddlers go near so it was perfect for us. A minute or so later George walks over with the two pots of ice cream in his hands. "Nice choice of spot there Dan," he tells me, as he sits next to me and hands me my little pot of cookie dough ice cream. I think he got the brownie one. "Yeah, and thanks for the ice cream," I tell him. He taps his tub next to mine as a cheers moment and his way of saying you're welcome.

When we had just finished our ice cream we watched as a young kid's ice cream was knocked out of her hand by a bully while her mom wasn't paying attention. I feel like I have to do something because I have been in her position and I have to show her that not everyone is shitty and out to ruin her day. "I'll be back in a minute," I tell George, I had looked into my wallet and found enough money to buy her a new ice cream and maybe to treat herself. I go up to the child and make sure that I am eye level with her, and I want to gently get her attention. She's already upset, and I don't want to either make it worse or make her mom start yelling at us. "Hey, I'm saw what happened to you and I'm sorry," I tell the kid who looks at me.

She was still on the verge of tears, but I managed to provide a little bit of comfort. "They're my older brother's friends, but they are always mean to me. Mom never pays attention when it happens," she tells me. I still feel sorry for her though, I might not relate to her specific situation as even though I have two older brothers I never grew up with them around because my mom and dad split before I was born and they were both old enough to choose which parent they wanted to live with and they chose our dad who has decided to never contact me. "I have an idea to make things better. Why don't I buy you a replacement ice cream and you can sit with me while you eat it, so it won't get knocked over again?" I ask her, and she looked at me with shock.

Yeah, I get that it is really weird for a stranger to do this. However, in the back of my mind I am like younger me would have someone around like George to provide that little bit of faith in humanity I was losing because of how I was being treated. "That would be great," she says, and I smile as she perked up and wasn't about to cry any time soon. I went through with my plan as my boyfriend sat from a far watching me with a proud smile on his face. I am paying forward the amount of kindness he has shown me and maybe one day this little girl is going to do the same. The older brother and his friends stay well away this time. When she was done she thanked me and we both went our separate ways. I hug George when I get back to him.

"Well done Danny, I am very proud of you. That was just so kind and compassionate," he tells me. I was just grinning because I was buzzing on the positive energy around me. It's the first time in a long time I had the confidence to see a problem I could solve by myself and just go and do it and the little girl was happy at the end. As we walked away we heard her excitedly tell her mom about how I had made everything better after her brother Brad and his friends knocked the ice cream onto the floor. The mom had told the brother off this time saying that once they got home he was grounded for the next week because she was tired of his behavior. She also saw George and I walking and personally thanked me for showing her boys how it should be done.

Now we are just going to continue walking around the boardwalk to see what else we can get up to. This date is going really well. I am going to call it a date because that is what it is. Even on Friday when Jorel had asked us what our weekend plans was he mentioned that it is basically a date between George and I. The funny thing was no one said anything bad about it and George never denied it either. I just thought it was a friendship date until he asked me to be his boyfriend. Although thinking about it a little harder, friends don't go on dates. They just have days out, which could have been a sign for me that he was going to ask me out. I guess I didn't think about it hard enough because I was too busy enjoying the time with my friends.

"Did Jay text you too?" George asks me. I had been ignoring my phone up until I heard his ping to let him know he had a text. I did have a text, but it was from my mom asking if I was okay and I told her I was fine. "No, I got one from my mom to check up on me. What does he want?" I ask him. I was just curious as to what Jorel wanted to know. George didn't have to tell me if he didn't want to though I was being a little bit nosey. "He wanted to know if we had gotten together as boyfriends yet, do you want me to tell him or make him wait till tomorrow?" he asks me. Now I get to think about if I am going to be nice or make him wait just a little bit longer. Jorel already suspects we are together, and it won't make a difference to him if he knew already or not.

