For Mac (28 page)

All morning long at his parents’ house, while his mother was out grocery shopping, he seemed to find reasons to touch Bran even without looking for any. In the kitchen, despite his parents being right there, Liam found himself maneuvering so that his hand touched Branson’s every time Branson handed him a dish to dry. Not a quick touch that would have been warranted when handing ceramic dishes from one person to another, but a touch that lasted slightly longer than that. Branson seemed to be doing the same thing, though, and Liam’s parents didn’t seem to notice, so Liam didn’t feel the need to stop himself.

The rest of the morning was like that too. Branson sat closer to him on the couch than strictly necessary but not enough for Liam’s dad to comment. They brushed by each other as they passed through doorways while doing laundry and making beds and generally cleaning up while his mother was gone. Not that the house needed much. His mom was obsessive about a clean house.

They were sitting on the couch watching a ball game with Liam’s dad—again, they sat a little too close—when the dryer signaled the load was done.

Liam jumped up. “I’ll go get that, Da. I’ll be right back.” He looked at Branson with a pleading look. “Why don’t you come help me? We’ll get done twice as fast.”

Branson answered, “Sure,” and got up off the sofa. He followed Liam down the hallway, and the laundry-room door was barely closed when Liam pulled Branson into his arms and into a hungry kiss.

“Feck all, Bran,” Liam somehow managed to say while still frantically kissing Branson. “You’ve been driving me crazy all morning.”

“It’s been mutual,” Branson answered, and they ran their hands over each other’s backs and shoulders while they kissed. “You think we could convince your dad that it really takes about an hour to fold a load of laundry?”

Liam kissed the side of Branson’s neck as he chuckled. “I don’t think so, but I’m about this close to finding out.”

They seemed to rein themselves in about the same time and put their foreheads together, trying to catch their breath.

“Maybe we can cut out early. As soon as Ma gets back.” Liam panted.

“We promised her all day,” Branson reminded. “We shouldn’t go back on that.”

“She doesn’t really need us all day. There’s not much else to do,” Liam pointed out.

“True,” Branson agreed. “But you need to spend some time with your dad, and they both could use the company right now, I’d think.”

Liam slumped and mumbled, “Positively killing me.”

Branson chuckled, gave Liam a quick kiss, and opened the dryer door to get the laundry.

Liam’s mother got home shortly thereafter and had the fixings for an indoor grilled chicken dinner. They had a vented gas grill set up on the screened-in sun porch. Liam’s dad liked to grill as often as he could, and his mom had declared that a heart-safe activity for him. Liam had tried to tell his mom that exercise was actually good for a patient who had had a heart attack.

Her response was, “Not two days after they get home from the hospital, it’s not. Go make the tea.”

After a while Liam’s mom declared the chicken sufficiently marinated and sent Liam with his dad to get the grill ready. Liam’s dad obviously had something on his mind, though. He was even more quiet than normal.

“What’s up, Da?” Liam asked, concerned. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I feel fine.” Collin waved his hand in the air, metaphorically brushing away the idea.

“What’s up, then, Da?”

Now that the subject was brought up, Collin apparently was going to get right to the point. “You know we love you, right?”

Liam was taken aback. “Yeah, of course, Da.” His voice and face probably showed all the confusion he was feeling. “What’s this about?”

“You know, we all really like Branson.”

“Good.” Liam was still confused. “I do too.”

“I know that, son.” Collin’s face turned even more serious. “You know you don’t have to hide from us, right?”

Liam was starting to get the gist of his conversation, but he wasn’t sure what to say in response. He hadn’t talked to Branson concerning telling anyone about their change in status.

When he didn’t answer, though, Collin continued. “You told us Branson was straight. You told us you were just friends.”

Liam shook his head. “We were, Da. We didn’t lie to you.” Liam thought of something he should add. “Maybe I misled you a little. Branson was pretty sure he was gay, but he didn’t want to be, and we knew you’d all think… well, at the time, he wouldn’t have been comfortable with it.”

“And the just friends?”

“We were, Da, I swear. When we told you that….”

