𝘼𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝙀 𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙀𝘿 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

29. ONLY THE BRAVE

The first thing that came out of Karter's mouth was an apology. After the first one, they didn't stop.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing, I know it's wrong," Karter spit frantically. "You guys were never supposed to find out and I know that it's awful and I'm sorry, Mickey, I'm so sorry."

"Hey," I said softly, "slow down." I took a few steps toward him and let my eyes flicker to the other boy. Xavier looked just as frightened by the situation.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know how it happened- I can change, okay? You have to give me time but I can fix myself, I-"

"Stop, buttercup," I cut him off gently, raising a hand to get his attention. "I'm not upset with you."

"Yes you are," he argued. His head shook frantically, not believing what I was saying.

"No, I'm not," I said, smiling a bit to reassure him, "why do you think I'd be upset?"

"Because being gay is wrong," Karter whispered.

"No," I said immediately. "Get that out of your head right now. It's not wrong. Nothing is wrong with you."

"But-"

"There's nothing wrong with what you're doing," I said, taking another step forward, "and there's nothing wrong with who you are. Look at me please, buttercup."

"I'm sorry," he stuttered. He still didn't look at me.

"Don't be, you don't have anything to be sorry for," I said softly. I pulled Karter into a hug. It was then that I realized how bad he was shaking.

What happened to him that made him so scared of coming out?

"You're okay," I promised. "I'm not mad. You're not going to get hurt."

"I-"

"Don't say anything," I said. Karter wrapped his arms around me. I rubbed his back until he pulled away. "Harry asked me to come up here and get you so he could say goodbye. I can tell him you're asleep?"

"You'd do that?" Karter asked.

"Of course, buttercup," I said softly. I looked down at Xavier again. He was watching me with big eyes, and they got bigger when I nodded and smiled at him. "You two probably need a few minutes to talk anyways, hm?"

"Yeah," Xavier croaked.

"Okay then," I said. I took a step back, towards the door.

"Don't tell Louis," Karter said suddenly.

"Louis- he's not going to have any kind of issue with it either," I said. "I'm pretty sure his whole fan base is LGBTQ."

"He won't?" Karter asked.

"Of course he won't," I said, "but I won't tell him anything. It's not my place. This is safe with me."

"Thank you," Karter said quietly.

"Of course," I said. I left the room after that, and closed the door behind me.

I leaned against it for a second and absorbed the information I had. Karter was gay. And it seemed like he hated himself for it.

I pushed off of the door and started down the stairs. Harry was sitting between Keenan and Chandler.

"They're asleep, must have passed out playing video games," I said.

"Oh, that's a shame," Harry mumbled. He played with his rings calmly, painted fingernails twisting around them. He stood up and fist bumped both Keenan and Chandler.