"He can wait until tomorrow. He probably already knows the answer by now and just wants confirmation and we don't want him to spoil it for the others," I tell him. If they want to know then we will tell them when we hang out with each other the next afternoon because he won't see us in school, but he will see Matt. "Good point, I don't think he would spoil but it would be disappointing if he did because it would be nicer for us to either have the funny musical reference or just tell them outright ourselves," he tells me. He tells Jorel no and that he was having a nice time with me as friends and we'd see him tomorrow afternoon as normal. "You're such a tease George," I tell him once he had shown me what he was sending.

"I know, but I want it to be something we tell together. Like I bet your mom has figured it out by now like mine has because it's just that weird sense built into them, but it would be nice for them to hear us say mom I have a boyfriend," he tells me. I know my mom would be so excited when I got home tonight and told her George, and I are dating. I am sure his mom will feel the same way because she has been so nice to me from the moment, we met each other. I knew they weren't going to be homophobic because the first night after I met George and he saved me we ended up falling asleep together and when we woke up the next morning we were cuddling each other and my mom was already over and had seen it herself.

"Do you think our moms have taken a bet on when we will be dating each other?" George asks, completely out of the blue when we had been walking for a little while. I had almost stopped so he would have fallen over but I kept walking. "Knowing that mothers have that crazy ass feeling that they know what you get up to when you don't think they know most definitely," I tell him. They have been best friends for as long as I could remember which surprised me since George and I have never actually met each other until this year. Then again, they probably had child free meet ups which is why our meet up never happened. "Oh yeah they definitely would, can't wait till we tell them and what their reactions will be," he replies.

"I think it will be oh that's great honey and you detect sad undertones then you know your mom lost the bet. Or like she goes to another room and you hear her say damn it I lost the bet," I tell him. If they did bet though I have no idea how much either one would bet or if they would have the same idea on when they think we are going to get together. All we know is that they both would have spoken about us being gay and having crushes on each other. "Yeah I think my mom will be straight on the phone to yours like did you hear that George and Danny have gotten together? Then she will either say you owe me x amount of dollars or that she owes your mom x amount of dollars," he tells me, and I just shake my head. Our moms definitely would do stuff like this.

Then again George and I have also inherited that from them. I made a joke one night about us making a bet on how long it would take for Jordon and Matt to become boyfriends. To my surprise George actually gave me an answer. He said that they would get together between 6 months to a year of another member of the group getting a partner. Now I know he was talking about us getting together. I responded with my guess of about 2 weeks of another member getting a partner, but we never actually put any money on it which has given me an idea. "Speaking of people making bets on other people behind their backs. Do you wanna take our little bet seriously now that we're together?" I ask him. I was also considering the fact that they might be together and not come out to us yet.

George was thinking about it as we keep walking along the boardwalk. I hadn't seen anywhere which caught my eye as a good place to have dinner, but we never said we had to have dinner on the boardwalk. We could easily go somewhere else. "Yeah that would be a good idea and I definitely think they would get together after they find out we are," George tells me. Now all we have to do is to make our final decision and put some money on it. I am still having a mini mental debate between if they were together already or if they had yet to get with each other and knowing that being gay is a cool thing will make them take that leap.

"I bet twenty dollars that they will be together or tell us they are together two months after they find out about us," George tells me. That is a fairly good prediction to be fair. I still need to make up my mind, but I was thinking about putting the same amount of money towards it. "Yeah that's good but I think it's gonna be two weeks after they find out about us being a couple and I also bet twenty dollars," I tell him. Now we just have to wait and see who will win. I think it's gonna be whoever's the closest because we're not really that pedantic about it. If it is within 2 weeks, then I when if it is any time over two weeks then George wins but if it is over two months then we both lose. "Agreed and we're not gonna be pedantic over it either so you know what that means," he tells me.

