Chapter 4 #2
I glance toward the window, where the lawnmower’s finally gone quiet. “My mom just finished mowing. Dad’s probably downstairs pretending his spice rack is a tactical mission. We could tell them. Today.”
Theo sits up, too, his playful smirk fading into something wide-eyed and cautious. “Wait. Now now?”
“Yeah.” My heart’s thudding hard enough that I feel it in my throat, but the word tastes right in my mouth. “We’ve already talked through it. And I don’t want to keep… hiding. Not from them. Not from anyone, ideally, but I know that’s not possible. Not right now.”
He nods slowly, like he’s scrutinizing each emotion as it passes through him. “Okay… wow. That’s big.”
I nod back. But part of me is still trembling, somewhere behind my ribs. The part that’s lived half in the shadows, even in the open. The part that’s learned to stay smaller, quieter. Keep people guessing. Let them assume. Especially when you’re a young Black kid with a basketball scholarship.
And hell, that’s only been for a couple of weeks, and the months before when I’ve been stumbling over my confusion.
But this? This is mine.
I glance at Theo, then take a breath. “Actually… what if we did a two-for-one?”
He frowns. “A what now?”
“We tell your parents too.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, but it’s everything. “We just… get it all out there. One sweep. Like ripping off the Band-Aid, but with more eye contact and potential awkward silence.”
Theo’s quiet for a second. “You’re serious.”
I nod again.
He runs a hand through his soft curls, shaking his head like he’s trying to reboot. “Okay, but… just so I’m not hallucinating this—this is a yes about us, right? Like, we’re together together?”
I blink, then huff a laugh. “I mean… yeah? Aren’t we?”
He half smiles, like he wants to believe it but needs to hear it out loud. “I just don’t want to be that idiot who assumes he’s someone’s boyfriend and ends up in a viral sad song called ‘Mixed Signals and Missed Texts.’”
I let out a breath and look at him directly. “We’re dating, Theo. For real. Officially.”
He nods, and I offer him my pinkie—our stupid little ritual that suddenly means way more than it ever has.
He loops his around mine. “Boyfriends?”
“Boyfriends,” I echo. “Even if we’re kind of a disaster at timing.”
He grins. “Speak for yourself. I’m excellent under pressure.”
“Perfect,” I say. “You can do all the talking.”
He laughs. “Absolutely not.”
We stand up together, and as we head toward the stairs, our hands brush once, then again. On the third brush, we just… hold.
The house is quiet but not empty.
We walk through my home like something’s humming in the walls. My heartbeat’s a drumline in my ears, and I can tell Theo’s nervous too—he keeps adjusting his sleeves like they’re responsible for his entire emotional state.
But we don’t let go.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I hear my dad in the kitchen, humming some old-school Marvin Gaye. My mom’s probably cleaning up in the laundry room. Everything feels weirdly normal. Like the world doesn’t know it’s about to shift, just a little.
I glance at Theo. “You ready?”
He doesn’t answer right away, but then he squeezes my hand. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”
And we take the last few steps forward, together.
My parents are in the kitchen when we walk in—Mom’s wiping her hands, and Dad’s slicing limes like he’s judging them. They both look up when we enter, and before they can even say anything, I blurt, “Can we talk to you guys for a sec?”
Mom blinks. “Sure, honey. Everything okay?”
I open my mouth, then look at Theo. He’s doing his best not to bolt.
“I was thinking we could pop next door too,” I say casually—too casually, like I’m suggesting snacks or a walk, not a dual-family reveal that might upend everything.
Dad looks up from where he’s squeezing lime juice into a pitcher and frowns. “Next door?”
“Just for a sec,” I say, trying to keep my voice light and neutral. “I want to say something. To all of you.”
Theo mutters, “Two-for-one,” like a man walking to his doom.
Mom and Dad exchange a glance. Not alarmed, just… alert. But they nod.
A few minutes later, we’re standing in Theo’s kitchen, slightly damp from the walk across the sprayed grass, surrounded by the warm smells of lemon cleaner and leftover breakfast sausage.
His parents look up from their Saturday paper and the half-finished jigsaw puzzle taking over the kitchen island.
There’s a blue-sky piece stuck to Theo’s dad’s elbow.
Amelia’s perched on one of the stools, bonnet and pj’s still on, fork in hand as she picks over the last of the sausage.
She glances up when we walk in, gives her brother a once-over when he heads straight to the fridge and starts grabbing drinks, then smirks.
“Look at you playing host. What’s next, you fixing them a plate too? ”
Theo shoots her a look, but she just laughs, shaking her head as if to say she’s got the whole thing clocked.
He starts pouring Lori, his mom, a glass of pinot and hands his dad a beer like it’s a backyard barbecue rather than the morning. Then he grabs a soda for my mom and a beer for my dad. He’s got that grin on—charming, practiced, nervous as hell.
I watch him set the cans and glasses down like sacred offerings. “If I’m gonna emotionally strip down,” he says, “y’all may as well do it with a drink in hand.”
