It was rare that Asher was up in time to see the sunrise. He supposed it was a pretty sight, the way the orange glow caressed the hard edges of the houses around him. It was a little cold at this hour and the light breeze was messing his hair up a little around his face. He pushed it back away from his eyes and looked down at the phone in his hand.

I'm here. — Asher

He leant up against one of the pillars of the front porch while he waited. His phone beeped a few seconds later. He knew that texting was a better idea so that he wouldn't wake up the rest of Jess's household if he rang the doorbell.

I'm coming down. — Jess  

Nervous feelings flooded his stomach like butterflies and made him feel uneasy. He pondered the idea of just running from her porch and back to his car where he could drive into the distance. He knew better than that though, he knew that he needed Jess's help and there was no way that he was going to get it if he didn't tell her the truth. She was the only one who could help him. She was the only one that he could trust.

Soon enough the front door to the small suburban house was opening and Jess stepped out. She was in her pyjamas, pink with white poka dots, and her hair was in a messy bun that seemed quite close to just sliding off of her head.

'Hey,' Asher smiled weakly, his voice low.

'Why do you need to talk to me at five in the morning?' she asked. She didn't seem exasperated, more concerned. She pushed back the hairs which had strayed from the weakly constructed bun, 'I've been worried all night.'

'I just really need to talk to you,' he told her vaguely. 'I didn't mean to make you worry.'

She shrugged, 'Calling me late at night and asking to see me at dawn is enough to make me think something is wrong. Anyway, come around back. We can sit down.'

Jess led them around the side of the house to the back. A small but neat yard was surrounded by short fences. Close to the house sat two chairs and a square table which faced the yard. Jess sat down in one of them and motioned for Asher to join her.

Jess pulled her legs up under her and pointed her attention at Asher as soon as he sat down, 'What's wrong?' she asked carefully. 'Are you in some sort of trouble?'

Asher shrugged, 'Sort of. I need your help.'

She nodded without missing a beat, 'Anything.'

That surprised Asher. He knew that Jess was a good person but it surprised him a little to see how far she would go for him. 'Before I tell you what I need your help with, I need to come clean to you about something first.'

She had worry in her eyes but she kept her expression neutral. 'Okay.'

He knew that Jess was sweet and kind and that she would never be like Maisy but there was this little part of him that worried what she would think of him after this. He was a liar, but worst of all, he had a boyfriend. He had deceived his entire school and Jess was about to find out. He hoped that she wouldn't hate him after this.

He struggled to find the words. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking very much like a fish out of water.

'Tell me,' Jess said, the worry slowly bleeding into her features. 'I'm not going to be angry. Whatever it is, just tell me.'

'I have a boyfriend,' he said so fast that it sounded like one, almost incomprehensible word.

'You have a what?' Jess leaned forwards in her seat.

The words were finally making their way to Asher's mouth. 'I have a boyfriend, his name is Danny. We have been dating for a few years and I never told anyone at school. I pretended to be straight but it was only because I know how people who are different are treated at school. I couldn't just invite people to bully me so I just pretended to be straight.'

Jess looked shocked with wide eyes and her lips slightly parted. 'All those stories about you and girls, even you and Maisy, was that a lie or are you cheating on your boyfriend too?' her words weren't accusatory but they sure felt that way to Asher.

'I would never cheat on Danny,' he told her. 'I was just trying to protect myself and its just gotten so out of hand.'

Jess covered her face with her hands for a few seconds. After she had composed herself she said; 'Okay, so you have a boyfriend named Danny and all your friends think you're straight. Why are you telling me this now? What changed?'

'I can't keep it up anymore, I need your help. Danny is transferring to our school, today. I can't let my friends find out that we are dating and I can't let Danny know about how I act at school.'

Asher could almost see the cogs in Jess's mind turning. 'Isn't he going to know right away?' she asked. 'I mean, all he would have to do is kiss you and the entire school would go crazy. He might catch on.'

Asher shook his head, 'I told him I am in the closet at school.'

