Chapter 43: Confusion and Clarity?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fosters.

AN: The second of the two chapters promised for hitting 175 reviews. This chapter is the first from Wally's point of view, and the first since Chapter 24 to feature a POV that wasn't Connor's. Features a time jump of three years. From Wally's POV, Connor is Dad, and Jude is Daddy.

Wally's POV (October 9th 2025):

It's been three years since Dads adopted me and not as much has changed as I thought it would.

Their band has released two more albums since then. Neither were as successful as the first one, but they were still hits. So, I guess it's kind of pointless to compare them to the first album. The second album, entitled "War Paint", debuted at #14 on the Billboard 200, with 46,000 copies sold in it's first week. The third was a concept album, called "Death Strider". It hit #12, selling 53,000 in it's first week.

Both albums got good reviews, although some critics criticized the concept for the third album.

I've actually got a writing credit of my own on the newest one on a song called "Nuclear Fire". I'm proud of that. Dads took me on tour with them for both tours. The tours were longer, more drawn out than the first tour they did. Since they had me to worry about now, they played their shows on the weekends, and we all flew home to San Diego for the rest of the week so I didn't miss school. As a result, each tour lasted a whole year and a half. It never got old either, standing in the wings on stage watching my Dads perform all of the songs that helped me get through the hardest period of my life to crowds full of screaming fans. I got to travel all over the world too, which was a bonus. My favorite place we've visited was Tokyo when they played the famous Budoken Arena.

Only one more thing real happened that was noteworthy, and that was a wedding.

Uncle Jesus and Uncle Cody, the last of my uncles still remaining unmarried, finally got married, and according to Dad, it was the most unromantic proposal in the history of the world, since Uncle Jesus doesn't have a single romantic bone in his body. Apparently, Uncle Cody asked him if they would ever get married, and he just pulled the ring box out of his pocket and handed it to him, asking him on the spot. It may seem careless, but that's just the way Uncle Jesus is. Neither of them wanted a big fancy wedding, so they just got married at the courthouse with the family and their friends in attendance.

But back to the present...

... And at the present I am the most irritated human being currently drawing breath on planet Earth...

... Because Tim has been avoiding me for almost a whole week now.

And worse, Dads have now noticed that Tim is avoiding me.

After what happened at my 14th Birthday party last week, I haven't spoken to my best friend once. Every time I see him at school, he turns around and walks in the opposite direction with a devastated expression on his face. Every time he avoids me, I feel the same mixture of sadness, irritation, and anger.

Let me start of by saying that it's not a secret that Tim is gay like both of my dads are. It never has been. When he came out last year, he practically bounced out of the closet with orchestral accompaniment and a friggin fireworks display. He's not exactly the most subtle person in the world. I've known him for over three years, I think I know him pretty well.

But on my birthday, at my party, something happened, and now he's avoiding me like I have the plague.

Today, finally, Dads managed to corner me after school. I had been avoiding this conversation since that day, but it seemed that my luck had finally run out.

"Just tell us what happened Wally." Dad asked, "You've been miserable all week. Something must had happened.

"It's complicated, okay?" I ground out.

Dad gave me a look.

"Try again."

I sighed.

"he kissed me." I mumbled.

"Sorry, didn't catch that." Daddy said.

"HE KISSED ME, ALRIGHT!" I snapped, "HE KISSED ME, STOMPED OFF, AND NOW HE WON'T EVEN TALK TO ME!"

I hadn't seen my Dads look so flabbergasted in years.

Daddy's eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open a little.

Dad reached up to massage his temples, while his eyebrows rose to nearly disappear into his bangs.

"Oh dear." He said.

"Yeah. Oh dear is right." I said irritably, "I'm not even mad about it! I just want my best friend to talk to me."

"What did you do after he kissed you?" Daddy asked.

"Nothing, I was too shocked." I exclaimed, "I just stared at him, my mouth agate, and he stomped off crying before I could even say anything. I chased after him and tried to talk to him, but he was gone before I could catch up to him."

"He probably thinks you're mad at him for it, buddy." Dad said.

"But I'm not!" I said, "Or... at least I don't think I am."

"What do you mean?" Dad asked.

"I'm just... I'm confused." I admitted.

"About what?" Dad asked.

"Why didn't he just tell me he liked me?" I asked, "I mean, it's not like I would have reacted badly."

"He doesn't know that though. Plus, you're his best friend." Dad pointed out, "It's a lot more complicated than that. Trust me, I know that from experience. It took me getting shot for Daddy and I to get together, and you and Tim are already even closer than we were when we were just friends."

"Okay. Wait a second... did you just say that you got shot?" I asked, stunned at this piece of information.

"It was in the foot." Dad said, shrugging it off, "It wasn't serious. I walked around on crutches for a while and then I was fine. It's a really long story that I don't really want to repeat. Ask your Aunt Daria or you Aunt Taylor, they know the whole story."

"Okay. I will." I said, "Anyway, It's not like I'm mad at him or anything. So what if he likes me? It's not that bad of a thing."

"I know we've never really talked about this." Dad said, "We always left you to figure things like this out for yourself unless you asked for our help. But... do you like him back?"

"I... I don't know." I said truthfully, "I've never thought about my sexuality. And the kiss was too quick to be able to base anything off of it."

