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I appreciate the sentiment, but at the moment I’m so overwhelmed that the couch is like a boulder I cling to for safety in the middle of a rushing river. I sit pressed up against one side with Avery beside me, their hand on my thigh like they’re anchoring me in place.
“However,” Gabriel says, “I do have questions.”
“Gabriel, be nice,” Avery says.
“Who suggested I’m not going to be nice? I just have questions.”
Avery rolls their eyes but does not stop their brother from continuing.
“You two have been dating for a while now, huh?” Gabriel says.
I swallow. I know Avery explained the whole thing to him, even the TA part. While Avery was willing to keep this from most of their family, they’re close with Gabriel and wanted to tell him the full truth.
“Yes, we have,” I say.
“And now you’re taking my dear sibling out of the country, huh?” Gabriel says.
I shoot a look over at Avery. “It’s not … like that.”
I am not at all acing this. The weight of Gabriel’s gaze pins me to the couch and leaves me sweating through my T-shirt. Trent is silent and imposing beside him. I have no idea what the guy is thinking, if he’s completely checkedout or combing over my every word. He’s impossible to read, and offers not so much as a twitch of his lips.
“I…” I gather myself. “When Avery was a student, I realized that they’re … they’re really brilliant.” I look at Avery instead of their brother as I get going, and the words come easier. “They were far beyond their classmates. Every essay, all that research they did — it was clear they could do so much more than graduate and go straight into some office job.”
I finally turn my gaze back to Gabriel, but I’m more determined and steady now. “So yes, I encouraged them to apply to graduate programs and keep studying, keep researching, keep contributing to the field. And I promised I’d go with them wherever they wanted to go.”
Gabriel’s eyebrows rise. Trent cracks the thinnest of smiles, one side of his mouth pulling up ever so slightly.
“He’s right,” Trent says quietly, and somehow I know that means I’ve survived.
Gabriel breaks into a smile every bit as bright and charming as Avery’s. I see the resemblance now, and perhaps even the reason they’re so close. There’s a similarity to the mannerisms. As Gabriel’s stern older brother act falls away, I glimpse a glimmer of Avery beneath it, a face made for joy and smiling.
“This program is incredible,” Avery chimes in. “It’s one of the best in the entire world. I can’t believe I even got in.”
“Of course you got in,” Gabriel says. “You’re brilliant, like he said.”
Avery shakes their head but doesn’t disagree. “It’s kind of intimidating, to be honest. Going so far from home and everything. But it’s exciting too. Especially because I’ll have someone I care about with me.”
Avery catches my eyes, and for a moment there’s no one else in the entire house, just us sitting there on the couch clinging to each other and smiling about the bright future awaiting us.
“Oh God, stop it, you’re so cute I’m going to throw up,” Gabriel says, but he’s laughing. “Alright, alright, I get it. I just had to be sure. You’re my baby sibling, and Mom is about to lose both of us once Trent and I make our big move out to Seattle. It’s going to be hard on her, and I had to know it was worth it.”
He rises and comes to stand before us. Gabriel ruffles Avery’s hair and leans closer so he can lower his voice.
“But clearly it is, and I’m really, really happy for you.”
Avery’s eyes shine with emotion. They surge up to wrap their brother in a hug. “I’m really happy too.”
Trent and I share a sympathetic glance as Gabriel and Avery dive into some deep sibling conversation that doesn’t involve either of us. It’s kind of adorable, and I tuck it away to tease Avery with later.
Avery’s father interrupts the sibling reunion to call us into the kitchen for dinner. It’s a tight fit with me and Trentadding to a family of six. But everyone squeezes in without complaint, completely happy to sit elbow-to-elbow with whomever is beside them.
Mashed potatoes, carrots, roasted chicken, green beans, dinner rolls. The table is overflowing with food, and everyone starts jostling to get some onto their plates. It’s lucky for me that Avery is a pro at navigating this, because I’m pretty sure I would sit here looking stupid and not manage to eat a single thing if it weren’t for them filling my plate for me. Trent is on my other side, and I notice Gabriel doing the same for him. Apparently, being a boyfriend to one of the Aaron siblings comes with privileges.
The conversation is light. Mostly, Avery’s sisters want to catch up with them now that they’ve graduated. And of course, Avery’s parents have all the usual questions about how school was, how saying goodbye to their friends was, all of that. I sit back and keep quiet, more than content to be overlooked during this family get together. Trent seems to have the same idea. Except that when Mom’s attention swings toward the two quiet shadows at the table, she leaves Trent be.
(“Gabriel has known him since they were kids. Trent’s eaten dinner at our house like a hundred times. No one expects him to talk,” Avery explains to me later.)
“So, you went to school with Avery?” Mom says.
