dipenates

Title: New Horizons
Fandom: Brothers and Sisters
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Length: ~15,000
Characters: Justin, Kitty, Kevin, Sarah, Nora, and Tommy
Icon: danielle_nahimi
Warning: Contains references to sexual abuse and rape.
Summary: In which Justin leaves rehab, and the family struggles to deal as something disturbing comes to light.

Chapter Three

In which Kevin and Tommy talk about rehab

Kevin stood in the doorway to the patio, hands in pockets, and surveyed his older brother. Tommy had been quiet through dessert and was now sitting alone outside on the terrace, smoking a cigar.

“Is Mom still upstairs with Kitty?”, Tommy asked, leaning back in his patio chair, and blowing smoke towards the inky sky.

“Yeah. I think Mom’s reading the riot act about how this was supposed to be a tension-free evening for Justin’s sake. Sarah’s taken the kids home. Clearly this being us we couldn’t just have a straightforward dinner.”

Tommy shrugged, focused on tapping ash of his cigar without sprinkling it on the patio table.

“I think Sarah’s point was fine and all”, said Kevin, warming to his theme, “but couldn’t she have left the college activism alone for one evening? We all know that Kitty is an uber-fascist. Do we have to go seven rounds on the issue of the week every time we get together?”

Tommy was silent, looking towards the dark pool. Kevin sat down in the chair opposite him.

“You okay, man?” Kevin sounded concerned. “Are you worried the rehab didn’t take? That Justin hasn’t pulled himself together?”

Tommy cleared his throat. “I was thinking about an old girlfriend. Clare.”

“I don’t think I ever met her”, Kevin said. He frowned, trying to place the name.

“We went out for a couple of months in high school.” Tommy paused. “She was a transfer from another school sophomore year and she was smokin’ hot.”

There was a noise on the other side of the patio doors. Tommy looked at the doors, fearfully, and lowered his voice.

“This one afternoon I was at her house and we were getting down to it on the sofa in her basement. She was kind of unresponsive and I looked at her face to see if she would let me go the whole nine yards and she was, fuck, crying.”

“Fuck, Tommy!” Kevin’s face was screwed up with concern, but Tommy could see fear and disgust in his expression as well.

“I didn’t fucking hurt her!”, said Tommy. “I got off her so fast it was like her father just walked in the room. I tried to calm her down but she wouldn’t talk to me and in the end I just left.”

“Why was she crying?” asked Kevin. He was sitting straight up now, scanning Tommy’s face for a clue as to how to respond to his taciturn brother’s unexpected confidence.

“Fucked if I know,” said Tommy. He looked away from Kevin’s gaze. “I was a stupid kid. I tried to speak to her at school, but she never really spoke to me again. This asshole Brent Wallace went out with her for a bit, but he said she was frigid and she didn’t date much after that. Heaven forbid that Brent should have gone without pussy for five freaking minutes.”

He took a deep shuddering breath. Kevin leaned across the table and patted his arm.

“The thing is”, Tommy said, “that after going to Justin’s group I think I know what her issue was. I think some guy hurt her. One of those girls at New Horizons was talking about how hard it was to do it with guys she was into.”

“Yeah,” said Kevin. “Sensitively put, Tommy, but I know what you mean.”

He looked at Tommy thoughtfully.

“Don’t you feel guilty about this, man”, he said. “I mean, I’m sorry that something happened to Clare, but you did all you could with the information you had. Sophomore guys are not Oprah Winfrey, and Clare wouldn’t talk to you.”

Tommy nodded; consoled, if not reassured.

Kevin paused, reflecting. “I think that going to Justin’s group has opened my eyes to a whole raft of things that I would never have thought about.”

“That’s nice, dear”. Nora stepped through the patio doors, and ostentatiously waved away the smoke from Tommy’s cigar. Tommy and Kevin turned their heads towards Nora, the serious mood precipitated by their conversation broken.

“Kevin, would you mind running upstairs and fetching down that box of fabric samples from Kitty’s wardrobe? It’s too heavy for either of us and I wanted to discuss that chintz with you?”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Sure, Mom. I live for no greater purpose than to queer-eye your potential habadashery purchases.

(Part four)