Reggie got a text the morning after the New Years Party that they urgently needed to meet at the studio. He grabbed Flynn and Willie before hurrying out the door. What they didn’t expect was to find Alex in a ball on the couch with bloodshot eyes. Willie raced over to Alex, who let Willie pull him into an embrace. “Baby, what happened?”
“M-my parents. They were here last night.” Willie’s face visibly paled as Alex tried to continue. “They- they-“ He broke down again, crying into Willie’s shoulder.
“They kicked him out.” Luke said, staring into space. “They saw the kiss, and when he got home they kicked him out. I texted Reggie as soon as I heard about it.”
Julie nodded, her own tear stricken face in pain, “I woke up this morning and found him out here.”
“That’s insane.” Flynn said. “Your parents don’t want you because you like a boy?” Alex shook his head violently.
“It’s a sin.” Luke said sarcastically. “I’m sorry, Alex. That wasn’t okay for me to say.”
“It’s-it’s true though. That’s what they said. They wouldn’t have a sinner in their house. I-I got so mad. I asked my dad if that meant he was leaving since he cheats on my mom.” Alex finally looked up at them, and every person in the room let out a gasp as they saw the purpling bruise on Alex’s jaw. He flinched as Willie ghosted his fingers over it. No one noticed Reggie slip out the door.
“What are you going to do?” Flynn asked. Her voice was quiet.
“I’m eighteen.” Alex answered. “I can live on my own now.”
“No, absolutely not. You’d have to get a job and drop out of school to make enough to afford your own place.” Julie started pacing, “I can ask my dad if-“ she cut herself as she looked around, “Where’d Reggie go?” They all started looking around.
“He came in with us.” Flynn said, her voice growing concerned. “Oh, no.”
“You don’t think he’s freaking out about me getting hit, do you?” Alex asked, suddenly far less concerned with his own problems.
“No.” Willie answered, his face contorted like the words were paining him. “Worse.”
Reggie had only been to Alex’s house one time. To meet up for a trip they were taking as a group, and Alex’s house had been the last one on the way. He was sent to the door to get him, and Alex’s mom had shown him up to Alex’s room. But that was a happy day. This wasn’t. The man here hurt his friend. His brother. And like he always said, that was the hill he’d die on. He gathered up all his anger, knocking hard on the wooden door. When the woman answered the door, she asked what he wanted. “May I please speak to Mister Joyner?” He answered in the politest tone he could. An older version of Alex came to the door.
“What does one of my fag son’s fag friends want?” That was enough for Reggie. He reared his fist back, and bashed it into Mister Joyner’s nose.
“He is your son! And you hit him!” Reggie couldn’t control his anger, but he made it work for something positive. He ran into the house, straight up to Alex’s room as Alex’s mom grabbed a towel for her husband’s face. Reggie grabbed two duffel bags Alex had in his closet, packing everything that looked important. Shirts he’d seen Alex wear the most, his pink hoodie, his CDs, a photo album Julie had made of them. He remembered Alex talking about how he would use the tree in the backyard to sneak in and out, so he threw the bag straps around his back and went to the window. It was pretty easy, considering he couldn’t hear the parents running around and yelling to get anxious over them. He got to the ground, running around the house and down the street as he felt his phone vibrating. He had a face time call coming in from Luke. He quickly answered it.
“Reggie! Oh thank god.” Luke looked winded. Reggie watched Luke squint at the camera. “What’s on your back?”
Reggie glanced back, like he forgot the bags were there. “Alex’s stuff.”
“Alex’s- What do you mean Alex’s stuff?” A wave of guilt hit Reggie. He hadn’t thought anything through once he saw the bruise on Alex’s face.
“I’m sorry.” He said in lieu of answering. Reggie could feel that he was starting to panic, but this time he knew it was his fault. “I went to Alex’s house.”
“What?” Luke looked angry. In the year and a half he’s known Luke, he’s never seen him angry. “Reggie, why would you do that?” Reggie could see through the camera that Luke was running again.
“He hit Alex.” Suddenly, Luke stopped moving.
“What?”
“I had to go. He hit Alex.” Alex was suddenly in the frame.
“Reggie, what happened?”
“I’m sorry, Alex.”
“Reggie, it’s okay. I promise, I’m not mad. Just tell me what happened.” Alex looked sincere, so Reggie calmed a bit.
“He called you a fag. So...I punched him in the face.”
“You...punched my dad because he called me a fag? And you went to my house because he hit me?” Alex asked, his eyes wide and confused like this was the most bizarre news he’d ever heard. Reggie nodded. “And then what?”
“I just ran up to your room and packed up a bunch of stuff. Then I used that tree you talked about to get out and leave.”
“Reggie, where are you?” Alex looked concerned.
Reggie looked around, realizing he hadn’t been paying attention as he walked. “Uh, someplace called Sunset Park?” He answered as he looked back at his phone.
