(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 212

Chapter 212: Bringing the light back to their eyes

"What on earth?" Rhys muttered as he pushed the trolly into the room, confusion on his face. Kellen closed his eyes, his cheeks pink.

"This...seems to be working to calm Mom down." She was smiling as she met Rhys’ gaze.

"If you want, you can take a seat first, and then Kellen can sit in your lap. I’m strong enough." She said with a cheeky grin, and Rhys shook his head, a smile on his lips.

"I feel I will only take you up on that when we are drinking, Eleanor. Kellen, are you comfy?" Rhys asked deceptively easily, but Kellen felt the alarm bells screaming in the back of his mind. He tensed in his Mother’s lap and she chuckled.

"Uh, should I not be? She’s my Mom." Kellen muttered, and Brent suppressed a snort. Rhys slid his gaze towards Kellen’s confused face, before his expression relaxed and he sighed.

"Hmm, fair enough. I’ll let it pass for now." He said calmly, and Kellen glanced at Brent who was bent at the waist, his shoulder’s shaking. Kellen’s Mom pressed her lips against his ear.

"You should go hug him. He’s sulking." Rhys, who had been unpacking the trolly, froze as he heard Kellen’s Mom whisper. Kellen’s shoulders shook at the way Rhys looked at her. Such pure betrayal in his gaze.

"I am not sulking." He said calmly, but Kellen noticed how his eyes shook. He did his best to contain his laughter as he looked over the man in his Captain uniform. Kellen couldn’t describe the feeling that welled inside of him, but it was clear he was showing it on his face as the Captain’s face turned red.

"Come here Rhys." Kellen said, and as if he moved as if he was being pulled towards Kellen. "Pick me up." Kellen said, and Rhys glanced at Kellen’s Mom, before scoping Kellen out of his Mom’s lap. Kellen wrapped his arms around Rhys’ shoulders, placing his head against his shoulder with a sigh. He was more than happy to comfort his Mom, it was not a burden, but being able to get comfort from the Captain?

Kellen had never even dreamed he’d be in the situation he was in currently. Having the Captain all for his own? Kellen was sure he was going to have to share the Captain for the rest of his life. He’d have to hide his feelings for-

Kellen blinked, stunned at the sudden realisation that somewhere, deep within himself, he had known what these feelings had been. He’d just buried them.

’Kellen? You suddenly stiffened. Is everything alright? I’m not hurting your wound?" Rhys asked, concern clearly in his voice and Kellen relaxed. He hadn’t even realised he’d gone stiff in his arms.

"Oh, no. That’s fine. I just realised that I liked you a lot when I was younger, Captain." Kellen smiled up at him cheekily, and watched as Rhys’ jaw dropped and his face went red.

"W-What made you think about that right this moment?" Rhys asked, his lips trembling as Kellen pressed his face against his neck. Kellen inhaled his scent, and sighed.

"I just had a thought that I never expected that we’d be like this. And when I thought that, I realised that I thought I was going to have to share you forever. So, the only logical conclusion I could come to was that I had liked you for a very long time, and a lot." Kellen said. He didn’t care if the other three in the room heard him. They were family, and Brent was as good as.

"Uh, um, oh fuck." Rhys whispered, and Kellen felt him gulp. Kellen laughed.

"Are you alright?" Kellen asked softly, and felt Rhys’ grip tighten on his thighs. Kellen did his best not to wince.

"I am so fucking happy right now." Rhys admitted. "And I feel guilty for that."

"Don’t feel guilty." Kellen’s Mom spoke up from behind Kellen. "His Dad will feel bad for missing this, but that’s okay. We’ve missed quite a bit of your relationship developments. I think that will change moving into the future." Her voice was laughing, full of happiness, and it soothed something in everyone in the room. "So, Kellen, when did you two decide to make it official? And how come we didn’t receive a message?" Kellen froze, and Brent’s laughter filled the air.

"Uh, in my defense, I was in the middle of telling Dad when the attack happened." Kellen said, beginning to sweat. "And it’s only been a few days." Kellen admitted.

"A few days? And you’ve made this progress? So? Tell the truth. How long have you liked the Captain? I did find it suspicious how quickly you decided to jump into a pair contract with him, high compatibility or otherwise." Kellen should have known that all the attention would have gone to him.