"Tom," Derek said. "Your parents must be really worried if you're on the news. Maybe you should call them or something."
"Maybe later," Tom said. "I don't really feel up to it just yet."
"Are you afraid they'll know about your ... uh ... change?"
"Eventually, they'll know one way or the other. They'll just have to get used to it. This is me now," Tom said, looking lovingly at Derek. "I never want go back to what I was."
Derek was glad to hear that. Besides the fact that he didn't want Tom to become a bully again, Derek liked him as his boyfriend. Derek had never been loved like this.
"We better get to school," Derek said to Tom. "You have to show the world who you really are now."
Tom nodded.
