Give Me A Chance (boyxboy)

Thirty-Two

"Lyam!"

I turn away from the team, and look up into the little set of sideline benches, where my eyes land on mom. She waves frantically, making sure I see her. On one side of her sit Horace and Griffin, who seem to be deep in conversation. And on her other side, oddly, is Blaine's dad. And I know that Blaine's orchestrated a lot of things without me knowing, but I can't see him introducing his dad to my mom. Which means that mom sought out Blaine's dad on purpose, which is kinda sweet. She's trying to be really supportive so she's going to great lengths to show me that.

I nudge Blaine, and he turns around. "Yeah?" he asks. "What is it?" I put a hand under his chin and turn his face to where mom and his dad are sitting. "Oh," he says. "The parents have become acquainted."

I nod. "That's what it seems like," I say.

Mom waves me over so, naturally, I drag Blaine with me. I mean, his dad's here too. I chuckle. It's almost like I can hear him roll his eyes.

"Hey," mom says as soon as we get within inside-voice range.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, taking careful measures to not sound exasperated.

"I'm here to support you and your brother," she says, and I have to regrettably say Aydin slipped from my mind. "And your wonderful boyfriend here." I blush, I know it even without the burning feeling in my cheeks.

He elbows me lightly. "You hear that?" he says smugly. "I'm wonderful."

I roll my eyes. "I know," I say, grinning at my shoes, feeling a little awkward but ecstatic at the same time.

Blaine's dad yawns quietly. I haven't seen him since that day after Blaine's mom went to the hospital. He looks extremely tired.

"I didn't know you were coming," Blaine says to him, and he sounds a little surprised. "I thought you would have caught up on sleep before heading back up to camp." His hand twitches, and I know he wants to reach for mine, but I'm really unsure about the policy of such things around the parents.

"What, and miss this?" he demands, gesturing to the open field which, in less than twenty minutes, will be full of sweating teenagers chasing a flying circle. I can't imagine it's great fun to watch. It's certainly great fun to play, but I don't know about watching.

"Yeah," Blaine says. "I thought you'd miss it." And, if I'm not mistaken, there's a cold tone in his voice, which I guess was there, less noticeable, the first time I met his dad.

His dad's voice lowers. "Blaine," he says softly. "I'm trying to do better. You've got to let me."

And then, seeing the look on Blaine's face, I do grab his hand. And I notice his dad sees it, smiles sadly. Like he knows Blaine has someone to turn to more than him. And it's hard to believe I'm that person. But the look on his dad's face is sad, even though he knows his son is happy. He's happy for him, but he's sad that he won't be able to play as big of a role as he had before, even though it wasn't that big. Mom would say it's a side effect of us growing up.

"I know, dad," Blaine says, and it's either the public setting or the look on his dad's face that makes him decide to let him off. "Thanks for being here."

Blaine's dad smiles sadly.

I shuffle my feet, unsure what to say or where to take the conversation. Fortunately, Horace butts in. "Hey, guys," he says, finished with his conversation with his boyfriend. He does a little wave, like a kid would do seeing their favorite grandparent. I grin.

"Hi," I say. "You guys come to watch Joshua?" I ask him.
Griffin scoffs. "In case you missed it, Lyam, you lived with us for nearly two months," he says, chuckling. "That doesn't just go away when you leave. Yes, we're here to cheer Joshua on, but it's not like we just forgot about you." He pauses for a second, looking at Horace. "Besides, I hear we've been declared honorary fathers?"