13. Forget

~Leo

I stared at him, unable to comprehend what he just said. How could he have possibly gotten that idea? So I decided to play along, because I thought the whole thing was rather funny.

"That's a huge claim from someone who can't remember anything."

Kyle shook his head. "I think it's true, though. I've been figuring things out."

Freddy scoffed, and I looked over at my cousin. "I'm just gonna let you guys deal with this. I don't wanna be here for this, you know, just in case." He winked at me before he left the room. I just rolled my eyes. Of course he would say something like that. Ever since he finally got over the fact that his cousin and his best friend were fucking each other, he's been making jabs like that at our sex life any time he's around. It wasn't too bad, mainly because I'll do the same thing, but this was not the time.

And yet, I felt like this was a good time to play into Kyle's ridiculous claim. "Can I ask who you're cheating with?" I asked, keeping my voice as steady as possible. "Do I know him?"

He didn't respond, but I saw his eyes dart over to Jackson, who was looking down at his phone. It looked like he was texting someone, although I wasn't sure who.

"Jackson?" I questioned, understanding Kyle's eye movements as guilt. They both looked at me. "Did you two hook up?"

Jay bit his lip, trying not to laugh. How much of the past conversation did he hear? Had he even been paying attention?

"He kissed me, before," Kyle admitted. Then he looked at Jay. "I'm sorry, I don't know why we were doing it, or why I was keeping it a secret, but I can't keep the truth a secret anymore."

I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore, so, before I could completely crack, I ducked out of the room. As soon as the door shut behind me, I burst out laughing, doubling over the random wheelchair that had been left against the wall.

"What's so funny about your husband being in a coma?" a familiar voice asked from behind me.

Catching my breath, I turned to see Colton and Elliot standing there. Colton was the one who had spoken, and he was looking incredibly confused.

"He's not, actually, 'cause he woke up," I said. "He also can't remember any of us, and I feel bad about saying this, but it's so easy to fuck with him right now."

"Wait." Elliot said, his eyes getting wider. "He can't remember anything?"

I shook my head. "He currently believes that Jackson and Josh are married, and he and I are together or married or whatever. He also thinks he's been cheating on me with Jackson."

Colton smiled. "Oh this should be so much fun."

He didn't give me a chance to tell him that he'd probably be one of the few people he'll know, since it seemed like he knew Freddy, before he rushed into the room. Elliot gave me a shrug, as if to say he had no control over his own husband, but he really didn't care right now.

Speaking of husbands, where was Josh? He had called me a little while ago with the news of Kyle being awake, so I rushed over here as fast as I could, after dropping the kids off with my mom. But Josh wasn't in the room, and he didn't seem to be out in the hallway either. Where could he have gone?

I looked at Elliot. "Where's your brother?" I asked him. It was possible he knew, those two always seemed to be talking to each other.

But he shook his head. "I thought he'd be in there with Kyle."

I opened my mouth to answer that with a no, but stopped when I saw Josh and Freddy rounding the corner into the hall. I breathed a sigh of relief, although I wasn't sure why I had been so worried. He was more than capable of taking care of himself, even if I did have a habit of teasing him about getting lost every now and then.

When the two of them got closer, I noticed that Josh's eyes were red and his cheeks were damp. Has he been crying?

He didn't say anything about it though, or really even looked at me. Instead, he addressed Elliot. "When did you get here? Is Colton here?"

Elliot nodded towards Kyle's room. "Acting like a child, as always. I just hope he doesn't try to convince Kyle of something too crazy."

"What, like he's cheating on Leo with Jackson?" Freddy said, laughing.

I nudged his shoulder. "I'm allowed to have a little fun. He'll laugh at it after he remembers everything. Besides, Jay's probably explaining everything to him now."

Josh sniffed, ever so slightly, and leaned his head against his brother's arm. Something was definitely up with him, and I was going to figure it out.

"Hey Josh," I said. He looked up with those big brown eyes of his. "Come with me for a second."

Leading him down the hall a bit, I stopped in an area that had almost no people lingering about. "What's wrong, love?" I asked softly, rubbing my thumb along his cheek, wiping away a stray tear. "Why are you crying?"

He shook his head. "I was talking to one of the doctors, after I called you. I was telling her about Kyle's amnesia. From my knowledge about it, he should get his memories back soon, but she disagreed." He took a shaky breath. "She disagreed with me, Leo. She said because it's been weeks and it's retrograde amnesia, they might not come back. And then I got thinking, since he can't remember us, what if... what if, even if we tell him about our relationship, what if he doesn't like it? What if he leaves us?"

The tears started flowing again, so I pulled him to me in a tight hug as I gently rubbed his back. That wasn't something I even considered. I figured he would remember everything soon, and it was only his brain being disoriented from the coma. But if his memory never came back, did I just cause tension in his mind that could make Josh's fear come true? Would Kyle actually leave us if he couldn't remember us?

~Jackson

Leo ran out of the room, covering his smile with his hand. This wasn't supposed to be such a funny situation, but I was glad that happened. Although all that happiness went away when I looked back at Kyle.

