Chapter 36C

"Luke, what are you doing?" Eddie asked, sounding half annoyed, and half amused as he looked over his shoulder--which he could do now without the brace around his neck--at Luke, who was shoving Eddie's hospital gown into the small duffle bag that Jase had brought along with Eddie's clothes. Jase was currently helping Eddie button up the front of a comfortable plaid shirt while I waited patiently and Luke did what was necessary to occupy himself.

"Souvenir?" Luke responded.

Jase snorted. "No thank you. I'd prefer to forget all about this."

"I'll second that," Eddie responded, smiling as Jase leaned forward to give him a quick peck on the lips.

Eddie was officially out of bed. He'd been a little wobbly on his legs at first, but he was standing fine, now. He didn't like that it was hospital policy for him to be wheeled out in a chair, but if it would get him home sooner, I don't think he was about to complain. As it was he'd already been delayed when a couple of police officers came to interview him. Eddie had told them exactly when he'd told us. He could remember going through a green light, and then feeling the impact of the crash. He remembered that it hurt, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up in the hospital and they were asking him to hold still. But as far as the accident was concerned, he'd never even seen the Keslin's vehicle coming. It seemed that the other two drivers involved had only suffered minor injuries, and the one that had hit Eddie's bumper had seen enough to know that the Keslins had come out of nowhere. But, the police still wanted to interview everyone.

"Does anyone want to go out to dinner?" Eddie asked.

"Oh no you don't," Jase stated. "You're getting home-cooked meals, in bed. No strenuous activities until the doctor says otherwise."

"How is eating out strenuous?" Eddie wanted to know.

Luke rolled his eyes. "We've seen the way you eat," he remarked, and I laughed.

I stood up when a nurse came into the room with the wheelchair we'd been waiting for.

"I've got that," I insisted.

"Alright," she replied, smiling. "I'll wait outside to walk you guys out."

"Thanks," I said, and when I moved the chair over to Jase and Eddie, Eddie grumbled the whole time Jase fussed over him to help him into it.

Jase took over the wheelchair on the way out, and the nurse was there to escort us. We didn't make it very far, though. We'd started down the hall and came to an abrupt halt when we noticed a room in front of us had the door opened, and Mr. Keslin was visible, talking to the same officers that Eddie had talked to. I hardly noticed that, though. Not while there was another wheelchair outside the door, parked between two waiting chairs, and occupied by Aaron Keslin. I stopped, with Luke right next to me, unable to keep from staring for a minute.

He was in a white muscle shirt and jeans shorts, obviously as done with his stay at the hospital as Eddie was. He had stitches marring the left side of his face, from his forehead, down past his cheek. He was going to have a scar. There were more on his head, which had been shaved. I guessed that they'd shaved part of it for the stitches, and he'd likely insisted on having the rest done, too. Far be it for Aaron to have a bad haircut. And despite the stitches, or the splint on two of his fingers, or even the blue brace surrounding his ankle and his bruised-up legs, his small features and pretty looks were still intact. But there was something different. No smirk, no cruel glares. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles, drawn to the floor. He looked blank. Numb. He hadn't noticed us, and as I looked around at Jase, Luke, and Eddie, the consensus seemed to be that we didn't want him to. Jase looked concerned. Eddie's expression seemed sympathetic, sad. Luke was as blank as Aaron was.

"Are you guys ready?" the nurse asked us, obviously not understanding the holdup. No one responded to her. It was kind of hard, anyway, when Mr. Keslin suddenly saw us and started to raise his voice at the heavier of the two officers.

"Why are you in here harassing my family?" he demanded. "Haven't we been through enough? Why aren't you talking to them!" Mr. Keslin made a large show of pointing at my family.

"Sir, please," the heavier officer started, but words didn't stop Mr. Keslin from moving furiously out of the room in our direction.

Aaron looked up then, his brow knit and his lips curled down in a frown as he glanced briefly at us, and then focused on his father as he came to stand about five feet away from Eddie.

"How can you live with yourself?" Mr. Keslin screamed, startling me. I could hear Mrs. Keslin from her room, sobbing now. One officer stayed with her while the thinner one came for Mr. Keslin. "My son is dead! How can you live with yourself?!"

