Silence [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter Eleven

Daniel waited for his parents' reaction. His legs shaking, his heart beating in his throat. "You're what?" "I'm gay" Daniel's mother stands up, walking over slowly. Daniel moves his head to the side, ready for the slap. But it never comes. Instead, Daniel is pulled into a hug by his mother. "You're still my son, no matter what." Daniel felt relief, but he still has to deal with his father's reaction. Both of them look over at his father, Daniel's eyes filling with tears. "Father?" His father finally stands "you know son, as much as I would've liked you being straight. I always knew you weren't." "What?" "When you brought that boy over, wanting us to give him the spare room. I saw something in your eyes that I've never seen when you look at a girl. I apologize for being so rude to him, I should've offered him the room. I hope it isn't too late" Daniel smiles "thank you, Father. But I think Joey's okay now. I rented him an apartment" nodding, his father stands. "I would like to formally meet this boy."

Joey was over the moon happy. He kissed Daniel. Yes, he did kind of still hate him for lying. But he kissed him! Arriving at his job with a beaming smile, Joey greets his boss with a wave before literally skipping to the front desk. After an hour of work, a familiar face shows up to the register. "Hello there Joey!" Joey's face lit up, he quickly typed "hi Daniel! How are you today?" "Very good actually. I um, I just came out to my parents." Joey's eyes widen "do you need to talk? I can take a break" Daniel nods and Joey quickly signs out. Walking to the cafe, Joey pulls Daniel to the back corner table. "Tell me everything" Daniel sighs "they accepted me!" Joey swats him on the shoulder, his head thrown back in laughter...even though no sound was coming out. "You scared me!" Daniel grins "that was the point! Anyway, um, they want you to come over today. To formally meet you" Joey's face drains of color, his eyes widening. "No! No! No! Joey, they apologized for what happened. They just want to meet the boy who made me realize who I am." Joey smiles and takes Daniel's hand "I'll be there."

Everything was going great for Daniel. He was wearing his nicest outfit, his parents were behaving, and Joey was coming over any minute now. "Okay guys so, Joey can't talk. He can only communicate through a text-to-speech app." His parents nod "what happened?" Daniel freezes, should he tell them? No, he doesn't want to upset Joey again. If he wants to tell Daniel's parents, he will. "It's not my story to tell." Soon the doorbell rings "he's here! He's here! Oh my god!" Daniel starts hyperventilating before walking to the front door. "Hello, Joey" the quiet boy steps inside, his head facing the ground. Daniel takes his hand and whispers "it's going to be alright. They're going to love you."

Everything was going too fast in Joey's mind. He and Daniel never established what they are and yet he's meeting Daniel's parents. He almost didn't come because he was so scared. The last time he came to Daniel's house, he got kicked out for being mute and homeless. But as he felt Daniel take his hand, his nerves seemed to flutter away. Daniel led him to the kitchen where his parents were cooking something that smelled absolutely magnificent. "Mother, Father, this is Joey." The two adults looked at Joey and smiled "well hello there! So happy to meet the boy who has stolen Daniel's attention!" Joey smiles and waves, being pulled into a hug by Daniel's mother. Daniel's father takes one look at Joey and his smile falters, "you're mute?" Daniel's grip tightened on his hand "I told you this before he came." Hesitantly, the man walked up to Joey, looking down at him. Joey's nerves bubbled back to the surface but he kept eye contact. 

"Well, he is very handsome. I can see why you like him, Daniel." Joey's cheeks heat up as he looks down at his shoes. Daniel drops his hand and instead wraps his arm around Joey's shoulder. He whispers "after dinner, I need to talk to you up in my room." Joey's eyes widen. Is Daniel upset with him? Did he do something wrong? 

The dinner was quiet, but not awkward. Other than Daniel's father sometimes staring at Joey at random intervals, it was actually nice. Daniel sat beside him, keeping a hand on Joey's leg. Like the good person he is, Joey helped Daniel's mother clean the dishes afterward. Secretly, he only did it because he was trying to avoid the conversation with Daniel for as long as possible. As they cleaned, Daniel's mother repeatedly thanked Joey for the help and commented on how nice of a boy he was. Unbeknownst to Joey, Daniel was in the doorway watching the interaction with a fond smile on his face. 

Finally, all the dishes were cleaned and dried. Joey knew then that he couldn't avoid Daniel. "Do you mind if I borrow this boy for a moment?" Daniel asks his mother, a smile on his face "go right ahead, he's all yours!" Taking Joey's hand, Daniel brings him upstairs. Joey's mind was racing, what was going to happen? Was Daniel going to tell him that this was a mistake? That they should keep their relationship platonic? As Daniel closed the door, he jumped on Joey with a big grin on his face. Knocking him down onto the bed. "Joey! You're amazing, my parents love you!" Joey looks down, quickly typing "your father doesn't." Daniel sighs "it'll just take him time to get used to you, but I know he'll soon see how brilliant you are!" Looking up at Daniel, Joey types "what are we?"