The Quincux of a Heart (Freewood)

Meet The Family

"It's gonna be okay." Gavin patted Ryan's back as the older man chewed on his lower lip between muttering the same phrase wordlessly over and over.

Normally in such a situation, Ryan would be reassuring Gavin, especially since Ryan would tell Gavin nothing about his family.

He'd asked who all he was meeting and what their names were several times, but Ryan only smirked at him and claimed that he would just have to wait.

So he had, and now they were sitting outside of a nice-looking house as Ryan pulled himself together. The OCD-ridden man took a deep breath before smiling at Gavin. "You ready?" He asked and Gavin winked.

"Born ready, luv," He linked hands with Ryan once they'd exited the car and strolled towards the front door. Ryan knocked five times, paused, and knocked five times more before the door opened to reveal a man hardly older than Ryan with heavily tattooed arms and a black mustache that looked decades old. His eyes were grey and sunken and he looked like he was in a perpetual state of fatigue. Gavin wondered if it was possibly a relative of Ryan's, despite the clear lack of resemblance, as a woman with a half-shaven head of blonde hair and an equally large amount of tattoos came into view, balancing a young boy on her hip.

"Ryan! Come in!" The man called and Ryan stepped in happily, dragging Gavin with him.

"Uncle Ryan!" The boy scrambled out of what Gavin assumed were his mother arms, rushing towards Ryan and squealing when he pulled him up into a hug.

"Gavin, this is Geoff-Geoff, Griffon, and their fantastic son. Caleb. " Ryan introduced, tickling the young boy playfully. 

Gavin tilted his head in confusion but shook Geoff's hand regardless, accepting the warm hug Griffon gave him. She looked grateful and smiled at him like a proud mother.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Gavin." She cooed.

"Yeah, Ryan never shuts the fuck up about you." Geoff teased, threading an arm around Griffon's waist as Ryan blushed.

"Shut up. Don't make me regret bringing him here. Inviting him here. Inviting." Geoff laughed and it sounded sweet and genuine.

"You love me, asshole. C'mon, you can help me set up dinner while Gavin and Griffon get acquainted." He motioned for Ryan to follow and the latter placed several small kisses to Gavin's lips before doing so.

"Come with me, honey. We can chat in the living room while they do their men things." Griffon smirked at him and Gavin followed, still confused.

"So, is Geoff his brother?" He asked, half expecting Ryan's parents to suddenly appear.

"Oh no, Ryan is an only child. Though they've been best friends since high school." She quipped, settling down into a soft-looking leather couch. Gavin sat across from her, crossing his legs. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Ryan just told me I was coming to meet his family tonight." A soft 'oh' escaped Griffon's lips and her eyes shone with affection at his words.

"Family? Bless him." She smiled so sweetly and Gavin fixed his gaze on his fingers, cheeks blazing. Had Ryan told him these people were his family because he didn't want to bring Gavin home to his real family? Was he ashamed? His brow furrowed as Geoff called them in for dinner, his voice cracking slightly.

"So, Gavin. What do you do for a living?" Griffon questioned when they had finally settled down around the table, each with a heaping plate of homemade food. It smelled delicious, honestly, and Gavin was using all his willpower to not devour it in an animalistic manner.

"I'm a store clerk, actually. I check out the items." He admitted. "It's just until I finally get recognized for my slow-motion cinematography. Then I'll hopefully be working on big movies."