'So isn't your problem solved then?' she asked. 'I mean, if he knows then no one will find out about your relationship. Your friends won't find out the truth.'

Asher looked down at his hands, 'It's not them I'm worried about. Danny knows I faked straight. Heaps of people fake straight, that's not the issue. The issue is that I have pretended to date girls on and off for the past year. People have seen me at parties, people know stories I have told. If Danny hears these things then he might..'

'Think you've been cheating on him the whole time?' Jess offered.

'Exactly.'

Jess bit at her lip, 'Is there something more?' she asked gently. 'Are you afraid that Danny will realize how much of a, well, a liar you are?'

Asher wanted to have some snarky retort to reply with but this was Jess he was speaking to. He knew that she wasn't trying to hurt him, she was trying to make him see the truth. The truth hurt. He nodded.

'I don't know what to say,' she admitted, looking torn.

'Will you help me?' Asher asked with wide eyes. He was counting on this, on her. He needed Jess otherwise it was just him protecting Danny from the truth and it was a job bigger than just him alone.

She shrugged, 'How can I help? What would I even be able to do?'

'Make friends with Danny. Keep him away from Maisy and Ivy. Tell him how crazy and untruthful the schools rumour mill is. He will believe you,' Asher explained. 'He can't find out that everyone thinks I slept with Maisy. He can't have a reason to doubt me, he can't believe the rumours.'

Jess looked away from him, 'They are only rumours because you created them.'

He pushed away the guilt that threatened to overcome him. 'Are you going to help me?'

She nodded weakly, her gaze still far away. 'I'm only doing this because I truly believe there is a good guy in there somewhere.'

'Thank-you,' he sighed.

She met his gaze and everything else seemed to go silent, 'You know that this is a band aid over a bullet hole, right? The truth will come out and it's much better if it comes from you.'

Asher had dug himself so deep that he knew any attempt to tell the truth would only lead to his own pain. He wasn't willing to risk all that he had. 'If I tell the truth Danny will hate me, not to mention my friends,' he reminded her in a low voice.  

There was a sharpness to her expression as she lent forwards, her eyes locked on his. 'You better be prepared to lose them all then because the truth won't stay hidden forever, you should prepare yourself for that.'

'I appreciate what you're going to do for me,' was all that he said in reply. He left her then and walked quickly back to his car, unable to keep on with the conversation. The possible loss of everything he cared about wasn't something he was fond of chatting about.

Asher sat with his hands gripping onto the steering wheel even though the car had been parked for over ten minutes. He knew that Danny was upset with him, even though he had said nothing, he just knew. Danny hadn't been the same exultant person he usually was and just seeing that sliver of what life could be like with the truth out had been enough to make him call Jess the night before at eleven at night pleading to meet at the early hours of the next morning.

Now, he was waiting for Danny and the wait was killing him. He just wanted them to be okay. He wanted Danny to just forgive him and accept that they couldn't be out at school. They could still be friends at school, Asher wasn't going to go crazy. They could fake straight, couldn't they? He himself had done it for ages, so it shouldn't be too hard now either.

He loosened his grip on the steering wheel and allowed himself to breathe a little easier. Danny's car pulled up next to his and Asher looked over at him with a small smile. Danny smiled back weakly. Asher slung his backpack over his shoulder and met Danny in the middle.

'I don't want us to fight. I'm sorry I was so unreasonable the other night,' Danny spat out in a hurry as he stepped up to Asher. 'I should have listened to you, I was just so excited about us being a couple at school that I didn't listen to you and that was my mistake I'm sorry.'

Guilt pooled in Asher's gut. 'Hey, don't even worry about it. Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends.'

Asher pretended not to see the way that Danny's hand subconsciously came out to link with Asher's only to then be pulled back to his side in an instant. He also pretended to miss the disappointed look in Danny's face as he realised his mistake.

He led Danny up the main stairs of the building and to Beth's locker where he knew that Beth and Chad would be. Jess would probably also be with them, which was an added benefit.

Sure enough the three of them were leaning against the lockers when Asher and Danny turned the corner. Beth smiled and waved them over.

