Reflash

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  hands on his hips, a frown already in place. Kenneth Maguire was a pastor and ruled with an iron

  fist.

  “Dad.” “What did I say about cursing, Kory?”

  Kenneth pursed his lips.

  “Sorry,” Kory mumbled .

  “What brings you here, Dad?” Kurt put

  his hand out, shaking his father’s. There was no

  hugging in the Maguire house. Kurt hugged his

  brother anyway. He was twenty-six and no longer

  lived under the same roof. Fuck it; he’d do

  whatever the fuck he wanted. “This is my roommate, Austin Jacobson.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, sir.” Austin put his

  hand out.

  “Roommate?” Kenneth’s brow rose. “Yes, Dad. We work together at the firehouse, made sense to get a place together.

  Austin’s from Montana.” As sad as it was, his

  father seemed to relax at that statement, as if no

  one in Montana was gay.

  “Good to meet you, Austin.” Kenneth

  turned his attention back to his sons. “I’m running the youth Christian camp again. Kory decided he didn’t want to go be a counselor, he’d

  rather visit his big brother.”

  “Well he’s more than welcome to stay,”

  Austin smiled at Kurt’s younger brother. “How

  old are you?”

  “Just turned nineteen,” Kory beamed. “Yes and he’s reckless and irresponsible

  already. Doesn’t want to work in the church anymore, ” Kenneth narrowed his eyes at Kory. “I’m nineteen, Dad. I want to go to college; I want to be a fireman like my brother,”

  Kory set his jaw tight. “Like my grandfather.” “And what did that get him? A life cut

  short fighting fires,” Kenneth’s voice rose.

  “Died, trying to save an old woman.”

  “At least he died doing what he loved,”

  Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll watch

  Kory, Dad. Have fun at camp.”

  “Don’t let him go out on his own, I’ve

  heard all about Seattle.” Kenneth stalked back to

  his truck.

  Kurt put his arm around Kory, watching

  his father pull out of the parking lot without so

  much as a wave goodbye. It didn’t surprise him

  one bit; his father was cold and unfeeling. Kurt

  hugged Kory to him hard; he’d been worried

  about Kory being stuck with his parents. Kory

  had tried to leave right after he graduated from

  high school and had gotten t rapped into being a

  camp counselor instead of starting college. Kurt’s

  mother was just as bad as Austin’s, if not worse.

  They’d had their mouths washed out with soap as

  children for saying ‘damn’ and been beaten with

  a stick if their chores hadn’t gotten done. Kurt

  had never been so relieved to see his brother. “How are you, Nugget?” Kurt walked

  with Kory to the door of their unit.

  “I’m about to run away from home! Be

  glad you left when you did; Mom’s worse than

  ever and I can’t do another summer of ‘gays are

  bad’ camp,” Kory said.

  “Jesus,” Austin’s eyes went wide.

  “Really? I thought my family was bad.”

  “Please tell me you stopped buying all

  that shit, bro. If I have to listen to one more lecture on the sins of the flesh…” Kory rolled his

  eyes.

  Austin cracked up. “Well, your brother

  and I go out to gay clubs all the time, with gay

  men.”

  Kory’s eyes almost popped out of his

  head. Kurt had to laugh. “Breathe!”

  “Really ?” Kory looked at his brother in

  utter disbelief.

  “Yes, really. In fact we’re going out tomorrow night with friends. You ’re more than

  welcome to tag along,” Kurt said, as he unlocked

  the door to their unit. “You guys drove out here?” “Yep,” Kory nodded. “Imagine how

  much fun that was.”

  “Why didn’t you just fly out on your

  own?” Kurt asked.

  Kory let out a gasp and covered his mouth

  in mock shock. “Are you serious? I could have

  one of those homosexual flight attendants put a date rape drug in my Coke and they could have

  their wicked way with me in the tiny bathroom!” Austin bent over laughing. “Oh my God!

  Are you fucking serious?”

  “Yep.” Kory held his hand skyward.

  “God’s honest truth.”

