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Reid's POV

A month passed by quickly, it was almost time for Thanksgiving. Dakota had been happy lately with the baseball team and so was I. 

We parted ways after our psychology class and I kissed him.

"Meet at the car at two, right?"

"Mhmm." He hummed, squeezing my hand before walking away.

I began walking to my class and I felt someone grab my shoulder. I turned around quickly and saw that stupid guy who was messing with Dakota.

I glared at him and pushed him back.

"You have five seconds to get away from me." His eyes widened and he put his hands up in surrender.

"Please, I don't want any trouble. I just have some questions." I stared at him, sighing.

"Two minutes."

"That's all I need. How did you know you were gay?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I... just liked Dakota. There's no lying about it. He made me happy, if I felt alone, he made me feel like I wasn't. Now, I love him and I'd do anything for him." He nodded, looking away. "Are you... going through something like that?" His eyes widened again and he shook his head.

"No! No, I'm not gay!" I shrugged.

"You don't have to be gay to like someone." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Look, I'm really sorry about hurting Dakota. I've had a bad experience with gay people. Now... I'm just going through something and rethinking everything. But I'm not gay!"

"Whatever man. There's nothing wrong with loving a guy. You do what makes you happy." He stared off in the distance, smiling a little. "I've got a class to get to. Good luck." I turned and left.

"Thank you." He yelled after me.

I shook my head, damn, Dakota was right. The guy was gay. I smiled a little, spread the gay huh?

I went to the rest of my classes and met Dakota at the end of the day.

"Hey, you were right about that guy, by the way."

"What guy?" He asked me, confused.

"The guy, Dakota. The asshole who was messing with you. He's gay." He grinned widely.

"That's great! How do you know?"

"Well, he didn't say he was gay. But he asked me how I knew I was. And he apologized for hurting you."

"That's nice. I wish I could help him." I glanced at him to see him roll his eyes.

"Dakota, I don't think that's the best."

"I didn't say I was gonna do it. I said I wished. By the way, his name's Garret."

"Whatever." I said, shrugging.

~

"Reid! Guess what?" Dakota said excitedly, one day after practice.

"What?" I looked behind him and saw Garret holding a guy's hand.

My eyes widened and Dakota smiled widely.

They walked towards us and stopped.

"Thanks for helping me realize." He said nervously. "I-I really feel bad for all I've done to Dakota... to say that I'm the same and I like a guy." He looked at the boy next to him. "I'm glad you helped me realize it wasn't bad to like Ethan." The guy, I'm guessing his name was Ethan, smiled.

"I'm glad you've realized it." I told him, giving him a small smile. Dakota yelped excitedly and grabbed my hand.

"You guys wanna go eat with us?" Dakota said, surprising me. I didn't even know we were going to eat.

"Uhh..." Garret said. I think he was still afraid to be out. Ethan looked at him expectantly.

"I'll just cook and we can eat at Dakota's." Dakota rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you guys can come to our house. Reid is a great cook. We can watch a movie." Garret let a breath and nodded.

"I'm fine with that." Ethan smiled wildly.

"Great! We'll follow you." We got into our car and they got into theirs. Dakota sighed happily and grabbed my hand.

"I'm so happy Ethan is happy. Not to mention it's with Garret! It's great that he's realized it's okay. Today's a good day Reid, don't you think? We're making some new gay friends." I laughed, agreeing with him.

"Yeah... it is good. It's great actually. But what am I supposed to cook?"

"I don't know, whatever you want."

"What if they don't like it?" I asked him, which could be true.

"We'll just ask them when we get there babe." I nodded. It actually was nice to make more friends. I did like the friends I had made since coming, but it wouldn't be a bad thing to have more. I also needed to meet more of the people on Dakota's team seeing as he's with them most of the time.

We got out when we got there and I noticed Garret was still shaky. I wondered if he was actually out.

We went inside the house and Dakota pulled Ethan to the living room to pick a movie. I looked at Garret.

"Can you cook?"

"Uhh, yeah." I nodded towards the kitchen and he followed me.

"What are you thinking of eating? Anything in particular you or Ethan don't like?" He shrugged.

"Ethan hates onions."

"Gotcha. So, do you think a pasta would be fine?"

"Yeah, we like that." I nodded. I'd just make spaghetti. It was quick and everyone usually likes that.

"Are you and Ethan out?" He shrugged.

"Mostly. I just get scared."

"Scared that someone will do the same thing you did to Dakota to you and Ethan?"

"Yeah." He mumbled. "My dad's gay, and my step father is homophobic. He raised me. And he always beat me, telling me he doesn't want me to be like my father... My mom didn't care. I've just got back into contact with my dad. I'm starting to be okay with myself and... the fact that I've been in love with Ethan." I was shocked.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He shrugged:

"Everything's getting better. I'm learning. I'm just glad I figured it out. I'm glad I didn't have to lose Ethan, even if I did lose baseball. At least I can watch him play." I nodded.

"I get what you mean. Dakota makes everything better." He nodded and stared off in the distance.

"He's a fighter. Even when I was an asshole, he still tried to beat my ass back. He was just as strong as me and he was the one being bullied. He never backed down."

"That's my boy."

"We found a movie!" I heard Dakota say, coming into the kitchen.

"Great, what movie?" They looked at each other and grinned.

"Call me by your name." I raised my eyebrow.

"Is that that gay movie?" They nodded quickly.

"Of course it is." Garret mumbled. "I guess I don't mind it."

"It's a good movie, don't worry." Ethan said, smiling. "It's nice to see you boys get along." Dakota nodded quickly.

"Yup! I'm hungry." I laughed at him and shook my head.

"We're making spaghetti. It won't take too long."

"Alright. So, Dakota, back to this conversation. You don't think Brady is gay?"

"We can't all be gay Ethan. I think he's just nice and supportive. His little brother is gay."

"That's sweet. I just wanted him to be gay."

"Why?" Garret asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Not because I like him G. Being gay is just great." I laughed a little.

"If you're talking about your captain I don't think he is either."

"Well damn." Ethan said. "Oh well. Anyway, where are your parents Dakota?"

"They're at work. They don't care about you guys coming over." I smiled, over the last few months I've grown even closer to Mr. and Mrs. Shea. I was beginning to love them like my own.

"They're supportive?" Garret asked.

"The most supportive." I said. They looked at me.

"What about your parents Reid?" Ethan asked me. I froze, no ones asked me about my dad in a long time. I sighed and I felt Dakota's hand on my back.

"I don't think we should talk about that." He told them.

"They both died. My mother when I was younger, my dad over the summer." Their mouths dropped and I ignored it, turning to cook. "He was supportive though. He loved Dakota." I smiled, and Dakota rubbed my back. "Since then, I've been here with Mr. and Mrs. Shea have taken care of me like their own."

"And I thought my life was shitty." Garret mumbled. Ethan smacked his arm.

"Shut up." I laughed and shook my head.

"It's fine and I mean you can't compare your life to mine. We're different people."

"Hmm, I never thought of that."

"The sauce is mostly done, now we just have to wait for the noodles." I said, leaning back on the counter.

The night was actually nice. They were good people, just as Dakota said.

Soon, the four of us became the best of friends.

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