Storms - 28. Michael

It felt a bit odd, getting a lift from my teacher. Griffiths’s house was a bit further from school than mine, but by car, it only took ten minutes. To fill the silence, I asked him questions about his husband.

‘His name’s Lewis,’ said Griffiths. ‘He’s a freelance graphic designer. Good at it, too. Honestly, that’s the only reason our house is as nice as it is. I could never afford it on a teacher’s salary, after all.’

‘How long have you been together?’

‘About seven years. And we got married as soon as it was legal.’

‘Is he nice?’ Which is the stupidest question you can possibly ask about someone’s partner, because of course they’d think their partner is nice. I blushed, but Griffiths kept his eyes on the road and didn’t notice. ‘I mean, what’s he like?’

‘Sweetest man you’ll ever meet.’ There was a fond look in his eye. ‘Kind and caring. I couldn’t ask for a better husband. Gorgeous, too. But you’ll meet him for yourself in a minute, anyway.’ He pulled up in a driveway and parked the car.

‘Lewis?’ called Griffiths as we stepped inside. ‘Daniel?’

‘Hey.’ Daniel stood in the doorway to the front room, small smile on his lips, and I wanted to grab him and kiss him and never let go. Just like I always wanted. A dog came padding out through the doorway and came straight up to me to sniff my hand.

‘That’s Pepper,’ said Griffiths with a grin. I scratched her on the head, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth, making her look decidedly silly, while she wagged her tail happily.

There were footsteps on the stair and Lewis appeared. He was attractive, even if he was kind of old; tall and slim and very dark. ‘You must be Michael. I’m Stephen’s husband, Lewis.’ He shook my hand and then kissed Griffiths. They looked so happy and in love, like they were still newlyweds or something. I wondered if Daniel and I would be like that after seven years, and smiled at the thought.

‘Kitchen?’ said Griffiths to Lewis. ‘Give the kids some privacy.’

‘Lovely to meet you, Michael,’ said Lewis, and they left us alone, Pepper following them.

The minute they left, I took the remaining steps towards Daniel and hugged him tightly. ‘You okay?’ I mumbled into his hair.

‘Yeah. I’m fine, really.’ We walked into the front room and sat on the sofa together. It looked modern, a warm shade of grey. The room was bright, with cream coloured walls covered in modern art prints. Everything in the room looked modern, save for an end table next to the sofa, which was dark wood and looked antique, and a lamp in a corner that also looked like it might have been from the beginning of the previous century. They complemented the rest of the decor, though, standing out in a good way. The TV was on, but the sound was turned low.

I realised that Daniel was in pyjamas, and smiled. ‘Real self-care day, huh?’

Daniel gave me a crooked smile. ‘Yesterday was so exhausting. And I didn’t sleep all that well. I mean, I did in the end, but I had a nightmare and . . . and was sick. So . . .’

I put my arms around him and kissed his cheek. ‘I’m sorry, Danny. Wish I could have been here to hold you.’

Daniel nodded. ‘Me too. But, Stephen and Lewis woke up and took care of me.’ He looked up at me. ‘They’re really nice, Michael. I . . . I wish I could just stay here. With them. They could . . .’ He blushed. ‘They could be my dads. They’d understand, you know, everything.’

I smiled down at him, and kissed his lips slowly, savouring the taste of him. ‘I really want that for you,’ I said when I pulled away again. ‘Like, really, really want that.’

There came a knock on the door jamb, and we both looked up.

‘Would you like to stay for tea, Michael?’ asked Lewis. ‘I’m making bolognese.’

‘I’d love to,’ I said, smiling. ‘Thanks.’

‘All right, then. I’ll make enough for four.’

‘Lewis?’ said Daniel. ‘Can . . . Can Michael and I go to my room for a bit?’

‘Of course you can,’ said Lewis. ‘We’ll call you when tea’s ready.’

Daniel’s new bedroom was very nice, and quite a bit bigger than the one he’d had at his mother’s. The bed was unmade, and his school uniform was draped over the back of the desk chair, which already made the room look lived in, though it was otherwise very neat.

