“Dad, you can’t be serious right now!” Gen argued, following his father through the house as he tried to get a straight answer out of Don. 

“Gen, I’ve told you a hundred times, this is a family thing,” Don said, trying to keep his voice level.

“But why can’t Mika come? You say all the time he’s part of this family, right? Are you saying that’s a lie now?”

“That’s not what I’m saying and you know it,” Don’s temper was starting to fray and he was getting a headache from having to continue this argument. Gen followed him out into the garage, either unaware of how short his father’s fuse was becoming or he just didn’t care.  

“Then why not? I can buy his ticket, if that’s going to be an issue.”

“Eugene,” Don rubbed the spot between his eyes, putting his hands on the sides of the old truck bed. “You know I would love for him to come with us–”

“Then why can’t he?”

“You know good and goddamn well why he can’t, Eugene!” Don finally exploded, hitting the truck with the base of his palm, making Gen jump. “You know why, and I am not, NOT going to put that boy through some awkward family meal with questions about your relationship. I absolutely refuse.”

“They don’t have to know!” Gen yelled, almost pleading at this point. “We don’t have to tell them, we can just say he’s my friend a-and–”

“For a full fucking week, Eugene? Are you serious? You two can barely go an hour without holding hands, and the way you look at each other gives it away without having to say anything at all! You want to try and fake just being friends for a week?”

Kana was stepping out into the garage at that particular moment.

“I mean, we can at least try, right? Kana, back me up on this one,” Gen said, tugging on her sleeve.

She shook her head. “Sorry, little bro, I have to back Dad on this one.”

Gen squinted at her. “Traitor.”

“Besides, it would be good for you two to be apart for a little bit, don’t you think?” Don said. “You guys have spent nearly every day together for over two months now, one week won’t be a bad thing.”

“Three months,” Gen grumbled. “He spent a month tutoring me, remember?”

“Fine, three months, the argument is still the same.”

“Besides, think how fair it would be to Mika to have to hide his feelings for you,” Kana added. “It’s going to be hell enough for you, think about how it would be for him.”

Gen balled his fists at his sides. He hated that she was right.

“Gen, I would absolutely love to have Mika come with us on this trip,” Don said, his voice calmer. “But it wouldn’t be fair to him or to you to have to hide your relationship from your grandparents.”

“I’ve been hiding for nineteen years, what’s one more fucking week?” Gen growled. 

“Okay, how about this,” Don said, pointing at Gen’s truck across the large three-park garage. “You want to lose that? You want your grandad to take that from you, take everything he’s given you since graduation, because you just have to push your luck by taking Mika, an obviously gay young man, to their home?”

“It’s just a truck,” Gen mumbled without conviction. Fuck…

“That Grandad has been paying for,” Don said. “He will cut you off the moment he finds out about you and have it repoed if he learns about your relationship with Mika. I will not have my son be disowned by my father over something like this, Eugene, I won’t. Nor will I put Mika through that.”

Gen tried to think of something, anything, that might change his dad’s mind but there was nothing. “But…maybe he…or I could…”

Don put a hand on the back of Gen’s neck. “Gen, I’m sorry, I really am. But Mika stays.”

Gen clenched his teeth, trying hard not to cry. “I hope,” he said in a low, ragged voice, “that you’re wrong about Grandad and you’re going to end up feeling really damn stupid.” He pulled away and stormed into the house without giving his father a chance to say another word.

Don and Kana heard his footsteps heavy up the stairs, then a loud slam before he screamed his frustrations into the cavernous loft that was his room. A few seconds later, they heard his music blaring as loud as ever.

They both sighed and exchanged a look. “He could have a point, Dad,” Kana said. “What if Gran and Grandad don’t mind that Gen is gay? You don’t.”

Don shook his head. “They come from a completely different era, Kana. Even if that is the case, I can’t risk it. For their sake.” He pointed to the ceiling and the rattling beams above them.

-*-

Gen lay in his bed on his stomach, his phone in his hand as he scrolled through his most recent photos. Several weeks had passed since Spring Break and so much had happened.

