𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐲'𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞

𝐸𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒

My mother always told me love makes you do stupid things and boy, she wasn't wrong.

I trusted her input, often times, more than my own. I listened to her like some prophet of wisdom. She's lived through her fair share of mistakes and has tried to prevent me from making the same ones, unknowing that I'd follow in the path of my father. The world does work in funny ways. I know this for a fact when I look over to my side and see him. The glory that brightens his face, the tears that develop in his eyes, and the way his body melts into a hug. I stood from afar, pride gutting my insides as I had completely teared up at the sight, struggling to video record as I realized I was filming their shoes. We quickly arrived back at my house where my mother prepared snacks and smoothies. 

Lemme catch you up.

"I'm Azariah Kellman, I had no clue what I wanted in life or who I was going to become. To be honest, the only thing I knew was that I was whole-heartedly, deeply, and incredibly in love with Sullivan Corbett." 

He interrupted me, "wait, what kind of shit story is this? I thought you were dating my brother?" Valentino asked, raising his eyebrows in shock at me. 

Victor punched his shoulder. "Will ya let my girl continue?" 

Valentino shrugged and I laughed at them both. "It started when I woke up at Victor's house---" 

"That is a fucking lie," Kayla intercepts me, squeezing in on the sofa. "It started when we went to Sullivan's party." 

"That's when it started?" Keiona questioned. "I swore it started way before that." 

Rowan shook his head. "I thought it started after she showed up to Vic's house for the tenth time?" he recalled. 

Olivia burst out in laughter. "Are you sure it wasn't her whole 'eating the cheese' phase where she thought that meant some significant bonding moment?" 

"I still do!" I state. "I am trying to catch Valentino up with this story," I claim and they all quiet eventually. "Alright, so it started when I was drunk in Sullivan's driveway---" 

Penelope and Jay both die of laughter. "Are you sure it wasn't when you almost died? I think that was a pivotal point?" he reminded. 

"Oh, when you went cliff diving?" Victor laughs, rolling his eyes, the fear slapping him. "Yeah, I remember being told that." 

Sullivan clears his throat awkwardly from behind me and asks, "so wait, you didn't have a dog before you met Sullivan?" 

I grind my teeth awkwardly. "Alright, moving on!" I sang, laughing at them before I clear my throat again. "Fine, fine, fine," I say. "Just so you know, we went through hell and back to try and find you, for a hot second we thought you were in another country--" 

"Well, I did go to Japan last summer, that was fun," Valentino admits, then he drifts, "there was a hot Japanese guy there, pretty sure he was like older though." 

"Please, don't be catching cases," Victor begs, running his hand stressfully through his hair. 

"I'm not, I'm not---" Valentino mumbles. 

"Wait, you're into guys?" Keiona asks, smiling lightly. 

Valentino shrugs, then states, "I'm pan and ace, actually." He quickly looks at his brother for assurance, but just then Victor attacks him in a hug. 

"Fuck, I missed you!" he says, tackling Valentino in a hug that his younger brother successfully escaped out of. "Alright, I'm done now. Continue with the amazing story of how we ended up where we were and how we found Val in Washington," he starts to say, waving his hands in a motion for me to start the storytelling. "Preferably skip certain scenes---" 

A collective "ew" washed over everyone, especially Valentino as he tucked his head into his hands, avoiding eye contact with his brother for a solid second. 

"I was saying! In order to please everyone," I announce loudly. I gesture to the room and Moose included. "The beginning began way before this." 

THE END

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