In the back of dad's truck

Content Warning: This story contains a brief flashback to a suicide attempt.

Alec laid on his bed, eyes closed, listening to a mix of the rain pattering on his window and the Heartstopper soundtrack, wishing he could find his very own Charlie. Already tired of being a single, 16 year old, gay boy. Not single because of his looks - he has plenty of girls fawning over him. There's just no one else at school who's gay and out.

As Best Day Of My Life came to an end, he took off his headphones and wiped away the tears that had formed. He heard a loud crash outside his window, which faces the street his house is on. He got out of bed and went over to the window to investigate. He saw a bike on its side in the driveway, like someone had ran into his dad's truck. He couldn't see anybody at first, but kept looking around until he finally saw a body on the ground. It looked like a teenage boy.

Forgetting he was shirtless, he ran to the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit, before running out the front door. He reached where the boy laid on the ground and knelt next to him, "Hey! Are you okay?"

The boy didn't respond. Alec look him over and saw he looked mostly okay, he was wearing jeans, so his legs were mostly protected in the fall and there was no obvious signs of injury, but his arms and face had some scrapes and there was bit of blood. The boy was unconscious, so Alec pulled out his phone and called 911. He tried his best to clean up the cuts as he waited for emergency services.

As the ambulance was pulling up, the boy's eyes blinked open and he groaned.

Alec smiled at him, "Hi. You were in an accident. I had to call for an ambulance because you lost consciousness for 10 minutes or so. But, I think you'll be okay."

The boy smiled back, saying, "Sorry."

Alec laughed to himself (inside joke from Heartstopper), but the medics arrived before he could say anything.

As the medics tended to the boy, Alec ran back inside to put a shirt on. He called his mom to let her know what happened and that he was going to the hospital.

In the ambulance, Alec learned the boy was 14 years old and named Dylan. His family had moved in to a house a couple streets over the previous week.

Being in the hospital, waiting to find out Dylan's condition, Alec couldn't help but remember the last time he was in the same hospital...

When Alec was 14, he was in such a depressed state, grappling over his sexuality. There was actually a Friday, after he came home from school, where he was minutes away from ending everything. His mom came home early and found Alec in the kitchen with a razor blade against his arm. Alec dropped the blade and broke down in tears. He confessed to his mom that he was gay and her immediate reaction was to hug him and tell him she loved him, no matter what.

"What about dad?"

Alec's mom took his hands into hers and said, "Alec, I think you're old enough now. There's something you should know about your father..."

To Be Continued!