"If you're not gay. Or lesbian. Then WHY should you care? " he asks me.

"Because I'm not straight either." I say.

"Yeah right." he replies.

"No, really. I haven't ever been attracted to a person or animal or thing in my entire life" I say.

He looks at me doubtfully. I give him a blank stare. What I had told him was true. Sure, I acknowledged the fact that there are very good looking people out there, but I don't feel - in any way - attracted to them. It was just a fact. A fact like the fact that there are two of us standing right here in this particular moment. A fact like the fact that right now, I'm Laura and that right now, he's Liam.

"Why are you trying to help me." he asks me.

"Because I care." I say. And it starts all over again.

"But if you're not gay. Or lesbian. Then WHY do you care?" he asks me, again.

"Sit down." I tell him. He does so reluctantly.

"Listen." I tell him. He nods.

"I'm just like you." I say.

"BUT, you're not..." he starts and I cross my arms. He stops.

"No buts. It's the truth. We're both the same. Right now we have eyes and we have noses and we have a heart." I say, pointing to his chest. He nods and understanding flashes in his eyes.

"We're just the same." I say again.

"We both feel things. Not at the same time, but we feel the same things. And I know how it feels to feel so full of... feeling. Of this unhappy feeling. Of rejection and betrayal and sadness and anger. Of pain."

He nods again, his eyes turning glazed.

"I'm the same as you," I say, "So I care for you. I may not know you very well - I just met you yesterday. But I saw the look on your face as the boy sneered at you. I saw you - with my very own eyes - I saw you feel. Feel all those bad things at once. And I want to help."

He's staring at the floor now. I'm holding my hand out to him.

"How? How will you help?" he whispers. It's so soft, I barely hear it. But I know he knows what I know. He takes my hand and stands up. And I feel something again. I tell him.

"I feel strong," I say, "I feel brave. And proud."

He smiles.

"I feel that too." he says, louder now.

"Let's go show the boy how you feel." I say.

He smiles again and a warmth spreads through my heart.

We walk to the boy. I wait as Liam steps forward.

"I'm here. Right behind you." I whisper.

Liam takes another step towards the boy.

"I'm gay. But I feel fine. I don't care about what others think. I feel like I'm going to change the world." he says.

The boy's quiet.

"You said it? You really said it." he mumbles. The boy stands up.

"I want to say it too." the boy says.

Liam is confused but I nod, taking the boy's hand.

"Say it." I tell him.

"I..." the boy says, "I'm Dane, as you know. I uh... um... I'm straight. But I feel fine." He smiles and laughs.

"I have one more thing to say." says Dane.

"Say it." says Liam, this time.

"I'm sorry." says Dane, "I feel guilty and scared. I feel like I'll lose you."

"I feel like I'll forgive you. I feel like we could be best friends again." says Liam.

I smile, happy that I helped. I see Dane hug Liam. They don't need me anymore. I wave a silent goodbye. Nobody notices me leave.

After all, I'm just Laura.

Not love. Not hope. Not light. At least not the visible type.

It's my duty to make you happy. It makes me happy too - to see you happy. But every time I help, I know I'll be forgotten and I'll have to leave. So I add another layer of stone over that wilting heart of mine and promise myself, I'll stay strong.

--+--

After a lovely comment by divineandgambit and __Demonologist, I decided to turn this into a longer story. It's a bit different that I had expected... Hope you like it!