‘I like the painting,’ I said, pointing to the colourful one hanging above the bed.

‘Yeah, isn’t it nice?’ Daniel grinned. ‘Lewis painted it.’

‘What, really?’ He nodded. ‘It’s really pretty.’

Daniel sat down on his bed and looked up at me. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘don’t just stand there. Come here.’ His smile was crooked, and he looked sort of embarrassed, but this was probably the most confident I’d seen him, and it made me so happy I could cry.

With a grin, I approached the bed and sat next to him, and then he had his arms around me and was kissing me, licking into my mouth when I responded with parted lips. We lay down on the bed, and probably spent a good fifteen minutes just snogging. He rolled halfway on top of me and made small, soft sounds as he kissed me, and I’d never wanted to touch him more, every part of him. I stuck to stroking his back and his hair, though.

Daniel propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me, smiling. He traced the lines of my cheekbones and my jaw with his fingertips. I closed my eyes and sighed happily. ‘Don’t think I’ve seen you like this before,’ I murmured.

‘Like what?’

‘I dunno . . . Happy. Confident. I like it. I really like you like this.’ I felt my face flush. ‘Not that I didn’t like you before! I like you just as much regardless. Just—’

He shut me up with a peck on the lips. ‘It’s okay. I get what you mean. I . . . I feel like myself right now. Like this is what I’m meant to be like when I’m not stressing out and scared and anxious all the time. When I . . . when I feel safe. I feel like for once, maybe everything will actually be okay. If that makes any sense.’

I nodded. ‘It does. It makes perfect sense.’ I put my arms around him and pulled him down into a kiss again, felt him melt in my arms as he smiled against my lips, and I was so lost.

* * *

Lewis, as it turned out, was an excellent chef. The bolognese he’d made was fantastic, and I told him as much between big mouthfuls. He laughed. ‘I’m glad you like it, Michael.’

‘It really is very good,’ said Daniel, with a smile. ‘Thanks, Lewis.’

‘Mm, my man really knows how to feed a family,’ said Mr. Griffiths with a grin. His words would have been cringy if it weren’t for the twinkle in his eye and the way Daniel’s face lit up at the mention of ‘family’.

‘You filled in your friends at school today, I’m guessing,’ said Lewis, taking a bite of his pasta.

‘Yeah, they’re all caught up,’ I confirmed. Then I turned to Daniel. ‘Oh, one of your classmates came up to us to offer her support, you know, because of the bullying and everything. Sophia. She said she and a couple of others wanted to put together a care package for you or something.’

Daniel blinked. ‘But I hardly know Sophia.’

I shrugged. ‘Well, she knows you. Tried to start an anti-bullying campaign or something. I think she’s made you her pet project.’

Daniel seemed to deflate. ‘I don’t want to be someone’s pet project. I don’t want pity.’

Mr. Griffiths reached across the table and gave his arm a squeeze. ‘Don’t dismiss it so quickly, Daniel. She might genuinely want to be your friend, you know. I can think of worse reasons than sympathy for that.’

‘Stephen’s right,’ said Lewis. ‘It’s good that other kids are taking a positive interest in you, that they want to help you. Right?’

‘I guess,’ Daniel mumbled.

‘It’s about time you start accepting people’s help, you know,’ I said. ‘Other than, you know, us. Sympathy . . . it means people care, yeah?’

‘Couldn’t have put it better myself,’ said Griffiths, smiling widely. ‘You’re stronger than you know, kiddo. Accepting other people’s kindness can only make you stronger.’

I touched Daniel’s knee under the table with my own, and saw him smile and visibly relax. ‘We’re here for you,’ I said. ‘And lots of other people are too, if you’ll let them. You know, Jasper was super worried about you after the thing with Patrick.’

‘First kiss-Jasper?’ Daniel smirked, and I felt myself blush a bit, glancing at Mr. Griffiths and Lewis. They seemed completely unfazed. Clearly, there were advantages to gay parents. Or, foster parents.

