Aaron & Slade Ch. 05

"It's immoral, Danielle. The Bible taught you, me, and them that homosexuality is wrong." Mr. Jones turns pointing angrily at us. His disgusted gaze rests on Slade. "The second he chose to be gay, he lost the right to be my son. Close the door on your way out," he calls out, stomping up the stairs.

"It's okay, honey. Give them some time to cool down," Ma says stroking Slade's shoulders.

"Get your asses back in your room and mind your fucking business," Mr. Jones yells, multiple doors slam shut.

Slade whispers, gasping for air. "I just destroyed my family."

"Jones, I'm right here," I tell him, wrapping him tight in my arms. He shakes uncontrollably.

"I'm gonna grab a cold towel," Ma says, sprinting to the kitchen.

I continue to whisper words of encouragement into his ear while rubbing his back. Ma returns with the wet towel. I carefully wipe his face and neck. Slade's breathing normalizes a couple minutes later.

His voices breaks when he says, "I gotta get out of here."

"Come on, honey. You're staying with us tonight. We'll set you up in the living room," Ma says with tears in her eyes.

I mouth 'thank you' and she nods.

We walk out closing the door softly behind us. Ma looks around and asks, "Where's your father?"

Chewing my bottom lip, I tell her, "He left said he had to clear his head, and that he'll meet us back at the house."

Looking worried, she sighs heavily and replies, "Fine. Slade, go grab some clothes. I'll leave a message in the morning to let them know you're with us.

"I have clothes in the truck already," he replies, placing his head on my shoulder.

"Grab more just in case," Ma answers.

"Yes, ma'am." Slade walks hurriedly to his room.

"I can't believe this is happening," I hiss. "Ma, how can they do that to him?"

"I don't know, sweetie. In some weird way, I can understand where they're coming from. But they shouldn't have made him feel like there was something wrong with him. There's nothing wrong with either of you," Ma says emphatically.

"We should've kept our mouths shut. I didn't want him to get hurt, and that's exactly what happened."

"I know you didn't. Y'all did what you thought was right, but Slade's gonna need you more than he ever has before. Be there for him, okay?"

"That won't be a problem," I say, looking towards Slade's room. He emerges with a bag of clothes. The walk to the truck is somber. We drive in silence back to my house.

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My heart drops when I don't see the car. However, as concerned as I am about Dad not being here, Slade is my priority.

Moving like the walking dead, the three of us climb the steps, and through the front door. Candace looks cheesed sitting on the stairs. She glares at me, "I got a text from Kevin. He said you two came out tonight. I wanna know what's going and I wanna know now."

Candace stands. Her eyes focus on mine as she walks towards me.

Ma intervenes by standing in-between us. "Not right now, Candy. It's been a rough night." Ma turns to me. "Go set up in the living room. I'll call out for pizza. What toppings do y'all want?"

"No, Mama. Answer me, Aaron, is it true?" Candace asks as she moves around Ma to stand beside me.

"I'll be right outside," I tell Slade. He nods and smiles sympathetically. Grabbing Candace's hand, I lead her out to the porch. She leans against the banister with her arms and legs crossed. She waits impatiently. I can only hope she'll forgive me for not being the one to tell her.

Miffed, she asks, "So, are you going to stand there staring at the ground or are you going to answer me?"

Dejected, I answer her. "Yes, it's true."

Candace shakes her head in disbelief. "I can understand you not telling Mama and Daddy, but this is me. Why didn't you tell me?"

Sitting down on the porch swing, I think about why I haven't told her, and my main reason was to protect her. "Can, I didn't want you to have to keep my secret. You shouldn't have to protect or lie for me, especially about something this big. I couldn't do that to you. Are you mad?"

She reaches out whacking the back of my head softly. "Yeah, I'm mad. You should've been the one to tell me and not Kevin in a freaking text," Candace says annoyed. "I kept asking you if you had something to tell me."

Candace stands up punching me hard twice in both shoulders.

"Shit," I exclaim. "You don't have to punch so freaking hard."

She plops down next to me on the swing. "Well, you deserve it, asshole! Don't you keep something this big from me again do you hear me? "

"I'll try not to." I take a pause before asking, "You can live with having a gay brother?"

"I've lived with you this long. The only difference now is I know. You're still the same old pain in the ass older brother to me," Candace says smiling.

"C'mere," I say, wrapping my arms around her. She hugs me.

When she leans back, she's grinning like The Cheshire Cat. "Can I tell you something else?" she asks.

