Twenty-Eight Years Later - 3. Chapter 3

Kiss Of An Angel Chapter 33 - “Decisions, Decisions”

I decided I couldn’t wait until after supper to tell Tyler I’m OK with his past. I was steeling myself to call Tyler when my phone rang. I looked at the screen, incredulous.

Why would Randy be calling me? Oh, God. Calm down, Ariel. He’s not calling to ask you out on a date. He’s got Ryan. Or maybe he’s calling to ask me out to make Ryan jealous? Would he do something like that to Ryan? Or even to Tyler. No. He wouldn’t. Would he?

I hit answer, “Uh, h-hi Randy.”

“Hi, Ariel.”

He sounded angry. Not a date then, “What’s up?”

“Sean’s out of the picture.”

“Really? But you sound angry, not happy.”

“Yeah, well, the fucker made his move, but I was able to catch it on camera and call the cops.”

“Wait. What? Call the cops? What did he do?”

Randy summarized what happened at Sean’s. I’m sure there were more details to the “main event“ than ‘he drugged and undressed Ryan to take advantage of him.’

“So, the cops took Sean away? How’s Ryan?”

“Well, Sean left in an ambulance, but I’d guess he’s in protective custody.”

“Woah. I think I missed something. Why’d Sean leave in an ambulance?”

“I heard the one cop say self-inflicted knife wound to the abdomen when he was calling for the ambulance.”

“Too bad he didn’t slice his throat.”

“Ariel! Wow. I never would have expected that from you.”

“Well. I figure if he ended up giving up on Ryan, Tyler would be his next target.”

“Yeah. I can believe that.”

“How’s Ryan? Sean didn’t hurt him, did he?”

“No, he didn’t hurt him, but I don’t know how he is. Mr. Hatcher said he’d come back after seeing Ryan in the hospital, but he’s not back yet.”

“Drugged him. Wow, what an asshole. Oops, sorry.”

“It’s OK to curse, Ariel.”

“Well, I’m new at it, so I still surprise myself when I do.”

“Yeah. You surprise us too. But, I don’t know what Sean used to drug him, or if it was too much. I’m scared, Ariel, to be honest.”

“Now I am, too.”

“Sorry. But I figured you’d want to know too. It was actually Tyler who said I should follow Ryan to Sean’s house.”

“Huh?”

“He came over after school. He was really worried how you’d take the news. He did tell you what was bothering him, right?”

“I think I only got highlights, but, yeah.”

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“How did you take the news? Are you mad, upset? What?”

“I guess I’m a little of both. I mean, I can say this because it’s you, Randy, he’s so good at sex that he had to have experience before. But twice? Even sometimes two at once. It’s hard to swallow.”

“Then spit.”

“Spit? What?”

“You know, spit or swallow.”

“Sp... oh. Oohhh. No, that I swallow. Hehehe.”

“Way to go. Oh, and Tyler told me the milkshake incident was done on purpose. Good job there.”

“Battery acid would have been better. But you work with what you’ve got. Hehehe.”

Randy laughed too.

“Well, swallow this. He loves you Ariel. He doesn’t want Matt or Sam anymore. He only wants you. Don’t throw that away because of anything he did before you were together.”

“I don’t plan to. It just takes some getting used to. I mean, I thought he was MY Tyler Jordan.”

“He is. He’s over other boys. He was over here before, I had to console him because he was nearly in tears because he thinks he made a mistake telling you.”

He was over at Randy’s? Just to talk?

“Randy, please don’t lie to me; you didn’t do anything with Tyler, did you? Just talked?”

“Today? Yes, Ariel. We just talked. I would never do anything like that to you.”

“Why did you say today? Did you do something with Tyler before?”

“Ariel, don’t get hung up on the past. Anything Tyler did with anybody else was before you, it doesn’t matter. You can’t be jealous of his past.”

“Randy. Please.”

Randy hesitated, but finally answered, “I’m not saying anything else, Ariel.”

“I guess that’s answer enough. Bye, Randy.”

“Ar—“

I hung up. I wasn’t about to cry in front of Randy. Well, not in front of. Tyler was with Randy too. I don’t know of I can take any more of this.

I flopped face down on my bed, hoping I can cry quietly enough to not attract attention.

I guess I fell asleep, it was darker out when I heard the knocking on my bedroom door. I turned toward the door, not realizing I must have looked like a horror show.

“Yeah?”

“Supper’s... What’s the matter, Ariel? Did something happen at school? Were you crying?”

