Cut Out Hearts And Life Supports

I sit in English and watch Gale as he mouths phobias to himself. Something that I have noticed him do for a while but never really wanted to ask him why.

But the way he looks at me. Like I'm some kind of hybrid animal about to rip out his insides. Like I'm the freak of nature. After him giving me a couple scared glances, I decide to look away for his sake.

But I still find myself peeking at him through my peripheral vision. There's just something about him that is interesting. Like he has some type of powerful presence that makes everyone intimidated so they choose hatred. Sure the kid seems fucked in the head at times, but he's the type of guy that needs to be taken care of.

I watch as the bell makes him jump and then he quickly rushes out of the class, forgetting his books behind on the desk. I carelessly walk over and grab his book and muttering a quick goodbye to the teach, I leave the class.

I walk to my locker with my head held high, smirking as the girls, and even some guys, gawk at me. Nothing unusual, I'm a guy with a big attitude and an even bigger ego.

I stop beside one of the girls that were gawking at me and twirl her hair on my finger, "I like what you did with you hair, Cassie." I say seductively, adding a wink that makes her chest heave up and down. "You should wear it like that more often."

I grab her hand and kiss it like a gentleman, and she nods quickly.

With that, I continue on to my locker. I open my locker and grab my bag then head over to my friends.

They all nod at me, the way of acknowledging each other when not in the mood to actually say hi. I nod back with a smile.

"Hey guys, do any of you know where Gale lives?" I ask the group, but only get horrified expressions.

"Who? The freak?" One of my friends, Todd, asks while the group agrees with him.

I just roll my eyes, "Yeah whatever. He forgot his books and I'm just going to be nice and bring them to him." I give them a hard look that makes them stop their joking. "So does anyone know or not?"

A friend, Lisa, speaks up. "Yeah, we egged his house one time. I can tell you."

I nod at her and give her a piece of paper to write down the address. Once she's finished, I look it over and smile. "Thanks, you're a doll." I said and kissed her on the cheek just to bug her.

She rolls her eyes and playfully punches me in the arm.

After saying goodbye to the group, I head to my car.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

I turn the corner that leads onto his block when I see what looks to be a boy sitting on the grass in the neighborhood park.

The park is beautiful; great trees that have been trimmed to perfection scattered around, colourful flower patches that are vibrant with life, and a big play set with no tags or destruction on it. It looks peaceful.

But something about the boy pulls on me and I stop at the park. He's wearing black skinnys and a black hoody with it covering his head. Maybe it's the way he is sitting that bothers me. He seems to be hunched over as if he's in pain.

I slowly walk over to the figure but his back is to me. I can hear the sound of him crying so I crouch down beside him. I see the purple shirt and know that it's Gale.

"Hey Gale." I say softly, making him cringe away. I lightly put my hand on his shoulder and he tenses up from my touch. "Are you okay?"

She shakes his head and starts to sob. This bugs me even more. What has made this innocent boy feel the need to sit in a park and cry.

I sit down and find myself putting an arm around him. He squeaks from fear and tries to move away but I just pull him closer and rub his arm with a soothing touch.

"It's okay Gale, I'm not going to hurt you." He still seems tense and unsure so I put a finger under his chin and tilt his head towards me. Without thinking, I lightly place a kiss on his nose. "I'm not going to hurt you." I say again.

I think he believes me because his body calms and he slowly puts his head on my shoulder. His crying quiets down to silent tears, his body shaking. He doesn't say anything though, and I realize something.

I have never heard his voice.

This shocks me because I have been in almost all of his classes since we were thirteen. Four years later and I still haven't heard his voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask him but just get silence. Not even a nod or a shake of the head.

Several minutes go by where neither of us speak. I just hold him until finally the tears stop falling. I feel as his arms slowly go around my waist and I feel a jolt of electricity every spot he touches.

I think about that electricity, wondering what it is. Wondering if he feels it too. I think about it until finally, he speaks.

"My mom left me." His voice is shaky and a bit hoarse from him crying, but I can tell that it is usually soft and melodic.

I don't understand though. Why would his mom leave him?

He takes my silence as confusion and answers my unspoken question, "She couldn't take me being gay anymore." He whispers, getting his voice back. "She said that she had to leave her old life behind because it hurt too much to see my dad every time she looked at me."

I feel my heart sink with sadness and I hug him closer. "I am so sorry Gale." I gasp out. "I never knew what you were going through." I pause before I ask my question. "What happened to your dad?" I whisper the question, a small part of me hoping that he won't hear it.

