The problem is that Kevin's not entirely sure it's not his ass Tommy wants to kick.

They get out of the hospital with minimal fuss - bar brawl requires less police intervention than gay bashing - but Kevin's still surprised Tommy lets him get away with the lie. For as much as Tommy and Kevin disagree on…most everything, Tommy's fiercely protective of Kevin's lifestyle, though Kevin thinks it has more to do with the fact that the first person who ever beat the shit out of him for being gay was Tommy.

"Do you want to go home?"

They're the first words Tommy's said since he picked Kevin up other than "Fasten your seatbelt", and Kevin starts.

"Um, depends." The words sound funny, and he's not sure if he's still got all his teeth or if it just feels like a few of them are missing. "Are Mom and Dad there?"

Tommy shakes his head. "They're at that convention in Pasadena."

"Right." Kevin thinks for a minute then shakes his head. "No. Somewhere else."

Tommy nods and moves the car deeper into the night time traffic, his thumbs tapping a strange rhythm on the steering wheel. "You want to talk about what happened? Something other than 'you should see the other guy'?"

He does, really, but more than that, he doesn't because he knows if Tommy knows the truth, he'll be disappointed, and that's the one emotion Kevin can't actually handle. Angry, furious, enraged, indignant, homicidal…all of those Kevin understands and can deal with. But Tommy looking at him with hurt eyes that don't understand; well, Kevin wants nothing to do with that.

"There was a rally on campus." True. "A few of the other guys and I were there together." Still true. "I split up with them to head back to my place." Not entirely true. "Ran into this guy." Back to the truth. "And he beat the shit out of me."

Tommy nods, fingers still tapping on the wheel, his eyes locked on the traffic, or something else only he could see. "Did you know him?"

"No." The answer comes quickly and Kevin looks out his window. It's hard to bald-face lie to Tommy, but it's a damn sight better than the truth. For both of them. "No idea who it was or why."

"Because you're gay." It's a statement, but also a question, and that's the thing that kills Tommy, Kevin knows. The fact that this life that Kevin leads makes people hate him on gut reaction, in ways that has nothing to do with who Kevin is or what he does or anything other than, as they see it - hell, as Tommy sees it - who he sleeps with.

"Because I was at a gay rally, yeah." That edges closer to the truth, and he hopes like hell Tommy won't notice the difference between what he said and what Kevin admitted to, but lying gets harder and harder, and Kevin's tired and he hurts.

Tommy pulls the car over and parks, getting out and going around to the trunk. Kevin watches him, brow furrowed as Tommy pops it. For a second, there's a weird thrill that races through Kevin, and he thinks maybe Tommy knows something, wants to force the issue. But Tommy closes the trunk with a hollow sound and comes around to the hood of the car, sliding up on it and setting a six pack next to him.

Kevin gets out and settles on the warm hood as well, taking one of the beers. It's domestic and nasty and perfectly Tommy, and Kevin figures even if it doesn't get him buzzed, at least it'll help kill any germs he might have picked up floating around the hospital air.

Tommy drinks in silence for a long minute, the sound of the city around them like faded noise, distant insects droning. "You know, Kevin, I'd give almost anything for you not to be gay."

Kevin nearly chokes on the swallow, and it hurts going down, but he's pretty sure it would no matter what. He doesn't say anything, just looks down at his feet, studying the dark smear of blood on his once pristine white tennis shoes. He wonders idly whose blood it is.

"Not because I don't want you to be gay or because I want to change you." Tommy sighs and looks up at the stars, barely visible through the fine layer of clouds and fog, and almost unable to compete with the city lights that flash and flare in the distance. "But because I want you to be happy. Not that gay people can't be happy, but…well, you can't be you, not really. Not in the world we live in, not in the society we have. And I want you to be happy, Kevin, so I really wish you weren't gay."

"I wish society was different."

"Yeah, well, I guess that's another option." Tommy takes another drink of his beer. "Who you are makes people want to beat you up, Kevin."

"Yeah, well, who you are makes people want to beat you up sometimes." Kevin tries for a smile, but it hurts, and he's not sure Tommy would buy it anyway. "And most people don't want to beat me up, Tommy. Just a few. And I try really hard to stay away from them." He takes a drink of beer and then closes his eyes, tilting his face up to the sky. "Sometimes it's hard though. Harder than you think."

"I'm supposed to protect you."

"Well, I'm a grown boy now, Tommy. You don't have to do that any more."

Tommy reaches over and brushes Kevin's forehead, the lightest of touches just grazing across his skin. "You're still my baby brother."

He opens his eyes and shakes his head, smiling all the while. "And you still came to my rescue, Tommy."

"Yeah." Tommy smiles at him and pulls his hand back, exhaling into the night. "Yeah. I guess I did."