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“Who the fuck isBabe?” Ethan blurted, a smile once again breaking free from his full lips.
“That’d be me,” a deep voice sounded a few steps away. Wrapped up in the reunion, Matty hadn’t noticed that Austin had come to stand within earshot and had overheard their conversation. “I’mBabe,” his boyfriend grinned cheekily, as he held out his right hand towards Ethan, “also known as Austin,” he continued while Ethan grabbed his hand, shaking it, disbelief covering his face, “Matty’s partner and boyfriend.”
Ethan’s eyes widened at the last part and Matty sucked in a deep breath, his lungs burning, as he held it. He looked between the two of them. The two people he loved the most in this world. The two men, who meant everything to him in so very different ways.
Ethan kept shaking Austin’s hand as he turned towards Matty, taking him in. His green eyes had turned a shade darker, a maturity in his face that Matty hadn’t noticed before. Then the skin around Ethan’s eyes crinkled, his face softening, his bottom lip trembling. Releasing Austin’s hand, Ethan brushed a hand through his outgrown hair. Then trouble coursed across his face, and they were once again twelve, lying in the cornfield behind Ethan’s house, shooting the shit while they plotted their next adventure.
“Shit, dude!” Ethan grinned, shaking his head in astonishment, “and here, I always thought that I was the only man in your life.” Continuing to shake his head in surprise, Ethan carried on laughing loudly.
Matty couldn’t help the goofy smile invading his own face as his cheeks flushed with relief. Meeting Austin’s gaze, his skin tingled as imaginary fire ants marched along his spine. Even in his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have imagined this moment any better. Any more perfect. Now, that Ethan was here, he could finally,finallyrest and just be… Well, just beMatty.Will and Millie’s son, Austin’s boyfriend and now again, what he’d always been since the age of five. A best friend. Two halves making out a perfect whole. One heart beating in two bodies.
Austin’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him back to the present moment.
“So, what’s next?” Ethan smiled, picking up his backpack.
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Matty shrugged. “Wanna meet the rest of the gang?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Ethan – Now
“MI CASA EStu casa,” Matty grinned at him, eyes overspilling with pride as he gestured toward the small cottage at the end of the path. The front yard was neatly done, small flowerbeds in front of the porch, a gravel path leading towards the dark-green front door. Ethan smiled as he noticed a small pride flag suspended from a wooden beam on the porch, blowing in the wind. Matty must have caught his stare because he just shrugged.
“I guess that wouldn’t have gone down well back in good ol’ Eden,” he spoke.
“Yeah, probably not,” Ethan grinned. “Well, fuck good ol’ Eden, right?”
“Don’t say that,” Matty shook his head, blond locks spilling into his eyes. “Good people live in Eden, too. Your folks live in Eden.”
“Yeah, I know…” Ethan nodded. “I’ll just never come to terms with what that town did to ya, Matty.” Regret coursed through him as he looked at his best friend.
“I know, Eth.” Matty replied. “But it wasn’t the town, you know. It was people. People do bad things. And not all people. Just some.” Matty shrugged before continuing. “I’ll never forget what you and your family did for me, Eth. Never. You made everything better. Every fucking thing. It was never good, I know that, believe me. But at least you and your folks kept me sane.” He paused before continuing, his voice gruff, tinted with emotion. “You and your folks, you… I don’t know what it’s called. Validated, maybe? You validated that what was done to me wasn’t right. I think if it hadn’t been for you and your family, Eth, I would’ve lost it. I mean, I would’ve lost myself. I’ll never forget that, brother. Never.”
Ethan nodded, his chest expanding with Matty’s words.
“I just did what anyone would’ve done…”
“Oh yeah? Then how come no one else stood up for me? Huh? Because it was only ever you, Eth.”
Ethan shrugged as he closed the trunk and placed his backpack over his right shoulder. They’d gone in Ethan’s old beat-up Honda since Austin was making a pit stop at the grocery store getting some steaks for the barbeque and had taken the truck.
“I don’t know, man… I don’t know…” Ethan looked around, taking in his surroundings. Fuck the past. It was exactly that. The past. Smiling at his best friend, he nodded at the house. “This is fucking cool, Matty. Your own house,” Ethan ruffled Matty’s chronically unruly hair, a strange mixture of happiness and envy coursing through him. Matty deserved this—this life he’d made for himself. There was no doubt about it. In the grand scheme of things, Matty had had this coming for a long time. A family who’d clearly taken him into their hearts and a boyfriend who appeared to truly love him. Yes, Matty deserved this, but it also made Ethan worry about the choices that lay ahead of himself. Would he make the right ones?
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Matty nodded before leaning his head against Ethan’s shoulder. Even though Matty had clearly grown into a man over the past three years, he was still smaller, slighter than Ethan. He still felt protective of his best friend, but it was a different kind of feeling than the one that had consumed him as a child and as a teenager. It was more aI’ll-do-anything-for-youfeeling than aI-cannot-breathe-not-knowing-if-you’re-safekind. Ethan could breathe more freely now, finally having seen with his own eyes that Matty was not only safe but that his best friend had made a good life for himself. He suddenly felt an overwhelming need to voice it, to let Matty know.
“I’m so fucking proud of you,” Ethan murmured against Matty’s soft hair. “You’re the bravest person in the world, Matty.”
Matty nodded against his shoulder, no words uttered between them aside from Ethan’s recognition still lingering in the space between them. They stood like that for a few minutes, just taking in the moment, each in their own little world—a world that had been discontinued for three years, Ethan realized. A world that had been tipped on its axis on that fateful August evening but had now come full circle again. Ethan hadn’t realized it, but he’d been drifting since Matty had disappeared. Unsure of everything. He’d never thought of it like this—with him being the one who’d always taken care of Matty—but he needed his friend in his life just as much as Matty needed him in order to function. Perhaps even more.
“Come on,” Matty nodded his head toward the red cedar cottage. “Let’s go meet my girl.” His face lit up, a smile spreading from his mouth, reaching all the way into his beautiful eyes. A smile that Ethan didn’t recall ever having seen before. It transformed Matty’s face completely, the boyish features once again taking over.
Ethan trailed after his best friend and as soon as they entered the small hallway, a bundle of red fur came flying towards them, barking joyously. Matty caught the dog midair and wrapped her in a tight embrace, while she administered doggy kisses all over his face. Ethan smiled as he took in his best friend, who was at this point nearly tipping over from the overly enthusiastic welcome of his dog.
“Hey, baby girl. You missed me, huh?” Matty cooed while ruffling the dog’s fluffy fur. He struggled to get up from the floor as the dog continued to lick at his ear and neck. Matty squirmed beneath the rough kisses, but his eyes revealed that he was soaking up every one of them. Famished for affection for most of his life, Matty deserved every single kiss. Every fucking last one of them.
Matty finally managed to get up, brushing some stray, red hair from his pants.
“Ethan, meet Cassie. The worst-behaved dog in Maine,” he smiled lovingly at the dog which took in Ethan for all of two seconds before she decided that he was not a threat and started wagging her tail uncontrollably. Ethan squatted and let her sniff his hands, resting at his sides. He knew from the watchdogs at the Peterson farm that it was never wise to stick out your hand to a dog that didn’t know you. Cassie seemed friendly enough, but it was still wiser to let the dog take you in first. After sniffing the newcomer for a few seconds, she must have found him of no interest because she bounded out through the door to the backyard that Matty had just opened.
