Joe had gotten a call later that evening from his mother, who wanted him to be home soon. Sav didn't want to let him go and tried to talk him into staying the night, but Joe knew his mum. She was cool with almost everything, but sleeping at other people's houses during the week when they had to be at school again the next morning was something she saw as critical. So Joe eventually said goodbye to his boyfriend with another kiss to his lush rosy lips, making his way back to the bus station and waiting for the next bus to bring him home. His head was still in the clouds because of the things that had happened that day, so he didn't directly notice the group of teens walking strictly towards him. Only when they were about a meter away from him, he eventually got suspicious. Looking up, he was greeted by some familiar faces. They were the jocks that had wanted to beat Sav in the changing room the other day. And the evil sneer on their faces told him directly that they were up to no good.

"Look who's there! Elliott, the gay motherfucker!", the biggest one exclaimed, and the rest of his group laughed heartily, Joe feeling his cheeks heating up and panic creep into his eyes. He started to move backward, but only encountered the wall of the bus stop beneath his sweaty palms on his journey. He was screwed. The big one in the front, captain of the rugby team finally stepped forward, grabbing him by his collar and making the back of his head hit the cold wall behind him.

"You're gonna pay, Elliott, and afterward, he will, too", he hissed and a cold shiver raced down his spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand in horror.

"N-no, please..."

"Aw, look how he's begging!", the rugby captain said again, the group of jocks behind him laughing again, no one making any sort of move to rescue the poor teen.

"Just... just leave him alone, please..."

"Aw, look what dumb love makes you do! But as you wish, then you get the double load. It's been too long since I've beaten someone properly", he replied with an evil grin, landing a sucker punch in Joe's stomach and making him double over in pain. But he was startled as he heard a loud female voice.

"STOP!! Stop it, right now!"

Forcing himself to raise his gaze, Joe was met by the sight of a young brunette woman in a leather jacket, pushing her way through the group of jocks. The rugby captain had turned around in obvious surprise, leaving Joe in peace for the moment being.

"What is your problem, Warren? Beating up kids that you don't even know properly again? It's simply embarrassing, you know?", the woman spit out in a strong and disgusted voice, shoving Warren's chest to make him step aside. Joe simply watched with wide eyes, seeing the rugby captain blushing and taking a few steps backward. Sometimes only a woman could convince an egomaniac boy to change his behavior.

"Now you're speechless, huh?"

"I-I'm not. What do you want here anyway?"

The woman only looked at him with a gaze that held so much venom in it that Warren would have been dead if looks could kill. And apparently, it made an impact, because the rugby team's captain gestured his friends to follow him and backed off, making his way down the road again and disappearing into the darkness.

"Do not try to come near him ever again, you filthy motherfucker!", the woman shouted after him, raising her middle fingers with that evil glare still on her face. But as soon as the group had disappeared from their sight, she turned to Joe again that looked at her in awe. Seeing his expression, the woman smiled softly, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Hey, what's your name? I hope he didn't hurt you that much?"

Joe took the hand and smiled shyly, finally introducing himself.

"No, they didn't, even though a well-landed sucker punch like that one is not exactly pleasant. And my name is Joe by the way, what is yours?"

"Olivia. And just for your information, the next bus is coming in about an hour. Do you want to wait that long or tell me your address so I can bring you over there with my car?"

Joe thankfully accepted the offer and told her his address, making her nod and lead him to her little car parked just a few meters away. They then rode in silence, but finally, Olivia said something again.

"Hey, I know it's none of my business, but do you wanna talk about what happened? I mean, about why Warren did this?"

Joe winced as he was addressed and looked down, playing with his fingers and trying to disguise the fact that he was close to tears due to thinking about it. But he started to talk either way.

"They tried to beat me up because I've got a boyfriend and am not ashamed of it."

Olivia looked over at him with shock in her eyes at that, carefully placing one hand on his shoulder while driving.

"How can anyone do something like that? To beat someone because of their sexuality, that's disgusting! No one should be afraid to show his or her feelings! If I meet that motherfucker again...", she then said, Joe smiling wanly at her with the sadness still in his eyes. At least she didn't think too that same-sex love was a sin.

