Thicker Than Water - 13. Chapter 13

Diego found Bryan at a nearby gas station. As he pulled up, he noticed that Bryan had been crying again.

“I take it that your conversation with Kenny didn't go as planned?”

Bryan shook his head no.

“I see,” Diego said, as he pulled back onto the road. Instead of heading home, he drove to a spot that overlooked the city, stopping at a store for drinks on the way. “Chico, I've been trying to stay out of this for a while, and I've been giving you the space I think you need to sort things out; however, I think it's time that you try counseling again.”

“Dad,” Bryan said, already not liking where the conversation was heading, “lets not start that again, please. I don't need to see a shrink. We're barely 50 pages into this.”

“Haha,” Diego said, unamused. “I'm serious, Chico. You bottle so much that it eats at you, and when you can't take it anymore, you break down and beat yourself up.”

“I don't bottle anything up. I talk to you all the time.”

“I mean that you bottle up your feelings. You've been like that since Calvin left. Hiding your feelings doesn't make them go away, Bryan. They stay around until you deal with them, and if you don't deal with them, they'll eat at you and make you miserable.”

“I'm not bottling up my feelings, Dad.”

“Really? Then why can't you tell Kenny that you're in love with him?”

“I don't want to hurt him.”

Diego shook his head. “Bryan, you're one of the most selfless people I know.”

“Thanks,” Bryan said.

“That wasn't a compliment.” Bryan looked at his father rather confused. Diego continued, “You always put other people before yourself. Normally, that's a great characteristic, but you do it to keep from addressing your own problems. You shield yourself by focusing on others, which is very unhealthy. What do you think will happen if you tell Kenny that you're in love with him?”

Bryan felt attacked but knew his dad wasn't trying to be mean. “I'll end up leaving Kenny the way Calvin left me.”

“Okay,” Diego said, trying to think of a way to phrase his next question. “That's not true. You have loved plenty of people who are still in your life, myself included. So, are you actually afraid of you being like Calvin, or is it that you're really afraid that Kenny will leave you like Calvin did?”

Bryan felt like his heart was about to stop. The question struck so many nerves and insecurities that Bryan's brain wanted to shut down. Denial started to push its way in, but his dad's wisdom was like a torch in a cave. Tears fell again. He imagined confessing his feelings, all of them, to Kenny. And the pain in his stomach snarled, as he imagined Kenny saying, “I don't really love you. I love someone else, and we can't see each other anymore.”

Diego watched his son as Bryan had his internal conflicts. Bryan always had an uncanny self-awareness, even as a small child, but he could be blinded when it came to his abandonment issues. Diego pulled his son towards him and held the boy. “You are not Calvin, Bryan Padilla. Kenny also isn't Calvin. I'm not going to lie and say that you two will be together forever, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't see where things go. You're going to be rejected, many times, in your life. It's part of growing up and being an adult, so stop trying to prevent it, because you never will; in fact, you could actually make it worse.

“If I was constantly worried about being hurt like you are, I wouldn't have let you, your brother and Calvin move in all those years ago. I knew he was going to hurt me again, as he always does, but out of that pain came a gift I wouldn't trade in all the world.”

“Yeah, you got stuck with me and Caleb.”

Diego's tone went from loving to bitter in a flash, “Chico, don't you ever say that or anything like it again, do you understand me? I was never stuck with you or your brother. !Eres mi familia, mi hijo¡ I will not tolerate you thinking otherwise, got it?!”

“Sí papá. Te amo.”

“I love you, too, Chico.”

They sat in the truck for a while longer, mostly in silence. Diego mentioned that he found a Family Law attorney whom he wasn't very impressed with, but the man was willing to accept their case if Calvin tried anything shady. Again, Bryan kept the messages from Calvin a secret.

Diego drove to his favorite pizza place and got dinner. It was already later than he wanted to be, and had Steve pick up Caleb.

“Where are we going?” Bryan asked, as they missed their turn.

“Don't worry about it,” Diego said.

Bryan's heart sank as he realized all too soon their destination.

“Stay here,” Diego said, as he got out of his truck. Bryan watched helplessly as his father walked towards Kenny's apartment. He saw the look of surprise on his friend's face. Kenny and Diego talked for a few minutes, before Kenny disappeared, leaving the door open. A minute or two later, both walked towards the truck. Bryan tried to avoid eye contact, as Kenny walked up to his side of the vehicle. Neither said anything, as Diego got back onto the road.

“Alright, you two,” Diego said, in a very serious tone. “I love you both very much. Kenny, you're practically family, so I'm going to treat you like my own, okay?”

“Yes, Sir,” Kenny replied.

“Kenny what did we talk about?” Bryan said out of habit.

“Oh,” Diego said, “Are we doing call backs, now?”

“Hey,” Bryan said, “only I get to make meta jokes. Don't steal my schtick.”

“Anyway,” Diego said, “Kenny, Bryan has told me his side of what's going on between you two. Do you trust that he's telling me the truth?”

