“What happened to you over there? They’re saying a million things, but I don’t know what to believe—”

“You can pretty much believe it all.” The traditional news has more or less gotten the story correct, as fantastic as it is, but it’s the fringe outlets that are out to muddy the waters and make everyone doubt our stories. At the mention of news, Trini approaches as cautiously as a kitten. “Hey, Trini!” I pull the girl into a hug, but she remains stiff and deadly serious.

“Drew’s aunt sent all her supporters an email,” she says. “He really didn’t make it?” Trini deserves the truth. I shake my head and fight another crumbling wave of pain. Trini hugs me again, for real this time. “Thank you for bringing him home,” she whispers.

Strength floods my heart—finally, a witness to what’s actually been swirling through my head. Dry-eyed, Trini claps my shoulder one final time before running inside and leaving me with a vastly more labyrinthine crisis—Ario. Do it now, Major. Like a Band-Aid, right off. “I can’t see you anymore,” I hear myself say.

Ario drops his head in pain, but nods agreement anyway. “That guy I saw you with on TV…?” he asks.

“Marcos.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m going to college soon—”

“It’s not that.”

“’Cuz I messed up texting?”

“It’s not that, either.”

“What then? It’s only been a few days.”

Clarity comes to me. Trini’s strength has given me enough life bar energy to find it. “It was only a day, but things just changed. You have this whole house, this whole family, and you know that this will always be your home no matter what. And I’m about to get in this car”—I point at Agent Elms in the sedan—“and go see my mom, and I don’t know what the hell is even going to happen there. And you’ve always known this is my situation, but you wanted so badly for me to be a normal boyfriend with a normal situation. I’m gonna be chaos for a long time, maybe forever. It’s too much pressure for me, and it’s not fair to you.” Ario’s chest heaves with mighty, shallow breaths, and it’s time I finally said it: “It was totally dangerous to make me come out.”

“I thought you’d be happier…”

“You wanted a public relationship. An Instagram relationship. You didn’t want rules and boundaries and the closet again, and you totally deserve that. But you shouldn’t have demanded that of me.”

“I’m not a bad guy!”