Warning: the beginning of this chapter might make some readers uncomfortable due to violence and insults.
Gill
Flashback
I knew I should have been paying attention to the teacher who was giving a lecture, but how could I have concentrated on anything, when HE was sitting right in front of me. It was impossible! His bright blond hair was styled to perfection, his bangs gelled up in a nice quiff. The olive colored t-shirt he was wearing was snug against his muscles.
"You know if you're gonna stare at me all period, I can send you a selfie or something," Travis chuckled, turning in his chair to face me. My eyes widened and I instantly covered my face with my hands. I heard his deep chuckle again and I peaked through the gaps in my fingers to see his bright smile stretch across his face. I slowly removed my hands from my beating red face and looked down at my desk before mumbling a soft 'sorry'.
"No need to apologize, it's quite flattering actually. I didn't know you were gay though," my head jerked up as I gawked at his statement.
"I-I'm not g-gay," I stammered, my cheeks getting warmer by the second. He raised a brow.
"It's okay, you know. I don't mind. I've actually been wanting to ask you something for a while, but never really had the guts to do it," he ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.
"W-what is it?" I cringed at my still stuttering voice. He leaned in a little closer, and began to whisper.
"Go on a date with me?" I swear I nearly fell out of my chair. A few of my classmates looked over at me curiously before turning their attention back to the lesson.
"Well?" Travis asked again. I couldn't find the words to speak, so I nodded. His grin got even brighter, if that were even possible. He turned back to his desk and ripped a corner off a page in his notebook before jotting something down with his pencil.
"Here, text me when you can so I have your number and we can set something up." I smiled and nodded, taking the small piece of paper from him and stuffing it in the pocket of my sweater. I had a date...with Travis Montgomery...
***
Two months later:
I snuggled closer to my boyfriend's chest as we lied in his bed, the television playing one of the Harry Potter films. I looked up at him and blushed when I saw he was already looking at me.
"Two months in and I'm still making you blush," he chuckled, poking my pink cheek.
"Shut up, Travis," I grumbled, hiding my face in his neck.
"Nah, what's the fun in that?" He ran his fingers through my thick curls before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I smiled and kissed his jaw in return.
I was so happy with him, it was almost surreal. I had went from being a shy little ginger kid pining after him like a ridiculous fangirl, to snuggling in his arms and giving him soft kisses in the matter of two months.
"Hey, babe?"
"Hmm?" I hummed in response, letting my eyes flutter shut.
"I love you." My eyes flew open again and I lifted my head to look at him. He just smiled and lifted his hand, brushing his thumb across my cheek, wiping tears I didn't even know we're falling.
"I love you too, Travis," I whispered happily. He pulled my face closer to his as I lost myself in one of his breathtaking kisses.
***
Three days later:
I walked into the school with a bright smile on my face. It had been three days since Travis had told me he loved me, and the blissful high I had felt still hadn't worn off. I reached my locker quickly. A small piece of paper fluttered down to rest by my foot. I blushed, instantly knowing who it was from. He always left me cute little notes for me to see in the morning.
'Meet me in the supply closet by the art room after first period. -T'
My blush grew even brighter as I began imagining why he'd want to meet in a closet. I giggled and stuffed the note in my backpack before eagerly making my way to my first class.
The lesson seemed longer than usual, probably because I was staring at the clock the entire time, anxiously waiting for the period to end. Finally, it did and I bolted from my desk. I waited for the hall to be clear before shuffling toward the closet at the end. I debated on knocking, but decided against it and simply turned the doorknob. The small room was dark, and filled with dust, making me sneeze instantly.
"Bless you," I jumped at the voice. A tall figure, I had recognized as Travis, approached me from the shadows.
"Why'd you want to meet here?" I giggled, throwing myself into his open arms. They wrapped around me tightly, filling me with a warm feeling.
"I just needed to see you," he kissed my head before pulling back to press his lips against mine. His kiss was demanding and harsh, unlike his usual soft loving ones. His arms tightened around me, digging into my ribs. I winced and pulled away slightly.
"Babe, loosen your grip, you're hurting me." Except he didn't listen. His grip grew tighter, as his kisses became sharper, biting the skin of my neck with his teeth. I tried pushing him away, but he simply grabbed my arms and pushed them to my side before resuming his vice-like grip, surely leaving bruises.
"T-travis, please s-stop," I vaguely heard a laugh come from his throat, except it wasn't his normal soft chuckle. It was darker, and it made my skin crawl. He pulled his head away from my now swollen neck, but kept his arms tight around me. He lifted me in the air briefly before I felt another pair of hands pulling something over my legs. The door behind me suddenly opened, and Travis shoved me out of his arms, making me stumble into a small crowd of people, a few holding up their phones, capturing everything on video.