But he does.

"He had a heart attack five years ago. He didn't make it because my mom found him too late." A tear slides down his cheek and I wipe it away with my thumb.

I hold him tighter, unable to form words. Unable because I don't know who it feels to lose both my parents.

The wind blows against us and it shiver from the oncoming cold. "Come on, lets get you inside."

I pull him up to his feet but then he grabs my shirt like a scared child. "I can't go home." He says while shaking his head. "Please don't make me go home."

This tugs at my heart. I can only imagine what he's going through. So I nod in understanding. "What about if you come to my house? Will that be better?"

He thinks for a moment, then nods his head.

I walk him to my car with my arm still around him, almost afraid to let go. Afraid that he might disappear if I don't keep my hold on him.

I open the passenger door for him and he climbs in, but then quickly grabs my hand when I go to close the door.

I put my free hand on his cheek. "Chill Gale, I'll only be a second." I say with a sad smile.

He lets go so I jog to the drivers side and get in, grabbing his hand as soon as I put on my seat belt. I feel the electric shock again when our bare hands touch and my heart starts beating faster. I don't want to let go, because holding his hand just feels... right.

So I don't.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

I park in my driveway and turn off the car.

"Are you sure that your parents will be fine with it?" Gale asks timidly, making me smile.

I get out and jog to his door, opening it for him like a gentleman. "Yeah, my parents are sick." I state with a smirk.

He looks at me with a concerned expression and I laugh. "Not sick as in they have a cold. But sick as in they're sweet. They let me do whatever."

His lips make an 'o' formation and he nods in understanding.

I take his hand and pull him toward the front door. I slam the door shut once inside to let them know I'm here, causing Gale to jump. "Relax, I'm just letting them know I'm here without having to yell."

He gives a small smile and I kiss his nose without thinking. "You're really cute when you smile." I say, causing him to blush.

I pull him into the kitchen and set him on one of the stools. "You want something to eat?" I ask and he nods his head. I look through the cupboards and pull out some peanut butter. "You want a peanut butter sandwich?"

He shakes his head in quick motions so I set it down. I give a light chuckle. "What? You scared of peanut butter?" I ask jokingly.

He shrugs, "sort of." He states, making my jaw drop. "I'm Arachibutyrophobic." He starts picking at his fingers, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.

"What does Arach-." I give up on the complicated word. "What does that mean?"

He laughs at my failed attempt. "It means that I'm afraid of peanut butter sticking to the top of my mouth."

It's easy to keep myself from laughing because he's serious. This is a serious phobia that he suffers from.

So I grab cold pizza instead and heat it up. I put it in front of him an he starts nibbling on a piece. I sit in the stool beside him and grab my own piece so we are easily facing each other. "What else are you afraid of?"

He gives an uneasy laugh, "it's a long list."

I put a hand on his leg, "we have all night."

He is about to say something but then my mom walk into the kitchen. "Hey Darling, how was your day?" Then she sees Gale and my hand on his thigh. She blushes, "oh. Was I interrupting something?"

Gale blushes a deep red and I smirk. "Nah, we were just talking." I say, removing my hand. "Mom, this is Gale. Gale, this is my mom Grace."

"Nice to meet you." Gale says and shakes her hand, getting his pale colour back.

"Likewise Gale." My mom says and gives him a welcoming smile.

"Mom, Gale is going to be staying here for a while, 'kay?" I say and stand up.

"Yeah honey, he can stay as long as he likes. He's always welcome here."

I give her a hug and kiss her cheek. "Thanks."

She grins at Gale. "He always ignores me and acts like a jerk when he has friends over. You must be special."

This time I blush. I blush because it's true. Already Gale is special to me.

I grab Gale's hand and start to walk out of the kitchen, "we'll be in my room!" I call out to her before pulling Gale upstairs. I bring him to my room and drop on the bed. I check the time and see that it's actually 10:30pm. How had the time gone by so fast? Were we really sitting at the park for that long?

I hear Gale yawn and sit up. "Here, I'll show you the guest room. It's right beside mine."

I take him to the guest room and give him some of my clothes that should fit him for tomorrow. "Remember, I'm right next door if you need anything." I kiss his forehead goodnight and walk to my room, remembering to keep the light on for him.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

I wake up in the middle of the night, feeling something against my side. I turn and see Gale's peaceful figure curled up in a ball on top of the comforters and smile.

He must of had a bad dream.

I quietly get out of bed and place a blanket on top of him then crawl back into bed, going on my side and cuddling into him as I fall back asleep.