I'm Your Wreck

37- Would You Give Up

 "You really don't have to do this," Banks said, his chin resting on my shoulder. "It's going to be so boring."

"Of course I'm going to your graduation ceremony," I insisted for the tenth time in the last couple of weeks. "What could be more fun than sitting in a sweaty stadium with your parents, who hate me, for two straight hours? It's going to be a blast."

He rolled his eyes, wrapping his legs around mine under the comforter. "I told you. They don't hate you."

I didn't believe him yet.

But I'd suck it up and deal with it because I wanted to be at the ceremony for Banks. He was finally graduating, finally able to start building the life he wanted for himself. He was already building his portfolio so that he'd be able to start looking for an apprenticeship as soon as we got back from New York in the fall.

"Do you think your mom would be so standoffish if I was a girl?" I asked.

He hesitated before letting out a sigh and saying, "I choose not to think about it."

Which meant, no, she wouldn't be. It was hard for me to even want to be liked by his parents when they thought like that. Like they were disappointed in our relationship, when it was actually the best thing in the world.

"If things get dicey, just ask Mom about her garden. She'll go on for hours," he added. "Or, you can just bail and we can grab lunch afterward."

"I'm not bailing," I said again. "It'll be fine."

Banks rolled his body on top of mine, pressing his groin into my hip. "Once they see how much I love you, they'll love you too. I promise."

And then he started kissing my neck in a way that prevented me from thinking about anything else.

For the rest of the night, I didn't worry about how awkward things were going to be the next morning.

But then the morning came and after kissing Banks once at the front of the stadium, he disappeared into the back to put on his cap and gown with the rest of the graduates. Leaving me alone with Jill and Mark, who were tight lipped and quiet as we traversed the stadium to find our seats.

"It's nice of you to join us, Liam," Jill said once we finally sat down toward the center of the bustling crowd. "I'm sure it means a lot to Banks."

"I wouldn't miss it," I said with my hands on my lap. I wished Ollie would have come too so that I wouldn't be on my own, but he actually laughed in my face when I asked him to sit through a two hour long ceremony just to watch Banks walk across a stage for twenty seconds. "He's worked really hard to get here."

"Yes," she agreed. "It hasn't been an easy road for him."

"I know. But he can be very stubborn, so I'm not surprised at all that he made it."

This made both of his parents let out a fond chuckle, nodding their agreement. It felt like my first win.

"He told us that you're going up to New York for the summer for your internship?" Mark tried to move the conversation forward when a silence started creeping in.

"I'll be working with the football club up there," I said, probably vomiting out too many words in an attempt to keep the awkward silences at bay. "Helping out with training and player statistics, things like that. I worked with them last summer too, it's a pretty good job and it'll look great on my resume for when I graduate next year and start looking for full time work."

"I've been trying to get Banks to watch football with me for years," Mark said with a little laugh. "He's not a sports guy."

"The football club is soccer, sweetie," Jill said to her husband before looking back at me and asking, "And you'll be sharing an apartment there?"