Page 72 of These Family Ties

“Daddy?” My back hits the wall, and I slide down, pulling my knees to my chest as my father crosses the room to kneel in front of me.

“It’s going to be okay, angel.” He cradles my face in his hands, wiping a tear from my cheek. “Baby, loving someone society disapproves of isn’t for the weak-spirited. Is this really what you want? Are they what you want?”

A strange question, but I don’t need to think about it. All eyes are on me in a suddenly silent room, but all I can muster is a single nod. Because, yes. This is what I want. My mind and my heart have always been a step behind one or the other, but they both cross the finish line together, eventually. It may have taken my father’s question to catch up, but I know it’s the truth. Whatever is happening here, as slowly as we are realizing it, that’s the path we’re on. The years of bickering, fighting, and anger were aimed at the situation, not each other. We were just too naïve to see it.

Aaron pulls in a sharp breath.

“Told you so, man.” Cal shakes his head with a small smile. “She’s not one to choose. That’s not how she loves. Good luck figuring it out.”

“I’m pretty sure I have both of your numbers already.” Aaron bites his lip, he and Cal joining my father in front of me.

“I didn’t tell you two to stop packing.” He glares at them.

“We didn’t ask,” Aaron growls. “Something happened, shortie. You’re going to be okay, but we have to get out of here. Now.”

“Why?” I whisper.

“Because he fucked up!” My father bellows, pointing at the window.

“He –” I look at Calden, then Aaron, and back at my father. “I don’t understand.”

I think I do; I know I do, actually. Someone saw. Someone… I watch Aaron take my phone from my purse, power it down, and pull the sim.

“No.” My voice breaks, and both men wrap themselves around me. “Who – who saw?”

“My teammates from school.” Aaron tears up. “They were pissed that I started blowing them off after the fight. They were trying to catch us together. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t –”

“Don’t.” Calden and I cut him off at the same time, but Cal continues, saying what we’re both thinking. “It’s time we stop shouldering the blame for the actions of others. This isn’t on you. It’s on them. So leave it here with them.”

“I hate the fucking internet. I’m glad you’re throwing it out.” My father pushes to his feet and storms from the room. “You three have five minutes. I’m not waiting on the lynch mob to get here.”

“We have to go, beautiful.” Calden is the first to pull back. “I’m going to finish bagging the things under the bed, and then we’re gone. Aaron, you’ve got her?”

“I do.” His arms tighten around me. “I love you, Alara. You know that, right?”

His words steal the breath from my chest.

“You’re safe, beautiful.” Cal stuffs the last of our things into the bag in his hand and ties it shut, heaving it over his shoulder and offering me his hand.

“I’m so sorry.” I hiccup, and they tighten their grip on me.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Aaron sighs.

“Isn’t there, though?”

“No. Life happens. We all make mistakes. We fall down, and then we get back up, right?” Aaron winks at Calden.

“It’s what we do,” he snorts.

He pulls me to my feet, Aaron wraps an arm around my waist, and the three of us walk out of my bedroom, out the door of the only home Calden and I have ever known, and into his Jeep. My father is waiting behind us, in the front seat of his pitch-black El Camino. I haven’t seen him behind the wheel in years.

“What now?” I ask as we pull off our street, out of town, and onto the freeway. “Where will we go?”

“Wherever we want.” Aaron lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it softly.

“And when we get there?” Calden asks, rubbing my thigh with his free hand.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?”

As the town disappears in the rearview mirror, the weight on my chest lessens until it’s as insignificant as the people we just left behind. And for once, I allow myself to picture tomorrows, and an image of a future begins to form in my mind – a cozy fire in a home filled with laughter and love. A family we made from whispered promises and stolen moments with the men I love. And wherever tomorrow takes us, I know that I’ll never doubt our love again.

We’re safe. We’re in love. And I’ll never be sorry about either.

THE END…

---