Standing In Shadows - 30. Chapter 30

SIS 30

“Your carport door was open,” Cj said, still looking between the two of us. “Did you hear me, what the fuck is going on?”

“Nothing,” Clinton said as we stood in his bedroom. I was standing just in front of him. Cj hadn’t entered the bedroom, but the surprised look he first gave us was quickly turning into a disgusted scowl.

“I knew it,” Cj hissed, stepping into the room. “So you’re both faggots?”

“Shut up Cj,” I said when I saw Clinton shy away.

“I always knew you were a cock sucker, Corey,” Cj said smirking as he turned to Clinton. “We’re through, I don’t hang out with fags.”

“Yeah?” Clinton said, causing me to jump slightly. He didn’t look like he was going to say anything, he had seemed frozen in fear like before. “Well you’ve been friends with one for over half your life.”

“What will your Dad think, his only son,” Cj said, shaking his head. “It’s bad enough you hang out with trash, but to be fucking it as well…”

“Shut the fuck up,” Clinton interrupted and before I could grab hold of his shoulder he pushed past me and I watched as Cj dropped the beer and box of pizza in an attempt to shield his face. Clinton moved too fast though and I heard his fist connect with Cj’s face and I saw Cj fall backwards into the hallway with a groan.

“You’ll pay for this,” Cj groaned, holding his hand over his nose, blood was spilling out between his fingers and dripping onto Cj’s shirt.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Clinton said and I watched Cj tuck his nose into the collar of his shirt, he smeared the blood from his hand onto the wall as he stood using the wall to support himself. His eyes were watering and the bruises from Jenny’s punch the day before were still a deep shade of purple.

After I heard the door slam I turned to see Clinton staring at the smear of blood on the wall. Then I looked down at the box of pizza and the cans of beer. None of the cans had busted open and the pizza hadn’t spilled out of the box either. Clinton walked out of the room and I followed him to the bathroom just down the hall. When I got there he slung open the bottom of the sink and started rummaging through the cleaning supplies.

“Are you okay?” I asked my voice barely a whisper.
“My fucking hand hurts,” Clinton said and I noticed his knuckles were red and one was split open and bleeding.

“Let me see,” I said and he glanced up at me. I could see that he was close to crying, but he was fighting it.

“I need to get that blood off the wall before it stains,” he countered, turning back to the cabinet. He finally grabbed a bottle filled with a blue green liquid and a scrubbing brush. “How are you so calm right now?”

“I don’t know,” I said watching him as he walked over to a taller cabinet where the towels were kept and grabbed a small plastic bucket. He filled the bucket up with warm water then he mixed the solution into it.

“What do you think he’ll do?” Clinton asked, his voice sounded hoarse and his face was flushed.

“It’s not going to be good, whatever he does,” I answered frowning. He nodded his head and dunked the scrubbing brush into the bucket and walked out of the bathroom.

“I guess I’ll see who my real friends are now,” he said as he knelt and started scrubbing the blood off the wall.

“You should really bandage up your hand before you start dripping on the carpet,” I said leaning against the wall. I didn’t like that he was rushing around, I wanted him to calm down and talk, but I didn’t want to push him too much either.

“There are bandages in the medicine cabinet over the sink,” he said and I stepped back into the bathroom and opened the mirrored cabinet over the sink and found the box of bandaids. Finding one large enough I walked back into the hall and sat down beside him. He used his shirt to wipe away the blood. I expected him to shy away from me, but instead he held up his hand and I smiled and pressed the bandage over the cut. “Thank you.”

“Clinton,” I said, reaching up I placed my hand on his shoulder. The blood had come away easily enough, being fresh, but he was still staring at the spot.

“You should probably go,” Clinton said glancing at me, “get to your parents before they find out.”

“I was planning on telling them anyway,” I said and he sighed, dropping the brush into the bucket. The water had turned into the greenish purple of a bruise. He shrugged off my hand and picked up the bucket and stepped around me to go back to the bathroom.