"Shut up!" Luke hissed, and I made a grab for him as he moved himself between Eddie and Mr. Keslin, but he shook me off.

"Luke," Eddie said quietly.

"It wasn't his fault!" Luke shouted, and Mr. Keslin glared at him.

"You stupid little punk, I should have done something..."

"Mr. Keslin!" The nurse intervened as Jase moved to pull Luke back. "Please go back to your room."

I watched as the thin officer took hold of Mr. Keslin's arm. Aaron's dad didn't exactly resist him, but he didn't go back to his room, either. "They destroyed my family!" he screamed, and I stood in stunned silence as the man began to cry. It wasn't sobbing like his wife. He had silent, angry tears running down his face.

I found myself moving behind Eddie, placing a hand on his shoulder. He reached up with his good hand and squeezed my fingers.

"You killed my son!" Mr. Keslin shouted, and I'm sure he would have been glaring at Eddie as he said it, if Luke and Jase weren't blocking his view.

"Dad!" I looked up at the sound of Aaron's voice, sounding small and strangled. His lip was quivering and his eyes were red as he glared at his dad's back, looking even smaller than he had the night that Seth and I had found him drunk. "It's not his fault."

I saw Jase and Eddie look towards Aaron, surprised. But everyone's attention was back on Mr. Keslin when he suddenly turned on his son.

"You shut up! Don't you say a word!" he spat. "You've already done enough!"

His father's tone seemed to be Aaron's breaking point, because the next thing I knew, Aaron was dropping his head into his hands as a painful sob escaped his throat; the only sound he made as his shoulders began to shake and his tears fell. I found myself instinctively wanting to go to him, but the way Eddie squeezed my hand tighter prevented it, and I think we were all surprised when Luke suddenly broke away from Jase and headed straight towards Aaron, glaring at Mr. Keslin while the officer held him back.

"Luke," Jase called timidly, but rather than responding to Jase, I watched as Luke took the seat next to Aaron's wheelchair, and simply stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"Get away from my son!" Mr. Keslin ordered, as the officer struggled to restrain him now. But when Aaron suddenly looked up, reaching out to grip Luke's wrist with his uninjured hand, everyone fell silent. Luke frowned, glaring at Aaron's hand on him, and for a second, I thought that he might actually lash out. But, all at once, Luke seemed to calm, and I watched as he regarded Aaron in a way that could only be described as patient.

"He wouldn't stop," I heard Aaron whisper. His eyes were watering steadily now, and he sounded nearly out of breath. "He just wouldn't stop."

Luke took a moment, and then sat up a little straighter. "Who wouldn't stop?" he finally asked.

"Cody! I was trying to drive... and we just kept yelling at each other. He was telling me I went the wrong way... he just wouldn't stop... I... I told him I hated him!" Aaron took in a deep, shaky breath and released it in a series of sobs, holding onto Luke, who suddenly, looked like he had no idea what he was doing. "He wouldn't stop! He just... and he was kicking the back of my seat, and I looked back... I looked back... then, my mom was screaming, and... I told him I hated him! Why did I tell him I hated him?"

Aaron didn't get much further than that before he broke down completely. It hurt to watch, even as Luke completely caved in and leaned forward, gathering Aaron Keslin into his arms. And Aaron held on. He held on, and he sobbed, and Luke held him, careful not to do harm to the stitches.

I'm not sure how long it lasted, but I was aware when Jase came to stand behind Eddie with me, and I found myself leaning into him without thinking about it, even more so when he wrapped an arm around me. But we both went rigid, and Eddie's grip on my fingers turned to steel when Mr. Keslin suddenly took up residence in the seat on the other side of Aaron. Luke noticed, too, and regarded the man challengingly. But Luke's features softened when Mr. Keslin simply reached out and placed a timid hand on Aaron's back. Aaron jumped at it, and released Luke to look back. Aaron looked terrified then, facing his father. When Mr. Keslin held out his arms, Aaron only hesitated for a moment before he leaned into them, and together they cried.

Eddie didn't release my hand when Luke quietly rejoined us and the nurse led us out of the hospital, and I discovered that I didn't want him to as I squeezed tighter. "Do you think they're going to be okay? The Keslins?" I found myself asking, and Eddie glanced up at me, looking thoughtful, even if a little sad.

