The One Thing I Never Expected - Chapter 18
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Ryan/Brendon (Gabilliam, tiny tinyy bit of Joncer)
POV: 1st, Brendon's
Summary: Ryan is Brendon's best friend, they grew up together. But Ryan is different. An accident when he was a child left him deaf. Brendon has always taken care of Ryan, but now he's starting to care for Ryan in a different way...
Disclaimer: Fiction, I own nothing. It's not real.
Author’s Note: At the end.
Masterpost My Tumblr<3
Chapter 18
Over the course of the week that I was out of school, a lot happened. The first few days were fine, but then Ryan had to go back to school, and without him there I started to think too much about things that he was keeping me distracted from. I really, really tried to block out the things that happened to me from my thoughts, but it’s like they were relentless, constantly reminding me that it did happen and I am screwed up.
I don’t feel like the same person anymore. I don’t feel okay.
Ryan came home one day to find me crying on the bathroom floor. I’d been there for hours, sobbing uncontrollably. I had turned on the news earlier that day to see that I was on it. They were talking about what happened.
‘Earlier this week, eighteen-year-old Chris Johnson was taken into police custody after the police received a call last Friday night from a teenager named Mikey Way, informing them that Johnson had raped a boy at his party. Seventeen-year-old Brendon Urie of Palo Verde High School, the students of which attended this party, was found by his boyfriend after he was heard screaming from the back of the house. Johnson hasn't gone to trial yet, but the police have concluded that there is enough evidence to put him away.’
I felt completely vulnerable. Everyone knew now. They showed a picture of Chris and I felt like vomiting, which is why I ran to the bathroom. Nothing came up, and I was just dry heaving. I kept seeing the scene play over and over in my head and I couldn’t make it stop. All I could see was his face. All I could feel was the way he held me down, his rough fingers digging into my side, bruising me. I sunk down to the floor and cried. I stayed like that until Ryan got there, and then he was rushing in, picking me up and leading me to the bed. He refused to leave my side the entire night. He laid there beside me, tangling his fingers in my hair and pressing sweet kisses to my neck.
When I finally told him what happened, he was furious. He said it was a total invasion of privacy, not to mention completely heartless. But I understand. People need the news.
Another night I had a nightmare. It was almost the same scene I’d been seeing in my head for days, except ten times worse. In my dream, Ryan didn’t come find me. Nobody did. I woke up sweating and screaming, Ryan frantically trying to calm me down. I’ve been having that same nightmare almost every night.
I can’t believe Ryan hasn’t gotten fed up with me yet. He’s never complained, never told me I needed to move on, nothing like that. He just tells me that he loves me and it’ll be okay. That’s all, and I really, really love him for that. He’s there for me every single time I need him, and even when I don’t.
This week, school is out for Thanksgiving. I’ve never really understood why they let us out for a whole week just for Thanksgiving, but it’s not like I’m complaining. Today is Wednesday, and I’m dreading tomorrow. I really don’t want my family to know about what happened, but now that it’s on the news and everything, they could find out. I just don’t want to have to deal with the thousand ‘I’m so sorry’s and my grandma crying her eyes out. It’s hard enough for me already without them knowing.
My mom took me to the movies last night, just me and her. It’s been awhile since we’ve done anything, just the two of us. I was actually having a pretty good time until I ran into Katie from chemistry class. She actually started crying. She hugged me and told me she was sorry, and that she was also sorry for saying bad things about Ryan. She said she was just jealous because Ryan turned her down. I was kind of baffled by the whole occurrence, because it’s not like Katie and I are friends. At all. I barely even know her. I couldn’t care less what she says about me and Ryan behind our backs. But I guess now she feels guilty or whatever because something bad happened to me. Whatever. Fuck her.
***
“Oh god, they’re going to be here in like, an hour,” I wail to Ryan, who is seated beside me on our bed, xbox controller in his hand, trying desperately to beat Spencer in the videogame they’re playing.
“Who’s going to be here in an hour?” Spencer asks from where he’s situated on the floor, half-distracted by the game.
