Through The Camera (bxb)

chapter 27

Max's POV

After Oliver said that, I saw them too. They sat at a table of four and seemed uninterested. That is until the woman glanced our way and grinned. Her smile made an unpleasant shiver go up my spine and in response I squeezed Oliver's hand.

It didn't take long for the man beside her to look up as well and glance our way. His nonchalant look studied us for a quick second and then fell down on the menu he was holding. With a deep breath to calm myself down, I gave Oliver next to me a reassuring look and indicated him to not let them take his confidence away and continue forward. Oliver just gave me an uncertain smile and turned to face his parents.

Slowly, we made our way to the table and stopped right in front of them. Oliver's mother was still smiling and his father was now also paying attention to his son's next words, although he still seemed uninterested in this whole thing.

Now that we were close enough, I could see their faces clearly and study their features. The woman had long blond hair, perfectly styled and curled. Her makeup was perfectly done as well and seemed flawless, maybe a bit too much. She wore a beautiful long dress, the color a crimson type of red. Around her neck was a beautiful golden necklace with a red diamond in the middle. Her whole outfit seemed expensive, but fit her really well.

The man on the other hand wore a simple white shirt with jeans and on his left hand was an expensive watch. His hair was the color brown and rather short but styled and he had a stubble.

He was what you'd call a dilf.

The longer I looked the more similarities I saw. Oliver had the same blue eyes as his mother and the nose from his father. However, that was about it. The vibe he gave off was a whole different one. Oliver was kinder and overall a better person who didn't spend his money as carelessly as they did.

As I finished analyzing them, I waited anxiously for my boyfriend to speak up first and was surprised to hear the woman start the conversation.

"Oliver, my dear, oh how glad I am to see you again!" she said and broke the silence. Oliver snorted in response, not believing her at all. "Come sit down!" she offered him a seat and pointed at the chair facing her own. Once we were both seated, she turned to me and the corners of her mouth turned into a fake grin.

"And who do we have here?" she asked while curiously observing my reaction. I gulped nervously and tensed under the intense eye contact that was directed at me. I shot Oliver next to me a quick glance and then proceeded to answer her question, trying not let her know how much of an impact her presence had on me.

"My name is Maximilian, but Max is just fine. I'm..." I paused and quickly thought about my next words. Would it be alright to tell them about our relationship? But then I remembered how we already held hands in front of them and now it would be too late to cover that with an excuse. So I decided to go with the truth.

"I'm Oliver's boyfriend. It's nice to meet you." That was a lie of course. I wasn't eager to meet them at all, but now my nervousness took over and my anger vanished for a while. I guess staying calm for now would be better.

"Boyfriend you say..." I felt her eyes pierce through my skull and suddenly I felt very vulnerable and small. Before I could answer, she leaned back into her seat with a smile and turned to face her husband. "This is my man Henry and my name is Cassandra. It's a pleasure to finally meet my son's partner."

The man named Henry shot us an uninterested glance and nodded, acknowledging our presence. It seemed like he wasn't the talkative type. Or he was still against his gay son having a boyfriend and overall still disgusting by gay people.

We uncomfortably sat in our seats and waited for the pair to go on and tell us the reason they wanted to meet us. Oliver had his arms crossed in front of his chest and although he had an annoyed expression, you could tell he was nervous and tense.

"You must be curious as to why we called you here." Cassandra began. "Well... let's leave that for later and order now. Feel free to choose anything. My husband and I will be paying." She shot Henry beside her a quick glance and he replied with a simple 'yes'.

I fought to the urge to thank them because I still knew they were bad people and I would never forget the things they made Oliver go through. I just hoped they changed for the better and wanted to prove that this evening.

After the waiter came and all of us ordered, we sat in silence and I fidgeted with my fingers under the table. The air seemed tense and quite uncomfortable and I couldn't find the courage to speak up.

"So... Max. How long have you and Oliver been together?" Her sudden question took me aback. I wasn't sure if she was genuinely curious or interrogating me. As I answered, I tried not the let my nervous side show.

"About a week." Cassandra raised an eyebrow at my response and crossed her arms. "That's not very long."

"So what? Why do you care?" Oliver finally spoke up for the first time. He looked like he had enough and was fed up with their behavior and questions. I was certain after studying his face that he didn't believe that his parents had changed. Maybe deep down there was small hope hidden or maybe it used to be there and now it was long gone.

"Calm down, son." Henry joined the conversation for the first time. "Don't call me your son! You have no right to do that!" Oliver raised his voice, anger evident in his eyes. A few people around us curiously glanced our way and Cassandra quickly took control of the situation to not let it escalate.

"Please calm down. Your father made a mistake- no, we both made a mistake. A lot of them. We know that now. That's why we are here. To apologize. However, we are aware it  won't be easy to earn forgiveness. Not after all of the stuff we put you through. We realized how badly we treated you and no child deserves such a cruel childhood." His mother paused to take a deep breath and continued.

"You see, your father and I were raised the same way we later raised you. We thought it was the right way because we knew no other. We were taught what was wrong and what right, but after spending those years without a son, we realized how wrong we were. The people around us slowly changed and so did we finally. We realized our mistakes, but didn't have to courage to reach out to you and say sorry. Because we knew you wouldn't forgive us that easily. But that's fine. We expected that. And it's completely understandable."

Her husband placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her and she squeezed it. "The reason we wanted to see you was to apologize and meet your boyfriend." Her look was full of pity and regret and I couldn't find any lies in her words.

"Oliver, we're sorry." They both said at the same time and expectantly waited for their son's reply.

I was completely shocked by this situation. Her apology was definitely genuine and they truly seemed to regret their past behavior and actions. Now all that was left was for Oliver to either accept their apology or the opposite.