“Just go, please,” Clinton said, stepping out of the bathroom as I stood. The hallway was dimly lit, but I could see that the tears had finally won. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Don’t push me away now,” I countered, walking up to him he let me take his hand and I led him back to his bedroom. I pulled his bloody shirt up over his head and tossed it to the floor. Then I reached and grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him towards me. When our lips touched I felt him lean into me as his arms wrapped around my waist. I sighed when he started kissing me back. I let go of his neck and let my left arm slide over his side. I felt him shudder and I opened my eyes when he broke the kiss offering me a small smile.

“Ticklish,” he said, as he reached for the bottom of my shirt we both jumped when the doorbell echoed through the quiet house.

“Fuck,” I groaned glancing up at Clinton. “It’s probably not Cj he would have let himself in.”

“I know,” he said, but then we heard Jenny’s voice as she started pounding on the door. I let out a sigh and stepped around him. He followed me out into the hallway and down the stairs. The bell rang again just as we were stepping up to the door, my heart began to race. Whatever had brought her over here, couldn’t have been good.

When I opened the door she shot through it causing me to stumble over Clinton as I tried to step out of her way. She glanced around the dark kitchen before she turned to study the both of us. She focused on Clinton, with his shirt off he crossed his arms over his chest as she turned to look at me.

“I just got a call from Amber,” Jenny said frowning, “he sent out a mass text to like everyone.”

“I figured that,” I said glancing over at Clinton.

“Why are you so calm?” Jenny asked, “And how the hell did he find out?”

“He caught us, Jenny,” I answered, her eyes widened and she took a step back.

“I’ll kill him,” she said as her phone dinged. She glanced back down as the screen lit up illuminating another text message. “Great my Mom knows.”

“Your Mom?” Clinton asked as he turned to look at me.

“Don’t worry she’s totally fine with it, we have a gay uncle,” Jenny countered waving her hand as she replied to the text.

“But that means he’s probably told my parents,” Clinton said and this time Jenny looked concerned.

“I’m sorry Clinton,” she offered and surprised us both when she wrapped him into an awkward hug. He still had his arms crossed and her touch caused him to go rigid, only relaxing a little when she broke the hug and turned to me. “You need to get home Corey.”

“I’m staying,” I said and Jenny sighed.

“You stubborn ass,” Jenny hissed, “you need to go home and face your parents.”

“It’s okay, Corey,” Clinton said, his shoulders slumping. “I’ll be fine.”

“We’ll be at my house,” Jenny said, stepping closer to Clinton. Then we all jumped as we heard tires squealing on the highway before it pulled into Clinton’s gravel driveway. I went to close and lock the door until I heard Keith and Andy’s voices through the screen door. When the security light over the carport lit up they both stepped into the light holding up their arms to block the brightness until their eyes adjusted.

“What are y’all doing here?” I asked opening the door they stepped in.

“Because your Dad called looking for your sorry ass,” Andy said, his eyes wide as he looked at me. “We’re dead, dude, we lied to your Dad and now he’s gonna kill us.”

“He’s not going to kill you,” I countered smiling despite the chill that went through my body. “It’s football season coming up.”

“You didn’t hear him, dude,” Andy argued, “we’re as good as ended.”

“Shut up Andy,” Keith said reaching up, he slapped Andy on the back of the head. “I told you if you were going to freak out to stay in the fucking truck.”

“We got the text from that fucker,” Andy said, “and not five minutes later your Dad called.”

“What did you tell him?” I asked as a wave of nausea struck me. It was easier when I thought I had a little time. Talking to Clinton had always been the first step and then we would have both gone from there. Now everything had crashed down around us too quickly for either of us to catch up.

“I told him you were at Jenny’s!” Andy said, throwing his hands into the air. “He said he was coming to get you, but we told him that we would drop you off.”

“Damnit,” I sighed, “we better get going then.”

“I’m not going, let Keith take you,” Andy said, shaking his head.

“Dude,” Keith said smirking, “well come on Corey.”

“Where will you be?” I asked, turning to Clinton.

“With me,” Jenny said, shooting a glance at Clinton when he opened his mouth to argue.