"T-travis, what's going on?" I turned to face my boyfriend, only to see him cackling with one of his friends, pointing at me.
"Oh God, I can't believe you actually fell for all that! And for so long too, oh my God," he resumed laughing, and the friend at his side pulled a megaphone from behind his back, handing it to my boyfriend.
"Attention students, and faculty. I regret to inform you that there is trash among you. He's been hiding in plain sight this whole time, learning next to you, watching youstrip in the locker room, daydreaming about you," my eyes filled with tears when I realized what he was doing. "Now, it took a while to make this the perfect time to expose him, and I will admit, it was very difficult. I had to do vile things, that I'm certainly not proud of. But, with the help of Doug here," he clapped his friend's shoulder before continuing, "I can now tell you who Gilberto Mendoza really is. A disgusting little fairy." I looked down and saw that there was a frilly rainbow tutu around my hips. He finished his speech and handed the megaphone to Doug before approaching my shaking figure.
"T-travis... I thought you l-loved me?" I managed to choke out between sobs. He just laughed and shook his head.
"Oh, Gilly. That's just wrong. I'm not the faggot here, you are. I never loved you, and neither will anybody else." He shoved me to the ground and I tucked my head between my knees as I felt multiple blows to my spine, my cries echoing throughout the hallway.
End of flashback.
I had tears in my eyes and my nails were digging into my palms as I finished the story. I didn't dare look at Toby's face, so I kept my gaze on the torn pieces of the photo on my lap.
"Gill..." He whispered so softly, I almost didn't hear him. I shook my head and let out a small chuckle, beginning to rub my eyes with my fists.
"I know, I'm pathetic. Something that happened three years ago and it still makes me bawl like a baby."
"You're not pathetic." His whispers were closer now, and I lifted my head to see he had shifted closer to me. He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave me a sad smile.
"I think you're one of the strongest people I have ever met. You were publicly outed in such an awful way, by someone who was supposed to care deeply about you. That's got to leave scars for a long time. But you know what?" I couldn't look away from his face. "Our scars make us who we are. They make us stronger. I know that doesn't take the pain away, but I just want you to know you're not pathetic for still feeling hurt by what that asshole did. You're human, and you're here still. You're here, and you just told me, someone you met only a few hours ago, this whole story." My eyes widened at his words. I did tell him...I told him everything. Things I swore to never even think about because it was too painful.
"You're the first person I've told. Heck, you're the first person I've willingly come out to," I smiled at him and he moved his hand from my shoulder to wipe the leftover tears on my cheeks. I swear I almost purred at the feeling of the sparks he left on my skin.
"I'm glad," he grinned back before pulling his hand away from my face.
"Why don't you go freshen up, and I'll go start setting things up in the kitchen. I'm not touching the food though because I'll probably ruin it just looking at it," I giggled and stood from my bed, letting the torn pieces of the photograph flutter to the floor. I was almost to the bathroom door before I stopped myself. I spun around to see Toby begin to leave as well.
"Toby?" He stopped and turned around.
"Yes?" I shuffled over to him and pulled him into a tight hug, burying my blushing face into his chest.
"Thank you," I mumbled. I felt his arms wrap around me gently, and his chest shaking with his light laugh.
"Of course, love." I practically melted at the pet name, and in that moment I was glad he couldn't see my face because I was certain it matched my ginger hair by then.
Tobias
I had managed to stay calm as I listened to my mate talk about his ex, but inside, my wolf was growling with rage at the thought of anyone hurting him. He relaxed finally when Gill had wrapped his arms around my body for the second time that day.
While Gill was in the bathroom I quickly swept up the remains of the photograph and tossed them into the wastebasket by his bed. I then made my way down to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. I was serious when I said I would probably ruin it. I inherited my father's cooking skills; in other words, none whatsoever. I could find a way to ruin cereal.
I just started taking the groceries out of the plastic bags and putting the drinks in the refrigerator. I then heard Gill's soft footsteps coming down the stairs. I looked over at him and gave him a small smile. His eyes were still a little red, but they were less puffy. Nonetheless, he was beautiful. I let him take over dinner, and opted to just give him ingredients and occasionally stir the pot of bubbling sauce while he prepared the pasta.
"Mijo! I'm home! And so are your friends!" I heard his father yell from the doorway.
"I don't know what you're cooking, but it smells amazing," Jax moaned as he entered the kitchen. Holly entered soon after, smacking him on the arm.
"Way to leave me to carry all the shit," she grumbled before setting a few covered dishes on the counter.
