Tyed

chapter seventeen

Tyler leans into Colby's side, closing his eyes. Memories so old and repressed they don't seem real are dredged up by this simple act, but Tyler reminds himself of what's real. He breathes in, and it smells like Colby, and he hates how much he's struggling to ground himself in the here and now but he's doing it. Sort of, somehow.

"Tell me a story," Tyler says, hoping to ground himself a bit better by listening to Colby's voice. "Something about you."

"About me?" Colby almost seems surprised, but if he is it's not enough to tell. "I'm not sure there are many good stories to tell."

"Of course there are." Tyler looks up at him, blinking slowly. The sun forms a halo around his head, and Tyler closes his eyes and tries not to see fire through red hair. He'd describe Colby's hair as auburn, maybe, and the sun shows the red undertones. "I don't know, just tell me about yourself."

Colby shrugs. "Well, I've got a brother, five years younger, and he's married and living in Sydney. He's a writer, and he was supposed to inherent the company and all that, but he gave it to me because he didn't want it."

"Why was he supposed to inherit in if he was younger? Or at least, like, fifty-fifty?" Tyler asks, interested now. He wonders if he'll ever meet this brother.

"Originally it was fifty-fifty, but I was supposed to run it. My dad was training me for it. But there was a whole big... thing, I guess. Twenty years ago people weren't as cool with queerness as they are now, and my dad didn't take it well. I got kicked out, that's the long and short of it."

"Wow." Tyler's suddenly aware of how obviously gay they look, walking down the street side by side; he's experienced a lot of homophobia, yes, but there were never any real consequences for being queer in Darkfilly Copse. It was spoken of as a sin, but like many actually bad sins, was very common in Darkfilly Copse. "I... Genuinely can't imagine how shitty that must be."

"Well, it wasn't the worst thing to happen. I was sixteen, which was old enough to find a job, and it was 2002, so it wasn't like there was absolutely nobody who could help me. My uncle let me stay with him, and my dad died about six or seven years after that, so it wasn't so bad. My brother took his half of the money and left the state, and he gave me the company. He was barely an adult and didn't want to run it. Still doesn't. It worked out fine for both of us."

"Do you still talk to your brother?" Tyler asks, fingers twisting around Colby's arm. As soon as he becomes aware of that nervous habit, he shuts it off.

"Yeah, but we're not close. He was eleven when I left, and while our dad spent my whole life having high expectations of me, he just had them all piled on suddenly then. He didn't deal well with it, and was happy to give it to me as soon as he got the chance."

"What's his name?" Tyler asks when he realises Colby hasn't mentioned it.

"Freddie." Colby pauses for a minute. "He was named after my dad, but he refuses to be called Fred, because he considers that my dad's name."

"It sounds like he hates your dad," Tyler says offhandedly, "and it sounds like your dad deserves it."

"I don't hate my dad." Colby's tone makes it sound like Tyler's being a little ridiculous to suggest he does, but Tyler's confused when he claims not to. "He had issues, but who doesn't?"

"That's... he kicked you out of home?" Tyler shakes his head, regretting mentioning anything. He forgets that he'll just never relate to most people and how they feel about their parents; most people don't have the fucked up situation that he does. "Look, it doesn't matter."

Colby's moment of silence tells Tyler he's fucked up, but not enough for Colby to actually say anything about it. In a way, that's worse. "Let's not discuss this," Colby says, and Tyler bites his lip, cringing with regret. "Can I ask about your brother?"