Liam To say the last week has been difficult is putting it lightly. Asher is back at school and on the football team again, but he’s different. He said that he doesn’t care who finds out about us, and I have given him time since his dad died, but he’s gone back to pretending that I don’t exist. It shouldn’t bother me this much, but it does. When we’re alone, he’s back to the Asher I fell in love with, but when we’re in public… I should let him come to terms with who he really is instead of assuming that he already knew. Maybe it’s the stress of the upcoming games before Christmas break, I don’t know. Or perhaps I should stop trying to make excuses for Asher; it’s up to him if he wants to change or be the persona he created to shield himself. Walking through the hallways on Christmas eve, bundled up tightly, I spot him standing at his locker with the usual three assholes around him. We make eye contact, but as usual, he’s the one who looks away first. Sighing, I head to my locker,

Liam What the fuck did Asher just do?! I race towards the bathroom as fast as my beaten body can carry me and enter the nearest stall. Shit, I can’t show my face out there now; they will think I bewitched their Golden Boy! What am I going to do now? Fuck, will the three idiots come after me even harder now, especially since I’m pressing charges this time? Trying to level my breathing, I press my forehead against the door and breathe out a sigh, wincing at the pain. Damnit, I can’t do this. I thought I was strong enough to face everyone again, but today proved me wrong. Asher just came out in front of everyone after I told him that I couldn’t be with him, so what am I supposed to do now? I miss him so fucking much, and his stunt almost made me forgive him right on the spot. God, I want to forgive him; I want him to hold me again, kiss me again and tell me that he loves me. But I can’t allow myself to be a dirty secret, something to be ashamed of. So what if Asher just kissed me in

Liam As Asher walks away from me, I reach out, nearly calling him back but stopping myself in time. Turning my back, I let out a sigh and whispered, “I miss you too,” before walking away from him. He actually parked in front of my house instead of around the block; this itself shows me that he doesn’t care about his name or status anymore; that I’m more important than the rumour that would start. We’re both being fucking stubborn; I know this. I have forgiven him, but I’m just too damn proud to tell him that. It’s been just over seven weeks since it happened, and although my ribs have healed, the pain still sits there. And I don’t just mean from the fracture. I understand his reasons for not breaking up the fight in time or at least telling them to stop, but it doesn’t hurt any less. He said that he loved me, that no one was allowed to touch me and that he would always protect me; so where did all the promises go? Yet, whenever he looks at me, I feel like I’m about to burst with a

AsherIt's the looks that get to me the most - everyone knows that I’m with Liam, that I’m out and gay. Whenever we go out anywhere, we always get these stares from the townsfolk. I know they’ll only give me stares and ugly looks because I’m the only one who can lead the town’s football team to victory.How did Liam survive all this time? How did he go through this all by himself and with the guys at school beating him up? I might have been raised by an asshole like my father and taught how to be tough, but Liam is a lot braver than I am.School isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, although my teammates don’t look at me like they used to. They still trust me to lead them on the field, but I have a feeling that they’ve started losing faith in me.Why does sexuality have to be such a big deal? How does me fucking a guy or holding hands with a guy hinder my ability to play football? No

LiamI step out of school and breathe out a long sigh. Finals are over and we can relax for a little while… well until our results are released. I have the utmost faith in my results as well as Ashers because we studied together. And yes, I actually mean studying this time around.Asher has one last friendly match with Mountford coming up next week as well, so he’s always staying late after practice. I have barely seen him lately, but it’s fine because I know how important this is to him.My mom needed me to head over and take her some lunch at the hospital, but when I arrived at the reception, the nurse at the station told me that she was just called into an emergency. So I leave her lunch there and head on back out.I didn’t expect to run into Dale on my way out.He sees me and grins while walking slowly towards me. A cold sweat covers my back and I freeze in my steps. I haven’t been without Asher w