When I went to the bathroom to wash my face I got a chance to take a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror but the person who was staring at me from the other side seemed like a stranger to me. I had no idea who he was or what he wanted. He looked like me but he wasn't me.

I was lost...

Why? Because I felt so heartbroken but it wasn't a partner who broke my heart, it was my parents. It would have been so much easier if my significant other was the reason of my despair. In that case it would be possible to move on because I would be able to break up with them and find someone else.

But I can't replace my parents no matter what I do. I'm stuck with whatever I got.

I'm not even sure why I'm ranting about this. It doesn't even matter how hard I try to convince them. I guess some people will never change.

Maybe that's for the best though. When I was in my grandma's town I still had a slight glimpse of hope that someday I would be able to resolve our conflict and have a civilized relationship with my parents. Now that hope is gone. I won't feel bad because of them anymore.

I tried... I gave them a chance... What else can I do?

I'm sick and tired of feeling so hopeless all the time. Starting today I will never be so weak anymore! I won't let anyone who is unworthy get close to my heart ever again.

I end up getting hurt in the end because of them but they don't even care. From now on neither will I!

I dried my hands once I was done looking at myself in the mirror and left the bathroom. Once I closed the door I started walking towards the waiting room but I immediately stopped and froze on the spot when I saw a familiar boy standing in front of me.

My hands started shaking but I didn't move. After what I had just told myself a few seconds ago I couldn't back out no matter how scared I was.

"Didn't I make it clear that you couldn't come back here anymore? I'll try to be more specific now..." My cousin Dylan spoke up when our eyes met.

He came close to me without breaking the eye contact and forcefully tried to drag me outside. I quickly got rid of his hand from my arm and just followed him without making a fuss because I also wanted to talk to him about something. I knew it might have been quite reckless of me to willfully go with him when he was practically luring me in his trap but I was too angry to think straight.

My cousin suddenly grabbed onto my shirt near my neck to intimidate me once we were already out of the hospital building.

"Don't touch me, you might turn gay..." I made a sarcastic comment before chuckling wickedly which made Dylan quite uncomfortable. "Boo!" I opened my eyes wider to frighten him even more and he actually backed away.

"Ugh..." He growled with fury and took a defensive posture. "How dare you talk nonsense..."

"How unpleasant..." I talked to myself but it was loud enough so he could also hear it. "What do you even want? I'm only here to see my father. This doesn't concern you. I'll leave as soon as I can. Don't worry, I'm not all that excited about our encounter either."

"I just don't like the fact that I might be associated with a fag..." Dylan grumbled, I suppose because he wanted to hurt me. Little did he know his words meant nothing to me ever since that day he threw our friendship away.

"Well I don't like the fact that my cousin is a fucking moron... I guess we'll both have to deal with it somehow." I tried to sound unbothered.

"Listen to me, dumbass, if I ever see your face again..." Dylan started ranting but I was so done with him that I had to cut him off or I would've probably fallen asleep.

"No, I'm done listening to you. Now it's your turn to hear me out!" I stated with a demanding tone. "I don't give a shit about you or your opinion. I already have too many things to worry about and I definitely don't need some twat reading me a lecture about my life. The fact that I'm gay doesn't change anything. I'm still the same me I was before you found out about my sexuality and if you can't accept that then you can go and fuck yourself." I paused for a moment to inhale and once I calmed down a little I continued. "But if you ever come to your senses and realize you did something wrong you know where to find me. I will accept your apology but not because I forgive you. I just don't want you to be stuck in the past because I know how hard it is to be a prisoner of your own memories. Goodbye now. Have a great life."

I started walking away from him but then I suddenly remembered what I wanted to do for a long time so I stopped and turned around.

"Oh, I almost forgot I owed you something and I really don't like feeling indebted." I closed the distance between us with a few swift steps and clenched my fist. Then I rose my hand and punched my cousin in the face which was super painful but the adrenaline made me completely forget about everything else. "Now we're even!"

