Other Half

Trevor’s mom only lets him go to Charlie Ray’s house for Thanksgiving if he brings a pumpkin pie with him. Trevor sits in his car for a few minutes, trying to think of what to say to Charlie Ray’s aunt and uncle. He glances up from the steering wheel and sees the curtains flutter. Trevor takes a deep breath and opens the door of his car.

He’s halfway up the sidewalk when Charlie Ray steps out onto the stoop. He’s wearing a red sweater and jeans, with his hand stuffed in his pockets. He’s only wearing socks on the cold concrete.

“Hey,” Charlie Ray greets. Trevor smiles. He pulls Charlie Ray to him, keeping the teenager on the step above him.

“Hi,” Trevor replies and tilts Charlie Ray’s head down to kiss him. He leans forward when they part, pressing his forehead against Charlie Ray’s shoulder. “I forgot the pie in my car.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Charlie Ray offers, even though his feet must be freezing. He pulls Trevor in for another kiss when they reach Trevor’s car, pressing Trevor against the door.

“Come on,” Trevor says a moment later and he hands the pie off to Charlie Ray.

Inside the house, Trevor slips off his shoes and coat, and follows Charlie Ray into the kitchen. He sets the pie on the counter and turns to look back at Trevor.

The woman leaning against the counter smiles and immediately walks over and pulls Trevor into a hug. “You must be Trevor. I’m Charlie’s mom.”

“Hi,” Trevor says, confused. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

“It was a surprise for my baby,” she says and lets Trevor go. “Well, Charlie Ray, you didn’t say nothing about him bein’ so handsome.”

“I told ya he works at Abercrombie and Fitch. They only hire good lookin’ people,” Charlie Ray says, shrugging. He’s blushing just as much as Trevor. “Come meet my aunt. She’s not so embarrassing.”

“Charlie Ray! You’ll be missin’ me when I’m gone back to Alabama, boy,” his mother says.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cooper,” Trevor says.

“Oh, call me Chrissy.”

“Your mom’s nice,” Trevor whispers as they walk into the dining room, where Charlie Ray’s aunt and uncle are setting the table.

“She’s the best,” Charlie Ray says.

“Hello, Trevor,” Charlie Ray’s aunt says. She smiles at him. “I’m Kelly and this is my husband Richard.”

Kelly pulls him into a hug and steps aside a moment later for her husband to shake his hand. He grips Trevor’s hand tight, and says, “You’re older than I expected.”

“Yeah, um,” Trevor starts to say. Richard lets go of his hand, but even without the pressure on his fingers, he can’t think of what to say.

“Leave the boy alone, Richard,” Kelly says.

“He’s hardly a boy,” Richard mumbles under his breath.

Charlie Ray grabs Trevor’s hand and leads them back into the kitchen. Chrissy stands with the oven open, rearranging the pans inside to fit another inside. When she stands up, she pulls the oven mitts off and asks, “What’s wrong?”

Trevor glances at Charlie Ray, wondering how she could know something was wrong.

“Nothing, Momma,” he says, pulls Trevor against his side and watches his mother check the gravy.



Richard sits at the head of the table, with Kelly directly across from him. Charlie Ray and Trevor end up on the same side of the table, with Chrissy across from Charlie Ray. They join hands and pray, something Trevor’s never done before. He squeezes Charlie Ray’s hand, rubbing his thumb across his skin. Trevor follows their example and bows his head, but he peeks at Charlie Ray out of the corner of his eye.

Charlie Ray nudges his foot against Trevor’s and Trevor watches the smile appear across his lips.

“Amen,” Richard says suddenly and they all follow, mumbling out the word. Trevor feels bad; he didn’t hear a word of Richard’s blessing.

“Do you want to share what you’re thankful for?” Chrissy asks as they all begin to dish portions onto their plates. “Charlie Ray and I normally do, but—”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Kelly agrees. “No pressure though.”

“Can I go first?” Charlie Ray asks, pushing around the green beans on his plate. His face is already turning red and Trevor wonders what exactly he’s going to say.