It's true, I really hadn't. I hadn't had the need to yet. I was in a good place in my life. After a hellish childhood of hopping between foster homes, I finally had a family that loved me. I had two adoring fathers, and a vast collection of various aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. I had everything I could have ever asked for. The topic of my own sexuality never came up once.

"Well, whatever you decide, we're with you all the way. You know that right?" Dad asked me.

I nodded, offering them both a grateful smile.

"I know Dad." I said, giving them both a hug and a kiss.

That night laying in bed, I thought about it a lot. What am I? Am I straight? Am I gay? Am I bisexual? I don't know. I mean, since I started puberty, I've noticed girls, but I've noticed a few boys too. Not many, but there have been a small few. But it's different, because I'm not attracted to them because of what gender they are. It's personality that catches my eye. I think my Uncle Jesus is like that. He called it being Pansexual. I think. Yeah, that's it.

And one thing Tim did have was a good personality.

I thought about it the whole weekend, and when I arrived at Anchor Beach on Monday morning the first thing I did was search for Tim. I checked the room where we had our first class of the day, and he wasn't there. He wasn't in any of the bathrooms either. I eventually found him heading towards the cafeteria for breakfast. I sped up my pace to catch up with him. He wasn't getting away from me this time.

"TIM!" I shouted.

He immediately did an about face and started walking the other way. Having had enough of this, I ran after him. I stepped in front of him, grinding his progress to a halt with a single angry glare

"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted, and reached out and grabbed his arm, "We need to have a fucking talk, and this time, you're NOT getting out of it."

I dragged him to the principal's office. Grandma Lena noticed us come in and rose to meet us.

"Something wrong boys?" She asked.

"We need to use your office." I said.

She nodded and I dragged Tim into the office and shut the door behind me. I turned back to Tim, who was staring at me as if I was about to kill him.

"Oh calm down, I'm not going to fuckin' hurt you." I shot at him.

"Really?" He sassed back, "Because you look like you'd like nothing more than to reach down my throat and pull out by kidneys with a rusty fork."

"Oh shut up! What the fuck is your problem, Tim?" I ranted, "First you kiss me, then you run away, then you avoid me like I've got the fucking plague!"

"I figured you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore." He shot back sadly, "So I just figured..."

"You're my best friend, you dumbass." I cut him off furiously, "It would take a lot more than a fucking kiss to scare me away. You know me better than anybody but my dads, you should know that!"

"So, you're not mad at me?" He asked hopefully.

The tone of his voice made my anger evaporate in an instant.

I sighed.

"About the kiss? Of course I'm fucking not." I said exasperatedly, "About avoiding me like an idiot? A little bit."

"Sorry." He said meekly.

We both stood there, the silence in the room weighing a ton until I decided to break the silence.

"Why did you do it? Kiss me, I mean." I asked.

"Why do you think?" He mumbled sadly.

"You like me." I stated.

"Obviously." He mumbled back.

"Why did you never tell me?" I asked.

He looked at me as I had grown a third head.

"You're my best friend, Walter." He deadpanned, "And I've got a monstrous unrequited crush on you. Might make things a bit awkward."

I thought about what he just said.

Unrequited crush, he said.

But was the crush unrequited, I asked myself.

I know I'm not straight. Like I started to realize last night, I'm like my Uncle Jesus. I'm attracted to a person's personality. I don't give a damn what gender they are.

And then there is Tim.

He was my first real friend.

He was the one person in the world I trusted more than Dads.

We've always been really affectionate with each other.

Whenever I'm with him, I feel lighter. I feel happier.

His personality was the perfect contrast and compliment to mine.

It was a big plus that he was relatively good looking.

I think I had my answer.

"What if it isn't?" I interjected.

"What are talking about?" He asked irritably.

"You said the crush was unrequited." I explained, "What if it isn't?"

His eyes widened as he stared at me.

"What did you just say?"

"What if the feeling is mutual?" I asked.

"Wally, you're straight!"

"No, I'm Pansexual like my Uncle Jesus." I corrected, "Definitely not straight."

He stared at me, looking for some kind of sign that I was lying.

"You... you're being serious?" He asked.

"Of course I am." I said.

He stared at me for a few more seconds, before taking a few steps forward until he was standing right in front of me.

"I'm sorry I avoided you." He mumbled.

"It's okay. Just don't do it again."

"So... where does this leave us?" He asked.

"To be honest? This all new to me." I answered, "I mean, let's just let things play out."

"Okay. Well... we could go out sometime." He suggested, "We'll go on a couple of dates, and if we decide that this could work... then we'll so where it goes. That sound okay to you?"

I thought about it for a couple of seconds before nodding.

"I'm okay with that." I responded.

I pulled him into a hug, and he rested his head on my shoulder. After a few seconds, he pulled away from the hug. He stared at me for a few seconds, his eyes flickering between my eyes and lips. He started to lean in again, pausing to make eye contact and give me a chance to pull away.

I didn't pull away, and nodded my permission.

As I felt his lips softly touch mine for second time, it was like an electric shock running through my body.

I couldn't help but think I could get used to that feeling.

AN#2: Okay so that's the other new chapter. Hope you guys liked it. Please leave lots of reviews on BOTH of the new chapters, and leave any ideas you might have for drama.