Truth Be Told - 2. Chapter 2

Brandon awoke with a start and shook off the nightmare he was having. His pounding headache and full bladder made him regret drinking so much the night before. He raced off into the woods to relieve the most pressing of the problems. When he returned to the clearing, he noticed something was off. The fire had died during the night and was now just a smoldering pile of ashes. As he looked around, he noticed what was missing… Tyler.

He took a seat on the log and stared at the sky. The sun had already started to come up, but it was still in the early hours of morning. Remembering some of the conversation from last night, he wasn’t sure why Tyler had left. He seemed to be fine with the fact that Brandon was gay, and didn’t show any signs of being uncomfortable around him. Maybe it was just an act so he could sneak off once Brandon fell asleep. With nothing else to do, he started crying again.

“Christ, I think I’ve cried more in the past two days than I have for two years before. What the hell is wrong with me?” Brandon mumbled to himself.

Brandon jumped when he heard the snap of twigs and footsteps behind him. When he looked up, he saw Tyler there with a confused look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” He asked taking a seat next to Brandon.

Brandon shook his head in disbelief and wiped the tears from his face. “Nothing. If I was a woman I’d think I was either pregnant or PMSing for the amount of crying I’ve done lately. All of it in front of you, no less.”

“You thought I left again didn’t you?”

“No.” Brandon said as he turned to face him. “Okay, maybe.”

“Well I didn’t. I don’t bail on friends,” Tyler smiled. “Plus, you couldn’t be pregnant. That requires you to have sex, and from what you’ve told me, that hasn’t happened in a while.”

Brandon couldn’t help but return the smile. He picked up a pine cone and lightly threw it at Tyler.

“Come on, let’s go. I was watching the sunrise until you interrupted me,” Tyler said as he started walking back towards the boulder.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Brandon asked as he got up to follow.

“You looked so peaceful there and I didn’t want to disturb you,” Tyler said over his shoulder. “And I tried, but I gave up when you kept hitting me in your sleep.”

Brandon blushed and started to climb the rock behind Tyler. “You’re one of those morning people everyone hates aren’t you?”

“Not really. I’m just a light sleeper and somewhat of an insomniac. Four hours of sleep is usually good for me. Plus, I didn’t want to miss this,” Tyler said as he stood atop the rock.

Brandon had been there many times before, but rarely during the day, and never early enough to see the sunrise. The view was even more breathtaking than the night before. The two stood there in silence until the sun cleared the horizon watching the colors change in the sky. Brandon was glad he had someone to share the moment with, even if it was with someone who didn’t return the feelings he held. Jake would never do anything like this, which was mainly why he never brought him up there.

“You ready to leave? I have work later and still need to go get my car from the party,” Tyler asked.

“Yeah I have a few things I need to do today too.”

“How do we get back almighty woodsman?” Tyler smirked.

“Well, we can try and find our way back through the woods, or take the path to the highway and follow it,” Brandon said as he looked around.

Tyler didn’t like either option and groaned in response.

“Or, there is a shortcut that I know of,” Brandon said looking back at Tyler with a wry smile.

“What’s the catch?” Tyler asked, not liking the look on Brandon’s face.

“Remember how you said you didn’t want to jump off any cliffs last night?”

“Yeah…”

“Well... there’s our shortcut!” Brandon said as he pointed over the ledge to the pond below.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Tyler questioned in disbelief.

“Do you have your phone on you?” Brandon asked as he made his way closer to the edge.

“No, I left it in my car. But that’s beside the point. You’re talking about jumping off a fucking cliff into a pond.”

Brandon turned to face Tyler with his back to the water. “Come on, live a little!”

With that, Brandon did a back flip off the rock. Tyler rushed to the edge just in time to see Brandon splash in the water below. When he didn’t surface immediately, Tyler started to grow worried. If the water was shallow then he surely would have hit the bottom. Starting to panic, he looked around for a way down the cliff to check on Brandon. He was about to grab a tree root and climb down when he heard Brandon laughing from below. When he turned to look, he saw Brandon smiling and treading water waiting for him.

“Come on in, the water’s fine!” Brandon screamed from below.

Trying to control his heart rate, Tyler responded as calmly as possible, “You’re fucking crazy you know that, right?”