“With Jenny,” he said his shoulders dropped as he looked down at her. They had both been invited to all of the same parties, but they had never truly been friends. Most of that was because of Cj, but I could see that Jenny was willing to forget about that, she had been so far anyway.

“We’ll watch movies,” Jenny said, offering me a small smile.

“Okay,” I said and I turned to Keith and he nodded his head opening the screen door. He held the door open for me and when it closed I looked through the thin glass and saw all three of them frowning as they watched us leaving.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Keith said as he draped his arm around my shoulder. “That fucker.”

“Do you think it will be bad?” I asked as we walked over to the truck.

“You mean when we’re back at school?” Keith asked, “Or your old man?”

“Both,” I answered as we parted so I could walk around the truck. When we were both inside he turned to me and sighed.

“You know we won’t let it get bad at school,” Keith said, “and you can probably handle most of the shit people say anyway.”

“Yeah,” I said leaning my head to rest on the back of the bench seat.

“And your Dad won’t kill you, not in front of your Mom anyway,” Keith added and I opened my eyes and glanced at him. He was smiling as he started the truck and backed out of the driveway.

Knowing how Dad is, Keith didn’t drive slow, even though each mile marker heading towards town caused my heart to leap. Looking over at him, I could tell he was worried. I knew it should have made me feel it too, but knowing I had friends that wouldn’t walk away gave me some hope. That all this would be bad, but I would survive it. Out of everyone I was most scared of Mom. Breaking her heart would be the one thing I knew I wouldn’t be able to face. I was already accepting how Dad would react, I had always been a fuck up with him, but Mom only had looked at me with love. Not seeing that anymore would hurt worse than anything else.

When Keith pulled into the parking lot, I glanced up at the apartment and sighed. I was ready for this to happen, I knew it had to. The thought didn’t help my anxiety though. Wiping my palms on my shorts I reached over and grabbed the door handle. As I was about to slide out of the truck Keith grabbed my shoulder. The truck lurched forward slightly after he put the truck into park.

“If it gets too bad, just get out of there,” Keith said nodding towards the apartment. “Do you want me to wait?”

“It won’t be so bad,” I said smiling, “Mom is in there.”

“Dude I love your Mom, but she might not be prepared for all this,” Keith said frowning, “just get out of there and call me.”

“I don’t have a phone,” I said shrugging then I watched Keith pull something from his pocket. When he handed it to me, I looked down and saw that it was his cell.

“Call Andy,” he said, his eyes shining in the light of the street lamps that illuminated the small parking lot.

“I will,” I said and I opened the door and slid out of the truck. Looking up at the stairs, knowing they would likely be able to hear every groan of the old rusted metal I knew I couldn’t sneak up on them. It was likely they already heard Keith’s truck anyway, so I tried to steady my breathing as I walked up the stairs, trying to seem normal.

When I opened the door I heard the couch creek and Mom gasp. As I stepped around it I saw them both standing in the middle of the cramped living room. The only light on was the one over the stove that didn’t offer a lot of light. Not waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the living room I reached over and flipped on the lights.

Mom had her arm on Dad’s shoulder, she was glancing between the two of us. She expected the explosion and the look on Dad’s face made me want to turn around and take Keith’s advice and run. Swallowing against the tightness of my throat I closed the front door, still holding Keith’s cell in my hand.

“Corey…” Mom started, but Dad shrugged off her hand. Tears were already streaming down her face and her voice cracked.

“What sort of shit are you trying to pull?” Dad asked his arms falling to his sides, his hands balled into fists. I could tell he was trying to suppress some of his anger. Mom had tried to reason with him before I got home. The fear on her face had me worried that it didn’t work.

“I’m not,” I started, but he held up his hand.

“Where the fuck were you?” Dad asked and I saw Mom move to step around Dad, but the cramped living room didn’t give her enough room between the couch and the television.

“With Clinton,” I answered and Dad took a half step towards me before he stopped and glared at me. His face was red and it made the icy blue color of his eyes seem colder.

“Honey,” Mom said shouldering past Dad to walk over to me. “Why are they saying that you and Clinton, that you and him…”

“Because we are,” I offered, trying not to look away from her.

