Lover Boy (Dwayne x reader)

The Awkward Dinner

•Y/N's pov; present day:
  Escaping my hell called home, I walked over to the Hoover's house, wanting to see my best friend, Dwayne. You knock on the door to find little Olive holding the door open for you. She lets out a squeal and pulls you in, slamming the door behind you. She gets all giddy and pulls you towards her room. You just chuckle and follow her lead. When you reach her room it's covered in toys and clothes, which you didn't mind, as your room was quite messy as well.
"What did you want to show me Olive?" I ask, looking at the girl as we sit on her bed.
"I wanted to show you my routine! I've been practicing for weeks!" Olive exclaims, causing you to chuckle and smile at her.
  You loved Olive, she was like a little sister to you. Seeing her so excited made you excited. Dwayne was right that one day nine months ago, you would and did in fact get along with his sister. Olive starts to turn music on, but her grandfather, Edwin, walks in and motions for her to move towards him. He crouches down and whispers something I can't hear into Olive's ear. Olive just nods and says quiet 'uh huh's' and then pulls away, smiling up at grandpa Edwin. Olive moves back towards you and grabs your hand and pulls you out of her room.
"Sorry Y/N, but grandpa says I can't show anyone until I perfect it. I bet Dwayne is in his room though, so maybe you two could go talk while I practice." Olive explains, causing me to nod my head and smile at her.
  I ruffle her hair and leave her in the hallway, moving towards Dwayne's room. You see the door is closed so you knock, hear a grunt, and open up the door. You find Dwayne laying in bed reading his favorite book by Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. He looks up from his book and at you, a smile wearing on his lips. You'd be lying if you said you didn't like his smile, a smile only you really saw. Dwayne sits up and pats the spot next to him and you gladly sit down beside him. You lean your head on his shoulder as he picks his book back up. You read along with him, only sometimes puffing out your cheeks when he turns the page before you're finished reading.
  A knock at the door and two figures standing in the doorway catches both of your attention.
"Dwayne? Hi, Uncle Frank is here. Oh! And so is
Y/N. Y/N, meet my brother Frank, Frank, meet Dwayne's best friend Y/N." Sheryl introduces you both and you wave awkwardly, offering a smile. He fakes a smile and waves back.
  You notice the gauze around his wrists but don't ask, even though you already have a sneaking suspicion as to why he was wearing it.
"You're kidding." Frank says, turning to Sheryl
"He doesn't mind Frank, we talked. Y/N won't be staying the night anyway, so it'll just be you two boys." Sheryl says, smiling at Frank. He looks grim and exhausted.
  Frank gestures to the rest of the house half heartedly.
"We can't have you sleeping alone. The doctor said-" Sheryl begins, but gets caught of guard by Franks stare. "I'm sorry. I have to insist." She states.
  Dwayne writes something on his notepad and shows it to you. You nod and grab his hand, pulling him out of his room to avoid the awkward tension rising within the room. You two walk to the dining table and sit down. Dwayne writes something down.
"Sorry I didn't tell you he was coming over. He tried to commit suicide the other day. He needed a place to stay." You just nod and shrug your shoulders.
"I honestly don't mind, he seems nice enough." I state, before grabbing Dwayne's notepad and drawing four lines on the paper, he looks at me quizzically until he realizes I want to play tic tac toe.
  He nods his head and goes after I mark the X in the center box. He puts the O in the top right hand side corner. You stick your tongue out and think, only to decide you want to go on the bottom right hand side. You mark your X. Dwayne goes next and marks the top left hand side corner, only for his mother to come out from the hallway and by the dining table.
"Dwayne, honey, there's a bucket of chicken in the car. Can you get it and I'll make the salad? Oh! Y/N, can you set up the plates?" You and Dwayne nod your heads and stand up, leaving the tic tac toe game on the table.
  You go to the kitchen and find the paper plates and plastic cups they use and bring them to the dining table, ignoring whatever Sheryl is saying to Olive, I finish setting up the table. Dwayne comes in with the bucket of chicken and plops it down onto the table. You smile at the loud noise he makes as you turn around to find Richard, or as you liked to call him, Dick, raising his finger to his lips to shush Dwayne. Dwayne shrugs and walks into the kitchen and beside his mom.
"Dwayne, can you check on Frank? Tell him it's dinner time." Dwayne nods his head and motions for you to follow him. You nod and do so.
   You both walk towards the hallway and you booty bump him playfully into the wall. He rolls his eyes and pushes you back, a small smile tugging at his lips. You both reach Dwayne's door and Dwayne knocks. Dwayne then acts as if he's eating and Frank just looks confused.
"Dinner?" Frank asks, you and Dwayne nod.
"What? Do either of you not really talk?" Frank asks, causing Dwayne to shake his head and you to laugh.
"I talk, Dwayne here doesn't. Dwayne just chooses not to speak because of him." You say, pointing to the bedsheet drawing of Nietzsche.
"Is that Nietzsche? You don't speak because of Friedrich Nietzsche?" Frank asks, causing you and Dwayne to nod in unison again. 