“I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at each other all day, son.” His dad tried to smile, probably to let him know he wasn’t angry, but he still wanted a serious answer. “None of my friends have ever looked at me like that.”

“Well….” Liam paused, still not sure how much to say. “At the time I introduced him to you, we were just friends. We knew we were attracted to each other, but he didn’t want to act on it, so—” Liam cut himself off. “It was complicated.”

“Is it still complicated?”

“Sort of,” Liam stammered. “I haven’t asked him how much he wants to t—”

“Not still just friends, then.” His dad had that stern tone. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s new, Da.” Liam smiled. “Like last night new.”

“Oh, geez, son. I don’t need to know details.” Collin’s face got red.

And that made Liam’s extremely red. “Not like that! Kissing, Da. Just kissing.” Liam thought it was actually more than kissing, but he didn’t need to tell his dad that. “I’m not going to tell you when we make
that
change.”

“Well, I should hope not, son.” Collin shook his head. “But you still lied to your mother, Liam. You both told us this morning that you fell asleep watching TV.”

“We did, Da.” Liam shook his head. “It’s still complicated, and it’s all still so new, I didn’t want to share it with anyone yet. You were going to be the first we told, really. We just weren’t quite ready to tell anyone yet. At least I wasn’t. I haven’t asked Bran yet, one way or the other.”

Collin seemed to think about that. “I didn’t mean to steal your thunder, son. But you two haven’t been as subtle as you think you’ve been all day.”

Liam blushed. “Like I said. It’s new.”

“I won’t say anything to Branson if you don’t want me to.”

“Yeah, thanks, Da.” Liam was still blushing. “Not yet.”

“Okay.” Collin turned back to the grill. “I think this is about ready. Why don’t you go get the chicken?”

Branson

M
EANWHILE
,
in the kitchen, Branson was having his own interesting discussion.

“So,” Aideen stated. “Just friends.”

Branson practically choked on the tomato he had popped in his mouth while helping Aideen fix the side dishes—salad, in his case.

“Um.” Branson swallowed the partially masticated tomato and continued. “Ma’am?”

“Branson, dear, at my age, I was most decidedly not born yesterday. I see the way you look at him. I’ve seen it since I met you, but you said it wasn’t like that, so I believed you. But it’s very pronounced now. I’m not going to buy it a second time.”

“Uh.” Branson wasn’t at all sure how to answer that.

“Bran, you’ve seen us with Liam. We know he’s gay. That doesn’t mean a thing to us. Katie has curly hair, Patrick’s tall, and Lizzie has a lisp. They’re all characteristics. So what?” She put down the knife she had been using to cut potatoes for fries and looked directly into Branson’s eyes. “You don’t have to lie to us, son. Or keep it a secret, or anything. If you care for Liam as much as I know he cares for you, we’re happy for you both.”

“Er.” Branson cleared his throat and tried again. “We weren’t lying at the time, Ma. There’s been some… uh… recent developments.”

Aideen smiled so broadly that Branson wasn’t sure the smile was going to fit on her face.

“That’s good to hear, me boy.”

She seemed content to leave it at that, so Branson did too.

T
HE
TWO
finally left Liam’s parents’ house after having a scrumptious dinner and no more conversation about their newfound status.

Liam came in with Branson, and they watched TV for a short while. When it got late, Liam got up and picked up their bowls and the loose bits of popcorn that had gotten away.

“I probably should be leaving, Bran,” Liam stated. “I’ll be back tomorrow, and we can go visit Mac.”

Branson had gotten up too and started cleaning, but he paused at that. “Do you have to go? Neither of us needs to work tomorrow. And I don’t think Mac will care when we get there.”

“I’m really crashing, though. If I don’t leave now, I won’t get home.”

“Then stay.” Branson was trying for an off-the-cuff nonchalance, but he could tell it sounded more like a pleading one.

Liam seemed to think about it for a while. “Well, yeah, I guess I can. It won’t be the first time I’ve slept on the couch.”

“Uh….” Branson tried not to sound as timid as he felt, but he failed miserably. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch. We could”—he gestured toward the bedroom—“just sleep, if that’s all you want. I don’t want you to go.”

