Bonfires

by Amy Lane

  Yoshi and Larx both laughed too loud, and Harvey’s grimace silenced them.

  “You couldn’t remember my name, could you.”

  “I remember it now that you’ve bought me lunch,” Larx said, batting his eyelashes.

  Harvey’s marvelous laugh rang out, and Larx did something rash and foolhardy and right.

  “So about this afternoon,” he said, quietly enough to sober up the room.

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t plan to bring it up, but I’m not going to dodge the issue either—”

  “Does this have anything to do with you and Deputy George?”

  Larx swallowed. “Does everybody know?”

  Harvey shrugged. “Apparently when the deputy ran in to get you, the kids saw you together. It didn’t take a rocket scientist. And I was surprised when I got the first phone call, but I told them what I told the last phone call.”

  “And what was that, sir?” Larx’s mouth was dry.

  “That your personal life is your business, but that if you decided to take out an ad in the paper, it still wouldn’t change the quality of the man who had put his life on the line to get his kids out of danger.”

  Oh. “That’s… that’s kind of you. And stand-up too. Our kids have been getting questions at school—”

  “Kids? Does this include the boy you took into your home?”

  Larx nodded. “Kellan. He was one of the boys at the bonfire, and his parents….”

  Harvey let out an exasperated grunt. “Assholes. But go on.”

  “They’re getting questions, and I’m assuming I’ll get the same questions when I’m giving my little talk today.”

  “You answer them as you are most comfortable doing, Principal Larkin. I have every confidence you’ll do a good job.”

  Larx grimaced. “Well, first, you can call me Larx—my own boyfriend didn’t know my first name, so feel free. Second, you did see me on the news, didn’t you?”

  Harvey Hassbender chuckled deep in his throat. “You said we should keep handguns away from teenagers. I am not averse to that in any way.”

  The bell rang, calling students to assembly, and Larx took a deep breath. “I’m most grateful,” he said. “Alrighty, then—let’s go include.”

  THE ASSEMBLY started with Harvey talking to the kids about what diversity and inclusion really meant. He had a slideshow—a little dated, perhaps, but it gave the kids the idea that their student population was not the only population. It showed the “hidden” diversity of students with disabilities, students who were born in ethnically diverse households, and the inadvertent ways these students could be harmed by careless words. It moved on to the LGBTQ population, and Larx figured that by the time that segment showed up, the kids were bored into submission, because he heard none of the discomfort he’d expected.

  Or maybe his original assessment had been right—the kids were on the internet enough to have some natural insight into the variations of the world.

  Either way, by the time the slideshow was over, the kids were anxious for some interaction, and that was where Larx came in.

  He was unprepared, though, for the round of applause when he stood up.

  “Well, thank you,” he said when some of it had died down. “It’s nice to know I’m appreciated.”

  The seven hundred or so kids calmed down a little, and Larx got down to business.

  “So, first of all, it’s good to be back—and I’m glad you guys were happy to see me. But what we just saw is pretty important, and I’m wondering if any of you had any questions for me?”

  The first kid with his hand up asked the big one. “Are you gay for Kirby’s dad?”

  Larx grimaced. “Bisexual, people—it’s a thing. And yes, Deputy George and I are seeing each other. Any other questions?”

  “Is that legal?”

  Great. Who let Curtis MacDonald speak? “In this state, yes.” Wonderful.

  “Wait a minute,” said Christi, and Larx grimaced. “You mean it’s not legal in other states?”

  The entire student body gasped, and suddenly Larx saw why what he was doing was important. He was an educator, in his bones.

  Larx, it’s time to educate.

  By the time he was done speaking, he’d covered gay rights, gay bashing, Stonewall, Orlando. He’d covered students being bullied to death, adults being complicit, and gay homeless teens. He’d covered Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Million Moms, and being gay in other countries.

  And not once had he needed to silence a kid or reprimand someone for being rude.

  The kids were right there with him, wanting to know more.

