Seduced by Christian Borle 18+

13. Parent worries.

"It's been three weeks and I've not heard from her." I am worried, I thought I'd have heard a lot of drama from her but it's been radio silence.

"She's just being manipulative. She's trying to make you feel bad and apologise." My brother tells me on the phone.

"Have you not heard from her at all either?"

"No but that's not unusual, she goes for weeks without talking to us quite often."

"Really!" I'm surprised, he's never mentioned that before.

"Yep and she never apologises either, she just turns up one day and tries to busy us into doing what she wants. It's frustrating and exhausting." I can practically hear his eye roll.

"Wow. I guess I shouldn't feel bad but I still do."

"What about that feller of yours? Is he looking after you? What does he think about this?"

"He's trying to keep his opinions to himself, he doesn't think it's his place so soon to give him opinion." I sigh.

"That's probably a good idea actually, gives you a chance to sort out how you actually feel about it all. I'm sure Andy is giving his tuppence worth though." We both laugh, Andy has always hated my mom and always been perfectly happy to be vocal about it.

"He has indeed, he's here actually, you wanna say hi?"

"Sure put me on speaker." My brother and Andy get along brilliantly although I wouldn't call them friends, they're definitely on the same wavelength.

"Hey bro." Andy chuckles.

"Hey, how's the wedding plans going?"

"Finally straightening out!" He grins and I'm pleased he's almost nailed down the final details as it means he's more present when we hang out.

"Good to hear you're calming down from groomzilla mode." My brother laughs and Andy chuckles with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah yeah. Someone had to do it, your sister wouldn't help me."

"Literally not my wedding." I laugh, "and besides I helped you a shit ton."

"Yeah I guess you did. When I managed to pry you away from Christian that is." He smirks at me.

"He's not here right now." I point out.

"Only because I insisted and as much as I love you both together, I need some time on my own with you, I'm a needy little shit like that." He laughs and I lean in to hug him.

"You've got me all morning babes." I turn back to the phone, "can you call me if she gets in touch please? I just want to know she's still alive!"

"I'll do one better, I'll swing by and make sure she's fine."

"Really?" I'm surprised.

"Yeah. There's a chat I've been meaning to have with her anyway so I'll text you this afternoon. Love you, bye."

"Thank-you. Love you, bye." We hang up and I return to the sofa where Andy and I are packing as labelling wedding favours.

"So tell me how it's going with Christian then." Andy smirks at me as we work, I immediately blush and the smile that spreads across my face is inevitable.

"It's going great." I beam and he chuckles at me, "It's going really great actually, he's pretty much perfect for me."

"I knew he would be." Andy's been dying to tell me he told me so but he's kept it in so far. I roll my eyes in amusement.

"Yes you did."

"And has he told you that he loves you yet?" My eyes widen in surprise and my jaw drops open.

"Andy, it's only been a month!" I exclaim.

"Yes and you've spent almost every single day together for the entire month. I see the way that man looks at you. And the way you look at him too."

"Well we've not said it yet." He sees me hesitate and I continue, "I am falling really hard and fast for him though."

"Duh." He laughs, "I'm genuinely pleased for you both." He jumps out of his skin when the doorbell rings. "Are you expecting anyone?"

"Not until this afternoon." I frown, glancing at my watch that says it's only 10:30am.

I open the door to find Christian looking distressed on the doorstep.

"Hey, come in, what's happened?"

"Hey, is Andy here?" He hastily kisses me as he dashes past.

"Yeah. Andy." I yell as we go to him. He stands up in surprise. 

"Are you ok? What's happened?" Andy is panicked at the look on Christian's face.

"Tuc's parents have refused to come to the wedding." He doesn't beat around the bush.

"What!" Andy and I both yell at once. Anger in my voice and panic in Andy's.

"Tuc's with them now, they're having an almighty row. They're in your flat." 

"Shit, come on." Andy grabbed my hand and pulls me across the hall with him, out and of door and into his own.

"I don't care, it's wrong!" Tuc's father was yelling. Both he and Tuc were standing facing each other, looking like they were seconds away from hitting each other.

"Woah. OK, let's take a step back and calm down for a second." I immediately insert myself between the two men, putting my hand on Tuc's chest and getting his eye contact on me and off his father. "Take a breath Tuc." I smile reassuringly and push him gently to a little to Andy who's at his side. I take a deep breath before turning to face his father.

"I thought we weren't going to have a problem after our last conversation." I take a step towards him and he frowns, taking a step back to his wife's side who's face is tear-stained and sad.

"We were hoping he'd come around eventually. With the so called wedding a week away we had to try to make him see sense." His dad wasn't going to back down but he sounded tired and the fight wasn't as fierce as a few moments ago.

"And I told you that will never happen. These two men are my best friends and they belong together. Nothing you do will break them apart but what it will do is push you further away from your son. If that's the intention here then congratulations, you're doing a great job." I am angry and everyone can see it.

Andy and Tuc don't bother to step in, they know I can handle their parents just as Andy handles my mother.

"We're leaving." His father stalks out of the flat, his mom hesitates for a moment, looking sadly at her son before slowly following her husband.

"You don't have to follow everything he says and does." I say quietly to her so only she can hear and she stops to look at me in surprise.

"What else would I do?" She's actually asking and looks confused.

"Stand up to him. Put your son first." Our conversation is quiet and everyone frowns at us, wanting to know what's being said.

"I'll try." She nods minutely before disappearing after him. I hug Tuc immediately as Andy goes to lock the door behind them.

"Don't lose hope." I whisper to him before letting go, "we'll leave you two alone. I'll finish those wedding favours Andy, don't give it a second thought." I kiss his cheek before catching Christian's hand and leading him out into the hallway. He stops and pulls me back to him.

"You are amazing, I love you." Before I can respond, he's kissing me and turns my legs to jelly.

"Damn Christian that was some kiss." I chuckle when he lets go. He smiles at me but there's nerves behind it. "I love you too." He visibly relaxes and I chuckle again, pulling him closer to me and kissing him again. 

"As much as I want to continue this, there's a couple hundred wedding favours that I need to sort out this evening." I sigh, letting him go.

"Good job I'm here to help isn't it." He takes my hand and leads me back into my flat and I grin happily.