“Of course you are,” Dad growled, shaking his head. “I knew it all along.”

“What?” I asked as Mom turned to look at him as well.

“How could I not see it?” Dad said glaring at me. “You were always too timid, too quiet. I thought if I could get you into football it would fix your ass.”

“You can’t fix everything with football, Dad,” I countered and I felt Mom’s hand tighten on my elbow. I knew now wasn’t the time to push him any, I could see the explosion still building. I knew if I said the wrong thing there wouldn’t be anything that would stop him, I didn’t even think Mom could, not about this.

“I let your Mom coddle you too long,” Dad went on like I didn’t say anything. “I thought I could make a man out of you, but you kept disappointing me. Then when you weaseled out on Jenny I knew.”

“That is enough Lee,” Mom said, stepping to stand in front of me.

“You listen to me,” Dad growled, completely ignoring Mom. “You break whatever you have going on with that lousey fucker...”

“No,” I interrupted, “I won’t.”

“Then get the fuck out of here,” Dad countered pointing towards the door. “I won’t have it in my house.”

“We are not throwing him out on the street,” Mom said, her voice barely a whisper. I couldn’t see her face, but I saw that her arms were trembling. She was about to stand up to him again, to try and save me like she always did.

“I’m not going anywhere, so,” I said and I saw Mom tense in front of me.

“Hush Corey,” Mom said, not glancing at me. “Lee I don’t want to hear anymore of this.”

“Do you know what people will think?” Dad asked turning his glare on her, “Do you know what they are already saying?”

“I don’t care,” Mom hissed, turning to face me. She was crying, her eyes were getting puffy and red. I hated knowing that I caused this. “Corey is our son, I don’t care what they think.”

“I’m sorry,” I offered and she shook her head and reached up to caress my face. I felt my eyes sting as I tried to fight back tears. I didn’t want to cry in front of Dad, not over this. I had wanted to seem strong and unyielding, but Mom has always brought the softness out of me. When she reached up again I felt her brushing away my tears.

“Don’t be sorry,” Mom said her eyes focused through the tears. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Corey,” Dad hissed, ignoring Mom when she turned back around to face him. “Why put us through this?”

“I didn’t plan to have you find out like this,” I said, my voice threatening to crack.

“I wish you would just stop fucking around,” Dad argued glaring at me. “I won’t have a faggot for a son.”

“Lee!” Mom hissed and before I could react I heard Mom’s slap echo through the living room. When I looked up I saw Dad glaring down at her, his face already reddening. “You will accept him as he is.”

“No, I won’t,” Dad said, crossing his arms. I glanced down at the phone not wanting to hear anything more. Running would just make it worse though. If I ran from him now, I would always have to hide from him and I didn’t want to hide anymore.

“Have you ever loved me Dad?” I asked looking up and Mom turned to look at me. The question seemed to surprise him, but his glare didn’t soften any.

“That has nothing to do with this,” Dad countered, “I’ll only say this once more…”

“Answer me Dad,” I said, interrupting him. He blinked a few times and studied me. “Have you ever loved me at all?”

“When you were born,” Dad said, his voice sending chills through me. He sounded distant and cold, his shoulders slumped. For once I wanted the anger to come back, at least I knew what that looked like, what that meant. “I held you before your Mom ever got a look at you and I just knew you were everything I had been missing in my life.”

“Honey, don’t...” Mom started, but Dad waved his hand, she seemed worried about what he would say as well. I refused to look away, thinking that if I did, he wouldn’t continue what he was saying and I needed to know.

“And I have loved you from then on,” Dad said and I let out the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “But I can’t accept this part of you. I don’t think I ever will.”

“That’s fair,” I said and Mom turned to me still worried, but some of the tenseness had left her shoulders. I knew she would work with him on it, it was what she has had to do a lot of these past few weeks. “I’m sorry about people knowing.”

“Who told them?” Dad said, crossing his arms.

“Cj,” I said and he shot me a glare.

“You going to kick his ass?” Dad asked and Mom shot him a look.

“I don’t think his nose could handle it after Jenny and Clinton got hold of him,” I said shrugging, “but yeah, if he tries anything else.”

