· N E R D ·

s i x

"Hey, Nerd, calm down. Why are you so anxious?"

Evan attempted to stop bouncing his leg as he looked at it and replied, "Sorry. I don't know, it's just been a while since I've seen my mom."

Jonathan nodded, but he didn't look too convinced. He didn't press any further on the matter, though.

"I'm sure everything will be fine."

It's a good thing one of us thinks so, Evan thought.

• · • · •

Alas, they reached Evan's mother's house. It was nice, to say the least; it was one story and the outside was dark green.

When they stepped up to the door, Evan suddenly pulled Jonathan down to his height and whispered in his ear, "Don't let me out of your sight while we're here, alright?"

"What? Why?"

"Just don't."

He let go of the taller male and then knocked on the door. It automatically opened, and there stood an older Asian woman.

"Evy-bear!" she declared, pulling her son into a hug. She let him go when she noticed Jonathan. "Oh, I didn't know you were bringing company, dear. Hello, my name is Zara. I'm Evan's mother."

She shook hands with Jonathan as they smiled at each other.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Jonathan." He said no further since he didn't want to label himself (just in case of the reason he had thought of the prior day).

A man suddenly came into view as he walked over to stand next to Zara. He also shook Jonathan's hand.

"Hello, Jonathan, I'm Ronan. I'm Evan's stepfather."

After quick introductions, they all went inside and found their way to the living room.

Zara smiled at Evan. "I'm glad you decided to come, honey. I've gotten a lot better at cooking since you've left."

Ronan nodded. "Yeah, she's been taking cooking lessons. I must say, dinner is great every night."

"I'm actually taking a culinary course right now," Jonathan said.

"Really?" Zara asked.

He nodded. "I'm trying to become a pastry chef."

"Ooh, would you like to help me in the kitchen then?"

"That sounds good," Ronan agreed. "It'll give me and Evan a chance to catch up."

The look of sheer terror that zoomed across Evan's face was enough for Jonathan to remember what he had said to him early.

"No," the two said in unison, to which Jonathan continued, "I, uh, I'd appreciate it if Evan didn't. I'm used to him looking over my shoulder constantly so it'd be a little weird for me if he wasn't."

Evan's parents nodded and Evan gave Jonathan a quick look that said, Thanks.

The four of them walked to the kitchen and as soon as the other two got into the cooking, Ronan signaled for Evan to join him in the next room. Evan shook his head but eventually complied when Ronan's eyes grew more stern.

"What do you want?"

"Why the hostility, Ev? I just want to talk."

"Well I don't."

"Don't be like that. I want to have a better relationship with you."

Evan rolled his eyes. "Why? So I can begin to just barely trust you in order for you to physically abuse me and sexually harass me again? No thanks."

"Ronan!"

Both males turned to see Zara and Jonathan in the doorway.

"Have you touched Evan?" She asked it slow and angry, as if she were a detective interrogating someone.

The two adults took a moment to have a stare-down, while Jonathan and Evan simply looked at each other. Jonathan's blue eyes were full of sympathy; Evan's brown ones were full of annoyance and distraught.

"Damn it, Ronan! How could you? How could you touch my son? My only child? You can beat me to a pulp, fine, but you touch my son - physically, sexually, I don't care - and that crosses the line. I really wanted to give you a second chance because you were doing so well but no. I can't anymore. I don't want my son to never visit me just because of you. So take whatever you have here and get out of my damn house."

Everyone gawked. Zara had finally stood her own and Evan was glad, but he wasn't going to say anything just yet. Ronan was still in the house and Evan knew where this was leading.

"You can't kick me out, woman! I help pay the bills around here!"

"Oh yes I can. This house is under my name, not yours. I can pay the bills just fine on my own. I don't need you!"

If he hasn't been angry before, he sure was now. Ronan spun around on his heels and gave Evan the dirtiest look known the man.

"You piece of shit! This is all your fault!"

Before Zara or Evan could even begin to protest, Ronan swung. Evan landed on the floor with a loud thud and he could barely process what had happened.

"Get out of my house and out of my life or I'm calling the cops!"

• · • · •

"Thank you for inviting us, Zara, but I think it's time for us to go now. Will you be okay?"

She nodded. "Yes. Now that Ronan is back in custody, I should be fine. Take care of Evan for me, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Jonathan practically dragged Evan back to the car. Once they were back on the road, Evan held his face and asked, "Are you mad?"

"Pissed."

"I'm sorry. I-"

"Why are you apologizing, Evan? You have nothing to be sorry for. I should be the one apologizing. I let you out of my sight when you warned me not to and look what happened. Jesus Christ, Evan, I am so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You wouldn't have let me come if you knew."

"Your fucking common sense shouldn't have let you come!...but you needed to see your mother..."

Evan pulled down the visor and looked at his face through the mirror. The area where Ronan had struck him was... bad.

"Fuck."