Tug of War 64.2

"What's going on?" Martin asked, worried. "You look like you saw a ghost!"

Instead of answering the question, Timothy let out a sharp shriek and threw his arms around his friend's neck, pressing his face against Martin's chest.

"Tell me what's wrong, Tiff! God, I never saw you like that before" Martin insisted, as the girl trembled in his arms.

"R-right behind you..." Timothy stammered, softly.

"What?" Martin asked, turning his neck. "I can't see anything!"

"On the floor... near the big rock!"

"I still can't... wait a minute... you're not talking about that little frog over there, are you?"

"Y-yes" Timothy nodded, still too scared to look up. "I... I don't like frogs."

Martin kept looking at the top of Tiffany's head, stunned. He knew that Timothy had never been the biggest fan of animals like snakes and spiders. However, he had never seen his friend act so dramatically at the sight of a harmless frog.

Maybe she is just expressing her true feelings now, Martin rationalized. Everybody says girls are better at it than guys, right? Yeah, I guess it makes sense. Poor Tiff... It must have been so hard for her to pretend to be a guy all those years... Man, I should have realized who she really was way before...

"Umm... do you want me to shoo the frog away?" Martin suggested.

"Yes, please!"

"In this case, as much as I hate to ask for that, you'll have to let me go for a second."

"Huh? Oh, I see, sorry!" Timothy said, blushing. "Be careful!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm very good with animals" Martin then stood up, holding the lid of one of his pots. "Right, Mr. Frog? I'm afraid you'll have to move away, buddy. The lady is scared of you. I know what you had in mind, but you'll need to look for another princess to give you a little peck."

Martin had to just slightly swing the lid once, and then the frog jumped back into the lake. Timothy watched to scene feeling confused and embarrassed, realizing that he had acted like a drama queen, exactly like people keep calling him. Oh my gosh, this thing of living as Tiffany for so long has really messed up my head! I mean, sometimes not even I can recognize myself anymore! Will I ever be able to behave like the old me someday? Or is it too late for that?

Oblivious to Timothy's mental struggle, Martin smiled and said, "All done! The little buddy won't bother you anymore."

"Thanks, Martin. You... you were fabulous."

When Martin sat next to him, Timothy kissed him on the face again before he knew what he was doing. The feminized guy then shook his head, one more time confused about what was going on. "Look, Martin, I know I totally overreacted, okay? I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. It was just a frog and I..."

"You don't need to apologize, Tiff" Martin said, holding the girl's hand. "This is not your fault if you were scared. Everybody is scared of something."

"What are you scared of, then?"

Faced with such a question, Martin looked more serious than Timothy had ever seen him before. Soon enough, however, his expression cleared, returning to its usual dreamy aspect. "I am very scared of breaded chicken" Martin finally answered.

"Breaded chicken?!" Timothy exclaimed, amazed. "You're kidding me, right? How can anyone be afraid of breaded chicken?"

"Hey, I didn't judge you because your fears, did I?" Martin asked, smiling. "There is nothing more frightening than breaded chicken."

Timothy was about to open his mouth to argue, but he stopped himself. It was clear that Martin wasn't feeling comfortable at the moment to reveal what he truly feared, and Timothy knew that, as his friend, he should respect it.

They then spent some time just looking at the lake in front of them, without saying anything. All this time, they were still holding hands, something that Timothy didn't seem to find weird or awkward. "Umm... Tiff... can I ask you something?" Martin said, suddenly.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well..." Martin started, strangely uneasy. "I know you and that guy broke up, but I still don't know what happened exactly. Do you want to talk about it? Is there anything I can do?"

"Thank you, Martin" Timothy sighed. "You're so sweet, but I... I really don't want to talk about it now. All that is important to know is that I was the one who broke up with Matt and I never want to see him again."

"But did he do something to hurt you? 'Cause if he did do so, I..."

"Martin..."

"Fine! I won't insist. But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here, okay? No matter what."

"Yes, I know" Timothy said, feeling strangely at peace. Despite the mess his life was now, the feminized guy couldn't deny he was lucky for having so many good people around him. He knew he could count on Kate, Martin and even Lyss to support in any situation, and he was grateful for that. He hoped he would never lose his friends, regardless of what would happen in the future...

"Umm... there is something else I want to say, Tiff" Martin stated, more troubled than ever.

"What is it?"

"Listen, I know this is definitely not the right time to say that, and I'll probably sound like a jerk trying to take advantage of your vulnerable state, but I think you have the right to know. The thing is... well... I like you. I like you not just as a friend... I mean... Yeah, I think you got the idea. It must be a shock to you, as you surely didn't know a thing, but as I said, I thought you had the right to know."

In other circumstances, Timothy would have found it funny. Martin was so oblivious to reality sometimes that he honestly believed that Tiffany didn't know he liked her as a potential girlfriend. Timothy had been aware of it for a very, very long time, as Martin had made it pretty clear with the way he acted whenever the feminized guy was around. Timothy didn't find it funny this time, though... not even a bit. He knew that his friend was opening his heart to him, and there was nothing funny about it. He, in fact, felt sad because of the answer he was about to give...

"Listen, Martin, you have, like, no idea at all about how flattered I am for hearing you say all that. You're such a sweet, pure and handsome guy... Gosh, I'm sure you would make any girl in the world happy! But the truth is... I don't think I want to date guys anymore. This is not an excuse, I swear! It's just... I don't think this is the right thing for me to do, at least for now, and I don't think I will ever change my mind about it. I... I'm sorry..." Timothy finished, feeling his heart as broken as Martin's one probably was.

"T-that's okay, Tiff..." Martin replied, looking down. "Well, we can always be friends, right? That's the most important thing, after all... Our friendship is very important to me."

They went into an uncomfortable and awkward silence, and Timothy kept telling himself he had to say something... anything... so he let out the first thing that crossed his mind. "Umm... you kept mentioning not long ago that you had a gift for me, isn't it right? What is that? Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm totally curious" Timothy asked, feeling like the stupidest person in the world.

Really, Tiffany? The feminized guy scolded himself, angry. You just told the guy you don't want a relationship with him and now you're asking about gifts? Oh my gosh, how can anyone be that airheaded and insensitive?

"Yeah, that's right. I bought it so long ago... I thought you had forgotten about the whole thing, you know" Martin said, with a weak smile, making Timothy feel even guiltier. "Anyway, yeah, I will give it to you. I just need a few days to... umm... to make sure the gift is feeling well."

"What you mean? Is the gift a pet or something?"

"No, not a pet. J-just give me a few days, okay? You'll understand everything..."

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Hey, guys! 

My original plan was to post this part earlier this week, but then I kept rewriting the text until I was minimally happy with that. Sorry for the delay! 

Also, I can understand Martin. Breaded chicken is completely scary ;-P