He had longed for his best friend since they were eleven and they had a pool party. He still remembered the back of Ben, dripping wet and sun-burned. When he had told Jenny (a cousin of his) about it, she burst out laughing and simply replied:

- Jesus Tyler if you don't take care of what you say you'll be avoided by everyone.

- How come I'd be avoided? I did nothing wrong, did I?

She had whispered something at his ear, leaning in on one elbow and letting her voice sound tender and caring.

- Gay people aren't welcome here sweetie.

Despise her sugar sweet voice, Tyler had been terrified that day. He had looked up in the internet what "gay" meant. He had been staring at his screen for the next three hours. "A person that is sexually attracted to the same gender and not to the opposite gender," that's what the internet said. Great. As people didn't like gay boys, he decided to not be gay.

Sitting alone at his table in the cafeteria, the now fifteen and a half year old boy stared at his cup of chocolate coffee. Since that sunny afternoon, he had carefully avoided the subject of his sexuality. It's not like he liked girls but they were pretty okay, so he had just... assumed he was straight.

***

The day passed and Tyler could finally go home. As expected, there was nobody home. He ran to his room and let himself fall on the bed, with his face flat in the mattress. After what seemed like a couple of hours (in fact it had been ten minutes), Tyler heard some light moans coming from... the kitchen? After a moment of reflection, he decided to ignore it. He did not want to see his parents having intercourse, thank you very much.

Wait a minute.

His mother was supposed to be supervising the plumber today, she had spent days telling Tyler that he couldn't use the kitchen on the first day of school because Mr. Jose would be there and he didn't like being interrupted. He also knew that his father was gone for a few days on a congress. So there were two possibilities. The first one being: his mother and the plumber were each cheating on their respective partners. Which would be really annoying because, honestly, Tyler was way too lazy to go to the court to decide with who he was going to stay (If his parents divorce naturally. His mum could also stay silent and keep with his dad.). And the second option was that the plumber had brought somebody home in order to copulate. Well there were actually a lot more of possibilities but... ew.

***

Later that evening, he was told by has mother to go and bring a chocolate and rubarb cake to "those new neighbours, you know, the two best friends and the teenage boy you talked to?". His mum didn't seem to know that Aramis and Emily were a couple and that Timothy was their child. Tyler took his bike out of the garage, and begin riding. He was going fast, but since he knew those streets very well, it didn't cause a problem. Atleast, that's what he had planned. He looked up to the sky. It was raining cats and dogs, meaning the downhill was dangerous. But, like a perfect idiot, Tyler went even faster.

He arrived at their house, in a majestic slide. Majestic but dangerous. Out of the sudden, he crashed down, his head smacked the ground, the cake fell out of the basket of his bike. He noticed Emily, the nice woman who looked like Timothy, hurrying out of the house, with a look of utter worry on her face. She kneeled down beside him.

- Do you need help love?

Tyler replied, slowly because his face hurt:

- Yes... Please.

He felt so ashamed. Falling! In front of the hole street! What had he been thinking! He also felt guilty because the cake was now definitely ruined. Most of all, he felt the pain.

(hi loves! this chapter is a bit short, I'm sorry but I've been busy working on other stories sooow)