Owen inclined his head.
"Point taken. Anyway — thank you for the sandwiches. And the beers. I'm afraid I've been rather a bad host, Emmy..."
"Please," she said, cutting him off. "It's good to be able to feel useful."
"Don't think for a moment you haven't been useful, Em," Eric said. "I would never have had the balls to turn up here if it weren't for you."
At which point, much to Emmy's surprise, Owen grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"Thank you," he whispered fiercely, and she was pretty sure that if she looked him in the eye, she'd see tears, so she just squeezed his hand back.
The food helped settle the mood, and Emmy was leaning against Eric's shoulder on one of the absurdly comfortable couches, his arm around her waist, sipping her beer when she felt him shifting his weight forwards.
"If you don't mind me asking, Owen — did...this have anything to do with your departure?"
He gestured between Owen and Reynaldo, who were sitting side by side facing them, Owen's hand on his boyfriend's knee.
"Because I have to say, I had no idea. None. I remember you, um, dated girls in high school. Like, cheerleaders? I used to be so jealous of you."
"This? Being gay?" Owen said with a grin. "I don't know, maybe. It definitely wasn't the main reason — I just had to escape from Dad. But I was a confused teen. I kind of knew I was attracted to guys, but I hadn't really done much about it — maybe enough to know there was something there that I tried to pretend wasn't. And to be honest, I was a horny teen, and you know, girls... liked me, and I liked them. But there was something powerfully attractive about the idea of being with a bunch of fit, ultra-masculine men. Maybe I wanted to exorcise that side of me by joining the Marines."
"Yeah, that worked well," Reynaldo chimed in, and they grinned at each other.
"It's definitely played a role in my decision to stay away, though. I don't imagine Dad would ever accept me like this. I know he's a fucking bigot."
"You can say that again," Eric said with a sigh. "He pretty much hasn't changed opinions since we were kids — remember how he used to mock me because I hated playing football, called me a faggot?"
Owen let out a bitter bark of a laugh.
"How could I forget? It's the kind of thing I replay in my head whenever I think of him."
"Mum wouldn't care though. You know she wouldn't."
"I know," Owen said with a sigh. "But I don't know how she’d react after all that time — she must be really pissed at me."
"Are you kidding me? She'd do anything to see you again. Including fighting Dad."
"I... "
"Listen," Eric said in earnest, "She doesn't talk about you anymore — I think she hasn't got the courage, because I remember how broken she was when Dad failed to find you a few years back, but...I know there hasn't been a single day she hasn't thought about you."
"Oh God," Owen groaned.
"I don't want to push you, but — when you're ready, I'd like to tell her I found you."
"Like I can say no. Of course you have to tell her. I've been bullshitting myself that I was making it easier for her but... I can't pretend anymore. And I miss Mum."
"I'll go and see her when I'm fly back. I'll tell her face to face. Dad doesn't have to know about it."
"He will probably find out at some point," Owen said. "I should keep that in mind."
"Not just him," Emmy said, mindful of how she made the gossip pages after her appearance on Eric's arm at the Met Gala. "I think if you resurface the press might just be interested."
"Oh, believe me, I am aware of that. I've always known that, hard as it would be to disappear, it would be even harder to return to the family fold without the press swooping on me. What with Dad and Eric in the public eye — I'm doomed."
"These things can be managed," Eric said quietly.
"And there's a part of me that wouldn't mind showing up the Senator as a gay, decorated former Marine."
"Decorated?" Emmy asked, curious, and Owen blushed, which surprised her. Somehow she wasn't expecting coyness from a Marine.
"Oh, you know, Purple Heart, when I got wounded in Afghanistan. Just like Dad in Vietnam, really."
"And that small matter of the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in action," Reynaldo added,