Chapter XIX ─ Damage Control

[ M I C H A E L   G R I F F I N ]

My palms were unnaturally sweaty as I leaped towards the front door of the Clay residence. My heart was racing, my thoughts had long gone haywire and I could hear a faint female voice yelling from the other side of the door.

I was worried sick and couldn't take my mind off of Bryan, out of all the days, Jen had to resurface today, didn't she? I didn't know what I should have expected inside of the house, why was my ex-best friend's sister tormenting him? I pursed my lips and inhaled the last breath of fresh air and dove headfirst into what seemed to be a messy situation.

The front door creaked a little as I swiftly peeked in and made my way inside. The voices, or rather voice, had gone silent and I had two pairs of mildly infuriated, but confused eyes on me. Jenna Clay's lips curled up into a nasty smirk. "Well, well, well, if it isn't a pleasure to see you." Her tone had been dry, all but welcoming.

"Jen." I retorted, void of emotions. I looked at Bryan sitting on a barstool, his gaze was focused on the floor and I could see his nostrils flaring, his breathing erratic. He was trying his best to keep his temper in check and it showed, whatever Jen was drilling his head about was getting to him and it was only a matter of time before he snapped.

I held my chin up and stared at Jenna with an interrogative glare. "What's going on here?"

Bryan sighed from the barstool and shot me a pleading look. "Go home, Michael, this is none of your business."

I flinched at his words but continued pressing the matter, I wasn't going to let my deepest regret ruin her brother's life today. "Oh no, this is absolutely my business. You weren't present for practice today, you weren't answering your phone and I was worried sick. When I saw Jen here, I could only connect the dots. So don't give me that bullshit, Bryan." I gazed back at Jen with a cold glare, she had an amused expression on her face. "Now, what are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to come home once in a while and visit my beloved brother? Sheesh, I'm hurt that you think I'm the bad guy here, Michael." Jen answered mockingly, stifling a yawn. 

"Jen, I don't think you realize that I am not as easily manipulated as I used to be when you decided to try and wrap me around your finger. Cut the bullshit, why are you here, what do you want and how soon can you piss off?" I challenged her with a glare and earned a surprised chuckle from her.

"You've grown quite the attitude, I liked you better when you were a complacent little brat. But to answer your question, I was talking some sense into my dear brother, isn't that right, faggot?" She shot a glare at Bryan. When I saw the flinch on my former best friend's face I paled. Is that what all this was about?

"What did you just say?" I inquired, my tone stone-cold and deeper than the usual. "What did you call him?"

"What, a faggot? A fairy? A queer? I mean am I not allowed to call my brother what he is?" Jen challenged me back with a nonchalant gaze. The realization took control of her face and she smiled softly. "Oh, you didn't know, what a bummer."

I grew more frazzled by the minute, Bryan just got outed to me by his sister, nobody deserved this fate. It took me a moment before I could speak again, I pitied Bryan, I did, but I also wanted to fight for him, because it didn't look like he could do it by himself. Judging by the wide eyes full of despair staring at me. "You're disgusting, Jenna." I shook my head and stared into her eyes with determination. "The fact that you have the audacity to out your brother is beyond me. The fact that you call your brother names and bully him is worse, how fucking dare you, Jen? Are you really that big of a close-minded bigot that you can only help but put your own brother down because of something he has no control over?"

"Oh, you're one to speak, you little rat, the only reason he's like this is because of you. Our parents raised us better than to be like that, he brought so much shame onto himself and our family when he decided that he was gay. So much shame that in fact, even our parents don't want to hear from him. And you know who I blame it all on? You. You were the one who got into his head, all careless and oblivious, and made him this way." Jen accused me.