'Hey guys,' Asher smiled at the three of them, paying close attention to Jess's expression. 'This is my friend, Danny. He's going to be joining the school as of today.'

And so two worlds collided. It was a strange sight.

Jess smiled weakly at Danny and Asher could see that it was hurting her to know that she was keeping secrets from this person she didn't even know. Beth and Chad just grinned at him.

'Hi,' Danny waved to each of them with that wide smile of his. 'I've heard so much about you guys, especially you Beth.'

Beth laughed, 'Well I wish I had heard about you,' she turned to Asher, 'And how do you two know each other?'

'Our fathers are good friends,' He told her.

'Yeah,' Danny smiled.

'Where did you move from?' Jess asked.

In a second they were in conversation about the last school that Danny had attended and how he liked the neighbourhood. It felt almost normal. Simple, easy conversations in the school hallway.

Asher looked down the hallway and saw that Ivy was there, sitting on the ground with her back pushed up against a locker as she wrote in a small leather bound book. She met his gaze and shoved the book into her bag before walking over to them. He wondered what she had been writing in those pages. Were they notes for class? Or more likely, the only candid thoughts that Ivy shared with someone, or in this case, something. If only he could catch a glimpse of what she was really thinking, the true Ivy behind the ever changing masks.

She had this little curious smile on her face and Asher had to stifle a sigh. He was trying to keep this situation under control and now he had Ivy in his business. He hadn't seen her since that night he kicked her out of his house. He didn't know what she was going to do. He had humiliated her and rejected her. Ivy wasn't going to just forget about it.

She seemed like her usual fake and cheery self when she reached them; 'Good morning everyone. Who is this?' she asked with a beaming smile.

'I'm Danny,' Danny smiled back. The image of them smiling at each other made Asher feel a little uneasy.  

'Danny's Asher's friend,' Chad told her. 'He just transferred.'

Ivy's beaming smile then had a little tinge of something else in it but no one else seemed to notice. 'Oh well, any friend of Asher's is a friend of mine.'

Asher's gaze met her's for just a second and he would swear that he saw something in them. Something dark and concocting forming behind those eyes. He didn't like it one bit.

'What was your name?' Danny asked her.

'I'm Ivy,' she told him. 'What do you have first up? I do hope we have some of the same classes.'

She was trying to get Danny alone. She wanted to talk to him, to find out more about himself, Asher assumed. This was bad. Danny wasn't a liar, Danny wasn't ready to be interrogated by Ivy. She would use whatever she had to if she could manipulate Danny into spilling something that would give her leverage over Asher.

'I'm not sure what I have. I have to pick up my timetable soon.'

Ivy nodded, 'Okay, well if you see me in a class, feel free to stick with me. I was only new here a little while ago and I know that classes are a lot better if you have someone to talk to.'

'Thank-you,' Danny smiled at her. He didn't see the manipulation behind her gesture.

'So Asher,' Beth met his gaze. 'I was thinking that we could have a party at mine this Friday for your birthday. I know you said you wanted something small but I know a party would be really fun, plus your dad can't get mad cause it's not at his house.'

Danny was seemingly very excited at the prospect of the party, 'That sounds like a great idea!' he told Asher.

Asher shrugged, 'I don't think so. I don't think I'll really do anything for my birthday this year.'

Chad tilted his head slightly, 'Who are you and what have you done with Asher? The Asher I know would jump at the chance for a wild party.'

Danny looked over at Asher curiously, a question on his lips.

Asher pushed back a sigh. His façade was already falling apart and it had been a grand total of four minutes since his worlds had collided. Thankfully, the bell for first period rang and Danny was distracted by it and didn't voice the question on his lips.

Asher knew that he had English first period with Bethany. He looked over at Jess, 'I can't be late to English. Would you be able to take Danny to the office?' he needed it to be her who took him before Ivy had the opportunity to jump in. He needed Jess to start instilling some distrust in the rumour mill before Danny heard anything,

She nodded, 'Sure.'

