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Tyler Stevens never thought that he was special in any way. He’d been a normal kid with a normal childhood and normal friends. He wasn’t ugly but would never win a beauty contest either with his dirty blond hair, brown eyes and average height. He’d liked baseball from an early age so he joined the little league and then his school’s team. When he realized he was gay, and later when he started to have a crush on a new transfer student, he’d never thought it to be a big deal. He’d heard so many positive coming out stories over the years, and he was sure that his parents would love him no matter what.
He’d been right about his parents, but the rest? Not so much. Six months after coming out, he knew better than to trust in the good of people. He still didn’t think he was anything special, but he sure as hell got the feeling others thought so when they gave him these pitying looks. He’d rather they did something to punish their attackers, but they would probably get away with community service.
Tyler was still bitter about that.
He could’ve lived with people shunning him. He’d always been more of a loner anyway, not really caring what people thought about him. But Jordan was different. Jordan deserved all the attention in the world, all the love and admiration that people could give. He was special - unlike Tyler - and people should acknowledge that. But instead of fawning over him, they’d hurt him, almost killed him, and even their resident gay senator didn’t seem to give a crap.
Tyler had felt stupid writing to him. But he’d been at his wits end and had cried for the first time since he was twelve because he didn’t know if Jordan would ever wake up and he couldn’t do this without him. He’d thought that the guy would understand, being gay and all, and having grown up in Ohio almost two decades ago when homophobia was probably even worse than it was nowadays. But the guy hadn’t even sent a ‘Thank you for writing me’ card back, just flat out ignored Tyler completely. Probably was too good for his home state these days.
At least Jordan had pulled through. Tyler wasn’t the religious type, but he’d cried even more after Jordan woke up, and profusely thanked whoever had looked out for them.
Jordan wasn’t quite out of the woods yet. If the doctors could be believed, there was a high probability of frequently returning seizures, especially in stressful situations. It was also possible that he might never regain the full mobility of his right arm. It had been like a punch to the gut to hear all that, although the doctors were optimistic that Jordan would at least be able to walk again in a few months, after extensive physical therapy. It was still a long way to go and the future sounded scary as fuck right now, but Tyler would be damned if he wouldn’t be right there alongside Jordan and support him in any way he could.
But that was still weeks out. Right now, Jordan was on doctor’s orders to rest and get his strength back before they concentrated on getting him mobile again. Tyler had taken it upon himself to keep him company. Good thing that nobody insisted on him going back to school right now.
Tyler’s shoulder and arm had been bugging him all morning, the cold weather aggravating the broken bones. He was ignoring it in favor of reading to Jordan. Jordan was still barely capable of lifting his head, much less his arms to hold a book, so Tyler did it for him. He still had one functioning arm, after all. The other was secured to his chest by a sling, but that was more to help his shoulder heal than to support his arm. He really needed only one arm to hold a book anyway, and if it made Jordan happy to be read to he’d do that and more. He may not be a straight A student, but he wasn’t illiterate either. And anyway, it was fun to read to Jordan and throw in his own sarcastic comments once in a while. It made Jordan smile.
They were one third through the first of the Temeraire books, and Tyler was intrigued despite himself. He’d never been much of a fantasy fan, but the mix of fantastical beings in the Napoleonic wars was kind of interesting. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that Jordan had picked the book for a reason.
”Does he read to you?” Lady Allendale asked Temeraire, amused.
“Yes; you see, I cannot hold them myself, for they are too small, and also I cannot turn the pages very well,” Temeraire said. 1
Tyler stopped reading and raised an eyebrow at Jordan, who was lying in the hospital bed and failed miserably not to grin. “You knew that was coming, didn’t you?” he accused mildly, seeing his suspicions confirmed. Jordan’s widening grin was answer enough. “So you’re the dragon in this relationship? Good to know.”
Jordan laughed, but winced almost immediately from the resulting pain. Tyler let the book drop to the bed and leaned over him. “Careful there. Wouldn’t want you to make it worse.”