  Kurt shook his head. “Unbelievable.” Kory walked into the cool condo and

  looked around. Definitely a bachelor pad. NFL

  team pennants lined the wall and a large flat

  screen TV sat on one side. One long couch was

  positioned in front of it, with bean bags off to the

  side. A card table sat nearby with poker chips

  lined up in neat rows. Kory walked through every

  room, taking in the décor.

  “Wow, you guys are so lucky.” Kory

  walked into the kitchen when he was done. “You can have the office, it has a futon,”

  Kurt handed his brother a soda. “You okay with

  being on your own for a few hours? Austin and I

  just got off shift and need sleep.”

  “Yeah, it’s cool. You have cable or

  sumthin’?” Kory asked.

  “We’ve got satellite,” Austin waggled his

  brows. “And an Xbox.”

  “I love you guys, I really do,” Kory put

  his arms out. “Group hug.”

  Austin cracked up as Kory pulled him into a hug. “Okay, I’m off to bed; I’m dead standing on my feet. See you much later Kory,” Austin

  waved walking down the hall.

  “Night!” Kory looked in the fridge. “You can have whatever you want; the

  pantry’s stocked with chips and shit.” Kurt

  mussed his brother’s hair. “I’m glad you’re here,

  Kory. I was really worried about you. I have to

  say I’m surprised; when I left you were spouting

  hatred just like they were.”

  Kory’s cheeks heated. “I met this guy at

  camp, a kid who was assigned to my cabin. I saw

  him when his parents dropped him off, they were

  speaking in a low voice to him and I saw him

  crying. Well, one night a fter the kumbaya bonfire I found him crying down by the lake. He looked scared to death when he saw me. He told me he was getting ready to kill himself right before I showed up,” Kory shook his head sadly. “You want to know why? He came out to his parents, they told him he was going to hell and if he didn’t come back from camp ‘fixed’ he wouldn’t be welcome at home.” Kory sat down at the kitchen counter with a loud sigh. “Who does that to their own flesh and blood? This kid wanted to die

  .”

  Kurt dragged his fingers through his hair.

  “Look, when I first got here, I still had the same

  mentality ingrained in me. Then I got to the firehouse and met Preston and Wyatt; I hung out

  with them at the gay club a few times. I was uncomfortable at first, you know? Then I realized

  that they were no different than most couples.

  Preston, man, he loves Wyatt with such fierceness,” Kurt sighed, shaking his head with a smile.

  “We should all be so lucky to find love like that. It doesn’t matter to me anymore that they are two

  men, because I see them as two human beings.” Kory sat back, mouth ajar. “Wow.” “What?”

  “I just never thought I’d hear you say

  that. Too b
ad we’re not Catholic - Mom would

  throw holy water on you and Dad would probably send you to the pope for an exorcism.” “How are you dealing with all this?” Kurt

  asked.

  “I got the kid’s number on the last day

  and when I got home I found him a support group

  in his area. He calls me once a month to let me

  know he’s okay. His parents did throw him out

  and now he lives with his friend. Things have

  gotten better for him, now that he’s free to be

  who he is. I think it just hit me like a bolt of

  lightning when he told me he wanted to die. No

  kid should ever have to suffer, or feel unloved,

  because of who m they are.”

  Kurt stood back, looking at his brother.

  “You’ve come a long way. I can see now why you didn’t want to go back to camp with Dad. They practically instill that in the kids, that being

  gay is wrong.”

  “I think I want to start my own camp, just

  for kids who are gay and ostracized,” Kory said. “Well, maybe we can come up with

  something, okay?” Kurt hugged Kory. “I’m

  proud of you. I need to get some rest though;

  we’ll talk more about this tonight.”

  “Yup, love you, bro.”

  “Love you, too,” Kurt said.

  ~~ Tucker stumbled through the apartment door, barely awake. The night shift was having quite the effect on his sleeping habits. Wesley almost ran into him as they both headed for their bedrooms. Tucker hit his bed fully dressed, staring at the ceiling.

  “When did you do this?” Tucker laughed. “While you were at the store.” Wesley came in the room and collapsed on the bed. “Cool, huh?”

