Ballet Shoes: Next Gen

II

The long awaited conversation is finally happening! Also, just a lil' heads up, Kenny has a panic attack in this chapter so brace yourselves for a plethora of emotions.

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Third Person's P.O.V.

A beat of silence passed over the pair after Kenny's last statement. Ben briefly glanced to where his son's hands disappeared behind his back. Worry lines forming on his forehead before he returned his gaze to his son's face.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Ben asked.

"I know," Kenny replied, "It's just... this has been a long time coming."

"I understand," Ben said with a small nod.

He then gestured for Kenny to take a seat and the pair sat down on opposite ends of the couch. The distance between them was horribly noticeable. Ben frowned ever so slightly but didn't comment on it. His son was clearly extremely nervous about sharing whatever it was he wanted to share. Kenny was probably pacing back and forth as a form of self-soothing before Ben got home for all he knows.

Ben snapped out of his thoughts to take a few fleeting glances at the carpeted floors of the living room. Yeah. Kenny was definitely pacing around before he got home. Judging by how disturbed the carpet was, his eldest child was doing it for a much longer time than he initially thought.

That wasn't very reassuring.

"Uh..." Kenny started but cut himself off before he could say another word.

"It's okay," Ben said in a gentle tone, "Take your time."

Kenny's eyes darted to the floor and bit his lower lip. A few seconds passed before he shakily nodded. He then took a series of deep breaths and clenched his pointe shoes. Careful not to shift them into his dad's line of sight as he did.

Nearly twenty minutes passed by the time Kenny deemed himself calm enough to form a complete and coherent sentence. During that time, Ben remained silent and exuded an air of patience around him. Kenny was extremely grateful for that right now. If Ben had asked any probing questions, which he knew he wouldn't but still worried about happening in times of high stress, Kenny didn't know if he would've actually been able to go through with any of this on his terms.

"Thanks... for being patient with me," Kenny said.

"You don't need to thank me for that," Ben replied, "I'll always wait as long as you need me to. It's only right."

The corners of Kenny's lips twitched upwards in a brief smile. His deathlike grip on his pointe shoes also relaxed a bit. He took one more deep breath before starting to inch towards his father. Kenny kept his eyes down as he did this and as such, he missed the small smile that formed on his dad's face the closer he got.

Kenny stopped scooting over when he was just within arms reach of Ben. That way if things went as he hoped, it would be easy for the pair to hug or for Ben to affectionately clap him on the shoulder. That distance also allowed an easy escape for Kenny if things went poorly which it hopefully wouldn't. Kenny already felt like chickening out once he really didn't want to feel that way again.

With one final deep breath, Kenny shared the secret he'd been keeping from his dad for thirteen years.

"I do ballet."

"I know."

Kenny's blood ran cold and his stomach dropped. He whipped his head around, green eyes wide, to look directly at his dad as his heart pounded away with unbridled panic in his chest.