VICE

| MEETING THE MEAN DAD |

"Are you sure I should be here? ..I mean... I'm not exactly dressed for dying."

"Don't be over dramatic, he is not going to kill you. At least ...I'm hoping not."

"Wow, thanks for the positive reinforcement!"

"You know what I mean."

"Sadly, I do. ..I'm gonna walk in there and the second you introduce me, he's gonna start carving my neck using the business end of wolverine claws!"

"Yea, sure. Because my dad owns wolverine claws and has them casually lying around ... since, you know, that's what normal people do."

"This is a bad idea ...worse than when you agreed to my stupid idea to host a party. My back hurts from all the aftermath cleaning."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm never gonna listen to any more of your suggestions from now on."

Austin and Noah had spent the entire morning cleaning up the mess left behind the previous night. And by mess, I mean the trash and every partier that had been too drunk to find their way home the previous night.

The whole house was basically turned upside down and cleaning it had been a major bitch. With only the two of them doing all the cleaning, it had taken hours. Their joints were aching by the end of it all.

They were now parked outside the four-star hotel where Austin's father was staying. It was a beautiful enough building; complete with modern decor, a large entrance, a beautiful garden upfront and validated parking.

Austin had convinced Noah to come along because he needed some support if, and maybe when, his father decided to not be ok with him. The last time they had seen each other had not been all that great, and the end result had been even worse.

He wasn't sure what to expect the minute they walked through the door. The probability of it was kind of scrambled up. He was basically walking on pins and needles.

Austin handed his key over to the valet  and they stepped into the large lobby with a gigantic, crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

There was a desk near the entrance with a concierge standing behind it. They checked in before taking the elevators up to the ninth floor.

Noah kept bouncing on the balls of his feet nervously as the elevator doors closed, and the nervousness was starting to rub off on to Austin.

"Can you please stop doing that?" Austin requested.

"What?" Noah asked obliviously.

"You're making me nervous too, and I promised myself I would be calm."

"I can't help it." Noah said, "I'm freaking out over here. At least ...try to be a little supportive."

"You're acting like you're going in there to ask for my hand in marriage."

"Mmhmm.. what if I was?"

"I would drown you in a glass of water!" He knew Noah was joking though.

"Fair enough."

"My god, my stomach is churning. I mean ..I've kind of missed him, but I'm still more scared that he doesn't wanna see me."

"Hey," Noah said and reached out to squeeze Austin's shoulder lovingly. "I don't think he is gonna throw you out. Sure, he may be a bigot...but he is still your dad and I'm sure he's missed you too."