Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2022 01:00:00 -0700 From: John Henry Subject: Growing Up Charlie Chapter 73 (Gay/Incest) DONATION: Nifty is a not-for-profit organization that heavily relies on our donations to keep the site free and accessible. Your donations pay for web hosting fees and other day-to-day activities for the wonderful staff of editors/publishers. You can donate on the website at http://donate.nifty.org/ Every little bit counts. DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction, and contains explicit, sexual content involving adults over the age of 21 and minors under the age of 16, and scenes of incest involving step-parents/step-children. If viewing this material is illegal where you live, OR you're a minor under the age of 18, please stop reading this. If you're not sure about this legatilty, please stop reading until you have looked into your own, local laws. Any likeness or similarity between persons, places, products or concepts are purely coincidental. If you would like to leave any positive feedback, please let me know. Thank you. Chapter 73 Charlie was cleared to fly home after two long and agonizing weeks in the hospital. There was talk about keeping him longer for psychological reasons, but Will threatened to sue the hospital if they didn't at least transfer the boy's care to a facility closer to home. Will booked a flight for himself, Rick and Billy to leave the day before Ry and Charlie. Rick tried to object, as he felt that Charlie needed him, but it took Will pointing out that Charlie had a breakdown every time Rick entered the room to convince Rick that his son didn't want to see him. Billy, like Rick, wasn't able to be in the same room as his little brother. The only male Charlie was able to be around was Ry. Ry didn't give a shit about how the others felt. Rick and Billy brought it on themselves with the way they treated Charlie before the abduction, and Ry was still bitter over how Rick and Billy blamed him for it. As far as he was concerned, Charlie was the only family he had left, and Ry was going to do everything in his power to take care of him. Most of their time was spent in silence. Charlie slept a lot and was on heavy medications. His night terrors had returned, so Ry let Charlie sleep as much as possible. When they were able to talk, Ry mostly talked about himself and school. He didn't tell Charlie about how he was forced to live with Will or anything else negative. Ry wanted to keep things as positive as possible. Will had arranged for a video visit for Charlie and Rhonda. Mother and son cried through most of it. Ry felt awkward but Charlie insisted that his big brother stay. Rhonda assured Charlie that she was going to move to Washington after getting out of prison and was bold enough to say that she would try to get custody of him. Charlie seemed happy to hear those words, and Ry wondered if he'd be allowed to live with them. The day they left for Washington, they were taken to the airport by a female driver to help ease Charlie's nerves. He was also given a sedative, and by the time he boarded, he no longer cared that there were male members of the flight crew. Will booked them first class seats and gave special instructions to treat the brothers with care. Ry messaged Trevor, letting him know what was going on. He hoped that Charlie would be cool with Billy's boyfriend, since Charlie was fond of the guy before the kidnapping. Trevor offered to drive them home, and Ry said that he'd ask Charlie after they landed. Once on the ground, however, Charlie refused, though it wasn't as intense as Ry had expected, leaving room for a possible reunion later. Per Charlie's request, he was moved into Ry's room. Rick, Billy and Trevor did all the rearranging, since Charlie also wanted his own bed. Nobody questioned it after the months of sexual abuse the boy endured. It was a tight fit, given the lack of space, but they made it work. Charlie's bed was against the window, and they were given a larger, single dresser to share. Rick and Billy were put up in a hotel for a week to give Charlie time to readjust. Charlie refused to go into his old room. The memories of Justin raping him were still fresh. For the most part, he hung out in his new room with Ry. Ry did his best to give Charlie time and space, but his baby brother never wanted to leave his side. When Rick and Billy did come home, things were very tense. It was like trying to tame a feral cat. Charlie snapped and snarled at his father and half-brother. They knew the boy was just lashing out from the trauma he'd experienced, but after a couple weeks, Billy was growing very tired of it and occasionally clapped back. Rick, however, took the abuse, as if it were penance for how he had treated Charlie. He loved his baby boy very much and if being the boy's verbal punching bag was going to make things better, he would do it. Ry knew his father and brother were doing everything wrong. Charlie needed them to give him space, but Billy and Rick only wanted to do it on their terms. Charlie would come to their room screaming and crying, leaving Ry to pick up the pieces. He did his best to assure Charlie that he was going to be okay and that nothing else was going to happen. "Why won't they leave me alone?" Charlie sobbed after a particularly harsh argument with Billy in which Ry backed Billy down. "Because," Ry said, holding Charlie's hands, "they don't know how else to act. Billy expects you to just get over it, and Dad...Dad just wants things to go back to how they used to