Elija Grimes sleeps with everyone he bumps into and even finds himself in bed with his three 'straight' friends. His actions have enormous consequences and it's questionable whether those are good or bad.
(Standalone)
Written: May 2016 - Jan 2017
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~ Gray ~
I didn't think Elija and Mikael would return so soon, but halfway Sunday, only a day after they left, they're bursting through the door and Elija collapses on the sofa with a very, very deep sigh. He's never been very keen on going home to his family, but he seems extra depressed after this particular visit.
"Whoa, what happened?" Seth asks him.
It's Mikael who answers, "His father was there."
My eyes nearly bulge out of my head. His father? I don't even know what the man's name is—that's how little I know about him. Elija blatantly refuses to talk about his father and all I know is that he strongly dislikes him.
"He was really nice!" Mikael adds to my utmost surprise, before sitting down beside Elija. "And now I finally know where Eli got his handsome face from." He pats his cheek for emphasis. Elija just frowns and doesn't comment on it, letting him lean in to kiss him on the lips.
"You alright?" Mikael asks.
"I just feel so bad," he mutters. "She lied to us for so long."
And then the whole story comes out and everything finally makes sense, but after he's told us what happened back home, he doesn't want to talk about it anymore, ignoring the many questions Seth and I have. He just jumps up from the sofa and announces that we're going out, whether we want it or not. "I'm hungry as hell, let's go!"
I sigh to myself, irritated by his vague story, but I guess it'll come later. Or I'll ask Mikael. Or maybe not. We'll see.
Following Elija out the door, I see that he's already disappeared, probably flying down the stairs, thinking we'll catch up with him. Okay, Mr. I-don't-talk-about-my-feelings. Whatever.
Elija chooses some kind of small restaurant in a side street I've never been to, and it has some surprisingly nice food. We're in constant conversation, trying to fill the silence with chatter, but we keep accidentally returning to sensitive topics. They're unavoidable.
Every time we stray into family-area, Elija quickly gets uncomfortable and steers the conversation toward another topic. I don't even know why he's so reluctant to talk about it. I know why he didn't want to before—he hated his father so much he couldn't even mention him—but judging by the way the trip went, I'd think he'd be a lot less unwilling now. It sounded like they should be back on good terms now. If I were Elija, I'd be pissed at his mother—that's for sure.
We try to talk about the end of college instead, but that is proving to be a difficult topic, too. It's like all the things that are important in our life always link to subjects we'd rather not have to think about. The worst thing is that we can all see the topic we're trying to avoid coming from miles away, but we still let it happen and the moment it happens, we fall silent. When we've passed our final exams, we should be ready to face the world of real grown-up grown-ups. Yet, before we can go do any of that, we have this thing called a summer holiday, and this thing called... chemo therapy.
