'We'

Chapter Eleven

"I'm going out."

"Felix."

The boy stopped in his tracks, afraid despite himself. His ponytail swung gently behind his head with the sudden change in momentum, and Felix screwed his eyes shut. He balled his fists, looking over his shoulder at the man behind him.

"What?"

"Excuse me?" the man responded, eyebrows narrowing into an expression of anger. Felix looked down at his feet, shifting his weight between them. Finally, he turned around to face the man behind him.

"Yes, father?"

The man looked down at the child, the expression on his face a mixture of hatred and concern.

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"You have studies."

"I'll do them when I get back."

The two males stared at each other for a moment, a silent battle warring between them. Neither would give in.

"Is this to do with…" the man paused, eyes narrowing as if he could not bring himself to say the next word. "Your condition?" Felix's face hardened.

"I'm not sick."

"I know it doesn't look that way from your perspective, but when you get older-"

"This isn't something that's going to change."

There was silence again. Despite his height, Felix was just as threatening as his father. Eventually, the older man let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. Felix's shoulders hunched. He hates that noise.

"You're eleven. You're too young to-"

"Shut up! I'm not ill, I'm not confused, I'm not too young - I'm gay. I like boys. You're not going to change that."

"Felix Dorian Rose." The man's lips tightened into thin strips. His eyebrows lowered still, and he looked truly terrifying. It didn't put Felix off, however. He had lived with this man for eleven years; he was used to this kind of fury by now.

"I'm going out," the child repeated, eyes narrowing at his father. "Might kiss a few boys while I'm out there; you never know."

He slammed the door as he left, trying to anger his father as much as physically possible. The man let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his temple with one hand. A small woman, mousy-brown hair framing her face, stepped forward from where she had been watching.

"He's young. Give him time, and he'll grow out of it."

"He shouldn't have to grow out of it," the man exclaimed. "He should know better."

The man walked away from the door, with the woman trailing behind him. He paused suddenly, thinking of something.

"Yes, dear?"

"If he's not back in an hour," Felix's father stated, his gaze cold, "lock the door. He can sleep outside and think about what he really wants.

***

Felix's legs spun like no tomorrow. The wheels on his bike made a hum as the spun, and the sound seemed to quell the worst of the child's anger. He muttered as he rode, trying to dispell as much of his anger as he could.

He was angry that he still didn't hate his father. God knows the man deserved it. Forcing him to be home educated, forcing him to become a doctor, and now this. Felix could hardly take it anymore, but he still couldn't bring himself to hate the man. It was his father, after all.