Technical Difficulties Episode 14

Zach touched his mother's arm to get her attention back. "Leave him out of it, Mom. He didn't make me do anything, and certainly didn't turn me against you. I love you, but I also love him."

"I can't condone this," Dad said.

"I know." If he'd started dating Ryan and told his parents about it some other time, Zach would probably have argued about whose moral stance was more reasonable. That night, though, he didn't have the heart to say any more upsetting things than he had to.

Mom tried a different angle. "I suppose you're old enough that we can't tell you what to do, but why don't you at least come home and take some time to think about it instead of making a rash decision?"

Zach shook his head and crossed his arms. "I've been crazy about Ryan since we were thirteen. This is the least rash decision I've ever made."

Mom narrowed her eyes. "Is that the real reason you'd never get confirmed?"

"No. This has nothing to do with why I don't believe in God." Zach bit his tongue, and refrained from citing the actual reasons. They'd agreed to a truce on this subject a long time ago.

"So what are we supposed to do now? Just walk away and leave you here?" Mom asked.

"I'll sit and talk all night if you want, but I know I'm not going to convince you I'm doing the right thing, and you're not going to change my mind either. Maybe the best thing to do is get some rest."

"I don't know what to think, Zach. I thought I was lucky to have a close relationship with my son, but you're not acting like the person I thought I knew. I thought I knew both of you." A tear ran down Mom's cheek, then another.

Zach reached out to comfort her, but she backed up and leaned against Dad. "You do know us, Mom. Nobody knows everything there is to know about another person."

Dad wore a deep frown. "I'm really disappointed in you. I thought we brought you up to make better choices than this, but the door is always open. We love you Zach."

"Love you too, Dad. Mom."

"But this is not acceptable." Dad turned to go, and slipped an arm around Mom to steer her out of the room.

"I know," Zach said to his father's back. The door closed behind them, and Zach fell into Ryan's arms.

The sliver of orange sunset visible through the living room curtains faded to blue. Ryan held him and petted his back. "Since we were thirteen? Really?"

Zach was discombobulated enough that it took a moment to understand what Ryan was asking. "Really."

"It's been a long time for me, too."

The door opened and they both jumped guiltily and let go of each other. Jerry dashed into the living room to show off some shiny rocks that he'd found in the sand at the playground.

***

Zach muttered, "Nice," and skulked off to the basement. Ryan feigned a little more interest in Jerry's shiny rocks, until Jamila chased him into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When the door closed and the water started to run, Ryan followed Zach down the basement stairs, and found him in a despondent slump on the weight bench, picking at splinters.

"Hey, can I come down?" Ryan asked from halfway down the steps.

Zach gave him a micro-shrug. "You can do whatever you like. It's your house."

"I mean, do you want company, or do you just want to be left alone?"

"I could use company," Zach admitted. He dropped a splinter on the rug and clasped his hands. In a voice just loud enough for Ryan to hear, he added, "Really, I could use more than just company. I wish you could just lay into me right now. Make me scream."

Ryan padded across the rug to join him. "You sure that's what you need? I'd have guessed something a little more low-key."

"Well, it's what I want."

"Jamila and Jerry are spending at least another night, though. They haven't found another place to stay yet."

"I gathered. Just saying I wish we could do that, not that we should." Zach gave him a sad smile.

Upstairs, Jerry threw a tantrum about not wanting to wear his new pyjamas, and Jamila sounded like her patience was wearing thin.

"Actually, I bet we can figure something out later tonight, when those two are asleep," Ryan said, "But I want to talk to Jamila after she gets my brother settled. I have a bad gut feeling that my sperm donor may really be going off the deep end in a scary way, and I'm worried about my other little brothers and sisters."