Disclaimer:
All other content or otherwise are works of my own
imagination. All events are fictitious in nature.
Any
similarities to persons living, dead, or otherwise are purely
coincidental.
This story contains strong themes of homosexual
content, if this offends you in any way, please refrain from reading
further. If you are not of legal age to read this, please leave
now.
A/N:
I'd like to thank TalonRider for editing this chapter. His
unparalleled brilliance and tiresome effort applied to my work is
greatly appreciated. Thank you.
American
Differences
-By Emulated
Chapter 12: Judico
I
sat there for a while, with Amanda holding me close. The closeness
comforted me, yet I was plagued by thoughts of my own mother. Despite
her homophobic attitude, I used to have quite a close relationship
with her. Even though we didn’t spend that much time together,
as I was either out with friends or at school, and she was at work,
the time that we did spend together was usually pleasant. I say
usually because of her occasional anti-gay outburst, but that aside,
we used to get on great. Whether it was just us sitting there
watching TV, or me helping her out in the kitchen, it was ‘usually’
great to be around my mum.
But being held by Connor’s
mum, Amanda, caused me to feel some uneasiness. With my thoughts of
my mum on my mind, I began to wonder if she’d ever hold me like
this again, hell, would she even touch
me again? Or would she keep at bay, not wanting to associate me
with the other Matt, the straight Matt that she used to know.
I
looked up at Amanda, focusing on her dark brown eyes. She wasn’t
that tall a person, a good two or three inches shorter than myself.
Her dark brown hair ran down past her shoulders and gave her quite an
approachable and friendly appearance. Her facial features were quite
subtle and sat in proportion to each other. You could look at her
once and know immediately that she was Connor and Adam’s
mother, because of the similarity.
“What are you going
to do?” I asked, looking over at Terry. Like his wife, Terry
also shared a similar dark brown eye colour, but unlike her, his hair
was black and cut short. He was of average build but stood at a nice
6’2” tall. He was quite a good looking guy, and again it
was clear from his appearance that he was the father of both Connor
and Adam. His looks aside, Terry was a very good parent, not just
that, but he was always quick to include Josh and me into anything
that we might enjoy, like taking us to football matches, or taking me
on that short getaway. He had always been very outgoing like that,
which quickly made me think of him as a second dad.
Amanda
looked over at Terry and paused, “I’m not sure yet. Let
Terry and me talk for a while.” She looked back at me, “You
go on upstairs with Connor, we’ll call if we need you.”
I
nodded, “Ok.”
Connor flashed me a quick smile
before he stood up. I followed suit and headed out of the room, but
just before I reached the stairs, I turned around and looked at
Amanda and Terry, “Thanks guys. I really mean it.”
Terry
smiled, “It’s alright, mate. We’ll get things
sorted.”
I nodded at them before continuing up the
stairs, following Connor into his room.
“You ok?”
He asked, as he closed the door behind us.
“Yeah.”
I glanced at him, “You guys are amazing, you know that?”
He
cocked his head, “What d’ya mean?”
I walked
over and sat on his bed, “You know, just being really cool
about me, and wanting to help me out and stuff.”
He
smiled and sat down beside me, “Don’t be stupid. You’re
practically family, of course we’ll help you out!”
I
returned his smile and looked down at the floor, “It’s
really messy, isn’t it?”
He was silent for a
moment before he spoke, “Yeah, yeah it is. But Mum and Dad
won’t give up until everything’s settled down.”
I
turned to him, “What if things don’t ‘settle
down’?” I asked quietly, “What if they want me to
move out?”
“You can’t keep asking ‘what
if’, that doesn’t solve anything.” He said, looking
at me.
While Connor was always mature for his age, I was
still quite taken aback by some of the things that he had said over
the past few days. It was as though I was speaking to an adult, not a
fifteen, nearly sixteen-year-old. It all served to further remind me
why I cared about him so much; why he was my best friend.
I
sighed, “You’re right, but I can’t help it.”
I paused, “Everything was fine last week, now I could end up
losing
everything.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder, “Not
everything.”
I smiled at him, “Thanks,
Connor.”
He nodded, “And I doubt that your
American boyfriend would do a runner either.”
I smiled
at the mention of Jamie, “Yeah.” I paused, “But I
have lost some things. I’ve lost Max.”
Connor
shook his head, “Forget about him, if he wants to sulk about it
that’s his problem, not ours.” He looked at me, “What
about the things you’ve gained? Ayo was pretty cool about
everything, wasn’t he? And Josh too, he still loves
you.”
