章節 86: Chapter 83
I knew that people changed, but the change I noticed on Austin's dad was more than I could have expected. We saw him before he saw us, he was seated at the dining room with this pretty blonde. Neither were eating despite the table already being set, they were just seated there engaging in conversation. I stopped walking, forcing Austin to do the same, then he raised his brows and asked me what was wrong, his tone hushed so that he wouldn't make our presence known. He was holding my hand, so I pulled him back until we were out of view from them completely.
" Don't tell me you're chickening out, "
" Who is that? I thought it was only gonna be your dad. "
He glanced back at the direction of the dining room, then he looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile. His expression made it obvious that he could understand why I was acting like that. Naturally, I was an introvert, which meant that sitting at the same table with his dad was hard enough for me, but when you added a complete stranger to the mix, I was going to be overwhelmed and there was no way for me to control it. I was already worried about what I would say and how I would act. We hadn't even gone in yet but my conscious was at work painting out all the different illustrations of how things could go wrong.
" That's just Khloe, she's my dad's wife. No big deal. "
The casual flair. The uncaring attitude. When he said it was no big deal, it was because to him it wasn't. Even his tone implied that there was nothing great about it. But in all the time since he had come back, he had never once mentioned that his dad had another wife. He literally had a stepmom and I hadn't even been aware of it. The same way I knew almost nothing about what he did when he was neither at school nor with me. Those parts of himself were shaded out, covered up so that I couldn't really see them clearly. At first I had even assumed it was his cousin or something. When we were younger a cousin of his had come to visit, she had been a teenager with the same blonde hair. I had seriously thought it was her at first. She looked way too young to be his stepmom. Or perhaps a work associate of his, his personal assistant perhaps...
" And you didn't think it was important to tell me?"
With both hands on my waist, he pulled me closer to him, then he said something about that piece of information slipping his mind.
" How can something like that just slip your mind?"
" Can we discuss this later on? They're waiting. "
" Okay, but first you have to tell me. Does-" his phone started ringing. I had been about to ask whether his dad knew that he was seeing someone. Whether he knew that that someone was me. He let go of me and reached into his pocket. I looked at the screen and realized it was his dad calling, for some reason Austin has saved him as "Mr. O'Grady". He showed me the screen, then inclined his head towards the dining entrance and said we ought to go. He cut the call, held my hand and led me to the entrance. The room was larger than necessary in my opinion. And so was the dining table, but I liked how large it was since I would be provided with the distance I really wanted. Being too close to them would have been weird and I would have felt twice as uncomfortable...and don't get me started on the frequent eye contact. His dad had been walking towards the entrance when we got in.
" I thought I heard your phone ringing nearby, " he stated as soon as he saw us. Then he looked at me and said hi, and he was about to add something else but the words wouldn't come out. He narrowed his introspective gaze at me, taking a couple of steps closer with parted lips. Then he glanced from me to Austin and pointed at me.
" Wait a minute, is this??"
Austin nodded. I tried pulling my hand free of his so that I could at least greet his father properly but he wouldn't let go.
"Kyle? Is that really you?"
" It's very nice to see you again Mr. O'Grady, " I said. He was seconds away from gasping. He really did look taken aback. I hadn't expected him to be as shocked to see me as he was.
" Goodness!" he muttered, running a hand over his face, then he took a step back and looked me up and down.
" And look at how you've grown! What's it been ? Five years?"
" Yes Sir, I believe it has. "
" You live around here?"
" Not here exactly but it's not that far either. "
" We go to the same school, " Austin cut in, finally letting go of my hand, but in its place he wrapped his arm around me and I could feel his eyes boring into me. His dad noticed the little display of affection but I don't think he thought much of it since his expression didn't falter at all. The blonde stood up and walked over to us, standing next to Austin's dad with a gentle smile on her face. It was a sweet smile, the kind that tempted you to smile as well. And I did. I also noticed that she was most definitely pregnant, yet another major piece of info that had been kept away from me. And if he couldn't tell me such things then what good we're we?
" Same school? Well isn't that a coincidence! " His dad commented.
" This is Khloe, I already told you about her, " Austin stated despite him knowing perfectly well that up until ten minutes ago he had never mentioned her to me, then he asked whether we could sit already. I personally didn't feel as if I had greeted them with the proper respect but there was nothing I could really do about it. We went and sat, and I was secretly pleased when he pulled his seat a lot closer to mine, only a tiny space separated us. That was the first time his dad looked at us with a bit of suspicion. But it was just a tiny fraction because he must have been thinking back to how we used to relate when he were younger. He hadn't been around nearly as much as Austin's mom, but during the times when he had, he must have gotten used to our little complex relationship. But the look also made me realize that he didn't know about Austin and I. And that only made me more nervous because I didn't know what to expect, plus Austin was not being subtle at all! Every action he made suggested that we were either a couple, or just friends with the weirdest relationship.
" How was school today?" Khloe asked, her eyes shifting from Austin to me which meant that she was asking us both. I smiled and told her it had been good. And that part of my introvert self that didn't wanna be identified as an introvert forced me to add more to the statement.
" I had a geography test but it wasn't that bad, "
" That's great to hear. It's Kyle right?"
" Yes ma'am, "
" That's okay, you can just call me Khloe. I don't mind. "
I nodded. This girl dressed in housekeeping uniform came over and began serving the food for us. I didn't think it was entirely necessary since we all had hands and the food was right there, but I didn't say anything about it.