  You and Dwayne leave the room and back to the dining table, only to sit down and continue your game of tic tac toe. You smile as you beat him, a smug smirk on your face. Dwayne rolls his eyes and frowns. Frank comes out of Dwayne's room and stands beside the table, watching you and Dwayne poke and pick on each other. Frank smiles.
"Frank, you can sit on the opposite side of Dwayne. I'm gonna run and get Sprite for everyone." Sheryl says, quickly leaving the room and into the kitchen.
  Frank sits down beside Dwayne and looks at the many tic tac toe boxes on one page of his notepad. Frank, wanting to clear the awkward silence, speaks up.
"So, Dwayne, got a girlfriend?" Frank asks, earning a glare from Dwayne and a chuckle from you.
"No, he doesn't, at least not any I know about." You state, smiling at Dwayne's flushed face.
"Boyfriend?" Frank asks, earning yet another look from Dwayne, which causes you to stifle a laugh.
"None of those either." You say, shrugging it off.
"I'm just kidding, I know." Frank says. "So who do you hangout with?" Franks asks.
  Dwayne points at you and nods, Frank accepts that as an answer.
"Only one friend though?" Frank asks, causing Dwayne to write something down.
'I hate everyone' it reads, causing you to mock a hurt expression and gasp.
"Everyone? Even your family? Y/N?" Frank asks.
  Dwayne points at you with his pen and shakes his head, but then underlines the word 'everyone' three times. Frank seems to understand and nods his head. Richard walks into the room and sits down, eyeing Frank.
"Frank. Good to see you." Richard says to try to be nice.
"Richard..." Frank tries, only for it to come out awkwardly.
  The room is silent before the squeaking of Richards chair is heard. He points down the hallway.
"I'm gonna get Olive." Richard says, before walking out of the room.
"Well that was awkward." You state, causing Dwayne to nod his head and Frank to smile at you.
"So, Y/N, you seeing anyone?" Frank asks, causing you to stiffen up and blush.
  You couldn't admit you had had a crush on Dwayne for a few months now, nor could you say no one interested you the way he did. You just shake your head no to end this embarrassing conversation. In the corner of your eye you spot Dwayne writing something, he elbows you in the side. You look down and read the note. "You ok?" You just smile and nod your head, Dwayne, by the look on his face, doesn't seem to believe you. He knew you wouldn't tell him anything anyways, so he decided against asking again. Sheryl enters the room holding a giant bottle of Diet Sprite.
"You guys go on and start. Frank, some Sprite? I want everyone to have at least a little bit of salad." She says, a warm smile on her face.
"Thanks Sheryl." Frank says, offering her a strained smile.
Sheryl just nods her head and pours him a cup, screws the lid back on and puts it back on the table. She takes a seat at the head of the table beside you and starts to open up the containers on the table. I groan silently to myself as Richard comes back into the room, sits down, and take a piece of chicken from the bucket. Dwayne follows soon after, then me, and then Frank.
"So, Sheryl, I couldn't help noticing that Dwayne has stopped speaking." Frank says, trying to clear the room of the awkward silence.
"Oh! I'm sorry. Dwayne's taken a vow of silence." Sheryl explains, which makes Richard look proud and Frank confused.
"You've taken a vow of silence?" Frank asks, causing Dwayne and I to nod our heads.
"He's gonna join the Naval Academy and become a fighter pilot. He's taken a vow of silence until he's reached that goal." Sheryl states, picking up a piece of chicken and taking a bite.
"You're kidding!" Frank says, finding this slightly amusing.
Dwayne gives me a look, one that makes me chuckle. Dwayne then looks at Frank, a grim expression wearing on his face. Olive enters the room, grandpa Edwin soon following behind her.
"Hi uncle Frank!" Olive says.
"Olive! Boy you're gettin' big!" Frank says, turning to look at Sheryl.
"Is she big for her age?" He asks, causing Sheryl to nod her head.
Olive walks over to Frank and kisses him on the cheek, then looks down at his wrists.
"Oh no! What happened to your arms?" Olive asks, earning a round of silence, only for Sheryl to break it a matter of seconds later.
"Olive..." She warns.
"No no, it's okay. I had a little accident. I'm okay now." Frank says, offering Olive a warm smile.
Olive smiles back and moves past Dwayne to give me a hug. She presses her cheek against mine and smiles into the hug. Olive pulls away and moves to the opposite side of the table to take a seat beside the chair grandpa Edwin will sit at.
"How's the new routine coming?" Richard asks abruptly.
"It's good." Olive says, grabbing the bucket of chicken.
"When're you gonna let me see it?" Richard asks, beaming at the 7 year old.
"I dunno." She says, shrugging her shoulders. "It's up to grandpa." Olive replies, looking up and over at her grandpa. Everyone turns to Edwin.
"A couple of days. It needs a polish." Grandpa Edwin replies, walking over to the table after Olive sits down across from me.
"What is this?! Chicken?! Every day it's the chicken! Holy God almighty! Is it possible, just one time, we could have something for dinner except the goddamn fucking chicken?!" Grandpa Edwin yells, causing me to look at him with wide eyes, shocked at his outburst.