Instead of responding, Brandon started making chicken noises and flapping his arms up and down. This was the most animated and happy Tyler had seen him when sober and decided not to ruin the good times they were having. He took a few steps back from the ledge and then a deep breath. After hesitating too long, he heard Brandon’s voice below.

“If you don’t jump, I’ll start crying again!”

Tyler smiled and took off running towards the edge. The weightless feeling he had when he launched himself off the cliff was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Right before he hit the water in a cannonball, he raised his hand and gave Brandon the finger. When he resurfaced, he was greeted with Brandon’s laughter.

“See, that wasn’t so bad now was it?”

“You owe me breakfast for that,” Tyler said as he swam towards the edge of the pond.

“Deal.” Brandon responded and followed him with a lazy backstroke.

When the boys reached dry land, they stood there dripping and looking around. Brandon saw the path that led back to the neighborhood that housed the party and motioned for Tyler to follow. Leading the way, he didn’t notice when Tyler took off his shirt and started to wring it out as they walked. As they reached the tree-line, Brandon turned and let out an involuntary gasp. Tyler immediately stopped and looked up.

“What? Is there a spider on me?” He asked as he looked over his bare chest and shoulders for any sign of something wrong.

Brandon shook his head and tore his eyes off the nearly perfect body in front of him. The fading bruises and old scars were clearly visible, but didn’t say anything about them. Instead, he continued his way through the neighborhood towards their cars vowing to ask about them later. If there would be a later.

As they neared the house, they saw a lone police car sitting on the street where their cars used to be. Tyler stopped and looked nervously at Brandon waiting to see if he had any idea what happened. Brandon looked up and down the street to see if his friends had moved them all as a joke, but found nothing but empty street in both directions. Brandon shook his head and made his way towards the police cruiser parked out front of the house.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Tyler asked as he grabbed Brandon’s arm and made him stop.

“I’m going to see where the hell they put out cars. There aren’t any no parking signs around here so there was no legitimate reason for them to tow us.”

“What if they accuse us of underage drinking?”

“They have no proof we were at the party. And even if they did, they didn’t catch us actually drinking. We’ll be fine.”

“What if they give us a sobriety test? I’m pretty sure I’m still drunk from all the vodka last night”

Brandon thought about it for a moment and then smiled. “Considering we can’t drive our cars that aren’t here, they have no reason to.”

As Brandon turned and started for the officer in the parked car Tyler reluctantly followed. When they reached the car the officer inside looked up and smiled. It appeared that he was having fun with this situation and enjoyed waiting for the ones that escaped to return. Pushing down his irritation with the officer Brandon smiled and waited for him to get out of the car.

“Can I help you boys with something?” The officer asked noting the boys were still wet. “You look a little wet.”

“Yeah we parked our cars here last night and now they’re gone. Any idea what happened to them?” Brandon asked still trying to force his smile.

The officer looked up and down the street and scratched his head. “Well there was a party with underage people here last night that was busted so it might have something to do with that. Y’all weren’t part of that were you?”

“Party? No sir, we went camping last night, hence the dripping clothes.” Brandon said without missing a beat.

“Well that’s unfortunate. We gave everyone inside a warning and let them call someone to drive their cars home. No one claimed the rest of the cars so we called the registered owners and asked them to come get them. This being a remote location and all makes it a prime place for car thieves.”

Brandon shook his head in annoyance and turned to face Tyler. The news of the cars not being towed apparently wasn’t good news for him. His face had gone from discomfort to fear almost instantly. Not knowing what the problem was, Brandon grabbed his arm and started pulling him down the street to another friend’s house to hopefully get a ride back into town.

“Out of curiosity,” The officer said behind them, “Where’s all of your camping stuff?”

Hearing the humor in his voice, Brandon continued to walk and shot over his shoulder, “We like to rough it.”

“Well you boys have a good day! Say hi to your folks for me!”

With that last comment Brandon felt Tyler tense even more as they continued down the street in silence. As they neared his friend’s house, Brandon realized that something was seriously bothering Tyler.

“I know it’s usually you asking me this, but are you okay?” Brandon asked. Tyler cracked a small smile, but only for a moment before he shook his head.