“How could... it get... any worse?” Jordan wheezed, grimacing slightly, but after a moment he settled back into the cushions and relaxed. Tyler hovered for another moment, but when Jordan nodded at the book he picked it up again. He settled back down into his seat, threw another glance at Jordan and, after receiving a raised eyebrow as answer to his silent question, continued to read:
”You are misunderstanding; she is only shocked to learn that I am ever to be persuaded to open a book; she was forever trying to make me sit to them when I was a boy,” Laurence said-- 2
“Oh come on,” Tyler exclaimed, looking back up at Jordan. “I was never that bad. I read. Case in point?” he added, waggling the book at Jordan who was grinning again.
“Never said you didn’t,” he mumbled around the smile. Tyler couldn’t help himself: he let the book fall closed on his lap and leaned forward to press a gentle, close-mouthed kiss against Jordan’s lips.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Tyler sat back abruptly, then smiled sheepishly at Jordan. He knew they were safe here, that it could only be one of either of their parents, so he really shouldn’t flinch away from kissing his boyfriend. To gloss over his instinctive reaction, he grabbed Jordan’s hand and said, “Come in!”
The door opened and some guy’s head appeared. He looked apologetic and a little unsure of his welcome. Tyler was just thinking that he was kinda cute when his brain actually registered who was standing in the doorway to Jordan’s hospital room.
Holy crap! rang through his brain at the same time he reflexively jumped out of his seat, staring at Senator Blaine Anderson, dressed in casual clothes with a winter coat draped over his arm, smiling disarmingly at them.
“Hello,” he said and wow, his voice sounded so much better in person than it did on TV. “May we come in?”
We? shot through Tyler’s mind at the same time he was already answering with a casual, “Sure.”
Senator Anderson was here. Senator Anderson was here. What the fuck was going on?
Tyler was so confused by the whole thing that it took him a moment to notice the second man entering the room. He was dressed impeccably in a cable knit grey sweater and dark pants, his brown hair loosely styled and falling into his delicate face. Tyler would’ve thought he was a little girly for a man if he hadn’t had quite an impressive set of shoulders on him and several inches in height on the senator. He was looking at both of them with a sympathetic gleam in his blue eyes, but Tyler also saw that there was no pity whatsoever.
He was pathetically grateful for that.
“I’m sorry to barge in without any warning,” Senator Anderson said, his hands tightening on his coat. “I was talking to both your parents to clear this visit, and asked them to keep quiet about it.”
Tyler chanced a quick look at Jordan, who looked equally as confused and flustered as Tyler felt.
“It’s... okay,” Tyler ventured, not quite sure what to do with himself, so he ran his hand up and down his thigh.
Senator Anderson’s smile widened briefly before his gaze came to rest on Tyler. “I got your letter.”
All the air in Tyler’s lungs vanished like a vacuum, leaving him breathless and dizzy. Oh god, oh fuck, the senator had got his letter after all and he was here, holy crap! What the fuck did that mean?
“I’d just like to point out that I’m not here today in any official capacity,” the senator continued, apparently oblivious to the fact that he’d just turned Tyler’s whole world view upside down.
“Neither am I,” the man behind the senator suddenly piped up, startling everyone a little. The senator looked embarrassed for a moment before he gestured at the man, smiling sheepishly.
“Right, I’m sorry. This is Kurt Hummel. On a normal day he’s my PA. But today he’s just Kurt.” He stopped to stare at first Jordan, then Tyler before he added, “And I’m Blaine. And we’re just two gay men visiting two gay boys who experienced something horrible, and show them our support.”
Tyler’s throat suddenly closed up at the simple words. He could feel the telltale prickling behind his eyes, but he refused to cry in front of a senator, especially this one of all people. He’d thought the guy didn’t care, that he didn’t give enough of a shit about a gay kid who’d gotten beaten up to even write him back. But he’d been wrong. If anything the guy cared too much because he was here.
“May we sit down?” the PA asked politely, and Tyler nodded more out of reflex. There were only two chairs in the room, so Tyler sat on the edge of Jordan’s bed, grasping his hand again to have an anchor. The senator and his PA looked briefly at each other, probably communicating via their brain waves or something, before the PA sank down into the chair Tyler had occupied before. The senator got the chair standing near the window and put it next to the other before he draped his coat over the back and sat down as well.