Apprehensively, I nod. "Yeah."

With a smirk, she bumps her shoulder against mine, and says, "I kinda suspected a few months back."

My mouth drops open out of pure shock. "Bullshit. No, you didn't."

"Calm down. It's not like I walked in on you or anything like that."

"So how?"

Candace smiles and says, "It was Slade's birthday. You were standing at the bottom of the stairs. When you saw him, you had this look in your eyes. It was brief, but I recognized it. Remember, it was after that day, when I started saying you could tell me anything?"

All I can do is smile in amazement at her. "You're too smart for your own good, squirt. Here I am thinking I was being covert."

"Well, you weren't. Should've noticed it sooner though, I'm usually way more intuitive," she says shaking her head again in disbelief.

I laugh taking a good look at my sister. "Are we okay?"

"We're fine, but keep me in the loop. You never know when I can give you some stellar advice."

"What kind of advice are we talking about here?" I ask suspiciously.

"Well, if I'd known about the two of you. I would've told you to get your friends to cover for you. Or you could've gotten me to cover for you. Instead, you did it your way and got bopped. You would still be wherever you were if you had me on your side."

I nod in agreement. "But now, everything is out in the open, maybe it was supposed to happen this way. Except for the way his parents reacted, especially Mr. Jones." I replay the hurtful words, and wince.

Concerned, she asks, "That bad?"

"It was the first time someone called me a 'faggot' and it hurt."

Candace's eyes flash and her upper lip twitches. "He called you a what?"

I try to calm her. "Forget I even told you 'cause it's not important."

"Uh, how about no? No one has the right to call you or anyone else such a disgusting word. I've never liked Mr. Jones. He's an asshat. What about Miss April?"

"Miss April seems like she might come around eventually." I sigh heavily.

Candace asks, "Where's Daddy?"

I shrug, shaking my head. "He took off. I don't know what I'm gonna do if Dad can't accept me, Can."

"Daddy loves you. Have faith, bro, I do," Candace says with confidence.

My eyes water as I answer, "Faith is hard to have when you don't believe."

"Then I'll have it for the both of us." Candace pats and rubs my shoulders. "I have one question though. Why come out now?"

"That seems to be the question of the night. It was both our decision but Slade's mostly. He had an epiphany on the drive back. He said he was ready to admit to his parents he was gay and in love."

"He's in love with you?" Candace asks wide-eyed.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't he be? It's not like I'm some blue, scaly, buck-toothed space creature."

She cackles loudly. "I didn't mean it like that. Are you in love with him?"

"Oh, yeah," I grin stupidly.

"My God, that was sickeningly sweet, but I'm happy for you, Aar."

"Thanks, squirt. That means a lot to me."

Candace hits me again. "Don't call me, squirt."

"Stop hitting me or I'll call the cops on ya." I laugh but she looks pensive. "What's wrong?"

"I do have one concern," she says seriously.

"What?"

"That you're gonna get hurt."

"You're crazy. I'm not gonna get hurt," I tell her with all the confidence I can muster.

"So you're going to have a long distance relationship? You remember what Auntie Marsha went through when she and Uncle Tommy did the long-distance thing. I don't want the whole 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality to hurt you the way it did her."

How can I admit to her that I think there's some unknown force out there that's going to rip Slade and me apart? Maybe my nightmares of Slade disappearing from my life are a sign, or it's just my imagination running.

Snapping back to reality, I assess. "I'd be lying if I said Auntie Marsha never crossed my mind, but I can't let it get to me. We know it'll be hard. We're going from seeing each other almost every day to only a few times over the next nine months. My only regret is leaving him here with parents."

Remembering the look on Slade's face when they walked away from him has me wiping away tears. My little sister tugs me to my feet, and lets me cry on her shoulder.

Candace whispers in my ear, "Don't listen to me. I'm an idiot. I shouldn't have said anything."

Sniffling, I say, "These tears aren't 'cause of you. I'm just exhausted. The night's catching up to me."

"I love ya, Aaron."

"I love you, too, squirt. C'mon, I need to get back inside. Ma's probably smothering Slade."

We part. I wipe my face off one last time before we head inside to find Ma and Slade in the kitchen looking over the pizza menu.

"Y'all alright?" Ma asks.

Candace winks at me, and I say, "Yes, ma'am, we're good."

"Good. What do y'all want on the pizzas?"

I order Slade's favorite. "Pepperoni and mushrooms with extra cheese on one."

