Rhys #2
“Cool. I’ll let you know.”
I pulled up to my parents’ place, ready to ask to use their computer and let my dad know I had a few more errands I needed to run with his car.
I knew he wouldn’t mind, but it felt polite to keep him informed.
Plus there was the whole issue about letting them know I’d be moving out and into Kendall’s place…
That was definitely going to be a weird conversation.
I got out of the car, ready to head inside, when Benjamin appeared in their front doorway, closing it behind himself and making a beeline straight for me.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said lightly.
“Oh yeah?” I answered absently, barely sparing him a glance as I pocketed my phone. “You could have texted. Are Josie and Astrid here? Shouldn’t she be res-”
I let out a shocked yelp as he plowed his fist into my face, and clapped my hands over my nose as blood started to gush out of it. My glasses clattered onto the concrete, and I narrowly missed stepping on them as I stumbled back.
“Benjamin, what the fuck!?” I snarled out, pain coursing through me as I tried to catch some of the blood in my hands. It didn’t work, pouring down over my lips to drip onto the button-down shirt I’d put on for my unofficial job interview.
“You are the most selfish prick in the world, you know that?” He snapped.
When he made a move to come at me again, I caught his hand in mine, squeezing it until he cried out and yanked it away.
“Hit me again and I’m breaking every bone in your fucking body.
You’ll be changing Astrid’s diapers in a full body cast. And untuck your thumb out of your fist, moron.
You’re lucky you didn’t break it when you punched me.
” I was pretty sure he’d never actually hit anyone in his entire life.
Anger, and the visceral reaction to punish him wanted to bubble up and out of me, but at the end of the day, Benjamin was a scrawny dweeb. He always had been. He’d gotten in a decent sucker punch, but if we actually fought, he’d be leaving in an ambulance.
Lowering his fist to his side, he glared at me like I’d burned his crops, poisoned his water supply, and kicked his puppy. It was almost funny, despite the searing pain.
“I knew you were an asshole, but I really didn’t think you would sink this low.”
“What did I do to you, you fucking psycho?” I demanded, yanking open the door to Dad’s car again to see if I could find some napkins or something, and also to give me something to do with my hands so I didn’t turn them on my oh-so-precious baby brother.
“You mean besides using my best friend to nurse your wounded ego and making him lie to everyone so you can get your rocks off playing some demented version of house?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again, shoving a wad of tissues against my nostrils to staunch the blood flow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit. I know you guys are fucking. I know,” he repeated firmly, as if to discourage me from denying it again.
Well, I had told Kendall I would take care of this part.
I just hadn’t expected the conversation to be like this.
“Kendall and I don’t lie to each other. Ever.
The only person he would do that for is you. ”
“It’s not what you think.”
“You’re going to tell me you weren’t with him the other night? When I couldn’t get in touch with either of you guys? I know you were with him, Rhys. I could smell him all over you.”
My stomach sank as I remembered how he’d hovered over me while he’d been handing me the baby. I’d just taken a shower with Kendall, and used all his fruity soaps and toiletries. I should have considered that possibility and stocked my own stuff, but I wasn’t used to sneaking around either.
My heart was racing, all my nerves an agitated beehive of chaos inside me, but I wasn’t going to lie about it again. There was no point, anyway. We were definitely caught.
“I was with him. So what?” My nose was already starting to swell up so my voice was beginning to sound stuffed up and nasally.
Benjamin let out a frustrated groan from between his teeth, dragging his palms over his face.
“Out of all the pathetic clowns in this place that are too fucking scared to be who they are, that would use someone like him to get what they need and then go back to their wife or girlfriend because they can’t handle the pressure, I seriously didn’t think my own brother would be one. ”
“It’s not like that!” I denied. “And I’m not scared to be who I am. You wouldn’t know anything about it, so just shut the fuck up.”
“You’re going to destroy him. Do you get that?” He asked, the volume of his voice raising with every syllable. “When you decide you’re done entertaining whatever the fuck it is you guys are doing, it’s going to kill him.”
“I’m not using him!” I finally shouted, though my anger had immediately started to wane at the anguished tone in his voice. He was pissed at me, but only because of what he thought I would do to Kendall.
Was it fair for me to be mad about that?
