Denim Jackets and Good Intentions

Chapter Nine

Douglas passed the bowl over to Mary when she requested the mashed potatoes, smiling at her in response when she thanked him. The seat in front of her was the only empty one, and he found his eyes shifting to that same spot every time he looked up from his plate. He could feel Henry's gaze on him, and he struggled to meet it. He hadn't been able to even glance in Henry's direction since he had caught Eric and him that day. He hadn't told anyone though, and for that he was more grateful than even words could express. If only he could find the courage to tell him that.

It had been a week to the day since the incident at the rink that left Douglas putting as much distance between he and the other boy as possible. Mary noticed, but she didn't question it, leaving it for them to sort out. Henry noticed too, and he was too afraid to bring it up to either of them after being threatened into silence. Thomas had noticed, he was the only one to say anything to the both of them. Eric's excuse was that they both had separate lives to lead, and that they didn't need to be intertwined in each other's business every minute of every day. Thomas ended up with a door slammed in his face, and he didn't bring it up again, no matter how fabricated his son's excuse was.

He was just about to stand up and take his plate to the sink, ready to offer to take anyone else's as well, when the front door swung open and Eric rushed over. He gripped the archway that connected the living room to the kitchen where the table set was, swinging to a stop and nodding to Douglas with a click of his tongue. The older boy's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. They hadn't said so much as 'hello' to each other in days. He didn't have the slightest clue as to what the other was up to.

"Mork, Mindy needs you," he said, patting the archway before walking back out and closing the front door after him.

Mary stood and took the plate, urging Douglas to go, even nudging him with her elbow before turning to face the sink. She set the plates inside of the small canyon with a clank and it was a faint sound that he heard, already halfway through the arch. Once outside and standing in the fading light of the sky, he watched Eric jump into the back of a pastel blue pickup truck, the paint chipping away at the exterior. Lisa leaned over the middle seat and called out the window.

"Let's go!"

Around ninety minutes and a good portion of the tank of gas later, they were parked in a dirt lot behind a small, brick building. There was no sign, no posters layered thick on the walls like all of the other buildings in town. The car jerked as Eric jumped over the side barrier of the back, then yanked open the passenger door and leaned against it. Douglas looked between the two.

"Are you guys gonna kill me?" he asked, only half joking.

Lisa chuckled, patting his back and turning off the engine, "not today."

Without a word - which was beginning to wear away at Douglas' patience, really - Eric nodded to the building before stepping away from the door. He got out and closed the creaking car door, looking at the building oddly. They had given him no explanation, and he hadn't asked for one aloud. Lisa got out, wearing those same bell bottoms that constricted around her thighs and waist, except this pair was maroon. She had a white shirt with long, silky soft sleeves that flowed when she walked much like how hair flowed in water. Eric looked the same as always, except he was wearing a nervous look on his pale face this time.

They lead him inside and the second the metal doors closed behind them, the splash of colors inside was all of the light they had. Apart from the reds and purples and blues illuminating the occasional stray face or body part, the room was an inescapable black. Douglas reached out and grabbed at Eric instinctively, losing his sense of security in the dark and feeling blind, vulnerable even. He felt his lover's warm hand grab his wrist, pulling his grip free from the younger man's shoulder. Not a second later, that same hand was intertwined with his.