I didn’t question Roy’s methods. Either he’d taken what I had said to him to heart, or some greater force had just told him to come with me. It didn’t really matter, at least he was going to talk to JC.
I just hoped he was going to say the right things.
We didn’t say one word to each other on the way back, but again, it didn’t really matter. Roy could dislike me all he wanted as long as he made his peace with JC.
When we finally got to the house, I saw Chris and Joey playing with a frisbee in the front yard. They took one look at me, and then at Roy, and didn’t say anything.
“Where’s JC?” I asked. “He’s inside,” Chris replied, nodding a hello to Roy. Roy nodded back and went inside.
“So that’s where you went,” Joey stated. I just nodded. “What possessed you to go to see JC’s dad, of all people?” Chris asked, looking at the front door, which Roy had just entered.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “JC and I got into a fight about his dad, and then I got to thinking that he doesn’t have a lot of time... I mean, I know what it’s like and I just... I had a free afternoon. I thought that... I just did, okay?”
After almost blurting out that JC didn’t have a lot of time left to live, what else was there to do but babble? Joey and Chris just looked at me.
“So...” Joey said after a minute, breaking the awkward silence, “what do you think they’re talking about?”
I looked to the house, wondering the exact same thing.
*
An hour had gone by, and throwing the frisbee had gotten old, so Chris, Joey, and myself were just sitting there, talking.
"You think they're making up?" Joey asked. "That was my original purpose of bringing him here," I said. Chris looked at me for a moment before saying, "You know, Lance... whatever JC said to you, I know that he didn't mean it. You didn't see him when he didn't know where you had gone... he was frantic, like a parent who lost a kid or something." I just shrugged and looked away.
"He really hurt you, didn't he?" Joey asked softly. I just shrugged again. "If he makes up with his dad, it's fine. I'm sure he'll apologize and everything will be better."
"But..." Chris probed, and I sighed. "He told me that his life was perfectly normal until he started dating me. He was angry and he wasn't thinking, so he must have meant it."
Chris and Joey didn't say anything. What was there to say?
*
It was another couple of hours before JC and Roy emerged from the house. I watched JC and Roy embrace and couldn't hold back my smile for them. JC stayed on the front porch and Roy started walking towards us. We all stood up and Roy stopped in front of me.
"Thank you," he whispered, pulling me into a hug. I returned it, seeing JC smiling at the two of us. I nodded to him as he pulled away and a taxi that Roy must've called inside pulled up. With a last wave, Roy got in and the taxi drove away.
Joey and Chris looked at me expectantly, then looked over at JC. "Go make up with your boy," Chris told me, hitting my shoulder lightly.
"How'd it go?" I asked JC when I approached him. He smiled and started talking a mile a minute, "It was so great. He came in and he said that we needed to talk, and we spent all that time just talking about the way I am and how it's not a bad thing. He told me deep down he knew that, and that he never stopped loving me and that I was still his son. Then we started talking about you, and he told me how you went down there to talk to him, and Lance... I couldn't love you more for that. I'm... I'm so sorry about what I said, I didn't mean it."
"Yes you did," I told him, looking away, a feeling settling in my stomach that I didn't want to listen to.
"Lance, no, I didn't, I swear. I was just angry and I wasn't thinking and-"
"That's exactly the point JC. You weren't thinking, so you meant what you said. I wish you'd told me sooner you felt that way."
JC grabbed my hands and tugged on them, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "Lance, I love you. You didn't ruin my life, you've made it the best that it could ever be. Lance, I'm so sorry about earlier, if it wasn't for you, I would've never reconciled with my dad and-"
"What if I had gone down there and he hadn't come with me, JC? You'd still be upset. You're just happy because you have his support now."
"Lance, no, I-"
"Listen to me, JC," I said, feeling my throat constricting. My heart was telling me not to do was I about to do, screaming at me, that I didn't have time to do this, but... I wasn't going to be with JC if I was hurting him. "I love you, more than anything. I don't want to cause pain in your life. You mean too much to me. I... I need to step back."
"Lance, please, just-" I put my finger to his lip and could feel my eyes watering slightly. "I need to step back, JC."
"Are you breaking up with me?" he whispered, his voice seeming small and timid.
My silence was all the answer he needed.
*
