Liam Carter had never considered himself a hateful person. He worked hard, minded his own business, and stuck to what he believed was right. He wasn't one for deep discussions or questioning the way things were. He had grown up in a small town where people believed in God, family, and tradition, and anything that fell outside of that was considered unnatural, even wrong.
Among those things was being gay.
Liam wouldn't have called himself a bigot—he never went out of his way to harass anyone. But he held onto the belief that a man should be with a woman, that anything else was a choice, a phase, or just plain wrong. And he saw no reason to change his mind.
Then he met Daniel.
Liam had recently moved to the city for a construction job. He didn't particularly like the city—too loud, too crowded, too fast-paced. But the money was better, and he needed the work. His new crew was different from what he was used to. Back home, everyone was more or less the same. Here, he worked alongside people of all races, backgrounds, and beliefs. Some of them, he got along with. Others, he kept his distance from.
And then there was Daniel.
Daniel was confident, outspoken, and friendly with everyone. He wasn't shy about the fact that he was gay, and that made Liam uncomfortable. He avoided small talk with him, kept their conversations strictly work-related, and made sure never to stand too close. He wasn't hateful, he told himself—just… uncomfortable.
Daniel, however, didn't seem to care. He greeted Liam like he greeted everyone else, cracking jokes, offering help, and showing up every day with an easygoing attitude. He was also damn good at his job. It frustrated Liam how effortlessly Daniel fit in, while he himself still felt like an outsider in this city.
Then came the storm.
It was a normal workday until the sky darkened, the wind picked up, and rain started pouring down hard. The crew rushed to secure the site before heading home. Liam was on the scaffolding, moving fast, when his foot slipped on the wet metal. His body lurched forward, and for a terrifying moment, he thought he was going to fall.
Then, a strong hand grabbed his arm, yanking him back to safety.
"Gotcha!"
Liam turned, breathless, to see Daniel gripping his jacket, holding him steady.
"You alright, man?" Daniel asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
Liam's heart pounded in his chest. He swallowed, nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Thanks."
Daniel patted his shoulder. "No problem. Be careful up here." Then he moved on like nothing had happened.
Liam, however, couldn't shake it. He had spent weeks avoiding this guy, making assumptions about him, only for Daniel to be the one to save him. It sat uncomfortably in his mind. He told himself it didn't mean anything—but it did.
The next day, Daniel casually invited Liam to grab a beer after work. Normally, he would have said no. But after what had happened, he felt like he owed him.
"One drink," Liam said.
It was more than one.
They ended up talking for hours. To Liam's surprise, conversation came easily. They talked about work, about their families, about growing up. Daniel had been raised in a conservative home, much like Liam. But unlike Liam, he had always known he was different.
"It wasn't easy," Daniel admitted, sipping his beer. "I spent years trying to change myself. Thought if I prayed hard enough, if I ignored it, it'd go away. It never did."
Liam listened, something twisting in his chest. He had never thought about what it must be like—to feel like you had to hide who you were. He had never considered that being gay wasn't a choice, but something a person simply was.
"You ever talk to your family about it?" Liam asked.
Daniel gave a small, sad smile. "They don't really talk to me much anymore."
Liam had no response to that.
That night, when Liam got home, he lay awake thinking. About Daniel, about the things he had been raised to believe. And for the first time in his life, he questioned whether those beliefs had been wrong.
The real test came a few weeks later.
They were at work when one of their coworkers, Travis, made a crude joke about Daniel. It was the kind of thing Liam might have laughed off once, or at least ignored. But now, something in him snapped.
"Shut the hell up, Travis," Liam said sharply.
Travis blinked, taken aback. "Relax, man, it's just a joke."
"It's not funny."
The others looked between them in surprise. Liam ignored them. He turned back to his work, heart pounding, but he didn't regret saying it.
Later, when they were packing up, Daniel clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks for that."
Liam shrugged. "Yeah. Well." He hesitated, then finally said, "I was an ass when I first met you. Didn't give you a chance."
Daniel smirked. "I noticed."
Liam let out a short laugh. "Yeah, well… I was wrong."
Daniel grinned. "That's all I needed to hear."
And with that, they walked off together, two coworkers—two friends. And for the first time in his life, Liam understood that change wasn't a weakness. It was growth.