"Yep two weeks and under it goes to me over two weeks and under two months it goes to you. Over two months then we both lose, and we keep our own money," I tell him, and he nods. It feels good to be able to come to an agreement with each other so easily and without any disagreements we're just like yeah this is our not so serious serious bet. I am still curious as to whether or not the boys we have just bet on are together already, but they haven't set off my gaydar yet which I don't want to brag about, but I have a 98% success rate with it. The only people I had no idea they were gay was one of my neighbors before we moved here and George. I always accept my failures because in my eyes it's more of a pleasant surprise.

"Is it just me or are all the eating options open today rubbish?" George asks me. We have now been up and down the entire boardwalk twice looking for somewhere to have our dinner before our date ends because as much as I would love to stay out all night with him, we have school in the morning. "Nah it's not just you. The options tonight are just not it," I tell him. I was also worried about him spending too much money on me. I had found a cute store and got both him and mom a gift when he was elsewhere. I am the type of guy who would be perfectly content with a dinner date at maccies just as long as I was with the person I loved. "Well, let's go somewhere else. See if we can find a Taco Bell or something like that," he tells me.

"Yeah, maybe we'll have better luck there," I tell him. I know Taco Bell is one of Jordon's favorites. I've personally never had it before. My mom isn't totally broke, but we don't have a lot of income spare that we can use for things like frequent takeaways and junk food meals out. She just about has enough income to give me the little bit of money that she does each month, but she says that comes out of the child support she gets from my dad. It's the only thing he does for me. He has never bothered visiting me or sending me anything. "Are you okay Danny? You've gone a bit quiet," George asks, we're still looking for somewhere to have some dinner before we decide to either go somewhere else or call it a night and say see you tomorrow.

"Yeah I'm fine," I tell him. I've already burdened him enough with all the bullying problems. I don't need to give him something else that he feels as if he has to help me with. He'd probably speak to Dylan who boast he has rich parents to get them to give my mom some money, but that's not the way mom and I tend to do things. We just make the best out of the situations we have been given. "Okay, if you want to talk to me about anything and I mean anything that bothers you just let me know," he tells me. I try and keep my poker face, can't let my worries ruin what has already been a perfect afternoon going into the evening. "Don't worry George, you'll either be the second or third person to know," I tell him. He knows by now that I tell my mom pretty much everything that I worry about.

"That's good to know. Let's go to Taco Bell, you've not tried it yet and I think the worse thing about telling the guys that we are together would be if I told him we drove by a Taco bell and you never tried it," he tells me. I am pretty sure that Jordon almost had kittens just knowing how very few fast food places I had been to. It is a fair enough reasoning behind the choice as well, better than spending the next hour going around looking for somewhere when we could just go and eat some tacos. "Good plan, I think he'd handle the thought of us dating better than the thought of me not eating Taco Bell," I tell him. I know I was repeating what he said but in my own words, but sometimes it's better to hear that the person you love feels the same way.

It's also somewhat bizarre that the thought of us getting together would not disgust Jordon nearly as much as the thought that we drove past a Taco Bell restaurant and not gone to eat in it. George finds a place to park and tells me to find a nice quiet spot to go and sit so we won't be seen by any of the guys before tomorrow. I know they know we are spending today together, but they don't know we are boyfriends yet. He told me he was going to get me something from the menu he thinks I am gonna like. I am going to take his word for it because I have no idea what is even on the menu. I manage to find a corner booth out of the way where there wasn't many people around. From the look of the advertisements around and the menu I briefly saw the food looks really good.

"Right I went for two crunchy taco supreme, some fries with nacho cheese sauce and some Pepsi," George tells me. To be honest I don't think I mind whatever he went for us. I have managed to have a look at the menu, and it all looked good to me. It also just occurred to me that George has paid the bill again and I am starting to get used to that idea. I am so used to worrying about stuff like that. "Thanks George," I tell him. I think Jordon is going to have a new best friend tomorrow. This food is literally amazing, I think I will definitely be going to Taco Bell more often. "I take it that you're enjoying the food then," George says. I wasn't quite shoveling it down my throat as quickly as possible, but I was definitely enjoying it. For the first time having something new it was good.

