Each Touch

Cake

The following weekend John had decided to talk to his dad about a few things. He was still coming to terms with himself but he couldn't believe in himself, the confidence wasn't there. He was friends again with Dave, all of their friends hung out with each other, and things were slowly going back to how things use to be.

For a long while, he never thought of the possibility that he might like boys in that way. It was a thought he never needed to worry about- until three years into his friendship with Dave. John never caught it on when it started, but he did notice something. The first few months he took notice of the little things about Dave that he didn't notice before like how ----

"Dad...Can I ask you something?" asked John as he peeked in the kitchen where his Dad stood in front of the counter.

"What is it, John?" answered Mr. Egbert.

"Let's sit down first, it might take a while."

The older Egbert arched a brow and set his icing tools down, taking off his apron before walking to the living room where his son sat on the sofa looking quite concerned. He sat next to his son and waited patiently for the other to start the conversation. He had a feeling he knew what this conversation is going to be about.

"You know how Dave and I have been friends for a long time now." said John.

"I do, you two are quite find of each other." replied Mr. Egbert.

"Yeah, we're always together and stuff...Remember that time when Dave didn't come over for a while."

"Yes John, I do."

"Some things were going on. His brother's...Friend's sister transferred to Airess and she spent a lot of time with him," said John staring down at his lap, "It's nice that Dave was helping her, but they were together all the time and I didn't want to be mean so I just- I don't know, let Dave go?"

His dad nodded and motioned for John to continue on with the story. He didn't get to listen to his little boy's school life a lot, so getting to hear about it, even if it's to help him discover who he was.

"Then right before winter break we got into this fight and it really made me upset, but I think it hurt Dave even more," said John recalling the moment, "I was just mad and frustrated over something stupid, but Dave...I hurt him in ways that I might never be able to forgive myself for. I never thought I could loose Dave because...Because he was mine and it would stay that way."

A small smile curled up on Mr.Egbert's face as he listened, a hand going to gently pat his son's back.

"It's embarrassing how my friends were the ones to get me and Dave back as friends, but Dave just wouldn't come to school and I didn't want to make things worse by going over to his house," John sighed, "But I'm happy they did it though...Dave and I are friends again, but it might not go back to how it use to be."

"And why do you think that?" asked the older Egbert.

The blue eyed teen took in a deep breath as he held the bottom of his shirt. This was the moment he was debating on telling. What would his dad think of him? What would he do? What would he say?

"Because...Because we said things that changed our perspectives of each other." said John.

"But that helps you have a better understanding of each other." replied Mr.Egbert, "There are things people should know about each other in order to avoid conflicts, but each at their own time."

The older man stood up to walk to the kitchen, leaving the other sitting on the couch. He stood in the kitchen for a few seconds before walking over to the counter which laid a cake, it was covered in a multitude of colors with one word written on it.

Back in the living room, John sat back and sighed, hands coming to rub at his tired eyes. He couldn't do it after all. His lips pursed together as he stared up at the ceiling. The noise of his dad coming back into the room startled him, he sat back up and saw his dad sit next to him with a cake in his hand.

"To understand one another is to understand yourself," said Mr.Egbert as he held out the cake for his son, "Congratulations John, I'm so proud of you."

Blue eyes stared down at the rainbow themed cake, "Congratulations" written out in blue icing. He smiled as he look up at his dad, eyes starting to burn from the tears that were starting to form. His hands came up to rub at his eyes to prevent the tears from coming out.

"Thank you, Dad."