〖 chapter seventeen ⋆ a cinderella story 〗

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Garrett's eyes were closed as he rested his head on Peter's shoulder. The subway hummed as it transported them to the closest stop near his house. It was finally time for his happiness, the rush and the adrenaline, to end as he returned home to meet his parents. No doubt that the school contacted them since it was noticeable that he was cutting classes after his great proclamation, and no doubt that they told his parents what this great confession was.

He was gay. He was so terribly gay and that wasn't a problem. His sexuality wasn't a problem or an illness, no matter what his father thought. He was free; he was himself and he was free. He would live a lie no longer, the mask of the Golden Boy would be crushed underneath his feet. Maybe he would create a real mask and burn it, grinning like a mad-man the whole time.

But Garrett was tired. It was around nine and he had spent the whole rest of the day since lunch out with his friends, including Peter. They went for some celebratory ice cream first, then to the movies – Clayton paying for all of them – and to dinner after that. He held Peter's hand out in public, he blushed at his friend's questioning.

"I never expected you to fall for the nerdy type," Tatiana admitted, "I mean, I knew you might have a small crush on Peter, it was obvious that he definitely had one on you, but I never thought you'd do anything about it. Thought you'd go after one of the more burly guys."

Garrett had rolled his eyes at that, "I'm full of surprises, aren't I?"

He felt a pair of lips on the top of his head and his own lips quipped upwards into a smile. If it had been months ago – hell, even earlier today – he probably wouldn't shifted immediately and told Peter off. Affection in public was not allowed, what if someone saw? What if someone knew them and they saw and they knew? What if...?

But all those were gone from his mind. He was glad to feel the pair on his forehead, calming him down more. "Time to wake up," Peter whispered, "It's your stop."

Opening his eyes, he stood up and looked at Peter. "You coming over tonight?"

Shaking his head, Peter looked at him apologetically. "Sorry, I've got to patrol and study for Spanish."

"Ah, the hated Spanish class that you will totally fail if you don't study for," Garrett teased, a smile gracing his features that made Peter smile back up at him. "Give me a kiss at least."

Complying, Peter stood up to give him one last kiss before pushing Garrett away so that he would leave the train. Giggling – giggling, something Garrett Lockwood had never done before – he grabbed his bag and left the train before leaving the subway stop as well.

The smile was still prominent on his face as he continued to walk, no fear inside him, to his house and opened the door. It didn't even leave his face then, even though it should. This was the end of his happiness, yet he did not let it show on his face. He wasn't afraid of what his father would do, even though it was no doubt going to be hard. Yelling, disowning, calling him an illness and a disappointment...he was expecting that but he didn't let himself stop smiling.

He walked inside and immediately saw his parents standing in the kitchen, waiting for him. Great. "Hey," he greeted them, "Hope you don't mind but I was spending time with my friends with afternoon, stayed out a little longer than I expected."

The lie fell from his lips before he could even think. It was so natural, a second language, because he was so used to it. He was so used to lying to them about everything, about who he was. He didn't even think about what he was doing because it was just second nature, a daily occurrence.

But his parents knew it was a lie, of course they did. They would not fall into his hand like many times before when the lies were plausible and they didn't already know the truth.

"Got a call from your school," his dad started off lowly, "Told me that you were skipping classes today."

Garrett nodded, not bothering to try and lie his way out of this. Why would he? He just wanted to be honest now, he just wanted to be himself. No more lying. "Yeah, something happened and my friends took me to celebrate," he smiled.

Apparently, the smile wasn't appreciated. Looking proud of himself, of who he was, wasn't appreciated if he could go by the dark glint in his father's eyes.

"They told me you told your school that you thought you were gay," Greg Lockwood said.

Again, Garrett nodded at the accusation. "I don't think I'm gay, dad, I know I am," he corrected his father, "And I'm not going to hide away from it anymore."

"Garrett, you aren't gay. You're straight, stop telling lies," Greg said slowly.

His mother looked between the both of them, biting her lip. "Greg, honey, hear him out," she tried softly, a small plea, "If he says –"

"I don't care what he says, it's all a lie. Gayness is a sin – it's an illness and my boy is not sick," Greg cut her off, voice high by the end of his sentence, filled with anger. "He's lying."

"I was lying, dad, but not by saying that I'm gay. I am gay. I am attracted to boys, not girls. I was lying when I said that I was straight, I was lying when I said I was attracted to girls and would marry one in the future because I won't and I'm not straight," Garrett told his father plainly, trying to remain calm.

This was all expected, but it still hurt. It hurt to hear that his own father thought that homosexuality was a sin and that he was sick – that this was all an illness that his son could never have. No, he was gay and it was not terrible; it was wonderful. Being tree and accepting it was wonderful.