  “It’s like you’re flipping me off in 3D,” Tucker tilted his head, looking at the huge middle finger on his ceiling.

  “That’s for leaving the cap of the sugar half on.”

  Tucker cracked up. “Okay, no more pranks for a while. But I have to admit, you looked funny when all that sugar went in your coffee.”

  Wesley sighed heavily. “We need to make contact, Tucker. I can’t do this anymore. Do you know how many nights I go to bed thinking about Kurt? How his eyes sparkle when I talk to him, his tight ass and those lips? I just want him, and I don’t know how I’m going to make him love me.”

  “You can’t make him love you,” Tucker said. “Don’t you think I want the same things? I went out with Austin a few times, just as friends. It killed me to not hold his hand or kiss him. He’s so damn beautiful. You and I both know we can’t push this. The fates would not have given them to us if we didn’t have a chance.”

  “We’ve been through so much already, Tucker. Your parents, my parents, running away and sleeping on the streets. We were lucky that Wayne found us; hell, we didn’t even have to tell our parents we ’d been turned into werewolves and got the heave-ho for being gay.”

  “Have you ever… heard from them? I looked mine up a while ago. They moved to Germany when my dad got orders,” Tucker said.

  “No, and I don’t care.” Wesley closed his eyes. His parents had never been there for him and the night he’d come home, beaten and bleeding, ha d been the last straw for him. He and Tucker had been at a party with Preston and had gotten drunk. The next thing he knew, one of the men at the party was trying to have sex with Preston while he was passed out. He’d gotten into a fight and two more men had jumped in. Then the shift had happened and he’d screamed just from seeing three men change into wolves. They all had been bitten; Tucker had woken up and jumped in and then Preston had joined the fight. Between the claws and the teeth, Wesley was surprised any of them had survived. Then their first shift experience came. Wesley shivered thinking about it.

  “You’re thinking about it.” Tucker turned his head, looking at Wesley.

  “It was a long time ago, we were eleven.”

  “Yeah, I know. You’re still thinking about it, though. We were lucky to have Wayne as a surrogate father, Wesley. He never judged us, taught us that being gay was nothing to be ashamed of. We are who we are today because of Wayne, and if he says our mates will eventually come to us, then I believe him.”

  “I can’t move,” Wesley sighed.

  “Go to sleep, I’ll make dinner later.” Tucker closed his eyes. Sleep came quickly.

  ~~ Kurt woke up to his alarm going off. He slapped it across the room and sat up in bed. Sunlight was streaming through the blinds; he really needed to invest in thick curtains. He threw his legs over the bed and stretched his muscles. The smell of coffee invaded his nostrils , making him move. Throwing on some pajama pants, Kurt made his way into the kitchen to find Kory making breakfast. He’d woken up at ten to find Kory and Austin playing video games; after that, he’d gone back to bed. The whole day had taken a toll on his body, from the fire, to his father. Kurt grabbed a coffee cup and looked over his brother’s shoulder.

  “Smells good.”

  Kory smiled, looking over his shoulder. “I can cook, I cook better than Mom.” “Well that’s no feat. She sucks,” Kurt laughed, sitting down. “Austin still passed out?”

  “Yeah, I kicked his ass up and down your living room,” Kory chuckled. “He’s good, he’s just not me.” Kory turned around, spatula in hand. “He’s really nice ; I saw Dad’s face yesterday when you said he was your roommate.”

  Kurt rolled his eyes, sipping his coffee. “Yes, because if two men live together, they must be fucking.”

  Kory’s eyes widened. “Such language!” Kory pointed the spatula at his brother. “I’ll wash your mouth out with soap.”

  “Damn,” Kurt said, laughing.

  “I swear, the more she forbade something, the more I wanted to do it. No cussing, no drinking, no dates until you’re sixteen, no sex until you’re married… blah, blah, blah. How am I going to know if who I end up with is good in bed if I don’t test drive the car?”

  Kurt almost spit his coffee out. “Have you… you know, had sex?”

  “I’m nineteen, what do you think?” Kory said.

