Back when I was blogging anonymously about same-sex attraction and other struggles, I coined my own term: my Deep Dark Secret Club. They knew everything.
My whole life I've wanted the love of a big brother. I've always wanted to press into someone bigger than me, someone stronger, someone wiser. A big brother to hold me, a big brother to comfort me, a big brother to tell me everything will be okay because he's right there and he's not going to let me go.
I like hugs personally. I think they're great, and I like that hugging differentiates friendships from acquaintances. When I first saw this hugging moment on the show, I immediately felt awkward with Barry. I might have held my breath to see what he was going to do.
I'd had enough of life with only these types of strong male friendships while the other types of male friendships went severely lacking. Couldn't I just have "normal" heterosexual guy friends?