When they reached Rachel’s house a few minutes later Brandon knocked on the door and waited. He wasn’t used to having to knock on a friend’s door, but without a phone to call and let her know he was on his way, he felt resigned to stand there awkwardly hoping someone was home. As he reached to ring the bell one more time he heard the door unlock and then slowly open.

“BRANDON!” Rachel screamed as she launched out the door and grabbed him in a hug.

“Hey Rachel, we need some help,” Brandon said as he rolled his eyes and tried to pull her off.

“Let me guess. You were at that party last night, you ran, and then came back to find your car gone?”

“That about sums it up, yeah.”

“You’re the third person to come over and ask me for a ride. I was going to ignore the door this time, but I peeked out and saw it was you! Let me go grab some shoes and my keys and I’ll take you home!” Rachel said as she turned and ran in the house. Brandon motioned for Tyler to follow him around to the garage while they waited.

“So was that just me, or did you seem entirely irritated and awkward back there?” Tyler asked.

Not wanting to explain the situation, but at the same time relieved that Tyler was talking again, Brandon responded, “Long story. I dated her for a while, but when I broke it off she never got over me.”

“Oh…”

“What?” Brandon asked noticing a small hint of confusion in Tyler’s voice.

“Nothing. It’s just that she doesn’t seem like your… type,” Tyler responded.

“Well that’s why I broke up with her.”

“No I meant…” Tyler trailed off.

Brandon waited for a response and jumped a little when the garage door started to open.

“Nevermind.” Tyler said as he saw Rachel coming over.

Brandon wanted to ask him what he meant, but decided to wait until she wasn’t around. After they all piled into the car Rachel finally turned around to Tyler in the backseat and stuck out her hand.

“I’m Rachel by the way! I think I’ve seen you around school before. Tyler right?”

Tyler shook her hand and nodded. He got the feeling that she was flirting with him, but couldn’t be sure that wasn’t just her bubbly personality. When he looked to the passenger seat and saw Brandon smirking at the situation he knew she was flirting. The rest of the car ride was filled with Rachel’s talking and stories about her summer with nods in return from the two boys. When they pulled into Brandon’s driveway she put the car in park and turned to them.

“Do you want me to drive you home too Tyler?” Rachel asked with a beaming smile.

Tyler turned to Brandon with a look of desperation and silently begged him to save him from her. Putting up with her flirting was one thing but having to drive with her alone was not high on his list of things to do for the day.

“It’s cool Rachel, I can give him a ride home,” Brandon said as he started getting out of the car.

The unmistakable glare towards him made it clear that she was unhappy about it. They thanked her for the ride, shut the doors and watched her back out of the driveway. After she drove half-way down the block they turned to each other.

“Do you want to come in for a while?” Brandon asked.

“That depends. Are your parents going to yell at you?” Tyler responded.

“Nah, my mom will just be happy I didn’t drive last night,” Brandon said smiling. Tyler agreed and followed him up to the front door.

“I actually can’t stay long though. I have to get home.”

Brandon nodded and opened the door and walked inside. The distinctive smell of bacon and eggs immediately greeted them as they passed the entrance. When they got to the kitchen, Brandon saw his mom finishing up breakfast and setting plates out on the table. She didn't look up when she heard them enter the kitchen.

“You know, you could have just called for a ride last night instead of making me go get your car this morning,” she said as she continued setting the table.

“Well if my phone wasn’t in my truck then I would have,” Brandon said as he moved around the table to kiss her on the cheek.

“That was my way of calling you an idiot for running from the cops,” she said as she swatted him away. “You need to be more careful when you're out at those parties. You too Jake...”

When she didn't receive a response from either one she turned to look at them and noticed Tyler standing next to Brandon. She cocked her head slightly to the side in confusion before she spoke.

“You're not Jake...”

Tyler blushed and responded politely, “No ma’am.”

“Boyfriend?” She asked as she turned to her son.

It was Brandon's turn to blush now as he shook his head. “Mom, this is Tyler.”

“You didn't answer the question,” she said as she looked Tyler up and down. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“Wow, mom! No, he's nothing of the sort. Just a friend from school that got trapped at the same party running from the cops. Do you have to do that every time I bring someone over?” Brandon asked as he shook his head.