"Tell that to those guys. They're the biggest homophobes I know. They almost beat up my boyfriend even before we were together because he apparently 'looked like a queer'. And by the way, how do you know Warren? Did you meet beforehand?"

"Yeah, he was one of my best friends in elementary school. He told me he liked me in that specific way and I ditched him. I told him we could still be friends but that I wasn't interested in anything more than friendship with him. After that, he discovered that aggressive side in him. He started to randomly beat up kids and let out his aggression that way. I believe he needed to feel superior and better than others, and to this day I'm not quite sure if it was the cause of me telling him I wasn't in love with him. He was such a great friend beforehand and to this day, he has never tried to be violent towards me."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It's good to see that he has a good side to him too, but I believe I will never be able to consider him a friendly person in my whole life. Not when he tried to beat up the nicest and most innocent guy I have ever met and given my heart to."

Olivia just nodded in understanding, finally stopping the car and Joe noticed, that they had reached his house already. Turning to Olivia again, he sent her the best smile he could manage before thanking her again.

"No problem, like I said before. You needed help and there was just no way I would leave you there all alone and not help. Maybe we'll see each other again some time, but until then, be careful and don't ever get persuaded that you shouldn't live out your feelings. And maybe try to keep a distance from Warren."

With that, she let him go and leave the car, Joe doing so with another smile at her and waving until the car disappeared from his sight. And as soon as he rang the doorbell, his mother opened it, just like he had predicted.

"Honey! Come in!", she exclaimed with a smile and gestured him to enter, what he did, and led him to the kitchen after closing the door. Joe was still caught up in his thoughts and didn't react immediately as she told him to sit down and eat something, so she gazed at him with a suspicious frown on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing", Joe lied, lowering his gaze and quickly taking a seat to not raise even more suspicion. Apparently, all that he did was the inverse because his mother sat down in front of him and pinned him with her gaze, worry etched onto her features.

"Joseph", she warned, knowing him too well to misinterpret his actions. There was something he wasn't telling her. And she didn't like it.

"Please just let it go, I don't wanna talk about it", her son pleaded with a begging look in his green eyes as he raised them upwards to meet hers. Cynthia soothingly took his hands in hers and examined him slowly, taking in the battle of emotions in his eyes and the slight fear given off by his slumped shoulders and slightly ducked head. The concern in her eyes just got more evident.

"Something happened at school? Did you write a bad exam?"

Joe just shook his head, his gaze lowering again and uncomfortably jumping back and forth between the table's plain surface and his trembling hands that were being held by his mother's slightly tinier ones. He wasn't sure if he should tell her so soon but on the other hand, she was his mother that worried about him so much that she wouldn't be able to sleep well if he didn't tell her. And he couldn't do that to her. But after a while of silence, she took the words he was about to say right out of his mouth.

"Is it something concerning this new friend of yours, that Savage boy? Did he do something to you?"

"Well, you could put it that way, yeah", he sighed and his mother looked at him in confusion at that response. She couldn't picture that cute and modest boy that had visited them just two days ago beating her son or hurting him in any other way. Especially not after she had seen the dynamics between them, it seemed to her that Joe got along with him in an even better way than he did with Steve.

"I don't understand, what did he do to you, honey?", she asked and her son gulped, knowing it would be hard to say those next few words. But he had to, she was his mother after all. And he was her only child that she loved unconditionally and therefore he was sure she wouldn't abandon him or something.

"He stole my heart, mum. And I believe I will never be able to get it back."

There was silence for a few moments. Joe couldn't bring himself to look into his mother's eyes, he dreaded the simple option to see disgust and disappointment on her face. But as he finally looked up he was met by a small smile instead.

"Somehow I knew it. I could tell by the way you behaved on Saturday. But don't be sad, I'm sure it's not one-sided, he was quite obvious about what he thought about you as well", she finally said and Joe lowered his head with a chuckle.

"Well, I know he likes me back. We're a couple if you like to put it that way", he finally replied, his mother gazing at him with surprise on her face. She obviously didn't expect that one.

