He stood in the bedroom in front of the large mirror. A small towel wrapped around his waist covered up his bits and pieces. The index finger of his left hand traced over his chest. He pulled a disgusted face and stepped some closer to the mirror to inspect his face. His hands cupped it and he sighed.

You look disgusting. You look awful. You look ridiculous. You look like a girl. You’re so deformed that you don’t even deserve to live. No one likes you, James. No one.

‘Bullshit!’ he shouted at the reflection. ‘Charlie likes me. Charlie loves me for who I am.’

No he doesn’t. He makes you think he loves you because he pities you, James. You’re pathetic.

‘You lie!’

You know I don’t, James. It’s the truth. Just look at yourself and you’ll see that it’s the truth.

James grabbed the nearest thing and threw it at his reflection to make it stop telling him things that weren’t true. The lies. It had been hunting him since what seemed like forever. It was ripping him apart and away from Charlie. He knew it was, but he couldn’t help it. This time it was different though, because when James turned around with the tears of desperation pricking in his eyes, he was facing himself. At first he thought that he was still facing the mirror, but when he looked over his shoulder, he saw the shattered glass covering the wooden floor.

‘Just look at yourself, James. Can you see it now? You don’t deserve to live. You’re no good at anything. You’re a waste of time for Charlie. No one understands why he’s still with you.’

Something inside James snapped as he listened to the words of the familiar figure in front of him. The exact copy of himself. He was going insane. He heard voices. Saw things that weren’t there. It had to stop. His hands encircled the neck of the hallucination.

‘Go away! You’re not wanted! Go away! You don’t exist!’  he screamed while squeezed his hands tight around the neck. ‘Charlie loves me for who I am!’ he repeated. ‘And I love Charlie!’

‘James! For Christ’s sake, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?!’ James heard someone choke. His vision blurred for a small second and became clear again with the image of Charlie and James’ hands around his neck imprinted in his brain. James felt himself fall into his lover’s arms and he softly began to cry.

‘It wouldn’t go away Charlie. It wouldn’t. It was there all the time and it wouldn’t go away. It said that you don’t love me. But that’s a lie, you do love me. Right Charlie? Why was it driving me insane Charlie? Why?’

‘It was waiting for you to realize that I do love you.’