Then, “Never thought this day would come,” he says. I don’t like the sadness in his voice.
“What?” I say lightly. “Me sashaying out of the closet in a much more spectacular fashion then you did?”
He snorts and buries his face in his hand. “No. And just so you know, that’s going to take me a while to get used to.”
“We’ve got the rest of our lives,” I assure him. “What day, then?”
“Graduating.”
“Oh. I had to do it sometime, right?”
He drops his hands. “Right,” he murmurs.
“I’m still me. I’ve still got the scar on my knee.”
I can hear the smile in his voice. “I know.”
“Bear?”
“Yeah?”
“I know what you meant. Earlier. And you’re right.”
“About?”
“About being more than my brother.”
“I know, Ty.”
“You know you’re stuck with me, right?”
“Yeah. Sure, Kid. You sure about leaving still?”
“For school? Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? This doesn’t change anything.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Why would it?”
He glances back at our family. Dom and Otter stand apart from the rest, watching us. They both lift their hands in a wave. Stacey moves up next to Dom and takes his hand in hers. “You’re right. It doesn’t change a thing.”
He knows.
“Do we have to talk about our feelings some more now?” I ask with a nervous chuckle. “Is that what gay guys do together? I haven’t gotten my gay card yet, so I don’t know.”
He laughs, but it sounds watery. I let it be.
“We’re okay?”
“We’re okay, Kid.”
The sun is almost gone. We watch it leave.
“Oh, and Otter already knew.”
?
??What?”