Ethan pulled away and looked at Cal with worry in his eyes. Cal still didn't know whether this was a good time to tell him, but he knew he had put it off long enough. He just hoped it wouldn't cause Ethan to breakdown even further. Cal sat up on the bed while Ethan remained lying down.
"Look, I want you to not speak until I've told you everything." Cal said.
Ethan nodded.
"And I want you to know that whatever happens I never meant to hurt you." Cal added.
"Okay, but you're scaring me now." Ethan said.
"I said don't speak."
Ethan closed his mouth and waited for his brother to continue. Cal took the silence and dragged it out until he was ready to carry on. Eventually, he took a deep breath.
"Um, you know I took the paternity test?" Cal began.
Ethan didn't respond.
"Well, do you?"
"You told me not to speak."
Cal slightly chuckled at how seriously Ethan took his comment.
"Ethan, you can speak but, don't ramble on."
"What about the paternity test?"
"On it I discovered my blood group was different. It said my blood group was O. But, mum's was AB. At first I thought there must have been some mistake and that's when I asked Charlie to retake it."
"When I came in?"
"`Yes. Turns out the paternity results weren't wrong. My blood group is O."
Ethan looks at him. He doesn't know what Cal is trying to say to him. Cal notices Ethan's confusion.
"Um, what I'm trying to say is I'm adopted…."
"We're not brothers?"
"No, wait. When I found out I was adopted I needed to know if you were actually my real brother so Charlie tracked down my birth mum. I discovered she gave away two boys, you and me. At first I wondered why we didn't get adopted separately, but then she told me she wanted us to stay together so we had someone to look out for each other. So Ethan, we are brothers. By blood, by everything." Cal smiled.
Cal was about to wrap his arms around his brother when he flinched away.
"What is it?"
"You said Charlie knew. How long has he known about this?"
"Since Christmas."
Ethan was stunned.
"And how long have you known about this?" Ethan asked Cal.
"Since Christmas." He replied quietly.
"So you've known about this since Christmas? And you didn't think it was a good idea to mention it to me?" Ethan said raising his voice.
"I was going to but…."
"But, what? It slipped your mind?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Would you just let me finish?"
"Fine. Go ahead."
"That's not all."
"It isn't?"
"No. Well, um our birth mum….um has got um…." Cal couldn't bring himself to tell Ethan.
"She's got what?" Ethan retorted.
"She's got Huntington's." Cal blurted out.
Ethan didn't dare to speak. He couldn't speak. He continued to stare at his brother in disbelief. Cal noticed he was having difficulty taking the news all in. Cal placed a hand on his brother's arm.
"DON'T…. you touch me." Ethan snapped.
"Ethan…."
"I said don't you dare touch me."
"Please, Ethan. We need to talk." Cal pleaded.
"Talk?" Ethan responded sarcastically. "Talk about what? Talk about the fact you kept this from me? Talk about how you lied to me? Or talk about how you went to Charlie instead of coming to your own brother?"
"Look, Ethan…."
"No, I don't want to hear any more lies. I've had it with you."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Cal asks.
"It's about you, Cal. It's always about you."
"You know that's not true."
"What? So you were protecting me is that it?"
"Yes."
"By lying to me?"
"I didn't lie to you."
"You didn't tell me. That's basically lying."
"I was going to tell you."
"Save it, Cal. I don't want to hear any more excuses. I think you should leave."
Cal nodded slightly.
"Very well, then. I'll leave. But, we'll talk later, yeah?" Cal added.
"No. I mean I think you should leave the flat."