34B. |raylijah

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Elijah cleared his throat as he poked at his pasta—this was the most uncomfortable dinner he'd ever attended. Rayan sat eerily still aside from when Syn would whine and he'd soothe to crying child. Rayan's parents simply stared at Elijah, examining him as if he were some kind of science experiment. "Rayan gets his talents from his father, y'know." Toni smiled, mirroring her husband's expression.

"Don't flatter me, lady." Ryan chuckled.

"Oh, please." Rayan forced a chuckle.

"Ryan is well known for his spoken word," Toni continued. "as well as his paintings and our little artist took after him."

"Really?" Elijah turned to Ray, sending him a smile.

"He's had a knack for art since he came out of the womb—he can draw, play the piano and guitar, dance, and my favorite, he's a poet, just like his father." Toni gushed, beaming as if she were the proudest mother in the world.

"So how did you two meet?"

Despite having a quickie before arriving, Elijah still didn't feel relaxed. "I actually live across the hall." He chuckled, glancing over at Syn. Despite his obvious differences, he looked more similar to Rayan than his parents.

"Oh, wow." Ryan nodded. "And how long have you been dating?" He chewed on his steak, now directing a stern look in Rayan's direction. Elijah coughed, not sure how to answer.

"A few months." Rayan cleared his throat. His mother directed her attention to Syn then at Rayan, frowning. "I have to take a piss." He abruptly stood up and headed in the other direction before his mother could chastise him for his use of foul language.

"Is he always this...off?" Elijah frowned, shoveling a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth.

"Yes," Toni said truthfully, reaching over to ruffle Syn's hair. "He doesn't like surprises."

"Makes sense."

"He'd initially come here for school. SCAD was supposed to be something for him to throw himself into but I see he's been steering himself in a completely different direction," Ryan chuckled though he looked genuinely annoyed at his son's antics.

"SCAD? I didn't know he attended school."

"That's because he dropped out." Toni shot back. "And I assume you're accepting of Syn, along with Rayan's disability?" Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Not everyone is accepting of a man with a child and something as catastrophic as his condition and  potentially going deaf."

"Wait a minute, Syn is his son?" Elijah said quickly and louder than he would've liked to. "And what condition?"

"So you two have been dating and you aren't aware of these things?" Ryan seemed to be taken aback as Rayan neared the table. Elijah watched as he sat down carefully, examining everyone at the table with a look of nervousness. Maybe leaving them alone wasn't a good idea, he thought after realizing the way Elijah practically had steam blowing out of his ears.

"The fuck is your problem?" Rayan shouted now that the two were alone. His parents took Syn back to the room, figuring that Elijah and Rayan needed this time to talk. "Are you going to speak?"

"No! I think I'll let you do that considering that it's a lot of shit you haven't told me yet." Elijah barked, disregarding the neighbors. It was late.

"Elijah," The man uttered, his expression softening. He knew he was in deep shit with his boyfriend.

"Um, I don't know. Let's start with the fucking kid," Elijah motioned his hands around, emphasizing his words. "When were you going to tell me?"

"It's not much to tell," Rayan mimicked his actions. "Syn is my son; I don't see him a lot because me and his mother don't get along. She only lets my parents see him! I didn't know they were going to just pop up and bring him."

"I said when were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know, babe but I was going to. I promise."

"Spare me," Elijah snapped. "And your condition? Did you make up that shit about playing football?"

"No, absolutely not, Eli," Ray practically whimpered. He looked like a sad puppy but Elijah couldn't allow that to cloud his judgment. Rayan was wrong, no matter how guilty he makes me feel! , He reminded himself. "My dad has this condition and it was passed down to me; I did get hurt and I do need a hearing aid because of it, but it was always destined to be like this. My injury just sped up the process."

"Why have you been keeping these things from me?" Tears blurred his vision as he huffed. Rayan neared him but he snatched away from his boyfriend's touch. "Don't touch me." He cried.

"Elijah, I didn't know it would be that serious for you. I thought you would accept everything that came with me."

"Not when you're keeping secrets from me! I accept you but I cannot accept dishonesty." And with that, he was storming out of the man's apartment. He crashed into Jacob who'd been standing at the door—the two nearly lost balance but quickly straightened themselves up. He'd noticed Jacob was wearing a rather large shirt and pair of large boxers. He must've been woken up. He stared at Elijah with a weary look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Jacob asked, his eyes narrowed with concern after noticing the tears streaming down his face. "I heard yelling." He reached up to rub his eyes and Elijah bit back a frown at what he'd seen. Jacob's arms were exposed since he wasn't wearing his usual long sleeved shirts or sweaters and his skin, usually a tawny, brown color was discolored from the wrist to elbow due to an array of thick scars. They looked like razor marks—all healed over now. He tried not to stare.

"I'm fine, Jacob. Please move." He watched as the teen retreated back into his apartment. Chres was waiting at the door for him, his eyes tired but aware—he didn't want Jacob to be in the middle of anyone's dispute but he knew the boy wouldn't go back to sleep if he didn't find out if everything was okay.