"there's my favorite white boy!"
chapter 2
Clay stood outside of Kris's room, contemplating whether or not he should knock on the door. He needed to know, though. He knew how much Kris's parents didn't approve of them being apart of the community, but he never thought they would go as far as forcing her to not be who she wants to. It made him so angry, not knowing what happened to his friend. He exhaled shakily as he clenched his fists, raising a hand to knock on the door. Before his hand made contact with the wood, the door creaked open and Kris peered out, meeting Clay's eyes.
"Oh, hey Clay," Kris spoke with a shaky voice, smiling. She rubbed her eyes, sniffling.
"Hey," Clay replied, looking down at his friend he knew had been crying. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm- I'm fine," she said, rubbing her eyes again. "Just- just wanted to unpack my uh, my stuff."
Clay nodded, crossing his arms. They stood in awkward silence, looking around. "You- you sure you're okay?" Clay asked once more, looking back at Kris. "I mean, I- I don't know what all has happened since we've last talked, but I just-" He paused, sighing. "Look, I just want to know that you're okay, alright?"
Kris looked up at Clay, tears stinging her eyes. "I- I'm not, really, if I'm gonna be honest," she spoke after a moment, laughing awkwardly. "I- After I left, after I moved, everything- and I mean everything went downhill." She started crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. "My- my parents forced me to change, Clay! I- I couldn't use different pronouns, I couldn't cut my hair! I- I hated myself, I couldn't even look in the fucking mirror!!"
Clay watched his friend break down, his whole body shaking. Not just from fear, but anger. "And I- I tried to leave, I really did! But it didn't do shit! I had to move to a whole different state for my parents to leave me alone!" She exhaled shakily as another gasping laugh escaped her mouth, wiping her tears. "I hated the person I was- I hate the person I am! I did things, Clay," she spoke, stepping closer to her friend. "I- I hurt myself, Clay. I didn't mean to, but I- I couldn't help it, and I- I almost killed myself-"
Clay instantly wrapped his arms around Kris and hugged her tight, resting a hand on the back of her head. She tensed for a moment before wrapping her arms around her friend, burying her face in his chest. "I'm so sorry, I- I promised you I'd never do that, but I-"
"Kris," Clay spoke, rubbing Kris's back. "It's okay, alright? I- I know what it's like, and I get it. And I'm not mad you did it," he spoke, resting his head on Kris's. "Just- if there is ever anything going on, please, please tell me. Okay?"
Kris looked up at Clay and nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. "That goes for you too, okay?" She said, meeting eyes with her friend.
Clay chuckled and nodded, bringing a hand up to Kris's face and wiping her tears. She chuckled and let go of Clay, sighing. "Feels kind of good to get that off my chest."
Clay nodded shortly, letting go of his friend and running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, it probably would."
Kris chuckled and sighed, looking down at her hands for a moment. "Yeah, I- I probably need to see a therapist." She looked up at Clay, who made a face at her, causing her to burst into giggles.
"Yeah, no maybe," he spoke as his friend giggled. "Maybe just- just a little bit." Kris nodded, crossing her arms. "So uh, since you've told be about what happened between you and your parents, have you- are you okay with going by they/them pronouns again?"
"Yeah, I'd really prefer that," they replied, nodding. "I'm kind of going to go by that, at least until I become a bit more comfortable with- with using different pronouns again."
"Got it," Clay replied with a smile, watching their friend. He chuckled and ruffled their hair, earning a whine and shove from Kris. "Glad to see you back to normal. Well, somewhat."
They chuckled, sighing. "Yeah, that uh, might take me a while to get back to normal."
"Well," Clay spoke, grabbing Kris's hand and squeezing it, "now you'll have me by your side to support you."
Kris looked up at Clay and they both stared at each other for a moment before flushing red, the two looking away and chuckling with embarrassment. They giggled before walking away, heading back into the living room.
shorter chapter, bc why not lol
honestly, not sure of how i like how this turned out, but whatever lol