"Hey!" a voice sounded all of a sudden. "Stop it!"

"Yeah, let him fuck off and go somewhere else," Patrick grunted, grabbing Rory's collar again.

His head was spinning.

"Not he, you, you idiot! Let go of him!" the unknown boy yelled. Rory thought it was Patrick's friend, they had been around the same table. "He's done nothing wrong."

"Faggots don't belong here." With these words, he lifted Rory up and threw him on the ground again, kicking his stomach.

Grunting in pain, Rory tried to scramble on his legs.

"Those boys have a right to be here as well. Leave him alone now."

Patrick ignored him, but his friend grabbed him from behind, keeping him in a headlock until the bartender finally called the security to take Patrick away.

The black-haired boy knelt down beside Rory and helped him on a chair. "Hey, are you okay?"

Rory looked at him through a haze of tears. Whether they were caused by pain or anger, he did not know, but he wiped his eyes and his bleeding nose. A sharp pain shot through his nose at the light touch.

"I'm okay," Rory muttered. "Thanks."

He had seen the boy before, at the gym he went to once in a while. He'd been a personal trainer there. It wasn't the first time Patrick treated him like this, although his excuses became more far-fetched every time. After their first fight, he had started to do some strength training because he hated not being able to defend himself like he wanted to.

His eyes flashed aside. To his disappointment, he saw that Adam was no longer around. He understood why the boy had left and he hadn't expected him to help, but he couldn't help but feel a little abandoned. Therefore, he was even more glad that some random guy had stood up for him.

The boy headed to the bar and returned with a dishcloth and some ice. "Here, press this to your face. For the swelling. I'm sorry my teammate did this to you."

"Thanks." Rory pressed the ice against his cheekbone. The boy could use some ice himself too, his eye started to swell. Patrick must have hit him too. "I should have seen this coming the moment I saw him," he sighed. "But I want to be able to go wherever I want, without hiding. Apparently, I'd expected a bit more decency from him."

"I didn't know he was capable of this," the boy admitted. "Beating up and threatening someone without a reason. Of course you're welcome in this bar."

"We're in the same class and last year we were good friends." He sighed. "Then I fell in love with him, and I tried to kiss him. Ever since, he hates me."

At most first encounters he avoided saying something about his sexuality, just because it was the reason he had lost many friends. But this boy already knew about it and seemed to be fine with it.

"What a stupid reason to hate someone," the boy said. "He's never been worth your friendship."

Rory laughed a bit scornfully. "You will be surprised to know how many people reject others because of their preferences. Unfortunately," he continued a little sad, thinking about his "friends" at home.

"Yeah, unfortunately," the other boy said gloomily before his lips curled into a smile again. "Just be yourself! I'm Mickey, by the way."

"I do what I can," Rory said with a slight smile. He looked around to see if Adam had returned, but he doubted he would dare to come back. He was still a little disappointed in Adam's response, and therefore he wasn't in the mood to go after him. Even more, it would make him feel like Patrick had succeeded in chasing him away, and apart from that, Mickey seemed to be a really nice guy. "I'm Rory."

"Is he your boyfriend? That guy who left?"

"My date. This was our second date." He sighed. "He was already afraid that people would judge us... He's never dated before."

"And guys like Patrick don't make things easier," Mickey sighed. "You think he'll come back?"

"I don't think so. I'll send him a text, I'll see him tomorrow anyway." Actually, he needed some time to think to decide whether he wanted to continue this with Adam or not. He understood the boy wasn't used to violence, but he wasn't sure this could lead to something if he was afraid of confrontations. That was not who he was.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Mickey smiled. "To show you that we're not all assholes?"

"Uh, sure!" Rory answered, a little surprised. "My beer fell when I was thrown at the table, so I could use a new one."

"Good! You live close-by?"

"Around ten minutes by bike. Close enough to have some drinks," he smirked. "What about you?"

"Yeah, around the same distance. Close to the supermarket. Have you been here before? You have a familiar face, but I can't place it..."

"I've been here on Friday nights. I'd never seen Patrick around here, so if you hang out here on Saturdays..." He shrugged his shoulders. "But I go to the gym now and then. You work there, right? I thought to recognize you too..."

Mickey was a handsome boy, his friendly face was hard to forget.

"That's right! That's where I've seen you. Maybe we can do some workouts sometime. I could teach you some self-defense."

"That won't hurt," Rory said with a slight smirk. "Being as small as me creates many disadvantages."

"Okay cool. Stop by next week so we can plan a session."

Rory smiled gratefully at him.

. . . 

Even though Patrick had absolutely tried to ruin his night, the next morning Rory looked back to a good night. But a night without his date. Until past midnight he had talked with Mickey and his friends. They could get along pretty well, they liked the same kind of games and tv shows. Somehow it was a relief he didn't feel attracted to the boy immediately so that possible feelings wouldn't be in the way again, and he was also glad that Mickey already knew that he was into guys, so he wouldn't surprise him with that anymore.

