"I was thinking…," Alex begins, when he looks up from the video game he and Zach have been playing ever since they had gotten home from school. "Why don't you stay here tonight? We can watch a movie, maybe…"

"I'm not ready to… you know…," Zach quickly says, but when he sees Alex trying hard not to laugh, he can feel the blush creeping up on him. "But you were not talking about sex."

"I wasn't," Alex laughs. "I just thought it'd be nice to spend more time together."

"Yeah, okay. But no…"

"Relax, I'm pretty sure I can manage to keep my hands to myself." Alex rolls his eyes. "You're not that irresistible."

"Thanks!" Zach chuckles, but when a grin forms on Alex's face, he can feel the blush creeping up on him.

Alex leans in, and he begins to kiss Zach, their kisses now feeling so natural, that it's almost like they have been doing this for years. And when Zach places his hand onto Alex's lower back, Alex almost tells him how much he loves this. But when they hear footsteps coming up the stairs, they quickly break away from each other.

"Oh, hello Zach, I didn't realize you were here," Bill says, when he peaks into Alex's room after getting home from work. He flashes a smile, and although Zach returns it, there is something uncomfortable about the look on Alex's father's face, and it makes him take his hand off Alex's back.

"Can Zach stay here tonight?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea. You can stay for dinner though, but…"

"That's okay, Mr. Standall. I should go home anyway," Zach quickly says, and he gets up, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"No, you don't have to go," Alex says, and he gets up too, and grabs Zach's hand. "Why can't he stay, dad?" he asks, but they all know the reason, so the atmosphere grows even more uncomfortable. "You didn't mind Jess spending the night here."

"That was different, and you know it."

"How? You know Zach and I are dating, right?" Alex asks, still gripping tightly onto his boyfriend's hand. "So why can't he stay? Is it because he's a guy?"

"I am not going to argue with you about this, Alex. I think it's best if Zach goes home now, and we will talk about this later."

"But…"

"It's fine," Zach quickly says, and he squeezes into Alex's hand to stop him from trying to argue with his father. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow, okay?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Zach reassures him, as he picks up his things. "Have a nice evening, Mr. Standall," he says, as he walks past him, really hoping this won't cause a fight between Alex and his father later on.

"This is ridiculous," Alex begins, ready to pick up where they had left off, but his father just holds up his hand to warn him.

"I will not have it, Alex," he says, and without saying another word, he turns and leaves to go downstairs.

Alex tries his best to keep calm, but he can feel the anger inside of him building up, already feeling like he can't be himself at school without being called names, and now he can't even be himself at home? So he follows his father downstairs, into the kitchen where his mother is preparing dinner.

"What is going on?" she asks when she sees his face.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask dad?"

"I…"

"Dad doesn't like that his son is a fucking faggot," Alex spits out, and as soon as the words have left his mouth, he wishes he could take them back, but they are out now, and as much as he wishes he would have put it differently, he knows that it's the reason why his father won't let Zach stay over.

"I don't care that you and Zach are dating, Alex. I think Zach is a nice boy, and I am happy for you, but…"

"Then why did you just send him home, huh?" Alex asks. "You never had a problem with Jess being here."

"I am not doing this. Zach is not spending the night, and that is that," Bill spits out, not willing to take any more of his son's accusations, before storming off.

"Your father has no issue with you liking boys, Alex," his mother sighs, as she steps up to him, a tired and worried look on her face. "He loves you, and he is so proud of you… but he knows that those boys at school are giving you trouble. We see the bruises," she explains, "and he is worried that if they find out about you and Zach that they will only give you more trouble."

"But what does Zach staying over has to do with people at school finding out?"

"He is just trying to look out for you. He is worried."

"Worried about what?"

"Just give him time, okay? He is trying his best," Carolyn says, before flashing a reassuring smile. "Your father loves you, Alex. Saying he thinks you're a… I'm not even going to say it. But that's not fair. You know he would never think such a thing."

"I know," Alex sighs, an embarrassed look on his face.

"Is that what they call you at school?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me. If you want me to go talk to someone about it…"

"Don't. It's fine."

"It's not. Bullying someone for being gay…," Carolyn sighs, but when she sees the look on her son's face, she laughs. "What? Have I said the wrong thing?"

"I'm not gay, mom. They say it to everyone."

"Oh… yes, of course. Sorry," she says, before letting out a nervous chuckle. "I'm still learning too."

"It's not rocket science." Alex rolls his eyes. "I dated Jess, now I'm dating Zach."

Alex realizes just how snappy it had come out, and when he looks up at his mother, they both laugh.

"Sorry…"

"Don't worry," Carolyn laughs. "I get it. But ehm… and I really don't want to ask, but I have to."

"Ask what?" Alex asks, immediately growing more uncomfortable again.

"Are you and Zach safe?"

"Safe?" Alex asks, not sure what his mother is talking about. But then it hits him, and he can feel himself beginning to blush. "Jesus, mom!"

"Trust me, I don't want to talk about this either."

"We're not having sex, okay?" Alex grumbles. "Happy now?"

"I don't care if you are or not. I just want you to be safe."

