An Introspective Connection

"Tommy..." I barely whispered. "What have these boys done to you to make you act this way? I swear, I'll kill them if they do anything to hurt you. I mean it..." He gave me a look that said "Uh-huh, I bet. You're half their size. They'll squash you." but, I ignored it.

"Oh, look who it is... It's our favorite little fag!" Tommy froze on the spot. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. What in the world is going on?

"What did you just call him?" I asked. No one was going to make fun of MY Tommy like that. "Excuse me? Were we talking to you?" "You are now, blockhead. Care to repeat what you just said, shit-for-brains?" I took a step forward, trying my darnedest to look menacing. I fail at that, though. Partially because of all my make-up, and partially because I'm just a little pudgy kid.

They laughed in my face. "Oh, we're SO scared! Wow, Tommy-boy... That's a new low... Getting your little fag baby to fight your battles? Pathetic." The biggest one spit on Tommy's face. "You're just fucking pathetic."

I refuse to watch this crap. Even though I'm, like, super scrawny and the complete & utter opposite of frightening, I ran at him, and tackled him to the ground. I punched the shit out of him. Two of his goons picked me up and basically threw me 3 feet to the right.

He stood up, brushed himself off and smiled. "At least you've got some fight in you. I respect that; not going down without a fight. But, anyway..."He pulled back and punched me hard in the nose. "Shit!" I yelled, touching my hand to my nose. It was broken. Just perfect. When I looked at my hand, it was glistening red. He'd caused two big cuts on my cheeks, courtesy of the big class rings on his hand. They're deep. And they hurt.

The pain was easily pushed away, replaced by pure fury and hatred. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I balled my hand into a fist. I pulled back and returned the favor. He grabbed his now-bloody nose and gave me a look of pure shock. I just stood there. It felt good to stand up to the asshole.

He laughed. Apparently, I didn't hit him hard enough. His nose was still completely intact. His goons started coming after me again, but he stopped them. "Nah, let him go. He's won this one. But do the other one. Then we're leave them to their precious fagtivities." They punched Tommy in the face. He whimpered and crumpled to the ground. His nose, like mine, was broken.

"Until next time, fag-babies! Ta, ta!" The boys shoved past me, kicked Tommy in the side, and vanished from sight.

I wanted to run after them and kick their butts some more, but Tommy stopped me before I could charge off. Then, he started crying. Either they kicked him pretty hard or he was very embarrassed. Either way, I don't like what I'm seeing. It's terrible to have to see him like this. I sat down next to him on the sidewalk and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm s-sorry that you have t-to see me like this, Adam." he apologized, sniffling. "Tommy, It's fine. Don't worry about it... I'm here for you. Why are you crying, anyway?" Tommy sniffled some more and a new flood of tears fell down his cheeks, and I wiped them away. "I'm upset that they did this again. They've jumped me before. They've never really hurt me though. I think it's just because they finally got absolute proof that I am how I am. It wouldn't hurt near as much if they hadn't done it to you too. Now that they know you're new to school AND that you hang out with me... You're FUCKED. I was hoping against hope that they wouldn't see you with me, because I couldn't bear to see this happen to you."

Wow... Does Tommy really care about me that much? "Tommy..." I pulled him tighter to my chest, and I started rubbing circles on his back. "Tommy, don't worry about it. It'll be fine. I don't care what happens to me, as long as it means being with you." Tommy sniffled again and kissed my cheek. "Adam, that's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me... I... I think that I might--"

Is he REALLY about to say what I think he is? Oh my gosh...