“Oh, just my entire family of freaks,” I say miserably.
“Um, what?” Spencer mutters. I heave a dramatic sigh.
“They’re Mormon to the extreme, man,” I shake my head sadly. Ryan kills Spencer’s character and throws his hands up victoriously.
“Fuck! Goddammit!” Spencer curses, throwing my controller down on the floor. That was the third time in a row Ryan beat him. “I’m not playing with your skinny ass anymore,” Spencer huffs, clearly trying to hide his bruised ego.
“Excuse me, but it’s not my fault that my ass is skinny,” Ryan protests.
“Oh my bad, I meant to say that you have no ass,” Spencer retorts.
“Yeah? Tell that to Brendon! Because he seems to love my ass,” Ryan bites back, causing Spencer to cringe.
“Is that right? Well-”
“Guys!” I shriek. “Family crisis over here!” They both shut up with guilty faces and turn to pay attention to me.
“Sorry,” Ryan mutters. “Anyway, I’ve already mentally prepared myself for the hate,” he nods solemnly.
“It’s not you they’re gonna hate, Ry, it’s the us part they’re gonna hate,” I say dejectedly.
“They don’t know?” Spencer asks wide-eyed.
“No. And they’re going to freak out,” I reply worriedly.
“Maybe not. They could surprise you,” Spencer offers weakly with a lost kind of shrug.
“No, they’re going to beat me with a bible and then go back to Utah.”
“Brendon,” Ryan says skeptically with a tilt to his head.
“Okay, maybe it won’t be that bad, but I really am afraid that they’re going to leave. I don’t want to ruin this for my mom,” I try to get them to understand.
“Your mom would probably throw you a party for getting rid of them,” Spencer chuckles. “Ever since I got here she’s been running around the house cooking and griping about her mother.”
“They aren’t going to leave, Bren,” Ryan says, ignoring Spencer. “And anyway, Spence, shouldn’t you be at your own house?”
“My mom always makes me leave while she cooks,” he shrugs in reply. “She says I always get in her way.”
“I could see that,” Ryan nods, receiving a slap on the shoulder from Spencer.
“Oh hey, have you talked to Gabe?” I ask Spencer quietly. Gabe’s family sort of kicked him out before school this year. I don’t know the specifics, but I think it had something to do with them being religious, and Gabe not being religious. He has a part-time job at a clothing store and he shares an apartment with his older brother, who left at seventeen because of their parents. Gabe doesn’t have any family to go to on Thanksgiving.
“Yeah, he and his brother are going to William’s this year. I don’t know if Gabe told you, but he told his brother about William and William told his family.” No, I did not know this.
“Oh, really? Wow. How’d they take it?” I ask warily.
“Gabe’s brother was actually cool about it. William’s dad was less than pleased, to say the least,” Spencer cringes. “He didn’t freak out or anything, he just wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Is William okay?” Ryan asks, looking worried. I know how sensitive he is about the whole ‘coming out’ thing. No matter who the person is that’s coming out, Ryan worries about them. He takes it seriously, what with everything he had to go through when he came out.
“Yeah, you know how William is. It takes a lot to upset him,” Spencer replies.
I hear the sound of tires hitting gravel and my eyes widen. Oh please, no. I leap across Ryan’s lap to pull back the curtains on the window next to him that looks over the driveway, and then I make a pained noise.
“Um,” Ryan says from where I’ve practically knocked him down and sprawled on top of him.
“They’re here, oh my God.”
“Well! I better get going; my mom’s expecting me back any minute now, bye!” Spencer rushes out before darting out the door with a frantic look and a wave.
“Maybe if we lock the door they’ll think we’re gone,” I whisper.
“Brendon, come on,” Ryan says. “You’re making such a big deal out of this. It is going to be fine,” he says slowly.
“I’m really scared,” I admit to him. “I wasn’t scared to tell my mom, or my friends, because I knew they would be okay with it. But this is my family, Ryan. My very religious family, and I’m scared.”
“I know, baby,” he murmurs, crawling over to me on his knees. He splays his fingers across my cheek. “But I’ll be right beside you. I’m scared too, you know? I want them to like me.”
