House of Goths

Chapter 36

Emergency House of Goths Meeting...

"So, there you have it. We're all a bunch of bastards," Kelley explained, sitting in the garage, looking around at his devastated housemates. All were present even Keegan who had been warned with the threat of instant eviction, to listen and keep his opinions to himself.

"How do we help her?" Dorian asked with a pained expression.

"Treat her like you normally would. Be yourselves. She was quite happy until recently."

"But where did she get this from?" Dorian asked at a loss.

"From me," Kelley admitted. "From Gracie, from all the fighting around the house."

"What's Gracie got to so with this?" Crispin balked, glaring accusingly at Keegan. "Everything was fine until he came back!"

"Say what you want, but you can't blame this one on me!" Keegan shot back.

"Ask Gracie, yourself, she's your girlfriend," Kell said, ignoring Keegan. "Better yet, ask Becky. That's the whole point. Each of you needs to clarify your feelings towards Becky. As it is, she thinks we all just see her as a sex object, a conquest," Kelley explained, spitting out the distasteful words.

"Speaking of clarifying feelings, are you ever going to fess up and admit that you're in love with her?" Crispin asked, having had it up to here with his evasiveness.

"That is none of your business!" Kell shouted.

"Umm..." Keegan cleared his throat. He couldn't just sit by and listen anymore. "At the risk of personal injury, may I interject?"

"What?" The three of them shouted in unison.

"I'm no expert. I'm just an idiot like the rest of you when it comes to women, obviously. But I'm pretty sure arguing and pointing fingers will get you nowhere fast."

"He's right," Dorian said. "We're not helping the situation by sitting around here arguing while she's all alone in the house. We've alienated her enough. What we need to do is go out of our way to include her in every possible way."

"Poor little dormouse. It breaks my heart to think that she purposely avoided us thinking that we... that I... I can't even say the words," Crispin said, raking his hands through his long wavy tresses.

"That we're all a bunch of horny bastards with only one thing on our minds?" Keegan finished for him.

"We're pathetic, aren't we?" Dorian muttered.

"Beating ourselves up over this isn't helping either," Crispin said with a sudden air of inspiration. "We should be thinking of ways to remedy this situation."

"Crispin is right," Kell agreed. "We can't let her blame herself for our insecurities. She needs to feel welcome and cared for."

"Right, we should come up with a plan," Dorian added. "As a group and as individuals."

***

"Skulking around with nothing better to do, I see," Crispin grumbled, finding Kell staring into the fridge.

"Fuck off, you. I'm doing my job, taking stock," Kell said over his shoulder.

Coming to stand beside him, Crispin glanced from the troubled Goth's face to the contents of the particular tray he was studying. "She's nearly out of cheese. Wouldn't want her going hungry," he snickered, giving Kell a friendly pat on the back.

"She does enjoy her cheese," Kell couldn't help but chuckle as he closed the fridge and leant up against the counter.

"Seriously, Kell, when are you going to give up the good fight and tell her you love her?" Crispin asked, standing across from him.