Haven
KyleGranger
Chapter 7
It was the morning after and Shaun and Zach were sitting in their bed, while Cody sat in the living room playing with his trucks. After listening to Zach retell the story to him, Shaun felt surprised, relieved, and disappointed all at the same time. Shaun knows how hard it is to come out. But being the boyfriend in this situation and having no choice but sit and watch how it pans out is different for him. All of Shaun's past boyfriends, the very few that there were, were already out or never came out during the duration of their relationship.
Shaun placed his hand on Zach's thigh: "I'm really sorry."
Zach simply shrugged it off and left the room to sit on the couch near Cody.
Shaun sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.
On the nightstand next to him, Zach's phone began to vibrate and light up. "Jeanne Cell" was the name that appeared. Shaun picked in up and walked it into the living room and casually handed it to Zach. He glanced at the name, rolled his eyes, and then tossed his phone to the side.
Shaun was confused by his actions, but didn't want to start anything, especially with Cody mindlessly playing on the floor between them. Instead, he turned and walked into the kitchen. He pulled out a beer from the fridge, and then disappeared into the study to work.
The phone beside Zach vibrated once more. Jeanne apparently left a message to his surprise.
"Zach, hey, it's me. Just uh wanted to see how Cody is doing. Um. I also just wanted to let you know that we made it up here and we're settled in. So you can call me back if you want or not. Whatever. Okay. Bye."
Zach debated calling her back in his head for a moment. It probably would be a good idea to. He lifted himself off the couch and walked into the study where Shaun was working on his computer. Well he was supposed to be working on his computer, but instead was watching something on TV.
Zach knocked twice as he entered. "Hey. Can you watch him for a minute while I-." Zach waved his phone and Shaun understood.
"Yeah," Shaun said before calling for Cody. "Hey Cody, come hang out with me in here."
Zach cracked a smile.
Cody came running into the room with his trucks as Cody walked out into the living room closing the door a little behind him.
Zach walked towards the balcony door while he scrolled through his phone to find her number.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Zach?"
"Yeah. Hi."
"Um. Hi. Hang on a second?"
Zach could hear some shifting and mumbling. He began to pace around the room as he waited.
"Hey, sorry. Um, so how are you?"
"I'm great, Jeanne," Zach said, in an unconvincing way.
"Um okay. So did you and Cody move to LA?"
"Yeah, we moved into Shaun's apartment." Zach was hoping he would've been able to not mention Shaun's name during their conversation. He didn't know what kind of conversation would follow.
"Right," Jeanne replied quickly. There was a short pause that Zach was afraid of. "So how's Cody?"
"He's fine," Zach said, but wasn't satisfied with that so continued: "He's great."
"Oh... that's um awesome." Zach could hear the discomfort in her tone.
"So have you talked to dad?" he asked curiously.
"Actually I hung up with him just before I called you. He said you visited him. That was nice of you. Please keep an eye on him as well."
Zach was suddenly shocked and confused. Had his dad not told Jeanne about what happened during his visit. "Is he upset?"
"About what? The fact that you visited him? No? He was happy you stopped by," she said, also becoming confused. "Please make sure he's taking his pills, okay Zach? I actually have to go. Tell Cody I love him and I'll talk to you guys soon. Bye."
"Okay then, bye," Zach said annoyed by her abrupt goodbye. She didn't even want to talk to Cody herself?
He closed his phone and stared down at it for a few seconds with a face of disbelief and disgust as if he was looking straight at her.
He walked back towards the study and glanced through the crack in the doorway. Cody had gotten tired of his toys and was now sitting in Shaun's lap watching TV. Zach smiled. Shaun noticed the figure in the doorway and glanced over. He smiled back.
Later that night, Shaun, Zach, and Cody were going to meet Gabe for pizza at a small parlor about 10 minutes away from their home.
It was the first time Zach had seen him since they moved into Shaun's place. Although, everything between them was okay and Gabe was okay with everything, Zach couldn't shake the awkwardness he felt being with him and Shaun at the same time.
At dinner, Gabe just talked and talked. It wasn't even about anything special or important. He just seemed to babble on and on. Cody was growing tired quickly after they finished.
Gabe wanted to talk more to Zach so Shaun offered to take him home and Gabe and Zach would walk back since it wasn't too far.
The sky was turning orange as the sun began to set and there was a cool breeze. Zach pulled on his hoodie as they parted from Shaun and Cody.
"So how have you guys been since you moved in?" Gabe asked Zach on their walk back home.
Awkward.
It was awkward for Zach to discuss stuff like this with Gabe. He just wasn't used to it yet.
"Good," Zach said quickly. Gabe nodded.
"Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm really okay with the fact that you're with my brother. He's a really good person and I wanted him to find someone special. I never thought it would be you, but at the same time I want you to be happy too."
"Yeah," Zach added simply to show he was listening.
"He cares about you a lot. The night he told me about what was going on between you two-. You know, the night of my party. Shaun ditched the party and went to his room. I saw you guys in the car, but didn't think anything of it.
"When I went to talk to him, I walked into his room and he was crying. Like I'm not kidding. He was so upset and I kinda started putting two and two together. Anyways, he told me everything and told me how he really loved you and wanted you to be the one."
Zach was now enjoying his babbling. He smiled. It's good to hear how much someone loves you from a third party.
"I really care about my brother Zach and he is really happy with you. He really, really loves you."
Zach looked around for a second. No one was in earshot, so he softly said, "I love him too, Gabe."
Gabe patted his back and squeezed his neck.
"We've always been bros, but I never thought you'd be the bro-in-law," Gabe said jokingly.
Zach laughed.
"Have you seen Tori?" Zach asked.
"Nah," Gabe replied. "Haven't you talked to her?"
"I've been meaning to call her, but I've been kind of sidetracked with the move and telling my dad," Zach admitted.
"You told your dad?" Gabe was shocked. "How did that play out?"
"Not well," he said, "I'd actually rather not talk about it."
"That's fine, that's cool," Gabe said. They continued to walk and talked about surfing and Gabe's latest fling before Gabe mentioned something Zach did not see coming.
"So did Shaun tell you my mom and step-dad are coming in tomorrow?"
Read my movie review for Shelter on my blog,