“They’ll love you,” I reassure him.
“Until we tell them,” he adds, looking sad. “Why are we telling them anyway? They live all the way in Utah, and you don’t see them a lot, so what does it matter?”
“Because they’re staying here for two days and I don’t want to have to act like we’re just friends,” I say like it should be an obvious thing. I’m really not sure I could go two whole days without being able to hold his hand or kiss him. He smiles softly and leans in, but stops just when his lips start to brush mine.
“I-”
“I love you, too,” I beat him to it, smiling. He laughs and leans in the rest of the way, pressing our lips together with just the right amount of pressure. I think it’s impossible for us to do that whole ‘pecking’ thing that couples start to do when they’ve been together for a while. You know, where they barely touch their lips together for like a second. I think that’s when couples start to lose their spark. I can’t do that with Ryan. I have to have a real kiss. Those little barely-there lip touches don’t feel meaningful enough, and I don’t like them. And screw any other people that might be in the room, when I want to kiss Ryan, I will kiss him. My definition of ‘pecking’ Ryan is a full-on kiss, but just one. We usually have trouble pulling away after one little kiss, though. And I hope we always stay like that.
“How did you know I was going to say that? I could have been trying to say, ‘I’m hungry,’” he smiles crookedly.
“Because you always say it at times that other people wouldn’t,” I reply instantly. “And that’s one of the things I love about you.” His smile softens and he kisses me again, guiding me to lie down. He crawls on top of me and hooks his fingers into my belt loops, moving his mouth to my neck. We haven’t done anything like this since…before that party. It’s been almost two weeks, and I think it’s because Ryan is scared that he’ll upset me. He probably thinks I’m not going to want to do anything for a long time. But it’s Ryan. He would never hurt me like that, and I really can’t get anything we do together mixed up with what…he did to me. It’s different.
Sure enough, Ryan pulls back after a minute, looking like he really doesn’t want to.
“Don’t,” I mumble, pulling him down again. He lets me kiss him a few times before he pulls back again.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t stop,” I say a bit petulantly.
“But-”
“I’m not going to break, Ryan.”
“I know that, it’s just…I don’t want to…” he trails off, looking worried, and suddenly I understand.
“You don’t think I’m-” I break off, a bit disbelieving. “You don’t think I’m scared for you to touch me, do you?” He eyes me worriedly, and I know that I’m right.
“I thought it would make you think about…y’know,” he mumbles quietly, not making eye contact.
“Ryan, no,” I insist. “No. It’s. That was- no,” I struggle. “You’re different. You love me. I always want- with you. Always you,” I rush out, cupping his face, suddenly feeling my words strongly. Ryan swallows and puts his hands on either side of my neck, stroking his thumbs over my jaw, staring right at my eyes.
“I would never hurt you,” he says, and the force behind his words makes me breathe unevenly.
The only reply I can think of is to bring my mouth up to his in a crushing but loving kiss. Ryan flips us over so I’m on top of him, and I hitch his leg up over my hip, running my hand down his leg. He’s kissing me more passionately than he ever has before, and it’s making my head go fuzzy. He pulls back for air, his hands roaming all over my stomach, shoulders, back, and our breathing is heavy and rugged. He makes a needy sound and I tighten my grip on his leg that’s now wrapped around me and smash our lips together again.
Ryan unceremoniously shoves his tongue in my mouth and I moan my assent. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the love in his actions more than I do right now. He’s being so frantic and avid. It’s so unlike the usual soft, slow kisses but it’s so much more intense.
I slide my hand from his leg up to his hip and grip it so tight I’m probably leaving a bruise. Ryan lets out a quiet moan.
“Baby,” he breathes, and his leg tightens again around my waist, pulling me infinitely closer. I breathe hard into his mouth and he stretches his neck out, so I get the hint and move my lips to his neck again. His neck is definitely a sweet spot for him. I suck on a spot near his throat and he makes one of those ‘mmm’ noises. I’m just about to rip his clothes off and ravage him right there when a sound from down the hall catches my attention.
