Chapter 20: chapter 20

Chapter 20Ray's POVAva stood shakily on her feet, with the help of my hands. Her feet wobbled with every step she made without support. As we made our way towards the staircase, dragging our feet slowly, her silence only added more. She was still pale and I knew if I let her go she'd fall down on her ass.She kept on shaking her head repeatedly, mumbling to herself inaudible words. I wanted to know exactly what was going through her head and as if reading my mind Bryson asked.'You know you can tell us anything right? ' Bryson assured her.She didn't speak for a while, instead she looked at him for sometime. She was contemplating what she would say next, or how she would say it. It could be either, I couldn't tell.'Your...mum...she..uh.. ' Ava was a stuttering mess. Whatever she wanted to say felt heavy in her tongue. Her throat threatened to close up, forcing her to swallow down her words.Bryson turned to look at me, a certain degree of realisation crossing his features. That is when it finally dawned on me.'She uh, she said..that she trusted me to keep a secret. ' Ava finally let the words out.How could mum do this to us and to Ava? Didn't she understand how hard it would be for Ava to keep such important information from us? What exactly was the reason for her to keep us in the darkness for so long?So many questions were crossing my mind at the moment. How did Ava end up seeing the certificates? Did she stumble upon them while she was cleaning or had my parents showed her?What if Ava never saw them, would we ever find out that we are not related? Bryson understood my inner turmoil and so did I to him. We both knew how each other felt but we also knew that it wasn't Ava's fault and that she was too hurting.We walked besides Ava, on the wide staircase. Bryson placed his right hand on the small of her back to steer her while he whispered sweet nothings to her as consolation.I knew that keeping that information from us had hurt her, not to mention the kiss she had witnessed between Bryson and Ariel. She must have slept feeling useless and helpless all together. Plus the bomb shell Bry had just dropped to her. All these had exploded nearly at the same time and it was becoming heavy for her to bare.Once we were in my parents room, Ava walked straight to my mum's make up station. She stood there, shaking her head repeatedly. Whatever her mind was conjuring, was influencing and making it hard for her to make a decision.She kept on mumbling and chanting to her self. 'I can't, I can't do this. 'A nod from Bry had us moving towards her slowly. We stood on either side, with my mind drinking in the turmoil and dilemma our girl was battling with. Bryson then put his arm on her shoulder comfortingly, while I snaked my arm around her tiny waist.'Ava, this is hard for you as it is for us. We understand whatever inner battle you're having but we deserve to see the proof. ' I spoke in a calm voice.'She trusted me...' Ava whispered, hanging her head in sadness.'Don't take it the wrong way Ava, we believe you, it's just that we grew up believing that we were brothers. Despite our differences in looks, we never questioned or suspected a thing. ' Bryson added.After much needed silence, Ava finally stretched her hands, grasped the painting on either side, then removed it from the wall. As my eyes adjusted to the empty spot where the painting had been, my mouth spoke before I could stop myself.'A safe? ' I questioned in disbelief.'Has it been always here? ' Bryson's quizzical facial expression said it all. None of us has ever known of the safe.'Seems so. ' I mumbled even though I knew his question was rhetorical.Meanwhile, Ava pulled her phone from the pocket of her sweat pants. She checked something (I'm assuming the combination) then she keyed in the combination to open the safe.Once it was opened, she picked a brown envelop amidst other couple of stuff that we couldn't tell what they were. She handed us the envelope silently, with her eyes cast down firmly on the tiled floor.We all sat on the bed as Bryson opened the unsealed envelope. Peeking through, he pulled out two certificates slowly. I knew what to expect but the tiny little hope that I had held onto vanished the moment my eyes saw the words.They were boldly written in capital letters obviously confirming what Ava had told us. My mind went blank and void in an instant. It refused to comprehend the betrayal my heart had been subjected to at the moment.I couldn't quite understand why this had been kept from us for this long. What else were my parents hiding? My thoughts were jumbled, filled with unanswered questions that had me questioning my so called parent's honesty.Bryson pulled me for a much needed comforting embrace. We hugged the shit out of each other, exchanging a warmth that gave us hope. As we stood there in silence, Bry's tight arms around me rid off the tension that was gripping my muscles. We both understood what the other felt, pain of betrayal and lies.We cried together, offering one another a shoulder to lean on. I had always deemed myself a strong man, but this was nothing I could control.After sometime Bryson pulled back from the embrace, leaving me feeling cold and alone.'Do you know what this means Ray? ' He attempted to smile, with red puffy eyes and an equally red rimmed nose.'No. ' I simply answered.He smiled again.'Stop smiling, you look pathetic with your tear stained face. ' I teased.'As if you look any better. ' He shot back.'At least I'm not attempting to smile. ' I fired back.'Okay, Ray you win. ' He chuckled.'But seriously, this is a good thing Ray. ' He insisted, moving impossibly closer to me.'Wtf is wrong with you Bryson, how could you.. ''Shut up and let me finish. ' He cut me off.'I swear you're so dense sometimes. ' He didn't intend for me to hear, but I did nonetheless.'We can stop hiding what we feel for each other Ray. We can love on each other freely because...''We are not fucking related.. ' I finished the statement for him, finally understanding his point.'Damn, of course this is not incest, we aren't blood related. Hell, I can do whatever I want to do to you without fearing what people will say. ' I exclaimed happily.'Exactly Ray, now kiss me. ' He didn't need to ask twice.I placed my hand on the back of his head, pulling him towards me. Our lips met ferociously, moving against each other in a perfect heat. A raw emotion could be felt as our moist lips slid against each other in a battle of passion.His hands on the side of my head combined with the taste of him hypnotized me beyond reason. As the kiss deepened, little tingles of pleasure shot through me, making me part my lips.My hands knotted in his hair, pulled him impossibly closer and clutched on him like my life depended on it. The kiss was different in a nice and assuring way. It outlined the fact that we were now together, in a legit relationship.After the deprivation of oxygen, we finally broke the kiss. Only then did we realise Ava was not in there with us. She must have slipped away when we were distracted.'Where is she? ' Bryson voiced my thoughts out.I could only hope she hadn't seen us kiss, but then again it didn't matter cause we weren't related.With that thought, Bryson peeked at me from under his eyebrows then leaned in yet again. As our mouths met for the second time, an intensity not even known to us took root and embedded itself in the kiss.A throaty groaned passed past Bry's soft lips after I squeezed his ass. My tongue then slipped inside of his crevice, relishing on the wetness and warmth inside. Our tongues battled and danced tango together in a dance of heated make out session.As my muscle sort out the sweetness in him, so did his. He tasted like peppermint coffee, sweet and refreshing. Remembering that Ava was alone probably waiting for us, I pulled away.She had been right all along, and maybe just maybe my parents were hiding something else from us. As we stood up to go talk to her, our hands sort out for each other. The happiness that we felt was prove that true love existed and we were lucky to experience it.