Work Text:
Chase held Riley steady as Riley glided across the ground on Chase's skateboard. He started teaching Riley how to skate hoping Riley would join him whenever he went skating. Unfortunately, Riley was more interested in understanding the aerodynamics of the skateboard than he was piloting one. He crashed into a wall and fell on the floor. Chase ran over and helped him up.
"Ow," Riley groaned.
Chase laughed, "You poor baby!"
"It's not funny Chase!"
Chase covered his face and kept chuckling, "You're right. It's just terrible. I'll stop. Just give me a minute."
Riley rolled his eyes and prepared to leave, but Chase grabbed him, pulling him in, and held him close. Chase nuzzled the side of Riley's face.
"Stop breathing on me!" Riley giggled shrinking away, "That tickles!"
"I'm excited to meet your mum this weekend," Chase grabbed Riley's hands and swung them. Riley looked into Chase's fox-like eyes and smiled.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" Chase snickered, "I can't smile at my boyfriend?"
"That's not why you're smiling at me like that," Riley dismissed.
"Since your mum doesn't know you're gay," Chase waggled his eyebrows, "Maybe we could stay in the same room and-"
"Are you serious?" Riley scoffed and started walking away but Chase pulled him in again. Chase pressed himself against Riley.
"Do you think I'm kidding," Chase whispered in Riley's ears.
One thing should be expressed and it should be expressed plainly. Chase was a horndog. It's not something he ever tried to hide. Whether it was with boys or girls Chase was easily excitable. When Riley and him started having sex he became obsessed with it.
"Chase!" Riley admonished, "Why are we talking about stuff like that here?"
"There's no one here with us."
Riley laughed, "We're in the middle of a 'skate-park'," Riley enunciated their location hoping Chase would knock if off.
"You never thought about-" Chase waggled his eyebrows again but started laughing when Riley formed an "o" with his mouth."Okay, we'll go back to your dorm."
"My roommates there."
"You know, the skatepark is suddenly looking all the more appealing, bro."
"Sometimes I wonder if you aren't the one that got stuck in an ice cube for 100 thousand years."
***
Chase took the jeep and rode out to Montana with Riley. Riley's mother's house was close to Amber Beach, so the entire ride only took three hours. When they arrived they were greeted by Matt and Riley's mom. Rubik jumped on Riley and licked his face. Riley was eager to show Chase where he grew up. Not long after arriving, Riley dragged Chase to the barn where he used to practice his swordplay. He walked him inside the barn and spun around with his arms open.
"This is where all the magic happened," Riley beamed.
Chase grabbed a piece of straw out of a bale of hay and chewed on it, "Yeah. Magical."
"Oh c'mon Chase I used to practice here."
Chase pinned Riley against a bale of hay, "What'd you 'practice'?"
Riley hesitated then smiled, "Swordplay," he murmured back.
"What kinds of swordplay," Chase kissed Riley's ear.
"All kinds-"
Chase pulled away, wrinkled his nose, and laughed, " 'All kinds'?"
Riley realized that Chase was being dirty, "That's not what I meant Chase!"
"How often did you practice in here, bro?" Chase walked around the barn looking at the rafters.
"I can't believe you, Chase," Riley headed for the exit, but Chase grabbed his arm.
"How about we come out here tonight and... you swordplay with me?"
Riley sighed exasperated, "You sound like one of those old men who sits in front of the internet all day."
"Ugh!" Chase laughed.
After dinner Matt, Chase, Riley, and his mother sat around the table talking. Chase watched Riley wondering if he would discuss his sexuality with his mother, but Riley avoided every opportunity. Matt shook his head at Chase but neither Riley nor his mother noticed.
"We're thinking of selling the farm," Riley's mother announced.
"Why?" Riley asked with his brows furrowed.
"It's too much work for me and Matt, Ry-ry. It has been for a long time. Especially as I get older. And your brother here has a girlfriend," she laughed.
"Mom," Matt tried swaying the conversation away from his love life.
"So he'll be wanting to get married and move out soon!" Riley's mom reached across the table and patted Matt's arm.
"But this is dad's-" Riley started but he couldn't finish the thought. His eyes glimmered as tears collected in them. This was the last vestige of his father he had. His father died not long before he left to join the Power Rangers. His death caused the family a lot of pain, but Riley felt that sting in a way few people understood. His father was everything to him, and he only knew a world where his father protected him... encouraged him.
When Riley was mocked in school for being too smart his father asserted, "They're jealous of you son. They'll be stuck in this town for the rest of their lives. But not you. Nope, you're meant for much bigger things."
