Telling Alice {ManxMan} | MPreg

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen:

"Do you really think this is a good idea, Esh?" Cyro asked for the seventh time setting the large salad in the middle of the dining table. Eshe sighed setting a covered dish down next to it, scanning his mother's dining room before looking over at his blonde friend. His blue eye shooting back and forth between Eshe and Jerome as he continued. "I just don't think this many people is necessary for Alice to meet her father for the first time."

"It'll be fine, besides I didn't really have a choice after so many people somehow found out he was in town." Eshe replied shooting him a dirty look before glancing over at Jerome who was getting an earful from Eshe's mother about the proper way to make crack beans. Though he looked like he wasn't paying attention at all, his eyes were looking at her but they were clouded with a slight confusion almost as if he didn't know where he was. It wasn't surprising, his mind had been somewhere else since the day before when Eshe had told him that his mother was insisting on having a 'family dinner' to welcome Aiden meaning he had to be there.

It wasn't as thought Cyro had really told that many people but in hindsight, Eshe just wished that they could do this privately. Having the whole family there was bound to end in conversations that Eshe would rather not have with certain people present, especially his mother. Cyro was bound to ask questions that were better suited for a private night with liquor within easy reach, which had become the traditional way of telling stories about Eshe's younger years. He'd been a wild child most of his family wasn't even shocked when they brought up things he'd done but it still wasn't the type of thing he'd wanted to discuss over dinner and certainly not in front of his child.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom." Eshe announced to no one in particular before rushing down the hallway into the small bathroom shutting the door behind him. Honestly Eshe was cringing at the thought of having his mother in the same room as Aiden, the only thing that could make it worse was the possibility of his father making an appearance. Though that seemed way less likely to happen than anything else his father hadn't looked at him since high school he doubted they'd seen recognize each other if he did join them. "I wonder if Aiden was disappointed."

Eshe barely registered the thought as it tumbled out of his mouth until he heard himself say it. Staring at his reflection in the round silver mirror confused when he thoughts had shifted from his father to Aiden. The man Eshe remembered was never anything like his father, it was one of the things he'd loved about him. Back then Eshe had been so desperate to get away from the people he'd felt forced to call his family Aiden had been the escape he'd been searching for.

He'd taken advantage of that and Aiden had let him, it was almost an unspoken rule that was meant to stay that way. It was the way they both had wanted it to be that way no one got attached and no one got hurt. Eshe had spent a lot of time afterward wondering when things had changed between them or why, he'd never been able to figure it out. It was like it just did, for no reason at all before he'd even realized what he'd walked into he was drowning in it. It had scared him how easy it'd become, how comfortable he was in the situation and how much the thought of leaving hurt. And it had hurt even more when he did go.

He leaned close to the mirror tucking away a few wild curls that refused to stay where they were supposed to go, regretting taking his hair out from twist just for dinner. His sandstone eyes tracked down from his hair landing on his frowning gloss covered lips. Briefly, he wondered why he had bothered to do his hair at all or put on a lip gloss he hadn't touched since he'd bought it. Taking a step back he instantly regretted his choice, looking over himself it was too obvious he was trying more than he usually would.

"I'm so stupid." Eshe huffed, running shaky hands down the front of his gray sweater and down the sides of his dark jeans, cursing lowly when he realized just how tight the jeans he was wearing were. "Damn."

"That's what I was thinking but I didn't wanna say anything." Cyro chuckled, leaning up against the bathroom doorway. His blue eyes shining with a knowing look, a too smug grin on his lips, Eshe rolled his eyes upwards wishing the floor would open underneath his best friend but knowing it wouldn't. "So, did you dress up to rub it in his face that you're definitely the one that got away or are you trying to be the-"

"No, absolutely not. I left him behind I can't do that. Things are good now, things with Jerome are working, I mean they're getting better at least. I moved on I'm happy I-I can't do that." Eshe rushed, his stomach twisting as he watched the grin drop off of Cyro face as he quickly stepped closer to his best friend, wrapping his arms around his waist. "That's not fair to him."

"Hey, hey, Esh it's okay, it's fine, it's fine." He comforted him over and over, knowing Eshe wasn't talking about Jerome any longer. Cyro couldn't help but smile slightly as he rubbed circles on his friends back feeling Eshe's body relax up against his as they leaned against the sink. Finally, Eshe reacted, arms engulfing his smaller friend, squeezing him close like a stuffed animal he sighed heavily as he fought to pull himself together.