Ethan
ETHAN
Grunting, yanked his baggage from the conveyor belt before it passed him...again. He had no idea Port Dale’s airport was so popular, but his brother warned him it was a tourist spot. Curiosity had gotten the better of on the plane, and using the Wi-Fi, he’d looked up a few facts about Port Dale.
Sure enough, one of its biggest trades was in tourism. Of course, there was an entire business district at the heart of the city and an industrial area at the edge of town. From what he could see, everything pretty and rich about the city was at the center, or at least close to the sea. Everything else was left to spread out away from the core. It was a strange place. It was as industrious and well-off as any major city, yet it wasn’t listed in brochures or on the news.
And now it was his home.
A pattern caught his eye, and he immediately straightened. He grimaced as he watched the soldiers strolling toward the security gate, never glancing back. Once more, had to remind himself he was no longer serving. There was no one to stand to attention for, no one to salute. Stupid things, really, but they were as ingrained in him as breathing, and he still hadn’t grown used to the idea of not being armed or having several pounds of equipment on his back.
Which was when his hip decided to twinge as he tried to turn around. He hoped the pain didn’t show on his face as he subtly gritted his teeth, straightening at the waist. His hand stole to his side, gently laying over his hip. The doctors said there was nothing that could be done, and he would probably never get the use of his hip back completely. Torn muscle, shattered bone, and who the hell knew what else would do that, but he supposed he should count himself lucky.
He was alive and in one piece. That was more than some could say.
His growing foul mood flickered when he thought he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. leaned, craning his neck to get a better look. A grin broke over his face when he spotted his brother, Keith’s deep frown casting about the room, searching. When Keith looked up, the scowl melted away, replaced by a smile as bright as ’s.
didn’t care that he was a full-grown man, slipping closer to thirty than twenty. His heart ached at the sight of his brother, and when he reached Keith, he wrapped the man in a tight embrace.
“Jesus, did you somehow grow again?” Keith muttered, patting his brother’s back roughly. “I thought you stopped at, like, twenty.”
“Or maybe old age is making you shrink,” said, squeezing Keith harder.
“Fuck,” the other man wheezed. “Whatever workout they had you on, we need to get the guys at the station on it.”
eased his grip, stepping back. In truth, he was only a couple of inches taller than Keith, putting him at just under six feet tall. Before he’d shipped out for the Marines, had stood a few inches shorter than Keith, and while he’d been broader in the shoulder, he hadn’t had his brother’s muscle mass. Now, he was bulkier, but Keith would always be his big brother.
“You look...good,” Keith said, looking him over.
knew that look, and he shook his head. “I promise no one lied to you. I didn’t lose a limb or end up mangled.”
No, he’d lost the only place where he felt he well and truly belonged. Yeah, fighting was dangerous, but he had a purpose, goddammit. And now he was left with nothing, a nice mark on his service record to show he’d served well, a few new medals, and a whole new life.
And no idea how to deal with it.
“Well, you know how governments can be,” Keith muttered, apparently not embarrassed to have call his worry out.
patted his hip. “Worst you’re gonna have to worry about is me limping sometimes. And bitching about stairs.”
“Well, it’s a good thing my apartment is on the first floor. Don’t have to worry about stairs, and I don’t have to worry about you bitching. Everyone wins.”
“Thanks, Keith. It’s your loving qualities that really shine through at moments like this.”
“Yeah, man, I’m fucking charming.”
clenched his lips together to prevent himself from laughing aloud. His brother was many things, but wouldn’t have thrown ‘charming’ into the mix.
Keith must have realized, immediately giving a dirty look. “It’s true.”
“Uh-huh. Because that’s you, man, making friends wherever you go,” said.
“Sure I do,” Keith insisted.
“Right, and why is it that whenever you talk about the guys at the station, it’s pretty much only Davis I hear about? Don’t you have a station full of guys there?” asked.
Keith’s expression didn’t lighten as he snorted, taking ’s bag and throwing it over his shoulder. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
shook his head, knowing better than to argue about the bag. His brother was a stubborn man. When something got into his head, it would likely stay there for a long time, no matter what anyone said or did. It was one of those things that didn’t endear Keith to other people, though it had been Keith who had gotten them through their younger years, and was willing to forgive anything for his brother.
He also suspected there was a reason his brother never brought up the other firefighters. For all his thickheadedness, Keith was a pretty social man. There had to be one hell of a good reason Keith didn’t talk about the men he worked with.
“Well,” said as they stepped out into the sunlight. “I guess you should probably get over whatever it was. You promised to show me the station and introduce me.”
“Yeah,” Keith muttered. “I guess I did. But there’s some stuff you should know.”
chuckled. “Oh, boy. The tour comes with a disclaimer, that’s not a good sign.”
“Well, up until a couple of years ago,” Keith began, marching across the parking lot. “There was only one guy who liked...likes, uh?—”
Seeing his discomfort, frowned at his brother and gave a soft grunt of understanding. Few things in the world made confident and unwavering Keith look that uncomfortable.
