Chapter 15

“So you told him,” Dr. Sterling echoed. “How did that go?”

Marc shrugged. “He got a little awkward about it… I think he was surprised, to say the least. And then I ended up telling another friend as well, though I think she had kind of guessed it already from Brendan and I hanging out so much.”

“Well what do you want to do about it now?” she asked. “Do you think it’ll change anything with Brendan?”

“Nothing for right now… I’m still kind of thinking on it. I think that yeah, I could see myself liking Brendan, but I just don’t know how to go about it and so I think I need to wait, or try and find some other way to go about it.”

“Sounds like you’ve already been thinking about it a lot,” she pointed out.

Marc only shrugged again. “I realize he comes up a lot when I talk about him, or that he’s my first go-to when I want to spend time with someone or need help. I just think he’s tried to avoid thinking of me like that, since he thought I was straight.”

Dr. Sterling nodded and smiled at him. “You’re right, it’ll probably take him some time to get used to that. Do you think you’ll tell anyone else?”

“It’s not anyone else’s business,” Marc grumbled.

“And say down the line, what would you do about going on a public date? People would figure it out then.”

“I’ll deal with it when it gets there,” Marc decided firmly. If he wanted to, he had a decent glare.

“And what about Ariel?”

“She already loves Brendan,” Marc chuckled. “And I don’t think she’s old enough to really have any judgments about it. She’d ask, and then ask if we can have eggplant for dinner afterwards.” He’d heard plenty of funny stories about kids just straight up moving on with no problems.

“It’s good I think that you have that sort of assurance about yourself already,” she commented. “I think Brendan would appreciate something like that.”

Marc cleared his throat awkwardly. Mostly because Brendan had been right—there was no use in being ashamed about anything.

“He’s started opening up more about himself to me, too,” Marc added. “After I told him, we started talking about other things too. He told me he used to self-harm back in high school, which I guess isn’t that big of a surprise, but I imagine he’s so different now it’s hard to think of him having resorted to something like that once. I think a lot of the tattoos he has cover up the scars.”

“Self-harm is a lot more common than people think,” Dr. Sterling admitted on a sigh, briefly checking the time. “How do you think your father would act if you told him? If you two ever talked again.”

Marc ground his teeth together. “Violently,” he answered shortly. He could already feel it.

“Or your ex-wife?” Dr. Sterling tried.

“Her, I don’t know. She was never really homophobic that I know of… but she might take it personally, or she might see it as the reason it didn’t work out between us.” Maybe he at least owed telling her, so that they could get back on some better talking terms and make things easier for Ariel. That would only work if she answered the phone though.

They talked a little more about how Marc thought he would handle coming out socially or having to deal with people before their time was over. Marc left and went home to wear Terri was watching over Ariel. They both beamed excitedly when he got home.

“I got another babysitting gig,” Terri announced. “From your friend, Alice.”

“Yeah, sorry I recommended you to her without saying anything about it,” Marc remembered, having half a mind to try and warn Terri about Eric as well. “The son likes to play a lot of pranks, so…”

“Yeah, she and I already talked a little bit about it,” Terri snorted.

Marc paid her and drove her home. It was getting chilly outside again, and Marc kept checking the sky to see if any clouds were coming in with snow. He just got home with Ariel when his phone rang and Brendan calling him.

“Hey, what’s up?” Marc greeted.

“Just… ugh. Can I come over?” Brendan asked. “And maybe bring something to drink? Of the non-sober kind.”

“Uh, sure,” Marc frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“I guess,” Brendan grumbled. “I’ll be over soon.”

Marc puttered around the house then, slightly worried. He didn’t think it was anything involving him, or Brendan wouldn’t have made it sound like he would be coming for a while. Brendan showed up a while later with a backpack over his shoulder and not looking like he was in a good mood.

“What happened?” Marc asked, making sure that Ariel was busy with her sketchbook in the living room.

“I just had to contact protective services,” Brendan admitted, going through his backpack until he pulled out some alcohol. “It was shitty. I feel shitty for doing it, but I’m a mandatory reporter, and I mean I know in the long run it’s probably a better thing, but… still. Shit.” He sighed and plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs.

Marc sat down next to him. “That one student that was talking to you before?”

Brendan nodded and broke the seal on the bottle. “He knows I had to tell someone, though. I think that’s why he told me anyways. He’s not angry with me about it, but I still feel horrible. We talked for a really long time before I contacted them.”

“What happens to him now, then?” Marc asked. There weren’t many reasons as to why Brendan would have to do that, so Marc wasn’t even going to ask.

“He says he’s got a grandma that’s nice,” Brendan said, swirling the bottle around. “So they might send him to her, if she can take him in. That might mean he moves away, unless she moves out here. Who knows.”

“Well I wish I had had someone I felt comfortable enough to tell when I was in high school,” Marc said. “And you said it sounds like he understands what happens if he tells you… It was probably his way of getting out of there, and you’re helping him do that.”

