Between the Brothers

CHAPTER 12: YOUNG OLD SECRETS REVEALED

** WARNING: This is a sexless chapter that helps move the story forward and sets up all the mind-blowing, hot, steamy, and passionate sex in all the remaining chapters. I hope you enjoy it and trust me when I say I will not disappoint you with what's coming next!**

Cameron and Ryan arrived in their respective cars back on the family ranch. Upon exiting their cars, their eyes met, and they quickly looked away from one another. There were no words that could ever make up for Cameron's betrayal.

When the two kissed during their session with Marcus, Cameron had hoped it would start mending their fractured relationship. Hell, he even hoped that when they snuggled afterward, it would be a sign of good things to come. Sadly, morning came, and it was a stark reminder that they were beyond any repair he could offer.

For Ryan, things were different. His older brother had come along and stolen his boyfriend in a way that left him feeling small. It was like someone had emasculated him. Only it wasn't just some any old person. It was his older brother. To make matters worse, Marcus had been ignoring their calls all morning. He had disappeared from the hotel without a trace.

For most of his life, Ryan had looked up to Cameron. They were once thick as thieves and had a bond that couldn't be broken. Along the way, something shifted, and things were flipped upside down. Cameron started to compete with Ryan and treat him differently. All Ryan ever wanted was his older brother's love and friendship.

They entered the family home. Sitting in the living room were Gill, Carol, and Eric. Carol's eyes were red. She had been crying. Gill had this remorseful look on his face, and Eric's face hid his emotions. Deep down, though, he was tired. He was tired of carrying around his family's secrets. One positive thing that came from his conversation with Marcus was the realization of what secrets can do when you don't deal with them.

"What the hell is this," Cameron asked. He didn't want to have any more heavy conversations.

As she wiped her eyes, Carol said, "Gill and I need to talk to you and your brothers."

"I'm gettin' the fuck outta here," Cameron said as he headed for the door.

Eric stood up and yelled, "Cameron bring your ass back here and sit down."

Cameron stopped in his tracks. He didn't like talking about his feelings and sure as hell didn't like being yelled at. He slowly turned around. The veins in his neck were sticking out. His face was starting to turn red.

"I don't care about you hulking out. You need to sit here and own your part in all of this," Eric said as he stood his ground against his older and much stronger brother.

"Own my part," Cameron scoffed. "I've owned my part and then some. I fucked him, okay. I loved every moment of it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!"

"Wow! What a way to rub it in you asshat," Ryan yelled.

Cameron and Ryan turned and faced one another. There was tension of all sorts between them. Most of all, there was a deep layer of hurt.

Cameron barked, "Oh, give me a break, Ryan! I let you play the victim with Marcus because I knew we hurt you, but I have it on good authority that you've been fucking Tanner."

Ryan's eyes went wide, and he turned as pale as a ghost. He was both shocked and upset. There was no denying it. He had indeed been doing things with Tanner since discovering Marcus's affair. How Cameron knew would be a mystery to figure out another day.

"If I fucked Tanner, it was only after you first fucked Marcus."

Cameron raised his eyebrow, "If?" He was basically daring Ryan to deny the truth.

"ENOUGH," yelled Gill. "This is my fault. I created the hurt and secrets running through this family."

Cameron and Ryan turned to face Gill. Neither one had expected him to say that. Cameron had thought, if anything, that Gill would blame him every chance he got. This was an unexpected development.

Ryan was confused. He asked, "What are you talking about, Dad? You didn't do anything wrong. Why would you say that?"

Gill took a deep breath, "Maybe not today, but this all starts with me and what I've done. Years ago, before I met your mother, I was in love with a man."

"What?" Ryan was shocked by the admission. "You're not gay, though."

"Let him finish, Ryan," Eric instructed. He knew that they needed to hear Gill out.

"Fuck you, bro. Our dad just admitted to being in love with a guy. I have questions," Ryan screamed as he tried to make sense of things.

Gill held up his hand to silence his youngest son. He had to speak while he still had the courage to do so. It wasn't an easy task, but it was necessary now that his family had been broken.

"Let me speak while I have the courage, Ryan. Then I'll answer any questions you have after that."

Ryan nodded his head in agreement. As much as he wanted to protest, he knew his father well enough to know when he meant business. There would be time to ask questions later, and he had to accept that.

Gill cleared his throat, "It wasn't just any man. I was in love with my brother, your Uncle Will. Back then, it wasn't safe to be open about loving men. Your uncle was curious, and I was eager to have him. He was my first everything, and I loved him. Only he didn't have the same feelings. He was just having fun and exploring his sexuality. Then he met Carol, and he fell in love. I was jealous, so I tried to break them up. People didn't want them together because Will was a bad boy."

"Mom, is this true," Ryan asked her.

"Yeah," she said as she sobbed.

"So," Gill continued. "I put myself in Carol's path and it didn't take long for me to realize why Will loved her. I fell in love as well, but we both loved Will more than we loved one another. When he died, we were both completely and utterly devastated. It led us to get back together. I tried to bury all those feelings. I took Cam under my wings as my own son. The older he got, the more and more he looked like Will."

