North

Okay

The room had gone silent after the clatter of cutlery falling from Thomas Sinclair's rough hands. Maria Sinclair had frozen in place, her fork piled with food, now sat suspended in the air. North Sinclair had stopped breathing entirely, his body tensed in suspense, and as for the outsider, Jude Griffin, he sat absolutely still in his chair waiting for a response from any of the Sinclair's. 

Finally after what seemed for an eternity, Thomas stood up violently from his chair, causing Maria to drop her fork, and North and Jude to jump in unison. 

"Gay?"North's father muttered as he shook his head, leaning against his hands that gripped the edge of the table. No one said anything. "And dating...," He continued, obviously not really speaking to anyone. Jude gripped North's hand tight in his own when he started to feel the other boy start to shake ever so slightly. 

Suddenly Thomas' eyes whipped up to look directly at Jude Griffin, then over to his son, piercing straight through both of the boys. 

"How long?" North's father asked sternly. North paused. How long have they been together? He didn't know, everything had been going by so fast. 

"A month and a half, sir," Jude said without hesitation, which made North feel guilty, but he was still grateful that Jude had answered for him. North was unsure if he could actually make any coherent sentences. He didn't want to test that theory right now. 

"Mmmh, and you didn't tell me?" Thomas responded still staring with extreme intensity at Jude Griffin and his son. "You're supposed to tell your parents when you start dating someone, North," Thomas said suddenly with a light tone, a small genuine smile spreading across his face. Not one of the three other people at the table moved, until Maria started crack another equally pearly smile, which caused Jude to do the same, until the only person left to smile was North. 

"I... I was sc-," North started before a tear rolled down his cheek, more already welling in his eyes. Within seconds, Maria and Thomas Sinclair were embracing their only child- their son as more tears fell down his cheeks. Jude Griffin sat to the side, letting the Sinclair family become a family again. 

"I'm so sorry," North cried, his words slightly muffled by his parents arms. 

"No... North you're not allowed to sorry, because you have nothing to be sorry about, you're the child..., we're the adults," Thomas said softly as he pulled away from his son, his own tears pooling in his eyes. North nodded. 

"We've been terrible parents, North...," Maria admitted. "But your father and I are going to fix this okay? We're going to be better, I promise North," she smile at her son, then up at her husband, fondness filling both their eyes, something that had been missing for a long, long time. 

"We're going to be a family again, North," Thomas nodded, a new sense of determination filling him. Then his eyes flickered over to the forgotten boy sitting awkwardly in a chair. "Including your boyfriend," North's father shot a stern, yet kind nod at Jude who perked up at the mention of himself. Jude Griffin gave a small nod back to Thomas Sinclair, then found the beautiful hazel eyes of his boyfriend, and for some reason he knew that this healing family would be okay again.