He was staring at the door, guilt written all over his face, as if he actually put a rift in two separate relationships.

"Kyle," I said softly, grabbing hold of his hand. He pulled away from me. "I'm sorry."

"Tell me why we did that," he demanded. "Why would we would that? Why would we hurt them if we're so inseparable, like you said?"

I sighed. "I also said it's complicated."

"Please. I am so confused. I just need answers."

It took me a minute to decide how to start. "Look at your hand. Your ring."

He did. "I'm married. To Leo?"

I raised my own hand to show him the identical ring I was wearing.

"I married you?" he asked before I could say anything. "But Josh...? Leo?"

"All four of us married each other, Kyle. We all started dating ten years ago."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the door flew open and Colton strolled in, a huge smile on his face. That smile vanished as soon as Kyle said his name, just like he said Freddy's earlier - full or relief at the recognition. Shouldn't he have been happy that his brother remembered him?

"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't know me," Colton muttered, going over to the other side of the bed. "I was totally going to tell you something, but there's no point in saying it now."

"Colton, you would know," Kyle started, suddenly sounding extremely tired. How could he be tired? He just slept for three weeks!

"Just because I'm married, doesn't mean I'm telling you what sex feels like. You have other people for that."

Kyle opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "Wait, you're married?"

Colton smiled. "Yup. To the love of my life. And you didn't want me dating him when we first met. Look how that turned out. I totally won."

"Why?"

"'Cause you're totally banging his brother." He let out a short laugh, but then continued, a bit more serous. "I don't know, can't really remember now. Something about wanting us to experience life, but not going through a terrible break up that you thought was bound to happen with us. And yet we dated anyway. For seven years. Been married for two."

Kyle nodded his head slowly, his eyes starting to droop. "Cole," he said at barely a whisper. "Who did I marry?"

Colton looked at me like he couldn't believe I didn't tell him yet. I didn't expect Kyle to believe me right off the bat, although I was hoping something deep within him would confirm the love he has for us. That didn't seem to be the case though.

Colton was still looking at me when he answered. "Jackson, Josh, and Leo. It's not a legal marriage, but the love you guys have for each other is too strong for you to care."

I wasn't sure if Kyle even heard the answer, because when I looked back down at him, he was completely asleep. I took the opportunity to brush some of his hair out of his face before placing a light kiss on his forehead. He would remember. He had to remember.

There was a soft knock on the door then, and I looked up just as Elliot poked his head in. "Jackson? You might want to get out here."

I was immediately on my feet, wanting to know what was going on that had Elliot worried like that. He pointed down the hallway, where I saw Leo and Josh in an embrace. Josh was obviously crying.

I rushed over and they both - because Josh was sobbing too much to fully get the words out - told me what the doctor had said and what it might mean if Kyle never remembered us. I didn't want to think about it. It wasn't going to happen, so there was no point anyway.

So I suggested going home. Kyle was asleep again, and would probably stay asleep until after visiting hours were over. We also had the kids to take care of, plus getting ourselves fed, since that didn't happen yet. There was no point standing here worrying about something that might not happen when there was so much we should be doing instead.

After saying goodbye to Elliot and Colton, who were staying a little longer until Kyle's and Colton's dad got here, we headed home, stopping on the way at Leo's mom's house to grab the kids.

Of course, the first thing Ashley asked when we got there was if we could go visit Dad. At some point last week, she and Logan decided that we couldn't all be called Daddy anymore, because it was getting too confusing. So far, only Kyle's title changed, but it was a start.

We ended up staying for dinner, at Lynnette's insistence. Apparently, according to her, she never sees us or her grandkids anymore, which is a lie, but we gave in anyway. The alternative would be going home and finishing cooking whatever meal Leo had started, which would have given us unhappy and hungry children to deal with.

After dinner, Lynnette pulled me into the kitchen with her, leaving everyone else in the other room. I expected her to ask for help with the dishes, which I would have offered anyway, but she stopped me as I was reaching for the sponge.

"You don't need to do that, Jackson," she said. I turned to look at her. "I need you to be honest with me."

I had a feeling I knew what she was referring to, but I asked anyway. "About what?"

"What's got you boys so down? I know my son probably doesn't think I can handle whatever it is, but I want to be there for you."

So maybe we didn't mention the whole Kyle-might-never-remember-us part of him waking up. And it was true - Leo didn't want to bother her with this. At least not until we knew for certain that he wasn't getting his memories back.

I sighed. "The doctors said he might never remember us."

She placed a hand over her heart. "I so sorry to hear that." Then she pulled me into a hug. "You know I'll be here for you. For all of you."

"Daddy?"

I backed away from Lynnette to see Ashley standing in the doorway. How long had she been there? "What's up, sweetheart?"

Her eyes started to water, so I rushed over to her, kneeling in front of her. "Dad's not gonna know who I am anymore?"

I stood up and took hold of her hand before leading her into the other room where everyone else was. We needed to have one of the hardest conversations a parent will ever have to have with their children. I wasn't looking forward to it. I don't think any of us were.