Talk had already begun to circulate around campus that Mika Torino was dating the tall, menacingly handsome guy who never talked and always kept to himself. The talk grew louder that Monday when they walked onto campus, Gen’s arm around Mika’s shoulder, holding his hand, both of them laughing. They were joined by Kelly Hart and Riley O’Brian, also now a couple, apparently, and Marcus Jones, a coffee stirrer between his teeth. 

The tall scary loner had friends and a really cute boyfriend. A boyfriend who had a gorgeous new hair cut, no less! 

It took several students more than one double take to recognize Mika without his long hair. His professors also didn’t recognize him, thinking he was a new transfer student. Mika never let on for an instant that he got a kick out of it.

When they weren’t in school, the group was usually seen hanging out at the park or heading to the lake for the weekend. As the weather continued to warm, they continued to enjoy more of the outdoors.

At work, Gen was doing his best to try and talk to more people, though most of his attempts ended up with disastrous results. 

One afternoon, he and Riley were talking in the freezer section when a customer walked up and asked Riley if he knew where a particular item in the store was. The lady hadn’t even bothered to look at Gen which Gen was used to and didn’t care about. Until Riley had to open his mouth.

“You know, ma’am, I actually don’t know where that is. But, my buddy here–” he slapped Gen on the back, making him rock forward slightly, “--he might be able to help you.” He walked past the lady, turning to give Gen two thumbs up and a grin. 

I will murder you in your sleep.

Gen stood there, sweating bullets, as he listened to the customer ask her question again. He knew what she was looking for and the exact location she could find it. It was easy information to provide, he just needed to put it into words, and make it sound polite. Not hard at all, right?

Gen took a deep breath and tried to ignore the knot forming in the pit of his stomach as he opened his mouth to reply, the customer staring at him, obviously not very comfortable at being pushed off on the more intimidating employee. He swallowed down the bile that was starting to creep up, and took another deep breath.

“Uh-um…it’s on the–it’s on ai-aisle fff–our,” he forced out. Fuuuuuck! 

There are no doors…

One more friend is one less pretend foe…

Not everyone is out to get you…

You got this, Genya. Mika’s smile flashed behind his eyes. 

He opened his eyes, feeling a little less tense, the customer still standing there waiting. He cleared his throat and said softly, in his low smooth voice, “It’s on aisle four next to the pasta sauce, left side.”

The lady smiled and thanked him before walking away. Gen stood there, shaking as Riley walked back up to him. 

“Not bad, my dude!” He saw Gen’s face go pale as he bent forward. “You okay?”

Gen shook his head. “I’m gonna puke.” He darted for the employee bathroom and only just made it in time.

Trying to talk to coworkers was a little easier, but still nerve wracking. Beth and Riley both helped him, but he still ended up vomiting once or twice afterwards. Beth rubbed his back after one unfortunate incident when he tried to ask a cashier if she could do a price check on an item. 

“It’ll get easier, I promise,” Beth said. “Just one person at a time.”

“They aren’t all like you, Beth,” Gen said, wiping his mouth. “Not everyone understands like you and Riley do.”

She sighed. “Sad truth, my young friend. But not everyone is as enlightened about the problems you struggle with like we are. Ignorance isn’t always bliss. Sometimes it’s just plain cruel.

Gen grinned before another wave of vomit hit him. “You’re smarter than you look,” he said after.

“Thanks!” 

Gen spent more time over at Mika’s house, now that they were confident Thomas wasn’t coming back. The first week after Break, Thomas had called Jo to let her know he already found someone new and she could sell all his things for all he cared. 

They almost had a bonfire that night, but Jo backed out. Her lawyer advised her not to do anything that might be used against her later during the divorce proceedings, up to and including, burning Thomas’ crap.

Jolene had definitely, as Ben so eloquently put it, “freaked out” when she saw Mika’s hair. She screamed and cried, and couldn’t stop touching it, saying how lovely his long hair had been but she absolutely loved the cut and that it suited him. When Mika told her it was Kana that did it, she booked a personal appointment for the next week. She, too, got a gorgeous new cut and color. 

As much time as they spent at Mika’s house, the one thing they did not do there was sleep together. That didn’t stop Mika from torturing him, however. 