I decided to try to avoid the crying question, “I’m not really hungry. I’ll get something later."

Mom ignored that, "What happened?"

"Please, mom. I don't want to talk about it."

"I'll let you have more time. Gramms said you had a snack after school, but I'm sure you're hungry. Wash up and come down and eat. But we will talk more later."

I sighed, "I'll be down in a minute."

I'm not getting out of it this time. Hopefully the whole truth won't come out. My life would be ruined. No Tyler; mom and dad will probably hate me, maybe even send me away to try to fix me. I wish I had a knife. Yeah, right. I couldn't stab myself in the stomach. Who am I kidding? I'd never have enough guts to do that. It'll hurt a heck of a lot more than tripping and falling on my face. I’m delaying going downstairs as long as I can.

"Now!"

Not long enough for me, too long for them. Dad's into it now. I am so fucked. Oops.

I went down for dinner and all three of them stared at me.

Mom gave me a chance to think some more, “Sit down and eat, we’ll talk about it after supper.”

I sat. I mostly pushed my food around the plate, but somehow, a lot of it still went into my mouth.

“Help your grandmother clean up, then we’ll have that talk, young man.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mom’s being nice, I don't know whether it’s because she’s giving me more time to think, or she wants me to worry over it some more. Well, I guess they end up being the same thing.

The dinner dishes cleaned up, it was time to face the music. A funeral dirge in all likelihood.

“Do you want me to come with you, Ariel?”

“Yes, would you, Gramms?”

“Lead on.”

I led Gramms into the living room, where mom and dad were watching the news. Dad turned the TV off, and led the discussion.

“Your mother tells me you were crying. Would you like to tell us what happened?”

“Not really.”

“That’s not a choice.“

Did I say that out loud?

“Well, I found out someone I’m, um, interested in has been with other people before.”

“That’s not all that unusual, even at your age. It’s not something to get really upset about.”

“What if you’re afraid they’re going to go back to one of them and leave me all alone?”

“Ariel, you’re a good kid, good looking, too. Even if she does go back to a previous boyfriend, you’ll find someone else.”

“I don’t want someone else. I’m in love with him.”

I could hear the water dripping in the kitchen sink, it got so quiet. I reran what I said in my head. Oh, fuck. Dad looked at mom, who gave him a faint smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ariel, listen to me. You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m guessing this wasn’t the way you intended to come out to us. Your mom, Gramms, and I will help you through this. It’s not the end of the world.”

“Gramms already figured it out. She’s seen me around Tyler way more than either of you.”

“Okay. Well, she is here for you before your mom and I get home from work. What’s Tyler like?”

Wait. No ‘OMG you’re gay?’ They’re taking it as if I said 'I love her.' I must have looked shocked at the question, because I didn’t answer it right away. Mom intervened.

“You know we love you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“No matter what.”

“Okay.”

Dad let on that he wasn’t completely surprised, “I should have noticed earlier. You always seemed to avoid the subject whenever I mentioned girls. I love you too, Ariel, no matter what. This doesn’t change that.”

I couldn’t answer if I wanted to. The tears and sobbing just exploded out of me. Through the vale of tears, I saw mom shift over on the couch and motion me over.

It took me about fifteen minutes before I was human enough to hold down a conversation. Well, as much as it usually is for me. They both had an arm around me.

Dad asked, “So do you really think this boy might leave you for another?”

“I don’t know. One of my friends, tells me that Tyler loves me too. Well, Tyler has said it, too. I think I’m most uncomfortable about him having boyfriends before.”

“You have to look at it from another angle, Ariel. Wouldn’t you rather Tyler be honest with you and tell you the truth, as much as it might hurt at first? Keeping it from you is just as bad as lying.”

“Yeah dad, he said pretty much the same thing about not telling me. But he didn’t tell me everything. I found out he was with someone else too. Aside from the ones he did tell me about.”

“Do you trust him to tell you the truth about this other time if you ask?”

“Yeah.”

“Then ask him. Don’t let it eat you up inside.”

“I don't know if I can. I, um..."

"Go ahead, we're not judging."

"Thanks mom. I had a crush on this other boy before Tyler. Well, still kind of do a little. I don't know if I can ask him."

"You'll have to try, honey."

"I might not have to. I hung up on him before. Finding about him and Tyler is really what started the crying. He'll ask me why."

"And you should tell him. Is he a good friend?"

"Yeah, dad. Really good. He's, um, got a boyfriend too. So he understands."