  And he’d remembered all over again how he’d raised his girls and why being honest with kids was the best weapon in his parenting arsenal.

  He was still talking when the final bell rang, and he felt wrung out, exhausted from leading a conversation for nearly an hour and having the responsibility of representing his community on his shoulders for the entire time.

  “And I guess that’s it,” he said as the bell finished ringing. “And I’d like to thank you all—I didn’t expect this, any of this, to happen today. But I’ve always said that students are the reason I’m here, and that our kids at this high school, they’re our future. You guys—you have the makings of a wonderful future, and I have never been prouder of my students than I have been today. You all have a good weekend, you hear?”

  This time he didn’t stop the applause—he had to leave the auditorium because he’d promised Yoshi he’d do parking lot duty.

  He was out there for an hour, because the kids wouldn’t stop coming up to him and telling him thank you.

  By the time Aaron came to pick him and the kids up at five thirty, he was fast asleep at his desk.

  New Growth

  AARON MANAGED to get some dinner into him before he fell asleep again at eight o’clock. There were no football games, no school activities, and Aaron spent a quiet night with three teenagers, watching horror movies until twelve o’clock at night.

  He found out that Christi was a bloodthirsty little vixen, Kirby was truly susceptible to the jump scare, and Kellan tended to hide his face for 90 percent of the movie. When the kids went to bed, each one dragged a signature cat with them—and Aaron realized how tight this past week had really made the little group.

  They were family already.

  As he locked up Larx’s snug little house—and made sure the thermostat was somewhere above freezing—he wondered about that. No fighting? No drama? When did the real teenagers come out? But then, each kid had known loss. Each kid had their family, their security, yanked away. That could make kids a lot more afraid of having their lives disrupted. And it could make a kid a lot more grateful for what he or she had.

  Aaron figured he’d take a page from their book. He wouldn’t take their peaceful little existence for granted—but he would be grateful that at the end of a long week of worry, the three of them had screamed and laughed at a stupid movie with shitty special effects.

  It was the best he could do.

  As he crawled into bed next to a sleepy Larx, he figured it was good enough.

  HE WOKE early—he’d never been able to sleep in—and for a few moments just lay there, head propped on his hand, watching Larx sleep. Or so he thought.

  “That’s really creepy,” Larx mumbled. “I was dreaming about being Billy Pilgrim and humping a porn star while aliens watched.”

  Aaron’s eyes widened and the last vestiges of sleep fled like cowardly mice. “What porn star?” he asked, scandalized.

  Larx laughed evilly. “Oh, the things I have to show you on my computer.”

  “No. Absolutely not. I didn’t do porn when I was married, didn’t do it when I was single, won’t do it now.”

  And now Larx’s eyes widened, a little reddish but very aware. “Well, that’s just disappointing. It’s a flaw. I’ve finally found a flaw. Doesn’t like porn. However shall we get along now?”

  Aaron chuckled and kissed hi
m, pulling back to cup his face, smooth a thumb over his irrepressible smile. “We’ll have to have so much sex you don’t even miss porn,” he said decisively.

  Larx’s eyes narrowed with mischief. “You just sealed your doom, Deputy—you have no idea how much sex it would take me to forget about sex!”

  Aaron laughed softly and kissed him again, and again, and just when things were getting truly interesting, Larx arching insistently against Aaron’s hand, little pleading noises coming from his throat, the sound of voices raised in quarrel penetrated from downstairs.

  “Augh!” Larx fell back against the pillow. “What are they doing up?”

  “I have no idea.” Aaron rolled out of bed and struggled into his sweats. “But I’ll find out.”

  He trotted downstairs in time to hear Christiana snap, “No, you can’t. Now go put your stuff back, you’re just being stupid!”

  “This makes perfect sense!” Kellan replied, sounding a little desperate. “I move down to Sacramento with him—I catch a ride with his parents and get a job down there and—”

  “And don’t graduate from high school and don’t have a family for Thanksgiving and break my dad’s heart because he wants you to be happy!”

  Oh.

