Clinging To Him (BoyxBoy) #1.1

Clinging To Him {Seventeen}

"Gregory doesn't know you're here I'm guessing?" I asked getting right into it as soon as we sat down and ordered food. There was no point in delaying our talk since I didn't know how long we'd have together.

"You kidding me? Da- Uncle freaks out every time I step out of the house to get the mail." She said trying to cover the fact that she almost slipped up and called Gregory, dad. I didn't blame her since he basically raised her like a father normally would. "He'd lose his mind if he ever found out that I'm with my biological brother. Although, truth be told, I didn't even know I had a brother until a couple months back when I found a picture of our family smiling happily. I questioned uncle about it and he sat me down and said you died in the fire along with our parents." I tried to keep a poker face on but it was nearly impossible when I heard that Gregory had told Rachel that I was dead. Furious didn't even begin to cover it.

"How'd you know I was still alive?"

"I didn't." Rachel explained. "I was just going off a feeling I had. How was it that an eight year old died when you would be able to run faster at that age or even dial nine-one-one whereas I was only three and survived? It was questionable so I investigated myself and searched through old newspapers online and even looked for the day of the accident. I only saw reports that there were two bodies dead in our house along with you and I alive that night who managed to be rescued. Therefore, I felt that our parents were still alive since they weren't in that house that night. I originally thought that our parents went off to live with you else where because they thought I died that night but that only brought up more questions. Like, why didn't Gregory ever tell you guys that I was with him? Also, why was it that Gregory said you three died but never took me to a cemetery to visit your graves?" Rachel's face fell into a frown. "I kept wondering why Gregory hid it from me."

I cleared my throat and said "You can't tell Gregory that you met with me today." I instructed her "keep it a secret between the both of us."

"Why? Won't he be happy? He thinks you're dead, right?" Rachel asked with a confused face.

I took in a deep breath and let it out before I said, "Look, Rachel. Gregory and I don't consider one another as family so obviously we don't have the kind of relationship that you two have."

"What do you mean? So, Gregory knew you were alive after all?

"Oh, he knew about it alright. Don't be too mad at him." I said immediately after I saw the change in her expression. Like I've mentioned before, Gregory was a horrible person to me and I didn't think I'd ever be able to forgive him but he was a good substitute guardian to Rachel and kept her safe. That was all that mattered to me. "He thought he was doing the right thing. I refused to live with Gregory and so I got into some bad crowds here and there. It was no place for someone as gentle as you so he kept me hidden from you and vice versa. To keep you safe from harms way."

"... Did he always know you were alive?"

"Yeah." I said unable to lie to her. "Like I said-"

"So, you also knew I was alive?"

"I did." I said through a tight smile.

"Did you ever try to find me or spend time with me?"

I froze at her question. Of course I did, but I didn't want to tell her that. I didn't want her to have bad feelings towards Gregory when really he always had her best interests in heart. "Rachel, I'm not the kind of brother you're wishing for or that you've been longing for. I did bad things to bad people and horrible, unforgivable, things to good people. My hands aren't exactly clean anymore." I admitted to her while keeping the volume of my voice in a small whisper since we were in a public setting. You never knew who was listening these days so I preferred to be safe rather than sorry later. "However, I did try getting in contact." I said with a small sigh in the end as I was done staying silent on the matter. She had to know that I was thinking of her even if we couldn't be by each other's side. "Gregory just didn't allow me to get close and, looking back at it, I'm glad that he didn't. You were always safer with him in his house-"