Benji stared at his little brother, unable to believe the words that were coming from Joel�s mouth. -My baby brother has feelings for Paul... A guy, the same sex as him... This has to be a sick joke,- Benji thought to himself. He looked at Joel�s eyes, hoping to find some glint of laughter to prove this was just a sick joke, but when he noticed he was feeling fear & shame, he knew it wasn�t a joke at all. He realized then that what his brother was saying was true & that he was afraid & ashamed of what he was saying. When Joel was done talking, Benji locked eyes with him, trying to think of what to say.
�Benji?� Joel�s voice was so scared, & yet so calm. �Benji, please say something to me,� Joel pleaded, his chest getting tight from the fear that he felt.
�Wh-What do you want me to say Joel?� Benji finally asked as he ran his hand over his short hair. �You, you�re gay. What do I say to that? I mean, come on Joel, you�re a flaming fag. How could you be gay Joel?�
�What do you mean how can I be gay? It�s not something I can help Benji,� Joel said. �It�s not like I can just snap my fingers be un-gay. And quit acting like I�m betraying you.�
�But you are. You are betraying me!� benji said, his voice raising slightly. �And you told Billy before you even thought of telling me! Were you even going to let me know at all?�
By now Billy wanted to hold Joel, who looked like he was going to cry because of Benji�s harsh words. Billy looked at the doorway to see the very small crowd that had gathered due to Benji raising his voice. �Benj, I think you & Joel should talk about this in your own home. You know, some place more private.�
Benji looked at Billy before he looked at Joel with an unreadable look. He turned & pushed through everyone that had witnessed the butt end of the scene before he walked out of the house, slamming the door behind himself.
-+-+-+-+-
Billy held Joel close to him, rubbing his back softly as he cried into his chest. It had been an hour since Benji left & Joel was still hurt over what his brother, his own flesh & blood, said to him. Billy couldn�t believe how cruel Benji had been to his brother when Joel came out to him without hesitation. -He shouldn�t have been so harsh,- he thought to himself as Joel shook in his arms. The two were laying on the couch, Joel on top of Billy since it seemed to provide some kind of weird comfort.
�Sh, it�ll turn out okay Joelers,� Billy whispered to his friend. �Benj will come to his senses & end up feeling awful for how he treated you today. I know Benji just as well as you do, so even you should know that he can�t hate his little baby brother.�
�He does hate me,� Joel whimpered. �I could feel it from the look he gave me before he left. He never wants to see me again.�
Billy frowned when he heard this. -Benji, how cold you do this to your poor little brother?- He thought to himself as he ran his fingers through Joel�s hair.
-+-+-+-+-
-+-One Week Later-+-
Billy ran his fingers through his hair as he walked around the neighborhood with Tisha by his side, talking about things that had been going on for her during the week they had been apart from each other. He listened closely to her, intrigued by how much seemed to go on in his new friend�s life when she wasn�t busy helping out others.
�Anyway, that�s about it,� she said with a smile. �So, what do you think of my week?�
�Sounds exhausting,� he answered with a small smile.
Tisha noticed the dark circles under his eyes & the haze that covered his eyes. She cocked an eyebrow at him. �Billy, what�s wrong?� He looked at her, caught off guard a little by the sudden question. �You seem so dazed today & you�ve barely been smiling. Wanna talk about it?�
Billy bit the side of his lower lip softly, silently debating whether or not he should talk to her about what�s been going on with his friends.
�You don�t have to tell me if you don�t want to,� she said as she snaked her arm around his waist. �I�m just worried about my friend.�
�Thank you for worrying about Tish... It�s nice to have some friend who�s not thinking about how to hate another friend of yours just because that friend ended up being gay & having a crush on another friend in your little friend �clique.��
�So that�s what�s going on.�
�Yea. My friend�s are fighting because one is gay & the other feels betrayed just because he�s gay & told me first. Hell, if I were him, I wouldn�t have told the asshole I was gay at all. I�ve seen the way he is with gay people & now that our friend is gay & has a crush on someone in our little �clique,� he hates him & has been ignoring him for a little over a week now.�
�Well that�s not very nice... Billy?�
�Hm?� The two stopped walking & turned to face each other.
�If I take a guess as to who the people are, will you tell me if I promise to keep my mouth shut?� Billy looked at her for a few seconds, debating once more before he nodded. �Okay um... Feeling betrayed because he�s gay?� A nod from Billy. �Um, is this dealing with the twins?� Another nod. �Okay. Um, Joel is gay & Benji is mad because he told you first?� Two slow nods. �I can�t figure out who Joel has a crush on so I�m not gonna guess on that one... So Benji is being a dick to Joel just because he�s gay & told you first?�
�Exactly. And the fact that Joel has a crush on someone in the group doesn�t help any either... By the way. How could you tell it was the twins?�
�Even true friends don�t feel betrayed by the other if one of them ends up being gay. But if it�s someone you�ve grown up with your whole life, say a sibling of some sort, it�s more understandable because you think you know this person so well. But when something changes about them or something adds onto them, you get mad because you think they felt like this all along & didn�t say anything. But what you don�t consider is how the person might really feel from all of this.�
�Damn you�re good.�
�Psychology dear Billy, psychology,� Tisha said with a laugh as the two began walking again, talking about other things that were going on with Billy lately.