Chapter 24: Luis' POV
Luis’s POV
“Give me a minute!” Rolland patted his chest, coughing as he set down his bag of chips.
“Here,” I handed him a bottle of water from the fridge but remained standing in case of any more emergencies.
His eyes were red when he finally calmed down after gulping half the bottle’s content.
“You mean your best friend’s sister framed you because she thought you wanted her but couldn’t handle the rejection? Then your best friend came in, broke off your friendship, and threw you out so late at night? And the only reason you let him beat you was because you couldn’t defend yourself?” He was gesticulating as he recounted the whole story like I’d told him.
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Oh my god, what’s even crazier is that you’d have loved to defend yourself by coming out to him, but you didn’t want it to sound like an excuse because you never found the time to tell him that you gave your virginity to the homophobe you’ve had a crush on for four years.”
“Exactly,” I nodded and proceeded to sit back on the couch when I noticed that he was starting to calm down—only for him to stand on his feet and start pacing.
“Man, that’s a lot.”
“I know, right?” I sighed as I picked up the bag of chips he’d dropped. “Sometimes I really don’t know what to do,” I said, and he turned to me.
“Sometimes?! Look, if I had your type of drama in my life, then I wouldn’t know what to do every time. I’d be a real bad mess,” he said, and I chuckled.
“I guess I should give myself some credit then.”
“Yes, you should—and some hugs too,” he came around and wrapped me in a hug.
The hug was something I was expecting, yet the sudden warmth caught me by surprise, and I froze.
He noticed.
“Oh my god, I didn’t mean that. I can be really touchy when I get carried away,” he said, and I nodded.
“Hmm, so yeah, that’s basically what happened. You can judge me if you want, but please don’t do it to my face. I can’t handle any more criticism,” I said when I noticed the slight awkwardness in the air. But he brushed it off, literally, with his hands waving at the air.
“I can’t bring myself to judge you. I really think you deserve all the hugs and love for what you’re going through—because I can totally relate too.”
“Oh, really?” I sat up upon hearing that.
Because while I didn’t know how to resolve the situation I was in, I knew that finding someone who could not only empathize but relate would be greater than a blessing in disguise.
“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m gay too. And believe me when I say this—I’ve been in a very similar situation in the past. And although it got resolved very easily, the few hours I spent trying to prove my innocence were tormenting,” he said as he relaxed back while I nodded, taking it in.
“I honestly didn’t notice you were gay too,” I started.
“Oh, I totally am. Take a look at my rainbow rugs and mugs,” he sounded so proud as he pointed at everything in sight that had the pride flag on it. “And my type is older men. They just have this irresistible charm to them,” he continued, and I laughed alongside him as he had the look of a fangirl.
“I can relate. ‘Cause I guess I’m drawn to the irresistible charm of this one toxic homophobe that I’ve crushed on for four years,” I said.
“I totally get you,” he chimed in, and like that, we spent the next few hours talking about different things we had in common and bonding over our shared trauma.
The introvert in me just warmed up to him, and despite my exhaustion, I found myself wanting to ask more questions, wanting to say more—until we both eventually fell asleep to the sound of music playing on the TV.
Morning arrived nicely. He offered me breakfast, which I gladly accepted, knowing that I needed all the strength I could get for whatever confrontations I’d be facing that morning.
When he dropped me three houses before my fenced one, he rolled down the window and showed me his thumbs up.
“Good luck, Luis. Remember, the goal to winning any evidence is having the confident look to start with.”
“Thank you.” I waved at him.
“See you. Don’t forget—you can come see me anytime you want to talk about anything. If I’m not at work, I’ll be willing to listen,” he said, and I nodded, looking forward to the next time as he turned around and drove off.
Now, it was time to face my fears.
Or so I thought, until I got home and realized that my dad had gone on a trip earlier than scheduled and that my stepsister had come down with a cold—leaving me to come face-to-face with my stepmom.
She’s always been nice to me, but I couldn’t tell how open-minded she was, which was why the moment we maintained eye contact for a little over five seconds after she’d told me my dad wasn’t home…