Dave

'Lauren?' I called out as I heard footsteps leave her bedroom. A few moments later, the door swung half open and Lauren stood in the doorway, waiting for me to say something.

'Erm. Can you come in a moment? I want to ask you something,' I said quietly, hoping nobody was around.

Lauren stepped in, shut the door carefully behind her and made her way over to where I sat on my bed. She sat herself next to me and crossed her legs so she could turn to face me.

'What's up, bro?' she said.

'Well, I was going to talk to mum and dad. You know … about … me. I was wondering if you'd be there when I did, to back me up, sort of,' I explained.

'Are you sure? I mean of course I'll be there, but are you ready for it?' she asked.

Was I ready for it? How did I know whether or not I was ready for it? Was there a right time to tell your parents? They had to know someday, cause I sure as hell was not marrying some random chick one day to keep up this little disguise.

'I'm sure. I just... I needed support for this. I wanted to know that I'd have someone to go to if it went wrong and now I know I do. I want to get this over with,' I clarified.

'When?'

'Tonight. At dinner. We'll all be there, it's an easy time to work with,' I told her. She nodded in agreement.

'Okay, I'll be there. Don't worry about it Dave. No matter how it goes, you'll have me. And Kurt, of course,' she said, giving me a friendly shove on the shoulder.

'Thanks Lauren. I really appreciate it.'

'No problem. Now continue being my little pain in the ass brother,' she said with a smirk and then left the room, leaving me to think about what the fuck I was going to do tonight.

Dinner came way too fast and I soon realised that I was going to have to do this. I had to do it then and there and get it over with. So I went and took my usual seat next to Lauren and waited. Waited for us all to start dinner, for mum and dad to finish talking, for the conversation to run dry so I had no interruptions.

'You okay, David?' my mum asked, glancing down at my dinner. I then recognised that I hadn't actually eaten anything yet, I'd just been pushing my food around on my plate.

'Yeah,' I muttered, setting down my fork next to my plate and stealing a glance at Lauren to show her it was time. 'I need to tell you something. You and dad.'

Dad automatically sat up. 'Are you getting in trouble at school again, David?' he asked suspiciously.

'No, it's not that. School's fine. It's just... I need to tell you I-I'm...' Crap. I couldn't do this. I looked up at my parents who were waiting for me to continue. I looked at Lauren who gave me a reassuring smile and took one of my trembling hands underneath the table.

Okay I could do this. Just like I did with Kurt. Accept this time, I had Lauren there for me. And Kurt. I could do this.

'I-I'm gay,' I muttered. I watched my mum and dad as their expressions changed. I couldn't tell what either of them were.

'No you're not,' my dad insisted immediately. 'Don't joke about that David, don't lie to us.'

'I-I am. Sorry, I h-had to...' I started but my dad cut me off.

'No! No son of mine is... do not lie to me about this David.' He stood up out of his chair, leaning across the table so that his face was just inches from mine.

'I'm s-sorry, I just needed to tell you. I needed you to kn-know...'

'NO!' my father yelled, slamming his fist on the table and making the cutlery rattle. 'YOU ARE NOT GAY!'

'Paul...' my mum interjected, but he simply shook her off.

'David, I want you to apologise to your mother and I for telling such stupid little lies. DO IT!' he shouted.

'Dad! Stop it! Why can't you just accept that he's not lying?' Lauren exclaimed, tightening her grip on my hand.

'Shut up, Lauren! Don't stick up for him!' my dad said to her. He then turned to me, inching closer and closer until his nose and mine were almost touching.

'Now you can either say it's a lie, a little joke, to scare your mother and I and we can go on and eat dinner and continue as the nice, happy family we are. Or you can continue this stupid story and leave this family, this house. Because I refuse to put up with such profanities in my own house!' he bellowed.

'PAUL! You did not just say that you would make David leave! I don't care what you think of his decisions you should never threaten him like that!' my mother chipped in.

'Stay out of this, Linda! It was not a threat, it was a warning! So, David, what is your decision?'