" Kyle here has always been smart. I hope that hasn't changed, " Austin's dad commented and I chuckled and shook my head.
" Still top of your class?"
" I suppose you could say that Sir. "
" That's more like it!"
The girl left after serving the food and asking whether there was anything else we needed. Austin was the one to assure her we were okay. And Khloe told her to go and get some rest since she was going to handle everything. There was steak, and I watched as Austin reached over and cut mine for me into bite sized pieces, everyone had literally stopped to observe him but he seemed clueless, or perhaps he just didn't care. And after he was done he ran the back of his hand over my cheek and told me to go ahead and eat. That awkward silence was only affecting us three because Austin sure as hell didn't care. If the couple hadn't been convinced something was going on before then they definitely were now. His dad cleared his throat and Khloe leaned back against her seat and placed both her hands on her belly.
" You two seem pretty close, " she said.
" They were even closer as kids, the very best of friends. But Kyle moved away and their friendship was cut short. "
I like the explanation his dad gave because it spared me from having to say anything.
" I'm glad you were able to reunite. This must be fate huh?" Khloe joked and I resulted to just smiling and keeping my eyes on my food.
I wanted to move closer to Austin, perhaps even lean towards him. Or maybe send him a text asking to meet outside in a few minutes just so I could hug him. That thing we had was like some strange illness. My desire to always touch and be held by him made it hard for me to see reason sometimes. Our eyes locked for a second and it was pretty clear that I wasn't the only one feeling that way . The only difference was that he was more courageous and willing to act on his urges. I watched as he leaned towards me, I wanted to lean away or ask him to stop but I couldn't. He got to my ear, then he whispered..
" Must I take you back home or will you stay over?"
" I'm not staying. "
" Please?"
" No!"
" Everything okay?" His dad asked, I nodded and assured him we were fine, then I tried to move away from Austin even a tiny bit. His hand on the back of my seat prevented me from doing so.
" I want him to stay over but he's scared. Can you assure him there's nothing to be scared of?" He said, his eyes never leaving mine and his tone even and utterly uniform. He said it so matter of factly that it seemed like something pretty normal. Khloe went ahead to assure me that there was no issue with me sleeping over. That she could have the guest bedroom prepared in no time and I really didn't have to worry about anything.
" There's really no need, I have to get home soon. My mom's not feeling so well.. " It was a half lie. She might not have been legitimately sick but she sure as hell wasn't healthy either.
" Oh,I'm so sorry to hear that! Is it serious?"
I shook my head and assured them it was nothing to stress over but I just wanted to be around incase she needed my help at all.
" She's fine!" Austin insisted, taking out his phone and switching it on before he placed it on the table's surface.
" Wait, does this mean that when you disappeared you were with Kyle?" His dad sounded as if he wished that were the case, but like he also feared that it was.
" What if I was?"
" Kyle? Was he with you last week?"
I was good at a lot of things but lying to grownups wasn't really one of them. But luckily Austin spoke up and said that he hadn't been with me. That they shouldn't worry about where he had been but it definitely hadn't been with me. And I could tell he had only admitted the truth because he didn't want them to bother me with their questions.
" If his mom's sick I think he ought to just go home, " Khloe reasoned out, speaking in a gentle time which suggested she didn't want to rile Austin up. It was obvious she was being very careful with her choice of words whenever she spoke to him.
" Fine then, I'll take you home, " he told me afterwards, sounding disappointed. And then he suddenly just kissed my cheek and brought my glass of juice closer to me because I hadn't touched it even once.
I turned to him but he had already refocused on his food. I chose to do the same, but a few minutes into it, his dad finally chose to go ahead and ask the question that had been eating him up inside.
" It appears there's something I'm missing here..." he began, still holding onto his cutlery while looking at us with pure concentration.
" Is there something going on between you two that I should probably be aware of?"
I looked at Austin because there was no way I was going to answer that. It was his call. He had taken me there without notice and apparently he hadn't even told his dad anything about us. He was responsible for that entire situation and I was fine with letting him deal with it on his own.
" Something like what?" He asked. Khloe simply watched and listened in silence. It was odd seeing her seated there and not Austin's mom. That past image of the family they had once been was stuck in my head and it was going to take quite some time for me to change it.
" You tell me, you two appear to be overly affectionate. "
" Well, we're dating. Isn't that normal for couples?"
" You're what?"
My appetite was immediately gone after that. Even if I tried to force myself to eat, I wouldn't be able to do so. I looked at his dad and the shock on his face couldn't be faked.
" You two? "
" Yeah, is there something wrong with that?"
His dad didn't respond but rather turned to Khloe as if she couldn't better explain what was happening. But she seemed to be just as surprised by the sudden news. There was that silence again and I imagined they were using the time to process what had just been told to them. Then Khloe finally talked, she said she was really happy for us and she wished us all the best. And when his dad took to long to say something, she tapped him and gestured to us.
" Isn't that right honey?" She asked and he seemed confused by what she meant, but he nodded either way. After that we went ahead with the meal, no one said anything else because we could still feel that tension. I didn't know what could have possibly been going on in his dad's mind but I didn't wish to find out either. But I did eventually. He let his eyes observe us, I acted as if I couldn't see him even though I could. Then he went ahead and asked...
" How come you've never told me you were gay?"
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票