Kendall was a fucking angel, and he could also be totally naive and optimistic to a fault.
Benjamin had probably watched him get tossed aside over and over with those other straight guys, totally helpless to stop it.
And it was one thing with those guys, but he knew how his best friend felt about me, how attached he’d been to me for years and years.
Of course he was worried about Kendall ending up with his heart broken.
“I’m not using him,” I repeated. “I…” Swallowing hard, I cleared my throat. Fuck, this was so much harder than it had been to say to Kendall himself. “I have… feelings for him.”
“Feelings?” He echoed in a deadpan voice, completely unimpressed, staring down at me with absolutely no sympathy or repentance as I knelt down to grab my glasses off the concrete to be sure the lenses weren’t scratched or shattered.
“I… love him,” I clarified, slipping them on and shifting my gaze up to the clear sky because it was really fucking embarrassing having this conversation when I’d barely been able to fully process it myself. And also with a busted fucking nose.
He looked me up and down, his eyes narrowing a bit in suspicion. “I don’t believe you.”
Scoffing, I nearly threw my hands up in frustration. “What the fuck do you want from me, Benjamin? I’m staying in fucking Cherryvale for him. I’m moving into his apartment. I came out to my fucking lawyer five fucking minutes ago.”
His features softened, but only fractionally. “You’re moving in with him? Already?”
“Only if we have your blessing, Father,” I retorted flatly. “Give me a fucking break, you lunatic.”
The front door of the house swung open, Mom rushing out with a pissed off look on her face.
“What in God’s name are the two of you yelling about out here?
You-” She cut herself off the second her eyes landed on me, the blood-soaked tissues I still had pressed against my face, and all the blood that had made its way down to my shirt.
“Rhys! Oh, honey, what on Earth happened to you!? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I responded impassively. Despite the assertion, she rushed over to me, pulling away the tissues and wincing at the damage.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, it’s bruising already. Get inside and let me put some ice on it. What happened?” She asked again.
My lip was zipped. Benjamin and I had never narced on each other, no matter how bad the fight was, or bad of trouble we’d gotten in.
When she turned to look at him for answers, he gave her a similarly guarded expression.
Unfortunately for us, she’d gotten pretty savvy to our bullshit over the years.
“You did this!?” She asked, and he shrugged, staring off in another direction.
“Benjamin Jacob Kensington, get in the house. And you too,” she ordered, poking a finger into my chest. “Go!”
We slunk into the house with our respective tails between our legs, Mom guiding me onto a bar stool in the kitchen and shoving me onto it.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered, before wrapping a bag of peas from the freezer in a hand towel and handing it to me to put on my face.
“My grown sons fighting in the yard like delinquents. You’re a father,” she reminded Benjamin sharply.
“I cannot imagine what could possibly be so terrible, that you would act like such a bonehead. Take these,” she said, setting a bottle of pain relievers in front of me, along with a glass of water.
“Is, uh, everything okay in here?” Dad stuck his head in from the den, glancing around with some confusion.
“Your sons have taken it upon themselves to act like cavemen in front of all of our neighbors.”
“My sons,” he repeated, letting out a light sigh. “That always spells trouble.”
I let her fuss over me and chew Benjamin out for a bit longer, mostly because I was feeling petty and my nose really, really hurt, before taking in a deep breath.
“There’s, um… something I need to talk to you guys about. Something really important.”
Benjamin looked surprised at my statement, like he hadn’t really expected me to tell them.
I supposed I couldn’t totally blame him.
He only had my word to go on when it came to my feelings for Kendall.
All I could do was show him with my actions.
When they urged me to go on, sensing my nerves and assuring me I could be honest with them, I took a deep breath and forced the words out.
“I’m… moving out.”
“I knew it!” Mom said, giving my dad a look that let me know they’d already talked about this behind my back. Great. Like that wasn’t totally embarrassing. “I knew it was only a matter of time before you moved in with that girl you’re seeing. Now you’ll have to introduce her to us.”
“Ah, yeah, so… you’re half right. Kind of,” I tacked on, trying not to grimace at the instinctive way I was stalling. I was so nervous I wanted to throw up. “I am moving in with the person I’ve been seeing. But it’s, um… Uh… I…”