Page 129 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Ben took another chance and walked up behind Gavin. He leaned down and kissed the top of his head, something he would’ve done back before the whole breakup thing. “Everything okay in here?”

Gavin surprised the hell out of him by reaching for Ben’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

Tina took another bite of her lunch and then asked, “Are you guys, like, married? You can do that now, right?”

It took everything Ben had not to tell her that there were a lot of people in the world who still didn’t have that right, but it would just be for the sake of picking an argument and he knew it. She was making an effort; Ben figured he ought to too.

Gavin didn’t give him a chance to respond, though. He smiled up at Ben as if the last week had never happened, and then he looked at Tina. “It’s on our radar, but no major plans yet.”

What the hell was going on? He needed to get Gavin alone and find out if he had lost his mind or if there was a reason to put on a little dog-and-pony show for his sister.

Tina looked around the apartment again. Her gaze landed on Gavin’s boxes, still stacked in the living room. “Are you guys moving?”

“Preemptive packing.” Jesus, Gavin was a good liar. Ben had no idea. He didn’t even blink. “We’re looking for a bigger place, so I started getting ready a little early.”

Ben stared stupidly for a minute, afraid to say anything, and then he went around the corner to the kitchen to put the groceries away. His apartment wasn’t that big, so eavesdropping was easy.

“Have you seen a doctor yet?” Gavin asked.

Okay, weird.

“Not yet,” Tina said, pausing when Ben glanced at her from around the corner. “I wouldn’t even know where to go.”

“Did you talk to your school counselor or anything?” Gavin sounded concerned, which made Ben concerned too. He shoved the canned goods into the cupboard and then pulled up a chair next to Gavin. Whatever they were talking about, Ben figured he needed a front-row seat.

Tina offered him a weak smile, and Ben did his best to return it. It probably looked like a grimace, but, hey, he tried.

“We’ve been homeschooled since you ran away,” Tina said, taking another sip of her water.

Ben looked at Gavin, who sat on the edge of his chair. “I’m sorry, since I what?” His tone was fairly neutral, but that last word had a sharp ring to it.

“Since you ran away,” Tina repeated, as if she thought Gavin just hadn’t heard her. “When you left, Dad said the schools were too secular and you’d been exposed to too much gay propaganda and that you’d been taken in by the homosexual agenda and led into sin.”

Cold rage wrapped itself around Ben’s spine. He clamped his jaw shut so hard it felt like he might crack his teeth. Under the table, he clenched his hands into fists.

“Tina,” Gavin said, but he glanced at Ben before going on. “That’s not what really happened.”

With a shrug that made her look even more like Gavin, Tina said, “I know. I mean, I figured. And Elise and Donny told us some of what they saw. But we were forbidden to ever talk about it again, so…”

So. Yeah, that about summed it up. Elise and Donny were the youngest of Gavin’s siblings, Ben knew that much. For Christ’s sake. He’d quit smoking years earlier, but he wanted one now.

Gavin was silent for a minute, looking stunned, wounded. Ben wanted to throttle the whole lot of them, one by one, and then stand on their bodies like a grotesque game of King of the Hill. Instead he reached for Gavin and rested his hand on Gavin’s back. I’m here for you went unspoken, but he hoped Gavin got the message.

After another beat, Gavin cleared his throat and swallowed hard. “Okay, well. Tomorrow we’ll get ya to a clinic and see where exactly you are. For now, though, maybe a nice warm bath? Not too hot, though. That info blog we found said that’s bad for the baby.”

Ben whipped his head around so fast Gavin probably felt a rush of wind with it.

Looking a little amused and a little guilty, Gavin smiled at Ben. “Surprise. We’re gonna be uncles.”

Chapter Ten

Gavin

Gavin had spent most of the afternoon and evening avoiding being alone with Ben. Every time Ben tried to pull him off to the side, Gavin had made an excuse. Unfortunately, with Tina tucked away on the couch, finally asleep, Gavin had nowhere to hide. He considered taking a long shower, trying to wait for Ben to drift off, but he doubted that would work. Ben had a determined look on his face as he closed the bedroom door and stripped off his clothes.

“Are you gonna explain all this to me, or do I get to keep guessing?” Ben pulled back the covers on the bed and slipped between the sheets. Thankfully, he kept his voice down.

Gavin had already climbed in and settled himself as far away from Ben’s side of the bed as possible. He’d thought about taking a pillow and sleeping on the floor—that would be a good sign for Ben, right? One that read fuck off loud and clear—but he didn’t want Tina to wander in and find him like that. “I just don’t want her only exposure to gay life being you and me yelling at each other and breaking up.”

---