Page 53 of Spoonful

“I’d represent myself in court,” Hiro said mulishly. “And no jury on earth would convict me.”

“Hiro, I…” Jaylin’s throat tightened. “It wasn’t like I said no. I took his money.”

“Paying you for your time and… company isnotthe same as paying to hurt you,” Hiro snapped. “And just because he didn’thityou doesn’t mean he didn’t hurt you. I saw the bruises you worked so hard to hide. I saw the panic attack you had at the thought of spending spring break with him. You still flinch when your phone goes off. I—” Hiro cut himself off and sucked in a breath and then slowly let it out. He sounded a lot calmer when he said, “I know exactly how nasty Brent is when given the slightest bit of power and control. And I know without a shadow of a doubt, because I knowhim,that he got off by breaking you down.”

Jaylin opened his mouth, but no sound came out. It wasn’t something he could deny. Hiro was right. About everything.

“You didn’t deserve any of that,” Hiro said. He tentatively reached out again, as if unsure it would be welcome, and Jaylin took a shaky breath and met him halfway.

Hiro linked their fingers together, stroking Jaylin’s hand with his thumb. “You didn’t deserve any of it,” Hiro said again. “And I will tell you that as often as you need to hear it.”

“Thank you,” Jaylin said quietly. “For… for everything. I feel like I don’t say that enough.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Hiro said at once. Softer, he added, “Jaylin, my life is better with you in it.”

Jaylin licked his lips. “I um, I made lasagna. For dinner.”

“My life is also better with your cooking in it,” Hiro said with a smile, gracefully allowing the subject change.

Jaylin smiled hesitantly back. Hiro now knew a little more about Jaylin’s past and he wason Jaylin’s side.

This was okay.

They were okay.

Chapter 14

Jaylin didn’t exactly mean to keepThe Adventures of Captain Kuwabara, Explorer of Deep Spacea continued secret from Hiro, but everytime he thought about bringing it up, he got so embarrassed that he couldn’t manage the words.

Except… then Scholastic accepted Dorit’s pitch, and Jaylin’s nerves exploded.

His little comic was now being turned into an actual middle gradegraphic novel,and at some point in the next six to eight months it was going toprint,and there was a not insubstantial possibility that people aside from Diego and Aditi were going toread it.

And Jaylin still hadn’t managed to tell Hiro. The enormity of the secret grew and grew, the further along in the process he got.

Then it was somehow August, a week before Jaylin started his fall semester at school, and when he brought in the mail after getting home from his afternoon shift atEl Guanaco,there was a fat package for him. From Scholastic.

He went inside and mindlessly toed off his sneakers, set the rest of the mail on the table in the entryway for when Hiro got home from work, then went to the living room and opened the package with shaking fingers.

There, in his hands, was a proof copy of his little comic. Not so little anymore.

So much morerealnow.

Wow.

He took it with him as he went to the kitchen to start on dinner, throwing together the broccoli cheddar soup that Hiro really liked. He thumbed through his graphic novel as the onionswere sautéing, then again as the broccoli and carrots cooked down.

He’d just turned off the burner and covered the pot to let it stand and thicken until dinner time when he heard the door open.

He jumped guilty and shoved the book behind himself before he realized how ridiculous he was being. He needed to show Hiro. Hewantedto show Hiro.

It was just that, for some reason, it was easier to think of strangers reading the comic than it was for Hiro to read the comic. Hiro wasn’t stupid. He’d know exactly what it meant.

How much Jaylin loved him.

And that was scary. It was scary to think about telling him that. For all that Jaylin wanted to own the feeling, wanted torelishthe feeling of loving someone who he was—he was pretty sure loved him back, it still felt like a big step.

More often than not now, Jaylin spent the nights in Hiro’s big bed. Another silk pillowcase covered the pillow on the side Jaylin preferred to sleep. But they’d only ever kissed and cuddled. Hiro was achingly careful with him, never pressing, never pushing, and even when something went wrong, he was kind.

---