"I wouldn't be," he said quietly. "If it had been you... but I think someday..." he paused, sighing. "I think eventually, they will be."

I looked down at him as we reached the Suburban that Jase had parked at the front of the hospital. "Will we be okay?" I asked.

Eddie slowly stood, and I watched until he was towering over me, a smile curling his mouth. "I know that we'll be."

"Good," I decided. "'Cause I think I'm ready now."

Eddie raised a curious brow, and I couldn't help wondering if it hurt with his bruises. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I explained. "To have a dad."

Eddie just grinned at me as I helped the rest of my family make him comfortable in the car, and together, we went home.

Epilogue

The next weeks were a blur. It was nice having Eddie home. After everything that had happened, it felt like he'd been missing for a lot longer than a few days. He didn't like taking his pain medication because it made him drowsy, so for the most part he was sore, and lounged around the house all day, since Jase couldn't get him to stay in bed.

Eddie and I had done a lot of talking in that time. It almost felt like we were just getting to know each other. He liked to joke around by saying that I was grounded for waiting to change my mind about staying at the last minute. I don't think I really would have cared if he had grounded me. I confessed to him how scared I'd been when I'd heard he'd been in an accident, before I even knew what kind it had been. Eddie kept reassuring me that he was fine, and said that he planned to be around for a long time. No one could really make promises like that. But I had to admit, it did make me feel better to hear it.

Elsewhere, I'd started school. My grandma had sent my things back to me just in time. My first day was easier than I thought it would be, even though I hardly saw Luke. He was a year ahead of me and we just didn't have any of the same classes. We didn't even have classes near each other. But that was okay because Seth and I saw each other all the time. In a few classes, in the halls, and at lunch. Rick was in our year, too, and I settled in easily. I even made a few new friends, and some Seth and I made together. I was surprised how much I didn't think about being out at school. That's just the way it was; and while I noticed that some guys flat out refused to have anything to do with me, most of the people I crossed paths with were people I'd met one way or another over the summer, and they weren't bothered by me, or the fact that Seth and I were seen holding hands all the time. This could have had something to do with Luke and the rest of the wrestling team posing a threat to would-be homophobes, though. I just preferred to believe that my peers had more maturity than I gave them credit for.

I never heard anyone really talk about Seth and me. They were all too busy talking about Dave and Angela. The two of them had quickly reached a phase in their relationship where they were spotted arguing one second, and making out the next. Luke was pretty sure that they argued just so they could make out. He didn't seem to mind, though. Every once in a while he'd complain when Dave spent, in Luke's opinion, too much time with Angela, but for the most part I think he was happy for his best friend. I kept hoping that Luke would find someone, too, so I could be happy for mine.

My Grandma Alice still planned to get married in December. We'd be taking a long weekend to go to the wedding. I'd talked to Jarred over the phone, only to discover that he wasn't much of a talker at all. I had a feeling that that was a large part of why he and Grandma Alice got along. Hell, she'd probably talked him into marrying her and he never got a word in until it was time to say I do. But, my grandma sounded happy, and was looking forward to our visit. I was looking forward to it, too, because like I'd told Luke, I still had the nagging feeling that I needed to say goodbye. And then, there was Jason and Nathan. I'd been able to talk to both of them separately, since Nathan had found Jason's number for me. But, I had yet to come out to them. I'd talked to Jase a lot about that, and ultimately, I'd decided to wait until we went to Nevada. They deserved more than a phone call. I had no idea what I was going to say to either of my friends, but when I came out to them, it would be face to face. I still had time to sort all of it out, I guess.

The day of Cody's funeral, Seth didn't go to school. I'd known that he'd be attending. No one from my family was going, but Jase had picked up a large bouquet of flowers and asked Mr. Fisher to give it to Mr. and Mrs. Keslin. The card had been unsigned.

At school, there was a small memorial for Cody Keslin. During the last hour of the day, everyone was called to the auditorium where there was a moment of silence, and then several of Cody's teachers and a few friends made small speeches. His teachers all said he was brilliant, and how terrible his loss was. His friends, who were older than him, and mostly girls, all talked about how adorable he was. I assumed that all of his real friends were at the funeral. There were rumors that Aaron would be at the school that day to give a small speech about his brother, but I wasn't at all surprised when it didn't happen.