Fragile Threads [boyxboy]

Chapter 21

Ethan scratched the back of his head, setting his phone down for the hundredth time. He had finished filling out a college application, listing himself financially dependent under his mom. She made just enough to get by, which would get him a fair amount of financial aid, wouldn’t it?

He ground his teeth. He didn’t want to give into the offer. If he was going to start talking to his dad again, he didn’t want it to be about money—and Brent was right. Ethan didn’t want to spend all of college thinking about how he was going there on his dad’s money; it might make it difficult, but it would be more worth it. He’d been doing fine so far anyways.

He could get a job. That wasn’t unheard of, and there were plenty of scholarships, he was sure. The more he thought about it, the more solid he was in his decision. He knew he would have to make sure he had everything settled out and with a plan, so that he could be sure nothing fell through.

But then he was still stuck on the idea of talking to his dad. If he really had changed, was it worth it? Or would be end up acting out like Brent’s dad, just because Ethan was gay?

“Shit,” Ethan swore under his breath. Only one person would really be able to answer that, and it would be his dad.

Ethan picked up his phone again, pulling up the contact and the unfamiliar area code. As soon as he actual hit the call button he wanted to hang up, but there was no really taking it back. His dad would see the missed call on his cell phone—maybe recognize the area code, and since it wasn’t the house number…

“Hello?”

Ethan choked up instantly, feeling a lump in his throat.

“Anyone there? Hello?” The man repeated again.

“Hey,” Ethan finally managed to croak, and he’d be surprised if he could be heard over the phone at all.

“Who is this?”

Ethan let out a shaky breath. “Ethan.” He waited to hear something else back.

“Oh,” his dad gasped in surprise. “Oh. Um, hold on, let me—excuse me, I need to step out—let me get somewhere I can… ah, here, I should be able to talk here,” he said. “How are things? You?”

Ethan shrugged to himself. “Fine.”

“Okay, that’s good. How’s school? How are your grades?”

“Fine,” he answered again. He wasn’t top of the class in anything but he wasn’t failing either, so it was nothing special.

“Okay.” His dad paused to try and think of something else. “Oh, what about any clubs or sports?”

“No clubs, but I might try and join the track team next semester,” Ethan explained.

“Oh, running. What about football, are you into any of that?” he asked.

“I haven’t been before, but I’ve been trying to understand it. My boyfriend is on the football team,” Ethan let it out of his mouth without quite realizing it, but stopped when he did. He waited a moment and decided to keep going. “When it was still in season, I would basically play chicken with my head cut off and run on the field to give them a challenge, but it was too late for me to join any fall sports.”