A Canadian teen is making us all swoon with the story he posted to Reddit recently, a story of young queer love very much requited. “I am so giddy and excited and don’t have any friends really to share this with,” he says in the post.
The 17-year-old from Canada explains that his parents are immigrants from Chile and “pretty Catholic,” and that he’s “so far in the closet I’d need a rescue team of 30 professionals to get me out.”
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He says he moved to Canada 10 years ago with his parents and their friends, whose son Felix is his lifelong bestie. “Felix and I have helped each other through everything,” he says. “Through schooling, through learning English, through picking up and learning different hobbies (whenever our families could afford to). We were and essentially still are attached by the hip.”
The Redditor says he and Felix stayed close throughout puberty and “never experimented with each other” but have always “been just very comfortable with ourselves.” When he was 15, though, the teen realized he liked guys — and one guy in particular: “The idea f*cking terrified me because of my parents and having to be ‘different.’ I was also terrified because I realized my attraction through Felix as I was becoming infatuated by him and just couldn’t stop thinking about him.”
Felix eventually got a girlfriend, which hit our hero “pretty hard,” he says. The teen was supportive, and Felix did a good job being an attentive friend. But then, on a recent weekend, everything changed when Felix’s girlfriend dumped him. And we’ll let the Redditor take it from here:
“I did my best to cheer him up. I surprised him the morning after it happened with breakfast from Tim Horton’s (nothing crazy but I know he likes their sandwiches) and we played video games all day. I slept over and the next day we went outside to take his dog for a walk, and after coming back inside, I went to his room while he cleaned the dog’s paws. I was just looking at something on his computer when I heard him walk in and close the door behind him. When I turned, he moved towards me grabbed me by the hips and kissed me!”
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The elated Redditor kissed Felix back, obviously, but eventually came up for air — and an explanation, since he has always known Felix to be straight. “He stopped me to say that was the reason that they broke up, that he lost attraction and realized that he might not be into girls as much as he thought,” the teen writes. “And [he] knew when I spent the whole weekend that I was extremely special to him, and he felt like he always had feelings for me but never knew how to say anything because he wasn’t sure if I was into boys, and given both our backgrounds, it’s also really terrifying to admit to ourselves that we are gay.”
“It’s already a bit overwhelming, but holy CRAP, I have never been happier in my entire life,” our hero says. “Every time I think about him I can’t help but smile, and I feel like falling for your best friend and having your best friend fall for you is so special, and I never thought this would happen to me.”
ingyaom
“I never thought this would happen to me” … does this sort of fantasy fiction still exist online? I guess it does – on reddit!
Brian
It’s nice to see that the spirit of First Hand magazine lives on.
skeldare
Only on Queerty would a Reddit fantasy thread be posted as news
Donston
Pretty much all these guys are hoping that their “straight best friend” falls for them. Many refuse to admit that. But most stay in hope mode. And anything can indeed happen when you’re that young and when you spend so much time with someone.
What exactly is gay or straight or bi or queer? These have become such loose and sociological/political/situational terms that they’ve lost a significant amount of meaning. Perhaps if we stop giving these words so much weight maybe less guys who are unabashedly into guys and are looking to be with a guy would have less “straight guy” obsessions. Because ultimately, for everyone that’s not entirely heterosexual or homosexual in every way orientation can be a difficult thing to truly suss out and the romantic/sexual/affection/relationship spectrum is real and is sometimes influx, especially when you’re younger. While people are frequently more driven by emotions, comfort or situations rather than by their sex drives, especially when they’re feeling vulnerable and alone.
This does indeed read like slash fiction, even if it is true. And honestly, if the story is legit it sounds more like his friend is pretty much using him as support and as a rebound until he finds another suitable female partner. I hate to be that cynical, but it sounds more like that than someone “falling in love” and genuinely wanting to be with someone. And yes, so much of gay media’s obsession with hetero-leaning guys and/or dudes who present themselves as “straight” is tiresome.
michel_banen
It’s a nice story that reeks like someone’s wet dream / fantasy as I suppose most of us can relate but with a different ending.
Jack Meoff
The guy who wrote this on Reddit is probably some middle-aged twink chaser
Rocinante
I’m going to be open and believe this is real. I had a situation that came very close to this. A pledge brother that I had a uncontrollable attraction and desire for. On two occasions it was a kiss then a naked frolick that turned a bit sexual. We discussed it 10 years later as non-college kids, he wasn’t sure where it might have gone had he allowed it or I had been a bit for forward. Many of these might have gone the direction of this story, but our hang-ups with same-sex attraction, especially 30 years ago, kept them in the closet.
Donston
Well, these are teenagers who are still developing their preferences and settling into where they are on the romantic, sexual, affection, relationship spectrum. There are many guys, especially younger, who do experience some degree of fluidity and/or have a difficult time understanding their attractions or have a difficult time embracing being overall homo-leaning. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if the story actually was true. But it does get a lil’ tiresome to constantly read about gay-identifying guys being obsessed with straight-identifying and/or hetero-leaning guys. It gets a lil’ tiresome that so many gay-identifying men seem obsessed with propping up straight/bi identifying men and look to them as superior partnership options. As a “community” we still haven’t truly confronted how persistent internalized homophobia is and how persistent hetero worship is. Hell, we still haven’t fully embraced the spectrum. Because of that it makes stories like this (he was “straight” but then he fell in love with me) seem more problematic, even if they’re factual. However, when you’re a homosexual/homo-leaning/homoromantic/gay teenager in high school your options are very limited. So, I get it. And ultimately, life isn’t about identity but self-truth, not being driven fear or sociology and not being afraid to be with/love who you truly want to be with/love.
GayNOTQueer
#absolvejamescharles
GayNOTQueer
Oh look! The next Janes Charles in the making. This 17 year old better be careful, cuz as soon as his ‘straight’ decides he’s going back to being ‘straight’, guess who will be the predator…
Hillers
Awwww! Hits a playa right in the feels!
scotty
good on you two