be." "That's never going to happen." "I know that, but they don't." "I wish they'd just leave." "I know you do, but that's not going to happen." Ry squeezed Charlie's fingers, which is the most physical contact Charlie approved of. Ry wanted to pull Charlie into his arms and hold the boy, but knew that Charlie would have a mental meltdown. "How about we talk about it with Kristine on Friday?" Kristine was Charlie's therapist, whom he had been seeing twice a week since he got home. "I guess," Charlie said with a shrug. "I don't see how it can help." "Well, I can't hurt, can it?" "I guess not." Trevor began to make phone calls to Charlie a week after Charlie came home. It started with calls to Ry that were put on speaker phone, then texts and eventually, actual phone calls. Trevor wanted to spend time with Billy but was considerate enough to wait for Charlie to come around. It was a major source of tension between Billy and Charlie, but Ry and Trevor did their best to keep Billy in check. In early October, Charlie, Ry and Trevor met at Will's for dinner. Will took Billy out for a "father son" dinner for Billy's birthday. Ry made dinner, while Charlie sat nervously. They all agreed to a safe word, so Charlie could excuse himself, while Trevor left. The great thing about Trevor was his inability to be offended. "Hey," Trevor said, as Ry let him in. Trevor avoided eye contact with Charlie and went about talking to Ry. Trevor sat at the table, while Charlie sat on the couch. "I hope it's okay that I brought dessert. It's chocolate cake." "Sounds perfect," Ry said, having already arranged it with Trevor. Chocolate cake was one of Charlie's favorite foods. "Dinner's ready Charlie," Ry softly called out. Charlie steeled his nerves and went to the table. As with the phone calls, Trevor let Charlie make the first moves. He made Charlie ask to be passed things, which Charlie did after a few minutes. By the end of the night, though, they were making direct eye contact and cracking some jokes. Trevor put on his jacket and said to Charlie, "I hope we can do this again soon, but only when you're ready." To everyone's surprise, Charlie walked over and hugged the young man. Trevor lightly hugged Charlie back. "I'd like that a lot," Charlie said, taking a step back. "Me too," Trevor said before leaving. "I'm very proud of you," Ry said, from the kitchen. There was a part of him that was a little jealous that Trevor got a hug, while he was still having to hold Charlie's hands; however, if anyone deserved a hug, Ry was glad it was Trevor. "Thanks," Charlie said entering the kitchen. "Can I have more cake?" "Sure," Ry said, as he finished loading the dishwasher. He then felt arms wrap around him from behind. Ry smiled as Charlie held on. "Thank you," he said softly. "For what?" Charlie said. "For letting me in." "You were never out." Ry took a chance and turned around. He looked down and saw Charlie's beautiful brown eyes looking up at him. Charlie was still thin but not as much as he had been the day they were reunited. He leaned down and pulled Charlie into a proper hug. At first, Charlie was a ball of nerves but began to relax and then hugged Ry back. The two held each other for many long minutes. Tears fell from their eyes as they squeezed the other as if clinging for life. The brothers took a cab home. Rick was already in bed, and Billy was staying at Will's. Charlie and Ry went to their room and got ready for bed. Charlie watched Ry get undressed and put on his night clothes. The many scars from the countless surgeries were still visible all over Ry's legs and back. Charlie wondered if his own, internal scars would ever heal, like Ry's physical scars had. He took off his own clothes, down to his boxers and got into his bed. "Ry," Charlie called out. "Yeah?" Ry replied. "Thank you for tonight." "Of course. Anything for you." Charlie smiled to himself and rolled over. Ry laid in bed wondering how long he could keep lying to himself. He was still in love with Charlie, but he knew he couldn't act on it. Charlie was damaged and only just starting to come out of his shell. The last thing Ry wanted to do was to hurt Charlie or make his issues worse, but the pangs of unrequited love were becoming too much. The dreams of Quinton started to come back, which only made his longing worse. Charlie waited till he was sure that Ry was asleep. He got out of bed quietly and made his way across the room, making sure not to step on any loose floorboards. He opened the door and went into the bathroom. Charlie opened the cupboard under the sink and moved some of the items around till he found the bottle he had placed there shortly after coming home. He opened to discover that the tiny, pale blue pills were still there, though he was running low. Charlie took two out and swallowed them dry. He counted what was left and figured he had about three days left. The next time he went to the store, he'd have to steal more. Life without his sleeping pills was horrible. The nightmares were worse and his attitude wasn't much better. He was pissed that Kristine refused to renew his prescription, claiming that they were habit forming (whatever that meant), so he was left with no other choice but to take them. Charlie went back to bed. He looked out the window, wondering, as usual, if Justin was dead somewhere. Charlie hoped that Justin was gone forever, but he couldn't sleep without knowing for sure. The pills took effect shortly after, and he dreamt of a son and a husband who looked rather familiar. ***Coming Soon, Chapter 74***