I freeze and listen despite Ryan’s fervent protests, him trying to force my lips back on his neck, and I hear the unmistakable sound of my ten-year-old cousin Amelia’s call of, “Bdennnn!” from down the hallway, steadily growing louder. My eyes widen, and so do Ryan’s, and I jump off the bed while Ryan sits up, hoping to some kind of higher power that I don’t believe in that Amelia won’t understand what ruffled hair and red lips insinuate.
My doors bursts open and I put a convincing smile on my face. “Bden!” Amelia squawks, running and nearly knocking me over with a suffocating hug.
“Milly!” I squeal back, completely genuine. She’s the only one in my family that I actually really like. I really am happy to see her, even if she did just ruin what I’m sure would have been the best sex of my life. Internal sigh.
“I missed you so much. Did I tell you I got all A’s on my report card? Remember how you helped me with math the last time you visited? I made an A!” she exclaims, jumping up and down. I beam at her and jump up and down with her.
“I am so proud of you!” I praise. “I think you deserve some ice cream,” I say secretively, eyebrow raised.
“Really?” she asks with wide eyes.
“How about after dinner, me and Ryan,” I say, pointing to Ryan who smiles, “take you out for ice cream?” At this she visibly perks up even more.
“Yay!” she squeaks.
“So do you remember how I told you about Ryan?” I ask her.
“You mean your best friend Ryan? The one you always talk about when you visit? The one who you said has the prettiest smile in the worl-”
“Yes!” I interrupt quickly, feeling my cheeks get hot. I glance at Ryan who is grinning like an idiot. “Yeah, well I want you to meet him.” Ryan gets up from the bed and walks over to us. “Milly, this is Ryan.”
“Hi,” she says politely, taking him in.
“Hi M-”
“Call her Amelia,” I whisper in his ear. “She only lets very specific people call her Milly.”
“Hi Amelia,” Ryan corrects, smiling down at her.
“Brendon really loves you,” she blurts out. My eyes widen. Of course I know she only means in a platonic way, because she’s ten, but still.
“I know,” Ryan smiles, looking at me and purposely touching a spot on his neck that is now red.
“Come on,” Milly says, tugging my hand. “Mom wants to see you.” I roll my eyes at Ryan because Milly’s mom is the devil. My mom always says she’s ashamed to be her sister. I don’t blame her. It’s not even just that she’s super religious. She’s just such a bitch. I honestly don’t know how Milly turned out so amazing.
“Come on,” I say to Ryan in turn, trying to convey with my eyes to prepare himself to meet Satan. I think it worked because he looks frightened.
We trot down the stairs after Milly and when we walk into the kitchen, I can practically feel Ryan’s eyes widen. I don’t think he understood what I meant by ‘big family.’
There’s my mom’s two sisters, Kate and Susan, and their husbands, Mark and Jeffrey. Milly is Kate and Mark’s only kid, but Susan and Jeffrey have two kids, Leslie and Ben, both demons. Then there’s my mom’s three brothers, Nick, Stephen, and Aiden. Aiden is only twenty, so he isn’t married. Nick’s wife is Maria, and they have two daughters named Mary and Vanessa. Stephen and his wife Lucy have three boys named Jason, Johnny, and Jared. Then there’s my grandma and her two sisters (my great-aunts) and my mom’s cousins, Jack, Elizabeth, and Jimmy, and then their wives/husband and kids. So in all, there’s about thirty-five people packed into my kitchen and living room.
“Oh my God,” Ryan chokes out, his face gone white.
“I know,” I mumble back. “Now do you see why I’m so scared?” He stares open-mouthed at all the people and only nods back. I take a deep breath before walking into the kitchen, Ryan following me. Milly ran off to play with Leslie somewhere.
“Brendon!” I hear about twenty different voices say at once, and I might cringe a little. I go to grab Ryan’s hand, but then I remember, no, not yet.
“Hi, Brendon,” Kate says in that completely fake sweet voice of hers. Bitch.
