My Best friend is in a dilemma

I have been in love since my childhood. I used to watch movies and read books and dream about falling in love like the characters did. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I am one of those people now who would not be able to live without someone in their lives. And while it might seem a bit silly of me to think about this type of thing at such an early age, my friends and I have grown up with each other for over four years now, our parents have been together for over twenty five years, and we all feel more or less as if we are family than just friends. So it is no surprise that I feel strongly about something, even though I do not know what exactly I feel at the moment. All I really know right now is that I have been in love since childhood and I have never once stopped feeling that way until today.

It started when I was ten years old, during one of my visits home, and there were two boys in our school, both a year older than me. They were very good looking, both tall and athletic. One boy, Ryan, had dark brown hair and green eyes while his brother had longish red hair and grey eyes, but both of them had light freckles on their noses and cheeks. Ryan's older brother, Ben, had been best friends with him. The two shared the same birthday, which meant they were almost always seen hanging out together. Ben also went to my middle school and he had always been kind to Ryan, despite him being a little too loud and outgoing.

On Friday afternoon before classes, after spending most of the weekend doing nothing but playing video games and watching cartoons with my sister, I sat down on my front step to eat dinner and wait for my mother to come pick me up. It didn't take her long to arrive, she had already left work, which she does on Sundays. When my mother walked outside the house, she bent down to give me a kiss on the cheek, saying how nice it was to see me. She got into the car and drove us back to my friend's house where she dropped me off with my friend . We spent some time catching up with each other, telling stories about our days and how much we had done recently.

The next day, we all spoke extensively. After that, Ryan and Ben decided to go play baseball, leaving me with their other , Kevin. Kevin and I talked for a couple of hours before Ryan came back and said that they would be heading home soon, but Kevin had something important he wanted to talk to me about. He brought me inside his room, closed the door behind himself and took a deep breath.

"So, uh.. I need to tell you something." He finally said, staring intently at me.

"Uh sure, shoot." I replied, wondering what could he want to talk to me about.

"Um, well.. I've been in love with Ben ever since last summer."

I couldn't help but smile. "Well, he really seems to like you. Have you told him?"

"N-no, not yet." He replied sheepishly. "But um... he asked me to go out with him today and I said yes, but then I chickened out because I haven't been to a mall alone with anyone for a while now and.. Well he kind of gave me hope that maybe this would turn out okay, y'know, if we just try. And I don't want to mess up the friendship thing we have going on so.."

I put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "I get it. Don't worry. It will be fine. But remember, you're still his friend first."

He smiled. "Thanks sis." Then he looked at me seriously again. "Listen, there's another reason why I've called you here. I'm gay."

"Oh my gosh, Kevin!" I exclaimed. He blushed slightly.

"And yeah, I was hoping to tell you sooner rather than later but… you seem so happy now so I figured..."

"Of course I'm happy! You made such a big deal out of telling me! This is great! You're gonna date him! Why'd you hide it for so long anyway?" I was laughing at this point.

Kevin shook his head. "We're not going steady. At least I don't think so. And besides, it's pretty complicated. And he's sorta scared of guys. He's really insecure."

"Oh my gosh…" I said softly. It had never occurred to me before that Kevin might be dealing with a lot of things like this. I wasn't really close to my male best friends. I guess I was used to having a brother who liked guys. But now I realized that Kevin could have problems similar to mine as well.

"So I need your help." Kevin said, sounding hopeful. "Can you help me make him understand?"