“Sunset Park? Reggie! That’s halfway across the city!” Alex calmed his breathing for a second. “There’s a bench near the pond there. Can you go sit? We’ll be there as quickly as we can.” Reggie nodded.
“I’m sorry, Alex.”
“Just sit tight, Reggie. We’ll be there soon.” Alex ended the call, so Reggie went to the bench. And he waited. Unfortunately, it was a long wait, and it left Reggie spiraling. He realized they probably wouldn’t want him anymore. He overstepped a big boundary by going to Alex’s house. He felt the tears hit his hands before he realized he was crying. He had set Alex’s bags at his feet, which left him curling up on the bench, pulling his flannel tighter around him.
When they got to the park, they immediately went to the bench. Julie had volunteered to stay behind with Flynn. Flynn knew they would take longer trying to lead her through the city, and they needed to get to Reggie as quickly as possible. But the boys made it to the park. At first they thought they had the spot wrong, but then Willie heard a sniffle. They turned slowly, seeing Reggie curled up on the bench. Luke ran over to him as fast as he could. “Reggie, hey, Regs, you okay?” Reggie nodded weakly as he looked up at Luke’s face. “Why are you crying, Regs?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Alex knelt down in front of him and Luke moved Reggie’s head and pulled it into his lap, running his fingers through it like he’d seen Flynn do. Alex spoke slowly. “Why are you sorry, Reg?”
“I shouldn’t have gone. I didn’t want to make you mad. But I couldn’t help it. He hit you. Now no one will want me. I’ll get sent back.” Reggie buried his face in his hands as more tears came. The others looked at each other.
“No one will want him? He thinks I’ll get mad at him for standing up for me?” Alex spoke quietly, on the verge of his own tears.
“It’s more than that.” Willie sniffled. “He thinks my parents won’t want him anymore either.”
“But that’s not true, right?” Luke asked, looking for reassurance.
“Absolutely not true.” Willie confirmed. “The only other time he’s been in a fight since he came to us was when some guy went after Flynn, saying he’d cure her of being a lesbian. Reggie saw the guy start trying to grab her and Flynn was crying so Reggie beat the crap out of the guy. He was like this after that, too.” Willie knelt down next to Alex, slowly nudging Reggie’s hands out of his face. “Hey, little brother, look at me. Come on, focus. You can do it.” Reggie blearily looked into Willie’s face. “No matter what happens, I will not let anyone try to take you away from me. Neither will mom and dad. And especially not Flynn. Besides, you think you’re gonna get rid of these idiots that easy?” Reggie cracked a small smile at that. “There he is. There’s my best friend.”
Reggie glanced at Alex, “I am sorry, Alex. I shouldn’t have stepped in.”
“Are you kidding, Reg? I never would’ve gone to get my stuff on my own. Besides, you reminded me that I have people that care, even if my parents don’t. You’re a pretty good brother. Now how about we get back to the studio?” Reggie nodded as he sat up, seeming to realize for the first time that he’d been in Luke’s lap. Reggie face flushed as he stared at Luke with wide eyes. Luke just smiled, taking Reggie’s hand as Willie and Alex grabbed the bags.
Flynn was pacing. She hated not knowing what was happening. Julie tried to reassure her at first, but she realized that if it were her brother out there, she’d be pacing, too. Except she was pacing, too. Because it was her brother. Her band mate. Suddenly her phone. She answered it quickly, seeing Alex’s face pop up when the call connected. “Alex! What’s happening?”
Alex kept glancing to the side, she assumed at Reggie, “No one is allowed to get mad at him when we get back. He thinks Willie’s parents are gonna send him away for defending me.”
“Defending you? Wait, Alex, what did he do?”
“He went to your house, right?” Flynn asked from behind Julie.
“Yeah.” Alex answered quietly. “Look we’ll explain everything the best we can when we get there. Okay?”
“Okay.” Julie agreed. “Just bring our brother home.” Alex nodded before he disconnected.
The boys made it back to the garage, and Julie immediately went to get an ice pack. Reggie hadn’t noticed he busted two of his knuckles open when he hit Mister Joyner. When she came back, she told them that her dad agreed to let Alex stay with them. Now, Alex was going through the stuff Reggie packed. “How did you manage to pack all my favorite stuff?” He asked as he looked up at Reggie. Reggie shrugged through a wince as Julie laid the ice pack on his hand. He was sitting between Willie and Luke, who were basically cuddling with him so he would stop blaming himself, which led to him being half sprawled onto Luke’s lap again.
”I just grabbed the stuff I see you with the most. Like your hoodie. In Willie’s case it would be his skateboard. For Flynn it would’ve been her art stuff. For Julie it would’ve been that vest she redesigned from her mom. For Luke it would’ve been...actually I don’t know what his favorite thing is. Probably his sleeveless shirts.” Reggie didn’t hear it, but Willie muttered a soft, “It’s you.” Causing Luke to flush. Reggie didn’t notice, turning to Luke, “Seriously, why are you allergic to sleeves?”