Tyler looked between the two uncomfortably and thought about finding a new ride home until Mrs. Jones smiled at him and offered her hand.

“Sorry Tyler, I have to embarrass him when I get a chance since he's never around anymore. I'm Mrs. Jones, but you can call me Mandy. Always a pleasure to meet a new friend of Brandon's. Are you new to the area?” She asked as she shook hands with him.

Tyler relaxed a little and offered a smile back.

“No ma'am. We've been here for a few years now.”

“Well that's nice, dear, but if you call me ma'am again I'm going to smack you. It makes me feel old!” She said as she ushered them to the table to eat.

“JJ get down here and eat some breakfast!” She yelled upstairs and then walked out of the room.

“JJ?” Tyler asked as he took a seat next to Brandon.

“Jeremy, my younger brother. He's a nerd and doesn't leave his computer unless it involves food,” Brandon replied as he grabbed pancakes and bacon. “Help yourself before he comes down though or he'll eat most of the food.”

A small smirk appeared on Tyler's face as he reached for the eggs. “So if Jeremy goes by JJ does that mean I can call you BJ?”

Brandon stopped his fork halfway to his mouth and was about to respond when his brother came in the kitchen wearing only boxers. There was an awkward silence in the room as JJ stopped and made eye contact with Tyler. It was obvious he wasn't expecting company over and immediately turned a crimson shade and dashed back upstairs without saying a word. Brandon blushed a little as well due to the embarrassment his brother caused.

“Sorry. He's a bit socially awkward sometimes.”

Tyler laughed and shook his head. “No worries. Sometimes I wish I had a brother.”

“Only child? Or do you just wish your sister had a penis?” Brandon asked as they continued eating.

“That's gross. I'm an only child. I just wish I had someone else to turn to about things.”

Brandon nodded his head not wanting to probe too deep into Tyler's life just yet. They fell into a comfortable silence as they ate, each lost in their own thoughts when JJ came back in the room. He threw on sweatpants and a t-shirt but it was obvious he was still embarrassed by the situation a few minutes ago. Tyler looked up at him and gave a small smile meant to put him at ease while he grabbed breakfast. JJ gave a sheepish grin back as he filled his plate and took off back upstairs into the recess of his room.

“Yep. Socially awkward,” Brandon said as he finished the food on his plate.

Tyler laughed but didn't comment as he cleared his own plate hoping the food would help sober him up more before he went home. He was dreading the thought of having to explain the car to his dad. The guy didn't care if Tyler drank or stayed out all night, but the fact that the police called him to move it meant it was going to be World War III when he returned home.

Brandon grabbed their plates and put them in the dishwasher leaving the rest of the food on the table knowing JJ would be back down to finish it off. When he looked at Tyler he could tell he was lost in thought. The typical laid-back, friendly demeanor that Tyler always had was replaced by sadness and fear.

“You okay Tyler?” Brandon asked.

Tyler jumped a little realizing where he was and struggled to regain his composure.

“Yeah I'm good, sorry. I just started daydreaming for a bit,” he responded as he flashed Brandon one of his brilliant smiles .

“Cool, you want to hang around for a while?” Brandon asked practically melting from the smile.

“Maybe another time. I really need to get home.”

Brandon deflated a little. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with Tyler, but that it was too good to be true.

“No problem, I'll take you home!” He said trying to mask his real emotions with a false sense of joy.

Brandon called out to his mom letting her know where he was headed as they walked out the door towards his truck. It was a 12 year old Chevy with 200,000 miles on it, but he kept up with the maintenance himself and it still ran just fine. When the boys jumped in Tyler noticed the two 12” subwoofers behind the seat.

“Nice system!”

Brandon grinned and started his truck.

“Thanks, I had to custom build the box because they didn't have any that would fit behind the seats. Not as easy as you'd think when you have to figure out the displacement of the drivers and the internal space required for optimal volume. Pain in the ass really, but it's totally worth it!”

Tyler smiled and nodded having no idea what really went into creating one, but it was obvious that Brandon was extremely proud of it. Brandon headed down the driveway, stopped at the end and looked at Tyler.