"I'm happy for you, honey. You deserve to experience what it's like to be with someone you love."

Joe thankfully squeezed his mother's hands at that, a blush invading his face and a smile painting itself onto his lips. He was so glad to be accepted and to hear it confirmed even though he had guessed it would be that way right from the start.

"Are you going to tell dad about it?", he asked cautiously after a while, indirectly wanting to know if his mother thought he would be okay with the confession.

"No, honey. I don't think he would take it as smoothly as I do, he would need much more time to accept the situation as it is. He'll eventually find out either way I believe, but don't try to force it to be so soon. But generally, I'd say that he has nothing against homosexuality, his cousin is gay after all and he still likes him and holds the contact."

Joe just nodded at that and withdrew his hands from his mother's grasp, tucking a strand of his wild dark curls behind his ear and afterward looking at his mother again. The latter had stood up with a smile, ruffling one hand through his curls and placing a kiss on his forehead before walking over to the kitchen counter, picking up the plate with the bread she had prepared for her son and handing it to him.

Joe began to eat in silence, answering some questions about his day from time to time and not being able to wipe the smile off his face. He was accepted and that was all that mattered.

~~~~

Sav's mother came down into her son's room after Joe had left, finding him laying on his bed and dreamily gazing up at the ceiling while Love Of My Life by Queen was playing in the background. She already predicted that the two of them were a couple or at least more than friends, and the sight in front of her eyes was just another thing that seemed to confirm it further. But her assumption of the two of them being a couple was also one of the reasons why she went into his room.

Sav eventually noticed her and propped himself up onto his elbows, the wide and dreamy smile on his face still unable to fade. But his mother knew he wouldn't be smiling anymore after she would tell him what was on her mind.

"Hey mum, want to take a seat?"

She just nodded and went over to his bed, sitting down next to his lying form and being able to identify the obviously well-used swollen lips and the dark red mark blooming on the side of her son's neck.

"Hey darling, I just need to talk to you for a moment."

Sav attentively looked at her after those words, his innocent big blue eyes holding slight anticipation in them as he nodded slowly in agreement.

"I'm not going to talk around it and come straight to the point. I know about you and Joe."
Sav's eyes widened in slight fear at her words, his mouth opening to reply but nothing leaving his so obviously kiss-swollen lips. His mother smiled softly at that image, but she just gave him a sign that he should stay silent until she was done before continuing.

"And I want you to know that I'm okay with it, I see how happy you are with him. But I just want to warn you. Do not let it slip to your dad, okay? I've known him nearly all my life and I know how he deals with same-sex love. He'd want to separate you from Joe and prohibit you to see him anymore. Hell, I don't know if he would go even further. So, what I'm trying to say is, don't tell him or live it out whenever he's around. Apart from that, I believe there should be no issue with this whole situation."

Her son was silent after she had finished, his smile had disappeared and an insecure expression having formed on his face instead. He wasn't sure what to say or what to think because of those words, but they sure felt like a stab to his heart. His own dad wouldn't appreciate it if he found the love of his life in a person the same gender as him. His own father would be disappointed in him if he found out and he would even try to spoil his luck and happiness by interfering and separating him from Joe. Being separated from Joe, he got sick just thinking about it.

His mother noticed his loss of words and carefully embraced him into the warm hug only a mother could provide, feeling how his lean body started to tremble slightly and how he took deep breaths while holding onto her back.

"I'm so sorry about that, but I'm sure it'll be alright", she whispered soothingly, gently running a hand through her youngest son's hair and carefully rocking him in her arms in the way she had always done when he had been little. Sav sniffled slightly as his emotions finally got the better of him and his mother held on for as long as he needed her to. After a while they parted from the embrace and Sav was greeted by a low whine and a lick through his face, only then taking notice of Lucy, who had climbed onto the bed next to him.

With a wan smile, he started stroking her soft fur, closing his eyes and erasing every bad thought from his mind. Thinking of Joe again, he just knew it was going to be alright. Man, it had to work out if the love ran as deep as it did.