Chapter 4

Note: The Author recommends listening to a recording of Jan Garbarek's "Parce Mihi Domine" while reading the second half of this chapter. Good "mood music".

Sam sat in his English class, gazing at the clock. He couldn't wait to see Glen again! Finally, the bell rang, and he got up and went out into the hall. He stopped by his locker to get his books, and turned around to see Lance and Pietro staring down at him. "Well, look who we've got here!" grinned Lance wickedly. "Couldn't help noticing you and the fag together at lunch today." "You made a bee-ute-iful couple!" Pietro chimed in. "What do you want?" Sam asked, trembling. "Oh, nothing," Lance said. "Just wanted to see how Bayville's newest couple was getting along. So which one's the girl, him or you?" He and Pietro both burst out laughing. Sam blushed, but then remembered what Glen had said to him a little while ago. "Don't let them make you feel ashamed." Sam screwed up his courage and looked Lance straight in the eye. "So am I supposed to feel ashamed or something, Alvers?" The ploy worked. Lance and Pietro stopped laughing, caught totally off guard. Before Lance could reply, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder roughly. "What are you doing, Lance?" It was Glen. "Just helping the new guy remember where his room is," Lance said, still a bit shaken. "Well, since I actually GO here on a full time basis, why don't you let ME play tour guide?" Glen said. "C'mon," he said, nudging Lance aside so Sam could get through. "Thanks," said Sam. "He is SUCH a jerk," "Yeah," replied Glen. "But he's pretty harmless really. People like Lance Alvers are really pretty powerless to hurt other people, so they try and intimidate them and make them think that they can hurt them," "Why do that at all?" asked Sam. "Because they're afraid. Afraid that someday somebody will call their bluff and stand up to them, like you did, and realize just how puny they really are. Good job," said Glen, putting an arm around Sam's shoulder and giving him a playful squeeze. "Now let's get going, we don't want to be late,"



All through class, Glen and Sam kept playing eyeball tag, like they had done in the gym. Sam found himself growing more and more infatuated with Glen as the class went on. Glen found himself starting to feel the same way, still admirous of how Sam had stood up to Lance like that. He caught Sam's eyes again, then grinned and nodded his head to the front of the room. Sam looked back, puzzled. "Mr. Smith, can you answer this?" Sam about jumped out of his seat, his heart pounding, as the teacher called on him. "Oh, um, yeah. 1812, that was when Napoleon tried to conquer Russia." "Very good," said the teacher, and went back to his lesson. Sam breathed deeply, trying to slow his heart down. Glen just looked over and winked at him. Sam grinned back fondly.



Sam followed Glen back to his locker after class let out. "That was a nasty trick you pulled," he grinned. "Yeah, but it got your attention, didn't it? I thought you were gonna jump through the ceiling when the teacher called on you!" "Yeah, yeah,", Sam said, playfully punching Glen in the elbow. "Ouch, my arm! Now how will I make the gym team?" Glen said, laughing. Sam joined in the laughter with him. "Hey, do you wanna come to my house and study for a bit?" Glen asked Sam. The teacher was giving them a test tomorrow. "Sure!" said Sam. They went out to the student lot, got in Glen's car and drove off.



"Will your parents be home?" Sam asked. "Probably not," Glen said. "My mom works pretty late, and I have no idea where my step-dad will be." "Your parents are divorced?" "No, my dad died and this guy kinda moved in," Glen said. "I'm sorry," Sam said. "Thanks," said Glen. "I still miss him a bit, even more when I think about Seth. That's my step-dad. Mom liked him a lot when she first met him but now she knows him better," "Why doesn't she just leave him?" Sam asked as they pulled up to a stoplight. "She really can't afford to. We're dependant on him to pay the bills, which he does, most of the time." Sam grabbed Glen's arm in a quasi-hug. "My family's kinda the same way. My parents are still married, but they don't really speak to each other. My mom's nice but my dad mostly just ignores me." "I know what you mean. Mom's nice when she's home, which isn't too often. Seth's gotten a little violent lately, which is another reason she's working, just to get away from him," "Does he ever hit you?" Sam asked. "No," Glen said. "He usually just takes out whatever's bugging him on my mom, or he'll smash something," Sam gave his arm another hug. Glen reached over and hugged Sam back, ruffling his hair a bit, and then drove on.



