You & Me? Please

Chapter Eight

I pace the length of our living room. He's late. He found out. He found out and I didn't tell him. He hates me. My mom gives me a worried look from the kitchen but says nothing. I didn't tell her why I'm so nervous but being my mom, she knows. I freeze as the garage door opens. I swallow hard, picking at my finger nails. A car door shuts. The door coming from the garage opens. I turn towards my dad as he enters our house, greeting my mom with a smile and a kiss. I take a deep breath.

"Hey dad. And uh mom." They look over at me, my mom gives me a hopeful look while my dad gives me a concerned look. "Can I talk to you guys?" They glance at each other then walk into the living room. They sit on the couch and I sit in front of them on the coffee table.

"Are you alright, Scotty?" My dad asks, clearly concerned. This is going to be okay. He's my dad. He loves me. I nod and take a deep breath.

"There's something I need to tell you guys." I close my eyes and take a breath.

"You're quitting aren't you?" My dad puts his hand on my knee. I glance at him, making eye contact. I give him a look of confusion. I open my mouth but he cuts me off. "You're quitting soccer aren't you?" I close my mouth. He shakes his head, "Scotty, I can tell you haven't been yourself this past month. You're distracted, you're heads not in the game anymore." I shake my head.

"No dad. I'm not quitting soccer." He relaxes immediately and smiles at me. I take a deep breath. "The reason I haven't been myself recently is I uh well I kind of..." I glance at the floor. How the hell do I say this? I glance back up at them. "I'm uh not completely straight." I pause, gaging their reactions. My mom sighs and gives me a smile. My dad looks a bit confused but he doesn't look angry. I take a deep breath. "I'm not exactly gay. I'm pan. Pansexual. I don't really care about the sex of the person I'm with. I care more about who they are." I pause again. Letting my dad take it in. He sits staring at me. My mom is holding his hand gently. I can tell the wheels are turning behind his eyes but his face isn't giving anything away. "Dad?"

"Are you dating a...boy?" He talks slowly. Thinking through every word.

"No, I'm not. I just..." I take a deep breath. "You remember Mitch? Uh. Mitch Grassi?" Slowly he nods. I swallow. "Well he was the first openly gay kid in school. Now there are others but he was the first. And he's more feminine than most of the others." I pause again. He doesn't look too pissed off so I continue. "Well the guys, Ryan, Trevor, Chad, and uh Stephen have been physically hurting him on pretty much a daily basis since well as long as I can remember. This year we're in choir together again and the one day..." I look at the floor. "The one day I wasn't having the...best day. And Mitch was there. He listened and talked and..." I take a deep breath and look up at them. "This afternoon the guys were...really rough with him and I couldn't stand back and do nothing anymore. So Avi and I stopped them. They were confused and shocked as to why I stopped them and I just kind of told them that I'm pan. I didn't plan to. I just didn't want them to hurt Mitch." I shake my head. "I wanted to talk to you guys before anyone else. But since I screwed that up I knew I had to be the one to tell you guys next." I take a deep breath and look up at them. My dad stares at me with that look that I can't tell what he's thinking. My mom looks at my dad staring at me. Her face begs him to understand and be understanding. I swallow. "Dad?" He rugs his chin.

"And you're happy?" He asks. I freeze, only able to move enough to nod. Slowly he nods back at me. "You were nervous to talk to me about this?" I nod again. "Scotty. You're my only son. I was terrified that Mitch would have a bad influence on your...sexuality. But even then it was clear to see you were more feminine than the average ten year old boy." He shakes his head. "I thought keeping you two apart and putting you in sports would change that." I look at the floor. "But..." He pauses. I glance up at him. Surprisingly, he smiles. "I can tell now your sexuality is just another piece to who you are." He chuckles. "Scotty, you've grown into an amazing young adult with good morals, manners, and grades. And let's not forget your soccer abilities." I smile slightly. He smiles back. "And that amazing singing voice of yours." He takes a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say with all this is that...you're my son and I love you." We stand at the same time and immediately hug. I whisper that I love him too. I clutch onto my dad. A huge weight lifts from my chest. I feel as though I can fly. He pulls back and smiles jokingly. "But if that Mitch takes our star soccer player I'll have to have a stern talking with him." All three of us laugh. My mom stands and pulls us into a hug. I hold my parents close. Damn. I don't have to hide anymore. A smile like none I've ever smiled breaks out on my face.

"Oh gosh. What is this love fest?" I hear Lauren say from behind us. We break apart, each laughing a bit. A small smile plays on Lauren's lips. I smile back at her.

"I'm pan." I say confidently. Finally feeling a confidence I've waited to feel since the night I kissed Stephen for the first time. Lauren starts laughing. She walks to me, playfully slapping my arm, then pulls me into a hug.

"It's about fucking time you came out." The two of us laugh together. I lift her off her feet in a tight hug. This makes her kick at my legs and giggle more. I set her on her feet and she hits me again. "There is no way a guy who one: sings like you and two: has that much love for Beyoncé can be completely straight." This time all four of us laugh. My dad shakes his head and pulls my mom towards him. My mom looks like she's on cloud nine. I smile at the piece of my family still living here, grateful I got so lucky to have a family as wonderful as them.

"All right." My mom gives my dad one last kiss on the cheek and heads back into the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in about 45 minutes. Go get cleaned up." My dad, sister, and I salute her, smile, and go our separate way to get ready for dinner. I practically run to my room and open my laptop. Immediately I open Skype. Kit Kat's online. As I wait for her to pick up I grab my backpack and pull out my calc book. I have no clue what the hell is going on in that class. I see Kirstie's pretty face pop up on the screen. Her brown eyes sparkling and a smile cutting her face in half as she lays on her bed.

"Hey Dip Dot! What's up?"

"Why the fuck do you call him that?" I hear Mitch's sass come from somewhere in her room. She glares over her left shoulder and sticks her tongue out.

"You could say hi you know?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

I laugh. Kirstie squeals as the small body that is Mitch, body slams her. I crack up, my eyes tear up from laughing. Mitch and Kirstie laugh as Mitch twists himself into a laying position beside her. He shoots me a smile and winks. "What's up, Scotland?" Kirstie gives him a WTF face. I laugh at her.

"Did you just call him Scotland?" Kirstie questions. Mitch shrugs filing his nails with a bright pink nail file.

"Why not?" I laugh with Kirstie as Mitch poses.

"Alright, alright." I say, catching my breath. "I only have so long before dinner but I had to call you. Guess what." I smile at them, extremely happy that Mitch is with Kirstie. Mitch raises his hand.

"Beyoncé has just realized she wants to adopt me and raise me as her own?" Kirstie and I break out laughing. I'm pretty sure it took a solid five to ten minutes to calm the fuck down. I shake my head at him.

"Next best thing." I take a deep breath. "I came out to my dad and I'm still breathing." I pause taking a deep breath. Shock crosses both of their faces then they scream. I laugh. They both congratulate me and completely freak out for another twenty minutes before I tell them I have to call Avi before dinner. Promising to tell them how it went down tomorrow, they let me end the call. I smile as I grab my phone and hit Avi's number. Telling Avi was a lot easier. He of course was just as excited but a lot less loud about it. I hang up with Avi and head down to the stairs to dinner. I smile to myself. Tonight might be the best night ever.