My Brother's Best Friend - LGBT, boyXman

17

“So… Do you want to tell me what happened?” Ava asked me tentatively.

I shrugged.

Ava's parents were away for a romantic anniversary weekend, so we’d dragged sleeping bags into the living room and put on a film.

Half way through, Ava had suggested I go and have a bath and try to relax a bit, so I’d spent three hours lying in water that gradually turned stone cold, before returning to the living room.

Ava had seen me naked a few times before, so it wasn’t a complete shock to her when I wandered into the living room without my clothes; I was completely numb and dazed, and hadn’t even thought about putting my clothes back on.

She’d fetched an old dressing gown for me to wear and had made us a mug of tea each.

“We met Matt's girlfriend tonight,” I mumbled over my mug.

“And? Was she nice?” Ava asked.

I snorted loudly.

“No. She was a rude, discontented, discourteous… rich bitch.” I scowled at my tea. “When Matt was driving her home, she… Dale’s older sister is Leanne’s best friend. Leanne told Matt that I was dating Dale. When he came home, he… he completely freaked out. He shouted at me, then him and David got into a fight, and then…” Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried to brush them away. “He kicked me out.”

Ava stared at me in shock for a moment, before she reached out and patted my shoulder gently, obviously unsure of what to say.

“He said… he didn’t have a problem with gays, as long as his brother wasn’t one.”

“Why did Leanne tell him?” Ava asked curiously. “What did she have to gain?”

I shrugged.

“From the way Matt was talking, she didn’t even mention it in passing. It sounds like she said ‘Your brother’s gay’, just to see what his reaction would be.”

I took a gulp of tea to cover the fact that I was about to break down in tears, and ended up slopping half of it down my chest.

I winced and dabbed the dressing gown sleeve to mop up the worst of the spillage.

“Do you think he’s so angry because of her?” Ava asked. “She… goaded him into feeling like you were…”

“Disgusting?” I said bitterly.

“Triss-”

“Perhaps she did,” I said, talking over her. “I don’t know why, though.”

A knock on the front door interrupted Ava's next words.

She got up and peered through the living room window, before going to open the door.

I heard her speak a few words to whoever it was, before the door closed.

“Who-?” I began, and stopped when Ava returned, followed by David. “How did you know…?”

He smiled sympathetically at me.

“She’s your best friend, Triss. I figured you’d come here.” David came to sit beside me on the sofa. “I thought you’d need some time, before…”

“He was in the bath for three hours,” Ava said. “And then came back in here naked. I think he’s just tired.”

“I right here, you know that?” I said moodily. “Thanks for sticking up for me,” I mumbled to David.

“He had no right to say those things to you,” David told me.

I noticed he had a dark bruise forming around his eye.

“What happened?” I asked, motioning his face.

“Huh?” David lightly rubbed his fingers over his eye. “Oh, Matt and I got into a fight after you left.”

“He hit you?”

“Yeah. Only after I hit him, though.” David shrugged. “And I think we broke three mugs and a plate... And possibly your fridge.”

I sank back onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.

“Why did he act like that?” I asked him miserably.

“I don’t know, Triss.”

David took and squeezed my hand gently.

“Listen. Before I married Karen, I was living in a little apartment on the other side of town. I kept it when we married, and rented it out. The last tenant moved out two months ago, and it’s still empty. You can move in there with me, if you like.”

“I thought you were looking to buy a house.”

“That doesn’t matter right now. We just need to find a proper place for you to live. Come here.”

David reached over and pulled me into a hug, and I let the warmth of his body wash over me.

Ava grabbed her mug of tea and left us alone.

David’s arms tightened around my torso as he carefully rearranged my dressing gown to cover my… me.

“I thought Ava was joking when she said you were naked under this.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

I didn’t have the energy to care that I was naked in his arms. I buried my face in his neck and inhaled his familiar, musky scent.

“I do love you, you know,” I mumbled. “I said I didn’t earlier, but I do.”

“I know, Triss.” David kissed the top of my head gently.

“I’m going to break up with Dale,” I told him quietly.

“Triss, you’re in shock. You’re rambling. Go to sleep, and you’ll feel better in the morning.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t have time for a boyfriend,” I whispered. “And Dale deserves better.”

“He couldn’t get better if he searched for a hundred years,” David murmured.

“Mm, you’re lovely, David,” I mumbled. “So kind.” I crooned.

“Have you had some alcohol?” David asked, peering closely at my eyes.

“No… Just an… emotional upheaval and realisation.”

“Come on, Triss.”

David supported my weight in his arms as he stood up.

“Ava?” He called softly through to the kitchen. “Where can I put him to bed?”

“Upstairs, second door on your right. That’s the spare bedroom,” Ava told him.

“David,” I mumbled as he laid me gently in the bed.

“Yeah?”

He pulled the quilt up to my chin and tucked me in carefully.

“No-one’s tucked me in for years.”

He leant down and kissed my forehead.

“Go to sleep, Tristan.”

Before I could argue, I felt my eyes growing heavy.

With a small sigh, I let myself succumb to sleep.