“You work with a gay guy,” finished for him, going straight to the point.
Keith grimaced. “Yeah, well, guys.”
“Guys?”
“Two other guys there, I don’t know, I guess they’re fucking now or whatever. I don’t like to think about it, but?—”
sighed, unsure if he wanted to continue the discussion. “You probably shouldn’t be thinking too hard about what other people are doing in their bedroom.”
“It’s not like that,” Keith contested hotly. “You know how I feel about those people, man.”
Those people, just the phrase made want to cringe. Though he supposed it was better than Keith might have said half a decade ago. had heard more than a few colorful rants and remarks from Keith in the past about gay guys and, by proxy, bi men as well. never said anything, content to keep his lips closed and his tongue still.
He always wondered what his brother would say if Keith knew all the times he was talking about ‘those people,’ he was also talking about .
It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to forgive his brother for, but even then, found he could. had always suspected it was born less from true hatred and more from the events of their childhood. Keith had always suffered the worst from their struggles growing up, and the final blow their father had dealt them had been the death knell of any understanding Keith might have had.
Did it excuse anything? had no idea, but this was his brother. This was a man who’d shielded from the worst and, when it had come time, raised him. His brother had sacrificed a great deal for him. He was a good man who just happened to suffer from...well, didn’t have a nice way of putting his brother’s opinions.
“You know I don’t care about that kind of thing,” told him as they reached Keith’s truck.
His brother huffed. “Yeah, well. Fine, whatever. Just fucking weirds me out that it’s like...spreading.”
“I think if that sort of thing were contagious, there would probably be nothing but straight people,” pointed out as he opened the passenger side.
Keith climbed into the driver’s seat, snorting. “How do you figure?”
“Well, last I checked, there have always been more straight people than not. And if sexuality were something you could catch, all those straight people would have made the gay ones straight, right?” asked, buckling up.
“I, uh, don’t think that’s how that works,” Keith said with a frown.
smirked at him. “Yeah, that was kind of the point I was making.”
Keith snorted, twisting the key in the ignition. “Smartass.”
And that was all it took to break the air of discomfort threatening to loom between them. never liked discussing anything to do with gay people, at least not with Keith. However, he didn’t miss the irony that more people in the Marines knew about him than his own brother.
Maybe one day he would find a way, along with the courage, to tell his brother the truth. He was almost twenty-six, and his brother was bound to start asking questions and get a little curious, especially now they were going to be living together. He supposed that in the meantime, he would just continue as he had before with his brother, avoiding most topics and finding ways to swerve around others.
“I am a man of many talents,” told his brother. “Being a smartass is just one of ’em.”
“Hope drinking is still one,” Keith said, pulling out of the parking space.
frowned at his brother. “Man, do not try to take me to a bar. I just got off one of the longest flights of my life. Also, it’s the middle of the afternoon.”
Keith laughed. “I’m not going to drag you to the bar. Ain’t no one in a bar right now that’s worth seeing. But I do know the good places to go.”
“Oh, Lord,” snorted. “That’s not the most ringing endorsement I’ve ever heard.”
“Hey! What’s wrong with somewhere I would choose?”
“Well, it’s you. That’s really all I need.”
“Ass. See if I try to help you get laid from now on.”
groaned. “I don’t need to get laid, Keith. I need a nice bed to flop in and pass out for at least two days. And then I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with myself besides sit in your apartment all day.”
“You can do both,” Keith said with a chuckle. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun, loosen up. Plus, this is a military town, you really think the girls around here aren’t into men in uniform?”
Which probably meant a number of the men were as well. had met his fair share, while deployed and on leave.
“Oh boy,” said, waving his hands in a sarcastic gesture of joy. “Be still my beating heart.”
“God, you shouldn’t have gone into the Marines. You should have joined the church and taken a vow of celibacy since you’re doing it anyway,” Keith huffed.
“First of all, I do get laid. I just don’t need to talk about it. Second of all, can I say it’s really weird to have my older brother worried about what I’m doing with my dick?”
“Man, don’t make it weird.”
“You’re the one making it weird by talking about it.”
“You made it about your dick.”
“Sex life, my dick, same thing.”
Keith huffed again. “Well, fine, do what you want, who you want. But you better warn me if you suddenly decide to have a sex life while we’re living together. I love you, but I really do not want to see that.”
snorted. “No, I’m sure you don’t.”
“I’m just glad there’s room for you,” Keith said.
said nothing, smiling quietly. He knew damn well his brother had always leased two-bedroom apartments on the off-chance would need to stay somewhere on leave. While it had never happened, as Keith typically came to wherever was stationed stateside, his brother had never given up the habit. It came in handy now, considering he had nowhere else to go.
“Yeah, I missed you too,” told him.
Keith chuckled, reaching over and shoving ’s leg. “Don’t start getting sentimental on me. Wait till we’ve had a few beers together so you can pretend it was the booze that got us all sappy.”
leaned back, closing his eyes. “Deal.”
He’d lost so much, but at least he had his brother, always had, and hopefully, always would.