A/N: Okay, so I realized that in the previous chapter I forgot to put a note at the top regarding the fact that there is a mention of abuse. Sorry about that. And this chapter has characters who fall into the LGBTQ community.
Also, just to clarify; Lefou is in this chapter, but I am using Lefou as his surname (last name), and I have given him the name of Louis as a first name.

Chapter Four: The Year for Change

Tryouts were on Monday and he was dreading it and he knew that he'd be dreading it all weekend. But he still had Friday to get through before he could put all his energy into worrying through the weekend.
He'd been playing since freshman year, so a spot for him was guarnateed more or less. But lately, over the summer, he'd been thinking about quitting the team and maybe test the waters for something he actually enjoyed doing. Football had never been his thing; the only reason he'd joined was because his brothers had been on the team all throughout their highschool years and his fathers more or less encouraged him to try out.
So he went ahead with it, even though his soul really wasn't in the spirit of playing.

He was glad that last night it had rained for a bit, the coolness of the morning would fade away by lunch, which was a shame, but Gil could use the advantage of the cool morning to his advantage. It made the perfect weather to go for a run. A morning run was really the only time he got any alone time. His parents had a no lock policy, meaning whoever could barge into his room whenever they felt like it. And, annoyingly, his brothers did that way too often, as did his fathers. So, normally, he was the first one up in the morning to get that uniterrupted time to himself.

Most people seemed to listen to music when they went for a run, but Gil found it more relaxing when he was left with his own thoughts. The quiet of the streets and the cool morning light just before the sun peaked over the horizon was so pleasing to all his senses, he didn't want music to take away from that, even though he wasn't one to hate music. But compared to music, the way the air felt in his lungs and his nose when he breathed it in, and the way the cool, morning air nipped at his sweat soaked skin was almost euphoric.

His time alone running allowed him to mull over his thoughts, but lately his thought about quitting football had been dominating over all the other thoughts floating around in his conscious. And even though he had nearly every morning during the summer to run, he couldn't come to a decision; his head wanted one thing, his heart wanted the opposite. Needless to say, it was beginning to frustrate him a lot.

He'd been so consumed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that Louis was up, preparing breakfast, when Gil entered the kitchen through the patio door.
"Good morning," Louis said brightly, his back to Gil as he focused on cooking bacon. Next to him, Louis was the one that was up the earliest among the rest of his family; over the years of being together with Gaston, he'd come to love cooking.
"Morning Louis," Gil replied, still catching his breath. He headed to the bathroom for a quick shower and dressed simply in jeans and a T-shirt. After having a good serving of Louis breakfast, Gil passed over an offer from his brothers and rode his skateboard to school. Knowing them, if he had accepted the ride, he'd be taunted and teased the entire ride there; it wasn't the best way to start the day.

He'd barely met up with Harry at their lockers before he felt himself being dragged back into the student body by Evie's perfectly manicured hands. He allowed her to lead him through the halls towards the library to the place where she liked to have a little private time with him, and Gil couldn't help but feel like an animal caught in a trap; he desperately wanted out.

Gil practically knew that it second bell was about to ring when Evie showed up at his locker in the morning. She'd drag him away from his locker, not caring about whether or not he had his necessary textbooks or if he'd been in the middle of a conversation with Harry or Uma. She'd typically drag him into an alcove near the library and force him into making out.

Gil liked his hair on the longer side, but kept it back into a pony tail most days. Evie pulled the hair tie out, allowing his hair to fall loose to hang just above his shoulders.
"What are you doing," he asked, pushing her back slightly away from him. No one except his family generally saw him with his hair down, so Gil couldn't help but feel a bit exposed as Evie's dark eyes stared at him, drinking him like she was dying of thirst. It was unnerving about they way she looked at him, it seemed a bit too possessive for his liking.

"You know, you'd look really good with short hair," Evie commented softly, her hands threading themselves through his hair. "But then I wouldn't be able to run my hands through this lions mane." She rubbed at his scalp and pulled him in for another kiss. It took him by surprise, not allowing him to take in a breath before he felt her lips on his, gently trying to force his mouth open so her tongue could slide in. It was more than uncomfortable, to say the least.

