Falling Up

36. The Truth

It had been a few days since Jason found Riley stuck in an elevator with Kain and the image of them almost kissing was still in the forefront of his mind. He had made sure Riley got her phone back and was even more annoyed to see her texting away, with whom he could only assume was Kain.

Jason had spent the night at Tyrus's place again, which was becoming a comfortable habit as he made himself at home in the kitchen that morning, tossing the sizzling bacon over in the frying pan. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Tyrus enter, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants with his shirt nowhere in sight, showing off his washboard abs and defined biceps.

Tyrus wrapped his arms around Jason as he continued to stand over the hot pan with a spatula in hand.

"Why do you do that?" said Tyrus as his arms tightened around Jason's waist, leaning his head into the crook of his neck and planting a gentle kiss.

Jason perked up his ears curiously. "Do what?"

"You tense up." Tyrus's fingers trailed up Jason's arms, leaving a delightful trail of goosebumps in their path. "Every time I touch you, your entire body immediately tenses, just for a moment before it relaxes again."

Jason swallowed. He didn't even realise he was doing it, but after a moment of thought, it made sense. Given his past circumstances and always being on guard around his stepfather, there were bound to be some residual ticks here and there that he picked up. Tensing when he felt a presence was just his way of being ready for anything coming his way. And by anything, that usually meant a punch to the jaw.

Yet, he hadn't exactly broached that subject with Tyrus yet. Did he even want to tell Tyrus about his past? They had been together for a while now, but they really didn't know a lot about each other.

Deciding it was best to clear some of the air surrounding his past, he opened up as best as he could. He wanted to make it work with Tyrus. He was the first person who Jason actually saw a future with. The first time he actually saw a future for him that wasn't so centered around his siblings.

"Our family hasn't exactly had the best upbringing," said Jason as he shuffled out of Tyrus's grasp and plated up the bacon next to the eggs and toast that were already cooling on the plates.

"Would you tell me about it? About your upbringing?" asked Tyrus as they grabbed their plates, sitting down at the small table overlooking the river.

"Not much to tell," said Jason, grinding down on a piece of bacon as he tore it between his teeth. "I've been working as a mechanic since I was fifteen."

"Fifteen is quite young," remarked Tyrus.

"Well, as I said, we didn't really have the best upbringing. I had to support Noah and Riley somehow."

"So you worked as a mechanic while at school?"

"School wasn't an option. It was work or end up homeless. Hate to break it to you, but I'm not an educated man. I know cars and that's about it."

Jason was nervous about telling Tyrus more about himself. He didn't want to come across as a boring type of guy and he definitely wasn't out for a pity vote, but apart from work, look after his siblings and get beat up, there really wasn't time for anything else in his life. He was always on edge and had only just recently learnt to relax a bit, which was mostly the work of being near Tyrus.

"You seem pretty smart to me, Jason. You run your own business and you look after your family." Tyrus sipped on his cup of coffee.

"Not well enough," Jason mumbled under his own breath, referring to his lack of looking after Riley when she needed him the most. It always brought a sour taste to his mouth.