Change

The last few weeks had been fairly normal, to say the lest. Brendon was driving me to school again, and Pete picked on us both relentlessly. I tried not to take any notice, and so far I was doing that very well. It was nothing new to me, so why should I be bothered? Plus, being with Brendon all the time somewhat numbed that pain. On the other hand, people, especially guys, have been tormenting him. I told him he didn’t have to do this for me, and we could just be together in secret, only showing affection for each other when no one else was around. Although I absolutely loved every second of our now public relationship, I felt selfish for letting him do that. He basically risked everything for me.

There was also the matter of his parents. They were under the impression that I was just a master seducer and just hypnotizing him into falling for me. Obviously, this was complete and utter bullshit that his mom came up with to keep us apart. She watched me like a hawk, protecting her precious Brendon and keeping him just out of reach. It was completely ridiculous. One of us was in her sight nearly 24/7. It was only at night that we’d sneak around in the dark with extreme caution. I almost wanted to just get a damned job and go home. I’d take Brendon with me, and we’d be happy.

I woke up on a Sunday morning and got ready for church. Yes, church. Now, I’m a pretty strong atheist if I do say so myself. Religion seemed like complete rubbish to me. Brendon somewhat agrees with me, though he seems a bit reluctant to go full-on atheist. But, his parents think they can fix the gay in me by taking me to church every fucking Sunday. This was definitely one of the most boring experiences of my life, but I did it anyways so I could stay with Brendon. Sometimes, the preacher, heck if I knew his actual title, would speak about the “horrors” of sinning. One of those many bullshit sins was being gay, naturally.

This morning was different though. I didn’t know how much more of this religion shit I could take. After everyone was all dressed up and ready to go, something inside me just snapped. I was done following these mormon laws. I wanted to live by my own rules, again.

“Mrs. Urie, I don’t believe I shall attend your church anymore. I am an atheist, as you may already know, and everything I stand for is contradicted in that facility.” I looked at the horrified expression on her face. “Plus, you can’t fix what isn’t broken. I am who I am, and who I am is gay. Deal with it, and leave me be”

Everyone, including Brendon, held their mouths open like idiots, but I didn’t stop. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.” I did a quick 180 and walked up to my room. I heard footsteps behind me, expecting Brendon to slap some sense into me and take me to church, but something odd happened. A rebellious Brendon was born.

“I’m not going, either,” he said. “I can’t keep going to a place that tells me that my boyfriend and I are going to hell just for being in love.” My heart fluttered at the word love, and now I was the one staring, mouth agape. His mother was furious with rage, but I swear I heard his father sigh in defeat.

She started screaming and cursing at us and was threatening me into leaving her home again. Then Brendon’s father, with a sad look in his eyes, rested a hand on her shoulder. “Let them go. They’re old enough to decide their own fate, now.” He began walking out the front door, dragging his raging wife behind him.

The second they were gone and the front door was shut, Brendon and I let out victory cries over our triumph. We won the battle, for now. Joy was overriding my mind while happiness pulsed through my veins. The second I heard their car drive away, I leapt into Brendon’s arms and kissed him passionately. He responded by kissing me back even more forcefully than I had. I had found my happy place in life and so had he.

-Brendon’s POV-

There we were, finally getting what we wanted and what Ryan truly deserved. He jumped up into my arms and leaned in for a kiss. It was fiery and vigorous. It was an amazing thing, that one person could cause so much happiness in your life that you just forget about all the bad things that ever happened to you in that moment. Everything was perfect, and I felt complete.

Eventually, I had to put Ryan down though. He seemed a bit disappointed when I did, but I was afraid of things being taken way too far. I wasn’t really ready for that, yet. I had never even gone that far with a girl, let alone a guy. It just terrified me.

“Brendon…” he whined. I laughed but reached out my arms for a hug. We held each other for a while, never growing tired of each other’s grasp. I wished I could stay like this forever, but I knew we had to let go some time.

“Let’s go out,” I suggested.

“What? Where? It’s like 9 AM.”

“We could go get breakfast at the bakery.” He smiled at me, and we walked out of the house, hand-in-hand.

The second we got to the bakery, we both bolted out of the car and grabbed each other’s hands again. I took a quick look around and noticed Pete and his best friend Patrick walking around, which was odd considering how early it was in the day.

That’s when Patrick saw us. Honestly, I didn’t know why he and Pete were such great friends because Patrick was actually a decent guy. Whatever, though, it was none of my business. He let out a small gasp and quickly got Pete to turn around and go in the other direction. I was stunned.

“Did you just see that?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah. Um, I think we’d better get inside before Pete sees us.”

His mind was on the same page and we ran inside giggling like little school children as we held each other’s hands. Now, that got Pete’s attention. Ryan and I were almost home free, except the laughter of two teenaged boys attracted Pete’s attention. He whipped around and saw our hands glued to each other. Shit.

“Sooo, what are you doing here, faggots?” he yelled out. Ugh, he really needed to buy a new book of insults. He slowly approached us with a devious look in his eyes directed towards Ryan. I put my arms around him for protection, but Pete knocked me out of the way and before I could stop him, his fist was in Ryan’s face. Ryan fell to the ground, holding his face in his hands and motionless. That did it. I fought back. After a few punches were thrown around, I jumped on him, causing us both to fall to the ground. I was on top, punching him in the face, over and over again, not stopping to see the damage.

“Brendon! Stop it!” Patrick yelled. I looked down to see Pete’s ruined face, then I looked at my own two hands. I had done this. I got up and backed away, grabbing Ryan off the ground and beckoning him to run back to the car. And boy, did we run like hell.

The second we got in the car, I got the fuck out of there. Ryan had a nose bleed and it was getting all over his clothes, so I sped home so I could fix him up.

“Brendon… what was that back there? I mean… I didn’t know you could… fight like that.” He paused before saying the word “fight.” I knew he hated violence, and for a legitimate reason, too. But I couldn’t stop myself. I had to fight for him.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” was all I could manage to say.

We finally reached my house, and I helped Ryan out of the car. Luckily the bleeding had stopped now, so it wouldn’t get everywhere. I hurried to the upstairs bathroom to get the first aid kit, and I helped him get cleaned up.

“Ryan, sorry for that. I shouldn’t have taken you anywhere.”

“No, it’s okay,” he smiled at me, “Is it… bad?”

“Nah, he didn’t really do any real damage. You’d be just as pretty even if he had.” His cheeks became red as I softly brushed my lips against his nose.

Out of nowhere, I said something to him that I had never said to him, or anyone else before in my life. “I love you, Ryan.”

I felt his hands slowly go around my neck, holding me closer. “I love you, too.”