Falling For You (Treebros)

Chapter Ten: Bonding

TW: Mentions of suicide attempt (Evan's).

Evan stood with his mother in front her mother's boyfriend's house, dressed in a black dress shirt and grey pants. His mother wore an aqua dress that went to her knees. She knocked on the door.

A bald man with a ginger beard answered the door. "Heidi! Hello!" He said, embracing her.

"Hello, Paul," she said, laughing. Paul pulled away from Heidi.

"You must be Evan," Paul smiled. "I'm Paul." He held out his hand. Evan shook it.

"H-hi. Nice t-to meet y-you." Evan smiled back.

"Come in!" Paul stepped in the house, Heidi and Evan following.

"You look beautiful," Paul said to Heidi.

"Thank-you," she blushed. "You look very nice."

He turned to Evan. "My son is upstairs. You're seventeen, correct?"

Evan nodded.

"I believe my son goes to your school. I'll get him for you." Paul smiled and walked up the stairs to retrieve his son.

"H-he's very nice," Evan whispered to his mother.

Heidi nodded. "He is. You're stuttering a lot, did you take your meds?"

Evan nodded.

"Good."

A moment later, Paul returned with a teenage boy in tow. The boy had dark brown hair, which was brushed neatly to the side, and blue eyes. He wore a white Eminem shirt and blue ripped jeans.

"I told you to change," Paul said to the boy. The boy shrugged.

"Sorry." 

Paul sighed. 

"Hello, Heidi," the boy said to Evan's mother.

"Hi, Jeremy."

"Evan, this is my son, Jeremy," Paul said to Evan

Jeremy smiled at Evan. "Hey."

"H-hi," Evan smiled back.

"Why don't you take Evan up to your room to play video games, Jeremy?" Paul said.

"Sure. If he wants to?" Jeremy looked at Evan. Evan nodded.

"Cool. C'mon, let's go." Jeremy lead Evan up the stairs to his room.

Jeremy's room had white walls. There were a few posters from video games, a bed with a striped doona, a MacBook Pro, and clutter everywhere. There was also an XBox, a PlayStation, and a TV, with two

"So... do you want to play video games?" Jeremy asked.

"I-I'm not very g-g-good at video games." Evan stuttered, looking down at his cast, picking at loose strings.

"Oh, okay, that's fine. We can just talk, if you want?"

Evan nodded in agreement.

Jeremy sat down on the bed and pat the spot next to him. Evan sat.

"So, tell me about yourself." Jeremy said.

"O-okay. Where d-do I st-start?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I do have a question, though. Why do you seem so nervous? Like, you're really tense," Jeremy commented, looking at Evan. "You can relax, you know. I'm not going to bite."

Evan laughed quietly. "S-sorry, IjusthavereallybadsocialanxietysoI'mnotgoodatbeingaround-"

"Woah, woah, slow down!" Jeremy laughed. "Just take a deep breath, buddy. It's okay."