A Modern Love Story

Chapter 14 - Dinner

Criticism spot! :)

Jack's POV

This week had been awful for Crutchie, being one of the worst he's been through in a while. He couldn't sleep through an entire night without waking up and panicking, and then feeling horrible because he thought I was annoyed of him, no matter how much I promised I wasn't. Finally, Friday night arrived, and we were getting ready for dinner with my Dad and his girlfriend.

"You will barely have to talk, alright?" I said to Crutchie, and he smiled, nodding. "We'll take my car to the restaurant. Sofie and Tyler are meeting us there, so it's just us in the car." He nodded a second time, and we left for the car.

I held Crutchie's hand the entire drive, feeling even more nervous than I had before. He smiled at me one more time before we got out of the car, and we went right in with the group since we had been the last ones to arrive. As my Dad asked for a table, his girlfriend, Amy, looked at Crutchie, smiling.

"Do you need a special table?" She asked, speaking to him as though he was a child.

"Uh, no, I can sit anywhere," Crutchie answered, glancing at me.

"Okay, let me know if you need any help," she added before turning back around, Crutchie and I trying not to laugh.

"Oh, by the way, I'll have to call you Charlie tonight. My Dad's an idiot and probably wouldn't understand your nickname," I whispered to him, and we nodded.

Once we got shown our table I helped Crutchie lay his crutch under the table, keeping it close to him in case he needed it. Amy and my Dad watched us close, irritating me further. At first, they focused on Tyler and Sofie, but it was only a matter of time before they shifted their focus on us, making me nervous that they might say something stupid to Crutchie.

"So Charlie, tell us about yourself. What do you plan to do as a career?" My Dad asked, smiling.

"I'd like to be a musician," Crutchie answered, making me smile.

"Huh, a musician and an artist," Amy added, looking between the two of us.

"I hope not, I've told Jack many times he can't be an artist," my Dad finally spat, causing me to look down. "Charlie, do your parents support you being a musician?"

"Honey, remember," Amy quickly said, acting as though Crutchie wasn't there.

"Oh, right. How does your Dad feel about you being a musician?" He rephrased, staring Crutchie down.

"He doesn't know," he answered, smiling.

Crutchie's POV

"Well has he ever pushed you to work in a different field?" He asked me, and I was already very annoyed of him. 

"No, I don't speak to my Dad about that stuff," I answered pretty honestly, making sure to leave out the whole 'because he only speaks to me when abusing me' part.

"Jack doesn't like talking about that stuff either," he tried joking, only making himself and Amy laugh.

"Because you always tell me it's stupid," Jack spat back, growing irritated.

"I don't say it's stupid, I just think you should pick a steadier path," I glanced at Jack now, hoping that just this one look would help calm him down a bit.

"You've never even seen my paintings," Jack fought back, and I took his hand in mine under the table.

"He's very good," I quickly added, squeezing Jack's hand lightly.