Inheritance (12/30)
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Kevin was beginning to regret his plan to have Jason and Scotty meet. The evening was almost over, and Kevin was feeling very ignored by that point. In what may have been an attempt to annoy or punish Kevin, Scotty turned on the Southern charm. Hard. He and Jason had focused on each other most of the night. Which, yes, was the idea, but Kevin hadn’t expected there to be quite so much…flirting.
Scotty chuckled at something Jason said, lifting his coffee cup as he flashed an amused smirk at Kevin. Kevin forced a small smile to his lips in response. Scotty took a drink and put his cup down.
“Well,” he said. “I should get going. Kevin, you need any help cleaning up?”
“No, it’s fine,” Kevin said.
Scotty stood, and Jason followed his lead. Kevin stood up, more slowly. He watched, or maybe glared might be a more accurate description, as Jason and Scotty shook hands; he tried to decide if they were holding onto the clasp just a little too long. Then he pasted on another smile as Scotty waved in his direction and quickly left the loft. Kevin turned back to the table, grabbing a couple empty plates to bring into the kitchen.
Jason followed him. “He seems nice,” he said.
“I could tell you liked him,” Kevin replied, trying to sound casual.
He apparently failed, and Jason laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kevin shrugged, not looking up as he loaded the dishwasher. “If you left now, you could probably still catch up to him. You two could make a night of it.”
Jason gave him a still-amused awwww, as he wrapped his arms around Kevin’s stomach and pulled him back to his chest. Then the humor left him as he splayed his fingers across Kevin’s abdomen. Jason nibbled on his earlobe before gruffly saying, “You have nothing to worry about.”
Jason certainly sounded sincere. And the things he started doing with his fingers just then made it difficult for Kevin to analyze why Jason’s reassurance didn’t really make him feel any better. At all.
***
The next time Kevin saw Scotty was a family dinner at Nora’s. He walked into the kitchen and saw Scotty peering into a pan. Kevin made a face at the smell.
“What’s burning?” Kevin asked.
“It’s paella,” Scotty murmured without turning around. “It’s supposed to smell like this.”
“Oh,” Kevin replied, walking closer. Leaning over the stove himself, he put a hand on Scotty’s lower back. For balance.
Scotty glanced at him quickly, then sighed.
“Kevin, I’m sorry about the dinner.”
Kevin turned away, walking over to the open wine bottle on the counter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Kevin.”
Kevin paused, letting his shoulders fall. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have forced you into it, anyway.”
“You didn’t force me into anything. I just…I - ”
“It’s OK. I understand.”
“Well, maybe you can explain it to me then.”
“Scotty, just let it go.”
Scotty didn’t reply for a moment. “OK,” he finally said.
Scotty walked over by Kevin then and poured his own glass of wine. “Are we OK?” he asked softly.
Kevin looked up at him, then gave him a small smile. “We’re fine,” he said sincerely.
“Good. Because I miss you.”
Kevin laughed, his smile widening into a happy grin. “I miss you too.”
***
And it seemed they were, in fact, OK, as long as they followed some unspoken rules. Kevin never asked Scotty to hang out with Jason again; he even hinted when Jason would be at the family dinners so Scotty could innocently come up with other plans. And Scotty stopped avoiding Kevin entirely. And once Jason left for Malaysia, things became even better as there was nothing hanging over them anymore. They were back to seeing each other at least two to three times a week, grabbing some food or a show or most recently getting sucked into a cheesy daytime soap currently featuring a gay subplot. Kevin thought the lead was cute, but Scotty kept pointing out his ridiculous acting skills and obvious plastic surgery.
Sometimes they would meet to watch the show at Kevin’s, sometimes Holly’s and sometimes, if they had enough time for the longer drive and knew there were leftovers, Nora's. Occasionally, on the days they watched at Holly's, she would take a long lunch and join them, as she knew the actor playing the family patriarch from her actress days. Kevin was surprised to find he was actually fine with Holly. He would never admit it to his mother or Sarah, of course, but she wasn’t entirely bad. She opened up more and more the closer her relationship with Scotty grew, and Kevin was happy to see them getting along so well.
