Fragile Threads [boyxboy]

Chapter 17

“And that’s when she realized I snuck in some alcohol,” Landon explained very seriously. “And then I ran. Got rid of the last few of my water balloons, and then the security guard caught me.”

Ari rolled his eyes. “That alcohol part was a dipshit move on your part, dude.”

“Yeah, I know. My mom’s grounded me for a month, and I’m not allowed in at the next school dance,” Landon admitted on a sigh.

“I wish I would have seen the water balloon part,” Ethan chimed in, earning a chastising look from Ari.

“Don’t encourage this fool.” Ari pointed at Landon. “Has anyone seen Brent?” he asked, realizing they were missing someone at their table.

“I think he and his new girlfriend are going out for lunch,” Landon snorted with a roll of the eyes. “I’m surprised they’ve lasted more than a week. Maybe you two should double date.”

Ethan was sure Brent would never let that happen, but he was surprised by the considerate look on Ari’s face at the suggestion. Ethan would have to bring that up later.

Lunch ended and Ari grabbed onto Ethan’s hand, walking him to class. That was a little new. Ethan stared down at their hands for a while, wondering what bordered on too much PDA. Really, it wasn’t any different than Ari putting an arm around him, but…

“My brother wants to meet you too,” Ari added. “Apparently when he heard I came out, he came out too. So he said he wants to meet my ‘inspiration’.”

Ethan frowned, only remembering Ari mention an older brother once or twice before. “He’s gay too? Isn’t that a little coincidental?”

“Not gay,” Ari corrected him. “He was very firm about that. He says he prefers not to limit himself to anyone gender, or something like that. So either he might be bi, or pansexual. He didn’t go into the details because I don’t think my mom would have understood that much.”

“Did she start crying again?” Ethan wondered.

“A little. I think I shocked her more, and then Jace is just…” Ari frowned. “He’s always been a bit weird, actually.”

“He’s in college right? How much older is he?” Ethan asked.

“Well he’s a junior this year, and assuming he makes up some classes, he should be a senior next year and graduate in the spring. So I think he’s like twenty-two?”

“You don’t know how old your brother is?” Ethan had a hard time believing that.

“Hey, I just know what month and day his birthday is, that’s what’s important.” Ari shrugged.

“How old are your parents?” Ethan challenged.

“Let’s see. Oh, I know that one. My mom has a half-dollar coin from her birth year, and that’s ‘70. And then…” Ari frowned thoughtfully. “My dad is generally two years older than her, except for this point right after her birthday and right before his birthday—about a month—where they’re only a year apart. So that makes him born in ’68?”