A Beautiful Thing

-- Chapter 1 --

3 years ago I felt what it meant to love and lose, you see, falling in love is hard and so is finding "the one" but some would say it's even harder to find "the one" if you're gay. The truth is, I experienced that... until I found "the one"....

"Come on, Join in" David was always after me playing sports.
"No, it's OK, I've knackered" This seemed to be a reply I was only too used to giving, the fact was that I am rubbish at sports and didn't want to embarass myself furthur.
"Come on Dork, play" Eric's bitter words shot right through me, this is how a mass of abuse and bulling would start. First he'd call me a dork then he'd say I'm fat then he'd start on the tough stuff.
"Come on queer, too much of a pansie to play?" his cruel worlds stuck into me like a blade. I didn't care what he was saying it was just the fact that what he was saying was true, he was confirming everything I was always too scared to admit, I was gay. Then out of knowhere, my knight in shining armor came and protected me.
"Leave him alone, now" David towered above Eric. "Leave him alone or i'll punch you into next week". Eric gave me a cold look and then walked off.
"Are you OK? Did he hurt you?" A concerned David sat down next to me.
"I am fine, thanks though" these were the only words I could muster up, the truth was, I was in love and I had been in ages.

-- Chapter 2 --

The night fell dark on the estate in which I lived, I lay in my bed thinking over and over. I was gay and I had knowhere to turn, I had never felt so alone in my whole life. My trail of thought was broken by loud shouting and banging. I stepped out of the front door to survey what was going on and I wasn't prepared for the shock I was about to get...

"I'll kill you, i'll bloody kill you" A gray haired man was screaming into the face of a boy and with each word he'd initiate a heartstopping punch, so hard that you could hear it echo. However, the boy was no ordinary boy, the boy was David. I felt rage build up, I couldn't stand to see the love of my life beaten up like this, I ran, barefooted down the cold concreate stairs, grabbing a huge plank of wood and ran up behind the vulgar man. Without thought I swung the wood above my head and sent the man crashing down to the ground. David stood in shock.
"Oh my god, is he dead?" I cried.
"No, there's a shame..." David took a deep breath in. "Joe, meet my father". David's face looked full of humiliation as he pointed at the pathetic body on the floor.
"Look, don't stick around for more abuse, my Mum is out for the count, you can go top and tail with me, yeah?" David nodded and we walked together back to my flat.

-- Chapter 3 --

That night I sat up talking to David and I learnt alot about him. I felt so close to him as I wiped away the blood from his nose. Yawning, David settled down to sleep, I felt so close.. I couldn't help but say "why don't you sleep this end? It's comfier" and David did just that, I couldn't believe it the love of my life was lying right next to me, my body was filled with passion, my heart began racing, I turned around and leant over to David's side of the bed and kissed him passionatly. David turned around briskly.
"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice turned high pitched.
"Something I should've done long ago, David, I love you" I didn't care anymore, I wanted him to know. What I wasn't expecting was his reply...
"I love you too". I smiled as I moved closer into David and wrapped my arm around him. This was a night I would always remember, a moment I would never forget. Little did I know is that this would be one of few memories I'd ever share with him...

-- Chapter 4 --

6 months had past and myself and David both turned 16 and decided to get a flat together. Our relationship was yet to be made public but many knew we were close. David's Dad became a nusience figure, constantly calling, apologising, that was until he got drunk and he'd come hammer the door down saying how he was going to murder him. One night, I felt a huge amount of courage and I grabbed David's baseball bat and swung open the door. Delivering a huge whack into the face of David's father I screamed "come near me or him again and I will kill you". David sat in the living room, sobbing, he now felt he was free, his nightmare was over... little did he know what was to come the next day...

"David, we're going to be late again!" I shouted and David stepped out of the bedroom.
"I'm coming, I'm coming" He replied. We were both in 6th Form but the only problem was is that we were constantly late and we were warned that if we were late gain, we'd be removed from 6th Form. We both decided to put last night's events behind us. We left the building and headed towards the school. We both stopped at the zebra crossing and walked, I felt cheeky so i grabbed David's hand, we both laughed joyfully, feeling liberated as we walked across the road. Then we heard a loud noise, an engine, I turned around, a car was speeding towards me, I recognised it as David's Dad's car before I could do anything David pulled me away, throwing himself infront of the car. He rolled over the bonnet and landed with a sickening thud. The car sped off.
"David... David!" I cried throwing myself next to David's body on the floor. "Don't leave me" I begged and then he grabbed my hand, a spluttered the words 'I wrote you a letter'. His eyes rolled back and his head flopped to the floor. I cried as the blood slowly trickled down the road.

-- Chapter 5 --

After 8 hours I returned home and I began to hunt for the letter. Tears in my eyes I rummaged through draw after draw frantically, my eyes begun to stung as I stumbled across the envolope entitled 'Joe'. I opened it and read what he had wrote:
"Joe, words cannot describe how I feel about you. The night you rescued me from my father meant more to me than you could ever imagine. That night I had attempted to take my own life and you saved me from that. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, never change and be proud of who you are and always remember 'Amor est vitae essentia' (Love is the essence of Life)."

Those words remained with me forever. I look back at my time with David and I smile, nobody has ever made me more happy than him. The memory of David lives on forever in my heart. To some Love is only a word but to me it's everything to live for. David dared to be different.

Love is a beautiful thing.