Housemates

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN DIALOGUE/SCENES THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING TO SOME READERS.

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Jessica was driving in the Eugene area when she was calling Brayden. She had gotten through with her errands sooner that she'd expected and wanted to know if she could pass by earlier than scheduled. Unfortunately, Brayden's phone went straight to voicemail. After ending the call, she tried again with the same result. She then called Alex. This time the phone rang, but Jessica hung up when his voicemail kicked in. Jessica sighed heavily.

"At least Brayden's home," she said after some time, when she saw his truck in the distance. After stopping at the bottom of the driveway, she called Alex and Brayden one more time. There still weren't any answers. She got out of her car and walked up to the door. As she went to ring the doorbell, she realised that it was broken. "Great," she murmured. "Brayden!" she called out, after knocking on the door. She waited, but nothing happened. She knocked a second time, this time shouting Alex's name. Still nothing. "Hope everything's OK," Jessica said a little worried.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the key that she had come to return. "Funny that this is the last time I'm probably going to see you, and the first time I'm going to use you." Jessica unlocked the door. As she stepped inside, she heard music coming from upstairs. "Alex! Brayden!" There was no response. "Probably can't hear me over the loud music." Jessica went up the stairs and when she got to the top, realised that Brayden's bedroom door was opened. She quickly walked forward with intent to say Brayden's name, but was stopped by the sight that she came upon. Alex was lying on Brayden's bed with his eyes closed and Brayden was between Alex's legs, giving him a blowjob.

Jessica wanted to scream but no noise came out. Her heart began to race and her hands began to get clammy. Her face was a mixture of shock and confusion. Alex opened his eyes and their eyes met. Alex jumped up, causing his knee to connect with Brayden's face.

"What the fuck Alex?! Why did you..." But then Brayden saw Jessica. "Jessica!" Brayden said after what seemed like a long moment of silence. "What are you doing here?"

Jessica couldn't speak. She slowly raised her hand, showing the key that was in her grip. "I thought you were coming later," Brayden said.

"I, uh, I, I was." Jessica barely got the words out. "But I, uh, finished earlier, than, than I expected." Jessica looked as though she was trying to process what she saw. "I was trying to, uh, call you, but it went straight to voicemail."

"My phone died while we were out last night," Brayden said. He tried not to show it, but his brain was going 100 m/hr.

"I tried calling Alex as well." All eyes were on him now.

"I put my phone on silent last night. I, I didn't get the chance to change it back." Alex couldn't believe this was happening. This was far from how he wanted his sister to find out about him and Brayden.

"Oh," was all Jessica could say. There was another long pause. Jessica dropped the key and ran for the stairs. She heard Alex and Brayden call after her, but she didn't stop. When she reached the door, she had trouble opening it as her palms were sweaty and her hands were shaking.

"Jessica, wait." It was Brayden. Jessica took a deep breath and slowly turned. Brayden was a few feet away from her and Alex was at the bottom of the staircase. The awkward silence came again. None of them knew what to say.

"Ok. Ok." Jessica was first to speak. "Ok. So, you guys are sleeping together."

"Yes," Brayden said. Alex just nodded.

"Ok, ok. Cool, that's cool." Jessica tried to calm herself as the sight of Alex and Brayden together kept playing in her head. "So, you're into guys now?" She looked at Brayden.

"Not exactly. I've... I've sort of always been." Brayden ran his hand through his hair, nervous about what Jessica's response would be.

"Ok. Ok. So, you're..."

"I've haven't actually put a label on it yet."

"Oh, that's fine. This is the 21st century," Jessica said in a blasé manner. "Did you know this all along?" she looked at Alex.

"Uh, no. I found out after I moved in." Alex didn't realise it, but he was gripping the rail so tightly, that his knuckles were turning pale. Jessica wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but her outer body was not cooperating with what she felt on the inside.

"Hmm." Jessica's focus was back on Brayden. "Is this the real reason you broke up with me."

"No, no. What I explained to you was the whole truth. We grew apart and I thought it was the right thing to do."

"Well, we didn't break up that long ago; so how long after did you start sleeping together?"

Brayden looked at Alex and Alex returned the gaze. Jessica's eyes widened as the realisation dawned on her. "You cheated on me?" Tears started to well in her eyes.

"Jessica...," Brayden said empathetically while taking a step forward.