“Corey,” Mom hissed, “don’t go causing any trouble.”

“Let him Cora,” Dad said looking at me. “The fucks in this town will try to start it for him now.”

“And we will rise above it,” Mom said, crossing her arms. “I won’t have the two of you tearing up this town just because people look at you funny.”

“Dad,” I said before they could get into an argument. Glancing down at the phone still in my hand. When I looked up at him he seemed to be worried about what I was about to say. “Keith let me borrow his phone just in case…”

“He a fag too?” Dad asked and I smirked when I saw him shy away from Mom’s glare.

“No,” I answered, “can I call Andy so he can tell Keith to come get it?”

“Why don’t you just have him pick you up,” Mom said, turning to look at me. “So I can talk to your father about his poor choice of words.”

“And go to Andy’s this time,” Dad added, crossing his arms. “Do I need to start checking to make sure your ass is where you say it’s going to be?”

“I don’t know how Andy’s parents will react seeing me now,” I countered, feeling a small punch to the gut. I had stayed over at his house a lot over the years. Their families have been part of my life for so long and even though I had Andy and Keith, there was no way of knowing if their parents would be just as supportive. Dad’s eyes squinted and I wondered if he came to the same thought I had. All of our dads had played football together and grown up together. Dad could lose friends over something like this, friends he’s had his whole life. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him if it happened because of me.

“You better stay here then,” Mom said, sounding concerned, and a little sad. “Just until you know, I’m sorry.”

“Well actually,” I said reaching up and scratching the back of my head, “they are hanging out at Jenny’s and are probably waiting for me.”

“Are her parent’s home?” Mom asked, “I don’t think it’s a good idea hanging out with a girl this late.”

“Cora,” Dad said sighing, “we don’t have to worry about him knocking up some girl.”

“Oh,” Mom said blinking, “I guess not.”

“Will Clinton be there?” Dad asked, crossing his arms. “I’m still serious about that, I don’t want you…”

“Lee,” Mom interrupted, then her mouth fell open. “Oh my, Corey those nights I took you, and those nights you...”

“Mom,” I said my face flushing, “please.”

“Lord Cora,” Dad groaned looking towards the ceiling. “Maybe his ass should just stay here, I might even bolt up the door.”

“Just go Corey,” Mom said, tiptoeing to kiss me on the cheek. “But try to come home early, so we can talk.”

“Thank you,” I said, reaching over, I took hold of the doorknob, but hesitated looking back at him. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, but didn’t know how he would respond.

“Well go on,” Dad said nodding his head towards the door. “Don’t give me time to change my damn mind.”

“Sorry,” I said, opening the door and stepping out onto the steps closing the door quickly behind me smiling. At least his way of telling me what to do hasn’t changed any. For what it was worth, that comforted me more than anything else he could have said or done. He wasn’t the hugging type and I wasn’t going to push my luck. Mom was more than willing to show her affection through kisses and hugs.

When I had to turn around to go back into the apartment because I forgot my car keys I received another impatient glare from the couch. Mom and him seemed to be settling in for a long discussion, one Dad would quietly sit through and one Mom would hope he listened to.

On the way back to Jenny’s I couldn’t help but smile through the tightness of my throat. I had allowed the stress of the entire thing wash over me once I started down the road. By the time I was pulling into her drive, I had stopped crying and my heart had stopped racing in my chest. Getting out of there without Dad punching me or kicking me out, which was what I expected, was probably only because Mom had been in the room though. I knew that I would have to take things slow and I wasn’t really going to surprise him with too much anyway. I still wasn’t sure if Clinton and I would even be together after all this. He said he was willing to try and I would have to see it through before I trusted him with his word.

When I killed the engine Jenny’s front door flew open and light spilled out of the house. She flipped on the front porch light as Andy and Keith jogged out to the car. I barely had time to get out of the car before they were standing in front of me.

“You’re alive,” Keith said, knocking me on the shoulder.

“Here’s your phone,” I said, offering it to him. He took it and slid it into his front pocket.

“When you didn’t call we thought it could have gotten bad,” Andy said, “so what the fuck happened?”

