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Chapter 21

Gale's father probably would've beaten me to a pulp if Danny and my dad hadn't been there. He was yelling and spitting, cursing up a storm when he arrived at the hospital, and hadn't stopped since. We were seated in the waiting room after hospital staff nearly snatched Gale out of my arms and disappeared. My mother sat beside Mrs. Woods, who just ignored him, to distraught and worried to deal with her husband's ranting. Ashton had his ear buds in, having already anticipated the chaos, and Shannon was on her way with Hayley.

"You will NEVER see him again!" He boomed, veins bulging in his neck, his face a harsh red. Most of the people in the waiting room were staring as if he had lost his mind, which in my opinion, he had. I hardly cared about what he said or did to me. As long as Gale's is okay, nothing he says to me matters.

"This is your fault!" He snapped at me, slowly moving towards me. "I don't want to see you! I don't want to hear about you! I don't want-

"Will you shut up?" We all turned as Shannon strode into the room wearing large sunglasses and red stilettos that clicked against the tile, immediately commanding attention. Hayley followed behind her, talking rapidly on the phone. Trailing behind her was Soren, looking more grim than usual.

"Excuse me?" He said in disbelief.

"You're excused." Shannon replied. His face grew red again.

"Now you listen here, young lady-

"No, you listen to me." She barked. "I'm tired of listening to you tell people what to do and blame others for what you've done to drive Gale away. You are completely oblivious to the fact that he is afraid to come home and his more comfortable around people he has just met. Does that even bother you?"

Gale's father opened his mouth to speak, but Shannon cut him off.

"Well, it should. Gale won't change. There is no other way to say it. And if it doesn't take a visit to the hospital to convince you, I don't know what will. And if you truly love Gale, then you will regret turning your back on him. This will tear your family apart if you let it. And even if you do, Gale will still be gay."

The entire room had gone silent. Even other families were speechless, intently latching on to Shannon’s every word. We were so occupied by the speech that no one noticed the nurse come through the double doors until she cleared her throat and approached us. We all stood anxiously.

"Is he alright?" Gale's mother asked and the nurse nodded. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

"If it weren't for his Epipen, your son could've been in a situation a lot more severe." The nurse said, and Mrs. Woods frowned.

"EpiPen? Gale doesn't have his Epipen, I do." She said, rummaging in her large pink purse before withdrawing it. "Where did he get an EpiPen?"

"I have one." I said, and his parents paused, surprised. My mom was diagnosed with a peanut allergy a few years ago when a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sent her to the hospital. Turns out, she is allergic to jelly, not peanut butter, so the EpiPen she owned was no longer useful. "It used to be my mom's, so I kept it in my car."

"Why?" Tobias asked. I had almost forgotten he was here.

"For safety?" I answered, but it sounded more like a question. "I don't know. I just figured that since Gale's coconut allergy symptoms are similar to those of a nut allergy, the Epipen would work in the same way. Narrow the blood vessels and allow oxygen to travel faster through the lungs. Then I had to Google a tutorial because it is a LOT more complex than it looks, trust me. I mean, they are really specific about it. And then I practiced on that guy from the leadership committee, Desmond Choa, and he gave me tips. Did you know that if you inject the needle into your ass-

"Jasper!" My mom interrupted me, but Mrs. Woods dismissed it with a dazed wave of her hand. She observed me thoughtfully before raising an eyebrow.

"You did all that?" She asked and I shrugged, trying to ignore the slight blush that lit across my face. "Why?"

"It's Gale." I replied. "He's worth it." Mrs. Woods nodded, frowning, and Mr. Woods was silent. To make matters worse, Shannon and Hayley awed simultaneously. I groaned and directed my attention back to the nurse who we had all but completely ignored. She smiled kindly and continued.

"He should be okay to leave as soon as we get the all clear from his doctor. Would you like to see him?" We all nodded and followed her to his room number. To avoid overwhelming him, we settled with three people or less at a time. I went in first with Shannon and Hayley.

Gale was resting in a large hospital bed, still a little pale from the turmoil. He smiled at me weakly and patted the empty spot on the bed. I sank down next to him and wrapped my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked frantically. "How are you feeling? Are you still having trouble breathing?" Instead of answering, Gale leaned forward and kissed me softly, but passionately. I immediately kissed him back, careful not to do anything that could hurt him. 

