Her Secrets

15. His Secret

"Mia, Asher!" Chris' voice rang through the quiet house. "Are you guys home?"

Mia lifted herself off the bed about to go outside the room but Asher beat her to it. She listened at her door as his voice echo through the house when he confirmed he and Mia were home. He sounded upbeat and like his usual self. He didn't sound like someone who had just revealed his darkest secret and cried with his little sister because she had felt the same way he did.

He was going back to hiding his secret and she realized he wasn't going to ever reveal it to their oldest brother. He was going to live with it. But she knew he couldn't live with it forever. Camille was a reminder that whatever was tearing someone apart and they never spoke up, would kill them. It killed Camille, she couldn't let it kill Asher too. She couldn't live with another death of a sibling, if Asher went. She went. She didn't care how mad she was at the moment, she cared about her brother and she couldn't bare his death.

With that she got up from her room and went straight to the living room where Asher was sitting on the couch with their other siblings.

"Hey, Mia, what's up?" Benjamin asked.

"Nothing," she started. She wished it were nothing. "Ash, I need to talk to you." She said firmly.

The urgency in her voice didn't go past Chris as he spoke next, "what's wrong, Mia?" He asked.

"I need to talk to Ash, no one else." She said.

"What is it Mia?" He asked, trying to hide the annoyance and irritation that laced his voice. It didn't work. At least on her it didn't.

"In private." She said.

She suddenly regretted storming into the living room wanting to talk to Asher in private in front of her other brothers. It wasn't going to be easy keeping the secret because of Mia's stupidity and that didn't Dawn on her until she was here. Here with Asher in front of Benjamin and Chris. The two people who couldn't know his secret.

"Okay," he said drawing out the kay. He was trying so hard to cover up his annoyance. It was almost steaming off of him as he and Mia went out the door to his car.

"What do you want Mia?" He snapped when they were away from their brothers and in the safety of his car.

"You need to tell him." She said. "At least tell Chris please."

"Why should I listen to you? You told because you have nothing to hide, no need to hide who you are and who you fucking like, Mia. You don't get it. You just don't get what it's like for me. Alright. You don't and you never will."

"What are you talking about? All I want is for you to tell what happened to you so you can get help." She said.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm gay and Chris doesn't know it."

"You can leave that part out if you want. I just don't want you to go through this alone without help." She said.

"Mia, you haven't exactly agreed to go to therapy yourself." He pointed out. "You have no right to tell me what to do for my situation."

"I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about you. I'm scared it's going to get to be too much for you. I don't want you to leave me, too. You're the only one I have left."

"I'm not going to leave. I'm here Mia, and I'll always be here. I'm not going to leave you, why would you ever think that?"

"Everyone left. I don't have anyone anymore. Camille's dead, mom and dad are too, my friends left, and Liliana ditched me. You're all I have left." She said.