But when Justin came home, battered and bruised but alive, they switched full-time to Nora’s. Tyler would join them for the occasional episode, laughing at Kevin and Scotty’s running commentary. Justin just asked incredulous and mocking questions about the storylines, trying not to reveal he had been sucked in, as well.
One Friday, Kevin had off after a long time preparing a case, and so he was the first to arrive at Nora’s. They were excitedly waiting for the big consummation scene. After so long, Dirk and Alex were going to go all the way. Scotty remained pessimistic, warning the others that, at most, they were going to see some candles and messed-up sheets before the camera panned away and faded to black. Kevin was convinced the network would actually show something - a kiss, a shirtless scene - and they were arguing about it as they all took their seats in the den.
Scotty flopped on the couch, and Kevin landed on the opposite end, angled slightly with his feet overlapping Scotty’s in the middle. The show’s theme started, and everyone cheered.
“Take off your shirts!” Kevin yelled at the screen, and Scotty chuckled, reaching behind himself to smack Kevin’s shin.
It turned out they were both right and both wrong. The camera stayed on the couple just long enough for their lips to touch in an extremely chaste kiss before the show cut to commercial. Kevin and Scotty, along with Justin and Tyler, all booed and threw their popcorn at the TV.
At the end of the show, Tyler and Scotty both hurried back to work. Justin watched Kevin as he cleaned up the mess.
“So, uh, you and Scotty seem like you got pretty close over the summer,” Justin finally said, after observing them with growing curiosity over the last few weeks. He wondered if he was imagining things or, since he was the only one who had the perspective of being absent for so long, he was the only one who really noticed what was going on.
Kevin furrowed his brow. “Yeah, I guess. We get along.”
“That’s cool. I was just surprised to see so much, you know, flirting.”
Kevin looked up at him, laughing in astonishment. “Flirting?!”
Justin shrugged.
“You’re insane,” Kevin commented.
“Am I?”
“Yeah.”
“OK.”
Kevin pulled himself to his feet. “I have a boyfriend,” he reminded Justin. “And even if I didn’t, Scotty is our half-brother. I would have thought you realized that being gay doesn’t mean you have all sorts of deviant sexual interests. I’m attracted to men, not relatives.”
“OK,” Justin said again, dropping the subject. “It was just a joke. No need to get defensive.”
“I’m not defensive,” Kevin said defensively. “It just wasn’t funny.”
***
“Hi Holly!” Scotty called out as he walked through the door after work.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, paging through a photo album. “Hi, hon. There’s some lasagna, if you’re hungry.”
“Yum,” Scotty observed, stepping closer to the stove and preparing himself a plate. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I was up in the attic today, cleaning. I have some old stuff of William’s that I’m finally getting rid of. And I found these photos. They’re from when I was pregnant. Want to see?”
“Yeah,” Scotty said, joining her at the table.
She turned the book slightly so they could both see. Scotty smiled. “You were beautiful. I mean, not that you aren’t still, but - ”
Holly laughed. “Relax. I know what you mean. But, my God, those clothes.”
Scotty nodded in amused agreement. “How far along are you here?”
“Oh, it must have been five or six months. Nowhere near the final, big-as-a-house size.”
She flipped a page. There were a variety of pictures in the photo album, and the next page had some of her at a table reading. She was leaning to the side, smiling softly as a man talked into her ear.
“Who’s that?”
Holly cleared her throat. “David Caplan. He was a director friend of mine.”
“Just a friend?” Scotty asked teasingly.
“A close friend. He was…he was the other man I told you about.”
“Ah,” Scotty said in understanding. “What happened between you two?”
Holly shrugged. “He was unreliable. And he wasn’t William.”