He was only a millisecond away from leaning over and kissing Danny goodbye. Habits like that were going to be a pain to break. The worst part was that deep down he didn't want to have to break them. He wanted to be able to kiss Danny in the hallway full of passion and love without fear. He wanted to know that he was safe in his own school and know that his spot on the team was safe, his relationships with his friends were safe, he and Danny were safe. It just wasn't a reality.

They all parted ways and Asher was relieved to see Ivy heading in the opposite direction than Danny.

The morning classes were tiresome and long, every moment Asher wondered if someone was telling Danny something about him. He imagined Danny sitting in class, minding his own business, when a couple of people in the row before him start talking about how much of a player Asher Harris was. It was the start of a slippery slope. Constant worry and anxiety plagued him during those hours and he felt like he could finally breathe again when he arrived at lunch only to have Danny send him one of those gorgeous smiles the second he saw him. 

Danny was sitting with Asher's group of friends, the only person missing was Asher himself.

'How were your first classes?' he asked Danny as he sat next to him. 'Did you get your timetable sorted out?'

He nodded, 'Jess and I got the timetable and I was only a few minutes late to my first class. I did have second period with Ivy though and she,' he looked around to make sure that no one was listening to him, 'kept asking me all these questions about you. It was strange. I didn't reveal anything but she seemed really nice otherwise. She's such a sweet girl.'

Danny who was usually so intuitive was apparently a little off of his game. 

'Yeah,' he nodded.

A few minutes later Ivy and Maisy turned up at the table, smiling their fake smiles at the group. Maisy seemed to notice Danny, 'You're new here?' she asked.

Danny nodded.

'Well, I have to say, it's nice to have some fresh blood over here,' she said flirtatiously. Maisy then squeezed herself on the other side of Danny, a little too close to him than Asher would have liked.

Danny laughed sweetly.

'We may have to fight over him for a date,' Ivy said in jest but Asher could see from Maisy's eyes that she was taking the threat more seriously than Ivy had intended.

'That is if he doesn't already have a girlfriend,' Maisy said. She turned to Danny with a smile on her face, 'So, is there a girl in your life?'

He shook his head, 'Nope, I'm actually gay.'

Asher froze. He didn't know what to do. It seemed as though the next few seconds slowed down and he looked around at everyone's expressions. He knew what he was going to see and he hated it. He couldn't believe that Danny would do this. He had told him what his friends were like, what the school was like. Danny had just put himself in the firing line and Asher didn't understand why Danny wouldn't just listen to him.

He looked at Maisy first. She was just looking at Danny with wide eyes. In fact, as Asher looked around the group there wasn't anything but wide eyed expressions. There wasn't the anger and disgust that he had been expecting. He didn't know what to think, what to say. Apparently neither did anyone else.

There was a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence in which Danny just looked as cool as a cucumber. He didn't waver under their wide eyed stares in the slightest.

'Oh,' Maisy was the first one to speak. 'Well, that's a shame.'

Beth laughed, 'I agree there.'

Chad elbowed her in jest, 'Hey.'

She just laughed back.

Then they fell back into normal conversation.

Beth was flirting with Chad in between bites of food. Maisy had pulled out her phone and was texting with quick fingers. Ivy was speaking with Leon with a half-hearted flirty smile on her lips.

There was no yelling, no screaming at Danny to leave the table, to never talk to them again. Danny wasn't being told to go sit with the outcasts in the corner.

Asher thought his head might explode. His friends had accepted what Danny had told them but maybe it was just an act, maybe the condemnation and animosity was on hold until after lunch? Asher had been so sure of what would have happened. He thought he knew his friends, his school. Was he wrong?

He pushed the thoughts from his mind, he wasn't wrong. He couldn't be wrong. He had to get Danny to change his tune. He could say he had been joking? There was a way to fix this, there had to be. Danny had to listen to him. He wasn't going to let Danny be treated like an outcast and bullied the way that he had been for so long. He refused.

He looked over at Danny but he didn't need to catch his attention, Danny had been looking at him already.

'Can we speak outside?' He asked.

'Okay.'

