Page 56 of Stand By Me

Somehow, that simple contact went a long way to soothe Clay's nerves. There was no telling how this thing with Ben was going to shake out, but Clay still had this, right here.

And he was going to do his best to keep it.

Then, he heard a familiar engine and straightened up.

"He's here. I'll call you as soon as I can, okay?"

"Good luck."

Clay disconnected and put his phone away, feeling his heartbeat pick up as he watched his brother park the car. Was he being confrontational, waiting for Ben like this? Should he have given him space instead of sticking around? Something had told him he should stay and wait, but were his instincts ever correct when it came to his brother?

Ben didn't meet his gaze as he came up the driveway, so Clay leaned back against the railing and rested his hands over it to appear as not-threatening as possible.

No training had prepared him for confrontations with his own brother and none ever could, but he would use whatever he had.

Finally, Ben walked up onto the porch and turned to Clay. For a moment, neither of them spoke and the air was heavy with the weight of everything they weren't saying.

And then…

"Were you the one who paid for my school?"

Clay hadnotexpected that, and it had taken him aback enough that all he managed in response was a weak, "What?"

"Were you. The one. Who paid. For my school?" Ben repeated the question through his clenched teeth as he crossed his arms against his chest.

There was barely a few feet of space between them, and yet it felt like a mile.

"I sent Mom money throughout the years—" Clay started, but Ben shook his head.

"You can't even give me one straight answer, can you?"

Clay crossed his arms over his chest as well. He'd never wanted this to come up, but he guessed it was too late now.

"Fine. Yes, I was."

"And you didn't think I should know about this?"

"Honestly? No," Clay told him, suddenly tired. He would never have the right answer for Ben anyway, so why bother? "I thought it would be better if you didn't know."

"Wow," Ben muttered.

"Would you have accepted it, if you knew?" Clay asked and the silence that fell was an answer in itself. "That's why," he added quietly.

"So it's my fault you were lying to me?"

And what was the right answer to that?Yes?No?How about you accept at least partial responsibility for how things are between us, instead of always putting it all on me?

"I didn't want you to know, because I wanted you to use that money," Clay said in the end. "That's it."

"What else are you not telling me?" Ben narrowed his eyes. "The money, Mario, what else?"

There were many things he could say to that, but most would escalate the situation even further, which Clay desperately tried to avoid.

He apparently stayed silent too long for his brother's liking, though, because Ben huffed and looked down the street before meeting his gaze.

"It's like I don't know you at all."

The words hit hard—exactly like they were intended to—but Clay didn't dodge them. They were true, after all, weren't they?

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