The Kid and Creed.
The Kid and Dom, arms around each other’s shoulders, mugging it up for the camera.
Ty graduating.
Ty his first day sober after the long dark, looking pale, but that undying spark still shining in his eyes.
Ty, the day before he set out on his own.
After he left, his room became a refuge for me. It was my place to hold on to something I knew I had to let go of. No matter how hard it was. No matter how much it hurt. No matter how much it terrified me.
It’s gotten better. Or rather, I have. I think. I still find myself in here sometimes, though not as much as I used to be.
But today is a different day. I’m allowing myself this moment, because of all the changes today is about to bring—and what the future holds for all of us.
I’ll admit that under the relief of hearing Tyson say he was coming back to Seafare, I felt a twinge of disappointment. Not because of his reasons behind coming home or what he planned to do with his life, but more because I wanted him to get out of Seafare, to leave behind this place and all the memories that came with it. But then it hit me that all the bad can never compare to everything good that has happened to us in this place. In this town. We were knocked down, but we picked ourselves up. Every time. And we’ll do it again. So while I might have been just a tad bit upset, that left when I realized it was his life, and this is his home too. And if that’s what he wants to do, then I’m behind him on it. He is my brother, after all. That’s what we do. It’s the only thing to do.
This room, though. These photos. All these things. There’s a lifetime of memories in here, even though we’ve barely begun.
It’s easy to get lost in them.
Otter comes up behind me, wrapping his big arms around my waist, dropping his chin on my shoulder. He kisses my ear and I squirm, trying to complain but unable to keep the smile from my face. Even after all this time, I get butterflies in my stomach when he touches me.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey, yourself,” I say back.
He waits. He knows me well. He grazes his hand over mine and there’s that familiar clink as our wedding rings scrape together. It sounds like home.
It’s hard to believe we’ve come so far, isn’t it? When you and I first met, things were… well. Things weren’t the best. I was a scared little boy in charge of another scared little boy. But, hey. No need to rehash old details. Chances are if you’ve made it this far, you know all this. It’s just strange to think where we’re at now, especially when you consider how we started out.
Of course, it’s also strange to think how much things are about to change again. But this time, it’s by our own choice.
And that doesn’t make it any less terrifying.
“Did you finish?” I ask Otter. “Setting up the room?”
“For the most part,” he says. “Want to come see?”
I chuckle nervously. “I don’t know.”
He kisses my neck. “It’s not as scary as you think. I promise.”
“It’s very scary,” I remind him.
He laughs in my ear. It’s a husky sound, and I consider whether we have enough time to allow me to climb him like a tree. Probably not. Besides, my nerves probably would ruin any shenanigans we could get up to. I’m kind of dumb like that.
“You sure about this?” he asks me.
“It’s a little late for that.”
“Nah,” he says easily. “We can always just say no.”
I shake my head. “And then what?”
He shrugs. “And then we move on.”
“What if…?” I stop. I told myself I wasn’t going to do this anymore.