A/N : This is our last chapter before the epilogue. Thank you to everyone who has read it so far, we love you! ❤
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When Chester woke up the next morning, Mike wasn't in bed and he frowned, a little panicked as he got up. He looked around and saw Mike's things in there, but no traces of him, so he went downstairs. He stopped in the stairs as he heard a muffled conversation.
"...and I want the best for my son, so I need you to promise me that you'll never hurt him. I know that I haven't been the best mom but... I still care and love my boy and I want to make up for it." Margaret talked to someone in a low voice, and Chester could also hear the pan burning and smell the bacon and pancakes as he sighed in content.
"I understand, Mrs. Bennington, and I assure you that I will never hurt your son. Chester is... the best thing in my life and I could never ruin that. I've never told him that but... when I met him, it was like a speck of hope flickered in my heart. I wasn't at my best when I started working as a deliverer but the idea of seeing him everyday was what made me get up in the morning and move past that darkness. I've never loved someone as much as I love your son, and I give you my word, that if I ever hurt him, I would never forgive myself." Chester heard Mike's voice and his eyes filled with tears. He had no idea of how much he had helped his boyfriend even if he told him that every once in a while. He was about to go back up to get dressed when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Hey, hotshot." Amber said with a smirk and Chester gasped.
"Amber! You can't go walking by yourself like that!" Chester said as he held his sister, who just rolled her eyes.
"I see you're as overprotective as ever." She shook her head. "Hey, what's wrong? What's up with those tearful eyes?" She frowned and hugged her brother, who just laughed and sniffed as a few tears fell from his eyes.
"I heard Mike and mom talking and... I just love him so much. I never thought I could love someone again after what happened but he was there to prove me wrong... oh, and so wrong." He said as he dried his eyes.
"You two are so mushy it's even gross." She joked and Chester showed his tongue to her.
"Just wait until you meet someone." The blonde warned.
"Oh, as if." She rolled her eyes again and started going down the steps.
"Wait! You're insane, you knuckle head!" Chester laughed and held her again, this time leading her down the steps, carefully.
When Mike heard them, he stopped talking. As he caught a sight of Chester, it was like the first time he was seeing him. His eyes were shining and his lips were parted at the sight of such a beautiful human being. He just couldn't grasp the fact that he could be so lucky to have the blonde in his life. And he smiled. He smiled so big that it seemed to brighten the whole room and warm everyone's heart. His eyes were tiny and the crinkles around his face were like constellations in the sky. He was beautiful.
Chester only blushed as he saw how Mike stared at him and Amber and Margaret stared at each other, silently agreeing that they better go to another room in the house, and just like that, they had vanished.
"I love you." Mike got up and held Chester. Those were the first words he had heard from Mike so far today - well, excluding the ones he had overheard - and he couldn't be happier.
"I love you too." And they kissed, until they heard a gasp, and blushing, they parted. It was Francis. Mike wanted to dig a hole and crawl inside because he could not be more embarrassed.
"I'm sorry." Francis said in such a composed tone, that the two boys calmed down. He wasn't mad.
"Let's eat, shall we?" Amber appeared in the kitchen again and once more, saved their skins.
Breakfast went amazingly well, as they talked about everything and nothing. The conversation was mostly held by Amber, who always had a lot to say. She wanted to go back to school since she was hitching to learn, and Chester couldn't be more proud of her right at that moment.
"I already know what I want to be when I'll be done with my studies." She said, before putting a forkful of pancake in her mouth.
"And what is that?" Chester asked.
"A vet, I want to help animals."
Margaret couldn't help but smile at that. It had been her dream when she had been younger, but life had taken her elsewhere.
Chester was about to reply, when Mike's alarm on his watch went off, telling them that it was 10 o'clock, and he stopped it. He got the small container he had in his pocket before handing Chester his pill. Since they were going away, Mike had asked Lindsey if he could take an extra one so he could give it to his lover.
