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Brad is the high school’s star quarterback and Patrick’s secret lover. Brad is gay, but due to societal pressures and his father’s raging homophobia, he’s not open about his sexuality. Very few people know that Brad and Patrick are together, and those who do are Patrick’s friends, who are very accepting of the queer community. Brad can’t be honest about sexuality with his own friends who are also popular athletes whom he assumes will be less likely to accept sexualities and displays of masculinity that deviate from traditional norms. Brad’s inability to express his identity causes a lot of personal pain and confusion as well as serious consequences in his and Patrick’s lives. While he makes plenty of mistakes in his secret romance with Patrick, his character remains sympathetic, as he faces a very real threat of violence and social ostracization should his sexual orientation be revealed to his friends and family.
Brad and Patrick first begin having sex during their junior year of high school. They both frequented the same parties and would steal away to private spaces to “fool around” and eventually have sex. After the two had sex for the first time, Brad broke down crying and was inconsolable. Patrick told Brad to pretend that he’d passed out, so that no one would be suspicious of where Brad had been and what he’d been doing, and then called his parents to have him picked up from the party. By that point, Brad had developed a substance problem due to needing to be drunk or high in order to participate in sexual or romantic activity with Patrick. He would pretend that he couldn’t remember anything that had happened at the party as a way of escaping accountability for his actions. Brad is deep in denial regarding his sexuality, and even refuses to acknowledge Patrick at school, which hurts Patrick’s feelings. But when Brad finally has sex with Patrick, he breaks down because he can no longer deny that he’s gay. This realization is upsetting to him because he knows he’ll need to face the hardships that come with homosexuality for the rest of his life.
During Brad’s senior year, he continues his secret relationship with Patrick, but he’s progressed enough to no longer need to abuse substances. However, Brad’s greatest fears are realized when Brad’s father catches him with Patrick. Brad’s father begins beating Brad severely, to the point where Patrick worries that Brad could be killed. Patrick is horrified by the beating but doesn’t interfere, and Brad screams for Patrick to leave. The incident is traumatizing for both. Brad misses school for over a week to recover from his injuries, and when he returns, he’s avoidant and later aggressive toward Patrick. Brad yells a slur at Patrick in the cafeteria, and the scene escalates into a fight between Patrick and Brad’s friends. The incident marks the clear end of Brad and Patrick’s romance, as Brad has projected all his rage and hurt onto Patrick, damaging their relationship beyond repair. Brad holds a lot of anger, shame, and confusion related to his sexuality, and unfortunately, by the end of the novel, he has not yet found a way to live openly as a gay man. However, Brad does thank Charlie for protecting Patrick during the cafeteria brawl, suggesting that he never truly wanted to hurt Patrick and that his internalized homophobia hasn’t completely destroyed his ability to love and care for others.
