Fragile Threads [boyxboy]

Chapter 14

“Are you not doing anything tonight?” June questioned, leaning over Ethan on the couch.

Ethan tipped over to the side to get her face out of his. “I’m doing something?” He gestured towards the TV, as if to make a point. “And it’s Friday, I don’t need to do my homework.”

“But it’s Friday. Are you and Ari not doing anything?” she asked more pointedly.

“Oh. Well he’s at dinner with Brent, trying to fix things.” Ethan shrugged. “He might be coming over later though, or something.”

She nodded with a quick smile. “Cool, cool. Well, let me know when he comes over. You’re going to his football game tomorrow, right? How is that going to go?” she questioned, lingering.

“I don’t know. His parents might be there, but they don’t know about him and I, yet… mostly.” Ethan frowned thoughtfully. He still wasn’t sure if Ari’s father actually knew or not. “Other than that, I’ve been hanging around the team often enough, and it’s their last game.”

June left him alone at that, and Ethan watched TV for a while until Ari called to come over. That’s when Ethan started getting nervous. He’d been trying to ignore it and drown it out with watching TV, but now he had to face however things had gone with Brent. Ari was skilled enough to mask however it had gone without giving anything away over the phone.

“Does your mom know I’m coming over?” Ari asked sheepishly at the door.

Ethan shrugged. “I told her you might come over, so yeah. How was the dinner?” Maybe he should have eased into the question a little bit more, but he wasn’t so good at that.

Ari shuffled in and dropped himself into the couch. “It was fine, I guess. Best it could have gone. He tried to be an asshole at the start, but then his mom ripped into him and she and I basically got to try and dispel a lot of the stuff he believes… we’ll see if it get’s through his thick head or not.” 

Ethan curled up next to Ari on the couch. He was obviously a little tense after the dinner. “At least it sounds like there might be some chance, right?” Ethan tried to point out. Usually bigots were bigots.

Ari shrugged and sighed. “Yeah, but it’s still frustrating that there’s even a problem.” He seemed to sink further back into the couch.

A silence fell then, though Ethan didn’t feel like either of them needed to break it. He let his chin rest on Ari’s shoulder for a while and absently listened to the TV. Ari squirmed around on occasion, every once and a while seeming to gain more contact with Ethan. First his cheek was resting against the top of Ethan’s head, and then they were holding hands and Ari wiggled a leg underneath Ethan.

Then Ari was grabbing his arm and pulling him over. “Dude,” Ari finally grumbled. “I’m trying to get you into my lap. Stop clinging to my side.”

“Oh.” Ethan dislodged himself, now getting the hint. He let himself be pulled into Ari’s lap then and cuddled up against his chest. “By the way, my mom is out back or something,” Ethan informed. In reality he hadn’t been paying much attention and just knew she was somewhere in the house.