"How about veggie?" Ma asks picking up the phone.

"Okay with me. No olives with extra tomatoes and extra garlic," Candace states, walking over to Slade. "I'm sorry for what happened tonight. I hope your folks come around."

"Thanks, Can, I hope so, too. Too bad not everybody thinks the way you do."

"Oh, please! The world couldn't handle this much perfection." Candace says, running a hand through her long blonde hair. Rolling my eyes, I shove her making Slade laugh.

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Slade moves about in a foggy haze. I try not to smother him but I want him to know I'm around if he needs me. We wash up before the pizzas arrive. I setup the sleeping bags in the living room.

When the pizzas arrive, we devour them in famished silence. Ma finishes her last bite, and stretches with a loud yawn. "Well, I'm tired. I think it's time to hit the hay."

"I think we're all feeling the same way," I tell her, placing a hand on Slade's thigh, and he smiles wistfully.

Ma walks over to him, grabs the sides of his face, and tilts his head back. "You're gonna be fine, okay?"

"Thank you, Miss Dani," Slade whisper. Ma wraps him in a giant hug.

Ma and Candace start cleaning up, but I wave them off. "Don't worry about it. Y'all go to bed."

"That's fine with me. Night," Candace says dropping her plate. She hugs us all, and smiles thoughtfully as she exits.

"Night," we answer in unison.

"Goodnight," Ma says giving me a hug and kiss to the forehead. She kisses Slade's cheek.

"Night, Ma."

"G'Night, Miss Dani," Slade says standing and hugging her. Ma rubs his back. She smiles at both of us before walking out the kitchen.

With Slade's help, we cleanup quickly, turn off the lights except for the one over the stove.

"Which side do you want?" I ask looking down at the sleeping bags.

"This one," he replies, sitting down with a groan. He lays on his back with an exhausted sigh. I kneel beside him placing a light kiss to his lips.

"I'm so sorry. I wish things had gone differently tonight," I tell him sincerely.

Sitting up, Slade looks confused, but chuckles, "Why are you sorry? We both know what happened tonight's my fault. You said lie but I had to tell my parent's and look where it got me. My father disowned me. Mama can't even look at me. Your dad's not home that's my fault too. Go ahead and say it, 'Slade, I hate you for forcing me into coming out. You've ruined my family.' That's how you feel, right?"

His once hopeful blue eyes now hold despair and remorse. He walks out the living room. I chase him down the long, dark hallway and through the dimly lit kitchen.

I call out, "Jones, stop!"

Slade unlocks the kitchen's screen door and walks out. He's at the top of the stairs when I grab his hand yanking him back. Spinning him around, I step in closer, and stare deeply into his distraught eyes. He struggles against my firm grasp and manages to set himself free.

He brushes past me. "Leave me alone, Aaron."

"Not gonna happen," I say, blocking him from walking back into the house.

I take his hands in mine; he snatches them away, and takes several steps back holding up his hands to keep me at a distance. His eyes fill with tears. He opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. He continues to back up until he stumbles back onto the couch. When he tries to stand up, I push him back and quickly straddle him. With all my weight pinning him down, he stops struggling.

Slade's voice is thick with emotion as he cries, "Get off me."

I fist my hands in his short, chocolate-brown hair moving them to his neck. "Not until you listen to me."

Shaking his head, he says, "There's nothing you can say that will change the fact that I ruined both our families tonight. You were worried about telling your dad, but I forced you into it anyway. So, why aren't you yelling at me? Why aren't you kicking my ass?"

Slade glares at me, but when he sees only love and compassion in my eyes, he gets madder. "Sonofabitch, don't you fucking dare! Don't you look at me like you love me. Hurt me back. Hurt me the way I hurt you. I can take it. Do it!" He bellows. He hits me hard against my chest repeatedly. I have a tough time defending myself against the onslaught, but I get a good grip on his wrists, and pin them to his chest. We catch our breaths through deep, heavy pants. He tries to buck me off his lap but he's unsuccessful. Defeated his head falls back against the couch with his chin quivering.

Placing a hand over his heart, he intakes a sharp breath and avoids looking at me. "Fine, you don't have to look at me for me to say this. You helped me see that coming out was the right thing to do and to accept the consequences of our decision. Yes, I'm upset my dad walked away, and I want him to come home, but I'm not mad at you. I love my dad. But I chose you tonight, Jones. I'll always choose you."

My tears flow down my cheeks and onto Slade's shirt.

