I'm writing this story to honor a good person and to let his family know how much of an inspiration he was. Matt (also known as oh2beyoung) passed away not too long ago; as such, this is dedicated to him and to his family.

XXX

My entire life, I'd lived away from the reservation where my family was. We'd lived in all of the states except for Washington, where my dad was from. He and his older brother Harry never got along, so we had always stayed away. All that I knew of my uncle's family was that he had a son my age and a daughter ready to graduate.

My father, Harold Clearwater, always told us that my uncle was good-for-nothing, and that it was only because of our grandparents that he'd been able to survive (living off of their money after they died). I thought that that was a load of crap. It was awful for him to talk that way about his only brother. But how should I know? I'd never met the man. And had no siblings. My mother, Katrina, was of the opinion that Harry was a good man, and his wife Sue, was a wonderful lady, and they'd both done good jobs raising their children. She just never shared her opinion with my dad.

So it came as a shock to us when we got a call from my aunt Sue that Harry had passed away suddenly from a heart attack. Despite everything that he'd ever said, my father actually broke into tears.

"I can't believe he's gone," He said.

So, within a week, we'd packed all of our stuff; my dad decided it was time we went to Washington.

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Let me tell you about my life until then.

XXX

I was born in southern California while my parents were on vacation fifteen years ago. I'd always been very slim, but when I was born, they said I weighed less than any other baby in the hospital. So it came as no surprise when I went throughout all of my school years being the skinniest of the other boys. I had brown hair and brown eyes, like my father and mother before me, but because I was from the reservation, I got picked on for being a Native American and having 'red' skin.

I'd had a few friends over the years, most of which I was able to stay in touch with over the phone or through letters, but the latter was usually difficult because we'd move around so much.

The last school I was in before my uncle died, was in Phoenix, Arizona. The city was huge, there were so many people, I couldn't keep anyone straight. Not that I wanted to. I was too shy for my own good, never really speaking to anyone unless they spoke to me; but once I got to know someone, I could talk their heads off. I had my small group of friends – Heather, Liam, Rick, Sarah, and Tanya. We were the ones that always tried to make people feel better if they were having a bad day, but it was always so hard when you had thousands of kids at one location.

About a year ago, we said good bye to one of the members of our group, a girl named Bella. She was going to Forks, Washington to live with her father. We wished her luck, and told her to stay in touch. She never did.

The last few years, since I'd become a teenager and dad had given me "The Talk", I'd realized that I wanted nothing to do with girls – sexually of course. They weren't my cup of tea. I was interested in guys. And because of this revelation in my mind, it got harder and harder each day, and my parents pressed me to find a girl to take out or find a girlfriend. I didn't think they'd understand me either.

"What do you know about what you like?" My father would say. "You're young. It's just a phase," I was sure that he would say something along those lines.

Finally it got to be too much, and the year before we went to Washington, I told my friends at school. They were all happy that I'd come out of the closet, and they told me that if I ever got into any kind of trouble that I should go to them.

About a month after that had happened, my father told my mother and I at dinner one night that my cousin Seth had come out of the closet.

"And he tells Harry 'I'm the same person I was five seconds ago. The only difference is now you know that I like guys.' As if that makes it any better," Dad said.

"Well, whatever makes him happy," My mom said.

"Are you out of your mind?" My father asked. "All we need is a fucking fag in the family,"

I excused myself to my room after that sentence, unable to finish my dinner.

I took a shower and crawled in bed feeling sick to my stomach. I'd never heard my father's opinions on sexuality, but that pretty much took the cake.

The next morning, I went to school and told my friends that my cousin had come out, and what my dad had said.

"That's awful!" Heather said, brushing her long red hair behind an ear.

"If you need a place to stay, you can always crash at my house," Rick said.

"Thanks Rick. But I'm going to stay right where I am. What's the worst they can do?" I said.

XXX

Finally, we pulled up in our little Coup De Ville outside of my late uncle's house. I'd been stuck in the car for about two hours, so when I climbed out, my entire body was cramped. My mom criticized my clothing choice (light blue jean cutoffs and a white shirt with a purple rose on the shoulder), but I told her it was for comfort. And it was, in part; They were the most comfortable thing I owned.

After I stretched myself out and was able to look around, I saw three people looking at us from the door of the house, and I was surprised to see the oldest one (my aunt Sue apparently) hugging my dad. The other two must have been my cousins, Leah and Seth, my dad had told me. I'd only seen one picture of Harry, from when he and my father were young, but I thought Seth looked just like him, just as Leah seemed to be a spitting image of her mom.