"So...we're just going to go..." Shannon and Hayley slipped out of the room. Gale pulled back for air, before capturing my mouth again. Put off by the uncharacteristic way and clung to me, I broke the kiss.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked softly whispering. Gale bit his lip and leaned into the crook of my neck.

I will never see you again, he signed. My parents will never let us be together after this.

"Maybe my parents can talk to them for us?" I already knew that there was a fat chance my parents would be able to change their minds. It is possible that my dad could reason with Gale's mom, but there was no way his dad would be okay with us. And I love my mom, but her vibrant personality would probably paralyze them. Besides, people don't just abandon their opinions on something as controversial as being gay. 

Maybe, Gale signed, his eyes downcast. But if not, I love you.

"I love you too."

A loud knock interrupted us and we looked up to see Tobias leaning against the doorway.

"Can we have a minute?" He asked and I nodded, giving Gale one last kiss. For all we know, it could be our last.

Gale's POV

Tobias shut the door behind Jasper before taking a seat next to the bed and medical equipment. He let out a deep sigh before looking up, and for the first time in God knows how long, Tobias was smiling. His smile was a little crooked, granted, and you could see that he wasn't sure about it, but it was there. And that's what counted. Hesitantly, I smiled back.

"Look, can I just be honest?" Tobias tiredly, fingers poised on his forehead. I gestured for him to go on. "I met someone. We met at a football game and I think I love her. She probably has no idea...but that's not the point. The point is, when I was spending time with her and got to know her better, she told me she had a gay younger brother. I thought it was gross and asked her how she was okay with it. Turns out, he died.

He was hit by a drunk driver walking home from school. The school that bullied him and made his life hell. And you know the worst part? Carla wasted so much time telling him being gay was wrong and trying to change him that she never got to tell him how much she loved him. He died, thinking that his family hated him, and that he was wrong and disgusting. And that scared me, because if anything were to ever happen to you, I wouldn't want you to think I hated you, because I don't."

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Try flabbergasted. I had not heard Tobias say so much since I was in seventh grade. Around eighth grade, he wasn't around much, and by freshman year, he hated me. Or so I thought. Tobias stared straight ahead. I knew how hard this was for him. Tobias is tough. He doesn't take shit from anyone and he hardly ever apologizes, especially to me. I think he's afraid to look weak.

I thought you hated me, I signed. Tobias finally shook his head and sighed.

"No, I don't." He said. "I just...wish you could find a sweet brunette to be with."

I did, I signed, smiling. Tobias groaned and glared at the closed door, where I'm sure Jasper was waiting. For some reason, Tobias despises him with a passion, although I obviously cannot see why. I think Jasper is amazing.

"Ugh. I hate him. He's annoying, scatter-brained, and irritatingly bubbly." He seethed, and then took a deep breath. "But if...if he makes you happy, then fine." 

I stared at him, jaw dropped.

Excuse me, what?, I signed.

"I said that if he makes you happy, then...fine." He said, then fake gagged and shuddered. I grinned and tackled Tobias into a hug, nearly knocking him out of his chair. He rolled his eyes and pushed me away.

"Alright, alright, enough." He said, flustered and probably embarrassed. "God. Look, I will talk to Mom, but don't get your hopes up. You know how she is." I nodded enthusiastically.

Thank you, Tobias, I signed. I love you.

"Yeah, this is getting weird." He said, clearing is throat awkwardly as he stood. "I'm leaving." 

-

Dedicated to Fading_Stars9 for supporting this story and adding it to your Best BoyxBoy Books EVER list! You have no idea how much I appreciate the shout out :)

This was going to be longer, but I the next part would be in Tobias POV and I hate changing point of view with three different people in a chapter. Therefore, the next chapter will be in Tobias POV and it should be coming soon :) I'm sorry I haven't been around a lot but school is kicking my ass and I'm recovering from a bad case of writer's block. :( Luckily, I am back!

So I have two one shots I'm working on for my One-shot Storybook. One is called Finally, which will be posted first, and then the other is My Handsome Mr. Nerd, an awesome request I received recently! Thank God, I've got my mojo back

Gale's Mom, Mrs. Woods---------------------------------->

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