sunday night.
elliot's heart jolts every time his father moves, when his hand finds his glass of water, every time it moves back to his fork. his mother, of course, is totally oblivious.
the two have been making completely normal conversation since he came him, but it's not normal. none of this is normal, nothing about this. he picks at the wood on the underside of the table, it had peeled not long ago. he hopes it'll distract him so he, alike everyone else, can act entirely normal.
he picks up the fork, takes one bite and drops it. metal smacks against ceramic, his heart follows. he can't stand it, everybody jumps.
"sorry." he mumbles.
from across the table, his father gives him a look. it's one of those looks that have a million words hidden beneath. a look as if to say, "start acting normal before everything explodes in your face." and he's suddenly lost all appetite.
he keeps stealing glances at his dad, but he pays no mind to elliot, he's asking his mother questions. lots of them, and she answers very happily between mouthfuls. he's asking how her day was, asking what sort of meetings she had. asking about her boss, and her coworkers who recently gave birth.
she asks him one's back, how are things going, his hours, about his boss and all the meetings he's had recently.
it's weird, stop talking, this is torture. he checks the time, 9:18. is he waiting for elliot to make to the first move? the first move towards the bomb?
his dad finally spares a glance, glaring at him, then back to his meal. elliot returns his eyes to his food as well, then checks the time again as if it would miraculously be time for it to explode. kai will be here soon, and if he comes and his dad hasn't said anything, maybe he'll lose the chance. this causes more panic to settle between ribs.
he looks beside him, at jake, who's been unusually quiet. earlier, their attention was at him and his silence. he told them he was just exhausted from basketball practice. they both nodded and smiled, told him to have an early night. jake doesn't play basketball, he plays soccer. elliot can't take it anymore, his throat is dry and his hands are shaking.
his head is spinning but, fuck it. if his father won't press that stupid detonator-
"so, dad. how was work?" he smiles, normally, at his normal dad.
"great," his dad only smiles and swallows a mouthful of food. "as i was just telling your mother, i think i'm about to get promoted. it's only a matter of time, i'd say."
elliot repeats, "yeah...time."
his mother continues eating, so blissfully unaware.
"so, that's it?" elliot pushes, urging sone kind of better response. why isn't he saying anything?
his father hums in agreement and picks up another forkful.
"no new...assistants?" he drawls out, squinting.
he almost chokes on his broccoli. it's almost like he can hear the ticking. his heartbeat thumps, hammering against his ribs, anticipation follows.
"yeah, actually."
here we go.
"his name's mark, like me, except this mark is short and a bit of an idiot. he mainly does coffee runs."
his mother laughs, the same way she always does. the mood seems to lighten, he hates it, then there's a knock at the door. no! not yet, he hasn't said anything yet.
his father gets the door, "it's kai, hi, sorry we didn't save you a dish."
then, his mother as they enter the room. "it's okay, you can share some desert."
his mom smiles, as does his dad, and kai.
he takes the seat on the other side of elliot, patting jake on the shoulder as he passes him.
kai raises a brow, then frowns as if to say, "either it hasn't happened yet, or it went extremely well."
elliot shrugs, raising tired eyes to his dad in desperate attempts for this all to be done with. will he ever be out with it?
ten minutes pass, melted ice cream sits at the bottom of his bowl, staring up at him. laughing at him. he pushes the bowl to kai, who accepts it gratefully.
more silence, it's getting awkward. he wants to scream.
"well," his dad finally stands, clearing his throat.
is this it? finally, at last, thank god.
"i'm heading to bed, exhausted."
elliot wants to scream louder. is he serious? silence follows until,
"already? what about the speech you planned?" jake asks.
"speech?" his mother echoes. elliot feels guilty.
his father goes beet red and attempts to leave. he mutters a short, "not now."
"yeah, that speech? you know, the only about that lady at your office you've been fucking." jake snorts.
more silence, it's probably jake's turn to feel guilty now. elliot feels sick.
his father's anger becomes more than obvious. "it wasn't your place to say that!"
"she deserves you know, you fucking idiot!"
his father shouts back, "excuse me? who do you think you are? cursing at your father?"
"oh god, don't remind me." jake lowers his voice.
"remind you of what?"
jake fake gags, "that we're actually related."
this sets off all kinds of alarms, jake cusses him out even more, his dad threatens him and they bicker back and forth for a while before his mother suddenly stands.
silence follows.
"i already knew." she states, tiredly, before turning around and leaving the room.
elliot follows her, kai watches the argument continue between father and son.
"why do you two insist on breaking the family." his father sighs finally.
jake scoffs, "you've already done that. don't blame us."
glass shatters.
...
wc: 960
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affection
Romancespring break, filled with more adventures as we explore deeper into kai and elliot's lives. this is the sequel to detention, please read that first (though it isn't essential.)