They were in his room working on their math homework one afternoon, sitting at the table on the floor, the door open as always, completely focused on their homework, when Gen felt Mika’s foot press up against him. His saving grace was that there had been a blanket thrown over the table so if anyone happened to walk by, they couldn’t see what was going on underneath. 

Mika moved his foot up and down, driving Gen absolutely crazy. He hid his face in the crook of his elbow on the table, his other arm up over his ear. Before he realized it, he snapped his pencil in half and let out a growl of frustration as Mika took his foot off him. Jolene was walking by at that moment and asked if everything was okay.

Mika looked up at her with his innocent blue eyes and said, “Gen was just faced with a difficult problem he wasn’t sure how to solve, that’s all.”

Gen glared at him over his arm, face red, pencil shards falling from his hand. As soon as Jolene walked away, he lunged over the table and pinned Mika down, tickling him as he screamed with laughter.

Hearing this, Jolene stopped mid-stride and covered her mouth. He’s laughing, she thought as a tear rolled down her cheek. He’s really laughing!

Kana insisted on watching the kids for Jolene so she could run errands, or enjoy a quiet afternoon. Sometimes, she would take them and Mika to see Gen at work. The first time she did, Ana wriggled out of her arms and dashed for Gen who was stocking something on the top shelf in the freezer section he was working that day. Anyone else would have avoided him.

“Genyaaa!” her little voice echoed off the freezer cases.

Hearing her, Gen’s face brightened. “Hey, baby girl!” he said, squatting down to catch her and lift her up, hugging her and kissing her face. 

The other freezer guy heard this exchange and the ensuing conversation in the next aisle and was too curious not to check it out. There was Gen, the guy who never talked, holding a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, talking to a woman with long blonde hair, holding the hand of a boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. The kids were excitedly talking to him about something, and calling him “Genya,” not Gen. When the woman took the kids back and walked away, acknowledging him as he passed, he slowly walked up to Gen, looking back at the people he had been talking to.

“I thought your name was Gen,” he said.

He nodded. “It is.”

“But they kept calling you Genya.”

Gen shrugged and turned back to his work. “It’s what they like to call me.”

The coworker nodded. “Are they your kids?”

Gen grinned and shook his head. “No, they’re my boyfriend’s little brother and sister.”

The guy blanched and thumbed behind him. “So that chick wasn’t your wife?”

Gen screwed up his face and shook his head. “Oh, hell no, Kana’s my sister.”

“Huh,” he said. “Learn something new every day.” He extended his hand. “Andrew,” he said.

Gen took it. “Gen.”

It was only later that day Gen realized he had an independent conversation with someone and he didn’t feel the urge to puke.

Mika and Kelly went to the store together a lot to see their boyfriends or to meet up with them after work to double-date. While they waited for them one Saturday evening, Kelly couldn’t restrain her curiosity and asked about Gen.

Mika rolled his eyes and groaned. “Why are you so damn interested in what my boyfriend has? You have your own!”

“Every girl is curious about what their friends take to bed,” she said.

“I highly doubt that’s true,” Mika said as they walked through the produce section. 

“So, you’re not interested in what I get to have every night?”

“Not even remotely,” Mika replied. He knew she wasn’t going to drop it, no matter how much he deflected. He walked over to where certain produce items were kept cold and wet with the overhead sprinklers, and started going through them, one by one, inspecting them. Finally, he found one that was as close to the real thing as he could find, and set it down vertically on top of the rest, walking away without saying a word.

Kelly’s eyes widened and her jaw hit the floor. “Are you fucking kidding me? How are you even alive?! Mikaaaa!” She ran after him, catching him before he rounded the corner, grabbing his arm as he laughed.

Several nights a week, Mika stayed at Gen’s. He enjoyed Kana’s homemade dinners, conversations with Don, watching anime with both Kana and Gen, spending time by the tree with Gen, curled up with him as the blossoms bloomed above them, petals sometimes raining down when a breeze took them. Almost every night he was there, they made love, in every way they could possibly think of. They absolutely could not get enough of each other. Small hickeys and scratches were souvenirs from their nights together, though they did their best to hide them. They took another stab at having sex in the shower and Mika nearly slipped and fell on his face. They tried once more with not much more success. Gen bent him over the bathroom sink counter that time, with much more positive results.