'I... I... c-can't deny it. I-I'm sorry d-dad, I'm g-gay,' I stammered.

'Get out of my house!' he yelled at me.

'NO! Paul, if that's the way you're going to treat him then you should be the one leaving! How dare you talk to him like that,' my mum shouted.

'LINDA! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT IN MY OWN HOUSE!' he screamed and sent a hand flying back. It made contact with the side of my mum's face and she staggered back off of her chair to the floor.

'Mum!' Lauren and I simultaneously cried and ran to her. Dad came and stood over us as we crouched beside mum, not a hint of guilt or pity lingered in his expression.

'She deserved it. Now you, boy.' He glared at me as he grabbed my collar and pulled me up to a standing position. 'You dare go against your religion, against your parents?'

'It's not my religion, it's yours,' I said firmly. He didn't let go of my collar. His hand held it tightly whilst his other balled into a fist at his side.

'I thought we'd raised you better than this! Now get out of this house, you're a disappointment and a disgrace!'

'Dad... please,' I whimpered. He raised his fist and brought it straight to my face. I was suddenly aware of pain in my nose as well as a small trickle of blood coming from it.

'DAD, GET OFF OF HIM!' Lauren screamed, running up to defend me, but dad pushed her down to the ground.

'Stop sticking up for him Lauren! He deserves it! Defying his religion...'

'Your religion,' I corrected, earning myself another punch, this time blurring my vision. I guessed I was asking for that one.

'PAUL! STOP IT! NOW! YOU WILL NOT TREAT OUR SON THIS WAY! I WANT YOU OUT! NOW!' mum yelled, getting up from the floor and rushing over to dad. He let go of me and pushed me to the ground.

Shit. He looked angry.

'Linda. I will not repeat this. This is MY house and you will do as I say!' he insisted.

'No! This is my house. MY mother gave it to ME and I will not have you speak treat my family like that under this roof! Got it? So leave. Go and pack your stuff and leave! Before I ring the police.'

'Are you kidding me? You're sticking up for him? He's a disgrace to the Karofsky name!'

'NO! You're a disgrace to the Karofsky name. Now get out!' she yelled back.

'You know what. I'm going to. I'm going to leave you here to rot in hell, but trust me, you're going to regret it!'

With that, dad stormed upstairs. I could hear the banging of drawers and doors and finally he came back down with a large brown suitcase in his hand.

'Good luck, Linda. Good luck with your kids!' he yelled and walked out of the door, slamming it behind him.

Well that went well.

Kurt

Dave still hadn't rang. Or texted. He said he was going to come out to his parents tonight and that he'd tell me how it went, but it was 9 o'clock now and I doubted that he'd leave it this late. Then I began to panic. What if something had happened to him? That was the final straw.

I picked my phone up and found his number, not hesitating before calling him. It rang a few times and then a voice said 'Hello?' It wasn't Dave, it was a female voice. Lauren?

'Is that Lauren?' I asked.

'Yeah. Hey Kurt,' she said.

'Erm, so is Dave there?' I muttered.

'He can't talk right now. Sorry, we're at the hospital,' she explained.

The hospital? Why the hell were they at the hospital? And why couldn't he speak to me?

'What's happened? Is Dave okay?' I quickly babbled.

'Yeah, he's fine. Just a broken nose. I'm sure he'll explain everything to you. Sorry he didn't tell you, I had to take his phone off of him because he wasn't listening to me,' she said.

'A broken nose? What? How... w-what happened?'

'Like I said, Dave will tell you. I think it's probably best if he does. Sorry, Kurt, it's kind of hard to explain for me,' she said.

'Thanks Lauren, will he be in school tomorrow?'

'I think he will be, want me to pass a message along?' she replied.

'Tell him I'll meet him at his before school,' I said.

'Okay, I'll tell him. See you, Kurt!' she said and the line went dead.

So things had gone wrong. How had he ended up with a broken nose though? And was it just Lauren there, or were his parents there too?

This was going to keep me up tonight.