“Hey, Aunt Kate. This is Ryan,” I nod toward Ryan, who looks like he’s about to pass out any minute now. “This is Milly’s mom,” I say to Ryan.
“Hello,” Ryan smiles politely. Kate looks him over and I can see the disapproval all over her face when she notices his eyeliner.
“Nice to meet you,” she says in a bored tone. “Brendon, Aiden is looking for you,” she says before walking off. I stare after her with narrowed eyes.
“I don’t think she likes me,” Ryan says quietly.
“She doesn’t like anybody,” I roll my eyes.
“How is Amelia her daughter?” he asks disbelievingly.
“I honestly have no idea. Maybe it’s because Mark’s not that bad.”
“That reminds me, seeing you with her upstairs was probably the most adorable thing I’ve ever witnessed,” he grins. I return his smile sheepishly.
“She’s a sweet kid,” I shrug. “She told me once that I’m more like her big brother than her cousin.” Before Ryan can reply, I hear my name yet again.
“Hey kid!” Aiden says, and I smile a little. Aiden is probably the least-Mormon of them all. I think he’s kind of the same as my mom, not even religious, but he doesn’t tell the family that.
“Hey,” I say and hug him. Ryan relaxes a little now that he’s sees that I actually like Aiden.
“Who’s this?” he asks, looking at Ryan. “Wait, let me guess. This is Ryan,” he says in a voice that suggests that he’s heard a lot about him, which he has.
“How’d you know?” I ask, and Aiden smirks.
“Well, every time you’ve visited me for the past like, thirteen years, all you’ve talked about is Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, over and over and o-”
“We get it!” I shriek. My entire family is just set on embarrassing me today. Ryan is grinning like an idiot again. “And it’s been twelve years, thank you.”
“So, Ryan. I would say I’ve heard a lot about you, but that would be an understatement,” Aiden grins. I glare at him.
“Shut up,” I whine. “Why do you want to embarrass me?”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s cute,” Ryan laughs and grabs my hand, but then freezes and jerks it back when he realizes what he did. We both dart our gazes to Aiden. He’s smiling in an amused sort of way, confused. But I see the moment when it clicks; when his face is struck with realization.
“Wait a minute,” he says slowly, but he doesn’t look mad. He still looks slightly amused. “Are you two…?” he trails off.
“Um,” I swallow, not sure what to say. There’s no point in lying. He knows; I can see it in his face. I must be conveying my feelings through my expression well enough because Aiden visibly softens.
“Whoa, hey, it’s okay. You can tell me the truth. You know I’m not like them, Bren,” he whispers.
“I’m gay,” I blurt out in a whisper. “Ryan’s my boyfriend,” I blurt again. I mentally curse myself for that momentary word-vomit. I wait for Aiden to run and tell everyone how disgusting I am, but he stays. More confusing, he doesn’t look mad or disgusted at all.
“It’s okay,” he says, smiling a little.
“You- you’re not mad?” I ask.
“Of course not.”
“But…why?” I ask dumbly. Ryan smoothes a hand over my back, a calming gesture.
“Because I know how you feel,” he says quietly, and there’s something in his eyes, and- oh. “Takes one to know one, right?” he chuckles.
“You- really?” I breathe. He nods.
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” he smiles, and then abruptly walks away, leaving me staring in shock.
“Whoa,” Ryan says. I nod.
“Alright everyone!” I hear my mom’s voice. “Into the dining room, time to eat!” I take a giant breath and beckon Ryan into the dining room, taking seats before everyone else gets in here. Milly runs in and takes a seat across from me, smiling wide.
“Dad said I can go with you and Ryan after dinner!” she squeals.
“Go where?” my mom asks from where she’s setting various bowls of food on the table.
“Milly got all A’s on her report card, and I told her we’d take her for ice cream,” I say. My mom smiles and ruffles Milly’s hair.
“Good job, sweetie,” she praises.
“Bden,” Milly starts seriously. “I think I know what I want to be when I grow up.”
“What’s that?”
“A writer,” she nods decidedly.
“Ryan writes,” I tell her. She perks up.
