TOM
BEAU

"Beau? What's
up?"

"Ah, you sound
tired, did I wake
you up?"

"Did you
seriously ask
me if you woke
me up? It's two
in the morning
for you! Not to
mention you've
been M.I.A for
a week! Were
you ignoring me?"

"No, no! Just,
you know
how I said
last week that
I have bad
days sometimes?"

"Yeah?"

"Those bad
days are more
like bad weeks,
bad months, you
get my point."

"What are you
saying?"

"Fuck, what
did I get myself
into?"

"Hey, you
called me."

"Fair, fair. Um,
well, when I was
seventeen I
realized I was
gay. I told my
parents, my
dad didn't like it.
One night he told
my mom that it
was him or me.
He left the
three of us because
of me. Because of
me, Tom! A-after that,
I just, I didn't talk
to anyone, not even
cole or levi. I didn't
get out of
bed somedays, I just
didn't live because
I always had
this dark cloud
over my head. It was
diagnosed a little
bit before I turned
eighteen."

"You cover
it up well. I
never would've
known. Is that
why you're so
messed up over
that boy?"

"Maybe? I don't
really know. This
is just one of
my biggest moods
in a long time! I
thought I was
getting better, I had
a lower dosage
for my antidepressants,
I didn't need to
see my therapist
as often, I was good!
And then—"

"Then it
hit you?"

"It hit me
so hard and
I just— I
needed to tell
you. I couldn't do
it over text,
it didn't feel
right."

"Does this feel
right?"

"Yeah, yeah it
does. Thank you,
Tom."

"It's nothing, Beau.
Go to bed, you
sound like you
need to."

"Rude."

"Shut up.
Goodnight,
loser."

"Goodnight,
love you."

Beau cursed himself as he
hung up the phone. Leave it
to his sleep deprived self
to fuck everything up.