‘First boy-kiss,’ I corrected him. ‘But yeah. He’s nice. You know, friendly. Open minded. Not that . . . not that I like him or anything,’ I added hurriedly. ‘Not like that. But I think he could be a good friend. You know?’

‘Yeah, I know. And you don’t have to worry, I get that you had a life before me, you know.’

Lewis chuckled. ‘I can’t remember being so mature at fourteen.’

Daniel looked down at his plate. ‘Had to grow up fast, I guess.’

Lewis’s smile grew sad. ‘Yeah. I know. I’m sorry. I hope while you’re with us you feel like you can . . . be a kid.’

‘This Jasper Mayfield?’ asked Griffiths. I nodded. ‘Good kid. A lot like you, Michael. He seems kind. Never seen him be mean to anyone.’

‘Me neither,’ I said. ‘Funny, too. Indiscriminately flirty. Like if you put me and Amy into one.’

Daniel laughed. ‘Well, if that’s what he’s like, I definitely want to know him.’

* * *

After we’d eaten, while helping Lewis with the dishes, Daniel asked if I could stay the night. Lewis sighed.

‘I figured this question would come up eventually. The answer is no.’ I saw my boyfriend’s face fall, gaze dropping to the floor. ‘I know you’ve slept in the same bed before, but you’re fourteen, and Michael is sixteen.’

‘But . . . I sleep better when he’s there.’ Daniel looked miserable. I wanted to back him up, because of course I wanted to stay, but I knew it wasn’t my place.

‘You can’t use that as your crutch, Daniel. I know you’ve been through a lot—’ You have no idea how much, I thought, ‘—but you need to be able to sleep on your own. My answer is final.’

At Daniel’s dejected look, I put an arm around his shoulder. ‘It’s okay, Danny. Liz will probably want me home, anyway. You can manage, I know you can.’ I kissed his cheek.

Lewis gave me a look of approval. ‘Michael’s right. You can manage.’ And he ruffled Daniel’s hair affectionately. I could see why Daniel liked him.

This was the trade-off, I suppose. A proper family meant proper rules, which meant no sleeping in the same bed as a boyfriend a year and a half his senior. As much as this made sense, I missed waking up with Daniel in my arms. And it wasn’t like we did anything more than kiss anyway, though there was no guarantee as to how long that would last. Judging by that afternoon, there seemed a good chance it might change, with Daniel getting so much bolder.

I pushed the thought from my mind. He wasn’t ready. He might never be ready. And that was okay. And we should wait, anyway.

I let Mr. Griffiths drive me home. It would have been a good twenty minutes on foot at least, as he and Lewis lived a bit further away from school than I did. ‘I could just take the bus,’ I said as I got into the car.

‘Don’t be silly.’ Griffiths smiled at me. ‘It takes me all of ten minutes.’

‘Well, thank you.’

He fastened his seatbelt. ‘No worries, it’s my pleasure.’

We were silent while he backed out of the drive. ‘Daniel really likes it with you guys,’ I said when we were on the road. ‘He says he feels safe.’

Glancing at him, I caught Griffiths’s tender smile. ‘I’m glad,’ he said softly. ‘That’s all we want. To give him safety.’

‘You guys really care about him, don’t you?’

‘Well, I mean, it’s early days, isn’t it? But . . . yeah. I mean, Lewis is a caring sort of guy. And I care about all my students. Daniel’s a good lad. He deserves to feel safe and happy and loved, just like any kid. Maybe more than most, given that he hasn’t . . .’

‘Hasn’t had that before,’ I finished for him. ‘Yeah. I know. I want him to have all that. I want him to have a family.’ I blushed. ‘God, I haven’t even known him for that long, you know? And I feel like I’ve known him forever. We’ve only been friends for a few weeks . . .’

‘He’s easy to care about.’

‘Yeah. He is.’ We were quiet again for a while, but as we were coming up on my place, I spoke again. ‘Thank you, Mr. Griffiths. For taking care of Daniel.’

‘It’s my pleasure,’ said Griffiths, and he sounded completely genuine. ‘He deserves it.’

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