Page 15 of Always There Bayou
“Boy, my sister doesnotwant you,” I laugh, shaking my head. “You are too young for her.”
“Lies!” He scoffs. “I’m only five years younger than her.”
“Exactly. She likes people who areolderthan her,” Cory laughs, patting him on the cheek. He swats her hand away. “Give it up, baby bro.”
“Whatever,” he waves her off, sulking like he always did when we burst his bubble about his little crush on my sister. “Mama! Cory and Denny are bullying your baby boy!”
I roll my eyes as Cory takes my hand, pulling me behind her into the dining room, where the rest of her family is just sitting down to have dinner. They all greet us enthusiastically before inviting us tojoin them. I’m immediately comforted by how full of love her family always was. I felt so comfortable around them, just like how Cory always felt when she was around mine.
If that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what was.
3
Realizations Bayou.
CoryTate-December7th, 2024
I sit up in bed as I stretch, letting the sun from the windows wash over me. Even though we’d stayed up to the wee hours of the morning with my siblings and Imani’s fiancé, joking and reminiscing about our childhoods, I was surprisingly well-rested. I think the others would be feeling it since they’d taken down a few rounds of shots. I’m not a heavy drinker, so I stopped after one. However, my energy was depleted along with Denny’s by the time we made it up to my old bedroom. All we had enough energy to do was quickly take turns showering before we fell into bed together, dozing off in a matter of minutes.
I look over at Denny as they snore lightly, still knocked out. They were sleeping on their stomach, their wild mess of curlssprawled over the pillow, thanks to their bonnet running away because of how wild they slept. I stroked their hair as I watched them rest for a bit. There was just something about seeing them so peaceful that made me feel at ease. That funny feeling started to build up in my stomach again, and I quickly pulled my hand back.
My eyes traveled to their lips, and I suddenly wanted to kiss them. I sigh, shaking all of those thoughts out of my head. What the fuck was going on with me?
“Mmm,” I hear Denny groan, and my eyes are immediately back on them. They roll over, feeling the space around them, their eyes still closed. A look of stress flashed across their beautiful face. “Cory…you left me again…”
“No, I’m right here,” I say softly as I take their hand in mine. They sigh, relieved.
“Don’t leave me, Cory,” they mumble, pulling me back down onto the bed. I oblige, allowing them to wrap their arms around me. “I can’t lose you. I love you so much.”
My eyebrows shoot up as I stare down at them. Was I hearing them right? They loved me?
I gently shake them, but when the snores start up again, I realize that they are just talking in their sleep. They’d done this before, but they never admitted to loving me. Was I reading too much into this? There was no way that my best friend was confessing their feelings to me. It just didn’t make sense…
I think back at all the time we’d spent together in the past to see if I could pick out any moments when they hinted at it. I mean, there have been times when they’d become extremely uninterested when Imentioned who I was dating, and they especially didn’t like Christie. Although I always thought it was just because of how many times she’d cheated on me.
My mind was all over the place as I tried to work out how I’d been so damn oblivious all of these years. Or was I overthinking this? Theyweretalking in their sleep, and they also probably had a hangover from the many drinks they threw back last night. I tried to get them to slow down, but it was almost like they were trying to drown out their feelings.
For me?
“Damn, my head hurts so fucking bad,” they suddenly say, attempting to sit up. I help them as they rub their temples. They glance at me, a weak smile appearing. “Good morning, Corduroy. How long have you been up?”
“Uh, l-like 10 minutes,” I reply, stumbling over my words as I gaze at them, and it’s almost as if I were going through some self-discovery moment. My mind was spinning as it finally clicked into place why I’d been feeling the way I have about them lately…
There was no denying that I had feelings for Denny Houston.
Strongfeelings at that.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” they ask, cocking their head to the side. I almost lost it and knew that if I didn’t get up out of this bed, I might make the same mistake I made a couple of weeks ago. “Cory, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I frantically shook my head as I slid out of the bed. My heart was beating against my chest so loudly that I was afraid they’d hear. I slip on some pants over my boxers and then step intomy slides. “I’m…I’m gonna go down and g-get you some medicine. Yeah, that’s what imma do. I…I’ll be right back.”
“Okay?”
I don’t look back as I quickly exit the room, closing the door behind me. It isn’t until I’m down the stairs that I finally get my heart to stop pounding. My emotions were all over the place, and my anxiety was at an all-time high. On one hand, I was scared that even if Denny did like me like that, I wouldn’t be good enough for them. But on the other hand, my heart was doing backflips because deep down, it knew that I had feelings for them, but I’d hidden them. Out of sight, out of mind, you know?
I walk into the kitchen to find my dad reading something on his tablet as he sips his coffee. My stepmom, whom we affectionately called Mama B, looked up from the stove and greeted me with a warm smile. I hugged my dad, greeting him before doing the same for her. She notices something off about me and turns the stove off, giving me her full, undivided attention.
“Cory, my baby, what’s wrong?” she asks, her soft, melodic voice calming me within seconds. “You’re shaking. Are you okay? Is Denny okay?”
