Talents of Love (furry boy x boy)

Chapter 31: Family Confessions Pt. 4 - Revelations

WARNING: This chapter contains dark themes and strong language ahead!!! Do not read if you're sensible to this!!! THANK YOU!!!

Raphael's P.O.V.

Well... this has been quite an eventful evening for us all.

After I talked with Sean in the kitchen, therefore going back to the rest of the guests in the backyard with him behind, I witnessed a few things that left me dumbfounded - Ryan was flying around like he won a battle or something while Johnny was twitching so bad in anger that his 'best friend' (more like 'boyfriend', if you ask me) had to calm him down. The panther and dragon averted their eyes elsewhere but not to each other. The Labrador siblings were arguing among themselves as the little fox and the hawk kept giving each other small glances and blushed slightly at doing so. The rest of them just had normal conversations as if nothing happened. Figures.

The banquet came to an end rather quickly and we thanked everyone for coming as they left to their houses. Ryan actually hugged Sean as he left last while Johnny booped his friend's nose affectionately. I go back to cleaning up what's left of the banquet and, after finishing in doing certain task, head towards the bathroom to shower off. Yay... shower time...

"Raph?" I hear someone knock on the door. "It's me, Ryan. Can I come in for a sec?"

"Uh, sure," I replied. "I haven't gotten inside the shower yet."

He opens the door and immediately covers his eyes with his left paw as he saw me half-naked. Wow, Ryan has grown a lot these few years - he has developed a fit (but somewhat slim) body that seems to have faint abs and strong extremities. AND he's only a few inches shorter than me. I guess puberty did a good number of things for him, even during his... days of darkness. Lucky bastard.

"... you do know that I'm only shirtless, right?"

"Y-Yeah, but..."

"But what?"

"*takes a deep breath* You're actually... kinda... h-hard... t-to look at..."

"Really? Is that why you're covering your eyes? You've seen me shirtless before so... ah. I see what's going on here - I somehow remind you of Sean, right?"

Suddenly, he lowers his paws abruptly and stares at me. More like glaring with a quiet stammer and heavy blush as I smirk at his reaction. However, he walks towards me and gives me a small yet sweet peck in the nose and runs out of the bathroom while giggling with malice in it. Why that naughty rascal!

Ugh, don't think about it now, Raphy. Just take your damn shower and go to bed. It's been a long night for this poor ol' wolf...

~ Few hours later ~

Ryan's P.O.V.

I messed up. I completely and seriously messed up. Why you gotta be so stupid, Ryan?

Raph and I were in bed awake (pulling an all-nighter, if you'd believe that) as the rest of our family went to sleep in their own rooms. We were both talking about a lot of things - including the bathroom - until we had nothing else to talk about. I began to think about something else to talk about until what Raphael told me in the kitchen came to mind. I shook that thought out of my head immediately as it came in.

"Ry? Are you okay?" I heard Raphael ask me in surprise. Fuck!

"Uh, yeah! Yes, I-I'm fine. Why'd you ask?" I reply sheepishly.

"Well... you were shaking your head wildly around... And violently too. So... what were you thinking?"

Umm... shit, there's no way I'll argue my way out of this. Let's get done already...

"I was just... thinking... about what you said to me in the kitchen."

And this was the moment when I knew I fucked up - he froze in front of my eyes as I finished saying that and didn't move for a few minutes. When he did, however, he suddenly got up and started mumbling still without looking at me. I get up and slowly pull him in a hug to comfort him. Whatever's bugging him, it's serious.

"It's okay, you know? There's no need to tell me-"

"No... it's not..."

Oh shit, he's crying and shaking hard now. I'm starting to get afraid by this reaction.

"It's not okay, it's not okay, it's not okay, it's not okay, it's not oka~a~ay... *sobs in muffles*"

"Raph, buddy, you're not making any sense and you're scaring the hell out of me. Please... *pats his back softly* ... calm yourself and breath slowly."

He nods and begins to take deep breaths. After a while of inhaling and exhaling, he managed to calm down though he kept crying silently on my shoulder.

"Now... what did you mean by 'it's not okay'? Did something happen?"

"*sniffs* H-He's... d-d-dead..." he spoke quietly. "M-Manny's dead..."

"What?! H-How?!" I replied, alarmed and shocked once he said that. This is most troublesome for us.

Alright, here's the story: the name my cousin spoke about is actually none other than a cat named Manuel Antonio de la Escarza, an old friend of his that goes way back to primary school. I don't know much about him, but, if I recall, he and Raphael spent most of their time together until they went to middle school when he was forced to go to a boarding school, much to his parents' desires. However, that didn't stop them from having fun together like in the old days of their lives.

Unfortunately, things got worse for him on his graduation year - he actually came out to his parents about being gay and they kicked him out of the house, making remarks of how they won't accept a gay son. I think with that, he ended up getting depressed severely until my cousin stepped in to help him go through it.

I'm not gonna speculate this for you, but I also think that they both fell in love over the last two years. And to find out that his dead like this... is very horrible to us, especially to Raphael

"*choked* I-I found h-him... in our d-dorm... with a k-knife on his... *cries softly* ... b-b-back," he said. I hug him tightly as small tears cloud my vision.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. And I'm so sorry that you had find him like that. *looks at him in the eyes* But you must know that I'm here for you, just as you were there for me when I had that breakdown months ago. Mom's here too. And dad. And Johnny. All of us. So please... remember that, okay?"

He nods softly. "I f-feel... lightheaded... I-I'm going to sleep n-now..."

I gave a small smile to him and flopped down next to him. A snore indicated me that he was already asleep, but I was unable to go to sleep - why would someone murder Manny? Who could've done it? And what would they gain from his death?

Eventually, exhaustion won me over and my eyes close in a second as I fell in bed to sleep. But I fear that tomorrow might come with lots of twists ahead of us...

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To be continued...