"You're everything to me, and I know without a doubt we're meant to be together. I walked through my life without a purpose until I met you. And for the first time I knew what I wanted in my life and that was to be yours. And I am, I'm a million percent yours," I state breathlessly.

The tears cascade down his cheeks. I tilt his head forward, and this time he looks me in the eyes.

"Slade, I'll keep telling you 'til you get it through that thick skull of yours of how much I love you. I love you," I repeat desperately, wrapping him in a fierce hug, but his arms stay crossed between us.

Eons go by before his arms encircle my waist tightly. He buries his face in my chest. I hear him gasp several times before he sobs uncontrollably. I move from his lap and maneuver so his head is on my shoulder. Eventually, his cry softens to sporadic whimpers. "You're the only one who loves me."

Running a hand through his hair, I lovingly kiss his forehead. "That's not true. A lot of people love you: your brothers and sister, grandparents, uncles and aunties, and my family. It might not feel like it but your parents love you too."

"No they don't. They'll never accept me, Aar." Slade says sadly. We sit in silence for several minutes when he tilts his head back to look at me. "I'm sorry for that meltdown."

"You don't have to apologize." Looking in his eyes, I ask, "Are you okay?"

Shaking his head slowly, Slade asks, "Are you? I hit you kinda hard."

I hold up my shirt to show him my chest. "Yeah, I'm fine. See, no permanent damage."

Slade grazes his hand over my stomach. He sniffles and says, "You should hate me."

"I could never hate you, Jones. You might get on my nerves every once in a while, but that's few and far between." He laughs but the weariness is evident in his eyes. "Let's go get some sleep."

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Slade flips onto his back. "I can't sleep. Get in," he says, opening his sleeping bag.

Without hesitation, I crawl inside with him. We wrap our arms tight around each other and I rub his back. He sighs snuggling in closer. "Tell me a joke. I need a good laugh," he says.

"Ok, let me think of something." I think of one I know he'll like. "I've got one. Ready?"

He nods. "Go for it."

"What did the green grape say to the purple grape?"

"I don't know." Slade replies, shaking his head.

"Breathe, idiot! BREATHE!"

He starts laughing. "Corny."

"No, that was pure comedy gold."

"Tell me another one," he says.

"Ok, um, ooh, why won't Tom Cruise shop at Sports Authority?

"Why?" Slade asks with a goofy look on his face.

"Because he likes Dick's," I answer with a wide grin.

Slade howls. "You're so stupid. Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Some comedy special but I changed it up a bit," I answer.

Slade's laughter starts to subside and he lays his head down on the pillow still smiling. He looks at me. His thumb moves across my jaw. I lean down to kiss him. A couple of pecks turns into a full on make-out session. He's the one to pull away.

"I gonna get in my sleeping bag now," I whisper in his ear, but he clutches my waist.

"No, baby," Slade says hoarsely. "Stay with me 'til I fall asleep. Please?"

"Ok. I'll stay, but don't try anything, or I'll scream like a little girl at a One Direction concert."

"You're such an idiot." Slade laughs and kisses me lightly.

"Night, Jones."

"Night, Brooks."

He turns with his back against my chest. I continuously run my hand through his hair, and within twenty minutes, his soft, rhythmic breathing is a welcomed sound. Another hour passes and I'm the only one awake. I eye the door with the hope Dad will walk through at any moment. It's almost 2:30am and my hope is diminishing.

All the adrenaline pumping through me earlier is virtually nonexistent now. My eyelids grow heavier.

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I wake up with Slade draped over me. I smile faintly kissing his forehead.

There's rummaging in the kitchen. Who's in the kitchen? A quick glance out the window answers that question: Dad's home.

I look down as Slade stretches and curls up. Smiling, I kiss his cheek, cover him up, and head to the kitchen. "Mornin', Dad." I say, upon seeing him pour a cup of coffee. Protectively, I cross my arms.

"Mornin', Aaron. I see Slade slept here last night," Dad says taking a sip.

"Ma said he could. Mr. Jones laid into him after you left." Standing across from him, I can smell the cigarette smoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't stay. What happened?" He asks curiously.

"Mr. Jones disowned him. He told Slade that he was just a tenant to him now." Dad winces. "Miss April thinks it's her fault. It was too much for him. Ma said he could stay a couple days."

Neither of us talks for a good minute when Dad clears his throat. "I thought a lot last night. I can understand why you didn't come to me. If I were in your shoes, I probably would've have done the exact same thing. But I really wish you had told me earlier."