Chapter 19

After Peter shut the door, Ned crumpled onto the floor and wept. Peter knelt beside him. Ned gasped out, “You have your whole family, and I have nothing. My dad and mom, they hated me, my dad even said I wasn’t his son, that he never could have fathered a mistake like me. I was on my own when I was fifteen, barely even knowing why they were saying all that to me. I’d never been with a boy, and you’re my first and here it’s been years since then. And, and this old timer next door who I thought would ream me out, he’s so sweet, and I just feel so, I don’t know, loved? Accepted? Whole. Like I’m all right, just the way I am, just the way everybody else has felt their whole lives.”

“Where would we be without hyperbole, huh?” Peter asked. “Come on, let’s do like he said. Pack up your shit and let’s go to my place, all right, honey?”