Nobody said anything at first. Tyler was too dumbstruck, and Jordan probably too starstruck - he’d been fanboying the senator hard ever since he’d gotten himself elected - but he had no idea what the adults’ excuse was. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the senator asked Jordan, “How are you doing?”
“I’m alive,” Jordan replied, a small smile on his lips. The smile the senator gave in return was equally small and so sad that Tyler wanted to hug him.
But you didn’t hug a senator. Nope, no sir. Bad idea.
More silence descended, yet it wasn’t awkward. It was more... anticipatory, as if they were waiting for something to happen. Tyler had no idea what the hell that could be, though.
The senator was kneading his hands in his lap, and his PA looked like he wanted to cover them with his own hand to still them, but he didn’t. Finally, the senator seemed to have come to a decision, raised his gaze back to Jordan and smiled again.
“When I was fourteen, there was a dance at my school. I’d just come out as gay, and I’d asked a boy to come with me. We weren’t dating, we barely even knew what dating was. We were more friends than anything, but the potential was there.” He stopped himself, his hands pressed flat to his thighs now. His left hand twitched briefly and he balled it into a fist. A deep breath, then he continued, “After the dance, we were waiting for his dad to pick us up. We were holding hands, laughing and smiling, high on having been able to go out together. We never saw the four guys coming.”
Tyler sucked in a startled breath, and he could feel Jordan grow stiff next to him, his hand tightening its grip on Tyler’s own.
The senator grimaced. “I passed out after one of them stomped on my hand, and I didn’t wake up until I was in the ambulance. My hand was broken, and so were two of my ribs where they’d kicked me while I was down and unconscious.”
Tyler had no idea what to say. He didn’t expect... well, to be honest he hadn’t expected anything after he hadn’t even gotten a reply to his letter, but this... no, he never would’ve expected this in a million years.
The senator looked at both of them in turn before he added, “I didn’t tell you this to scare you. I told you this because I wanted you to know about me, what I went through and how it shaped who I became and how I perceive things. You’re not alone. You’re not forgotten. And as long as I’m living and breathing I will always care.”
This time Tyler didn’t hold the tears back. This was... he didn’t even have words for it. It was humbling that someone of the senator’s status would care so much about two kids he'd never even met before in his life. And he didn’t make a media spectacle out of it so he could get some votes. No, he was here on his own dime, on his own time as someone who went through the same thing and wanted them to know.
“I will bring the issue of gay bashing up after we return to Washington,” the senator suddenly said. “I will tell my story, and I will make it clear that it’s not okay. That we have to make more progress in punishing these assaults more adequately. But I wanted you two to hear the story first. To give you hope that it does get better.”
Jordan’s grip on his hand was so tight that Tyler would’ve been concerned about blood flow if he’d been able to give a fuck right now. He was brushing the tears off his cheek with his healthy shoulder, let them soak into his t-shirt.
The senator shared another look with his PA before he continued, “Those people? The ones who hurt me and the ones who hurt you? They’re afraid. They’re scared because they don’t understand. And deep down, they know you’re stronger than them, and they resent that. They knocked you down in the hopes of keeping you there. It’s up to you now if you get back up or if you let them break you.”
“They didn’t break you,” Jordan said quietly, his voice hoarse with emotions. The senator’s gaze instantly settled on him and he shook his head, his smile sad.
“No, they didn’t,” he admitted. “I didn’t let them.”
“Thank you for sharing that with us, Senator,” Jordan whispered, voice thick with tears.
“Please, it’s just Blaine today,” the senator insisted.
Tyler immediately shook his head. “We can’t do that, sir. Our moms would skin us alive. It’s... it’s a respect thing.”
The senator looked a little resigned, but nodded. “Alright.”
There were questions about their school work after that, which both of them answered truthfully, before they elaborated on their free time activities without having to be prompted. When the knock on the door came, it was a surprise for everyone.
“Excuse me, sir,” a nurse said to the senator, looking apologetic and a little awed. “Rounds will start soon. I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”
The senator nodded at her and stood up, closely followed by his PA. “We’ve put the awareness increasing of the constant bullying that’s still going on in schools on our agenda for the next few weeks. We’ll do some charity drives, I’ll do some speeches. You know, all the boring and flashy stuff politicians do.”