  “But don’t you understand?” Kellan demanded just as Aaron rounded the corner. “He’s leaving. He’s leaving, and he’s the only person who’s ever given a shit about me, and I’ll just be stuck here in this little fucking town and—”

  Aaron put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Leave the family that’s starting to care for you very much,” he said quietly. “I thought you and Larx had a plan for this?”

  Kellan turned a miserable face up to him. “But I tried,” he wailed. “I tried. I can’t write a good letter. I… nothing I say sounds good. He’s going to get these letters that are supposed to be the… the… windows to my soul and my soul is gonna be shit.”

  “No, that’s not true.” Aaron pressed the boy’s face against his side. “None of it. You’ll get better with words as you practice, son, but nothing about you says your soul is shit. And it’s not going to get any better if you run away to Sacramento and drop out of school. How’s Isaiah supposed to relax and get better if he’s worried about you?”

  “I just….” Kellan looked wildly around the kitchen. “I don’t know how to do all this—you all are so nice to me, but how long’s it going to last?”

  “I dunno,” Christi said like she was taking him seriously. “Olivia’s twenty—she came home this summer and Dad cooked her waffles five days a week. I’d say you’ve got at least three, four years of it. What’s to lose?”

  Aaron laughed. “I understand the contract has a lifetime guarantee,” he said. “With addendums for weddings and children.” He thought of Tiffany and grimaced. “The language gets a little fuzzy if you turn into a total and complete asshole, but I assume you still have rights and privileges then too.”

  Kellan looked away from both of them. “I’m just….” His voice failed.

  “Afraid,” Aaron said gruffly. “Because the future is uncertain. Trust me, Kellan. Nobody knows that better than the people in this room. Or”—he grimaced, because the odds of Kirby being up for this conversation were the odds of Larx not wanting to go running on Monday—“in this house. You’re here, and you’re safe, and you’ve got room to grow up. Now grow up, son, and go write your boyfriend his first letter.”

  Kellan groaned and rested his head on both hands. “How did you know—”

  “Because I’d panic if I had to write a letter too,” he said honestly. God. Put how he felt about Larx into words? “It’s fucking terrifying. Now go sac up and get it done.”

  With a sigh that shook the world, the boy dragged his sorry ass up and slunk out of the kitchen, bringing his half-packed duffel bag with him.

  Christiana waited until he was out of earshot to beam brightly at Aaron. “Nicely handled, sir. You fit right in here.”

  Aaron chuckled and looked around the kitchen, which appeared to be in a state of organized chaos. “Why, thank you. Would you like some help?”

  She showed all her teeth. “Set the table? I was just about to pour the mix into the waffle iron. Blueberry waffles, coming up.”

  Aaron let out a decadent groan. “Christi, I adore you, but you’re going to make me fat.”

  She shrugged. “Larx won’t care. He’ll make you run longer.”

  Aaron groaned again. “I thought you liked me!”

  “I do. Now set the table, sir. You asked.”

  He realized she had started calling him sir instead of Deputy George or Aaron. How could he not do a damned thing she asked of him? Like Larx, Aaron was a sucker for a daughter who cared.

  LARX CAME down to eat, freshly showered, and he brought Kirby with him. Aaron had heard him chivvying the boy from the top of the stairs.

  “Well, do you like waffles?”

  “Not as much as sleep!”

  “Do you like to eat?”

  “Geez, Larx—”

  “That’s what I thought. Now wake up!”

  However Larx managed it, they all made it, and all lingered around the breakfast table over juice and coffee and light, fluffy blueberry waffles that made Aaron a wee bit jealous of how Larx had learned how to cook, even if his girls had needed to teach him.

  Larx was nibbling at the last waffle, tearing pieces off it while it still sat on the plate. “So, gang,” he said, thinking, “I know Kellan wanted to go to the hospital and say goodbye to Isaiah, and I think we should go with him—”

  Aaron grimaced apologetically. “Bills, Larx. I’ve got some sorting to do—” The past two weeks hadn’t left him a lot of time to do grown-up shit, and there was no excuse today.