He pushed her away, against the wall of the alcove they stood in. The possessive look in Evie's eyes drained to be replaced by a look of utter annoyance.
"What is your problem this morning," Evie said, pulling away from him. Gil felt the muscles in his shoulders relax as her touch disappeared from around his head. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"

"No, I just don't think we should be doing this right now," he said hurriedly. He could never recall the feeling of wanting to get to class so badly; he just wanted to escape from Evie. It wasn't that he hated her, but he just didn't share any romantic feelings towards her. And when he thought about it, he couldn't even remember why they had started dating in the first place.
In all honesty, Gil wanted to break up with Evie. He knew that it'd probably break her heart, but it would be setting his caged heart free. Besides, there were many fish in the sea, and Evie was beautiful and smart-she could easily get another guy wrapped around her little finger.

Unfortunately, Monday rolled around extremely fast; that was no surprise there since school had only been back in session for three days before the first weekend. It was also not a surprise that the coach, assistant coach and other teammates from last year were happy to see him back on the field, trying out for junior varsity. He wouldn't have been the first of his family to make senior varsity if he decided to keep going; his brothers had made senior varsity and even happened to earn scholarships and were now attending the community college for carpentry and welding.

The tryouts started right after school and went straight until five o'clock. The sun was just beginning to reach the lower half of the sky and the field had cleared pretty quickly, everyone eager to get home and rest. Gil had volunteered to help put supplies away and he was just on his way to the locker room when he saw someone coming bounding down from the bleachers. From afar, it was hard to see in the fading of the sun, but just by the way the person carried themselves, he could tell it was Harry.

"Why are you here, Harry? I thought you hated sports."
"Aye, I do hate sports, but I came to support you." He slung an arm over Gil's shoulder as they headed towards the locker room. "Whatever it was you were doing on the field looked mighty good."
"Thanks," Gil laughed. "

The locker room was just being vacated by the stragglers who'd had showed up for try outs. They gave a quick hello/goodbye to Gil before he and Harry slipped in through the doors. Gil headed straight for the lockers; he'd shower when he got home.

"You're not going to take a shower?"
Gil turned the corner to head towards his locker, Harry trailing behind.
"What, you want to see me naked, Harry?" Gil chuckled. Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Are you offering? I wouldn't say no." A wicked smiled appeared upon his friend's face. "So you think you'll make the team?"
"Probably, but I don't really even want to be on the team this year."

"You don't want to play on the team?" Harry asked. He sounded surprised, which didn't surprise Gil because he hadn't shared his thoughts of quitting the team with anyone. He didn't want to have multiple opinions floating around in his head since it would just confuse how he actually felt about the situation at hand. "Than why the bloody hell were you trying out?"
"Because it's what they expect." Gil sighed. He pulled off his jersey and shoulder pads, placing them roughly on the bench. He turned around, searching his locker for her deodorant.

"Well, give em a show then and do the unexpected." Harry said estatically, slapping him on the ass. Gil turned around and glared at his friend, who just gave him a cheeky smiled in return.
"You think so?"
"Yer not a puppet, Gil," Harry said, his voice sincere. "Don't let others make decisions for you."

Dinner was agonizingly slow. Gil wasn't even hungry, but he knew that if he didn't eat anything or left the table too early, Louis would have questions. And if there was anything worse than his father being mad, it was having his dad's partner, Louis ask questions and then having Gaston pressue him when he tried to dodge the questions the first time.

When he was younger, Gil hadn't really questioned why he had two fathers They had told him his mother had died not long after he was born, Louis had stuck around to help out and they had come to love one another as more than just friends, so it made sense to him; Louis filled the hole that his mother had left behind. Throughout his short sixteen years of life, there were people that did make fun of both him and his fathers, but Gil knew that Gaston would beat whoever if they so much as looked at him or his partner in the wrong way. Perhaps that was why he tried to avoid making his birth father mad whenever possible; he'd seen Gaston angry before and it was not a pretty sight; at the time, Gil had been ten and he had wanted to run and hide.

He was wondering how much trouble he'd be in if he just up and left and refused to talk the rest of the night. He knew that his parents weren't very fond of the "typical teen" attitude and he'd be more than likely to get a slap upside the head for such behavior. But he really didn't feel like talking, he just wanted to retire to his room for the night and sleep.

"Earth to Gil." The voice of his father, followed by an elbow from one of his brothers brought Gil back to the present.

"What?"
"Tryouts were today, right? How'd they go?" his father asked, glancing briefly up from his meal. Gil stifled a sigh; what could he possibly say without revealing the fact that he planned on quitting if he made the team.
"Fine."