"Oh, you didn't have to bring anything!" My mate said in his sweet voice. God, I could've listened to him read the phone book and I bet it would still be magnificent.
"Oh, nonsense. You're making us dinner, the least we could do was bring dessert!" Holly giggled and pulled Gill into a brief hug.
"Wow, he can cook too? You really hit the mate jackpot, didn't you!" Jax playfully pushed my shoulder and whispered. I just smiled.
"I really did." I replied simply, remembering the way he felt in my arms.
"Guys, can you set the table please? Everything should be in the dishwasher." Gill asked, taking a pan of garlic bread from the oven. Jax and I quickly set the table while Holly helped get everything from the pans to serving dishes, and set it on the small dining table. There were only four chairs, so I planned on standing.
"What are you doing, go sit down!" Gill attempted to shove me over to the table with one hand, the other holding a glass of what appeared to be cola of some kind.
"I'm good standing." I said simply, taking a sip from my own drink.
"Nonsense, you're the guest, go." He pushed me again and I heard Ajax laughing from the table.
"Just sit on his lap!" He yelled. Gill blushed and looked away. I smirked and took his hand, pulling him to the table. I sat in the chair and pulled him onto my lap. His face was beat red as he just looked at the floor. His father eyed him curiously before shaking his head with a smile on his face. I knew Ivan would be supportive of Gill being gay, but I understood his fears, considering what had happened with Travis.
"Hey, are you okay?" I looked over to see my mates concerned eyes watching me.
"Of course, why?"
"Well you were staring at that garlic bread as if it murdered your family or something." He giggled. I shook my head and grinned.
"I'm fine, I promise."
Dinner resumed with playful chatter, mostly Holly and Jax bickering and Ivan asking Gill about school. I watched the beautiful boy on my lap as he carelessly threw his head back in laughter, his freckled nose wrinkling slightly. All fears of how my father or the pack would respond drifted away. He was the only thing that mattered.
I helped him clean up after while the others picked a movie in the living room.
"He's your mate, isn't he?"Â Holly asked through the link. I looked up from the plate I was drying to see her watching me from the couch in the living room. I smiled at her before responding.
"Yeah, he is. That's why I was so spaced out when I met him earlier."
"I'm happy for you, Toby. I think he's great for you." She grinned at me before closing the link and turning back to yell at Ajax.
Gill
I gave everyone hugs as they were leaving, Holly's being sweet as she raved about dinner and pecked my cheek, Ajax's being tight and silly as he spun me around and ruffled my hair, and Toby's, breathtaking and perfect, his face nuzzled into my neck, his breath fanning my freckled skin. He gave me a soft smile as he pulled away.
"Goodnight, love. I'll see you tomorrow." I blushed and grinned right back at him before saying goodnight. The front door shut with a soft click and I let out a breath I didn't even notice I had been holding. I giggled and hugged my arms tightly. I actually had friends! And I had Tobias... who I definitely was very interested in. He held me like I would break, but like he never wanted to let go at the same time. I was developing quite the crush, and it had only been a day of knowing him. I was ridiculous.
"So your friends are nice," I jumped at the sound of my father's voice behind me.
"Yeah, they are."
"And that boy? Tobias?" He lifted a brow and my face immediately turned red.
"W-what about him?"
"I can see the way you look at each other. Hell, anyone with eyes can see that."
"D-dad I-" he cut me off.
"Don't go spewing some nonsense about being weird or me not loving you anymore. I can tell by the look on your face that's what you're thinking." I didn't say anything. "Mijo, I've known you were gay since you were in elementary school. I was just waiting until you were ready to tell me yourself."
"H-how did you know?"
"When you were young, when your Abuela died, you used to draw me these cute little pictures to make me smile. You always said it was you and your family when you were older. You had a house made out of chocolate cake and a pet dragon named Wiggles. And you also drew two men holding hands. I asked you about it, and you said it was you and your husband." He laughed and shook his head. "Your mother never knew. I never told her, never showed her the drawings. She always spoke bad about homosexuality, and I didn't want you to have to deal with that. But that's when we started becoming more distant. I couldn't love a woman that spoke so poorly of her own son, whether she knew it or not." I stared at him with wide, tearful eyes. "You like this boy, right?" I blushed and nodded.
"I know I just met him, but I just feel... Safe around him. I really really like him, Papa." He smiled and came over to pull me into a hug.
"My little boy is growing up and falling in love!" He made an obnoxious sobbing noise in my ear making me roll my eyes and smack him lightly on the shoulder.
"Dad, shut up." He laughed and hugged me tighter.
"I love you, Mijo."
"I love you too, Papa."