Asher made some excuse about Danny leaving something in his locker and he walked quickly out of the cafeteria with Danny trailing closely behind. He only stopped walking when they were outside, under the cover of a tall tree, its mix of green and yellow leaves on the ground under their feet.

There were no people around but Asher still spoke in a hushed tone, 'What are you doing?'

Danny shrugged, almost like a child in trouble. Danny wasn't allowed to look cute and innocent. Danny had gone against everything that Asher had said.

'Well?' Asher asked.

'What do you want me to say?' he asked. Apparently Danny didn't feel the need to lower his voice to a whisper as well. 'You never said I couldn't tell them I was gay. You just said you didn't want them to know you were.'

'That's a cop out and you know it,' Asher accused. He was arguing with Danny and his mind didn't even have enough time to process how sad that made him. He and Danny weren't the type of couple to argue. The only arguments they had in the past were really just joking about which movies were classics and who was better at what. They were all in fun, with smiles hidden behind laugh filled words. This wasn't like that.

'Okay fine,' Danny said. He bit at his lip. 'I was just proving that your friends aren't as closed minded at you think.'

'You need to take it back,' Asher pled with him. 'Say it was a joke. You almost make yourself a social outcast. I can protect you now but I can't protect you from the entire school if they find out. I won't let you get bullied, I won't,' he promised with resolve. He knew it was the pure truth, he would do anything to make sure that Danny was safe.

Danny ran his fingers through his hair, 'And why are you so sure that I would get bullied. Why do you have so little trust that your friends are decent human beings? You never even gave them a chance.'

Asher huffed, 'You haven't been through what I have. I know how evil people can be, how much they would hurt someone like us. I am protecting you, why can't you see that?'

Danny's head tilted slightly in confusion, 'What are you talking about?'

'What?' Asher only then realised that he had given away something that he had promised himself he would never speak to Danny about.

'What have you been through?' he asked with big eyes. 'Did something happen? Did one of your friends do something?'

'No,' Asher retorted. 'No, okay.'

Danny tried to reach out for him but Asher pulled away.

'I don't know what you are talking about and why you are so convinced that your own friends are these evil people but you need to take a look at yourself. I love you Asher but I feel like I don't even know you right now. You don't hide, you're not this paranoid person.'

'I'm not hiding, I'm not paranoid,' Asher told him harshly.

Danny's face contorted into something that looked like a mixture of pain and worry, 'From where I'm standing, that's all you are.'

Asher didn't know what to say to that. Was Danny right? Had he prematurely judged these people?

'You're not too deep, you can stop this and we can tell them together. I promise that nothing will change,' Danny told him, extending his hand. If only Danny knew the truth about how deep these lies went.

Asher wanted to take it. He wanted to wrap his fingers around Danny's and believe wholeheartedly that the world was a safe place where you were accepted and yet something stopped him. Something deep in his mind told him that he should be more careful, that he couldn't trust these people, that the only person he could trust was himself.

He didn't take Danny's hand.

'They love you, you know,' Danny told him in a soft voice as he dropped his hand back down to his side. 'Your friends, that is. They speak about you like you're their hero, their best friend. They trust you and you're lying to them. You owe it to them to come clean. Nothing bad will happen, I promise.'

Asher's mind was a jumble of thoughts and ideas. He didn't say anything to Danny.

Danny waited a few more seconds but when it was clear that Asher wasn't going to say anything he just walked inside slowly, leaving Asher outside by himself.

I can't be wrong, Asher assured himself.

He couldn't be wrong because then everything he had done was for nothing. The idea that he had dug his own grave for no reason was more than his mind could take. If he wasn't protecting Danny, if he wasn't protecting himself, then what was he doing?

Anger and frustration rose up inside of Asher like a storm and he spun around and punched the trunk of the tree with every bit of force that he had. Pain radiated from his knuckles and he felt the warm droplets of blood as they cascaded down his fingertips slowly. The storm of anger inside of him died down as he fell to the ground in a heap, cradling a bleeding fist. He decided to focus more on the pain from his hand than the hurricane of beliefs that his mind had become.