"Yeah, not something we usually could afford when I was growing up," I tell him. I don't want it to sound like I had another sob story to tell him after all of the stuff that has been going on with the bullying and him trying to get me to open up more with that. "Well, there is more of these dinners out where they come from now you know us. Don't worry about money if that is ever an issue, one of us will be more than willing to pay for it," he tells me. It already made me feel awkward that George has paid when I should have been the one paying, but it I will get used it eventually. The last two months have been a big shock and I finally feel like I can enjoy a normal teenage life. "Thanks George, I don't want to rely on you guys too much though" I tell him.

"Don't worry Danny, it's not going to be all the time," he replies. I knew that, but it still didn't worry me any less at the moment. I don't want rumors spreading around that I am only using them for the free food and the friendships. It is so easy for people to make that assumption. "I know, I just don't want people thinking that is what's going on that is all," I tell him. I don't really want to talk about it much more though because it is becoming the thing that is going to put a dampener on what has already been a fun day. "Fair enough Dan, that's not going to happen, and we are going to enjoy the rest of our evening before I drop you off," he tells me. I love that he made that decision, and we can just forget about all the money issues I briefly freaked out about.

"Right, I have one more surprise before I take you home," George tells me. We had finished our dinner now and we were just cleaning up after ourselves. I know we could have just left our trays at the table and walked off, but we decided that we would at least help the staff out a little bit. "Okay," I tell him, at the same time I am texting my mother to let her know where I am and give another rough estimate on when I am going to be home. She has not directly said it to me yet, but secretly I know that she is very worried about me. She has never been overprotective, but she has been cautious especially after the beating when I first met George. "Have you ever been to the Hollywood sign before?" George asks me. I had told him I was texting my mom.

"I don't think so, if I have, I was probably too young to remember," I tell him. I think I have managed to calm my mother's nerves down a bit now. She would also probably know when the last time I went to the Hollywood sign. George seemed a bit surprised that I have no memories of that of thing, but he also knows that I have basically spent the last few years living as a recluse and not wanting to leave the apartment. "Well, it, won't be a surprise to you that I am going to take you there. I tend to go in the evenings or early mornings, and you'll see why," he tells me. Everything about this date so far has been everything that I have hoped and dreamed about. Now I am feeling almost like I am on top of the world. This is the best day ever.

I also feel like I have finally been allowed to embrace who I truly am and do not feel like I must hide who I am in order to not get bullied anymore. Well, I will never truly feel open about it to everyone because the possibility of being bullied is always there but there are ones that I will feel like I can trust, and I will come out to. The more cautious I am about who I am going to come out to the less likely I am going to be bullied for it. I already have an idea on what my friendship group is going to say on it. I take George's hand in mine as we walk up towards the Hollywood sign. I knew that we could get into trouble for it, but something in my brain told me that it was fine, and that George knows what he is doing, so we're safe.

He says he comes up here all the time. He'll know how to avoid the police if they decide they want to come interrupt anything. I know we are technically breaking the law, but we are not going to be vandalizing anything and we're just going to watch the sunset I am guessing. I have never watched the sun set before. I have watched the sun rise when I have had a sleepless night, but that is not the same. It is equally as beautiful in my opinion though. "You know I have done this so often that it almost lost all the excitement I had coming here. Coming here with you though makes it feel like it is brand new again," he tells me. It makes sense to me. If you do it often it becomes routine and it's not as exciting as when you go for the first time or take someone with you.

"Well, I think this is exciting. I have never been up here before," I tell him. There wasn't a lot I could say, and I wanted to enjoy the view as much as possible. We must be careful still because we will never know if there is a cop around waiting to arrest us or something. I don't think anything bad is going to happen, but you can never be overly cautious. "I am glad that I can make your first time up here a good one," he says. I think back to my mother and how she's doing at home. She'll be a little anxious because this is the first time I have been out with a friend in so long, but she has met George and she knows that we can trust him. I can tell why he likes coming here at night, the sunset is so pretty, and you can reflect on your day. Like anything bad that happened to you during that day can be put behind you as the sun sets, a new day is going to start soon.