Liam thought about it but then shook his head. “If we are both in your bed, it won’t stay at just sleep for long.”

Branson sounded sheepish. “That would be okay too.”

Liam still seemed to think about it but finally said, “You know I don’t want to rush things right? Nothing you’re not a hundred percent ready for.”

Branson answered quietly, “I know.” Then he slowly took Liam’s hand. “Just sleep, if that’s all you want. I would like you to hold me… if you don’t mind.”

Liam chuckled and followed Branson down the hall.

Liam

L
IAM
WASN
’
T
sure staying the night in the same room as Branson was the best thing this early in the relationship, but he couldn’t say no. He’d wanted this with Branson for so long, being able to touch him and hold him. How could he pass that up?

So he followed Branson into his bedroom. It wasn’t like he’d never been there before. He had sat on the bed, talking to Branson in the adjoining bathroom while he was getting ready for this or that, and had gone in with Branson to get a book to borrow or a DVD Bran had left in there after watching it on his bedroom TV. But this was different. This was the first time he was in there as more than a friend. He wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t like he’d never had a relationship before, but he’d never had one he wanted this much, and never one where there wasn’t a clear path to follow, where the objective wasn’t clear by the time he made it to his significant other’s bedroom. This time there was no clear objective, except to never lose Bran. He wasn’t exactly sure how to do that.

Branson had asked to be held, so he’d start with that and see where, if anywhere, that led. He stood there in the middle of the bedroom, not knowing which side he should sit down on, whether Branson used the comforter at night or took it off before lying down. He was amazed at how the little things were tripping him up.

Apparently Branson thought it was hilarious.

“Would you relax?” Branson chuckled. “I should be the one who’s nervous.”

“Oh, I think there’s probably enough anxiety in this whole situation for the both of us and then some.”

Branson sobered a little. “If staying is going to make you that uncomfortable….”

“Not uncomfortable, per se,” Liam corrected. “Just… unsure.”

Branson smiled. “Well, how about this. I’ll go into the bathroom and undress, and you can undress here and climb under the covers. I’ll let you know before I come out.”

Liam snickered. “It’s not getting undressed that’s bothering me. It’s all the questions surrounding it.” When Branson seemed to be waiting for more, Liam continued. “How far down do we strip? Which side do you want me on? How many of these covers do you actually sleep under, and how many do you fold back? Are we going to watch TV first? If so, should I turn it on, or will you? Where are the movies? What do we want to watch?”

“Take a breath, Liam.” Branson chuckled but moved closer and laid his hand on the side of Liam’s face. “Relax. We’ve never been awkward around each other before. Just do what you normally do. Take off as much as you normally do. I’m not going to be embarrassed if you sleep in the nude or disappointed if you sleep fully clothed. For that matter, I have some sleep pants in the top drawer there if you want to borrow them. T-shirts too, if you want one.” He gestured to the dresser across from the bed. “Pick whichever side you want. I usually end up in the middle, so it’s not going to matter. And, let’s skip TV in here for the night. What I would like to happen, if you’re cool with it, is to get undressed and into bed and have you hold me until we fall asleep.”

Somehow that simple statement seemed to ease all the tension from Liam, even though Branson had said pretty much the same thing before they came in.

“I can do that,” he answered and sat down on the bed to take off his shoes.

They did exactly that and lay in the bed together with Branson’s head on Liam’s shoulder. It felt good to cuddle. Neither expected any more than that.

Branson had been quiet and still for so long that Liam had thought he’d gone to sleep. Until he spoke.

“You know,” Branson stage-whispered, “your mom knows about us.”

Liam chuckled softly. “I kind of figured she might. Da cornered me outside when we were preparing the grill. He thought we were trying to keep it from them.”

“That’s about what your mom said too.”

“What did you tell her?” Liam wanted to know if he was right to tell his dad what he did.

“That it was all new to us, and we weren’t trying to hide anything.”

Liam sighed in relief. “That’s the same thing I told Da.”

They were silent for a while, but then Branson added, “It does bring up an interesting point.” He didn’t wait for Liam to comment before he continued. “What do we want to tell people?”