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about, boy. You aren't a faggot," Greg snarled, spitting out the word faggot as if it were venom.

"I am. I am gay, and I'm not going to keep lying to you and say that I'm not. I don't care what you think, not anymore. I don't care that you think I have a fucking illness because my sexual orientation doesn't suit you," Garrett yelled at them.

He was done. He was done trying to play nice, he was done trying to be the Golden Boy; the perfect son. He didn't care anymore.

"Now you listen to me, you will never raise your voice again, do you hear me?" Greg yelled back at him.

"How else will you listen?" Garrett asked, "I have tried to be who you want me to, but I can't because I'm not that son. I am not the person you want and I am tired of trying to pretend that I am. I'm tired of trying to be excited about the thought of Columbia even though the thought of going there makes me want to kill myself."

"Columbia is your future, it's what you've always wanted," his father has the audacity to say.

And, in a typical A Cinderella Story fashion, he shook his head and laughed, "No, dad, that's your dream that you just want me to live. I don't want that. I don't want to live your fucking dream. It's my life, not yours and I am tired of letting you control me. I'm not a fucking puppet, I am a person. I am your son. I have my own dreams, I have my own ambitions, and my dreams have never included Columbia – that's always saved for my nightmares."

"Do you hear yourself? This – This illness is changing everything about you. It isn't you," Greg tried to reason, tried to find a way to support his claim that homosexuality was a sickness that he needed to rid his son of.

Garrett laughed without humor. "This is me. This is who I've always been, you just don't know that because I've been lying. I've been trying to be who you want me to be, but I can't anymore. Sorry that I disappoint, sorry that I can't keep pretending, but I honestly don't care anymore. I am me, and I don't have an illness. I am not sick for being myself and for being happy."

There was pause before Greg looked down. "It's that Parker boy, isn't it? He's the one who infected you."

He couldn't help but scoff, "Peter didn't infect me. I'm not sick. He's my boyfriend and I-I really like him, I might even love him, and he has helped me accept myself more than you ever have. He understands me, he knows who I am."

"You're sick."

"No, I'm really not," Garrett said with an act of finality, "Now I'm gonna go upstairs."

He left the kitchen and started up the stairs without anyone calling his name, no one trying to stop him. He smiled, counting that as a small victory through it all. He didn't care what they thought, he was happy and he was free. He wasn't going to let them sway him and ruin his good mood or his freedom.

He got to his room to see Laurel sitting on his bed, covered in his sheets. He closed the door as she looked at him.

"So it's true? You're gay?" Laurel asked him, looking at him for an answer.

Garrett sighed to himself, hoping that she didn't hate him for it. Even though he couldn't care less what his parents thought, it might be his sister that broke him. He loved his sister and didn't think he could stand it if she hated him for something he couldn't change about himself. And trust him, he tried.

"Yeah," he confessed, "I am."

Laurel nodded. She said nothing before going to hug Garrett, which left the boy frozen for a moment out of shock before hugging her back. He closed his eyes as he hugged her, enjoying her presence, revealing in his acceptance.

Pulling back, Laurel said, "I'm glad that you're happy. You always seemed so sad all the time. I hope that you're happy again."

Garrett smiled gently at her, "Yeah, I am happy. And I have an amazing boyfriend named Peter, you love him."

"Peter Parker?" he nodded, "I do like him. You made a really great choice, he's so nice."

Chuckling, he nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he is."

"I like that he makes you happy," Laurel said again, snuggling in close with him, which he accepted instantly.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. A nice, comfortable silence before Garrett remembered something. If he was truly going to be free, he needed to do this – freedom meant doing what he wanted, and he wanted to do this.

"Hey, Laur, when are the auditions for the musical?" he asked her.

Immediately, she straightened up, smiling at him. There was a twinkle of happiness in her eyes. "In a week, I can help you prepare if you want," she offered.

He smiled back at her. "I'd like that," and he meant it. He truly did.

Garrett Lockwood had always been a boy full of lies and hatred, reserved all for himself. He never wanted to be free, he never wanted anyone to know the truth because they would be so disappointed in him. And that was his worst fear; disappointing people, disappointing his parents. He was so scared of who he was, he tried to push it all away. He tried to pretend that he was someone else, he tried to keep masks on all the time and it broke him.

He tried to hard but it never brought him any good. It brought him so much pain and he didn't want to hurt anymore. He wanted the pain to stop, so he stopped it. He was done pretending, he was done putting on masks and playing the role that everyone wanted him to play. He was done with lying; he was finally ready to be honest.