Elijah could feel how much April wanted to talk to him long before Amy was escorted to her apartment by Malcolm.
He sighed, dumping the dishes into the sink. There wa just no running from April's gaze. "What do you want to tell me?"
April hesitated, unsure of how to approach him. "You said it was okay before, but… you're clearly still holding grudges."
Elijah turned to her, hands resting on the sink behind him. "Well, if it's any comfort- I thought so too."
April stepped closer, standing beside him. Awkwardly. "Do you hate me for choosing myself back then?"
Elijah laughed bitterly. "Hate you? I left my little baby sister with our parents, for crying out loud!" He then shook his head. "And they were no picnic, I would know. I lived with them"
April didn't want to revisit those memories anymore than she has to- they hurt too much. "I'm sorry."
Elijah shook his head. "I'm the one who should be sorry, April." he admitted, pulling her into a sideways embrace. "I lied to you, kept most of myself private, and, most of all… I made it seem like you had a choice back then."
"But I did!" April countered.
"No, you didn't," Elijah said firmly. "I had nowhere to go, no money… How would the two of us even survive a night on the streets?"
"The same way you did!" she said, surprised by his bluntness.
"I used my body for cash, April" Elijah deadpanned. "Think that's something to add to my biography?"
April froze. "I didn't know…"
"And now you do," he said, feigning indifference.
April's mind raced. "Then you lied about being friends with Malcolm?"
Elijah chuckled. "Malcolm's father was my boyfriend before I even knew about him."
April gasped. "Pastor Richard?"
"Yeah," Elijah said, smiling fondly at the memory. "I met him a year after I left home. He gave me a home, a job, and apparently a friend."
"But you were just a kid!" April shouted, hurt growing with every word. "He took advantage of you"
Elijah smiled at his sister, softening. "Richard was more human than anyone I know. Everything I am today is thanks to him."
"Does Malcolm know about you two?" April whispered, covering her mouth.
"I don't think so. But for someone to be told there's a stranger sharing your inheritance… and he agreed? I have my doubts."
April hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I was a jerk to you and that I didn't come looking for you for the four whole years we were apart."
April pulled back, curiosity taking over. "What did Malcolm do to make him awful to you?"
Just then, Malcolm walked in, as if summoned. "I think I heard my name?"
Elijah squirmed. "She was asking why you were awful to me when I came out."
Malcolm swallowed hard. "Well- he didn't exactly came out to me..." Trailed off Malcolm unsure if it was even his story to tell.
Elijah finished for him, all serious. "He found me… masturbating to gay porn on his father's bed."
Malcolm's face turned crimson. He wished he could erase that image in his head forever.
"And that's when he threw me out. Naked." Elijah finished off his story looking at the squirming Malcolm. He enjoys these moments the most.
"But I did look for you," Malcolm defended awkwardly.
"Only about two months later when April came to look for me!" Elijah stressed, not letting him breathe in peace.
April smiled at the family she finally had. "At least it all worked out for the best?"
Elijah softened. "Yeah," he admitted. "I love you guys."
Malcolm teased lightly. "More than Victor the terror?"
"More than myself," Elijah said quietly.
Who said relationships were easy? You mess up, you hold a grudge, you forgive, you forget- yet it makes you yearn for more...