“Cal isn’t in Philly because…” I trailed off, looking at my hands. “Because he’s with me.”
Scott frowned slightly, confused. “Well, I can see that. You two are joined at the hip again, which is good. Your dad’s happy about it. It makes him feel better when you’ve got someone to travel with you. But—”
“No, Scott,” Cal interrupted gently. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, dropping the formality. “I’m not just with him for work. I’mwithhim.”
Scott went still. The room was so quiet I could hear the clock ticking on the wall. He looked at Cal. Then he looked at me. He looked at the space between us on the couch, realizing why it felt so charged.
“Oh,” Scott whispered.
“We’re together,” I said, my voice trembling. “Like…together. We have been. For a while.”
Scott didn’t yell. He didn’t recoil. He just sat back in his chair, processing. He ran a hand over his face, letting out a long breath.
“How long?” Scott asked quietly.
“Since the beginning,” Cal answered for me. “Or… Nearly. So…A little over seven years.”
Scott’s eyes widened. “Almost eightyears?”
“Off and on,” I clarified quickly. “But… yeah. The feelings? The whole time.”
Scott sat there for a moment, his brow furrowed as if he were trying to solve a puzzle. He looked at the floor, then back at me, the pieces clicking into place.
“Wait,” Scott said, his voice lowering. “The botch happened in almost eight years ago. And after that… you stopped talking about him. Completely. I thought it was just guilt…”
He looked at me, his eyes piercing.
“But it wasn’t just the botch, was it? Did something happen before that with you two? Is that why you were so in your head that night?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, tears pricking my eyes. “It was so fucking stupid I broke up with him the night before… it fucked me up before the botch even happened. And leaving the ring?”
I took a shaky breath.
“I didn’t just leave because of the guilt, I left because I couldn’t be there without him. Every time I looked at a ring, I saw him. I missed him every single day, and it hurt too much to be close to it.”
Cal looked at me, surprised. I had never told him that part. He reached out and touched my knee, a silent comfort.
“So what’s the plan?” Scott asked, leaning forward again. “Do you guys even have one?”
“We don’t know,” Cal admitted. “But we know we want to be together. We’re done hiding from the people who matter. I want… I want to be his boyfriend. I want to build a life here. With him.”
Boyfriend.Hearing Cal say it out loud in this house, in front of Scott, made my chest ache.
Scott stood up.
My heart hammered. For a split second, I thought he was going to kick us out. I thought he was going to tell us to leave.
Instead, he walked over and pulled me up off the couch, wrapping me in a hug so tight it knocked the wind out of me.
“I love you, kid,” Scott choked out. I could feel him shaking. “I am so proud of you.”
I broke. I buried my face in his shoulder and sobbed. All the years of fear, of hiding, of thinking I was broken, it all poured out.
“I’m sorry,” I managed to sob into his shirt. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Scott pulled back, grabbing my shoulders. His own eyes were wet.
“Don’t you ever apologize for that,” Scott said fiercely. “Silas, look at me. I am the one who is sorry.”