“I’m not really sure,” I answered looking past them to see Jenny and Clinton standing on the porch. Stepping around them towards the house they fell in step on either side of me. “Sorry I worried y’all.”

When I stepped onto the stairs. Jenny smiled and Clinton was studying me. He had been standing just outside the front door with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Well I was the calmest one,” Jenny said glancing around at the other three. “I thought any one of them would pee their pants any moment.”

“Well we’ve all been scared of his old man once or twice,” Keith said shaking his head, “he’s kicked our asses enough times on the football field.”

“Running laps isn’t torture it’s exercise,” Jenny said rolling her eyes. “Let’s go in, we have a Monopoly game started.”

“Can you believe her?” Andy asked, shaking his head. “Making us play Monopoly when you could be rolled up in a tarp somewhere being dumped in the river.”

“Shut up Andy,” Clinton groaned and I looked over at him. He seemed pale and sick as he turned and entered the house.

“He’s been a mess since you left,” Jenny whispered offering me a tight smile. “Nothing I said seemed to help, and these two just kept making it worse.”

“I’ll talk to him,” I said and I followed her inside the house with Andy and Keith knocking into each other trying to bully past the other. When I stepped inside I didn’t see Clinton, but I heard the glass doors just off the kitchen slide open and shut. Glancing down at the game of Monopoly I saw one person with a stack of cash and deeds and it looked like the others were nearly bankrupt.

“Took advantage of us,” Andy said, rolling his eyes. “Every time she bent forward for the dice I nearly had to change my underwear.”

“Gross,” Jenny hissed, slapping Andy on the arm. “I’ll be glad when I’m no longer surrounded by guys.”

Ignoring the playful argument that erupted I stepped around the corner into the kitchen. From the back light I could see Clinton hovering just outside of the glass doors looking out towards the pool. Trying not to think about the way he had been the last few days, I hoped to see the determination that I had in his room. Even after he punched Cj and told him to leave, I saw it in the set of his shoulders as he cleaned away the blood on the wall.

He jumped when I slid open the door and turned around. I offered him a small smile as I closed the door behind me. After it was shut he started walking around the large above ground pool to the back of Jenny’s property that overlooked a flat open field. Probably owned by some farmer that was waiting for the grass to grow high enough to cut for hay. In the summer without a lot of rain the grass had seemed wilted, some of it already turning brown. It would take a few good summer storms to bring everything back to life again, but that was the normal cycle here. Looking around now it was difficult to believe a wedding took place here. The tent and the flower arrangements had hidden the pool, but now that the yard was back to normal, it seemed too small to fit a grand outdoor wedding.

“It’s a nice night,” Clinton said, glancing up at the sky. The moon was about full and just now rising high enough to cast everything in shadows. “Usually Cj and I would be out on the lake fishing on nights like this.”

“I’m sorry about Cj,” I said, reaching over and putting my left arm around his shoulders. He leaned into me slightly and let his arms fall to his sides.

“Don’t be,” Clinton countered, “I expected him to act like that, he’s never acted any different. But he was still my friend. The only friend I had.”

“You have other friends,” I said smiling, “at the break in, that could be us, Amber, Jenny, everyone.”

“We don’t even know how they feel about us,” Clinton said, turning to look at me causing my arm to fall from his shoulders. “How are you so fucking calm about all this?”

“I’m trying to be calm for you,” I said and his eyes seemed to darken.

“You must think I’m a pathetic ass,” he said, bending down, he picked up a dirty, chewed up tennis ball and threw it out into the field.

“Jenny isn’t going to like that,” I said and he glared at me for a few moments then smirked.

“You have Jenny and the two dumbasses,” Clinton said, “they will get you through all this, I don’t have anyone.”

“You have me,” I countered frowning. “And you have them too once they get used to the idea of me and you together, Jenny’s already there.”

“What happened with your parents?” Clinton asked. The stubborn set of his shoulders reminded me of the Clinton I grew up knowing. The one that always did what Cj wanted, but I knew it was mostly a barrier now. A way to keep people at a distance.

