The Boy's of Westbrook

Epilogue

Epilogue

Thirteenth of November...

It turned out, Rubio's dad DID sort everything out with his brother, Eric's dad. Eric was free again to see his boyfriend, in fact they recently started going out on double, sometimes triple dates with other couples. Reese, some best friend of Damien, would bring some loud mouthed dude as his date. Apparently there was once something of a love triangle going on there. Rubio could have pointed that out, but then again, his plate was full enough as it was.

Rubio often laughed, not at the jokes this Aden kid said, but the looks that crossed Eric's face whenever Aden had to get loud on something he felt strongly about. He looked weary, sometimes drained. To Rubio it was ironically hilarious. Eric was usually very guarded about most things. Lately he had been opening up more and more. Damien got him to be more outgoing. At first, Rubio had a hard time believing it. For once, Eric started to ditch the books and start holding conversations with real people.

Well... he hadn't quite gone cold turkey, but it was a start.

Reese was almost the polar opposite of his boyfriend, Aden. Handsome, if Rubio had to admit it, but from the dark looks he got from Aden when Aden caught him looking, that stopped him from ever admitting it out loud. It was as if he could read minds. Reese still sometimes looked longingly at his best friend, which earned him an elbow in the ribs by Aden each time. So those happened less and less. This Reese really was falling head over heels for this guy. Though Rubio himself never got the appeal. This kid was too loud for his tastes, and pushy.

Both Reese and this Aden were hardheaded. So if anything, that was about as much as they had in common.

Eric and Damien's relationship only got stronger. Now that they could still see each other as much as they wanted, including sharing two classes together. High school was back and it was almost halfway over. So it felt. Most of the old life remained the same. Except there were more smiling faces around.

Veronica was still going steady with Pierre. Rubio found himself smiling more than letting that feeling uneasy expression take over his usual neutral expression. Judging by the way his cousin (Veronica) and his friend (Pierre) looked at each other, there was nothing to worry about. Veronica had a special way of getting Pierre to settle down about most things. He worried and stressed himself out less. So that was good.

As for Rubio, he did come out to his dad back on the night, early August. At first, his dad sat quietly. He was still awake much to Rubio's surprise when he walked through the door. He'd already heard about the situation between his brother and nephew. Plus it was a minute after midnight. Go figure. So there were questions and the situation was resolved.

Rubio blurted out the fact that he had feelings for a guy by accident. Nothing went according to plan once he got the words out. His dad was quiet but still wanted Rubio to explain. His heart thudded the entire time, worry of being rejected, possibly ending up like Eric, or worse. He didn't let his fears and doubts consume him, keep him from talking. He just talked, and figured he'd cross that bridge when he reached it.

It amazingly all came out flawlessly when his dad asked him to explain, or repeat things he didn't quite understand. Rubio had to remember to breathe between sentences because he forgot. It was like he was six years old all over again. Before he knew it, they parted ways with an awkward hug and went to bed.

Rubio didn't want to think about that first night.

Or the second.

Or the third.