His smile was so boyish that Tyler couldn’t help but return it. The senator’s PA looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but instead he produced a sheet of paper from somewhere on his body and handed it to his boss.
“Oh, right,” the man said, looking surprised. “Thank you, Kurt.” He smiled at the PA as if he’d hung the moon, and Tyler could feel his own eyebrow go up.
“Here’s the schedule for the drives we’ve planned to do while we’re in Ohio,” he said, handing the piece of paper over to Tyler who took it reluctantly. “If either of you, or a member of your family wants to help out, we’d be honored.”
The senator patted himself down, seemingly looking for something else, and this time the PA did roll his eyes and handed him a business card. The smile he got for that was even brighter than before.
He held the card out to Tyler. “And this is the direct number to my office.”
The words didn’t make sense for a moment, and he stared down at the business card and the handwritten numbers on the back. When he looked up, the senator’s gaze was soft. “The number will put you directly through to Kurt’s desk. If you ever need help, or someone to talk to, you can call me. Okay?”
Tyler had no idea what to say to that. What could you say to that except, “Thank you so much, Senator Anderson!”
“Promise me to use it if you need it!” he urged, and after he’d received confirmation from both Tyler and Jordan, he nodded, satisfied.
“It was so nice meeting you two,” he said, shaking first Tyler’s hand, then putting a careful hand on Jordan’s shoulder. “I wish the circumstances could’ve been a little more pleasant.”
“It’s been an honor to have you here at all, sir,” Jordan gushed and Tyler had to bite back a grin. There was the fanboy he knew and loved. He caught the PA’s gaze by accident and received such an understanding little grin that he almost burst out laughing.
“Get well soon, okay?” the senator said. After both their nods, he turned and walked out the door, with the PA following close behind. The door fell shut a moment later and left them in silence.
“So...” Jordan said after a while. “That just happened.”
“Yeah,” Tyler agreed, still reeling from coming face to face with Senator Anderson and shaking his hand and hearing his story and holy shit, he might finally understand why Jordan was such a fanboy of the man.
“You wrote to him?” Jordan asked out of the blue. Tyler cringed, then shrugged his shoulder.
“I didn’t know what to do. You were in a coma and I just... I thought he might have some advice. I don’t know...”
He trailed off, scuffing his shoe over the floor. Suddenly Jordan’s fingertips grazed his hand and he looked over to him. Jordan was smiling. “He’s even greater than I’ve ever imagined.”
Tyler couldn’t help the silly grin spreading over his face. “Yeah, he was. And cuter too.”
“Careful what you’re saying,” Jordan said, mock glaring at him. “I might get jealous. Hell, his PA might rip you a new one.”
Tyler thought about that for a moment, then couldn’t help but ask, “You think they’re doing it?”
Jordan paused, apparently giving it some honest thought. After a while he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.” A mischievous grin appeared. “But boy do they want to.”
Tyler snickered. “So it wasn’t just me?”
“God, no. They could’ve set a forest on fire with that last look.”
“Yeah, I thought so.”
They grinned at each other and their hands entwined. Before he could think about it, Tyler leaned over the bed and gave Jordan a gentle kiss on the lips.
“Thank you for writing to him,” Jordan whispered against his lips when they parted. Tyler could hear the fresh tears in his voice, but he didn’t call him out on it. Jordan had every right to shed some tears, after all.
“Anytime,” he whispered back and gave him another kiss.
They heard the door being opened and Tyler straightened up, looking over his shoulder at the nurse who was staring pointedly at him.
“I’m going,” he told her, then turned back to the bed. “More Temeraire after they’re done with you?”
Jordan’s smile was small but grateful. “That would be great.”
“Okay,” Tyler said and kissed him on the forehead. “See you later.”
He turned, shot the nurse a look when he passed her on his way out the door, then walked down the corridor to the waiting area. When he got there and fell into a seat, he realized that he was still clutching the sheet of paper and the business card in his hand. He looked down at the latter, contemplative. After a moment, he got out his phone and carefully programmed the number into it.
Just in case, he thought before he hit save.