Chapter Text
She had been staring out a train window for over a day, picturing what would happen when she was standing at Dennis’ doorstep in Pittsburgh. Sure, they talked on the phone now and then, and they texted each other funny memes and videos, but Dennis was completely unaware of the events that had gone down in Broken Bow a few days before.
Evie was out in the back of the farmland. She’d been changing the cow’s food when a head poked in the doorway.
“Ev.”
It was Stella, her girlfriend of seven months, and Evie’s parents didn’t know a thing.
“Stella, what’re you doing here?” She smiled, wiping her hands on her jeans as she walked towards the doorway.
“Thought I’d stop by.” Stella smirked, wrapping her hands around Evelyn’s waist. She was a little taller than Evelyn, so she leaned down to kiss her. Their lips locked, and for a second, nothing else in the world mattered.
Then it happened.
“Evelyn Marie Whitaker.”
Her mother’s sharp, low voice made Evie freeze. She didn’t like to think much about what happened after that, but she found herself out of a home. She’d thrown all her stuff in a bag while her father was screaming and her mother was crying and frantically praying, and with nowhere else she could’ve dreamed of going, she used her savings that were meant for college to buy a train ticket to Pennsylvania. Dennis lived in Pittsburgh now, and if she had any chance at a place to live and a brother who would understand, it would be Dennis.
Now, Evie is standing outside his apartment. She knew the apartment number, 207, from writing it out on an envelope. She takes a shaky breath, then rings the bell. It’s getting dark out, the late summer night beginning to quiet. Right as she begins to wonder if anyone’s home, someone answers the door.
“Can I help you?” A brunette woman looked confused as to why this skinny teenage girl was standing on her welcome mat.
“Hi, um… I’m sorry, I might be in the wrong place…” Evie backed up, voice speeding up as she panicked a little.
The woman moved to close the door, but turns to talk to someone inside. Evie hears a voice she knows. After a second, Dennis is outside.
“Ev, what the hell, what are you doing here? Are you okay?” Dennis holds her shoulders, looking her up and down.
Evie pauses, unsure how to sum up why she’s here, how she ended up in this situation. She ends up just silent.
“…Come on, just come in, we can figure it out. Come in.” Dennis leads her inside and sits her down on a couch a few feet from the door. There’s some TV show on that has been forgotten.
“I, um…” Evie stutters, then she just sighs. “I’m gay.”
Dennis raises his eyebrows, looking stunned. The woman who had answered the door just stands, leaning against the counter, taking in the scene in front of her.
“Wow, uh, okay. That’s… I’m glad you told me… Evie, what’s going on?” Dennis sits in front of her, concern evident in his face.
Evie feels an instant release of anxiety that had been pent up inside her for the last two days. It’s quiet for a few seconds before her face crumpled, and she covers it with her hand as tears begin to run down her face and she starts to sniffle.
“Oh! Oh, Ev…” Dennis hesitates, then wraps his arms around her, holding her head against his shoulder. Evie begins to sob into her brother. Words can’t even explain anything. They stayed like that for a long time.