“I mean, I don’t really know you, but you seem cool,” Phillip explained. He got a little closer to Noah.
Although he wasn’t really sure where he stood with Timothy at the moment, he was still with him as far as he knew, “I have a boyfriend…” Noah blurted out.
Phillip looked up, “Oh. That’s cool. I’m sure he is a lucky guy.”
“Oh, he has no idea just how lucky he is,” Noah said, frustrated. Noah needed a minute alone with Timothy to sort this out.
As they continued to walk down the hall awkwardly, they finally spotted Timothy, who was now only with Collin. Tara was nowhere around. Good. Noah walked right over to Timothy without a smile on his face, “Can we chat for a minute?”
“I’ll be back in a sec!” Timothy said to his two best friends.
The two boys walked around the corner, where no one seemed to be around. “What on earth is going on around here?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Timothy asked, confused.
“Uh… your ex-girlfriend who is clearly still in love with you,” Noah said as he crossed his arms.
Timothy turned pale white. Which was unflattering considering he already was rather white, “So, Phillip told you?”
“Among other things…” Which wasn’t his place to say anything. Though he hoped for Phillip’s sake that he tells Timothy before he leaves because it was clearly something the two boys needed to hash out. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
Timothy sighed, “I don’t know…”
“Are you gay?” Noah asked.
Timothy turned around for a second, “I mean… I like you a lot. I want you in ways that I’ve never wanted someone else, including Tara.”
Noah’s stomach sank. That was all he needed to hear. “Ok… I’m glad to hear.” He didn’t care if Timothy was gay or bi or whatever. So, long as he liked and potentially loved him, that was all he cared about.
“Just because we are here doesn’t mean that I’m automatically in love with Tara. Are there still feelings? Yes, but it never felt like it feels with you.” Timothy sunk to the floor, sliding against lockers. Noah joined him.
This week was just going to be full of surprises. Noah supposed it was better that they had this conversation now and not later, though. He had to admit that actually speaking with him made him a little less pissed off. Just a little bit, though, but it was hard to stay mad at Timothy. He had only just started exploring his sexuality, which wasn’t something that he had thought much of.
Noah got into his head, which was never a good thing. He had to wonder if he was just a stop on the way to Timothy exploring his sexuality. The blond boy turned to his boyfriend, “I’m in this for the long run. Can you promise me that you have that mindset as well?”
Timothy looked at him for a minute with a frown and then smiled, “Noah, I don’t want anyone else but you. I have no idea where next fall will take us, but I know that this fall was one of the best times of my life ever.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TIMOTHY
Everything he just said was true. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel old feelings burst all over the place as he thought about Tara. It was so easy to fall back into old ways with that girl. It was easy to go back to the old ways, just being around his old friends and old surroundings. Timothy missed this place. The real question was, did he miss this place more than he liked Noah?
At the end of the day, Noah was a great guy. Probably one of the best people he had ever met. Yet, Noah wanted to live on the West Coast. He’d rather stay in Connecticut. There was definitely an argument for New York but Long Island, not Manhattan or Brooklyn. He just wasn’t into the concept of some loud and excessive world, which Noah seemed to thrive on, whereas Timothy liked quiet, but not Kansas quiet.
“So, what are we doing with your friends tonight?” Noah asked.
“Just hanging out. I want them to be your friends too,” Timothy explained. He really did. If this was going to work out, then they all had to like one another. He also had no choice, “I’m going to have to come out to them.”
Noah looked at him and smiled, “I will be there for you as much or as little as you want me to be there when you do.”
* * *
Timothy knew that he needed to do this alone but also tell Collin and Phillip before Tara. Noah went to do some writing in the library but said he was a text away, and he would run as fast as he could.
The curly-haired boy looked at his two best friends, “I have something I need to tell you both.”
“You’re moving back?” Collin asked with a smile.
“Well, now whatever he was going to say is just not going to be as big,” Phillip said, bopping Collin on the forehead.
Timothy loved these guys, “I’m just going to come out and say it… I’m into guys.” That was the most honest he could be. “I don’t know if I’m gay, but I definitely am not straight.”
It took a moment of silence, but Phillip hugged him. Collin followed. “I don’t care if you are into trees,” Collin said.
“Well, unfortunately for you, I’m not,” Timothy said, giving him a weird look.
“Well, damn because I am!” Collin joked.
Phillip looked at him for a second, “You’re dating Noah, aren’t you?”
This comment threw Timothy for a loop, but he smiled, “Yeah, I am.”
“He seems like a good guy. If he ever hurts you though, he will have me on his case,” Phillip said, crossing his arms.
There was something about how Phillip was taking this that felt weird, but Timothy just shrugged it off. “He’s a great guy. He’s the reason that I’ve been able to accept myself,” Timothy said.
“You could have told us,” Collin said. There was this hurt sound in his voice.
Timothy had known these guys since elementary school. Part of him knew he always could, but a small part of him feared what would happen if they didn’t accept him. “You two are like brothers to me. It’s just hard to tell people a flaw about yourself,” Timothy said.
“A flaw? That’s not a flaw! A flaw is how weak you are on the court!” Phillip joked.
The tall one rolled his eyes. “Oh, because you are so good at the game.” This was all great. He was happy that his friends were ok with this. He just wished that he had told them a lot sooner. Timothy had to wonder if things would be different if he had told them a year or so ago. Only because one; they were younger, and two; it wasn’t as if he was going back to be leaving them at that point. They would have had to live with the revelation on a daily basis.