"I'm sure you'll make the team. Maybe you'll even get offered a scholarship this year," his father said.
"You'd be able to make plans for college," Louis said, sounding excited. He was always excited when it came to his and his brothers' schooling; Gil assumed that it was because Louis hadn't gone to college because of an ailing mother and father.

"Shouldn't there be a limit on how many scholarships can go to kids in the same family?" He mentally slapped himself at the slip of his tongue, wishing he could shove the words back into his mouth.
"Do you not want to go to college," Louis asked. "I'm sure there are other options if-"
"No, it's not that," Gil replied, although that was probably partial reason. He'd know since elementary that he wasn't the smartest, and it didn't really bother him. But if was to get a scholarship, he wanted it to be for something other than football; it wasn't his dream. "I'm thinking that if I want to get a scholarship, I want to get it for something other than sports."

"You do know that's a pretty slim chance," Junior laughed, while his twin nodded along in agreement.
"More like no chance. You're kind of a moron. You know that right, Gil?" Bronze asked. Gil pursed his lips to keep in the insults he wanted to hurl back. His brothers were constantly trying to get under his skin because they knew that he was sensitive to criticism. Depsite what others might think about him, about being the golden boy with a high sense of self worth, Gil felt super self-concious most of the time. The only time that feeling disappeared was when he was with Harry and Uma; he knew that they accepted him as he was. They didn't try to change him, like Evie and they didn't belittle him, like his brothers.

"Boys, that's horrible to say to your brother," Louis said.
"But it's true," the twins replied in unison. Gaston glared at his twins, silencing them saying anything more with a firm shake of his head. He turned his attention back to Gil. His father's eyes were laced with pity, which bothered Gil, because even though everyone, including Gil himself knew that he didn't excel when it came to academics, he didn't want anyone's pity, especially not his father's. It seemed that everyone thought that he wasn't capable of being anything more than a jock. He was wondering if it was possible to change yourself when everyone had already slapped a label onto your face.

Gil had been just about ready to retire for the night when his father came into the room. Well, more like lingered in the doorway.
"Do you mind if I come in," Gaston asked. Internally, Gil sighed, wishing he could blatantly say no, but he knew how well that would go over.
"I guess so," he replied stoically. There was an awkward moment of silent as Gaston made himself comfortable on Gil's bed and Gil spun around to face him on his computer chair. After what seemed like half an hour, which in reality was probably only about two minutes, his father finally spoke.

"You remind so much of your mother," he said, his eyes staring off into a far away place. Gil knew that his birth father wasn't much for talking, especially talks that involved having to be reassuring or calming, but Gil knew that his father meant well. He was trying, although it made Gil want to cringe and ask his dad to stop talking right now. Instead, he allowed the silence between him and his father to grow, secretly hoping that Gaston would grow uncomfortable and decide to shut down the entire conversation.

"She wanted to follow her dreams, and she didn't care what anyone else said." He smiled sadly, as though his mind was caught in a memory. "It's a shame she didn't get to follow them." He turned his attention back to Gil, the far away look in his eyes disappearing as he came back to the present. "You do what you think is best for you." His words said one thing, but the look in his eyes told Gil something else. They were laced with pity again, or maybe it was sympathy, the two always looked similar to Gil.

"Thanks, dad." He wasn't sure of what else to say. He waited until his father had left and closed the door before Gil released a heavy sigh. That talk hadn't really helped at all; talking about his deceased mother did him no good, it just made him feel sad at the fact that he hadn't known his mother. Some of the stories he heard from both Gaston and Louis made his mother seem like a really great person.

That night, Gil went to bed with a thousand thoughts jumping through his head like fleas on a dog.
He had a girlfriend he didn't love. He was playing a sport he didn't like. Everyone thought he was stupid but self-confident. Gil wanted to change all of those statements. It was the start of a new school year, and this year could be a year for changes. He would tell Evie how he actually felt and find someone he actually loved. He would quit the team, when he found out he made it, and find something else that he enjoyed, maybe join the track team.

He wanted to stop hating who he was, thinking that by doing what was expected of him he'd be happy. Harry had been right when he said that Gil wasn't a puppet and that others shouldn't make his own decisions. He wanted to become his own person.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment and leave constructive criticism; it's much appreciated to know what you all think about this story. And thank you to those that have left feedback. Also , sorry if this chapter is super long, I wasn't sure where to cut if off. And I hope that the editing is okay, there was a lot to go through. I know it probably doesn't matter, but I'd like to hear what POVs you are most excited about reading.