"Bo, wake up," I heard someone say as I felt a gentle pressure nudging my arm. "Babe, Clif is here." Disoriented and confused, I forced myself to open my eyes. The room was dim and I had to squint to adjust, but as soon as I looked around at the space I knew exactly where I was. Okay, I'm definitely still at Ethan's. Oh shit, so I guess that actually happened. As the thought hit me, I turned my face to see Connor sitting next to me on the bed--fully dressed. Aw, sad. Why did he put his clothes back on?

"Why did he put his clothes back on? What the fuck, Bo?!" Clif huffed, calling me back to the words that had roused me from my slumber. What is Clif doing here? His bun was coming unraveled, matted blonde hair sticking up in all directions, and the bags under his eyes indicated that he was clearly exhausted.

"Oh shit. My bad, Clif," I muttered, my voice low and raspy. I blinked a few times to clear my vision before rubbing my eyes with my palms. "I didn't think I said that out loud. What are you doing here?"

"You ran off earlier without telling me where you were going! I don't care that you guys hooked up, but you should have texted me to tell me where you went. I was getting ready to leave, so I wanted to find you to ask what your plans are for the rest of the night," Bo explained, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "I called you so many fucking times, dude. Thankfully, Connor answered after a while and told me where to go."

Connor rested his hand on my knee and gave it a quick, affectionate squeeze. He looked more refreshed than Clif, which made me wonder if he had fallen asleep with me. He smiled softly and said, "I was going to offer to let you stay over at my place when you woke up. If you'd prefer to go home with Clif, that is perfectly fine, too. I'll see you in a few hours at school, anyway."

"No, I'd like that. To go home with you, I mean. Clif, that okay? I'm sorry I made you waste time finding me," I apologized, a sleepy pout on my face.

"Don't be sorry, Bo. I would have found you no matter what. No offense to your man here, but I don't know him very well, ya know? I just needed to make sure you were safe before I went home for the night, " Clif reassured, a tired grin curving up his lips. He shifted his gaze to Connor and the grin disappeared, a stern expression taking its place. "Listen, Connor, I think you're probably fine because Bo is a good judge of character, but just in case, you should know that I can track his location through his phone. Also, I'll make sure to tell the cops that you were the last one seen with him if he goes missing. Keep that in mind."

"Clif, what the fuck, man?!" I yelled, mortified by my friend's words. Clif had always been protective of me, but never quite to this extent. "I mean, I definitely appreciate that you're trying to keep me safe, but don't you think that's a little much?"

"It's fine, Bo. Seriously, I'm glad that you have a friend like Clif," Connor interjected, rising up from the bed before walking to a small desk in the corner of the room. He grabbed the pad of sticky notes that was sitting out and slipped a pen out of his pocket before writing something down. He peeled off the top slip of paper and walked back over to the bed, handing it to Clif. "This is my phone number and my address. I hope this can put your mind at ease."

I blushed at being fussed over, appreciating both my friend's protective instincts and my lover's efforts to take me home. A glance at the clock on the wall told me it was almost 3 a.m., and it suddenly hit me that Connor and I had to be up in a few hours. "Hey, Clif, Connor and I probably need to head out since we have an early class. Are you sober enough to drive?"

"Yeah, man, I've been sober for a while now. Don't worry about me, I'll text you when I get home. You do the same, okay?"

I nodded in acknowledgement and looked down to see Connor kneeling away from me on the floor. "Hop on, babe. I know you're still tired," he said, motioning for me to climb on his back. Not one to turn down a free ride, I positioned myself securely on top of Connor and wrapped my arms around his neck as he slowly stood up. After grabbing my coat, Clif led the way out of the house and down the driveway before waving us off as our paths eventually diverged.

When we pulled out onto the main road, Connor looked over at me with a smile as he rubbed my hand tenderly, intertwining our fingers. I felt my eyelids become heavy once again just before I heard him whisper, "Rest. My apartment isn't far, I'll let you know when we get there."

"Okay, I'll just rest for a minute. Thank you, Connor."

