Legends

CHAPTER TEN: Dining room, Centre Street

-----------------------2014----------------------------

Family dinner.

That sounded easy.

But everyone knew it wasn't. Mia Hunter had wanted to be kind. Carl Hunter had had no choice. Emily and Kay had searched for every reason not to attend.

Their father didn't like that two of his children were gay. He did not want to meet two more people who were gay – and in love with his children. But his wife had given him no choice. And if Mia demanded something, it was better effectuated.

Elena could not imagine what Emily and Kay had to go through. Even she found the evening stressful, while she knew her parents liked Asher. It wasn't the first time they would meet him, so she didn't have a reason to be afraid.

Still she was.

But not for herself. She was afraid for Emily and Kay, and their partners who couldn't even begin to imagine how awkward everything would be. Mia would converse with Julie and Adam. Carl would only speak to Elena and Asher. Everyone else would be silent and hope for the evening to pass quickly.

Despite their fear for the entire evening, the bomb had exploded before dinner.

Carl hadn't been able to hold back his insulting comments from the moment Julie arrived. He had taken her and Emily to a different room and talked to them about how unnatural it was to fall for someone of the same sex. He repeated many times how it wasn't God's will that two women fell for each other.

Emily and Julie could never be happy with each other, he had said. They were never meant to be and would never become a good family. They couldn't even have children!

They could adopt, Emily had said. Save a child and prove their worth to the world. Being gay didn't mean their ability to care had disappeared.

And still Carl found it a shame! It was an insult, not only to him, but to the entire family! And Julie? She should know better before she brought ruin on everyone.

Elena knew his exact words, because like everyone else, she was standing near the door and listening to their yelling. Kay had texted Adam to tell him he shouldn't come. Asher stood by awkwardly.

But the yelling continued, and minutes passed. Their voices became louder and their words ruder. Julie remained quiet, which was very smart. Emily fought for Julie, and for Kay and Adam – or whatever boyfriend he would spend the rest of his life with.

Carl mentioned Elena and Asher. "That is natural. That is how everyone should be," he had said.

But those were the words that hurt Elena the most. Those were the words that made the bomb inside her explode.

She slammed the door open and walked toward her father. Her face was probably red in anger when she stopped in front of her dad.

"Asher and I are not perfect," she started, her eyes intently on her father's. "Neither are you and Mom. And neither are Emily and Julie, or Kay and Adam. No one is perfect. And if they are happy together, you should be happy for them. You're Emily's father! You should support her decisions when the rest of the world condemns them! It's not like she chose to be gay and receive so much criticism!"

Her father glared at her. But he didn't say a word and turned back to Emily and Julie. When he opened his mouth, Elena turned around and ran from the room. Taking Asher's hand, she rushed up the stairs.

But before she had taken more than two steps, her father called: "don't run upstairs, young lady. We still need to have dinner."

With big angry steps, she returned to him. Her voice was filled with rage and danger as she said: "as long as you don't accept my brother and sister for who they are, I don't accept your stupid rules and orders. We will just call take-out, and those gay people are invited."

Her father yelled some more, but Elena ignored him and walked up the stairs. Many footsteps followed, and she immediately pitied her mother for being alone with her father now. Then she shook her head. Mia could handle herself perfectly well around her husband.

Without any words, everyone followed Elena into her room. They settled on the bed and joined with chairs. Her desk was pulled to the middle of the room and served as a dinner table for their ordered pizzas. To their surprise, their mother had come to deliver the food to the room. It was a silent appreciation for what they had done.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Around eleven o'clock, Emily and Julie went to Emily's room, and Kay decided to leave Elena and Asher alone. A lovely calmness filled the room, which made Asher move closer to Elena.

They were sitting on her bed, their arms wrapped around each other. Even without words being spoken, Elena could feel the tension building up. Asher played with her fingers while she continued to grin at him.

From whatever angle she looked at him, he was gorgeous. When their eyes met, his smile widened and her heartbeat quickened. Neither of them could look away.

He easily bowed his head so that his lips landed on hers. Without much thought, her arm wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer.

With their lips still on each other, they rearranged their sitting position until Elena was straddling his hips. His hands moved over her hips to her back, while her fingers moved through the strands of his hair.

His hands slipped underneath her top and easily pulled it off, forcing their lips to part. From the moment the piece of clothing was disposed of, their lips reconnected and their hands found each other's bodies again.

His shirt was quick to follow her top, and eventually their shorts added to the pile on the floor. They had managed to lay down on the bed, their legs entangled and their hands everywhere.

This was always the moment they got interrupted – if they even reached this far. But Elena's mind was too preoccupied to think of anything other than Asher. She felt him everywhere, and wanted even more.

His tongue licked her lips. His hands moved through her hair. His legs wrapped around hers. She was on top of him, but found that gravity could not bring them close enough. So her hands moved underneath him and tried to pull him closer.

A sudden knock on the door startled both of them. But then Elena groaned and dropped her head on Asher's shoulder. If they were quiet, maybe the person on the other side of the door would leave.

But then the pushing sound of Emily's voice called Elena's name. another groan escaped Elena, which made Asher chuckle. Of course Emily knew Elena was in her room. Where else would she be?

"Elena," Emily's voice called again, "can I borrow a skirt of yours? I promised to Julie I would make up for tonight, so I'm taking her out tomorrow."

"You can look for it tomorrow," Elena responded.

"But I need more than twenty-four hours to find my clothing."

Elena rolled her eyes and complained for only Asher to hear: "women." Then she asked Emily: "do you really need it now? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"No," she replied.

Asher's chuckles became louder, and he remarked: "you don't have an annoying younger brother. You have an annoying older sister."

Elena laughed before she sighed loudly and pushed away from Asher. It was a family's duty to help a member in need.