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Kevin was beginning to regret his plan to have Jason and Scotty meet. The evening was almost over, and Kevin was feeling very ignored by that point. In what may have been an attempt to annoy or punish Kevin, Scotty turned on the Southern charm. Hard. He and Jason had focused on each other most of the night. Which, yes, was the idea, but Kevin hadn’t expected there to be quite so much…flirting.
Scotty chuckled at something Jason said, lifting his coffee cup as he flashed an amused smirk at Kevin. Kevin forced a small smile to his lips in response. Scotty took a drink and put his cup down.
“Well,” he said. “I should get going. Kevin, you need any help cleaning up?”
“No, it’s fine,” Kevin said.
Scotty stood, and Jason followed his lead. Kevin stood up, more slowly. He watched, or maybe glared might be a more accurate description, as Jason and Scotty shook hands; he tried to decide if they were holding onto the clasp just a little too long. Then he pasted on another smile as Scotty waved in his direction and quickly left the loft. Kevin turned back to the table, grabbing a couple empty plates to bring into the kitchen.
Jason followed him. “He seems nice,” he said.
“I could tell you liked him,” Kevin replied, trying to sound casual.
He apparently failed, and Jason laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kevin shrugged, not looking up as he loaded the dishwasher. “If you left now, you could probably still catch up to him. You two could make a night of it.”
Jason gave him a still-amused awwww, as he wrapped his arms around Kevin’s stomach and pulled him back to his chest. Then the humor left him as he splayed his fingers across Kevin’s abdomen. Jason nibbled on his earlobe before gruffly saying, “You have nothing to worry about.”
Jason certainly sounded sincere. And the things he started doing with his fingers just then made it difficult for Kevin to analyze why Jason’s reassurance didn’t really make him feel any better. At all.
***
The next time Kevin saw Scotty was a family dinner at Nora’s. He walked into the kitchen and saw Scotty peering into a pan. Kevin made a face at the smell.
“What’s burning?” Kevin asked.
“It’s paella,” Scotty murmured without turning around. “It’s supposed to smell like this.”
“Oh,” Kevin replied, walking closer. Leaning over the stove himself, he put a hand on Scotty’s lower back. For balance.
Scotty glanced at him quickly, then sighed.
“Kevin, I’m sorry about the dinner.”
Kevin turned away, walking over to the open wine bottle on the counter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Kevin.”
Kevin paused, letting his shoulders fall. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have forced you into it, anyway.”
“You didn’t force me into anything. I just…I - ”
“It’s OK. I understand.”
“Well, maybe you can explain it to me then.”
“Scotty, just let it go.”
Scotty didn’t reply for a moment. “OK,” he finally said.
Scotty walked over by Kevin then and poured his own glass of wine. “Are we OK?” he asked softly.
Kevin looked up at him, then gave him a small smile. “We’re fine,” he said sincerely.
“Good. Because I miss you.”
Kevin laughed, his smile widening into a happy grin. “I miss you too.”
***
And it seemed they were, in fact, OK, as long as they followed some unspoken rules. Kevin never asked Scotty to hang out with Jason again; he even hinted when Jason would be at the family dinners so Scotty could innocently come up with other plans. And Scotty stopped avoiding Kevin entirely. And once Jason left for Malaysia, things became even better as there was nothing hanging over them anymore. They were back to seeing each other at least two to three times a week, grabbing some food or a show or most recently getting sucked into a cheesy daytime soap currently featuring a gay subplot. Kevin thought the lead was cute, but Scotty kept pointing out his ridiculous acting skills and obvious plastic surgery.
Sometimes they would meet to watch the show at Kevin’s, sometimes Holly’s and sometimes, if they had enough time for the longer drive and knew there were leftovers, Nora's. Occasionally, on the days they watched at Holly's, she would take a long lunch and join them, as she knew the actor playing the family patriarch from her actress days. Kevin was surprised to find he was actually fine with Holly. He would never admit it to his mother or Sarah, of course, but she wasn’t entirely bad. She opened up more and more the closer her relationship with Scotty grew, and Kevin was happy to see them getting along so well.
