The G(r)ay Area

Part Five

Part Five

"My mom wants me to go home." Lucas said, putting his shirt back on.

I groaned. "Doesn't she trust me?"

"Yes. She just thinks that we'll have sex all night and I'll skip school and-"

"I'm a bad influence, got it."

He grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me. "You are not, okay? She's afraid I'll take advantage of the situation."

"Then can I stay with you?"

He held his phone out to me. "Ask her."

I sat up and texted his mom. "I'm going to be so bored tomorrow."

Lucas sat down in my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck. "I'll be here at four thirty. Just like always."

"But that's such a long day."

"You'll stay occupied. You should probably clean your room, you know."

"That says a lot, coming from you."

"Well I have school five days a week and soccer practice so I don't have much time to clean anything."

"Why can't I be more like you? You probably never get accused of being gay."

"To be honest, I do. It's just not a really big deal."

"Because you're so amazing and charming and sweet and I'm just..."

"My adorable, sad boyfriend." He took my face in his hands.

I groaned.

"What? Is that not good enough? Do you want to be another guy's adorable, sad boyfriend too? Because I'm totally not sharing you."

I hugged him, hiding my face in his neck. "I love you."

"Hey, my mom said you could stay the night." He said, his voice a bit more cheerful than it had been.

"So romantic. Bringing your mom into this."

Lucas got to his feet and stuffed his school uniform into his duffle bag. "Go tell your mom you're coming over. I'll be waiting."

I stretched up and kissed him, kneeling on the bed.

"I love you, too, Aid." He whispered. He slung the strap of his bag over his shoulder and walked up the steps to the first floor.

I sighed as I watched him go, my chest rising and falling with each breath, my cheeks red. I couldn't get over that he was mine. For the past eight years, he'd been mine. It seemed unreal to have someone so... amazing to call mine.

I blinked out of my stupor and jumped to my feet. No way was I going to keep him waiting on me.

I walked up the steps and mom was in the living room. She had a coffee mug on the table and a bottle of vodka beside it. I walked a few inches closer to her but stayed silent, not wanting her to know I was there.

In her lap was a picture of my dad from one of his fishing trips. He was holding a large fish in his arms and he was smiling.

Mom was crying. It was then I noticed the tissues on the floor by the couch.

Mom's not doing okay. May take a while.

You sure you don't want to stay home?

Let me talk to her first.

"Mom?"

She jumped and quickly wiped at her face. "Aiden, sweetheart. What are you doing up?"

"Lucas's mom said I could stay the night. I was just coming to ask."

"Sure, sure. Go ahead."

I walked around and sat down on the couch beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Aiden-" She started, sounding like she was tired of this conversation even though it just started.

"Mom, you can talk to me. You know that."

"No, Aiden, I can't. This is adult stuff. Stuff I need to worry about."

I held her gaze. "I'm talking about dad."

Her eyes changed for a second, revealing all the pain she was feeling, then shifted back to being guarded like they always were. "Aiden, I don't need to talk about this-"

"Yes, you do, mom. I know you're hurting. I know. You can't keep hiding it from me. Not when it's hurting you this much."

"There's nothing to talk about, Aiden. Your father is dead. He's not coming back. Just drop it." She grabbed the bottle of vodka and stormed out of the room, going to her room.

I ran my hands over my face before I gathered my stuff up. I didn't walk, I ran to Lucas's house. I let myself in, like I always did.

I leaned against the door for a second to catch my breath before I yelled for Lucas.

His mom walked out first, her glasses covering her brown eyes. "Aiden, honey, is everything okay?"

I hadn't realized I was crying until she walked over to me and pulled me into her arms.

"Talk to me, Aiden."

"My mom..."

"Do you want me to go talk to her?"

"She... she's drinking..."

She patted my back. "Alright, sweetheart. Go with Lucas and try to get some sleep. I'll talk to your mom."

I sniffed and nodded though I didn't really know what I was agreeing to.

She pulled away from me and turned me though I couldn't see beyond my tears. Another set of arms wrapped around me and I recognized Lucas's cologne.

"It's okay, Aid."

I let him guide me down the hall to his room. He turned the lights off, leaving only his blue lava lamp on.

He crawled into bed with me, helping me take my shoes off. He wrapped the blanket around the two of us and pulled me against his chest. "It's gonna be okay, Aid."

I wanted to believe him.But nothing pointed me in that direction.