Something in the Water (MxM) ✓

7

I hear murmuring voices coming from downstairs. It must be Kate and Andrew awake already, having breakfast. I roll over to see Liam missing from beside me. I drop my arm where he would be, only to feel cold sheets of a bed vacant long enough to lose its warmth. I suppose they let me sleep in today.

I throw my legs over the bed and stretch and yawn. My eyes open to a mirror against the wall, revealing my appearance. I'm glowing. I've never seen my reflection and seen an 'I' I recognized, an 'I' I'm not afraid to see. I touch my stomach, which is growling, to feel how hard the muscle there is. When did this happen? I guess Liam is giving me a workout.

I throw on Liam's big tee, draping over my shorts, and head downstairs to see everyone.

"Good morning, guys," I announce, walking into the living room. There are three people seated in the living room, as expected, but Kate and Andrew aren't happy to see the third. Spotting and recognizing the back of his head alone made my heart stop. He stands from his seat, pivots on his heel, and makes eye contact with me. "Father?"

"Did you really believe I wouldn't discover your little escapade from the lake?" he says in his pompous, gut-wrenching, ear-blood-inducing voice. While many say his voice is smooth as silk, he has a toxic undertone when he is disciplining his children, one that shrieks at an unknown frequency and drives me mad.

"I actually did think I had a chance to do this without getting caught, at least while I was still in town. Don't pin this on anyone but me. It was... all me." I tell him what I want him to hear. Kaitlyn did come up with the idea, but it was all my fault for accepting the idea to begin with. I could've easily dismissed it and she would've understood. But I was foolish.

"Funny. Your sister told me the same thing. That it was all her idea. In whom should I believe?"

"M-m-me, sir," I respond promptly and obediently. I hate that he makes me like this. Years of hard wiring his authority over me, and I still can't switch it off.

"You see, Kaitlyn. The boy cannot lie to his father. You, on the other hand, can. You always have, to save your brother from trouble."

"Father, this is a mistake. Cade deserves better. He's doing so good. I've never seen him this happy, clean, and on track. You being here is ruining every inch of his progress and you know it. You're cruel!"

"I'm cruel?" he asks. "I bailed your brother out of possible prison time and gave him another chance at retribution for his sins."

"He's come so far! He has healthy sleep habits, eating habits, and has a routine for work. I just... I missed Cade. Andrew, and Polly, we all did. I forced him to come because I wanted him in my life again!" Kaitlyn clutched Andrew as she cries. Andrew helplessly holds her, refusing to make eye contact with my father.

"What you said earlier, about this man, Liam. My newest employee and assistant to Cade."

"What about it?"

"Is my son really a faggot with that man?" he asks. Andrew's eyes snap to my fathers, jaw clenched.

"Don't ever call him that, ever again!" Andrew barks. "Liam and Cade have one of the truest connections I've ever seen, aside from my own with your daughter. I appreciate all you've done for me and my family, but I won't accept your looming hand and shadow of judgement any longer. Leave, please."

"Oh, I plan to. I'll be taking Cade back to Stillwater Lake. He can finish his newly extended sentence alone, since he doesn't know how to accept his help for what it is: a coworker, not a desperate cry for intimacy."

Snap.

"Fuck you!" I release at the top of my lungs. I leap onto my dad and unleash punch after punch into his head and chest. My puny attempts at attack are cut very short as his fist connects with my temple hard.