I closed my eyes for a brief moment and once I opened them while simultaneously exhaling I felt so refreshed, like I was being reborn or something. Then I left Dylan who was just standing there with his fingers coming into contact with his lower lip, looking like he had just seen a ghost.

Strangely I wasn't feeling apologetic towards him anymore even though I had just punched him. I suppose I was holding a grudge for way too long and I just needed to let it out of my system. Thankfully I also lost the feeling of resentment towards him which was relieving because I didn't want to carry around this much hate in my heart. I knew his lip would soon heal just like the wounds he caused me faded away gradually so I decided to ignore my conscience for now.

Once I returned in the waiting room I saw my grandmother who seemed a little preoccupied. When I walked closer to her our eyes connected and she offered me a sad smile and got up from her chair.

"Where have you been? Did something happen? You look a little distracted, sweetheart." She asked with a concerned voice.

"I could say the same to you." I tried to shift the attention from myself because I didn't want to mention about my reunion with Dylan which wasn't exactly the most gratifying experience.

"Ugh..." Grandma hesitated for a moment before adding something else. "Actually I wanted to ask you if it would be okay for me to leave you. I wanted to go and find Veronica so I can get her to sign the adoption papers. She stormed out when she left your father's room and I couldn't stop her. I'll be back really soon."

"Oh, okay." I nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay on your own? I truly don't want to leave you alone but I'm afraid that things will get even more complicated later and I just want to sort this out before everything gets too chaotic." Grandmother still sounded a little doubtful.

"It's fine, grandma. Don't worry about me. I'll just stay here before you get back." I reassured her and once she was no longer uncertain she walked towards the exit.

I sat on the chair when she disappeared from my sight. For a few minutes I was completely dazed but once I regained my awareness I reached out for my phone which was in my pocket and went through the contacts. When I found the one I was looking for and I was about to press call I hesitated. My finger was so close to the screen but so far at the same time. I was unsure if it was a good idea to call that person even though my heart was telling me to do so.

Before I was able to make a decision the phone turned pitch black. It felt like I lost my chance...

But then I got startled when it suddenly started vibrating in my hand and once I looked at the screen again my heart started beating so fast when I saw the name of the person who was calling me.

It was the one I wanted to talk to...

"Hello..." After a few agonizing moments I finally picked up.

"Hey, are you okay? I heard about your dad. Where are you right now? How's your father's condition?" Once I heard Andrew's voice it felt like I was in a dream. Everything else seemed so insignificant when he spoke on the line but my moment of calmness didn't last for very long.

"I'm okay, I guess." I replied with a raspy voice. "I'm at the hospital right now and he's still in the operating room. I'm just waiting for the doctor to come out."

"Don't worry. Everything will be alright." Andrew tried to comfort me. "I'll be right there! I just need to get my keys and I'll come as soon as I can."

"No... Please, you can't come here." I panicked. "If someone sees you with me they might think you're like me and you know how this town works. If the rumor starts then your whole life will be ruined."

'I need you. I really need to be with you right now...' Those were the words I actually wanted to say. But I couldn't.

For a moment I really wanted to be selfish. Just for a second I wished to forget about everything and everyone. But the rational part of my brain wouldn't let me.

Damn you, brain!

"I don't care about that..." Andrew answered desperately because he knew my response would be the same.

"But I do." I sighed and tried to convince him. "I don't want your life to turn upside down like mine. I'll be fine..." I took a breath before adding something else. "You don't have to come here right now. I'll call you before I leave town when the situation dies down, I promise. I have to tell you something really important."

"What?" He asked with a glimpse of hope.

"I..." I opened my mouth but before I was able to say anything else I saw someone approaching me with a white coat. "The doctor is here. I... have to go."

"Oh... okay." Andrew replied and I quickly hung up the phone but then I suddenly remembered that the doctor who was doing the surgery on my father was only wearing her bluish scrub suit without the coat so I looked up to see who the person standing in front of me was.

I was momentarily shocked when I recognized Andrew's mother but then I remembered she also worked at this hospital.

"How are you feeling, Jesse?" Maura Wilson questioned me, trying to sound worried but I was quickly able to identify that there was something off about her tone.

