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“Gay?” I finish for her, the irritation leaking into my voice. I try my best not to slam drawers as I continue packing. “Are you asking me if Bennet Adley, whose father owns the hospital you both work in, who practically owns this whole town, is gay? Because you think that matters?”
She tilts her chin up in defiance, either refusing or unable to come up with a suitable answer.
“Truth is, Mother, I don’t know if he’s gay. There are a few other guys going, and I didn’t ask them either. It’s not my business.”
“Is he going to be there?” Her inability to even speak his name, and yet coat it in so much disgust and disrespect has me fuming.
I try to breathe- in through the nose, out through the mouth. I ignore her while I finish packing and throw another pair of sneakers on. I can’t stay in this house even one more night. I can’t.
“Answer me, Micah Lyle Williams, so help me God I will-“
“What? You’ll do what? You’ll tell dad so he can beat the shit out of me some more? You’ll cut me off and never speak to me again?”
Anger flashes across her features, her eyes wide, mouth open in shock. I’ve never so much as talked back, much less raised my voice, to my parents. Steeling myself, I grab my bag and move past her. She chases me down the hallway, shrieking over the banister as I walk down the stairs.
“Don’t you walk out of this house like this young man! I won’t stand for this disrespect! You have no idea what your father has done for you-”
I send a quick text. I send another after my father emerges from his office with a look of suppressed fury.
“What is the meaning of this?” He demands, looking up at my mother and back at me. My mother is temporarily lost for words. Straightening my spine, I brace myself for the worst.
“I’m leaving to go work on a project with Bennet Adley and some other guys. Mom is afraid I might be heading into a gay orgy.”
My mother gasps and clutches her pearls. My father looks pissed.
“How dare you use that kind of language in this house-“
“What kind of language dad? The word gay? Gay is the offensive word here, right? I could be walking into an actual orgy, and I don’t think you’d care, considering how many women you’ve tried throwing at me over the years. Well, guess what? I don’t know if I’m gay, I haven’t given myself permission to explore it. But I am in love with Lukas. I have been for a long time, and even two years of complete separation didn’t cure it. Don’t worry though, my ass is safe. He wouldn’t have me if I crawled back to him because of what you made me do.”
I don’t give them the chance to respond, I walk out the door and right into Lukas’ car, waiting for me at the end of the sidewalk.
“Drive,” I tell him, and he does.
There’s complete silence in the car as he all but spins out, accelerating to get me out of there as fast as he can. He slows down to a safer speed once we’re down the street, carefully navigating the roads once more.
Once we’re a good distance away from the huge brick gates that surround my neighborhood, I finally breathe. I think I might be on the verge of a panic attack. I take huge, gasping breaths and try to stop my thundering heart from escaping my chest.
Lukas pulls over into a gas station parking lot and reaches over to me. He places one big hand across the back of my neck, applying just enough pressure for me to know he’s there, but not enough to be intrusive. The feel of his warm hand through my cold, wet shirt is comforting and helps me calm down, little by little.
After a few moments, the heat of his hand becomes almost searing. I think he must feel it too, because he jerks it away.
“Sorry… are you alright?”
“Yeah, no… thanks. I’m sorry,” I say back to him, looking down at myself. “I forgot that I was soaked.”
“I’m not worried about that, I’m worried about you.” He looks at me with concern, but no expectation that I tell him anything.
“I’m good man, I’m good. I just… you know, told off my parents and walked out.” I stare down at my hands in disbelief. I can’t believe I did that. I’ve never so much as talked back or rolled my eyes without the comfort of a door between us, and I just… did that.
“Seriously? That’s… that’s big! You should celebrate.” Without another word, he drives down the street, pulling into the downtown square that surrounds the park. He parallel parks like a pro and tells me to stay put for a moment while he runs out into the still drizzly weather.
I suppress a laugh when I realize where he’s running off to. There’s a little bakery that has the best, and I mean the best desserts. They have these little egg tarts that are my absolute favorite, but I almost never let myself have them because I’ve spent every day of my life trying to accomplish perfection, including managing the lowest body fat percentage possible.
The fact that he remembers how much I love this place gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. And when he shows back up with a familiar white box with a dark red logo, I can’t help but break out into a wide grin. After he’s seated back in the car, he turns to me with a shit-eating grin and a raised eyebrow, opening the box slightly and then closing it again, like he’s making it talk.
“You know you want one…. or a dozen, because I might have gotten a dozen.”
I roll my eyes, laughing. “You’re terrible.” For some reason he used to absolutely love getting me to eat things that weren’t part of my strict diet.