"Okay. You know what to do, either ask Tyler or this other boy about their relationship. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. I've seen the way that boy looks at you. Tyler won't lie."

"Thanks Gramms. I know he wouldn't. He just held back the truth long enough to drive me crazy. I told Tyler I'd call him back. I'll do that now."

Mom and dad both nodded, essentially saying I was free to go.

I got up to my room and brought up my contacts to Tyler. I looked at the kissy lips graphic, my finger hovering over ‘Call.’

“Is now or never.”

I pushed call. Tyler answered on the first ring.

“Ariel, hi. I wasn’t sure you were going to call. You know, take more time to figure things out.”

“Yeah, I needed more time after I talked to Randy.”

“Randy? Okay.”

“Tyler, I really want to trust you, and I do appreciate you telling me about Matt and Sam. But I think you left someone out.”

“Yeah. Randy called after you hung up on him. He said he thinks you figured him and I out.”

“Did I?””

“Yes, Ariel. Randy and I were a thing for a week or so when he was kind of broken up with Ryan. That was even before Matt and Sam.”

“But you’re friends with him again. But not Matt and Sam.”

“Yeah. It’s complicated. I guess Randy was just a dream goal. I mean, you gotta admit, he’s hot.”

“Hehehe, yeah, he is. I guess I can understand that. I kinda wanted him, too, before I knew you.”

“Bet you still do.”

I didn’t know how to answer that, so I stayed quiet.

“Thought so, see. You can love one person but still kind of want someone else, but not act on it.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“But it’s not like I still kind of want to be with Matt or Sam. Like I said, this stuff’s complicated.”

“You ain’t kidding.”

“So, come over tomorrow after school? I really miss you, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, me too. Hehehe.”

"Cool. Okay, well, bye."

"Wait."

"What?"

"I have to tell you something else."

"I hope it's nothing bad."

"No. Amazingly good. I accidentally came out to my parents."

"Accidentally?"

"Yeah. Dad said something like the girl going back to her previous boyfriend and that I'd find someone else. I said I didn't want anyone else and that I was in love with him."

"You said amazingly good. I guess they took it well?"

"Yeah. It surprised the heck out of me. I was almost expecting to be sent away to some anti-gay camp right away."

"That's great, Ariel. Now we can hang out at your house when your parents are there."

"What about yours?"

"My parents?"

"Yeah."

"I think you're more brave than I am, Ariel. I don't know."

"Well, think about it. You were brave enough to tell me about Matt and Sam, and admitted about Randy. Maybe your parents will be cool about it too."

"Yeah, maybe. OK, well, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you more. Bye."

I slept really well that night. Tyler showed up early for school like he had been doing. Gramms was her normal nice, but mom seemed especially nice to Tyler.

“Good morning, Tyler. Would you like something to eat?”

“No, thank you, Mrs. Dalton. I ate before I left home. You, um, about ready to go, Ariel?”

“Yeah, just gotta go get my book bag.”

Tyler followed me up to my room. We weren’t at the top of the stairs for two seconds when he stopped, grabbed me, and spun me around for a kiss.

“Tyler! We’re barely out of sight!”

“So? You said they know about us. Can’t we get away with a little kiss?”

I grabbed his hand, “Come on. We can really kiss in my room.”

And we did, almost enough to be late for school. Well, we did have to run the last block to beat the bell. Hehehe.

Randy looked nervous when he walked into art class, so I smiled, “Hey, Randy.”

“Hi, Ariel. Are you, um, ok?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry I hung up on you, but Ariel wasn’t in a really good place at that point in time. We can talk more at lunch.”

“You’re better now?”

“Yeah.”

We started working on shadows and shading the day before, so the teacher just had us continue on that. I suppose we could have talked a little more, but Tyler would be at lunch to fill in any details I overlook.

At lunch, Cody wondered where Sean and Ryan were, initially thinking the worst. Randy explained what happened the day before.

Cody was happy, “No more Sean until he’s eighteen? Sweet. I’m sorry he sort of got to Ryan, Randy, but you were there to slam the door on his actions.”

“Well, got the cops to break the doors down.”

We’re all laughed about that. I gave Randy and Cody some more details about my evening. Clearing things up with Tyler, and coming out to my parents were pretty hot topics.

Then it was time to go back to class. A few more hours until I’d be at Tyler’s again. I got hard just thinking about it.

We got to Tyler’s pretty quickly after school got out. We made it to his room before the clothes came off. Well, some came off on the way there too. They say make-up sex is the best.

They’re right. We did it to each other. Twice! It was awesome.