Page 112 of A Long Way Back
“Nothing that I can share.”And I wish I’d fucking not said anything because they aren’t going to leave this alone.
His father hmmed. “Does it have something to do with Ink?”
“No. All to do with me. Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad. It’s good.”Shit. Shut up!“It’ll wait until you’re back.”
“Is it… Is it about you being gay?” his mum asked quietly.
Tay almost dropped the phone. His mouth opened and nothing came out.
“You do know we’re fine with it?” his father said.
“How did you know?” Tay finally managed.
His mum gave a little chuckle. “Because of how you loved Jonty. We saw the way you looked at him. As if he’d hung the sun in the sky. I heard what you said about how bad Brad Greene was for him and I heard what you didn’t say. No girl lasted with you. You were always kind and polite to them, but your face never lit up like it did for Jonty.”
“Tay, you are an amazing son.” His dad cleared his throat. “You fought your way back to life and we are so proud of you. All we want is for you to be happy. That’s all we want for all our children.”
His mum let out a shaky sob. “I wish I was there to hug you.”
Tay almost said he wished she was there too. “I’m sorry this is happening over the phone. I would have told you. I don’t think I’d figured everything out before, but I have now.”
“Does that have anything to do with Ink?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“I don’t want him to break your heart.” His mum took a deep breath. “I doubt you’ve done that criminal record check. You should. He’s hiding something. I don’t want you to get hurt, Tay.”
“He saved my life. I know what he’s hiding because he told me. I have to go now to let Dog out.”
Dog looked up at him from his sunlit bed and then lowered his head again.
“Love you,” his mum called.
“Take care. Bye,” his dad added.
“Bye.” As Tay ended the call, the buzzer went to tell him someone was at the door.
Tay wasn’t expecting anything to be delivered. He went over to the window and peeked through the vertical blinds. He saw a couple of cameramen, two men and a woman standing with them.Shit.How the hell had they found out where Ink was? The buzzer went again and Tay turned the volume right down. He went back to Ink and lay at his back.
“Was that the doorbell?” Ink asked.
“The press is outside.”
Ink gasped and rolled over to face him. “How do they know where I am?”
“I don’t know. The hospital thought you were my brother, but I never gave them an address.”
“The police?”
“I haven’t spoken to them and they wouldn’t tell the press.”
The banging on the door to the flat made them both jump. Tay sat up and Ink gingerly pushed himself to a sitting position at his side.
“They’ve got through the front door,” Tay whispered. “Who’d let them in?”
Ink sighed. “Oh God. It’s probably the guy who lives above you. Juris. The one I asked to turn the music down. If he saw me on the TV, or YouTube, he might have given the press this address.”
“You think they’ve discovered your past?”
