Soledad opened the door for us, "Sam? The kids are here." That made me smile, that she called us kids. Not boys or- well I guess it would've been weird to call us men, but still.

"Our boys," said Sam. It wasn't really a question.

"Mom, Dad. I-"

I had never seen Dante at lost for words, but I guess that right then and there, he was. I couldn't stop smiling, I felt like a fool.

"What is it Dante?" said his dad, looking at both of us. I liked how he said his name: "Dante?" I had never heard such certainty in a question, I'm not sure I had ever heard such certainty in a name.

Soledad invited us to the living room, and as we were passing through the door she made a point to touch my arm and wink at me. I'm not even kidding, she actually winked. And for a couple of seconds I could see the girl that lived inside of her, for a couple of seconds I felt as if she already knew what we were going to say.

We sat down, and whatever doubt that had passed through Dante's mind seemed to have vanished because without an ounce of hesitation he said: "Mom, Dad, I have to tell you something. But first I want you to promise to not act too smug-"

"Dante," Soledad tried to look stern but she broke into laughter, "Fine."

"Okay." He looked at me and I realized that I hadn't said anything since we arrived.

"Okay," I said not at anyone in particular.

"So," Dante sighed, "Ari and I are…" he looked at me, what exactly were we?

"We're together," I said hoping that they wouldn't need me to elaborate.

They both tried to look surprised, I guess they had already made their own deductions when we went to the desert.

The rest was a blur, Sam awkwardly hugged me and whispered in my ear "I love you, Ari." I wanted to cry, but I didn't. Soledad simply stood there smiling, she hugged us both at the same time, "I'm glad you found each other." I wondered what she meant by that, maybe that was love was about, finding each other. Were we in love? All I knew was that Dante had been ready a long time ago, I hated myself for making him wait. I hated myself for hurting Dante Quintana. Still, after we had all awkwardly embraced each other, it was time for me to go. I excused myself muttering something about my parents waiting for me.

The drive home was quiet. Even with the rain, I liked it. My thoughts no longer tortured me. My mind wandered back to Bernardo. What would he think of this? I didn't think that he would be completely okay with it, but I could pretend. I could imagine a universe in which the years in prison would have changed my brother. It seemed unlikely, but he wasn't there, and as much as that hurt me my brother was not a part of my life anymore. He was a part of my mind, sure. I realized that we didn't know anything about each other anymore. I could write to him, maybe I would.

As I parked I saw my mom and dad, they were holding hands in the porch. I guess that Dante and I were not the only ones into front porches. Mom looked at me, "Ari, you're soaking wet. You better not get sick again"

"Maybe it's a summer tradition."

My dad combed my hair, it was funny this was more of my mom's thing, "Crazy boy."

Yeah, crazy boy. I didn't wanna talk. So, without another word I got into my room. My mom tried to talk but I offered her a smile and she understood. I wanted to keep the details to myself, even if it was just for one night.

She brought me some tea, "Drink it, and tomorrow we'll talk."

"Fascist." We both smiled, it was uncomplicated.

What I didn't expect was my dad walking into my room first thing in the morning. Even before Legs got the chance to wake me up, "Ari, are you awake?"

"I am now."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, I have to run with Legs anyways-"

"You work too hard."

"I don't work anymore, dad."

He laughed, "You have the rest of your life to do that."

"Yeah," I looked at him "what is it, Dad?"

"Do I need a reason to talk to my own son?"

"No, but it's not really our thing."

"Talking?"

"Yeah, talking." Legs came into the room but she was quiet, like she knew what was happening.

"Your mother thinks it should be," he sat in my bed, "you know her, the fascist."

We both laughed, maybe we could be uncomplicated too.

"So," he said, "may I join you?"

"Join me?"

"Running, Ari."

Running? My father wanted to go running with me? "If you can keep up with Legs."

"I think I'll manage."

He was a surprisingly good runner. After a while, we stopped near a park, there were some sparrows flying in the sky, I could hear the chirping of some baby sparrows. I thought about Dante.

"So, it rained last night." He was playing dumb.

Two could play that game, "Yeah, still, you and mom were in the porch."

"We were waiting for you."

"Why?"

"Because-" he looked around, as if the park would tell him what to say.

"Because?" Legs started barking at the trees. "If you want me to answer you'll have to ask, dad."

He scratched his head, "You're just like your mom."

"Fine," he said, "you were out with Dante-"

I did not like were this was going, "I've been out with Dante a million times before."

"True," he shook his head, "but when you came home you could hardly stop smiling."

I wanted to hide under a rock.

He hung his head, "when I met your mother I couldn't think straight for weeks. Hell, she still makes my head spin."

"Dad-" I couldn't look at him.

"Yes, Ari?"

"You might want to know that," I trailed off, "it went well. With Dante, it was good." It felt like such a terrible understatement. But if I had thought that keeping a journal was embarrassing this was humiliating.

"I'm glad."

When I stepped into the house, my mom was laughing on the phone. I would have expected to be talking with one of her church friends or a family member. But as soon as she noticed us she said: "Okay, Soledad. We'll talk later, right?"

"Good morning, Ari."

"Was that Dante's mom?"

"I'm happy to see you too," she teased, "Yes, that was Soledad. We talk."

"I'm not sure I like it."

She smiled, "Do you want some coffee?"

"I should go shower-"

"C'mon. Humor your mom. You still owe her a story."

My dad left, leaving us alone. For some reason, I did tell her. Not all the details but there was a part of me that actually wanted to talk. I was different. Maybe my mom's phase theory wasn't that far off from the truth after all.

When I was done, she hugged me tightly. "You're a beautiful boy." I wanted to believe her, so I tried to. Maybe that was all I needed, I needed to try.

"Now," she combed my hair, "say hi to Dante for me, will you?"

"Dante?" I asked.

"Aren't you going to go see him?"

"I guess I am."

"Okay, Ari." There was something about her voice. I could tell she was happy. I liked making my mother happy, but come to think about it, my happiness was the one that seemed to excite her the most. I loved my mom, I loved her for she was and I even loved her for everything she hadn't been. Because I understood. I understood that she didn't talk about my brother because she had forgotten him, but because she never could.

I took a shower and went walking to Dante's house. It was still early so I thought that he would be still asleep. I was wrong, he was waiting for me in his front porch, looking like he had just woken up. Messy hair, wearing pajama pants and no shoes.