His dad, James, chuckles, taking the beer. “This sounds serious, especially since it’s not even midday yet.”
Theo’s mom squints. “This isn’t some surprise ‘we’re expecting’ announcement, is it? Because that would raise a lot of questions.”
There’s a beat of total, deafening silence. Then all four parents turn to me.
Amelia is the first to snort a laugh. I follow, saying, “That’s… not even physically possible in this situation.”
Theo coughs into his soda. “Nope. Not that kind of announcement.”
I breathe in. And then again. My chest feels tight, like something’s been living there for a long time and is finally ready to come out. Theo shifts closer, his shoulder brushing mine, and it helps.
“So,” I start, voice trembling just slightly. “I wanted to tell you all… I’m bisexual.”
The room quiets, but not in a bad way. It’s the silence of gears turning, emotions settling. No gasps. No horror. Just stillness. Then my mom crosses the room and hugs me like she’s been waiting years to do it.
“Okay,” she whispers into my ear. “Thank you for telling us, sweetheart.”
Dad steps up beside her. He doesn’t hug me—he clasps my shoulder firmly, like an anchor. “We love you, son. You know that. Always.”
My throat’s tight now. I just nod.
Theo gives me a tiny, smug smile. Told you so, it says, without saying a word.
I clear my throat. “Also… I’m dating someone.”
Four sets of eyebrows go up at once.
“Someone you know,” I add, and glance at Theo, who lifts his soda in the world’s most awkward toast.
“Hi,” he says. “Someone you know here.”
This time, the silence stretches longer. His mom’s mouth falls open just a bit. His dad blinks three times, processing.
Amelia lets out a small laugh, her eyes wide.
“Okay, wow. I didn’t know know,” she says, dragging the words out, “but I kinda suspected. You weren’t exactly subtle about barricading your bedroom door.
” Her grin’s sharp but warm. “For the record, I think it’s awesome. About time you said it out loud.”
“Oh,” Lori finally says after shaking her head at Amelia. “Wow.”
“We didn’t want to keep it from you,” Theo says quickly. “We’ve been figuring it out. But we’re happy. Like, really happy.”
His voice softens on that last part. And it’s true. We are. I feel it in the quiet way his hand brushes against mine again, and I don’t pull away.
There’s a beat, and then my dad exhales through his nose and looks right at me. “Well,” he says, “we love both of you. And we’re glad you told us. But—” He pauses, brow furrowed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t… worried.”
Theo’s mom nods slowly, her wine forgotten. “It’s not about you two. You know we love you. But you’ve only just turned eighteen,” she says to me. “You’ve got your whole lives ahead of you. And this… this isn’t small.”
“People aren’t always kind,” my mom adds gently. “Especially to boys who look like you. And especially when they’re breaking the mold.”
Dad nods. “You’ve got a full ride to one of the top basketball programs in the country, Caden. And as of right now, there are no out players. Not in the league. Not even in D1.”
I meet his eyes. “I know.”
“Have you thought about what that means?” he asks, not accusing, just… bracing me.
“Yeah,” I say. “We’re not planning to tell the world. Not now. We’ll tell a few close friends—people we know we can trust. Like Cam.” I glance at Theo, and he nods, already on the same page. “But for college, for the team… we’ll keep it quiet. At least for now.”
Theo adds, “We’re not trying to get a ton of attention, and I’m pretty sure Caden doesn’t want to be anybody’s poster boy. We just want to be honest with you. That’s all.”
James leans forward, arms crossed but face softer now. “And you’re prepared for how not easy that’ll be?”
“We’ll figure it out,” I say. “One day at a time.”
Mom’s hand tightens around my wrist. “I believe you. But I need you to be ready, Caden. Because loving someone in secret… that’s hard. It’s lonely, even when it’s good.”
“I’d rather be lonely with him than loud without him,” I say. “We’re not trying to prove anything. I just… I need to be real.”
Theo squeezes my hand.
Lori smiles a little. “You boys are brave. And young. That’s a dangerous combination.”
“Hopeful too,” Theo says. “Don’t forget hopeful.”
That gets a small laugh.
“We trust you,” my dad says. “We just don’t trust the world. That’s not a judgment on your relationship. That’s a reality check from someone who’s seen what the world does to Black boys who it decides don’t fit.”
I nod. “We’re not being reckless. We’re being careful. And honest. That’s it.”
There’s another long pause, and then his dad leans back with a sigh. “All right. Then I guess we’ve got two new things to be proud of.”
Theo’s mom wipes her eyes discreetly, then clears her throat. “Well, now that you’ve ruined any chance I had of finishing this puzzle today….”
“We could always do one with less sky,” I offer, smiling weakly.
Theo grins and knocks his hip against mine. “Or we could get cake and celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Telling the truth. Surviving it.”
Mom wraps an arm around me again. “I like that.”
When we finally head out, my hand slips naturally into Theo’s again. None of our parents say anything. They don’t need to. They see us. And for now, that’s enough.