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“Daniel, you’re seriously getting too old for this.” Sean rolled his eyes at his thirteen-year-old brother, sliding his headphones off his ears. “Claire and Stephen gave you her old room for a reason, so why don’t you use it?”
Daniel stood in his brother’s doorway, unmoving as he looked down at his hand’s nervously. “Please, Sean, I...just...can’t I just sit with you. Just for a little bit?”
Sean let out small, theatrical sigh. He had mellowed out some, they both had as they matured. “I have this graphic design piece I have to finish for class, okay? I should be done before dinner and after we can hang out. How’s that?”
“Okay.” Daniel still sounded dejected, refusing to meet his brother’s soft, understanding gaze. Even though the younger Diaz had grown less clingy, he still loved hanging out with his brother beyond almost anything else. Just the promise of hanging out would lift his spirits, but that didn’t seem to be the case this time. Something was seriously bothering him.
When Claire called them down for dinner, Daniel barely ate anything. Another weird, uncharacteristic thing. He was always hungry, like any growing boy. At this rate, he would be taller than Sean before the end of next year. Normally he was a vacuum inhaling anything and everything in his wake. But this time, he just pushed his meatballs around, taking only two bites before he asked to be excused.
“I think he’s having a bad day.” Sean spoke with Claire as he helped her clear the table, making sure Daniel was out of earshot before having the brief discussion. “I’m...gonna talk to him.”
And so Sean did, shocked when he didn’t find Daniel already in his room for their hangout time. He knocked once, twice. “Can I come in? It's the big, bad, brother.” Sean teased, before he heard Daniel’s reply, faint and soft.
“Okay.” He expected to find Daniel deep into playing Fortnite or Minecraft, having already blown off Sean’s promise to hangout. What he found was Daniel clutching one of his Power Bear toys to his chest, a gift from his best friend Chris, and tears streaming down his face.
“Daniel...what’s wrong?” Sean shut his bedroom door behind him, crouching in front of where his brother sat on his bed. “Did something happen?”
“I don’t...want Chris to hate me.”
“Why would he hate you?” The older Diaz was troubled, laying a supportive hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You guys are as thick as thieves, remember? Have been ever since you met.” He could hear the smile in his own voice. After what happened to their father, being uprooted and forced to move far from all they knew in order to stay together and with family. It was hard and Daniel had acted out, tantrums and arguments and fear. Chris broke through the wall of anger Daniel had built up. They had been the best of friends for the past four years since. “What could you ever do that would make him hate you, huh?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Daniel clutched his legs to his chest, tears falling harder as he shifted away from Sean’s supportive touch.
“If you’re not ready to, that’s okay.” Sean decided after a moment. “You can when you are.”
“I can never tell you!” Daniel’s voice cracked as he squeezed his legs tighter, hands clasped as he rocked a bit. “Cause you’ll hate me, too! And I just...”
“Oh, enano.” Sean breathed out, taking a seat on Daniel’s bed next to him as he placed a supportive hand on his neck. Daniel flinched for a moment, but relaxed into his brother’s touch, still shaking. He was seriously worried now. Could it really be that bad? “I could never hate you. I’ll always love you, okay? You’re my little brother, even if you are a pain in the ass sometimes. I’ve always got your back. No matter what.”
“You mean it?” Daniel rubbed away his tears, seeming to have relaxed long enough to take a few steadying breathes.
“Of course.” Sean gave him a small, playful shove which Daniel returned.
“Promise?”
“Duh.”
“I, um...” Daniel looked at Sean for a moment, before back down at his lap. “...like Chris.”
“I would hope so, you are kinda best friends, enano.”
“No, not...” He pouted a bit, before finding his words again. “...like...LIKE like him. Like...how you’re supposed to like girls, but...”
“Oh...oh!” Sean smiled, a metaphorical light clicked as what his brother said registered. “That’s it?”
“What do you mean that’s it?! I-It’s...fucking weird, right?” Daniel flailed, clearly expecting a different reaction from his older brother.
“Not really.” He shifted further onto his brother’s bed, sitting opposite of him and crossed his legs.
“How do you know that?” Daniel’s tone was a bit more accusatory than Sean’s comment warranted, but the older shrugged it off. He understood, way more than Daniel realized.
“Hmm, guess now is as good of a time to tell you as any.” He pulled out his phone, beginning to flip through pictures.
“Are you seriously texting your friends right now?” Daniel snorted.
“No, okay, just...give me a second, dude. Ah, here.” He passed Daniel his phone, showing a picture of himself with a boy’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, kissing his cheek. He had tattoos on his face and his hair in dreads. Sean looked really, really happy. They both did. “That’s Finn. I met him when I went down to visit California after high school.”
“I don’t...Sean...is he your boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“Whoa.” Daniel’s voice was filled with wonder, far less critical of his brother than himself.
“We’ve been keeping up the long distance thing for a while, but...” Sean rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “...he’s moving to Beaver Creek next month. We found a one bedroom not too far from campus. I told Claire and Stephen earlier this week, um...but I wanted to find the right time to tell you. Sorry I took so long. But yeah, you’re not weird. Or...at least not any weirder than me.”
“But...how did you know Finn liked you? That he wasn’t going to hate you for saying you liked him?” Daniel rubbed at his arm awkwardly, thinking of how Chris might react, all the bad possible scenarios running through his head.
“I didn’t.” Sean answered. Daniel appreciated the honesty, even though it was frustrating. He could feel more tears building up in his eyes.
Sean wrapped him up in a hug, pressing their foreheads together to calm him, steady him. “I don’t wanna lose my best friend.”
“You don’t have to tell him, if you don’t want to. Or anyone, if you don’t want to.” Sean reassured him. “But...I think that what you and Chris have is special. And Super Wolf and Captain Spirit will always fight the baddies together, no matter what.” Chris was a good kid. He wouldn’t hurt Daniel, even if he didn’t feel the same. He and the Silver Runner had had enough conversations over the years for Sean to be confident about that.
Daniel chuckled at the goofy reference to their childhood alter egos. “Thanks, Sean.”
“Anytime.”
The next evening, when Daniel burst into Sean’s room without knocking once more, the older brother simply slid his headphones off, masking his annoyance with a sigh. “Seriously, too old for this...”
“He kissed me!” Daniel hopped up and down excitedly, a childish, satisfied grin stretched over his face. “Right here!” He pointed to his left cheek, much to Sean’s relief.
“Great...” Sean teased, a wide grin to match Daniel's own overtaking his lips. “...now I’ve gotta give Chris the big brother talk.”
“Only if I get to give Finn the little brother talk when he moves here!” Daniel called from the hallway, already excitedly bounding back into his bedroom.