Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

was proud of him soothed Ty’s soul in a way not many other things could.
    “Your brother’s a latent stoner, isn’t he?” Zane asked fondly.
    “I don’t think there’s anything latent about it.”
    Zane laughed and scooted down in the bed, pulling on Ty’s arm as he went. “Come here.”
    Ty lay down with him, curling around him and settling his head on Zane’s shoulder. He’d grown comfortable with the opportunities he had to do this, to lean on Zane both physically and emotionally. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with the fact that it didn’t make him weak. When Zane wrapped his arms around him, it felt right.
    “I’m proud of you too, Beaumont.”

    The next morning was a little tense, to say the least, but better than Ty had expected under the circumstances. Breakfast started out stilted and awkward, but Deuce kept a conversation going with Zane about motorcycles, and Ty eventually got Mara to start rambling about the plans for the Bluefield Fourth of July parade. Then they all moved to the living room with coffee and homemade sweet rolls. It was the general consensus that, with Earl’s impressive black eye and Ty’s broken hand, they could skip church.
    Deuce took the seat next to Zane on the couch, so Ty sat down on the floor between their feet as the conversation strengthened on the current baseball standings. Earl and Chester both were die-hard Braves fans just like Ty, but Deuce had jumped ship and started pulling for his hometown Phillies several years back. It made for a lively discussion when Deuce started gloating.
    Finally the idle talk came around to one of the many subjects Ty had been dreading.
    “I do have one question for you two,” Earl said.
    “Just one?” Ty asked, though his heart had started racing. He glanced furtively over his shoulder at Zane. His lover seemed relaxed, but Ty knew that Zane was a lit fuse beneath the surface. Zane shrugged.
    “When you were here last, Zane, you were wearing a wedding band,” Earl said, frowning at him.
    “That’s right.”
    Earl looked from Zane to Ty, raising an eyebrow.
    “My wife died in a car accident five years before I met Ty.”
    Earl nodded, watching Zane with what might have passed for sympathy.
    “And you still wore your ring? Our condolences, Zane dear, that must have been hard on you,” Mara offered.
    Zane smiled. “Yes, ma’am. It was.”
    Ty knew Zane would never admit how hard. Becky’s death had been the catalyst that threw Zane into both alcohol and drugs, problems he would struggle with for the rest of his life.
    That, coupled with the fact that Becky’s memory was one of the most terrifying things Ty associated with Zane, made him shift uneasily on the floor. He would have liked to derail the conversation, but he couldn’t figure out how. Zane was able to talk about Becky more easily than he used to, though it was still rare, and he was definitely more comfortable with it than Ty was. For Ty, it hit on the one major insecurity he still carried with him: you couldn’t compete with a ghost any more than you could run away from one.
    “Losing hits a man hard,” Chester said.
    Ty closed his eyes and sighed. He was going to duct tape his grandfather’s mouth closed before this visit was over. He opened his eyes when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder: Zane’s fingers, resting there.
    “Yes, it does,” Zane agreed, squeezing Ty’s shoulder once before pulling away. “Ty saved me.”
    Ty stared at him, his heart racing.
    He finally had to force himself to look away. He met his father’s eyes. Earl gave an apologetic tip of his chin.
    Zane’s knee rapped against Ty’s shoulder. When Ty looked up at Zane, Zane’s eyes were focused on him. He rested his cast on Zane’s leg and leaned against the couch, trying to come to terms with the fact that they no longer had to hide from his family. It was freeing, but it also felt like another shoe was preparing to drop somewhere.
    “Well, I just have to say it, and I know it’ll embarrass you,” Mara announced, “but you two are adorable together.”
    Ty heard a choked laugh from behind him as he blinked at his mother. True to form, he felt himself blushing.
    Earl was smiling as he leaned back on the loveseat.
    “That’s a word I would never have chosen to describe Ty,” Zane said, practically snickering.
    “Well, you didn’t raise him. He was cute once. One day I’ll show you the picture books.”
    “Ma, please,” Ty begged,