Who Ever Knew?

-Ashley's POV-

It's been two weeks since I met Andy. Two weeks and I've completely fallen in love with him. I don't know how it happened so quickly, maybe love at first sight really does exist, but it's so hard to keep my feelings from him these days. We were walking around town the other day and he made some funny comment, and I swear, I came so close to saying aww, Andy, you're so cute! I wanted to hold his hand so badly that day, I was so tempted to sweep his dark hair away from his exotic blue eyes and kiss him deeply. More than anything, I wanted him to kiss me back. But that could never happen. Never in a million years could he ever fall for such an ordinary person like me, even if he was gay or bi. He was attractive enough to have any of the girls whose flirts he dismissed, yet he didn't. He asked me if I had a girlfriend a few days ago, and I said no, of course, but I almost added the truth. Almost, and now I wish I was brave enough to. So here I was, at his house, sitting on the couch next to him, laughing and joking on the outside, with all these troubled debates plaguing my mind.
"Hey, Ash? Earth to Ashley," Andy laughed, waving his hand across my face. I took a deep breath. This was it.
"Hey, Andy, can I tell you something?"

-Andy's POV-

"Anything," I responded. Boom. Just in time, I caught the word babe from slipping out of my mouth. Haha, not this time, I teased my heart, which had recently attempted to sneak in words like that here and there when I was talking to Ashley. I accidently asked him if he was single, which thankfully he didn't catch the first time, so I re-phrased and asked if he had a girlfriend. I allowed myself a sliver of hope at the two letter answer.
"Andy, I-I'm gay, and I like you. I like you a lot. I really hope this doesn't ruin our friendship or make things awkward in any way, but I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. Sorry," he whispered as he closed his eyes, a tear leaking out of one. I was dumbstruck. He liked me?! Me, of all the people he could have, of all the girls who got his number two weeks ago, he chose me? I wanted to kiss him, but first I needed to know why my love was crying.
"Hey, Ash, don't be upset. Why are you crying, there's nothing wrong," I comforted him gently, wiping away his tear.
"Do you know why I moved here?" He asked, still not looking up.
"Why?"
"Because of this," he replied, lifting up the corner of his shirt in shame. He still refused to meet my eyes.
"Ashley..." I gasped. There were cut marks all over his waist.
"I was bullied a lot at my old school, I only had one friend. His name was CC, and at the time, I had a crush on him. Nothing like the one I have for you, though. Anyway, we were the different kids and were bullied a ton for it. He didn't mind that I liked him, but he was straight. Then, somehow, someone found out that I was gay, and all of a sudden, it was me and him fighting a losing battle against all of the false rumours. He was the only one who said that he was proud to be my friend. Just a friend, nothing more. But still, he remained my friend despite of all that was going on. I, of course, suffered the most from what people did to me. I would come home bruised from being beat up, then hurt myself more whenever I had time. My mom saw the injuries from both causes one day, and I told her why. She declared that we were moving as soon as the school year let out, I deserved to be myself no matter what. She's completely fine whether I'm into boys or not. So I survived the last couple weeks of school, and as she promised, we moved away. We moved here, and I got a part time job as a pizza delivery boy to earn some extra money. Then, one night, I go to deliver two extra large cheese pizzas and see you standing at the door. You were most attractive person I had ever seen, so of course when your sister asked for my number, I wanted a way to give it to you, too. And no one calls me Ash, I just said you could because I like the fact that only you use that nickname. Over the past two weeks, getting to know you, I fell in love with you. I'm sorry, Andy. I understand if you want me to leave or if you don't want to be friends or-" I cut him off with a kiss.
"I like you a lot, too, Ash," I said to a very surprised looking Ashley.
"Y-you do?"
"Yes, I think I love you, in fact. I was already questioning my orientation when I opened the door, but it was all over when I saw you. You don't know how many times I've stopped myself from calling you things like baby or dear, or wanted to kiss you. Spending time with you is what I look forward to the most," I told him honestly.
"Andy, will you be my boyfriend?" He blurted out, blushing a moment after the words escaped his perfect lips.
"Of course, love. But you have to promise me something first."
"Anything for you."
"Stop cutting. Never, ever, ever pick up a blade again with the intent to hurt yourself. You are beautiful and I love you, never let anyone convince you otherwise. F*** the people who aren't ok with who you are, give them the finger and tell them to put it in their juicebox and suck it up, because homophobic haters like that are people who you don't need or want in your life," I told him, and he nodded.
"I haven't cut since the day my mom found out. She made me gather up all my razors and watched me bury them in the backyard of our old house. I promised the same thing to her, but I'll promise again," he said, placing his right hand across his heart. "I, Ashley Purdy, swear to never harm myself on purpose again, no matter what the circumstances," he swore.
"Good. Thank you, Ash."
"I love you, Andy," he said as he leaned in just a little closer for our real first kiss.

Notes

Sorry for the heavy-deep-serious stuff, but that also goes out to everyone who self harms. Imagine Andy saying this to you: "Stop cutting. Never, ever, ever, pick up a blade again with the intent to hurt yourself. You are beautiful and I love you, never give anyone who hates you the power to leave a scar. F*** the people who aren't ok with who you are, give them the finger and tell them to put it in their juicebox and SUCK IT UP, because you couldn't care less about how they feel about you."

A message from me: We are the BVB fandom. We are an army on the outside, but a family on the inside, and if anyone ever tells you that you're worthless, remember that how people treat others is how they feel about themselves. Know that you are always worth something to someone, and that I care about every single one of you BVB army members out there who get shit like that a lot. You're not alone and you should never feel that way. On a more positive note, I hope you all liked this chapter! The next one should involve Carly, who is unaware of Andy's feelings for Ashley.