“Really?” she looks at Ryan. He’s smiling a little sheepishly. He nods. “What do you write?”
“Lyrics,” he says.
“Is that like songs?” she tilts her head to the side.
“Yeah, exactly,” Ryan grins. “Just without the music.”
“I think I’d like to write books,” Milly admits a little shyly. “But I probably wouldn’t be any good at it.”
“I bet you’d be great at it,” Ryan tells her, and she beams. By the time everyone is seated and talking, Ryan and Milly are chattering excitedly to each other about books and English and everything they seem to be mutually interested in. I’m a little amazed. She never opens up to strangers this quickly.
My mom shushes everyone, and then my grandma says grace, and then everyone starts to pass around the food.
“Oh, who’s your friend, Brendon?” my Aunt Susan asks with a smile.
“That’s Ryan!” Milly says excitedly.
“The Ryan?” my uncle Mark asks. I groan a little.
“Yes,” I sigh. There are about a million ‘hi, Ryan’s at once, and Ryan just smiles and does an awkward little wave.
“Ryan, dear, why aren’t with your family today?” my grandma asks, and I cringe. Ryan’s smile slips off his face and he looks down at his plate. He probably wasn’t even thinking of his mom until then.
“Well, Ryan actually lives with us now,” I start cautiously.
“Lives with you? Why?” Kate asks.
“My mom, she, um. She died last month, and she was the only family member I had, so…” Ryan trails off. I put my hand on his knee under the table, not even caring if anyone notices.
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” my grandma says, looking concerned.
“So, how is everyone?” my mom changes the subject, and Ryan sends her a grateful smile. “Anyone pregnant again yet?” she jokes, but I know she’s not really joking. Mormons and their disapproval of contraception.
***
After dinner, when we’re about to take Milly for ice cream, I steal a few seconds alone with Ryan while we’re in the kitchen putting dishes in the sink.
“Everyone loves you. They love you more than they love me,” I pout. He laughs and puts his arms around my waist, tugging me closer.
“There’s that damn pout,” he smiles, and yeah, it’s been way too long since we’ve kissed. Almost two whole hours.
“We haven’t touched in like two hours,” I pout again, this time more dramatically just because I know what it does to him. He doesn’t even reply this time; just leans in and kisses me softly. And well, okay I meant for it to be one little kiss, but my lips won’t listen to my brain right now. Ryan squeezes my sides and smiles into the kiss, and before I have a chance to return the smile, I hear a plate shatter. We jump apart and spin around, and there is, of-fucking-course, Kate.
“What are you doing?” she says, looking disgusted, and I really didn’t want it to happen like this.
“Aunt Kate, listen,” I say calmly.
“Brendon, how could you?” she snaps, catching me off-guard. She abruptly turns around and rushes into the living room.
“Aunt Kate, please don’t,” I beg, running after her with Ryan behind me, because I changed my mind. I don’t want them to know. I don’t want to tell them.
Everyone is looking at Kate worriedly when we run into the room. “Aunt Kate, please,” I beg, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes. She looks at me, repulsed and then faces everyone again.
“I found them in the kitchen, kissing,” she chokes out. There are a lot of gasps and quick intakes or air. My mom is glaring at Kate and Aiden is looking sympathetic.
“Brendon?” my grandma asks me, shocked. “Is that true?” I take one look at my grandma’s face and I feel the tears filling my eyes.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Brendon, why would you do that?” my Aunt Susan asks, looking confused.
“Because I’m…” I trail off. My mom walks over to me and puts her arm around my shoulders, and a tear spills down over my cheek. “I’m gay.”
“Oh my…” my grandma says, covering her mouth with her hand, and then the tears start falling steadily.
“Ryan is my boyfriend,” I say, wanting to get it over with. Ryan immediately grabs my hand and squeezes.
“Grace, what are you planning to do about this?” Kate hisses.
“Excuse me?” my mom asks, looking put out.
“You’ve got to do something. He needs help,” she continues in that same sickened tone.
“My son is perfectly fine,” my mom snaps.
“Grace, it’s wrong. It’s a sin,” my grandma urges.