“I guess,” Kenny said, since he didn't think Bryan would lie about it.

“Okay,” Diego said, accepting the answer, “so, you know that he has issues surrounding his birth father leaving him right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. That'll save a lot of exposition. He's afraid that if he tells you he's in love with you, you're going to leave him.”

“That's not true!” Kenny protested. “I would never do that!”

“You hear that, Chico?”

Bryan's anxiety was getting to him. He felt it was unfair to be ambushed like he was. The least his father could've done was tell him the plan first. “Yeah, I heard it,” he said, unable to hide his bitterness.

Kenny heard the tone, too. “Is something wrong?”

“My father didn't tell me he was going to do this.”

“I didn't tell you, so you wouldn't try talking me out of it,” Diego explained. “Yeah, it's a dick move, and I'm sorry to put you on the spot. I let you try it on your own, and you two still didn't get it sorted out. With that said, however, do you two want to be together?”

“Yeah,” Bryan said.

“Yes, Sir,” Kenny replied.

“Okay then. Kenny, you need to give Bryan time to tell you that he's in love with you. I get why you want him to, but you need to let him do it on his time. It'll be a lot more meaningful that way. He's got his hang-ups, and forcing things will only make it worse. Understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Right, so Chico. Until you can say the words, you need to show Kenny how you feel, and I don't mean sex,” Diego hastily clarified. “There are plenty of ways to express your feelings without having to say anything or bump uglies.”

“Dad! Don't ever say that phrase again, please!” Bryan pleaded. “That's so cringe.” Kenny chuckled.

“Whatever,” Diego replied. “You guys can be boyfriends, partners or whatever. You don't even need to put a label on it. You make each other very happy, so stop fussing over things and making each other miserable.”

“Kenny,” Bryan said, feeling his mouth go dry. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Kenny said.

Diego pulled the truck over. “Why are we stopping?” Bryan asked.

“So you can get in the back with your boyfriend, fool. Just no making out. I'm not ready to see that.”

Bryan hugged his dad and got in the backseat with his boyfriend.

Dinner was pleasant for the most part. When they got to the house, Caleb gave Kenny the cold shoulder. Even after Diego told him to stop, Caleb kept giving his brother's boyfriend some serious side-eye. Kenny was given permission to stay the night, as long as he got his homework done and got a ride to school, which was a given.

Caleb waited for Bryan to go to the bathroom, before walking into the bedroom to confront Kenny.

“Are you going to hurt my brother?” Caleb asked. His tone was flat and serious. If it wasn't for the fact that he was rather short for an 11-year-old, he might have come off as menacing.

“No, and I'm sorry if I did before.”

“Okay,” Caleb said. He walked over and gave Kenny a hug.

“What's going on?” Bryan asked, as he walked into his room.

“Just saying good night,” Caleb said, as he walked towards his brother, whom he also gave a hug.

“Good night?” Bryan said, feeling the situation was rather strange. Caleb had never given Kenny a hug before.

Once Caleb was gone, Kenny told Bryan what had happened. “I was waiting for him to whisper a threat in my ear or something, but he didn't.”

“Good,” Bryan said. “This story doesn't need any more bad tropes in it.” He got onto his bed and pulled Kenny into his arms and kissed his boyfriend, making sure the kiss conveyed everything he was feeling.

“I love you, too,” Kenny said, returning the kiss.

Bryan woke up in the middle of the night due to his phone blowing up with notifications. He looked down and was glad his boyfriend was still fast asleep, with his head on Bryan's bare chest. Bryan grabbed his phone and saw the messages were from Calvin.

What the actual fuck?! Bryan thought, anger fully waking him.

Calvin's messages came off as pissy and whiny. He didn't like the way Bryan was talking to him. All Calvin wanted was to meet and explain his side of things. He even said that Diego hadn't been telling the truth about why he had left, and that he was pretty much the victim. Bryan rolled his eyes so hard they actually hurt.

“Dude, seriously, stop messaging me or I'm going to tell my dad.”

Almost immediately, Calvin replied, “I am your dad.”

Now, Bryan was really pissed. “The fuck you are, you goddamned loser. You piece of shit! You are not my dad, and you never will be. Contact me again, and I'll tell my actual dad—you know, Diego Padilla?!—and you'll regret ever showing up to that funeral, you worthless sack of shit! I wish it was you who died and not Donna. At least she was around! Now go away like you did before and never come back!”

“What's going on?” Kenny asked.

“What? Nothing. It was just a troll,” Bryan said. He must have been texting so vigorously that he shook the bed, waking Kenny. “Let's get some sleep.” He scooted himself down till his face was level with Kenny's and kissed his boyfriend.

“I'm so in love with you,” Bryan said, without thinking.

Though he couldn't see Kenny's eyes in the dark, Bryan assumed they were as wide as his own. “You—you said it,” Kenny stammered.

“Yeah,” Bryan said in a small, scared voice.

Kenny kissed Bryan and, this time, with a lot more passion.