"Thank you so much for today," I tell George as we walk back to his car holding hands. I look up to George who was looking at me with a big smile on his face. "You're very welcome, now let's get you home before your mother has kittens. She'll be worried by now," George tells me. I laugh, he is right about mom being worried, but I know that it is going to be okay. I have never heard the having kittens thing before. I bet it has something to do with how smart George is in English. I let him know that I was confused because I was trying to figure it out. "It's a British idiom Dan. To have kittens in this context means that they are extremely worried or upset by something," George tells me and it kinda makes sense to me, but I am not going to say I fully understand when I clearly don't.

"Oh, I guess that kinda makes sense," I tell him. George then decided to tell me all about his interest in the English language when we were in the car on the way home. I don't claim to fully understand everything that George tells me, but I am deeply interested by it. Maybe he can help me with English, and I can become as smart as him. I feel like I am good in most subjects, but English is definitely my weaker subject. I was just enjoying listening to George talk about something that he is so passionate about. The whole drive back home was nice and relaxing, and I felt as if I had learned something while I was out and about with George. I did send my mom a message to let her know that I was on my way home and that she won't have to worry about me for too much longer. She found it funny, but she was happy to know that I was on my way home.

George walked me to the apartment door when we arrived. He warned me that he had been taught a lot of what would be considered now days to be old fashioned ways of being in a relationship with someone. I think it is quite respectful. He makes sure that I don't walk home alone, he opened the car door for me and closed it behind me. "Hey George, thanks for today. I really enjoyed it," I tell him. I'm feeling really excited to see how long it takes the guys to find out about us. My mother opened the door and smiled at us both. She was relieved to see me. "You're welcome my love. I enjoyed it too and I'll see you tomorrow," he tells me. We have no worries about kissing each other in front of my mother so we do and give each other one hug before he leaves.

"I am glad you had a good day buddy," mum tells me, and I hug her when I walk into the apartment. We sit on the couch together and we talk about everything that George and I did together today. I do feel quite tired, but it was the first time that I had ever gone out with a friend for the whole day. It is a lot longer than any playdates I had during Elementary or Middle school. Those would only last a few hours at most. Since I had already had dinner the only thing I need to do is to have a shower, read a book or something and then go to bed because I have school in the morning. Mother already said goodnight and has gone to bed because she has work very early in the morning. I always hate it when mom has to leave so early for work.

I know why she has to leave so early though. She has to go to work and the more she works the more money her boss gives her, and we can afford all the bills that come with living in this small apartment like rent and all that stuff. Dad doesn't care enough about me to ever pay child support and my mom can't afford to chase the money in the court system. I'm old enough to take care of myself and George will be picking me up like usual anyways. It's not like I am going to do anything stupid which could lead to the apartment burning down. I am just going to go to sleep, wake up to my alarm and probably eat some cereal before getting dressed and wait for George to come pick me up so we can go to school and let the guys know we are dating now.

The next morning

"Do you still think its going to be two months before Matt and Jordon come out to everyone?" George asks. We're in the car on the way to school where our little group of friends was going to find out that both George and I are gay and have started dating each other. "Yeah, they'll be cautious with it I think. It is going to be a huge shock to everyone that you're gay in the first place. They wouldn't be expecting it," I tell him. Well, that's how I think today is going to go anyways. I know that they have a feeling that I am gay because of how viciously I was bullied until they intervened. There had to be some reason behind it and even I wasn't one hundred percent sure why it happened.