  “Yeah, I hear you. I have the same things. How about….” He looked up at the kids, his lips curving into an almost devious smile. “How about you guys drop me off after the visit and go into Auburn or Meadow Vista for a movie? If you get me back around twelve, that’s two hours in, the movie, two hours back—you’ll be home right before dark.”

  It was such an unexpected treat—and judging by the hunger on their faces, so very, very needed.

  Aaron could see it—the three of them free from adults and out of this tiny, claustrophobic town. Even Kellan, who would probably cry all the way there, was going to have something to do besides mourn that his best friend—his first crush—was leaving him behind.

  Christi leaped up and kissed Larx on the cheek. “For that,” she chirped, “I’ll even do dishes!”

  “Nope,” Larx laughed, standing. “My turn to do dishes. You guys go get ready.”

  Aaron gave a sigh of relief. “Oh wow. I might actually get bills done without everybody here!”

  Larx’s eyes grew big, and then it looked like he intentionally made his face blank. “Sure,” he said. “You count on that. But maybe go get your stuff and get started now.”

  Aaron took one last drag of coffee and nodded. “I’m gonna go up and shower, then take off.”

  “You’re bringing your bills here, right?” Larx asked, sounding unduly anxious.

  “Oh yeah. Let me feed the chickens, air out the house. I should be working on them before you get back.”

  Larx glowed at him like this was the best gift Aaron could possibly give, and Aaron smiled back.

  In hindsight he’d recognize that he was possibly the dumbest man ever to walk the earth.

  HE WAS hard at work at Larx’s kitchen table when he heard Larx in the driveway telling the kids to drive carefully after probably handing Christi his entire chunk of disposable income for the month.

  Larx strolled inside, stopping to pet old Delilah, who was lying in a sunspot right next to the glass insert in the entryway. “Still hard at work?” he asked.

  Aaron grunted. He hated math. He hated paperwork. He hated his checkbook. All of it—All. Of. It.—bore the brunt of his undying hatred.

  Larx disappeared up the stairs, and Aaron concentrated on the next col
umn in his ledger.

  Right up until he felt Larx’s fingers carding through his hair, grasping, yanking, and Larx’s tongue lining the shell of his ear.

  “I need you to stand up,” Larx whispered in his ear, and Aaron’s eyelids fluttered down just as his cock stiffened up.

  “Okay,” he rasped, carefully sidestepping all his paperwork and putting himself at Larx’s mercy. “Where we goin’?”

  “The couch.” Larx steered him carefully, but his hand never let up pressure on Aaron’s scalp, and Aaron’s whole body tingled. It hit him then. The kids would be gone for hours. Hours.

  Aaron was not always bright—he could admit that sometimes. “You planned this!” he gasped as he stopped, the couch at his crotch.

  Larx’s low chuckle rewarded him, and Larx plastered his (bare? Was he bare?) front to Aaron’s back, anchoring himself with a hand at Aaron’s belt. Very deliberately he nibbled on the side of Aaron’s neck, and Aaron almost bent over then and there.

  Larx moved his other hand, and two objects appeared in Aaron’s peripheral vision, resting on a towel on the back of the couch. One of them was a bottle of lubricant, and the other was something Aaron hadn’t seen before. He straightened, wanting to examine it.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Larx laughed.

  “Is that a…?”

  “World’s smallest butt plug?” Larx asked, clever fingers making quick work of Aaron’s belt. “Yes.” He tugged at Aaron’s shirts, and Aaron sucked in his stomach and raised his arms, giving Larx easy access.

  “What’s that fo… ah….” Larx was bare. From the waist up, at the very least. And his chest pressing against Aaron’s back made Aaron’s whole body weak. Oh my God. A week.

  “We haven’t done this in a week!” he realized, and even his hands broke into a needy, horny sweat.

  “I am saying!” Larx burst out, his breath sending shivers down Aaron’s spine as he kissed. “Why is that?”