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Silas was quiet the whole way home, clinging to my arm as I drove through the quiet city streets. The moment we slipped from the car, he nudged under my arm, letting me bundle him up.
We stayed like that throughout the night. He didn’t want to talk, and I didn’t push him.
Just held him tight.
When dawn finally broke, so did his silence.
“Thank you.”
I kissed his stubbled cheek. “You don’t have to thank me, baby. I’m sorry he was able to get that close to you.”
“You can’t protect me from everything.”
“No, but Icanprotect you from Frank.”
“You always have,” he mused, stroking his hands over my chest. “I don’t think I would’ve survived without you.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d said something like this, but like all those other times, my breath cut through me. The utter fear of what might’ve been if he hadn’t saved me that day. If we hadn’t found each other. “You’ve got me. As long as you want me.”
“I think that’s what hurt me the most when you left.” His voice was quiet, so quiet, like he daren’t speak this thought too loud. “I wasn’t just losing you, but losing my family.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to apologise again for leaving him, but Silas had made it clear that he didn’t want that. “You wouldn’t have lost your family, Si.”
He glanced up at me furtively. “You say that, but you’re my only family, Kai. You and your parents and your siblings…you’re all I’ve got. It was…it was a reminder, that’s all. That if I lost you, I’d lose my family too.”
“That would literally never happen.” I frowned at him. “Didn’t you speak to them while I was gone?”
He shrugged. “Yeah…I mean, I spoke to Ruby a lot. And your parents. Even went out for a drink with Louis.”
“See, they wouldn’t leave you.” I stroked his hair. “No matter what happens with us, baby, they’ll always be your family.”
“Yeah…maybe.”
He wasn’t buying it. After the shitshow with Frank the night before, I couldn’t blame him. It’d taken him a long time to understand that my family accepted him as much as they did me. It wasn’t surprising that the reminder of his sperm donor had his insecurities bubbling to the surface.
The chances of us breaking up were slim…but no one could predict the future. If we went into this with Silas worrying that losing me meant losing my family, how could I know he was staying with me for the right reasons?
There was only one way to fix this. One way to remind him that he had a seat at my parents’ table, regardless of everything else.
I’dsentanSOSto my family, asking them all to gather at my parents’ house the following day. Mum always cooked a massive Sunday lunch and liked to have as many of us there as possible, so I knew it wouldn’t be an issue. We tried to get together as often as we could. No one commented in the main chat other than to say they’d be there, but within seconds, I had a private message from Ruby.
Please tell me you have good news.
Silas and I had agreed to wait and tell them in person, so I’d replied with the slightly passive-aggressive thumbs-up emoji.
Ruby’s middle finger reply told me what she thought ofthat.
“You sure you want to do this?” Silas bit his lip as we walked up to my parents’ house. “We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”
I wheeled around, putting both my hands on his shoulders. “Si, I’ve been out to them since I was nineteen. This won’t come as a surprise to them. But if you’re not ready, that’s different. This is your journey. It’s up to you when you come out. We don’t need to rush.”
“It’s not that…” He blew out a breath. “It won’t be a surprise that you’re bringing a guy home. But it will be a surprise that it’sme.”
I stared at him for a moment before my lips twitched. Before I could stop myself, a full laugh broke free.
“Stop laughing at me!” Silas said with a pout. “They’re my family. What if they don’t want us to be together?”
The fact that Frank had made him this insecure made me wish I had punched him.