"Shame...? Decided? Made?" I shook my head desperately trying to make sense of this incredibly flawed and misinformed logic. "Have we gone back to the seventies overnight or something? The only shame I see here is that you and your bigoted parents can't accept Bryan for what he is. You don't just 'decide' that you're gay, Jenna, if that were the case I don't think gay people would exist. Bryan figured out that he wasn't heterosexual at a young age and decided to trust you with that knowledge and what did you do? You made him feel like a piece of trash. You should be ashamed of yourself and your parents because you truly are the scum in this situation and that is a fact." I shook my head in disappointment and shot a comforting glance to Bryan, there was a lot of information to unpack, but I tried my best to stay levelheaded. "He looked up to you, Jenna. When we were younger he would remark how awesome you were, you were an inspiration to him and all you did was toss the trust down the drain as soon as a very sensitive revelation was made. And don't you dare pin the blame on me, one person can't make another one gay, straight or anything. I couldn't do that now and I sure as hell couldn't back then. You should feel bad about yourself, Jenna. I never thought that I'd have to lecture a grown adult woman about what was right or wrong, but I guess I shouldn't have had any expectations when it came to you anyways." I concluded with a soft, yet commanding tone.

It felt as if my elongated monologue fell onto deaf ears and I had made the sin of trying to set a hellbent lunatic straight. Fury blazed in Jenna Clay's eyes. "Don't you fucking dare say that shit about my family and don't you fucking dare lecture me with your twisted sense of morality, you're a young little bastard and with logic like that the world would eat you up. People like Bryan don't belong in this world, he should feel bad about himself. He deserves everything that happened to him and will always deserve it. He broke up our family, he was the one who couldn't be fucking normal." Her glare had shifted from me over to Bryan who shied away from it, I couldn't even imagine what was running through his head at the moment. My mind went blank when Jen turned to walk towards her brother, who looked like he was on the verge of multiple panic attacks.

I acted out of instinct and grabbed her arm with a firm grip, to hold her in place and stop her advance. "Family? Is that what the Clays were? Because I see no family here. You're wrong, Jenna, I may be young and stupid, but I will never stoop down your level. The truth of the matter is, that people like you don't belong in this world, they never did and never will. I, for the life of me, can't find a single ounce of sympathy for people like you and your parents." Reasoning with Jenna was futile, if people didn't want to hear your side, then why bother? It was clear that she wasn't going to suddenly change her mind and realize her mistakes. Her bigotry had been engrained so deep down inside of her that it stood out as one of her qualities, or their lack of. I stooped down to her level after all. My anger issues had perked up in interest a long time ago and I was beginning to lose my temper, I had resorted to using her own tactics of belittlement to win this pointless battle.

"Let go of me, it hurts." She hissed as I subconsciously tightened my grip on her arm.

"Listen to me, Jenna, and listen to me well. You are not welcome here anymore, you weren't welcome here for a very long time. If you do as much as look at your brother, whom you truly don't deserve, wrong, I will find a way to ruin you. I will do whatever there is in my power to hurt you as bad as you hurt him." I spat. I wasn't a person to that liked to threaten others, I was a relatively passive person, but in situations like this, I couldn't help but be spontaneous. I did not make empty threats and I meant everything I said. I'd scour through countless legalities just to make something work.

I let go of Jenna's arm and found myself walking to Bryan's room, which had been the same as when we'd been kids. Without much hesitation, I ignored the messy situation of his room, which was incredibly unlike Bryan, and went into his on-suite bathroom. I didn't have much time to waste, I had to cut this whole situation short and get Bryan out of here before he let his emotions fly. Which is why I picked up his toothbrush and rushed back. 

I looked over at Bryan, his breathing was unsteady and ragged, when I stepped closer to him I realized that he was shaking. Out of anger? Fear? Maybe both? Jenna, on the other hand, sat on the couch and pretended that we didn't exist, scrolling through her phone with a scowl on her face.

I cautiously touched Bryan's arm and looked at him with a soft, caring gaze. "Hey, let's get out of here, alright? I think it's best if I get you away from here for a while, you can stay with me." I couldn't leave him stranded here after what went down and what had been going down for what seemed like years. If Bryan couldn't find his voice to reason, I would be his voice from now on.

He was tense, more so than usual, I could see the veins running through his arms clearly, his jaw was clenched. When Bryan looked up at me with those beautiful eyes of his, the guilt swirled even deeper in my chest. It took a moment for him to respond, he nodded at my proposal and stood up wordlessly.

We left the Clay residence without as much as a word or another glace at Jenna. Today was a day that would change both of our lives forever.

Throughout all this pain and suffering, I struggled to find a resolution. I failed to make good of this situation. But I would try my best to shape the broken husk of a human, that was my former best friend, back into something recognizable. I might not have been obliged to do it, but damn did I want to.

I was determined to get my Bryan back.