Walking Dead: To Be Loved

Chapter 5 of my Walking Dead story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and yes indeed, sadly so.
Wolfgirl2013: Well, here we go :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters.

Chapter 5: Worries

Mikey smiled in relief, much like everybody else, as the bell rang, indicating the end of the school day.

"Well, that's it over for the day." He said with a grin as he looked to Sophia who had been seated next to him.

Sophia rolled her eyes, smirking. "Easy for you to say, don't forget I've got stuff to do here still."

Mikey grimaced. "Ah, sorry."

"It's cool, go have fun, you know how it is, the Stage Manager's work is never done." Sophia replied jovially.

With that they began making their way towards the school lobby. They soon caught up with Carl and Anna at the lobby and, with only a hurried goodbye, Anna quickly left, Tonya waiting for her by the doors. The others watched this happen, sharing worried looks.

"Well, I'll see you guys later." Sophia said, trying to keep her voice steady and even.

They nodded and Sophia made her way towards the doors leading to the drama lab. She opened the door and they overheard some talk from inside.

"Urgh, Ben, you're killing me." The unmistakable voice of Ms. Rosita Espinosa, the drama teacher could be heard. "You've had weeks to be off book."

The door then closed and they shared an amused smirk, clearly one of the students was struggling with their lines.

"I think we better get going." Carl said. "No doubt that's something Sophia's gonna have to deal with and it's not gonna be pretty for Ben."

Mikey only laughed but nodded and together they headed out of the school and began making their way to the gates.

As they began making their way there, Carl considered for a moment.

"What part is Ben playing in the play again?" He asked.

Mikey replied automatically. "Prospero...I'm uh, I'm the understudy for him."

Carl grinned. "You might wanna make sure you're up to speed on everything, you might be stepping into the role soon, judging by how Ben's uh...stumbling."

"Maybe…" Mikey mused.

"Aww, isn't that precious."

They both rolled their eyes, turning to glare at Brandon who was leaning by the gate, glowering at them.

"Are you fucking obsessed with us or something?" Carl snapped.

"You punks need to pay for what you did." Brandon countered.

Mikey groaned. "We did nothing to you, or have you already forgotten, you attacked me, so you-"

"I was giving you punks what you deserve." Brandon scoffed. "But of course you just can't learn, can you, fags."

Both froze, a complete mix of outrage and horror at what Brandon had just said.

"You-" Mikey choked out, eyes wide.

Brandon laughed. "Awww, gonna cry, I know your little secret. Neither of your families will be home right now, guess you wanna take advantage of that and have some fun, don't you?"

"You sick freak!" Carl yelled.

It was clear he was taunting them, making it seem like they were a couple. Brandon just laughed and walked off, as if he had won some sort of argument and 'reasserted his superiority'.

Carl shook his head, unable to believe Brandon would make such comments, that he would accuse them like that.

"Urgh, prick." He turned to Mikey. "Mikey?"

He bit his lip, worried for he noticed suddenly that Mikey was looking rather tense, eyes glazed over and fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white.

"Dude…"

Mikey started and turned to Carl. "I...sorry, just...I can't believe he'd…"

Carl shook his head. "Hey, it's okay dude, don't...don't stress about it alright. He's just an asshole trying to resort to anything that'll make him seem like he's some big shot. We already know all this."

"I guess, I guess you're right." Mikey said at last, sighing. "Sorry about that, I just...shit like that always makes me so angry."

Carl nodded reassuringly before they resumed their journey home. As they walked Carl couldn't help but worry about Mikey's anger.

'God, the way he...I mean yeah, I was pissed off, for Brandon to be so crass and offensive.' Carl reflected. 'But Mikey was way more, if Brandon hadn't left Mikey looked like he was gonna, just tear into him.'

He didn't understand it, he had been personally offended by Brandon's words being bi of course, but Mikey, he wasn't sure about anything regarding Mikey that way. But he wasn't sure if it was right to pry. So he just tried to keep Mikey calm as they continued on their way home.

Dinner that evening at the Carr house had a layer of tension which worried Nicholas and Paula, they shared a worried look as they considered their worries. Their son Mikey had been tense and on edge the whole time.

Finally clearing his throat, Nicholas spoke up. "Mikey, is everything alright?"

Mikey started. "D-Dad?"

"We're just worried, son." Nicholas continued. "You've been so quiet and tense this whole time."

Mikey swallowed and straightened up. "Oh, sorry dad, it's nothing really."

"Are you sure, honey, you-?" Paula began.

"Yeah, I'm fine mom." Mikey insisted. "Sorry, I was just, distracted. There was a few...issues in school today, but it's nothing major, it's cool."

Nicholas and Paula shared a worried look again, but they knew they shouldn't push, it was clear Mikey wasn't going to share any more than that. He was clearly trying to reassure him so they decided the best they could do for now was to trust their son and hope, if something really was bothering him, that he would tell them.

"That was good mom, thanks." Mikey said at last.

He stood up and they both smiled and nodded, while Mikey quickly put his used dishes away to be washed and made his way upstairs towards his room, something else that worried them, that was not usual behaviour for Mikey after all. They were beginning to suspect that whatever happened at school wasn't quite so clean cut as he had said.

Up in his room, seated on his bed, Mikey took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. But his breathing was shaky and his fear inside was eating him up.

'God I...I should've, no, I can't tell anyone, not my parents, not my friend and, and definitely not Carl.' Mikey thought fearfully.

He had tried to brush it off, to be calm and focused, but Brandon's words truly got to him as Mikey was hiding a secret and had been for quite some time. Namely his sexuality and the main reason he kept it secret from Carl especially was because of how he became so sure of his sexuality. He couldn't bear to tell Carl the truth, that he had a crush on him.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.