It was a cold snowy day in early December, the snow was falling in short flurries as a boy trudged slowly up the street towards his home. That is if it could truly be called a home, after all wasn't a home supposed to be a place where you felt loved and safe, well that certainly couldn't be applied to this place the boy thought. He paused on the door step,key in hand and looked back down the street at the forlorn path left by his footprints in the snow. He took a deep breath to settle his nerves, and let himself in.

“Mom, Dad I'm home,” he called as he closed the door behind him.

“About bloody time, where the hell have you been, you should have been home an hour ago.” His dad shouted back.

The boy sighed to himself on hearing this as he was expecting nothing less, although to be honest he thought that was actually quite restrained compared to normal, he guessed they must have company.

“Sorry Dad” he called back, “I’ll be in my room if you need anything,” he added quickly, knowing that would keep them happy for the time being, and was the likely outcome of any conversation with his dad anyway.

His only response to that was silence, which he had been anticipating. He turned and heading up the stairs, just as he reached the top he met his sister coming the other way. She was clearly heading out somewhere, judging from the way she way dressed. They just smiled at each other as they passed, both of them had learned several years earlier that some things where best left unsaid, especially when there was even the slightest chance they could be over heard.

Upon reaching his bedroom he closed and locked the door behind him, not that this would truly discourage anyone that really wanted to get in. Once that was done he dropped down onto his bed, stretched out and reflected on how his day had been. Surprisingly it hadn't been that bad, the school bullies for whom he was a popular target, had much to his shock more or less left him alone all day. This had him slightly confused, as normally not a day went by where he wasn't picked on by somebody. All because he preferred to sit in the library and read or do his homework rather that play sports. Was it really his fault that he was smaller than all the boys his age, and some of the girls too. At least that was the reason the boys picked on him anyway, why some the girls picked on him he had no idea. He had always thought that the girls that did pick on him,did so because he got on better with girls his age than he did the boys.

This is something that had him confused; he never knew why he got on better with the girls. He also knew that this would never be something he could talk to his parents about, as they would neither understand, nor condone this kind of behaviour. They definitely believed in the whole boys should hang out with boys, and girls with girls thing. This was why a week or so earlier he had tentatively touched upon the subject with his sister, on one or the rare occasions that they were alone in the house. The main reason he had done this was because he knew that now she was 18, she was allowed to use the internet at home, without one or other or their parents standing over her watching.

He had to smile to himself, as he remembered how scared he had been on that rare Wednesday night. It had been the first time in weeks that their parents had gone to visit friends, rather than their friends visiting them. He had nervously approached and finally knocked on his sister’s bedroom door, after what had seemed like an eternity of standing trying to decide, if he actually wanted to do this. When he finally knocked he had stood waiting for her to answer.

“Come in” he heard her say after several minutes.

He poked his head around the door and smiled at her. “Hi Sis, Do you have time to talk,” he had asked her.

“Of course I do,” she had replied with a smile, she had always tried to make the time to help her brother in any way she could. Because she knew it was unfair how their parents treated him. She smiled to herself as she thought that she had a fairly good idea of what this conversation was going to be about.

“So what can I help you with?” she asked

“Well...........Well I was hoping, that I could ask you to help me with something, but you have to promise me to keep it to yourself,” he asked struggling to get the words out.

“When have you known me to not keep a secret?” she replied with a small smile.

“I know I know,” he said, “I just wanted to be sure.”

“Well don't just stand there, come sit down and tell me what's troubling you,” she said wrapping an arm around him as he sat down beside her on the bed. “You know you can talk to me about absolutely anything.” She added as he had been quiet for a few minutes after sitting down.

“I know that Sis,” he replied, “It's just this isn't easy for me you know,” finally after a while he began to talk, explaining to her, just exactly how much he truly hated how everyone seemed to treat him like he didn't matter in even the slightest way. He finished up by saying how much he wished, that he knew why he got on so much better with the girls, rather than the boys. Because after all he was a boy wasn't he, and that wasn't supposed to be what boys did, was it ?. At least that is what his parents had always told him.

At hearing all this, his Sister just sat there staring for a few moments almost not believing what she had just heard. At seeing his sister’s reaction, he instinctively pulled away, expecting her to say or do something to him. On seeing this she instantly pulled him back to her and hugged him tightly.

“I'm so sorry I reacted like that, I didn't mean to scare you, it's just I never realised things were that bad for you,” she said in a gentle voice. “I promise you I will do whatever I can to help make this better for you, and to try to help you understand everything.”

“Thanks Sis,” he said “I had better go back to my room before Mom and Dad get back.” With that he got up and left the room, really hoping that his sister had truly meant what she said.