“Mom accepted it, although she’s not too happy about all the sleepovers,” I said, my face flushing. “And Dad was his usual self, yelled and cussed a lot, but he’s not going to do anything bad. Mom won’t let him.”

“And what if my Dad and Mom aren’t like that?” He asked and when he started looking around for another tennis ball I shuffled the one beside my foot behind me.

“We’ll tackle your Mom and Dad together,” I said and he looked over at me.

“And if they kick me out?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“Then you sleep on my couch,” I said shrugging, “they’ll probably put a lock on my door or something, but…”

“Corey,” he said shaking his head.

“I don’t know what we’ll do,” I said sighing, “but I’m not going to just leave you to fend for yourself.”

“They’re on their way back,” Clinton said, “Mom called not long after you left.”

“Did she say anything?” I asked and I saw him smile a little.

“That the house better not be a mess,” he said shrugging, “that we’ll talk when they get home, she told me she loved me, so that has to be a good sign.”

“Then we better clean your damn house tomorrow,” I said glancing towards Clinton’s house. All the lights were off that I could see. I hoped the trip back home gave his parents time to calm down. It was difficult for me to guess how they would respond, I didn’t really know much about them, but they had both seemed nice and they hadn’t kicked him out over the phone. “We’ll buy Andy and Keith some pizzas, they’ll have the house spotless in ten minutes.”

“Alright,” he said laughing despite the tension he still had.

“Did they say anything else?” I asked after his laughter died and his face fell.

“Just that I had a lot of explaining to do, they sounded confused,” Clinton answered and I wanted to promise him that everything would be fine with his parents. I knew I couldn’t know that and he wouldn’t have liked the empty promise anyway.

“I mean it, I’ll go with you to talk to your parents,” I said glancing over my shoulder past the pool to the sliding glass doors. “We better get back in there though, before they start to worry.”

“Yeah,” he said sighing. As I turned away from him to start walking around the pool he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back around. When I was facing him he smiled and the Clinton I saw before, the one I took all these risks for was back. As he kissed me I closed my eyes feeling him relax against me when I rested my left hand on his waist. When he broke the kiss and stepped back I smiled and glanced towards the house.

“Ready?” I said and he nodded and followed me around the pool to the back door. When I slid the door open I smelled fresh popcorn had been popped and when we walked back to the living room, the Monopoly game had been put away and the coffee table was moved out of the center of the living room. There was an air mattress there now and Andy and Keith were sprawled out on it and a movie paused on the television.

“It’s not a chick flick we out voted her,” Andy said, reaching for the bowl of popcorn to have his hand smacked.

“You already ate your bowl,” Jenny said as Andy shook his hand.

“Keith did,” Andy whined, but didn’t reach for it again.

“Everything ok?” Keith asked as Jenny scooted over on the couch. I sat down in the middle beside her and Clinton hesitated a few moments then sat down beside me.

“Yeah, I think it will be,” I said and he smiled and elbowed out some more space on the air mattress.

“Ready?” Jenny asked, holding up the remote.

“Yeah,” I said and she pressed play then plopped the bowl of popcorn into my lap causing me to grunt.

“Sorry,” she said laughing slightly as she reached to grab her a handful as the movie started. “I hate this movie. It’s about tall blue alien sex.”

“Want some popcorn?” I asked turning to Clinton and his face seemed to flush.

“Maybe later,” he said smiling, then I noticed him looking around the room as everyone settled in to watch the movie.

“Do you remember…” I started leaning in to him and when he looked over at me I nodded towards the television.

“You know I do,” he countered his face getting redder than it already was.

“That was a good night,” I said, holding out my hand for him to take it. “Although I was too scared to tell you that night.”

“You kissing me back told me what you couldn’t anyway,” he countered offering me a small smile as he took my hand. When I felt Jenny grab another handful of popcorn, I jumped and turned to see her looking down at our hands. I felt Clinton tense slightly, but she only smiled and turned back towards the movie. When I turned back to look at him, he settled into the couch beside me and smiled and I knew he was starting to believe me. And although I couldn’t protect him from everything that could happen tomorrow on, he knew I would at least be there beside him as we met it together.