Step Into the Sun

7

Somehow, Jared didn't wake Evan up in the night. He slept soundly until his alarm woke him up at 8 in the morning.

When he sat up and looked over at the bed across from his, he was startled to see Jared sitting there, staring at him.

"Can we go get pancakes?" He asked impatiently.

Evan rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but laugh at Jared's request.

He got out of bed and ready for the day, then they went to iHOP for breakfast.

When they were finished eating, they parted ways. Jared was off to Astronomy and then to hang out with a friend, while Evan headed back to the dorm again.

He let himself in and sat down on his bed, unlocking his phone.

This was it. Time to explain everything to his mom.

Tapping on her contact icon, he held his phone up to his ear.

One... Two... Three rings before Heidi answered.

"Hey, bub," she greeted cheerily. "How are you doing? How has your week been?"

"Hi mom. I'm good. My week is good," Evan responded.

"Oh, gosh. I miss hearing your voice every day, sweetie," Heidi sighed. "How much longer 'til you get to come home for fall break?"

"Fall break!" Evan shouted in epiphany. "That's it!"

"Wait... What?"

"Um... It's in November, right? Thanksgiving week?"

He could bring Connor home and help him get used to the swing of things at home. Still, that was over a month away... He would have to tell Connor about it and ask his opinion.

"Yeah, I guess," Heidi confirmed, still slightly confused.

"Okay. Mom, I need to talk to you about something really important," Evan told her, laying down backwards on his bed.

"What is it, honey?" She was a bit worried at first, as anyone would be when someone started a conversation that way, but tried to stay neutral until she knew what it was that he had to say.

"So... I guess I'll start at the beginning."

He revealed to her the story of how Jared had thought it was a good idea to buy him a night with Connor, then he witnessed domestic abuse and decided to do something about it.

Heidi listened quietly, making the occasional comment to let him know she was still there.

"I just... Can't do nothing, you know?" Evan finished, taking a deep breath.

The line was quiet for a moment.

"Mom?"

"Y-yeah, sweetie. I understand. It's just a lot to process." She responded quietly. "You... You really like this boy?"

"What? No, n-not like, romantically," he defended, feeling his face start to heat up.

"It kinda sounds like it," Heidi chuckled. "You could've left out the part where you gazed longingly into his eyes and enjoyed his embrace and realised that he was astonishingly cute."

"Mom, this is serious," he mumbled, putting his arm over his face. "And obviously he would be gorgeous anyway, that's kind of his job. But I'm not into him that way."

"You're right," she agreed, grinning at her son's obliviousness before going serious again. "This is quite a predicament you've gotten yourself into."