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Bobby had just finished a little snack when the doorbell rang. Huh, practice wasn't scheduled for another couple of hours. It wasn't unusual that someone came over unannounced, though, so they scrambled to wipe the blood from their lips and open the front door. Maybe Reggie was trying to get away from his parents again and wanted to hide out here. That was probably it. Bobby opened the front door and saw Alex. He was breathing heavily and wrapping the headphone cords around his old walkman. His eyes were pink-rimmed and his eyelashes looked wet. He raked a shaking hand through his hair, took a deep breath and looked at Bobby.
"Hi." He cleared his throat. "Can I come in?"
His voice sounded unsteady and Bobby's heart started beating faster. What the fuck had happened? Alex had clearly been crying, and he was here, which meant he didn't feel safe to go home.
They made sure to speak softly.
"Yeah, of course. Fuck, Alex, what happened?" They stepped aside to let him into the house and took him to the kitchen.
"I'm making you a hot chocolate and then you'll tell me what happened. Sound good?"
Alex nodded and sat on a kitchen chair while Bobby got started on the hot chocolate. They had to use long-life milk because they didn't consume enough (or any, really) on their own to warrant going to the store every week, but they compensated with extra chocolate. They smiled at Alex with their eyes while they went to go fetch the mini marshmallows. When the hot chocolate was done and in the mug Alex had painted when they all went to a ceramic painting workshop once, he took it to the couch and motioned for Alex to follow him.
They handed the mug over when Alex was sitting and he took a sip. He looked like he had calmed down a little but Bobby wanted to make sure.
"How are you doing?" They began, softly.
Alex chewed and swallowed a mini marshmallow before responding. "Better, thank you, Bobby. I didn't know where else to go…"
Bobby shrugged as if to say no big deal and motioned for Alex to continue.
"I came out to my parents."
Shit. Alex had been saying he'd want to come out to them for a while now. Bobby guessed he'd finally worked up the courage, and from what it looked like, it hadn't gone well. Alex' parents were incredibly religious, of course they'd be assholes about their son being gay. Bobby wanted to punch them, yell at them, make them accept Alex, but that's not how it worked. All he could do was be there for his friend. And damn it if he wasn't going to be the best shoulder to cry on.
"They didn't take it well, I assume-"
Alex laughed but there was no joy behind it. "They're overcompensating. They immediately started talking about how they can 'fix me'. 'If I just marry a nice girl from church, I can overcome my sin.'"
Bobby's stomach turned. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten before this.
"Fuck them." Bobby placed an arm around Alex and held him. He could feel Alex' whole body shaking under his arm, and continued. "They're so wrong."
They felt Alex nodding slightly. "Yeah, but it still hurts. I mean, I love them. They're my family. It's fucked up that they only loved me when they thought I was straight."
"Yeah, that sucks. Do you wanna stay over tonight? We can talk about what you're gonna do about all this now, or we can watch a movie or something. I'll make you food."
Alex had slumped in on himself in Bobby's arms and now he looked up at Bobby with affection in his eyes.
"That sounds amazing. I have a request for the movie choice: Anything but a romcom. I don't think I can take watching straight people fall in love right now." He snickered.
"You got it. Can you turn on the TV while I go make popcorn?"
Alex nodded and Bobby couldn't resist giving him a little forehead kiss before getting up.
Their lips burned as they walked to the kitchen. Their whole band wasn't a stranger to touch but they hadn't gone so far as to actually kiss, even if it was just on the forehead. Maybe Alex hadn't even noticed. Maybe it'd just be as if it never happened. Maybe, they could do it again. It wasn't like Alex was unattractive. And if they both liked it… What.
Bobby forced themself to stop thinking about Alex and his hair and his emerald eyes and his pink lips and. Yeah, they weren't thinking about any of that. They were good. Alex had come to them for comfort, not to witness a crisis. Which was good, because Bobby didn't have a crisis. Bobby didn't have crises altogether. Not even crises about their sexuality.
He walked to the kitchen and made popcorn. They'd have a movie night and they'd talk about how Alex might talk to his parents later and what he might say. Because they were friends.
They ended up watching Ghostbusters. As the credits rolled, Alex suggested playing UNO in the studio and talking about the situation.
"Five or seven?"
"Seven. So, we were sitting at the dinner table and my parents were asking really invasive questions. Like, if I have a girlfriend and all that. And normally I just try to avoid it but it's been getting worse lately and I just can't-" Alex counted his cards, arranged them in a fan and played his first card. "-I just couldn't do it anymore. So I just blurted out 'I don't want a girlfriend, I'm gay.' And then- fuck you." Bobby had played a Draw 2. Alex picked up two cards and continued. "Anyway, they were just quiet for what felt like hours and then my dad said 'No, you're not.'"
"What??" Bobby interjected.
"Yeah, and my mom said I'm just confused. And then they both went on this lecture about- hold on, uh" Alex took a look at his cards. He played a wild card. "Yellow, please. Where was I?"
"They went on a lecture."
"Yeah, they just said things like 'You'll marry a woman and then you'll see that it was just a phase.' and 'I know you're being rebellious right now but this is too far.'"
Alex was shaking again a little. "It really hurts, you know? And now I don't know what I should do to convince them this is just who I am."
Bobby put his cards down and leant over to hug Alex, who relaxed into the touch.
"First of all, you're good. Nothing's wrong with you and it's not you being rebellious, it's who you are." They pulled back to look Alex in the eyes.
"Okay?"
Alex nodded.
"Second, you can stay here as long as you need to. Guest bedroom or studio, your choice. And third, we can figure out what to tell them if you want to, but you don't have to. In less than 2 years you'll be out of there anyway."
Alex took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. My parents are gonna have to live with this, because I'm not changing. But what should I do when they say stuff like that again?"
Good question. While he was still living with them, he probably shouldn't become confrontational. But just sitting there and taking it wasn't an option, either. Talking it out sounded good but Bobby didn't think the Mercers would listen.
"I'm not sure. Give them a few days to cool down and then… maybe just try not to bring it up? It sucks but I don't think arguing will do anything."
Alex made a face but nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'll be out of there in 2 years and then I don't have to tiptoe around the house anymore. Maybe they'll see that it's not a phase when I get a boyfriend I actually tell them about."
He'd only had one boyfriend as far as Bobby knew. Alex and Luke had broken up just two weeks earlier, and that was probably part of why Alex had come to Bobby instead of Luke. They had parted on good terms, and they were still friends, but it took time to get over it. Alex was right, maybe he could introduce a future boyfriend to them and they'd see. There was still the issue of them thinking gay people were sinners that were going to hell, though. Bobby didn't say that part out loud, they were going to get enough chances to talk about this when Alex was feeling better.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in!", Alex shouted.
The studio door opened and Reggie came in. "Hi guys! How's it going? I practiced Late Last Night so much last night." He grinned at the pun. "Feel ready for rehearsal? Alex, when did you get here? Ooo, Uno! Is Luke here yet? Can I join?"
Bobby smiled. "Reggie, whoah. Remember, one at a time. Luke's not here yet. Yes, you can join Uno, if Alex doesn't mind."
Alex shrugged. "No, let's play until Luke gets here."
Reggie shrugged off his leather jacket and plopped down on the floor, forming a little circle with the others around the stack of cards. Bobby shuffled the cards and then handed out 7 to each of them.