"If it happens, we'll use protection," Alex quickly says, wanting to get away from this conversation as soon as possible.
"Do you need me to buy you some, or…?"

"Mom!"

"I love you?"

"For fuck's sake." Alex rolls his eyes, but when his mother wraps her arms around him, he hugs her back, more than grateful for her love and acceptance. "I love you, too."

"And your dad loves you too. Just give him some time, okay?"

Alex is just packing his bag for school the next morning, when his father comes into his room, an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." Alex shrugs, still embarrassed at the things he had said to him last night, but he is also still angry that Zach couldn't stay over. He sits down on his bed though, willing to hear his father out.

"I don't care that you have a boyfriend, Alex," Bill sighs, as he sits down on Alex's desk chair. "That is not why I didn't want Zach to spend the night here."

"Then why? When I was with Jess…"

"I was trying to protect you."

"From what? From Zach?"

"From getting hurt. Knowing that kids at school are hurting you… I just don't want them to have another reason to hurt you, okay?"

"So what? I'm supposed to pretend to be straight, just to avoid getting my head kicked in? Jesus, thanks, dad." Alex rolls his eyes. "You know they beat the shit out of me when I was with Jess too, right?"

"I'm sorry. For getting it wrong. But believe me when I say that I was trying to look out for you, I was not…"

"Being a homophobic asshole?" Alex suggests, but when he sees the disappointed look on his father's face, he quickly mumbles, "Sorry."

"I love you, okay? And next time Zach is here…"

"You won't kick him out?"

"I won't. Just don't rush into things."

"I am not having this conversation with you," Alex quickly says, fully aware of where this is going. "I already had it with mom last night, so…"

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"Yeah, you were," Alex chuckles uncomfortably. "But don't, please."

"I won't," Bill laughs, as he gets up. "I love you, okay?"

"So what is going on with you two?" Hannah asks, when Alex and Zach join the others at their table for lunch. "Are you guys dating, or…?"

"Just friends." Alex shrugs, trying to keep a straight face. "Not even that, really."

"You two are so hooking up, aren't you?" Justin laughs. "Look at 'em!"

"We are not… hooking up," Zach quickly says. "We're hanging out."

"Yeah… is that what you call it?" Justin laughs, the grin on his face only growing bigger.

"Just because you two basically live together already, and get to share a bed every night…," Alex begins, before looking down at his food, not feeling too comfortable talking about this in front of Jessica, even though they are still friends.

"The bed…," Justin grins. "The couch… the shower…"

"Seriously?" Clay asks. "They don't have to know that."

"What? That was fun!"

"Yeah, until my mom almost walked in."

"Wow," Hannah laughs. "Yeah, I still don't know how you went from 'I am too scared to go talk to him' to 'we are fucking in every room of the house'."

"I wasn't too scared to talk to him!"

"Yeah, you were," Justin laughs. "That's why you were always trying to check me out when you thought I wasn't looking."

"I wasn't… wait, you knew about that?"

"I knew." Justin grins, the blush on Clay's face growing darker. "It was cute."

"God, I hate you two," Jessica blurts out, and they all look at her. "It's like… you couldn't be more different, and this thing you have going on, it definitely shouldn't be working, right? And yet, it's like you are just meant to be together or something."

"I know." Hannah rolls her eyes, a big smile on her face. "It's not fair, right? And then you have these two…," she says, looking at Alex and Zach, who couldn't be more different from Clay and Justin, so they are half-expecting some comment mocking them. "Just look at them! Thinking we don't know that they have been dating for weeks."

"We haven't…"

"Been trying to hide it from us?" Jessica laughs, a knowing smile on her face. "You know it's why we dumped you guys, right? We knew."

"Yeah, okay." Alex shrugs. "But we are definitely not like those two." He rolls his eyes, as Justin pulls Clay in for yet another kiss. "At all."

"Shame." Hannah shrugs. "We could do with more people like them. Who don't hide behind…"

"Jesus, Hannah," Jessica laughs. "It's not like they have to make out in the cafeteria, is it?"

"Sorry. I'm just pissed off at people like Monty. You heard what happened this morning, right?"

"What did he do this time?"

"He beat up Tyler Down," Hannah explains. "Apparently he was in the bathroom, and Tyler asked him if he was okay, because of what's going on with Bryce, and Monty just lost it."

"Oh, shit," Clay says, looking around him to see if he can spot Tyler anywhere. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know." Hannah shrugs. "I only heard about it because some guys saw Monty do it."

"That guy is so fucked up. He needs serious help."

"Yeah… I can't say this is all his fault though," Justin sighs. "We all know whose fault this is, right? If Bryce hadn't…"

"Bryce didn't tell him to do this."

"No, but Bryce made him like this. He found someone who is weak, and instead of helping him, he only made him worse. The kid is seriously fucked in the head, but…"

"No but," Jessica says. "Bryce did the same to you, and you didn't beat the shit out of Tyler. Monty is an asshole, and I think it's time we stop defending him."

"And what if we can help him?" Alex asks, but his ex-girlfriend just shrugs. "He deserves a second chance, right?"

"He doesn't. He can go fuck himself."