Dwayne taps his pen against the notepad again and I look down, rereading what he wrote previously. I just nod my head. Dwayne sighs and grab my hand underneath the table, giving it a light squeeze, trying to reassure you you'd be fine. You smiled at him and grabbed a piece of chicken with your free hand. Besides Dwayne, Frank stares down at your clasped hands and smiles to himself, happy for his nephew. Dwayne pulls his hand away from yours to grab another piece of chicken. You're called when you get nudged by Dwayne, not even realizing everyone is looking at you.
"What?" You ask, looking around the table. Your eyes land on Frank.
"When did Dwayne start? With the vow?" Frank asks I'm presuming again.
"Oh! It's been about 9 months I think? When him and I met he wasn't talking either." You explain, making Frank look between you and Dwayne.
"Then how did you become friends? You know, with the vow and all?" Frank asks, causing you to shrug.
"I talk for both of us, simple as that. I talk a lot once I get to know someone, so I fill in as Dwayne's voice when he writes something down." You say, causing Frank to chuckle.
"He hasn't said a word. I think it shows tremendous discipline." Richard says, causing you and Dwayne to roll your eyes.
"Richard..." Sheryl warns.
"I'm serious! I think we could all learn something from what Dwayne's doing! Dwayne has a goal. He has a dream. It may not be my dream, or your dream, but still...He's pursuing that dream with focus and discipline. In fact, I was thinking about the Nine Steps-" Richard begins.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Edwin yells, interrupting Richard.
"About the Nine Steps, and how Dwayne's utilizing at least seven of them in his journey to personal fulfillment." Richard ends, earning a look from Sheryl.
"Richard. Please." Sheryl says, glaring over at him.
"I'm just saying! I've come around! I think Dwayne deserves our support." Richard states, looking across the table at Sheryl.
Frank looks at Dwayne, noticing Dwayne just rolling his eyes. I look over at Olive, noticing her shifting in her seat. She looks over at Frank.
"How did it happen?" Olive asks, causing everyone to look at her.
"How did what happen?" Frank asks, looking her in the eyes.
"Your accident..." She asks, causing me to look down and grab Dwayne's hand again, feeling sad and sorry for Frank.
Dwayne looks down at our hands and then back up at me, obviously confused. He looks me in the eyes and I flash a sad smile. I still don't think he gets it, but he nods his head and looks back to Frank.
"Well, there were a lot of reasons. Mainly, though, I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back." Frank says, knocking you out of your sad train of thought.
"Who?" Olive asks, I nod my head.
"One of my grad students. I was very much in love with him." Frank says, I smile over at him.
"Him? It was a boy? You fell in love with a boy?" Olive asks.
"Yes. I did. Very much so." Frank answers.
"That's silly." Olive states, I shake my head and look at her.
"Olive, it's silly to some people, but you can love whoever you want to. You can't control your heart. So if Frank said he loved a boy, then we should appreciate that and be supportive." I say, a blush rising to my cheeks.
•Dwayne's pov:
I look over at Y/N as she talks to Olive with her whole heart. I feel my face flush. I go to grab her hand, but I get pulled out of that urge when uncle Frank pokes my arm. I look over at him and he looks at me with a weird look. I quirk an eyebrow and he smirks at me. I look down at my notepad and write down something. "What?" I write, showing it to uncle Frank. He just beams and turns to look at Olive.
"You're right Olive. It was very, very, silly." Uncle Frank says, almost as if he didn't just give me a weird look.
"There's another word for it..." Grandpa says, I look over to see Y/N roll her eyes at him.
"Dad." Richard warns.
"Sooo....that's when you tried to kill yourself?" Olive asks, uncle Frank shakes his head no.
"Well, no. What happened was: the boy I was in love with fell in love with another man, Larry Sugarman." Uncle Frank says, catching Y/N and mom's interest.
"Who's Larry Sugarman?" Y/N and mom ask in unison, which causes the two to giggle.
"Larry Sugarman is perhaps the second most highly regarded Proust scholar in the U.S." Uncle Frank says, catching Richard's attention.
"Who's number one?" He asks uncle Frank.
"That would be me, Rich." Uncle Frank tells him, causing him to nod.
"So....that's when you...?" Olive begins up again.
"Well, no. Actually, all that was okay. What happened was: two days ago the MacArthur Foundation decided to award a "genius" grant to Larry Sugarman. And that's when...." Uncle Frank hints at his own suicide.
"You tried to check out early." Grandpa Edwin finishes uncle Frank's statement.
"Yes. And I failed at that as well." Uncle Frank says.
"Olive, what's important to understand is that Uncle Frank gave up on himself. He made a series of foolish choices, and then he gave up on himself, which is something that winners never do." Richard says, causing Y/N to scoff.
Everyone turns to look at her, and she looks pained.
"It's not a matter of winning or losing Richard. It's all about mental health. It's not his fault, it's no one's fault here. Frank just wanted to....make an escape. He's no loser just because he decided to do that, so don't judge him or say anything about him just because you feel like a loser." Y/N states, causing me to grin and Richard to glare over at her. I look down and see her shaking hands. My smile disappears but I grab her hands, steadying her shaking hands. She looks up at me and offers a small, sad smile.