Jessica stepped back, hitting the door. "Answer me!"

"Jess... It wasn't planned; it... It just happened," Brayden spoked again.

"Oh God." The tears started to flow from Jessica's eyes. "It just happened? It just happened?! So what? You guys were talking and then your cock just happened to end up in my brother? Not to assume any positions." Brayden and Alex said nothing. "Oh wow." Jessica gave a laugh that was devoid of any humour.

"It was more complicated than that," Alex said. He was now standing next to Brayden. Jessica gave him a glare that shook him to his core.

"I don't want to hear anything from you," Jessica seethed.

"Jess, I'm sorry; We didn't mean to hurt you," Brayden said.

"You didn't mean to hurt me? Thanks. That makes me feel so much better." Jessica wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Brayden repeated.

"You said that already." Jessica looked from Brayden to Alex and back again. She shook her head. "I'm such a fool. I'm such a fool. And to think on my way over here, I was considering talking to you about getting back together, just to find the two of you..." Jessica gestured to Alex and Brayden. "Which was shocking to say the least, but ok. Ok. But then to find out that the two of you betrayed me in one of the worst ways possible." Jessica gave another humourless laugh. "Was I like a joke to you? While you were in bed all snuggled together, were you two laughing at me?"

"It was never like that," Brayden said.

"Really? I bet you guys told yourselves after you and I broke up, that what you two did didn't matter anymore. That'll you'll just move on and what Jessica didn't know wouldn't hurt her. What exactly was the plan hmm? You possibly couldn't think that you could hide your little rendezvous forever."

"Sis..." Alex stepped forward to place his hand on Jessica's shoulder. She saw this and moved her shoulder away.

"I said I don't want to hear anything from you, you two-timing slut!" Jessica words hit Alex like a punch to the gut.

"Don't call him that." Brayden said sternly.

"Look Alexander; he's coming to your rescue. How sweet. Congrats little brother. You finally won." Brayden looked at Jessica confused. "Oh, you're not the first of my boyfriends that he's been attracted to, you're just the first he's actually slept with. Well, as far as I know."

"I never -..." Alex started but Jessica waved him off.

"Doesn't matter. I'm done here." Jessica turned and opened the door. Before she left, she looked behind her. "The two of you disgust me," she said with as much venom as she could muster. Brayden visibly flinched at her words. Jessica slammed the door behind her. As she walked down the drive way, she heard Alex calling after her. He caught up with her at her car.

"Jessica, wait." Jessica turned to face her brother. She left a ringing noise in his left ear as her palm connected with his face.

"I deserved that," Alex said while rubbing his cheek.

"No argument there." Jessica casually flexed her right hand. "What did I do?" she asked.

"What?" Alex was confused. His ear was still ringing.

"What did I do? What did I do to you to deserve this? I must have done something, because no brother that truly cares for their sister, would do this to them." The tears started to come again.

"You didn't do anything Jess. This was all me. And I do care about you. I love you sis."

"Well, you have a really sadistic way of showing it. Why Alexander? Why?"

"I... I don't know." Alex couldn't look directly at his sister. He's usually the bold one, but in this moment, he felt small. "I don't know why I do half the things I do."

"I'll tell you why." Jessica took a meaningful step forward. "You're impulsive, reckless, irresponsible, and downright selfish. Brayden is one thing, but you? For you to do something like this to me. And you know how much something like this would hurt me, yet you did it anyway."

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Alex heard his voice crack but he kept himself together.

"Forgive you?! Are you serious right now?" Jessica looked around, searching for nothing in particular. "I'll never forgive you; I'll never give you the satisfaction. You and Brayden can suffer." Jessica got into her car and sped off. Alex stood there, not knowing what to do. After a moment, he realised that the neighbours across the street were outside and they were staring at him. They must have witnessed the exchange between him and his sister.

"What are you looking at?" Alex shouted. The neighbours quickly went along their way. When Alex went back inside, he found Brayden sitting at the dining table. He went and sat opposite him. Alex saw that Brayden had two cans of beer in front of him. Brayden absentmindedly pushed one towards Alex and he took it, opened it, and took a huge swig. Alex noted that Brayden's can wasn't opened. He was just turning it on the table with his fingers, his sight fixed on the top of the can.

"She said we disgust her," Brayden whispered. Alex instantly knew that it wasn't just Jessica's words that were bothering Brayden. He was also thinking about his father.