Leah was wearing a pair of dark cut offs and a green tank top. She had short black hair pulled up and out of her face, and she looked mad at the world; I couldn't blame her though – after all, she'd just lost her father.

Seth was wearing faded light blue jean cutoffs like me, but his looked almost white due to the fade. He wore a simple white shirt, and I was surprised to see that he looked ripped. He had short black hair, and though he looked sad from his loss, I could tell that there was a spark in his eyes.

They walked towards me and I realized that I'd shoved my hands into my pockets.

"So, you must be Matthew," Leah said, and I heard a kind of snobby sound there.

"Matt, it's what I prefer," I said, and reached my hand out to take Leah's extended one, then switched to Seth.

"I'm glad your here. I need someone my age to talk to other than Collin and Brady," Seth said, a sheepish grin on his face.

"I'm glad to meet you," I said.

"Seth, will you show Matt to your room?" Sue asked, and Seth nodded.

"You're staying with us until you find a house," Seth said casually as I picked up my bag, a dark blue and black large suitcase.

"So of course, they're making you share a room with me," I said, seeing the grimace on Seth's face.

"It's not too bad I guess. It's just awkward, not having my own room,"

"Don't worry. I won't be too much of a nuisance. In fact, you won't even know I'm there," I said.

"Oh, I don't want that! I'd like to be good friends with you," Seth said.

"Well, I'll always be able to talk to you," I said.

A few moments later, we came to a stop outside of a door up the stairs and at the end of the hall. Seth opened the door and we walked into a huge room, with a desk against the wall, beside a dresser, a bookshelf, and a bed. There was a smaller futon at the foot of the bed with a nice stitched cover on it.

"Here we are," Seth said. "Home sweet home,"

I laid my suitcase on the futon and opened it, looking around to see where I could dump my bag and place my clothes.

"Oh, if your looking for clothes space, you can share the dresser with me. Top left is socks, top right is underwear, bottom left is shorts, and bottom right is shirts. Pants and long sleeves can go in the closet," He said, indicating a door on the opposite wall with a huge poster of a wolf on it.

Next to the wolf, there was a small picture of a guy I'd never seen before. He was a native, that was for sure, and he had short black hair, in the same style as Seth., though he was considerably bigger than Seth, and Seth was rather well muscled. I wondered who he was.

"Who's this, Seth?" I asked, indicating the picture as I walked into the closet to hang up my four pairs of pants and four long sleeves.

"That's my boyfriend," Seth said as he walked over to help me.

"What's his name?" I asked, a smile on my face.

"Paul," He said.

"That's nice," I said.

"Thanks," He said, and I saw him blush, and turn away from me.

"Look, I have nothing against gay guys. In fact, I am gay," I said.

"Holy hell!" He shouted. "Seriously?"

"Yes, now shut up! My parents don't know, and I'd like to keep it that way," I said.

"Whoops, sorry," He said and started giggling.

XXX

Later that night at dinner, my dad let his thoughts get the better of him.

"So, Harry told me last month that you came out of the closet," My dad said looking at Seth over his cup.

"Did he?" Seth asked, and started picking at his plate of spaghetti, whereas before he'd been inhaling it.

"Yes. Yes he did. And I'm concerned as to why Sue has you rooming with my son because of that," He said.

"Dad!"

"Harold!"

My mother and I gasped those at the same time. Sue stood up to her full height, which honestly wasn't very much, as she and my mother were the same size, and they came up to my shoulders.

"I'll thank you to not judge me or my family Harold. They are your family too, whether you like it or not. Furthermore, my son has a boyfriend, and he is happy, which makes me happy. If you have a problem with your son rooming with mine, I suggest you ask Matt if he minds before you start bringing stuff like this to the families attention,"

"Fine then. Matt, do you have a problem sharing a room with a gay guy?" Dad asked.

I glared at him, and said something that I shouldn't have.

"No. No dad, I don't have a problem sharing a room with a gay guy. One, because he's my cousin. And two, because I'm gay as well,"

The room went deadly quiet, and then before I knew what was going on, my dad launched himself across the table and knocked both of us to the floor, food, drink, and dishes flying everywhere. He raised his fist and slammed it into my lower jaw just before he was dragged off of me by my mom, Sue, Leah, and Seth. Sue let go to grab a phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"Yes, my brother-in-law just attacked his son," I heard Sue saying, as my dad screamed in rage and glared at me, and then said:

"You, you filthy little fag, are no son of mine,"

I burst into tears and pulled my knees up around my chest, burying my face into them.

About five minutes later, sirens wailed in the air and I felt hands pulling me into embraces and rubbing or patting me soothingly, but all I could hear was the repeating sounds of my father's final words to me.