"My father is dying. How do you think I'm feeling?" I responded with a slight hint of irony in my voice.

"I know you're probably angry with me and I don't blame you for that." Andrew's mom stated bluntly. "I realize what I did was wrong and inexcusable but I was only doing what I thought was for the best. We'll help you get back to your normal self. But you will have to fight it as well and turn away from the darkness."

"I had no idea doctors could be that stupid." I was genuinely dumbfounded with her statement. Even though she revealed my secret to everyone I didn't want to believe that she was a bad person but now I saw her true colors. "You know what, I thought you had no choice when you announced my sexuality to everyone in town but now I see that you would have done that even if you weren't blackmailed."

"No, darling, I was only looking out for you. I don't want you to..."

"Just cut to the chase. What the fuck do you want from me?" I didn't bother being polite anymore since I had no desire to act all nice and sweet in front of her.

"Okay then, let's skip the formalities." Maura finally realized I wasn't going to be fooled by her wonderfully executed performance. "Leave my son alone. Your life is already a shithole. He doesn't need to be involved in it. He will only get hurt. I know how to fix him so you stay away from him."

"Ha-ha!" I cracked a laugh before a serious expression returned on my face. "You really are the worst. You know when I met you I actually dreamed to have a mother like you but now I can see that even though my mom is horrible she's ten time better than you. You want to know why? Because she doesn't pretend to be a nice person."

"How dare you compare me to that pathetic excuse of a woman?!" Maura completely lost it when I mentioned Veronica. "You and that low-class whore are nothing compared to me and my family. This is my last warning. If you don't disappear from Andrew's life then your grandma might pay the price for your disobedience..."

"Don't even think about threatening me with your empty words! If even a single hair drops from my grandma's head I will tell everyone how your sweet husband was cheating on you with Kristen Grey." I stated uninterestedly. "I even took photos with both of them together." I lied thinking that just my words wouldn't be enough to scare her.

"How do you know about that?" Maura backed away once she realized she didn't have the upper hand.

"Can you imagine how humiliating it would be if everyone found out? Your image would be completely destroyed just like your perfect family." I poured a fuel to the fire. "Do yourself a favor and divorce him. This is not a threat. It's just an advice from one friend to another."

"How dare you mock me, you filthy peasant?!" Andrew's mother was about to explode but I was definitely not going to let her win. "You don't know anything about me."

"Exactly!" I nodded to annoy her even more. "Let's pretend like we don't even know each other. I stay quiet if you stay quiet."

"I will never give you my permission to date my son!" Maura finally spoke up after a few awkward moments of silence.

"When did I ask for it?" I teased.

"I will end you!" She started screaming.

"You and this town can all suck it!" I yelled without removing the eye contact.

"You little brat. I'll teach you manners since your parents never did!" Mrs. Wilson rose her arm in attempt to slap me so I prepared my hand in a defensive position to block it but before our skins could even touch someone stood in the middle and grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Why are you hitting him?" I heard my mother's voice who was standing right in between us. "I'm his parent, with that logic you should be slapping me. But if you really want to beat someone's child go and do that to your own son."

Before I was able to even react Veronica used her other hand and violently hit Maura in the face.

"That's for calling me a whore." My mother then let go of her wrist and slapped Maura on the other cheek. "And that is for threatening my family."

"You will pay for this! I promise you that..." Andrew's mom rose up a few moments later and silently left, realizing she couldn't make a fuss in the hospital.

"Why did you do that?" I turned to Veronica who was still standing there looking stunned.

"I..." She was practically knocked senseless so she couldn't respond.

Unfortunately I had no time to wait for her to come back to reality because I saw my father's doctor coming out of the operating room so I practically ran towards her.

"How is my father?" I quickly questioned her.

The doctor sighed and shook her head.

"I'm so sorry..."

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Jesse has dropped the mic, lol. But in all seriousness I tried to make this chapter as satisfying as I could. The next chapter will be pretty long unless I decide to split it in two parts which probably won't happen so it might take a while.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this one and thank you so much for reading.