"Oh..." The blonde man said as he took it. "I had forgotten about that... I'm so lucky to have you." He blurted out, looking at his lover, before his cheeks heated, realizing he had said that out loud in front of his whole family.
As an answer, Mike only winked at him, before he turned to Amber so they could continue talking about her dream job.
Chester and Mike both helped cleaning the table, and as the tattooed man was about to start washing the dishes, Amber walked slowly toward him.
"Ches... do you want to go take a walk with me? My doc said I needed to take at least a twenty minutes walk regularly."
"Oh, of course." He answered before he rinsed his hand on the towel that was hanging on the stove handle.
"Don't worry, I'll wash the dishes." Mike said, as he smiled at his boyfriend. "You two have a nice walk."
Chester smiled at him before he kissed him quickly on the mouth. "You'll be okay with my parents?"
Mike nodded. "Of course, I will, your family is amazing." He flashed a smile at Amber and she smiled before looking back at his brother.
"Your boyfriend is right. Now, let's go." She said as she took his brother by the hand, walking toward the hallway that led to the front door.
"See you later!" Mike told them before he turned toward the sink full of dirty dishes.
The day was colder than both of the siblings had anticipated, but when Chester asked if she wanted to go back and take a coat, Amber only shook her head. "I'm good. I think I need the cool air anyway."
The first few minutes of the walk were spend in complete silence as the blonde man observed the neighborhood. A part of him wished that he could live somewhere this peaceful one day, have his own house with Mike, and maybe, start a family... He blushed as it had been the first time that this thought had entered his mind. His life had always been too fucked up for Chester to hope for such a future, but now...
"What are you thinking about?" Amber asked, as she had seen the expression on his brother's face changed.
"Nothing..." Chester replied, before he looked at his sister, and his heart squeezed in his chest. He couldn't help but still feel guilty about everything that had happened to her, since it was, after all, his fault.
"You can tell me, you know. We're still siblings after all." She said, looking forward and Chester stopped in his tracks. That sentence had hit him hard. Even if he had ruined his sister's life, they were still siblings.
"I'm sorry." He said and only then Amber stopped walking as well and turned slowly to him.
"I know you are, but I don't blame you, Ches. I've told you." She said with a small smile, as she understood immeasurably what her brother was talking about. She was hurt, of course, because during those years of her life she could have done so much, but she was also grateful. She had been given another chance.
"I know you don't. But I do. I know it's my fault. I could've stopped that, I could've done differently." Chester spat out and looked down, his fists clenching.
"But it's in the past. There's nothing you can do to change it. Just focus on the now. I'm alive, that's what matters. I could've died but I'm here, even if it took years, I'm okay now." Amber took some steps closer to her brother and reached out to take his hand in hers, hesitantly. "Can we just talk about how we feel?" She pleaded him and the blonde nodded slightly. They resumed their walk as Chester prepared himself to start talking.
"When all that happened I just... I had no friends at school anymore because Ben, the one that came to our house the day of the accident had told everybody that I was gay and... I was so young and confused. I had no idea what I felt at that time, and I felt weird enough for liking to paint my nails and wear eyeliner sometimes, and for being so affectionate towards my male friends and... I felt so wrong. And I didn't have you anymore and mom was sad all day long, dad would just stay quiet all day and I felt like they hated me. I felt like I had no one and... and so I tried to... I tried to end it," he choked out a sob. "I tried to kill myself but a teacher stopped me and called our parents. After that they put me in a clinic, which was the worst thing ever because I... wasn't allowed to do much and I was forced to do things I didn't want to and... I had never had a friend until I met Ryan," he looked at her briefly and continued, "he was the first guy I fell in love with... at the clinic. But he left not long after I had found out about my feelings. So I was alone again and... I had developed a severe fear of people. I couldn't socialize with anybody and I was taking meds even after I left the clinic. Then I met Mike. He was my annoying deliverer. He wouldn't accept that I didn't want to befriend him and he insisted on me. He saved me from myself many times and after we got together... things just got brighter and brighter and I finally feel like my life is going the right way. But I still feel like there's this weight inside of me... every time I see you smile I just replay everything in my head. I think of the years you couldn't smile and I think of how I ruined your life. You could already be a vet now if it weren't for me."
