❝Kid, don't do that!❞ It was as if I could almost feel him smile-Hear it in his voice, let the warmth of it deluge my heart.
❝Why not?❞
❝It tickles, Allan.❞ I looked into his eyes as he chuckled. Just then i noticed a strange spark of uncertainty a...
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"Why don't you try the salad?" Nancy passed the salad to my side of the gigantic table as we sat there for lunch.
"I helped her make it!" Naveah said with excitement as I smiled back at her.
"So Allan. I've heard you and Jace are dating." Mr. Gray spoke, seated on the opposite side of the table.
"Yea—" I opened my mouth, unsure of what to say, but Jace chimed in and cut me off.
"Dad!" He said.
"What?" Mr. Gray looked up from his plate. "What's wrong?" He spoke.
A minute of utter silence and he spoke again. "Have you shown Allan around the house, Jace?"
"No." Jace replied with a cold voice.
"Don't you have basic manners?" Mr. Gray looked at Jace again.
"Guess you weren't around to teach me any." Jace looked up from his plate at Mr. Gray.
Mr. Gray looked at Jace. He had a sharp jawline just like Jace's. Their eyes were similar too but Jace had mostly taken up on his mom.
There was this annoying silence creeping back in. Only the clatter of forks and plates was heard. Nancy tried to keep the environment lively but after a while, she gave up too.
"Do you wanna visit the old house, Jace?" Mr. Gray asked as we sat in the living room watching something on the TV.
"No." Jace didn't even bother looking at him. He was pissed about something. I just had to figure out what it was.
"Old house?" I asked, trying to carry out a normal conversation for once.
"Oh yeah! Jace grew up there." Mr. Gray explained.
"Oh!" I looked at Jace who sat on the couch next to me. "Well, he never bothered telling me about it."
Jace gave me a look. One where it seemed like he would chew me up alive if he could.
"He doesn't like talking much about it." His dad said.
"Tell me more about this house, Mr. Gray!"
"He grew up in that house up until he was six. And then he came every summer to spend a month there." He told. "And it's Adam."
"Do you still go there every summer?" I asked Jace.
"He doesn't." Adam answered instead. "He stopped coming once he turned 12. I think he didn't like the place anymore."
Jace decided to stay silent. He kept looking at the screen.
"I wanna see this house."
"No!" He finally spoke up. "We have to leave for home."
"You told Nancy you wouldn't leave before midnight." Adam interrupted.
"Well, it's not that long a drive back to Hamden." Nancy walked in. She had gone somewhere.
"Let's go? I just wanna see where you grew up." I nudged his elbow. "Please?"
He looked at me. I knew he was mad at me for being so persistent. I was doing this for him. He won't be mad for long.
"You know I'm not taking no for an answer Jace. Give up." I said. He looked at Nancy and then looked back at me.
"Fine." His response was cold but it was okay.
---❁---
He wasn't talking much. The drive wasn't too long. The house was around the edge of a road that ended by a wide canola field. The sky was cloudy with an overcast of sorts.
"This place looks old." I tried starting a conversation.
He didn't respond and got off the car. He walked towards the house. It was just a little bigger than a normal house. I followed him. The bleak wooden porch creaked as we took the steps to the front door.
He took out the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. As he swung the door open, he found candles aligned on the ground, all lit, just as I wanted them to be. There were photos hung down walls on either side of the lobby—old and new.
"I know it's a day early. But happy birthday, Jace!"
❁❁❁
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!
This is for everyone who is a part of the community - Thank you so much for believing in yourself and coming this far. You're loved and valid and no one can tell you anything different.
This is for everyone who supports the community - Thank you for not being homophobic. And handling a lot of new sexualities and terms I guess.
I'm really excited for everyone to read the upcoming parts of this story as they're going to be crucial. And a lot more emotional.
And we just crossed 1.6k reads on this story so cheers to that as well...