Yesterday Adam had sent him a text, apologizing and telling him he was worried. Rory had told him that he was still at the bar where he met some cool people and that Adam could return if he still wanted to, but Adam only told him that he was tired and that he rather stayed at home. Rory had shrugged it off.

By now he had put on his jeans and a Demon Hunter band shirt, whereafter he brushed his hair and watched himself in the mirror. His eye was swollen and his skin covered in bruises. That would raise a lot of questions, but he would shake them off. He would just tell him he'd been in a mosh pit, that happened a lot too.

It was 9 o'clock when he left his bedroom. Dee and Ronnie were probably still asleep, but he expected Maddie any moment and decided to make her breakfast.

"What happened to you?" she asked in disbelief, the moment she saw him. "Morning, by the way."

"Adam likes it rough," he joked. With a fold, he divided the omelet into two parts. "No, I wish that was true. We had an encounter with Patrick at the bar and he believed we were only welcome in gay bars. And eh, well, I didn't exactly agree."

"Did he hit you?" Madelief asked horrified. "How can someone do that?" Shaking her head, she sat down next to Rory. "I hope you hit him pretty well too."

"Not where I wanted to hit him," Rory muttered. He wished he'd punched him in the face too, but it had been a difficult corner and in the end, he had only hit the underside of his chin. It probably hurt, but it wouldn't leave any bruises. He shook off the memory, he didn't plan to let that asshole ruin another day. "There was a guy who helped me out, and I hung out with him and his friends for a couple of hours. He works at the gym and promised to teach me a thing or two."

"Oh, I'm happy someone helped you out," Maddie said. "And his friends, were they nice too?"

"Yeah, most of them were." Rory thought about Adam and suppressed a sigh. "Adam left during our fight."

"Oh." Maddie pulled a face. "That sucks. You've spoken to him since?"

"He texted me that he was sorry and that he was worried about me. I told him I was still at the bar and invited him to come back, but he told me he was tired and rather went to sleep." He bit his cheek. "I really don't know what to do with him," he sighed. "Yesterday we kissed and actually I had a good feeling about it, but I'm not sure I can be with someone... who can't stick up for himself."

"You can give it some time, right? It's hard for him, he just came out and in our world, it's even harder. There is a lot of judgment, and he was confronted with it yesterday." She sighed. "Although it doesn't suit him; that he left you."

"Yeah... I know." He thought back to yesterday's kiss. He had enjoyed it, even though he wasn't sure he would ever fall in love with Adam. Although he would find out eventually. "It won't hurt to have another date," he said.

Taking a sip from his glass of milk, he glanced at the clock, wondering whether he should talk to Adam before or after church. He decided for the latter; that way, they could take all the time they needed.

"That's absolutely true. And maybe things will become easier for him too." She took a bite of her omelet. "Oh Rory, this is burnt!" She pulled a face. "Next time I will make eggs!"

. . .

Together with Maddie, Rory entered the community center where the service was held. It looked nothing like the divine services he used to go to when he was younger; there, everyone was pressed together on the hard pews, the vast majority of the church-goers had been grey and there had only been organ music. He was going to a youth church now, with a small band and the whole place didn't feel suffocating at all. Rory felt much more at home.

On his way to the chairs he talked to some people, luckily nobody asked questions about his bruised face. Maddie gave him a little push towards Adam when she noticed the empty seat next to him. Very briefly their eyes met before Adam turned his face away. His cheeks turned red.

Even though he'd seen the boy blush multiple times, it still made him smirk. He would probably never find a sweeter boyfriend.

"Hey," he said, flopping down on the empty chair next to the boy.

"Hey," Adam answered softly. Nervously he looked at Rory, biting his lip, his glance glued to Rory's bruised face. Rory was surprised when the boy lifted his hand and very lightly brushed the swelling.

"It looks pretty bad," he said, worry in his voice.

Rory shrugged his shoulders. "You should see him."

It was greatly exaggerated, but Adam didn't need to know that.

"I'm really sorry," Adam said once again. Lowering his hand, he bent his head. "I'm so ashamed of my cowardice."

Rory believed his honesty was attractive, and he laced his fingers with Adam's. "It's okay," he said. "We can't all be fighters." He winked. "Next time we will stay away from the bar?"

Adam looked up, his cheeks flushing. "You want another date?"

"Yeah — except for that shit with Patrick, we had a great night, right?"

"I thought that you would find me boring." Adam's answer was only a whisper.

"Well maybe you are a little boring," Rory teased. Briefly, his lips rested upon Adam's jaw, making him long for the warmth of his lips. However, as tolerant as people believed to be; he knew better than kissing someone in the middle of the church. "But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Someone needs to keep me in check," he winked.