"Ches... I had no idea." She said and stopped to hug the blonde, who sobbed into her shoulder. "Listen, I know I could've done so much more if it weren't for the accident, but it was all it was. An accident. It wasn't your fault, you didn't do it on purpose. And I will finish studying, I will catch up on everything that's new and if it makes you feel better, you can help me. If you help me I'll do everything faster."
"Of course I'll help you." Chester smiled.
"Good. Now tell me what you were thinking back then. Was it about Mike? Your blush gave you away." Amber teased as she poked his sides.
"Stop!" Chester laughed out loud and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe it was..."
"Stop winding me up, spit it out already!" She chuckled.
"Yes, it was Mike. I... I was thinking that maybe we could buy a house together and live in a peaceful neighborhood like this one... and have a family." He blushed again, not gazing at his sister.
"That would be amazing. Imagine having nephews!" She said enthusiastically.
Chester chuckled, "It's too soon for that but maybe one day."
The rest of their walk was spent reminiscing about the past, when they were younger, and when they reached their parent's house once again, Chester's felt like his heart was lighter. He couldn't put the guilt away that suddenly, but talking it out with Amber had helped him get into the right direction.
After they had stepped into the house, Chester was surprised to find his boyfriend sitting with his mom in the kitchen as they talked excitingly about something in hushed voices. The blonde man walked toward them and when Mike noticed him, he stopped talking and smiled at him widely.
"Ches, you're back!"
"What's going on here?" He asked, frowning, he was more suspicious of his mom than Mike, but the smile on his boyfriend's face put him at ease a bit.
"Your mom just told me about an old friend of hers, she owns a gallery and is an amazing artist, she was showing me some of her most famous paintings."
The young man sat down next to his lover before her mom showed him the album that regrouped various Art pieces.
"Wow, those are nice..."
"I was just telling Mike that, once he graduated, or whenever he'd be ready, I could put him in contact with her, if he wants to."
"Of course, I want to, Mrs. Bennington!"
"Mike, please, I told you before, call me Margaret." She smiled at both her son and his boyfriend. "But it will be my pleasure to talk to her about you."
Chester turned toward Mike, as he was smiling as brightly as the half Asian. "That's amazing, Mike!"
"I'll try to see where I keep her phone number..." Margaret said before she got up and went out of the kitchen.
"Your mom is amazing... your whole family is amazing." Mike said. "You'll see, when you'll meet mine... I mean, they are nice and friendly too, but my dad is a bit more traditional."
Chester's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. "You want me to meet your family?"
Mike frowned. "Of course, I do, Ches. You're my family now, so I don't see why I wouldn't..." The half Asian stopped talking as he sensed Chester squeezed his hand in his own, before his eyes started watering. "Ches, what's wrong, baby?"
The blonde man shook his head. "Nothing... nothing is wrong, in fact, everything is great. I'm so happy right now and I... I love you so much, Mike."
"I love you too." The other man said as he took his unused hand to wipe away the tears across Chester's face. "And you make me as happy as I make you."
The blonde man smiled then and Mike kissed him lightly on the lips. "Do you sometimes think about our future?"
Mike squeezed Chester's hand in his. "All the time..."
"Why haven't you mentioned anything to me?"
"Because I didn't want to scare you..."
Chester sighed happily then, as he had never felt this content before in his life. It was as if he finally realized that everything would be alright now.
"Here, I got the number of Laura." Margaret said as she stepped into her kitchen. She looked at his son's face and his intertwined hand with Mike. "Am I interrupting something? Do you want me to give you some space?"
"No, it's okay, mom. Please, give Mike that number if you can, otherwise he won't shut up about it."
Mike laughed at that. "Not true!"
"You know it is." The tattooed man replied and laughed too.
Spending some time at Chester's parent's house had been one of the greatest decision Mike had ever made.