“What's wrong?” Tyler asked.

“Nothing, I just have no idea where I'm going so you're going to have to give me directions.”

“Oh! Right,” Tyler laughed, “take a left and go down to the stoplight and make a right.”

Brandon made his way down the street as told following the directions Tyler was giving.

“So where'd you get this truck?” Tyler asked.

“It was my dad's. After everything happened it sat in the garage for years until I finally started to fix it up for when I turned sixteen. My mom couldn't bear to get rid of it so I took it as my own so I didn't have to pay for a new one. It was a win-win situation,” Brandon said as they crept along in traffic.

“What happened if you don't mind me asking?”

“My dad was in the military and sent overseas a few years after 9/11. His convoy was hit with an IED about 6 months into his tour in Afghanistan. He and three others lost their lives.”

There was no emotion in his voice while he said it, but Tyler could tell by the look on Brandon's face that it still hurt to think about. Not knowing what to respond with, Tyler put his hand on Brandon's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Brandon looked over and gave a small smile while he tried to contain the tears threatening to start streaming down his face.

“I'm sorry, Brandon. I didn't mean to bring this up. Had I known I wouldn't have asked you.”

“No, it's okay. You didn't know. It's getting easier to talk about. I was still really young at the time so I've had time to sort through my feelings. What about you?” Brandon asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What's your family like? I know you don't have any siblings, but what about your mom and dad? What are they like?”

Tyler dropped his head not really wanting to explain, but after what Brandon just revealed he felt obligated to do so. At least partially.

“Long story short, my mom ran off when I was four and I haven't heard from her since. My dad is an executive for a pharmaceutical company so he travels a lot and doesn't really have time for me so I'm pretty much on my own. Take a left at the next driveway.”

“Wow, sounds like we've both had pretty traumatizing childhoods I guess.” Brandon said as he pulled up on the turn.

“Something like that,” Tyler said as they turned in.

Brandon wasn't prepared for what happened next as they pulled into the driveway and up to the gate. On the other side of the gate was a long driveway that lead past a private pond to a magnificent house that probably qualified as a mansion. It was only two stories tall, but it towered overhead due to the massive archways and multiple spires directing the eye skyward. Brandon remembered Tyler just saying his father was an executive for a pharmaceutical company, but it didn't register at the time how much money was involved in that.

“4238,” Tyler said.

“What?” Brandon asked as he snapped back to reality.

“The gate code. It's 4238. Just type it in the keypad and take the driveway up to the right where the garage is.”

Brandon did as he was told and parked next to a sleek black Nissan GT-R. While it didn't much look like a supercar from the outside, he knew the amount of raw power and speed the car was capable of.

“Is that your dad's car?” asked Brandon as he drooled over the thought of driving one of those.

“No, that would be mine. It's actually an early graduation gift from my grandparents. My dad would never spend that kind of money on me. This house is actually paid for from his trust fund they left him when they passed away six months ago. They left me some too but I can't touch it until I'm 18,” Tyler replied.

“I'm sorry, Tyler. Were you close with them?”

“As much as I could be. They lived overseas in Europe, but they were the closet thing I ever had to real parents. My dad wouldn't even let me attend their funeral. He said I had to focus on school and that the trip would be too much of an interruption so he went on his own and came back two weeks later like nothing ever happened. Our relationship hasn't been the same ever since.”

Brandon couldn't grasp how Tyler was such an amazing guy with a positive attitude when so much had happened to him. It made him fall even harder in love than he thought possible with the guy. An uncomfortable silence washed over them with Brandon not knowing what else to say for fear that it would bring up even more horrific tales.

“I would invite you in, but he's probably home right now waiting for me and I don't want you to witness it,” Tyler said before he put on another charming smile.”It was fun hanging out with you though! Thanks for sharing your secret spot with me. I promise not to tell anyone else about it.”

“No problem! I had a blast even though we kinda fucked it up with the whole running from the cops and getting our parents called and whatnot. But if you ever want to hang out again or just talk I'm here for you man,” Brandon smiled. “I promise not to be such a crybaby next time too.”

It was Tyler's turn to laugh as he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door. He said goodbye and was about to shut the door when he turned around as if he forgot something.