"She didn't mean that," Alex said. "She's angry and hurt and she's just lashing out." "She's probably actually disgusted with me," Alex thought to himself. Brayden looked up at Alex and Alex was met with the saddest eyes he has ever seen.

"Do you think... Do you think she'll tell my parents?" Brayden stopped turning the can of beer.

"No, of course not. She knows how your parents are. She always made fun of how strictly Christian they were. She wouldn't do that." Alex didn't quite believe what he was saying, but he couldn't bring himself to make Brayden feel any worse.

Brayden finally opened the beer and took a sip. "What did she mean by 'I wasn't the first boyfriend you were attracted to, just the first you've had sex with'?" Brayden paraphrased. Alex was hoping that Brayden didn't bring that up. Alex took another swig of his beer before answering.

"When I came out at fifteen, I became like my sister's 'gay best friend'. She would tease me and ask if I thought her then boyfriend was hot. I admitted he was cute. I also told her that I thought her previous boyfriend was hot, but that was it. Nothing more than acknowledging that they were attractive. I could never do anything to jeopardise any of my sister's relationships. At least I thought I couldn't. Then you came along and you were different. I developed feelings for you but you were with my sister and 'straight', so I kept how I felt to myself." Alex drank the last of his beer. "I can't believe this is happening right now. I can't believe I did this to my sister. I'm a horrible person."

Brayden reached over to Alex. "Then we're both horrible," he said. Alex pulled away.

"No, you don't understand. I'm worst." Brayden looked at Alex quizzically. Alex went to drink another sip of his beer but realised that the can was empty. Brayden finished his beer and then went to the kitchen and grabbed two more cans from the refrigerator.

"What don't I understand?" Brayden asked while handing Alex a beer. Alex opened it and took a sip before answering.

"Has Jess ever mentioned the name Erica to you?" Brayden shook his head. "They were best friends once. After her last boyfriend and before she met you, she was talking to this guy. Nothing serious. They'd been on like one date. Out of the blue he just ghosted her. Some time after, Jessica ran into him and confronted him. Turns out that Erica badmouthed Jess behind her back and the two of them were now dating. That led to a huge blowout with Erica. Turns out they were never really friends, let alone best friends. Jess was devastated. She knew Erica since elementary school. She leaned on me a lot during that time. I saw firsthand how being betrayed affected her. Now look what I have done."

"We both betrayed her," Brayden said.

"Yeah, but I'm her brother. I shouldn't have done this to her." Jessica's words replayed in Alex's mind. *Impulsive. Reckless. Irresponsible. Selfish*. "I'm a horrible person Brayden. I'm horrible." Alex also thought about the times he spent with his professor. "I'm horrible," he repeated. Alex was never the one to cry - he hated falling apart - but he couldn't hold it in anymore. He only realised that Brayden had moved when he felt himself being pulled from his seat and into an embrace. He buried his face into Brayden's shoulder as the tears flowed.

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It was Sunday morning and Alex and Brayden were at the kitchen island having breakfast. They were still trying to process what had happened with Jessica the day before. Brayden was going to speak when a banging came at the door. Alex and Brayden looked at each other. They instantly knew who it was. Jessica did it. She actually did it.

"Brayden! It's your father! Open up!" Conrad roared. Alex shook his head at Brayden.

"I have to," Brayden said.

"No, you don't." Alex objected.

"He's not going to go away."

"He will. If no one answers, he'll leave eventually. He doesn't know that you're here."

"My truck's outside."

Alex shrugged. "You may have gone for a walk, or a jog or something."

The banging came at the door again. "Brayden Nicholson!"

"Let's just get this over with," Brayden said wearily. Alex wanted to protest, but he didn't. Brayden got up and went to the door. He took a deep breath before opening it. He found his dad halfway in the process of knocking again. "Hi dad."

"Brayden. Tell me it isn't true," Conrad said while obviously trying to keep himself composed.

"You'll have to be more specific than that dad." Brayden was already regretting opening the door.

"You know what I'm talking about. I got a very disturbing call from Jessica this morning, telling me things that couldn't possibly be true. Tell me it isn't true Brayden."

"I'm sorry dad, but I can't tell you that." Brayden watched as his father's face slowly overcame with rage and he braced himself.

"Brayden..." Conrad started, buy then he noticed Alex in the background. "You!" he said while pushing pass Brayden. "You! This is your fault!"

