Tic Toc

Two

Disclaimer: This is only a story so be chill.

Remington
Nevada
Stephanie's House

"Did you find him?"
"You will, don't worry!"
"We'll help you plan your next trip."

Those are a few phrases one would expect to hear when coming home from a failed search. But in my mom's house that wasn't the case. As soon as Alex and I walked in, it was dead silent.
Of course I didn't knock, so I caught a piece of a sentence I didn't want to hear.

"... and faggots usually don't-"

My brother Sebastian stopped abruptly when I came in the door, the rest of the room falling silent along with him. Both him and Emerson sat on the couch with their lovers; lucky sons of bitches. My father, if I honestly had to call him that, was sitting in his recliner ignoring the situation.
I didn't bother standing there awkwardly like Alex was behind me, nervously shifting from foot to foot. Instead I walked over to the love seat and sat down, pulling Alex down with me.

"What are you wearing?" Larissa, Sebastian's girlfriend, asked as she gave a disapproving look to my girl.

"Coming from the wannabe hair dresser with a bad box dye." I said casually, looking her straight in the eye.

She gasped and grabbed her hair as though it were her child and I had personally offended it.
Sebastian rolled his eyes at me. He knew better by now than to pick a fight with me so he just let it go.
For a few minutes we sat in silence, my eyes drifting over the room aimlessly. Nothing had changed in the month or so I've been gone. Then again I didn't expect it to. The room was still a crimson looking maroon, if that was even possible, and the black leather furniture set was still there. The floor was a white tile sort of thing.
What was it?
Lenolium?
Tile?
Cement?
I've never paid much attention to the floor before. I sat and wondered about the floor as the room stayed silent. There was nothing but dirty looks and hateful glares. The tension was so thick you couldn't cut it with a chainsaw.
Alex shifted closer to me, absentmindedly slipping her hand into mine. I gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.
For as long as I could remember, I've been telling her that this wasn't what a family looked like. This wasn't how family acted towards each other. I always promised her that I would give her a real family when I found my lover. There wouldn't be all of this bad energy.
At least I hoped there wouldn't.
"I'm home!"
In half a second Alex tore herself away from me and into my mother's arms.
"Stephanieeeee!" She squealed.
Mom very dramatically dropped her shopping bag on the floor and wrapped Alex up in a big hug. It was like someone had opened a curtain in a pitch black room. My mother was the wind that blew the clouds away. She made this whole situation a little bit more bearable.
Sure, there were times when I really tested her patience. But never once has she treated me like the rest of my family has.
"Remington!" Her kind voice snapped me out of my daze as she stood in front of me with open arms.
I stood and hugged her shorter frame. Over her shoulder I could see Emerson look away as Sebastian cringed. But it was easy to ignore now that mom was here.

"What do you want for dinner? I'll fix anything you want. And don't tell me it doesn't matter."

She pointed a finger at me before sauntering off to the kitchen, shopping bag in hand. Alex and I both followed her. Before I had a chance to say anything she got all excited as though she had just remembered something.
"Oh! I got you guys a present! You're gonna love it." She exclaimed.
"What for?" I asked.
She waved my question away as Alex jumped up to sit on the counter.
Mom pulled out two large boxes from her bag, one with a black bow and one with red. She handed the red one to Alex and the black one to me. I raised an eyebrow as she smiled excitedly. Alex couldn't be contained as she squealed and pulled at the bow, making me grin. We opened the boxes up, revealing black leather and silver spikes.