Riley left the table, running out the front door, and to the barn. He couldn't let them see him crying. He paced inside the shed wiping tears off his cheeks. Chase crept up outside the building, and rested his arm against the barn door as Riley marched back and forth.
"Why wouldn't she ask me just to move back home?" Riley questioned with tears still fresh on his cheeks. Chase walked in the barn with Riley, grabbed his hips, and wiped his eyes.
"You're like a puppy when you cry."
"Would you stop Chase!" Riley pushed Chase off, crossed his arms, and exhaled. Chase wrapped his arms around Riley from behind and hugged him.
"It's more work than you can do too, Riley. She said that after you left. She knew you'd feel guilty for leaving. Why don't you go back in there and talk with her."
"Chase, you don't talk about your dad with me..." Riley's question drove Chase away. He let go of Riley and looked at the floor. Chase could handle being awkward, he could handle being cool, but one thing he couldn't handle was being personal. He hated opening up about painful things, so he broke eye contact when his life became the topic. "Why? You and me are the same, aren't we? Your dad died too," Riley pressed.
"I was younger than you when my dad died, Riley. It's not the same."
"Why not?"
"Because I never got to know mine as well as you did..."
Riley stared at his feet, " 'Better to have loved and lost'..."
"I know, I know. The point is you don't need to feel guilty about being selfish or upset. Talk with her about it. It looks like this conversation was waiting to happen."
Riley walked into the kitchen with his mother. They were alone. She poured herself a cup of coffee and waited for Riley to sit back down. When he did she took a sip from her coffee and watched him. She wanted him to say something first. Riley knew this was how she determined what she'd say next.
"There's nothing we can do to keep it?" Riley muttered.
"No sweety," she responded, "I've tried figuring out a way. I've thought of hiring more hands, but it's too expensive. A company offered us a lot of money for the land, so we're going to take the money and buy a nice house."
Riley stayed quiet, tears still stinging his eyes. When Chase wasn't around Riley felt defenseless.
"Riley, you know as well as anyone we all loved your father dearly. But I can't keep the farm sweety. I've tried to figure out every possible way."
"Mom, I have something I want to tell you."
"What is it, sweety," she took another drink from her cup.
"I'm gay."
Riley's mother put the cup down on a saucer and studied Riley. She didn't say anything. Her silence made Riley's heart begin to race. Was she was angry with him? Had he chosen the wrong time to tell her? He swallowed and waited for a reaction.
"Okay," she mumbled.
"What's that mean, mom? Okay?"
"It means 'okay', sweety," Riley's mother stood up and approached him, "What do you think you're going to come in here and tell me something that'll make me stop loving you." She hugged Riley. He pressed his nose into her shoulder and started crying," We're all we got Ry-ry. It's me, you, and Matt against the world. It always has been."
"And Rubik," Riley chuckled.
"Now you listen here Riley," she said patting his back, "Is that boy with the accent your... boyfriend?"
"Mom," Riley blushed.
"Riley. Now I know I don't have to inform you on how to behave in my house. I would expect you have the same decency your brother has in my home."
"Mom!" Riley blurted his cheeks turning crimson.
"You heard me! That boy sleeps on the couch!"
That night Riley couldn't sleep, so he went to the barn, picked up a stick, and started thrusting and blocking in the air.
"I'll tell you something I always admired, Riley," Riley could hear his father's words in his ears. He remembered the first time his father took him to the barn and showed him how to fence.
"I always wanted to learn how to do this," his father announced as he jabbed a stick in the air. "I took a few classes, but I wasn't any good."
Riley thrust in the air and his father smiled back at him, "Like that?"
"Just like that. Your mom thinks whenever I come out here and do this that I'm playing around. I'm not playing around. Now lemme' show you a trick." Riley's father jumped in the air, spinning, and landing with a swipe.
"Whoa!" Riley gasped.
"Can you copy me?"
As the memory faded Riley jumped in the air, spun, and landed with a swipe. It was his father's trick. Riley grit his teeth to push back the tears.
"Hey, you," Chase's voice emanated from the entrance of the barn.
Riley looked over and wiped some tears out of his eyes, "Hey, Chase."
"Why don't you stop playing around and come to bed?"
"Oh, I'm not playing around," Riley returned.
Chase walked up and grabbed Riley's hand. He pressed it to his lips then smiled at Riley. "I love you, Riley," Chase brushed the side of Riley's cheek.
Riley smiled with his teeth, "I love you too, Chase."
"Now seeing as how this may be the last time you get to sword fight in here," Chase grabbed Riley's belt buckle and shoved him against a stack of hay. "Why don't I show you some sword tricks I've learned," Chase waggled his eyebrows at Riley. Riley wrapped his arms around Chase and kissed him.