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to light peeking through floor-to-ceiling blackout curtains, which covered a massive wall of windows. Oh, right, I'm at Connor's. As the memories from the night before came flooding back to me, I looked down to see a muscular arm wrapped around my waist, hugging me close. I glanced back at the man spooning me to see Connor sleeping peacefully, sans glasses for once. He looked younger than his 25 years when he was resting, and I felt a satisfied smirk tug at my lips when I thought about the fact that not everyone got to see him like this.

I rolled over so that we were facing each other and nuzzled my face into the warm chest in front of me. I felt Connor begin to stir when he mumbled cheerfully, "Good morning, Bo."

"Good morning, handsome," I flirted, relishing his embrace in the quiet stillness of the early morning. "What time is it?" I twisted my head and noticed my phone sitting on the nightstand, so I leaned away briefly to pick it up. As I returned to Connor's intimate hold, I began to scroll through my seemingly unending notifications without actually looking at any of them. I searched for the time and was relieved to announce that it was only 6 a.m. Fortunately, since Connor lived close to campus, we had some time before we needed to be up for our first class at 8.

I tucked the device under my pillow like I always did at home before shifting back to focus solely on my bedmate. I felt the heat rise in my face as I whispered, "I had fun last night."

"So did I," Connor chuckled, raising a hand to stroke my cheek. He ran his thumb down to my lips before brushing them softly with his. "Should we have the 'what are we?' talk now? You can tell me if it's too soon, but after last night, well...it seems appropriate."

"What would you like us to be?" I asked, distracted by Connor's pale blue eyes.

"Is it too soon to ask you to be my boyfriend? I mean, I know you just went through a break-up."

"Addie and I were over long before I made it official. Anyway, even at the best of times, she never made me feel the way you do," I gushed. "I would love to be your boyfriend."

Without another word, our lips were smashing together and my hips were grinding against his quickly firming member. Unfortunately, just as Connor began peeling my clothes off, my phone began to buzz. I growled at the rude interruption before putting the cursed device to my ear and shouting, "Yes, hello, what do you want?!"

"Bo Collins, don't you ever yell at me like that again!" my father's voice boomed through the speaker. "Your mother and I have been trying to contact you since last night. What the fuck have you been doing?"

A knot formed in my stomach and I felt my face heat up, and not in the good way. Something was wrong. My dad never called me, it just wasn't like him to do so, yet here he was shouting at me first thing in the morning. "What's going on, Dad?"

"That's what I want you to tell me! Adelaide sent your mother a disturbing picture in the middle of the night. It was you, Bo--y-you were sitting on top of another man. What the fuck is going on?"

Connor looked at me with concern, his brows furrowed. Given the solemn expression on his face, I knew he had heard everything. He placed a gentle hand on my arm and rubbed his thumb lightly over my skin. The knot in my stomach began to tighten and I suddenly felt lightheaded. I genuinely didn't give a fuck if my parents found out about my new relationship, but I didn't want them to find out like this and definitely not so soon.

Not one to shrink in the face of confrontation, I took a deep breath and began to explain, "The guy in the picture is my boyfriend, Dad. His name is Connor, and I really fucking like him. Look, I know this isn't what you and Mom expected, but I have to believe that you want me to be happy, right?"

The silence was palpable as my dad simply continued to say nothing. After what felt like an eternity, he finally choked out, "You're gay?"

"I don't know, Dad! This is the first time I've ever dated a guy. What I do know is that I've never felt this way before, so maybe I am gay! Would that be a problem for you?" I was getting heated, but I forced myself to keep my composure until I heard what my dad had to say. Please don't be a fucking bigot, Dad.

Another long silence.

"Your mom and I will pack up your things and leave them in the garage for you to pick up," my dad said in an unfamiliar, emotionless voice. "I believe Clif is taking you to get your car today, correct? It's paid off, so it's yours. Your mother and I will continue to pay for your tuition, and your credit card will remain active for basic living expenses, but we can't condone that kind of depravity by allowing you to live under our roof."