  Kurt shook his head. “I SO don’t want to know about this.”

  “Okay, Dad, ” Kory grinned.

  “Ouch!” Kurt looked at his brother. “Fine, tell me all about it.”

  “About what?” Austin strolled into the kitchen, looking at the made coffee and breakfast on the stove. “He should move in.”

  “Kory was about to tell me about his sexual experience.” Kurt sat back, waiting.

  “Yeah? I need a good sex story,” Austin said.

  Kory looked from Austin to his brother. “Okay, so maybe I haven’t had sex, but I’ve been thinking about it,” Kory sighed. “I haven’t had time to jack off, much less have sex. Mom’s got me doing all kinds of shit around the house, and Dad ha s me at the church doing stuff . Believe me, the myth about church girls being wild is not true, at least not in Dad’s church. I think he’s scared them so bad they’ll never have sex.”

  Kurt looked at the time. “Well, we should take you shopping for clothes. You can’t go to the club in Wyoming clothing. We have some friends who love shopping.”

  “Yes, they bought Kurt Dolce and Banana,” Austin snickered.

  “That’s Dolce and Gabbana,” Kory raised a brow.

  “Ha!” Austin cracked up. “Even your little brother knows!”

  “Shut up,” Kurt smiled, looking his brother over. “Yes, Cole and Chaz will love you. You filled out, little Nugget.”

  “Yeah?” Kory said. “I started working out my freshman year; I knew I wanted to be a fireman. I heard the eight hour lecture from Dad about how dangerous it was, and not to make the same mistake you did,” Kory leaned against the counter. “I think that’s why he’s had me so busy working at the church, then at the camp. He’s trying to get me to see his lifestyle.”

  “Yeah, well Grandpa would have had a coronary if he was still alive, the way Dad talks about b
eing a firefighter,” Kurt shook his head.

  Kory eyed his brother’s chest. “Nice ink.”

  Kurt looked at his chest. He had gotten more tattoos since moving to Seattle. “Yep, I keep getting them as a ‘fuck you’ to Dad.”

  “I want something Irish on my ass,” Kory chuckled.

  Austin laughed. “Let’s eat, so we can shop. Club tonight. I can’t wait for you to meet the guys, Kory. You’re going to love them.”

  “I hope so,” Kory said.

  Chapter Two

  Tucker felt water dripping on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Wesley standing over him with a glass of water.

  “You slept right through dinner, ” Wesley said.

  “Holy shit, what time is it?” Tucker sat up.

  “Noon.”

  “Holy fuck!” Tucker leapt from bed, making a run for the bathroom.

  “Damn, you have to pee that bad?” Wesley chuckled.

  “It’s really Friday?” Tucker called from the bathroom.

  “Yes, it’s really Friday. I woke up around ten last night but you were still out of it. I stayed up for like an hour and passed out again. Of course, that was after I threw something together to eat, because my sleeping partner was supposed to make dinner.”

  “I’m sorry! I don’t know why I was so tired.”

  “You’d think after a month we’d be used to the night shift, ” Wesley yawned, stretching out on Tucker’s bed.

  “What time are we going out tonight? Did you call Preston?”

  “One thing at a time - y es , I talked to Preston. We ’re mee ting at Cuff s and Stuff at ten, ” Wesley said.

  Tucker poked his head out of the bathroom. “What the hell are we going to do for ten hours?”

  “Sleep?”

  Tucker turned the shower on, waiting for it to heat up. “We need to go shopping, so as soon as I get out it’s off to the market.”

  “Fine.” Wesley went to his room and grabbed a pair of jeans out of his dresser. A movie ticket sat on his dresser. He picked it up, remembering when he ’d taken Kurt out and they’d seen a horror flick together. It had been one of the best nights with Kurt ; he had seemed more open, not as standoffish. The Fourth of July spent on Austin’s pontoon boat had been good as well. Wesley had told Kurt how he and Tucker had run away from home when they were eleven and decided they wanted to be cops. Kurt had been very interested in his life story. It was great

  - up until Kurt reminded him that he wasn’t gay.