Out of every boy in Truham, Nick Nelson was the least likely to be gay. Or at least everyone would say so. A lad in the rugby team, tall and strong as he was, and always surrounded by his mates, Nicholas was a proper straight man.

Clearly, the topic wasn't as straightforward as assuming one's sexuality based on topics and stereotypes, and he was well aware of that. Yet it had never occurred to him that he might not only like girls, but boys as well. And he had most definitely not prepared himself with the implications his sexuality could bring. Not everyone was accepting of these things. Was his mother accepting? Was his father? His brother? Did he even want to think about the possibility of them not being open-minded? It was all so terrifying, so strange.

Now he was at Harry's birthday party. He was his mate, sure, but now Nick couldn't stop thinking about how his friends might react to the news. Should he call it that, 'news'? Was it news that he liked boys as well as girls? Lord, he really was spiralling.

“I'm going to get another.”

Nick said to Harry and the boys and patted one of them before slithering away from the dining room (now turned beer-pong-room). He walked through the crowd, and eventually found the stairs to go up and find a room where he could simply take a moment and breathe. Surely that would do him better than another beer…