"Fair enough Dan. I guess I never really put much thought into how they were going to react to my news. I was more worried about you. I promise that I will never let anyone lay their hands on you like the bullies did ever again," George tells me. He has said that promise to me before and I know he is going to keep it. He also told me that he didn't really get a good night's sleep last night but now I know why. He has been up worrying about how his really close friends are going to react about me coming out of the closet. It was nice but I feel the exact same way. I slept fine, but I still worry about how they will react because they have been friends for a really long time, and it would be a shame if I were to destroy all of that.

"It's kinda funny. I am worried about you more than I am myself. I have been bullied for long enough that I have stopped caring about what other people may think. You have been friends with the guys since you were really small and it would be a shame if our relationship ruined it," I tell him. He reached over and put his hand on top of mine. "If they decide to reject us for being who we are then the friendship was not meant to be," George tells me. It was harsh but at the same time truthful. If they could not accept who we are then the friendship must end. That is the ultimate worst-case scenario though. We doubt that they will reject us, but you can't help, but let your mind wander when it comes to the thought of sharing huge news like that.

"Yeah, I guess so," I tell him. We've made it to school now and I am trying to hide the fact that something is worrying me. After all, there should be a little bit of fun to this. We are going to have a good day and we are going to be accepted by the others. It is just waiting until they figure it out for themselves which is the hardest part. We're going to start the day off as normal and just let them try and figure it out on their own, there is not going to be any hints of cheeky little kisses in front of them when we think they aren't looking. We're just going to get along with our day as normal and see what happens. We stay in the car for a few more minutes so we can sort of calm ourselves down. "They'll suspect us if we're not calm," he tells me.

"Oh yeah, that wouldn't go well," I tell him. Even now they will probably suspect something but we aren't going to reveal anything until after school so it will be fair on everyone because I know that Jorel is not in school, so we won't see him until the day has ended regardless. Now to keep our composure for the next 7 or 8 hours. I hope that it is going to be a lot easier than the last 5 0r 10 minutes have been. We are going to be just fine. I only have to deal with Jordon during some of my lessons today and then the others during break times and it's not that difficult really. Jordon won't be allowed to intensely ask me questions because talking isn't really allowed in lessons and we'll be talking about lessons and stuff during break times.

We had made it through the school day just fine much to our relief. Now to see how long it will take for them to realize we are dating as we go to our favorite hang out spot. I could tell that some of them were thinking about it. The cogs were working in their brains whenever they saw George and I look at each other. One of them is going to put two and two together and I think it is going to be within the first half an hour. George and I discussed on the way over that we were going to give them a little hint after all because otherwise they were not going to get it and we don't know how much longer we were going to be able to keep this from them. We want to be able to let them know and then deal with their reactions. It didn't take very long before our first friend had figured it out on his own and was grinning at the two of us.

"So uh, when were you going to tell us this happened then?" Jorel asks. I had a feeling that it was going to be him to be the first one. The others were paying a bit more attention like what the heck is he on about? Well, they are about to get their answer. "Since yesterday, how come?" George asks. I am quite interested to see how this goes. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't use the "I'm straight" "you were not yesterday" lines from the musical like we wanted though. "Well, when we arrived Asia had followed us and did the bend and snap in front of you and nothing happened. I had been suspecting it for a week though," Jorel replies. Fair enough, and we were relieved to know no one was against the idea of us being in a relationship.

I shook my head and smiled. "That damn bend and snap foils it again. It should be illegal," I tell them, and they all start laughing. George wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed me on the cheek. "Yeah, but I have you, so it doesn't matter," George tells me, and we hear Dylan make fake gagging noises. I know he was only teasing us. George was being a bit cheesy. It's good to know that all the important people know and accept us. We go through the rest of the afternoon like nothing had ever changed between the 6 of us which was the perfect outcome. Later on George drops me off at home and mom laughed as I almost forgot to say goodbye to George. She loves the fact that I have found someone who's gonna love me.

Sorry this was a long one, but I couldn't rush it. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see ya all next time.

32 Page