Brendan smiled tightly. “I think I just don’t like thinking about all of the what if’s that follow, considering he might get handled around so much and with all of the paperwork… I have to talk to the school administration about it too.” He groaned. “And they aren’t even going to understand what’s going on, not really.”

“Maybe not, maybe they will. Things like this happen sometimes,” Marc tried.

“But most of the time, at a school like this, these things just get overlooked or paid off. It’s like all the other teachers have their heads up their asses about actually caring for the well-being of their students, like they assume just because they go to some private school that they can’t be having issues at home. Half of my newly formed art club just wants to hang out at school because if they go home no one is there, or their parents fight a lot and are too stubborn or greedy to get a divorce, and who even knows anymore.”

Marc got up quickly to get a couple of shot glasses and set them out in front of Brendan. Brendan glanced warily at Ariel but decided he didn’t care. He poured them both a little to drink and knocked it back quickly. “And it’s just… protective services step on when the parents are directly involved, but sign the paperwork to send them to abusive camp counselors and no one does anything.”

“They shut down camps though, don’t they?” Marc figured.

“Only if it gets public,” Brendan informed. “Otherwise, it’s just the word of ‘troubled teens’ versus ‘respectable adults’, and so on. I saw recently that some religious one is being investigated because security cameras caught some of the adults beating a kid.” He shrugged then.

Marc squirmed awkwardly in his seat before standing up, and pulling Brendan up out of his seat as well. Marc hesitated before stiffly putting his arms around Brendan for a hug. “Thanks,” Brendan muttered before going back for another drink. “And on top of it, my parents called me today while I was at school.”

“You talked to them?” Marc asked.

“No, they called my cellphone and left a voicemail…” Brendan sighed again. “They said they wanted to catch up with me, have me over for dinner.”

“Are you going to go with it?” Marc didn’t plan on talking to his dad anytime soon, but it had been a few years in the past between Brendan and his parents. Maybe Brendan was ready to give them a chance.

“I don’t know,” Brendan admitted, staring down into his drink. “I mean yeah, I want to talk to them again… but I can already see it going in this circle of them asking if I’m dating anyone, what’s her name, and then I’ll have tell them what they already know and we’ll just get into a fight.”

“What if you showed up with a boyfriend?” Marc tried to joke. Brendan just raised an eyebrow, and so Marc cleared his throat. “Or you could take Ariel as a buffer. Maybe they won’t want to fight in front of a kid.”

“I think it would be weird to take one of my students,” Brendan chuckled, at least not seeming so down about it. “And… if I took a friend, if I take a girl they’ll insist that we’re dating. If I take a friend that’s a guy they’ll get awkward, and if I took a boyfriend it wouldn’t go well because they’ll insist how I’m not dating anyone, even if I was. Maybe I’ll call them back, but not tonight. Probably not the best idea.” he tipped up his drink, forcing a smile as he took another drink.

“Well either way, I am here for you,” Marc said. “Whether you want me to go with your or just be prepared for the fallout afterwards. And you’re welcome to stay the night tonight, too,” he offered. “Since you’re drinking, and I think it might end up snowing.”

“If it’s not a problem,” Brendan muttered.

“There’s a guest room upstairs, and it has its own bathroom. You could even borrow a shirt of mine in the morning,” Marc continued.

“Long as it has sleeves.” Brendan pushed his sleeves up then, giggling slightly as he showed off his tattoos.

Marc could tell he was starting to get a little drunk then, though it wasn’t a bad thing. As it got later Marc put Ariel to bed for the night and checked outside to see it had just barely started snowing. “Snowing,” he announced to Brendan.

Brendan groaned in complaint and flopped dramatically over the table. “I don’t want it to snow.”

“Well I’ll be taking you in with Ariel, so you don’t have to walk tomorrow,” Marc laughed, trying to help Brendan up from the kitchen table.

Brendan got up but swayed on his feet, so Marc had to help him steady out. “Come on, you should just go to bed so you can sleep this off before tomorrow,” Marc instructed, getting Brendan up the stairs.

He showed Brendan into the guest room, pointing out the bathroom before making sure Brendan was at least on the bed before he crashed. Marc closed the guest room door and checked on Ariel one more time before heading to bed himself.

Marc was not surprised to be the first one up in the morning, and looked outside to see a few inches of snow on the ground. At least they were prepared this time, and he knew where all of their winter gear was. He got Ariel up first, and then braved waking up Brendan.

That was more difficult, as Brendan tried to curl up further with the sheets. “You have a job and obligations,” Marc pointed out. “I don’t know if you want to shower but you should start moving, before I bring some of the snow to join you in bed.”

Brendan swore and propped himself up on his elbows then. “I’m up,” he declared unhappily.

Marc chuckled and left to start making them some breakfast. Ariel came down and sat to eat, and Brendan was the last one to join them. His hair was still wet from his shower and his eyes were still half closed. “Do you have a coat for the snow with you?” Marc asked.

“I have a light jacket, so I’ll be fine until I get home,” Brendan muttered, picking at his food before taking a few tentative bites.

They finished eating and Marc drove them over to Ariel’s school. Brendan walked Ariel in to before-care, and Marc went to work.