“There is nothing wrong with being gay,” Mom says authoritatively.
“We can get you help, Brendon, both of you,” Susan soothes. “There are groups to help people like you, to help you get back to normal,” she smiles sweetly. I close my eyes against the tears.
“Normal?” Ryan asks, surprising me. “You really don’t get it, do you? This isn’t some kind of disease. It’s not something you choose.”
“This is all your fault,” Kate snaps. “You did this to him.”
“Kate, stop,” Aiden says.
“I can’t believe this,” my Uncle Jeffrey says, shaking his head.
“Look, I’m going to say this one time," my mom starts. "I love Brendon and Ryan, and I would never ask them to change for anything. They’re in love. I see it every day. Half of you wouldn’t know real love if it hit you between the eyes. Contrary to what you all believe, people aren’t meant to marry someone that’s convenient just so they can reproduce. I support my son and his boyfriend, and if you have anything else to say on the matter, then you can leave right now. If not, then stay, by all means,” my mom finishes, leaving me wide-eyed.
“Why is everyone mad?” Milly pipes up.
“We’re just upset because we’re trying to get Brendon to understand that what he’s doing is wrong, sweetie,” Kate says. Mark, who’s been quiet the whole time, interferes.
“Don’t you dare tell her that, Kate,” he snaps. Kate looks taken aback. “I believe the same way as you do, but that doesn’t mean you get to force it on her. Let her make her own decisions,” he says.
“We’re supposed to be teaching her right from wrong, Mark, and this is wrong.”
“I don’t think it’s wrong,” Milly says quietly, and everyone looks at her. “Brendon loves Ryan. He’s talked about him ever since I can remember. They’re happy. What’s wrong about that?” The room goes quiet. I just stare at her in shock. I can’t believe those words just came from a ten-year-old. I feel a strong sense of pride.
Kate stares at her daughter in disbelief. “We’re leaving.”
“Wait,” I say through watery eyes. “I promised Milly I’d take her for ice cream.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” she snarls.
“Kate,” Mark snaps. “Let them take her.”
“No!” she argues. “I don’t want her around them.”
“Milly, go ahead, sweetie,” Mark says to her sweetly, and she runs over to us.
“Mark!” Kate yells.
“Kate, just let them go. If you still want to leave when they get back, fine,” my mom says tiredly. Kate doesn’t say anything, so I take the opportunity to pull Ryan and Milly out the door and to my mom’s car. We drive to the ice cream place in silence.
***
“I want the mint kind,” Milly says decidedly, looking at the ice cream menu.
“Me too,” Ryan agrees. I go to the counter and get the ice cream for us, and when I come back, Milly is laughing at something Ryan said. I sit down and she smiles at me.
“Don’t be sad, Bden,” she says softly, patting my hand.
“I’m not sad, Mil,” I lie.
“Yes, you are. I know mom doesn’t understand, but I know you love Ryan. And I like him a lot. He’s funny,” she giggles, making Ryan laugh. Again, I’m amazed at how grown up she can sound sometimes, and I return her smile.
“Hey, Amelia, what do you call a fake noodle?” Ryan asks her, and I smile, knowing the joke because he’s told it to me a million times.
“What?” she tilts her head.
“An impasta,” he grins. She stares at him for a few seconds and then bursts into giggles. Ryan laughs along with her. She looks at him so fondly, and I can’t believe she’s opened up to him like this.
“Call me Milly,” she says to him eagerly, and he beams. My mouth drops open, because it took my mom years to be able to call her that.
“Milly, you have something on your face,” Ryan says innocently. She looks confused, and then Ryan dips his finger in his ice cream and swipes it across her nose, making her squeal. They go back and forth wiping ice cream on each other and exchanging giggles until Ryan surrenders. I’m watching with an amused smile. I never knew he was so good with kids. It’s kind of adorable.
“Brendon, your boyfriend is the best,” Milly smiles.
He really is.
Next Chapter
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A/N: I'm so happy lj let me post this whole thing, because it's really long. Anyway, comments are loved <3