"I was his replacement," Cameron said. It was more of a statement, though it sounded like a question.

"Not at first," Gill answered. "At first, I saw you as this strapping young man who looked like my brother. Then I started to notice the way Ryan clung to you. He was acting the way I did around Will. I already knew you had been exploring with guys, Cam."

"So, you preyed on me," Cam yelled at him. All his years of hurt came surfacing.

Gill quickly denied, "No! It wasn't like that. One night, Eric found all the letters I had written about Will. He confronted me, and I took the letters, and that night, I read them, and all those feelings and emotions came flooding back. I came downstairs, and Cameron, you were wrestling with Ryan."

"I remember that night. You were upset, and you sent me to my room," Ryan said.

"That was the first time I fucked you," Cameron said coldly.

"Wait? What? Fucked?" Ryan couldn't believe his ears. "Are you fucking serious? No! You're lying. Dad, tell me he's lying."

Gill knew he couldn't do that. No matter how much he may have wanted to protect his image, he knew the truth was better for everyone. Far too many people knew the truth now. It was only a matter of time before the information got into the wrong hands. This way, he could control the narrative within his family.

"He told me it was time I became a man and that I learned to do my part. I was going to be his special boy," Cameron told them.

"He sent me away because I knew about him and Uncle Will," Eric said.

"Mom, did you know what dad was doing to Cameron," Ryan asked. "You couldn't have known. This is insane. We don't do this shit in our family!"

"I had my suspicions, but I never had concrete proof. You never said anything," she uttered. The words slowly left her lips like a snake hissing with anger.

Cameron yelled, "So, you just sat quietly and let him have his way. You were content as long as you had the life you wanted. You cared nothing about how it would fuck me up! He made me be Will! He forced me to compete with Ryan every step of the way!"

"What was I supposed to do," she yelled. "I had nowhere to go, and I had no evidence. I only had a thought that Gill went out of his way to prove me wrong."

"You were supposed to protect me," Cameron cried. "He fucked me up. I don't feel worthy of love. I don't know how to be anything other than what he forced me to be. My emotions aren't my own."

"Why did you force him to compete with me," Ryan asked with a bit of a confused look on his face. He was perplexed and finding it difficult to digest everything that was being thrown out.

"I wanted him to act like Will. He looked like him. I needed him to be a bad boy as well. It was always in him. It was just waiting to come out."

Eric asked the million-dollar question, "How long did this go on for?"

Gill and Cameron didn't answer the question. They stood silently, looking at one another. Cameron's eyes were full of disdain, and Gill's eyes were full of hurt.

"Marcus!" Ryan said without hesitation. It was like a light bulb had gone off in his head.

"What about Marcus?" Eric asked.

Ryan answered, "That's when it stopped. Dad was more aggressive with Cam than ever before when Marcus came around. Am I right?"

"He looked at Marcus the way I looked at Will. Marcus looked at him the way Will would look at Carol. All those years, and I still wasn't worthy of a man's love," Gill said as his eyes shifted back and forth between Ryan and Cameron.

"You were still doing it? You jackass!" Carol screamed as she jumped up and started hitting Gill.

The two fell to the floor. Carol landed on top of him. She continued to hit him as she cried. She had failed her son.

"Mom!" Eric and Ryan yelled out.

They ran over and tried to pull her off of Gill. Cameron stood there and watched as they struggled to pull her off. Gill didn't try to fight her. He just took her hits. He knew deep down that he deserved whatever punishment came his way.

"You son of a bitch," she screamed as she was pulled away from Gill.

Carol broke free from her two sons, and she ran over and hugged Cameron. Her heart broke over and over each time she thought about what he had endured under her watch.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I love you, and I never wanted anything to happen to you. I've only wanted the best for you, Cameron."

As she hugged her eldest son, she could only hope that one day he would forgive her. For his part, Cameron stood there with a blank face. Almost everything was out in the open. The only thing left to address was the fractured relationship between Ryan and Cameron. Carol looked at her boys and then at Gill. She could still see the beautiful family she had always wanted in them.

"We are a family no matter what. Every family has its secrets. I want us to work through ours. I think therapy would be good for us to start healing. I'll talk to your sister about it. Can we do that," she asked them.

Ryan and Eric quickly agreed, "Yeah."

"Cam," she asked, wanting to know if her eldest would help protect the family.

"I'm done protecting him. He's taken enough from me. All I care about is him apologizing for trying to attack Marcus last night."

"Speaking of Marcus. I saw him this morning at the airport. He asked me to give you both something," Eric said as he handed both brothers an envelope.

"Why did you go and see him, Eric," Cameron asked as he opened the envelope addressed to him.

"The guy did fuck both my brothers. I wanted to see what the fuss was about," Eric snapped.

Both Ryan and Cameron gave him a "don't fuck with me" look. They both read their letters quietly. Neither one of them gave away the contents of the letter they received.

"He missed his earlier flight. If I'm not mistaken, he's booked for one that leaves in three hours," Eric told them.

Cameron and Ryan looked at one another. The gloves were off. No more secrets and no more lies. All that was left was a victory for one of them. MAYBE?!

TO BE CONTINUED

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