If Only || Glee

Ch. 3 || Acafellas

(xxx)-xxx-xxxx: Hey Ryder, it's Quinn. Just wanted to let you know the showcase is the 20th. Hope you can make it with your fancy camera :))

If there was a heaven on earth, that message totally would've sent Ryder Hoffman there. He stared at that text happily for what felt like hours, she had sent him a smiley face. A fucking smiley face! He could've passed out, but --of course-- his mother's voice cut his happiness short.

"Juli! Come downstairs I made pancakes!" his mother shouted up the stairs, her tone was light but slightly demanding as she called her son. Putting his phone down disappointedly, Ryder made his way down the stairs slowly. 

Walking into the kitchen, Ryder spotted the island stocked with pancakes and all of his other favorite breakfast foods. Of course this made him suspicious, his mother was constantly busy with her demanding job as a therapist. How in the world did she find the time to make him such a extravagant meal?

"What's with the spread, Ima?" Ryder asked, taking no time in stacking his plate with his mother's cooking, smiling as he did so.

Her face tensed slightly. "What? Can't I just make my son breakfast? Nothing's going on." She turned on her feet, busying herself with cleaning the counter. Way to cover it up. Ryder narrowed his eyes at the back of his mom's head. "Stop staring at me Julius," she scolded.

Ryder rolled his eyes, taking his chance as his mom's back was turned. At first he was only joking about the whole thing. But his mother never acted like that, she was a professional woman. Always keeping her head up and never letting anyone see through her strong façade. Watching her avoiding him and acting so nervous was throwing the boy for a loop.

"I wasn't thinking anything but now I'm suspicious." He took a giant bite out of his egg and continued talking, "Tell me what's up, Ima. I'm ready for anything." He put down his utensil, leaning back in his chair and cracking his knuckles.

His mother turned around, taking in a deep breath and sighing. "You know I love you, ahava. And I was going to tell you this sooner, but with everything that happened with your dad --I was unsure how you'd take it."

"Just say it. You're freaking me out." Ryder shook his hands to emphasize his point. What was she about to tell him?

She took another deep breath, unsure of how to phrase her confession. "I'm seeing someone, Juli. I have been for a few weeks." She looked up from where her eyes focused on the floor, he soon only stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly open. "His name is Burt, Burt Hummel."

No way. "He wouldn't be related to Kurt Hummel in any way, would he?" Ryder propped his chin onto his hands, not even really comprehending that his mom was actually dating the man.

"That is his son's name." She looked at her son for some kind of reaction, moving on quickly,  "By the way --I was hoping  you two could be friends. He's not very popular at school and I was hoping now that you're all muscled up for football you could protect him?" His mother furrowed her eyebrows hopefully, she prayed this could also help the boys bond. Her and Burt were getting serious fast, it even scared her at moments. She wasn't really sure how much longer was left before he asked her to move in.

Ryder slowly nodded, this added a whole other level to his plan. He didn't want to use to boy who could potentially end up being his step-brother. He would have to revitalize it and fast, before he did something he couldn't reverse. "Yeah, I'll keep an eye on him."

A wide smile spread across her usually neutral features. "Thank you so much, ahava! You have no idea how much this means to me." She kissed his forehead, smiling motherly at her son. She softly reminded him, "As much as I loved this you need to get dressed before Micheal gets here."