Soon they got to the house and went inside. As usual, it was empty. They went into Glen's room and started studying. After a little while, they took a break and Glen put some music on. A saxophone started playing, accompanied by chanting voices. "It's beautiful!" said Sam. "Where's it from?" "It's from Queer as Folk," Glen replied. "The last episode of the first season, where Justin gets bashed," "Oh yeah," Sam said, remembering how he had stayed up late to watch that show after his parents had gone to bed and had cried for hours after the show was over. He felt a tear start to run down his cheek. "It's so sad," he said, his voice starting to shake a bit. "I know," said Glen. "Sometimes it really gets to me, haunts me," he said, looking into Sam's eyes. "But I try to think of it as a happy song," "That whole 'refusal to do what others are demanding if you don't think it's right' thing again?" asked Sam, another tear forming in his eye. "Exactly," said Glen. "The song demands sadness because of the scenes that it was being played to, but when I hear it now, I don't feel sad," He leaned forward and brushed the tear out of Sam's eye.

Sam was beside himself at this point, the music and the way Glen was looking at him stirring his soul. He gazed into Glen's eyes, and could feel the moment they had shared at lunch returning. He heard Glen say, "I don't feel sad," felt Glen's fingers brush against his face. "How do you feel?" Sam asked, Glen's face now only inches from his.

"Joyous," Glen answered, staring deeply, intently into Sam's eyes. Their minds met for a moment, and exchanged a single word, YES! And then Glen leaned forward and kissed Sam, deeply and passionately. Sam returned the kiss and let himself be overwhelmed by the sheer joy he was feeling. They held each other and held the kiss for a long time. To Glen, it seemed just like it did when he was jumping, right at the point where time seemed to stand still. He didn't notice when the door to his room opened and Seth walked in.



"What the hell are you doing?" Seth shouted. Glen and Sam both looked up, terrified. Seth glared down at them, and then looked at Sam. "Boy, you have 10 seconds to get the hell out of my house!" Glen had never seen anybody move as fast as Sam did then. Sam jumped up, grabbed his backpack and ran like he had never run before in life. He tore downstairs in a panic and ran out the door, and didn't stop running for 3 whole blocks. Finally, he collapsed on the sidewalk, crying.



Seth looked down at Glen. "Well, do I even need to ask? You're one of THEM, aren't you? You're a goddamn fairy, aren't you?" "Yes, I am," Glen said, scared but determined. "I should have figured. I had a suspicion from the first day I saw you," Seth roared. "Well, I'll be damned if I'm going to have some damn faggot living in my house!" "This isn't your house, and you're not my father!" Glen shouted back. The next thing he knew, he was flying backwards off the bed as Seth struck him in the face. "Get up! Get up so I can beat you properly!" Seth shouted and moved across to where Glen had fallen. Glen rose to his feet but Seth struck him again, knocking him down to his knees. Glen suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline in him and lunged forward, tackling Seth and driving him to the floor. Seth grunted, but recovered and rolled Glen underneath him and started to rain blows down on him. "I try to do your mother a favor by moving in here, and this is how you repay me, you little faggot?" Glen's face was bruised by this time, and blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth and a cut above his eye. Seth got up and started to tear apart the room, lost in his rage. Glen staggered to his feet again but Seth shoved him back into a bookshelf. Glen hit it hard and collapsed, a shower of books falling from the shelves. Seth picked up a large dictionary and held it over his head, a countenance of bestial fury on his face. Glen looked up wearily and raised his arm to try to ward off the blow. As he did, he saw the hairs on his arm stand up and felt a strange surge of power flowing through his arm. Seth drove the book down. Glen screamed and suddenly a bolt of whitish-purple energy shot from his arm and snaked around Seth. Seth was completely frozen in place, unable to move. A shell surrounded him, the same color as the energy bolt that had just come from Glen's arm. Glen looked at his hand in utter disbelief, his fingers glowing with the dissipating energy. Behind him, a glass figurine that had been on the top of the bookshelf rolled from its perch and fell, shattering on the floor behind him. Glen's sanity made the exact same sound as it tore itself to pieces. He ran from room and out of the house in shock in terror. A few moments later, the energy shell around Seth vanished, and he brought the book down, only there was nothing to strike, and he fell to the floor.