I'm Not Gay, I Swear! | McPriceley

Chapter Twenty-Five

More days passed, with each resulting in Connor slowly getting better. Everyone got to visit with him at least once a day, before he slept for another twelve hours or so. He was making progress, that was for sure. And it would only be a matter of time before he'd be, hopefully, back to normal.

After about a week of Connor being in the hospital, the doctor suggested that he get Connor a therapist to help him with all that he'd been struggling with. After some reluctance, he finally accepted the offer, and was told that as soon as he was well enough, he would be scheduled to talk to someone.

Mr. and Mrs. McKinley still hadn't visited their son, which could've been taken as a good or a bad sign. No one really wanted them here-- they were never good influences on Connor anyways. But who knows what they were planning to do or say to their son once he was fully recovered. He was technically still living with them, and didn't have any plans of moving to a college yet. But they decided to not worry about that just yet, since for at the moment, Connor was doing okay.

Once they were all sure that Connor was at a stable condition, though, Steve had decided to part with them. He explained that he had never been much help in the first place, and that he didn't want to cause any more trouble between them. So, with a parting goodbye, and a wish of luck for Connor, he left them to go back to visit his family in Nevada.

Chris was getting better with being in the hospital, too, and calmed down greatly knowing that his best friend was going to be okay. Who knows what would've happened to him if Connor had died just weeks after his sister had. No one wanted to even think about it.

Kevin was doing a whole lot greater knowing that Connor was going to be okay. Not to mention that he got to see the ginger a whole lot more now. Sure, they weren't back into their relationship that had been when they'd last seen each other, but they were building up their friendship once again.

Though, of course, they both wanted to return to the relationship they had had long ago.

"Kevin?"

It was getting late, with stars already blooming through the sky just outside the window. A lonely lamp illuminated the only light source, creating just enough light for the two boys to be able to see. Connor had asked for Kevin to stay as the others were leaving, which left the two of them alone at this dark hour. It had to be nearing ten as they sat there with each other, before Connor had broken the peaceful silence.

"What is it, Con?" Kevin asked quietly.

"I just... wanted to say I'm sorry. For cutting things off so harshly the last time we saw each other. It wasn't a proper goodbye."

"It hurt, I won't lie," Kevin said, avoiding eye contact. "But I knew why you did it. And after all that's happened since, I think you deserve to be forgiven."

"But that leads to my other thing. What's going to happen between... us?"

Kevin hesitated in thought, which Connor took as a bad sign.

"I-I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to be a part of. I just want a clear answer."

"Con, you wouldn't be forcing me at all. I like you a lot, and if you still like me too..."

"I do! I like you so much, Kev."

"Then I'm sure we could work something out, together," Kevin said, gently taking Connor's hand in his.

Connor smiled softly at him. "I'd like that a lot."

. . .

Kevin ended up falling asleep at the hospital that night, before waking up and deciding to go home before his parents worried anymore. He gave Connor a quick goodbye before starting his leave out of the hospital and catching a bus to take him back to his house.

As suspected, his parents worried endlessly about where Kevin had been all night, since he hadn't thought to explain that he was staying at the hospital late. It took a few minutes, but he finally got his mother to calm down and his father to become less irritated.

Though as he started making his way up the stairs and to his room, his father quickly stopped him.

"Kevin, we actually wanted to talk to you about something," his father told him, his arms in his usual folded stance.

Kevin glanced between both of his parents, a thousand thoughts of what they possibly wanted to tell him swarming through his mind. Who knew what kind of trouble he could be getting into in the next five minutes.

After a moment's hesitation, he nodded and followed his parents over to the living room, where his siblings instantly knew to leave the three of them alone.

As Kevin sat down on the small couch, he took liberty in looking anywhere but at his parents. He examined the many pictures placed upon the top of the fireplace-- at least one for each of the kids. His, currently, was the photo taken at his graduation, but he knew that there were many others placed behind that specific one.

He observed over the bland green curtains that covered the large front window, covered in a few splotches of stains, from when he and his brother, Jack, had had a whipped cream fight over five years ago. Neither of them had known how hard stains from dairy products were to get out.

The carpet had a small burn stain on it from when his sister had thought it was a "good" idea to set a piece of paper on fire, and then proceeded to throw it on the ground in a state of panic.

There were so many different things people may see as ugly or trashy, but to the family, they were small reminders of the many memories over the years.

"Kevin." His father's voice brought him back to reality, and he slowly let his gaze wander back over to his parents.

"Uh... so, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Kevin asked, trying for a small smile to make it seem like he was calm, and totally not on the verge of freaking out.

"Well, your twentieth birthday is coming up," his mother started to explain. "It's been two years since you've graduated high school and claimed that you wanted to start saving up money for college. Though it seems like you haven't had a job in a while..."

"I've had plenty of jobs!" Kevin had protested. "So I wanted to take a little break from finding a new job, so what?"

"Kevin, it's been well over three months since you've last had a job. And it doesn't seem like you're getting any closer to getting enough savings for college, and there's only so much we can provide you with, seeing how you have five other siblings."

"Alright, then I'll find another job. Easy. Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?"

His mother exchanged a glance with her husband. "We were thinking that, maybe, you could take a break from going from job to job and instead do something a bit more steady."

"And for the good of the church," his father added.

Kevin's eyes widened. "No. I already told you that I didn't want to do that. I want to focus more on my education and what will actually help me with a future career."

"Kevin, it's been a few years and you still haven't gotten anywhere further in schooling."

"Well I'm still deciding everything! Just... just give me more time."

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but we've already given you two years of time," his mother told him, giving him a sympathetic look. "We've already made a decision. You're going on your mission for two years, and that's final."