If We Survive The Night

Family

I wake up to the sound that I can't identify at first. Then I realize that someone has just shut the front door to my apartment.

Quickly, I sit up—just as Uncle Royce appears in the bedroom doorway. I check on Casey, who's still blissfully asleep next to me. Thanks heaven that I took a moment to throw a blanket over us before drifting off to sleep. Even so, there's no room for interpretation as to what Uncle Royce is seeing, and so I brace myself for his reaction. Truth be told, I have no idea where he stands on this whole gay thing. He's not much of a talker to begin with, and we've never had an opportunity—or a reason—to breach that particular topic.

He stands there for a moment, taking in the scene before him, his hands occupied by two grocery bags. He must have bought me some food again, something he doesn't normally do, but now, after the what I've been through, he's been providing some extra help. He's so caring in his own quiet, reserved way, that I hope what he's seeing now isn't going to change anything between us. I'd hate to see him disappointed, partly because that would lead to me being disappointed in him. He's been my silent hero for too long to take that possibility lightly.

For now, it's hard to tell what he thinks as he studies us with his usual poker face. Then, our eyes meet.

"Who's the snowflake?" he says, nodding at Casey.

"Casey," I say quietly, not wanting to wake him up just yet.

"The Casey?" He looks at him with more interest now. He must have seen him on the news, but now, with him lying on his stomach, he can only see a cloud of curly dark hair, a naked hand and a bit of his back, the rest of his body concealed by the blanket.

"Yeah," I say. "That's the one."

He hums. "And to think I've been telling you not to impregnate anyone. You could have told me that was irrelevant. Would have saved me some breath."

"Uhm... this is kind of new to me, too."

"For how long this has been going on?"

I look at Casey again, as if he could help me with this. I guess for me, it started months ago, when he first appeared in his father's house, but back then, I didn't even know what 'it' was. A bit of curiosity, a shade of attraction, a lot of annoyance, nothing specific. Then, there was that night of disaster and survival, and, four days later, apparently, we're a thing. The timeline chills me a bit, as if something that started so quickly could end quickly as well.

It's bullshit, though. It's up to us how this ends, if at all.

"It's pretty recent." I clear my throat. "I didn't know myself that I...well... swung that way."

Uncle Royce hums, but it's hard to tell what that means. He doesn't look mad. On the other hand, I've never seen him mad, so I might miss the signs.

"So," he says, "he's staying here?"

"For now, yes."

"I see," he says, then turns around and walks into the kitchen. I hear the grocery bags rustle as he starts taking things out.

"Did he go for a knife?" Casey murmurs, startling me. He is still lying on his stomach, hugging his pillow, his eyes closed, but he sounds pretty awake.

"Why would he do that?" I say. "Also, you've been awake for how long, exactly?"

"I didn't want to interrupt a family moment. Is your uncle a violent man?"

"No! What're you talking about?"

"Some people can have extreme reactions to a family member coming out."

"He's not like that," I say, although I do catch myself listening to what he's doing in the kitchen. "He's okay."

"Cool." Casey sighs, turns to his back, rubs his eyes. "By the way, I don't mind being called a snowflake. It's cute."

I snort, then grow serious as Uncle Royce appears in the doorway again.

"Good morning, Sir," Casey chirps, sitting up. "Nice to meet you."

"I got you some groceries," Uncle Royce tells me, ignoring him. "You eat like five people. The fridge was stocked just yesterday."

"You brought any eggs, by chance?" Casey says.

This time, Uncle Royce does look at him. "Yes," he says curtly.

"Great! How about I make us all breakfast?" Casey looks at me, smiling, then at Uncle Royce, who still eyes him as if he were a weird, unfamiliar animal. "I don't know about you, but I'm kind of really hungry."

After a moment's pause, Uncle Royce shrugs.

"Go ahead," he says.

He leaves the room, giving us privacy, and we begin to get dressed. Catching my eye, Casey winks at me.

"Now I only need to charm your Mom to get accepted into the family?"

"That'll be hard to do with her being in Mexico," I say, pulling my jeans on. "Also, you haven't charmed Uncle Royce yet. Don't be so full of yourself."

"After breakfast, he'll be charmed. You'll see. I make the best coffee ever."

I can't hold back a smile, and he grins back at me.

*** Last chapter tomorrow! ***