Road To Happiness ✔

THIRTY-ONE

A.N: For anyone rereading, this is probably an entirely new chapter for you! I added it in the recent edit

Hugo usually had dinner with his father once a month. Sometimes if it was more often, if he felt like getting out of the house and felt as if he could handle whatever his father had to say to him. Almost two months after he had moved out, Hugo returned to his old home for yet another awkward dinner.

It was the same as it ever was, dull red bricks and a well-manicured yard. As always, there was something about it that made him feel nervous and a heavy feeling bore down upon him as he walked towards the front door. Eventually, he would be able to return home without feeling as if it were a chore or something to be afraid of.

His father gave him a tight smile when he opened the door and moved to let him pass. "How was the train?" he asked as he closed the door, not looking to Hugo for the reply.

"I didn't take it. Robert gave me a lift again," he answered when he was finally given the chance. His boss was far too kind to him, but Hugo wasn't one to decline someone's generosity, especially when it saved him from taking the packed train.

"'Course he did," his father muttered, but Hugo had no idea what it was supposed to mean. "How's school, then?"

Hugo made a soft noise in the back of his throat, barely audible. "Stressful," he signed and shrugged. "I need a break."

"The semester ends soon doesn't it?" his father asked as he led him into the dining room. Something cooked in the kitchen nearby, the familiar smell of roast lamb reaching his nostrils and making his stomach grumble loudly.

He shook his head as he sat down at the table. "Not for a little while, but I was planning on doing something with Stefan once it is," he replied.

"You spend a lot of time with him, don't you?" his father said, pulling out plates for dinner.

That was why he was so nervous about the dinner. After almost a month of being together, Hugo was finally going to tell his father that he was dating Stefan.

He frowned down at the table for a while as his father served them dinner, drumming his fingers against the dark wood. A plate heaped with food clattered down before him and he jumped staring up at his father with wide eyes. Just looking at the tired face of the man who had raised, pressured him into doing so many things and treated his depression like it was nothing, Hugo didn't want to say a word.

Dinner was as silent as it ever was. Both of them knew that it was done out of obligation, but that didn't help them force the conversation along. After a while, his father sighed and leaned back in his chair. "How's that editing thing going?"

That, at least, Hugo could answer. "Good. I have two new clients now. Tomas recommended me to them," he answered.

"Tomas?"

"Stefan's brother. He was my first client."

His father nodded in understanding but didn't say a word. At least he had asked, that was better than nothing. Editing was Hugo's dream, after all, the one thing he had gone to university for, it made sense that his dad actually tried to take an interest in it, considering everything he'd said and done.

Sitting there at the dining room table, Hugo felt sick to his stomach. He could just sit, have dinner, talk awkwardly with his father and leave without saying a word about Stefan, but it didn't feel fair to be so close with Stefan's family while his own knew nothing of his boyfriend.

If things hadn't gone the way they had, if his mother hadn't died, he would have told them. But if his mother hadn't died, would he have even met Stefan? It was too much to think about and dwelling on it was pointless. He had decided to have dinner with his father for one thing and one thing only, he had to tell him.