True Colors (joshler, multi-fandom)

32 - Perfectly Normal Solutions

"Tyler, I saw uncle Daryl made you sad yesterday."

Little Jay, oh little Jay. The youngest, most innocent of the family. Should Tyler explain everything? Maybe to answer all possible questions, Tyler thinks, just start from the top. Even though it's not really the best time, trapped in the family van with everyone for another seven hours.

Tyler sighed and turned around toward his ltitle brother in the back seat. "This is gonna be big, Jay. You ready?"

"Yeah!" Jay exclaimed, excited and bright-eyed.

"Okay." Tyler turns halfway back to be more comfortable. "You know how mom and dad love each other, right?"

"Yeah!"

"And you know that boys love girls and girls love boys?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well, there are some boys who love boys and girls who love girls."

"Really?" Maddy was also intrigued. Zach was playing a game on his tablet and not really listening. He probably figured out what happened last night already.

"Yes, really. But some people don't like that. Like Daryl."

"Why?"

"I don't know why." Tyler sounds defeated.

"Do you like boys?"

Oh. There it is. Tyler really didn't think that through.

They're just kids, he tells himself. They'll get it.

"Yeah. I do."

"What's it like?" Maddy asks curiously.

Tyler smiled. "You know me, Maddy. It's all just the same, but I just like boys."

"That's cool, Tyler." Jay replied, finally.

"Now don't go shout it from the rooftops, Maddy. It's our secret. Okay?"

"Okay! But why does it have to be a secret?"

Tyler pulled his lips into a thin line. "So that people like Daryl won't make me feel sad about it."

"Wait, you're gay?" Zack was listening, at least for the last few minutes.

"Gay?" Jay asks.

"Yeah." Tyler replied awkwardly. "That's what we call boys who like boys."

"Tyler, are you...?" Zack asks again, with full undivided attention.

"Yeah, Zack. I'm gay."

That was the first time he's ever said those two words out loud to his family. But now it seemed true, and not just a placeholder term he had it be at first.

"Okay, Tyler, save the serious conversations for home, alright?" Asked his father from the front passenger seat of the van. It'll seem like silence for the rest of the ride.

That was, until a couple hours later when the unexpected happened.

***

It must have been around 5 p.m. The sun just set and pink feathery clouds spotted the darkening sky. It was beautiful, yet back on Earth this was anything but.

Tyler was jostled awake with force throwing him forward and a loud bang, and nearly hit his head on the back of the passenger seat. The first thing he saw was smoke coming from the front of the van, then looked to his left and saw a horrified Zack clinging to the armrests of the car seat. A few seconds later he could hear Jay crying and Maddy repeating "No, no no no!" to him. It all came together: they crashed.