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And he absolutely detested that Luke was taking Percy’s side.
Luke waved at him. “I’m sorry.”
Rolling his eyes, Wren pressed his hands to the ground and eased himself to his feet. There was something angry and mean in his chest, and if he stayed any longer, he was going to say something he didn’t mean and ruin friendships he didn’t want to ruin. “See you later,” he signed as quickly as he could, then turned on his heel and marched out of the office.
He had a shift, but he didn’t think Caleb was going to force him to work it. He made it to the back door and took three steps into the alley before a hand grabbed his arm, and he spun, surprised to see his brother there.
Christ, was Caleb seriously going to make him finish out the night?
“This is my fault,” Caleb said when he pulled away for enough signing space.
Wren almost choked on his tongue. “What are you talking about? Did you convince Percy to kiss someone else?”
Caleb shook his head. “No, no. This isn’t about Percy. It’s about you.”
Wren didn’t know if he should be offended or not. “That I’m such an unlovable mess because of you?”
Caleb’s face did something Wren was unused to seeing: it flooded with guilt. “Can we go somewhere?”
Wren shook his head. “I really want to go home. Everything sucks, and I’m trying not to cry.”
Caleb looked even more miserable. “Please.”
As much as he wanted to tell his brother to fuck off, it wasn’t often that Caleb put himself out there. At least, he hadn’t in a long time—since before he and his ex split. But he was coming back to the kind person who had started the café and had brought so many people together to create their little family. The bitterness was slowly draining from Caleb, and Wren was no longer afraid to be close to his brother.
“Where?”
“Anywhere,” Caleb answered quickly.
Caleb’s eyes cut over to the tea shop, and Wren nodded. “You’re buying.”
Caleb laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Yes. I am.” Then, he grabbed Wren’s wrist and yanked him forward.
Wren was grateful Caleb didn’t want to make small talk on the short walk over, and he was grateful that he shoved Wren toward a table and took care of the order himself. Wren was usually the talk-to-hearing-people guy, but he just didn’t have it in him to interact with strangers at the moment. He hunkered down in a booth around the back near the bathrooms and let his head rest against the wall, eyes closing.
He could see Percy every time he blinked. He could feel the echo of his warm skin and his perfect kisses. He remembered far too profoundly what it was like to have him in his arms. He could picture a thousand mornings just like that one, and it didn’t scare him. It didn’t make him want to run or peel his skin off.
It had never been like that before, and maybe everyone was right. Maybe it was time to just start accepting that Percy was different. But if that was the case, how did he get over what he’d seen? He squeezed his eyes tighter and caught a flash of Percy’s head perfectly aligned with Derek’s. He hadn’t seen their faces, but it didn’t take much to imagine their lips softly pressed together.
God, he felt sick.
He felt a gentle vibration under his hand and opened his eyes to see Caleb hovering, his curled knuckles on the table knocking to get his attention. He shoved tea at Wren, then sat and took a deep breath before lifting his hands.
“I think I broke you.”
Wren’s eyes widened. “Fuck you. I’m not broken.” His heart felt like it had been suddenly pulled apart. Was that seriously what his brother thought about him? That he was an irreparable mess?
Caleb quickly shook his head. “No. That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry—this isn’t easy for me. It’s been weighing on me for a long time, but I didn’t realize the consequences of my actions until recently.”
Wren’s brows furrowed. “Explain.”
“I’ve apologized for shutting you out before when we were kids. I know you accepted my apology.” Caleb hesitated like maybe he was afraid Wren was going to take his forgiveness back.
Peh-peh.
Caleb’s shoulders lost some of their tension. “But I think I made you feel like your Deaf identity was a running target. Every time you put your CIs on, you thought I believed you were failing to reach that…” His hands hovered like he was searching for the right sign.
“Gold star?” Wren signed. It was true. He’d stopped worrying about it so much over the years, but he could still see that flicker of anger in his brother’s eyes every time he saw the pieces of white plastic resting over his ears.
