He opens his eyes. Bumps his arm against mine. “This is who we are.”

“See? It’ll all be okay.” I ignore my thudding heart, the blood rushing in my ears. I don’t want him to see just how close to losing it I was. My legs feel shaky.

“When did you get so smart?” Bear asks me.

“That’s like the gay thing. It has nothing to do with you.”

He laughs.

I lay my head on his shoulder. I don’t care who sees. For a little while, at least. I do have a reputation to maintain. I resist the urge to tug on his fingers. I haven’t done that in a long time. I’m too old for that, now. I’m not some kid—

Fuck it. I do it anyway. My heartbeat slows. I breathe, like I was taught. In. And out. Eventually I calm. Bear does too.

We don’t speak. And that’s okay.

Then, “Never thought this day would come,” he says. I don’t like the sadness in his voice.

“What?” I say lightly. “Me sashaying out of the closet in a much more spectacular fashion then you did?”

He snorts and buries his face in his hand. “No. And just so you know, that’s going to take me a while to get used to.”

“We’ve got the rest of our lives,” I assure him. “What day, then?”

“Graduating.”

“Oh. I had to do it sometime, right?”

He drops his hands. “Right,” he murmurs.

“I’m still me. I’ve still got the scar on my knee.”

I can hear the smile in his voice. “I know.”

“Bear?”

“Yeah?”

“I know what you meant. Earlier. And you’re right.”

“About?”

“About being more than my brother.”

“I know, Ty.”

“You know you’re stuck with me, right?”

“Yeah. Sure, Kid. You sure about leaving still?”

“For school? Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? This doesn’t change anything.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“Why would it?”

He glances back at our family. Dom and Otter stand apart from the rest, watching us. They both lift their hands in a wave. Stacey moves up next to Dom and takes his hand in hers. “You’re right. It doesn’t change a thing.”

He knows.

“Do we have to talk about our feelings some more now?” I ask with a nervous chuckle. “Is that what gay guys do together? I haven’t gotten my gay card yet, so I don’t know.”

He laughs, but it sounds watery. I let it be.

“We’re okay?”

“We’re okay, Kid.”

The sun is almost gone. We watch it leave.

“Oh, and Otter already knew.”

“What?”

“Uh. Never mind, Papa Bear.”

Eventually, we walk back over to our family, who wait for us with bemused expressions. Otter whispers something to Bear, who shakes his head. Dominic puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes.

For the rest of the night, Bear doesn’t leave my side. Or maybe I don’t leave his. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I think we both need it.

And that’s okay too.