"Dad," Brayden pleaded but he was ignored.

"I knew something was wrong the last time I was here. I just knew it! You think I didn't realise how you two were? But I tried to convince myself that I was overthinking things and turns out, I was right!"

"Mr. Nicholson," Alex started, "I know you're angry, but - "

"Angry?" Conrad cut him off. "I'm livid and absolutely disgusted!" Conrad pointed at Alex as he spoke. "If I knew you took part in such filth, I would have never allowed you to move in here!" Alex breathed in slowly and folded his fists.

"Well, this place belongs to Brayden, not you," Alex said. "So, you wouldn't get much say in that."

"I am his father and I paid for this place, so I believe I would get a lot of say."

"You may have paid for it," Brayden cut in. "But I paid you back every cent, plus interest, with the money I inherited from uncle Patrick."

"Yes, uncle Patrick," Conrad said with annoyance. Then his eyes widened. "Uncle Patrick. I never even thought of that. Is that how all this started?

"What are you talking about?" Brayden asked.

"Did Patrick..." Conrad started. "Was my brother... inappropriate with you when you were younger?'

Brayden was taken aback. "N-n... No! Of course not!"

"It's ok Brayden; you can be honest with me."

"Nothing like that ever happened! Why would you even think of something like that?"

"I've read studies," Conrad answered. "They said there's a higher chance of children growing up to be... confused if they were molested when they younger."

"And you think that uncle Patrick would do something like that to me?!"

"Well, a certain type of people was prevalent in those studies and either way, it is widely known that the... *people* in that *community* take part in such disturbing acts."

Brayden couldn't believe what he was hearing and Alex was fuming. "Uncle Patrick was never like that," Brayden spoke. "And I didn't even know that he was gay until after he died. You know this."

"I can't believe you're going to stand there and pretend like that kind of thing isn't prevalent in the *straight community* as well." Alex tried to stay calm. "And let's not even begin to talk about some church leaders."

"My point exactly!" Conrad stared daggers at Alex. "There are people out there that look all *innocent* and *harmless*, but they're nothing but demons. They seduce you and lure you in and before you know it, they've destroyed your soul."

"Are you trying to compare me to a demon?" Alex was at the verge of losing it.

"If the shoe fits." Before Alex could answer, there was a knock at the door. No one moved. The knock came again.

"Brayden?" a voice said. Brayden recognised his mother's voice and went to the door. When he opened it, he was met with a very worried look. "Mi hijo," she said while stroking his face.

"Mamá," Brayden greeted Francisca. He then stepped aside and his mom entered. Francisca scanned the room, seeing the looks on everyone's faces.

"Conrad." Francisca spoke. "I think we should go."

"No," Conrad said sternly. "I am not leaving until this is settled."

"Conrad, please," Francisca pleaded. "We can do this another time when tensions aren't so high."

"Another time? And give him more opportunities to sink his claws into our son?" Conrad pointed at Alex without looking at him. "Do you not care about our son's soul?!"

"Of course I do, but I just think -"

"No!" Conrad cut Francisca off. "I will not stand for this. I will not have a fag for a son!"

Francisca gasped. "I'm... I'm not a f -" Brayden began but then he looked at Alex.

"See?!" Conrad turned to Alex. "Do you see how confused you have him? He can't even say it." Conrad looked to Brayden and his wife again. "When you came to us about this when you were a teenager, I wanted to send you to a special camp in Idaho for the summer, but I allowed your mother to talk me out of it. I never should have listened."

"A special camp?" Brayden asked. He looked from his dad to his mother. Neither said anything but he knew what his dad meant.

"Oh my God," Alex murmured.

"Look," Conrad said. "Let's not focus on that right now. What's important is how we move forward. There is hope. This can be fixed. You can be fixed."

"He doesn't need fixing!" Alex shouted. "This is insane."

"No one cares what you think. Bottom line is, no son of mine is going to live a life of such filth." Conrad then turned to Brayden. "Son, if you insist on going down this road, I will no longer consider you my son; you would be dead to me. In fact, I rather you be dead than be a fag."

"Conrad!" Francisca screamed.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Alex said. Conrad turned to respond but instead he was met with a fist to the face. Francisca shrieked as Conrad hit the floor. Brayden was completely frozen. He didn't even acknowledge what just happened. His father's words repeated in his head.