But when Justin came home, battered and bruised but alive, they switched full-time to Nora’s. Tyler would join them for the occasional episode, laughing at Kevin and Scotty’s running commentary. Justin just asked incredulous and mocking questions about the storylines, trying not to reveal he had been sucked in, as well.
One Friday, Kevin had off after a long time preparing a case, and so he was the first to arrive at Nora’s. They were excitedly waiting for the big consummation scene. After so long, Dirk and Alex were going to go all the way. Scotty remained pessimistic, warning the others that, at most, they were going to see some candles and messed-up sheets before the camera panned away and faded to black. Kevin was convinced the network would actually show something - a kiss, a shirtless scene - and they were arguing about it as they all took their seats in the den.
Scotty flopped on the couch, and Kevin landed on the opposite end, angled slightly with his feet overlapping Scotty’s in the middle. The show’s theme started, and everyone cheered.
“Take off your shirts!” Kevin yelled at the screen, and Scotty chuckled, reaching behind himself to smack Kevin’s shin.
It turned out they were both right and both wrong. The camera stayed on the couple just long enough for their lips to touch in an extremely chaste kiss before the show cut to commercial. Kevin and Scotty, along with Justin and Tyler, all booed and threw their popcorn at the TV.
At the end of the show, Tyler and Scotty both hurried back to work. Justin watched Kevin as he cleaned up the mess.
“So, uh, you and Scotty seem like you got pretty close over the summer,” Justin finally said, after observing them with growing curiosity over the last few weeks. He wondered if he was imagining things or, since he was the only one who had the perspective of being absent for so long, he was the only one who really noticed what was going on.
Kevin furrowed his brow. “Yeah, I guess. We get along.”
“That’s cool. I was just surprised to see so much, you know, flirting.”
Kevin looked up at him, laughing in astonishment. “Flirting?!”
Justin shrugged.
“You’re insane,” Kevin commented.
“Am I?”
“Yeah.”
“OK.”
Kevin pulled himself to his feet. “I have a boyfriend,” he reminded Justin. “And even if I didn’t, Scotty is our half-brother. I would have thought you realized that being gay doesn’t mean you have all sorts of deviant sexual interests. I’m attracted to men, not relatives.”
“OK,” Justin said again, dropping the subject. “It was just a joke. No need to get defensive.”
“I’m not defensive,” Kevin said defensively. “It just wasn’t funny.”
***
“Hi Holly!” Scotty called out as he walked through the door after work.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, paging through a photo album. “Hi, hon. There’s some lasagna, if you’re hungry.”
“Yum,” Scotty observed, stepping closer to the stove and preparing himself a plate. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I was up in the attic today, cleaning. I have some old stuff of William’s that I’m finally getting rid of. And I found these photos. They’re from when I was pregnant. Want to see?”
“Yeah,” Scotty said, joining her at the table.
She turned the book slightly so they could both see. Scotty smiled. “You were beautiful. I mean, not that you aren’t still, but - ”
Holly laughed. “Relax. I know what you mean. But, my God, those clothes.”
Scotty nodded in amused agreement. “How far along are you here?”
“Oh, it must have been five or six months. Nowhere near the final, big-as-a-house size.”
She flipped a page. There were a variety of pictures in the photo album, and the next page had some of her at a table reading. She was leaning to the side, smiling softly as a man talked into her ear.
“Who’s that?”
Holly cleared her throat. “David Caplan. He was a director friend of mine.”
“Just a friend?” Scotty asked teasingly.
“A close friend. He was…he was the other man I told you about.”
“Ah,” Scotty said in understanding. “What happened between you two?”
Holly shrugged. “He was unreliable. And he wasn’t William.”
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