Unconditional Validation

Chapter 12

"Yeah, my triplet siblings are the reason why I ran away", I took some more bites out of my burger.

"Oh", Bryce began, "What happened? If you don't mind me asking"

"It's fine, I'll tell you", I smiled at him.

I started the story back from when it was two weeks before the start of the school year. Telling Bryce what my siblings wanted to do to; be more like a normal high schooler, which was a good thing for everyone. I told him everything that also happens behind closed doors. From our parents turning my siblings into cash cows ever since their diagnosis to how I'm just the shadow to my siblings even though we're still triplets.

"Everything was going well with keeping their fame hidden, until my best friend's birthday party last week", I told Bryce while trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall, "I thought one of my so-called friends would be okay with it. I was wrong. He drunkenly exposed the three of us and who we were. I ran away because I was so good at hiding who I was outside of school, but I just fell apart."

When I was done explaining what happened, I looked out the window to the right to hide the tears. There was a bit of silence before I heard shuffling from where Bryce was sitting to hearing him slide next to me in my seat slowly. I felt his hand gently grab my cheek to turn my face to look at him. I couldn't do it anymore and the tears just started slowly falling.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, I really am.", Bryce softly said while gently wiping away the tears from my face, "I totally understand why you would run away from everything. I know it'll get better when everything settles down."

"O-Okay", I murmured quietly while looking down at my now empty plate. I felt better getting all of that on my chest, but now I feel embarrassed that I hurt my masculinity a bit by letting my tears show. Especially in front of a stranger, even if he's hot.

I've got to stop thinking these thoughts! I mentally face-palmed over my intrusive thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry", I stammered a bit with embarrassment. Bryce chuckled a bit.

"Why are you sorry?" Bryce playfully, but gently pushed my shoulder a bit.

"Don't laugh at me if I tell you", I slightly chuckled.

"I promise I won't" Bryce just smiled at me.

"I'm embarrassed by what just happened", I chuckled even more.

"From what, man? That you needed to hurt your egotistical masculinity in order to get something huge off of your chest?" Bryce cooed and jokingly grabbed my left cheek.

I just rolled my eyes, pushed his hand away, and laughed with Bryce. Truthfully, I didn't mind letting the walls down every now and then. I secretly was wishing that I had someone like Bryce in my life back home. I loved my friends, but they weren't like Bryce. The only person that would've done this was my best friend Justin. The others would've given up after a while. I was going to ask Bryce if I could add him on social media and into my contacts, but when I took out my phone, that's when I remembered.

"Can I ask you for a quick favor?" I asked Bryce.

"Yeah of course, anything for this rising star", Bryce smiled in response, along with a playful wink.

"Do you have a phone charger that I could borrow for a bit?" I smiled sheepishly while slightly rubbing the back of my head.

"Yeah, man! Let me go grab it from the break room real quick! Also, I'll be right back with your check" Bryce smiled and hurriedly went to the back.

I sighed a breath of relief and started cleaning up the table by neatly arranging and stacking my used dishes. I didn't want to give Bryce a hard time with cleaning up after me. When I was done, that's when he came back. He handed me the charger, and placed my check in front of me. I plugged the charger into the outlet that was at the table and next to the window. My phone slowly came back to life and then that's when it started going off because of how much I missed. I had hundreds of missed texts and calls from basically everyone I knew, and of course I had all the random social media notifications I missed. 

While it was charging, Bryce and I hung out for a bit more. We were getting to know each other more and more. I found out that Bryce was studying at Yale that was just up the road as a freshman. He was studying business and used to be one of the top football captains at his high school. Bryce was raised in Colorado as well. It was like Bryce and I were supposed to be long lost best friends in a different life. When my phone was mostly charged, I gave him the charger back. I was going to give the checkbook with my card in it, but Bryce stopped me.

"It's okay, it's on the house man", Bryce smiled.

"You sure?" I asked him, not wanting him to get into any trouble.

"Yeah of course!" Bryce replied. While he wasn't looking, I left him a cash tip of forty dollars next to the dishes.

"One more thing? Can I add you to my phone and on social media?" I asked Bryce and held my unlocked phone out.

"Yeah", Bryce smiled warmly, taking my phone. I watched him add himself into my phone and make my accounts follow him on Instagram and Snapchat.

"Thank you for everything, bro. I mean it Bryce", I smiled while having butterflies in my stomach return briefly.

"Anytime, man. I hope everything turns out for the better, and please head home. I think everyone is worried about you", Bryce gently put his hand on my shoulder for a brief second. I just nodded my head in response.

I headed out of the diner, got into my car and started the ignition. About to pull out of the parking space, I looked up at the diner one last time and saw Bryce waving goodbye towards me. I just chuckled and waved back at him. When I drove out of the parking lot, I was thinking about going to Nantucket. However, there was a voice in the back of my head that was telling me to go back home instead. So, I finally listened to that voice, and headed in the direction of my home. I just hoped everything had calmed down from what had happened.