“Sure.”

Charlie Ray puts his fork down and says, “I’m thankful for my all of you. For my mom because she had to raise me on her own and she’s here today to spend the holiday with us. And Aunt Kelly and Uncle Richard because you guys made it possible for me to leave Alabama. And Tyler, because he helped me meet Trevor. I’m so thankful for all of this and for meeting Trevor. I just. I’m really happy.”

Trevor ducks his head as he grins. He feels his cheeks heat up and he reaches over to grab Charlie Ray’s hand from where it’s resting on his thigh. Across the table, Chrissy’s smiling.

“Me too,” Trevor mumbles.



Charlie Ray starts putting the leftovers away with the help of his aunt and uncle, while Trevor and Kelly start grabbing the dishes off the table.

“Do you have a problem with it?” Trevor asks quietly. The kitchen is just in the next room and Trevor doesn’t really want anyone to overhear this conversation.

“With what?” Chrissy asks. She stacks two of the plates over each other and looks over at him.

“With the fact that I’m twenty-one and Charlie’s only fifteen,” he explains. “He’s young.”

Chrissy nods. “He’s young, but I trust Charlie Ray to know when he’s ready for anything more than kissin’ you. And you seem the type to respect consent.”

“Of course!” Trevor exclaims as he fumbles with a fork, sends it clattering to the ceramic plate on the table in front of him. “Oh my god. We’re not—I’d never—”

“Everything alright?” Charlie Ray asks, leaning against the doorway.

“Yeah,” Trevor tells him. He glances at Chrissy and she nods at her son.

A few minutes later, after Kelly shoos Trevor and Charlie Ray from the kitchen, Charlie Ray leads them up the stairs and into his bare bedroom. There’s a radio and a lamp sitting on the nightstand and a pair of sneakers laying in a heap, but besides that there’s nothing that shows a teenager lives in the room.

Charlie Ray turns on the lamp and watches as Trevor sprawls across the twin bed. His face is pressed into Charlie Ray’s pillow for a moment, before he turns his head and smiles at the teenager. He pats the bed next to him. Charlie Ray flicks off the main light, letting the lamp cast a faint glow around them and makes sure the door will remain firmly open before he stretches out next to Trevor.

“Hey,” Trevor says quietly, reaches up awkwardly to grab at Charlie Ray’s hand. He smiles. “I have to be at the mall at four AM for Black Friday. Don’t let me fall asleep.”

“I won’t,” Charlie Ray whispers back. He turns over onto his stomach and turns on the radio, going through the stations until he comes across something quiet and relaxing. He rolls back onto his side and cups Trevor’s hand in both of his.

He hears Charlie Ray whisper something, but he can’t make out what. His eyes slip closed and he feels lips touch his cheek.



“Please don’t make him go home,” Trevor hears close to his ear.

“Charlie, the rules were you couldn’t spend the night with him,” another voice says. Maybe it’s Charlie Ray’s mom. Trevor can’t tell.

“He’s gotta get up at three AM, Momma. Please don’t make me wake ‘im up.”

Trevor hears someone sigh. “Alright, but this door better stay open.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Footsteps fade down the hall and Trevor opens one of his eyes. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Trevor rolls onto his back and digs his cell phone from his pocket. He presses the button to unlock it and squints at the bright screen. It’s just before midnight. His alarm for three AM is still set and Trevor hopes he can hurry home to change into something a little less wrinkled without being late to work. There’s an unread text message and before he can think about what it might say, he opens it with Charlie Ray peeking at the screen.

don’t do anything illegal – tyler

“What’s he mean?”

“He means because I’m twenty-one and you’re fifteen,” Trevor whispers. He reaches across Charlie Ray and places his phone on the nightstand. “Go to sleep.”

Charlie Ray settles against Trevor’s side, forehead resting on his shoulder.

“I love you,” Trevor says. He can feel Charlie Ray grin against his skin.

“I love you too.”