My father's words stunned me into silence. I had been babied my entire life, loved and cared for to the point that it was suffocating, yet here I was being practically disowned. Connor and I hadn't even known each other very long, but that didn't matter. I had seen my parents' true colors, and even if I could take it all back and go back home, I didn't want that. What was done was done, and I would accept it even if it broke my heart into a million pieces.

"Dad, are you sure about this?" There was no point in arguing. No point in yelling. The damage was done, so I wouldn't waste time trying to mend something that couldn't be fixed. My heart ached and I wanted to throw up, but I held back the tears that were threatening to fall. Dad didn't deserve to hear me cry.

"Goodbye, Bo."

The line went dead and the call automatically ended. I stared at my phone in disbelief at what had just happened when I felt Connor's arms wrap me in a crushing hug. I buried my face in his neck as tears began to fall, overwhelmed by what this turn of events would mean for me.

My phone began to vibrate again, but this time I checked to see who was calling. Addie. I pressed the green button and screamed, "What the fuck is wrong with you, Addie?! I'm sorry if our break-up hurt you, but why would you out me to my parents like that? How could you do that to me?"

"Bo, wait! Listen to me! I'm so fucking sorry," Addie sobbed, choking on her words. "Sarah spent the night with me, but apparently one of her friends went to the party at Ethan's. They saw you there and sent the picture to Sarah without me knowing about it. She asked to borrow my phone at one point and left the room for a few minutes, but something felt weird to me so I followed her. Unfortunately, I was too late and she had already sent them to your mom, but I caught her trying to delete the messages on my phone. You were so right, she's the absolute worst. I feel like such an idiot for being friends with such a piece of shit. I told her I never want to see her again and kicked her out, of course. You just have to know I would never, ever do this to you, Bo! If you had told me that you were struggling with your sexuality, I would have supported you completely. I...I'm just so sorry."

This makes so much more sense, I thought, sighing in exasperated relief. I knew in my heart that Addie wasn't capable of something so cruel, but Sarah certainly was.

"Addie, it's okay. I believe you. Really," I reassured. "Listen, we can talk more later, but there's a lot for me to figure out right now so I need to go."

"Wait! H-how did your parents take it?"

"Well, I have to go pick up my belongings and find a new place to live, if that tells you anything."

"Oh my god, Bo! B-but your parents love you so much. I mean, they've always seemed like good people. I just don't understand why they'd do this!"

"Well, this is North Carolina, Addie, and you know my parents are religious," I reminded, a cynical laugh escaping my lips. "I bet they're terrified of what their church friends will have to say if they find out. Anyway, I really do have to go. This isn't your fault, so please don't feel like it is. Thank you for calling."

"If you need anything, please call me. I'm still your friend. That is, if you want me to be."

"Sure, Addie. Thanks."

I ended the call and tossed my phone on the bed. Connor cupped my face in his hands gently as I lifted my eyes to meet his. "I need you to listen to me closely, Bo," he instructed, a serious look on his face. I had no idea what he was about to say, but I had a feeling that it was going to be exactly what I needed to hear. "I know we haven't known each other very long, but I genuinely care about you. I need you to know that I am here for you, and I will help you get through this. I mean it, anything I can do for you, I will--just say the word. You are so fucking strong, stronger than you even realize, so you just need to tap into that part of you for a while, alright? Everything will be okay. I promise."

I let my eyelids fall and kissed my boyfriend with everything I had. It was a soft, slow kiss, the damp trails left behind by my tears wetting Connor's face. It's going to be okay. I will be okay.

After a few minutes of make-out therapy, I heard a phone ringing. I never take my device off of vibrate, so I knew it had to be Connor's. He picked it up off the table and looked at the screen before answering the call. I watched him press the speakerphone button just as I heard my best friend say, " Connor, where is Bo? Is he with you? He never texted me last night and he won't pick up his phone. Remember what I said about the cops!"

"I'm here, Clif," I laughed, elated to hear my friend's voice. "Listen, I have a lot to tell you, but is your offer to move in still good? Looks like I'm going to need a place to stay."