Liam's story - 6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I arrived at Toby’s parents house on Sunday around 6 p.m. with my parents. Toby’s parents were one of the wealthier in our little town, Dr. And Mrs.Bennett. Dr. Bennett was one of the town’s doctors, he ran a clinic and worked in the hospital, as many small town doctors do. Mrs. Bennett was a part time dental hygienist. Their house is what you would expect. Large and sprawling over an even larger lot, with an in-ground pool and guest house. Why any one would have an outdoor in-ground pool in this climate is beyond me, but hey, not my money to waste. I even wore my swim trunks so I could enjoy it.

To be honest I was actually having a not-terrible time. It was nice to see my parents out and socializing. They spent most of their time at home being sad. I was horsing around in the pool with Cater, Toby’s younger brother, I’m sure one of them had to have been a mistake, they were the Bennett’s only two children and they were 10 years apart. For an eight year old Charter was pretty cool. We played some water volleyball and just goofed around. As it turned out playing in the pool with Carter paid off. Mrs. Bennett offered me a babysitting gig for the summer. She works 3 days a week at the dental office and needed someone to watch Carter. Did I mention they were rich? It definitely showed in what they were offering to pay me.

This was shaping up to be a good time. I had gotten out of the pool and sat down to eat when I heard it, the familiar sound of Toby’s laugh. For a little while I had almost forgotten about him. He was obviously ignoring me, I decided two can play at that game. I caught him looking over at me once but made no move to go over and speak to him. The ball was in his court, he would have to make the first move.

My plan to ignore Toby lasted about 30 minutes, when a petite brunette walked through the back gate. I had never seen her before, so she obviously wasn’t from here. She stood awkwardly at first looking around, until she saw Toby. She made eye contact with him and made her way through the various groups of people. Toby seemed really happy to see her, so happy he picked her up and kissed her. It was not a chaste kiss, there was no way I was misinterpreting this. Toby had a girlfriend. I felt my stomach fall and my eyes fill with tears. A bit of an overreaction, but I was a little more emotional these days.

I found my dad to let him know I was leaving He was standing talking to Dr. Bennett, of course. I quickly approached the two of them. Dad looked at me concernedly, he could see something was wrong. Dr. Bennett thankfully was clueless. “Liam, good to see you. Jenna was just telling me she hired you to watch Cater for the summer. Thats terrific!”

“Thank you, sir, I’m looking forward to it. Hey dad, I’m gonna head home. So if you can tell mom for me, and I’ll see you both later.” I turned to leave when dad grabbed me by the arm,

“You okay, Liam?”

“Yeah, just tired. I’ll see you later.”

I could see him looking past me, I followed his eyes and found him looking at Toby and the brunette. He looked back at me, his face had softened and had a look that if I had to describe, was pity. He knew. Hell, I’m sure he has known for a while, but in that moment I knew with 100% certainty, that he not only knew I liked men but that I was in love with Toby. I cast my gaze down, unable to meet his eyes, my own quickly filling again. This was all too much for me.

I released myself from his grasp and turned to leave. I had made it through the gate and about halfway down their long driveway, heading towards the street. I heard footsteps quickly coming up behind me. “Dad, I’m fine. I’ll see you at home.” I shouted, wrongly assuming it was my dad who had followed me out.

“I’m not your dad.” It was Carter. Shit. I quickly wiped my face and turned around.

“Sorry buddy, I was just talking to my dad and thought it was him.”

Carter tilted his head and looked at me before speaking. “I just came out cause you didn’t say good bye. And mom said you were gonna be the one babysitting me this summer. Are you okay? You don’t look very good?

Kids, always honest and tell it like they see it. “Yeah, I’m fine just have a headache, so I’m heading home. I’ll see you later Buddy.” I knew I couldn’t hold it together much longer so without waiting for a reply I turned and left. I walked quickly taking a shortcut through the park. I just wanted to get home, to be alone.

The house looked dark from the outside. I walked just inside the door. I had made it home, but now that I was here I couldn’t hold it together any more. I slumped down with my back to the door, I sat in the foyer and cried. Like I said before, an over reaction and maybe a little dramatic, but we feel what we feel. Right now I was feeling crushed. I know Toby had never outright told me he liked me, or that even liked other guys but I thought I had been getting signals from him. I had made it out to more than it was and now I was reaping the consequences.