Shit.
I’d forgotten about Josh, “What will happen to him if
they kick me out?”
Connor raised his hand, “ I
thought I told you to stop that.” He paused, “Why don’t
we just wait until your parents have spoken to Mum and Dad, then
we’ll know what’s going on. Ok?”
“Yes,
Dad.” I retorted, smiling at him.
He reached out and
ruffled my hair, like he had seen my dad do on several occasions,
“That’s a good boy.”
I giggled at him. Trust
Connor to be the one who lifts my spirits.
We had been
upstairs in his room for about a half hour or so when his parents
called us down. We headed downstairs to see what they had decided to
do. Amanda looked at us as we sat down in the lounge, “Ok,
we’re going to go over to your house and have a talk with your
parents.” She said.
I nodded, “Ok.” I
paused, “When are we going?”
She shook her head,
“Terry and I are going. We think that it’ll be best if
you stay here.”
I was about to reply, but paused and
thought about it for a moment, “Yeah. I think you’re
right.”
Amanda nodded and continued, “We just
think that your parents might react better if it’s just us.”
I
nodded, “That’s fine.” I smiled at them, “Thanks
guys, for doing this.”
Amanda came over and gave me one
of those motherly hugs again, “Oh, it’s ok sweetie. We’ll
sort things out now.”
I pulled back and smiled again at
her.
She turned to Connor, “Adam’s over at Jacob’s
house.” She looked at me, “I think Josh is there too.”
I
nodded, “Yeah, I think they’re staying there for dinner
or something.”
“Yes.” She replied, looking
at Connor, “So you shouldn’t have to worry about him
calling to be picked up or anything.” She paused, “We
shouldn’t be that long, but dinner’s on the stove if you
get hungry.”
Connor nodded, “I’ll take care
of it.”
She smiled at him and then at me, “We’ll
see you guys in a little while.” She said as she pulled on a
jacket. ”Bye.”
Terry grabbed the car keys, “Yeah,
see you guys later.”
“Bye.” I called out, as
they walked out of the door, before closing it behind them.
I
stood there for a few seconds, suddenly aware of what they were doing
for me. And how quick and willing they were to come to my aid. I’ll
never forget what they did for me, never.
*
Terry
stopped the car outside Matt’s house and looked over at his
wife, “You ready?”
She nodded, her face one of
determination, touched with a streak of anger, anger at what her
friends were doing to their son. “Yes.” She
replied, unbuckling her seatbelt, “I’m ready.”
Terry
nodded and stepped out of the car, closing the door and locking it.
He waited until Amanda walked over before they headed up the path
together. Once they reached the door, Terry reached out and hammered
his fist against it. Several seconds passed before the door unlocked
and Joe’s face appeared. He stared at their faces for a moment,
trying to figure out the reason behind their unplanned
appearance.
“We’re here to talk to you and
Monica.” Said Amanda, pausing slightly, “We know about
Matt.”
Joe seemed to think for a second before he
stepped aside and allowed them to enter.
“Thank you.”
Said Terry as he stepped in, followed by his wife. They stood in the
hall before Joe led them into the lounge, where Monica sat on a sofa.
She looked up as they walked in, giving Joe a questioning
look.
“They’re here to talk.” Said Joe, as
he cast the visitors a sideways glance, “They know about
Matt.”
Monica flinched slightly, “So he’s
out telling everyone now, is he? Making our family sound like we’re
all deviants and misfits.”
While Terry was generally
quite a passive person, he couldn’t stand people who made
discriminatory remarks, and was about to make a quick reply when
Amanda noticed his budding anger and turned to him, “Why don’t
you and Joe go outside to talk, while I talk to Monica?”
He
stared at Monica for a few seconds before he nodded, “Ok.”
He looked over at Joe, “Is that alright?”
Joe
glanced over at his wife and then back to Terry, “Yeah.”
Amanda
watched as they walked out of the room before she went and sat down
at the opposite end of the sofa, where Monica was sitting. They sat
there for a few seconds before Monica spoke up.
“There’s
really no need for you to…worry about Matt. He’s just
confused. He’ll meet a girl soon, and then-“
Amanda
raised a hand, “Stop it there.” She said quickly, cutting
her off.
Monica looked at her, startled by the
interruption.
Amanda spoke, “You have to begin to accept
the fact that Matt IS gay. He’s not confused, or waiting
for the right girl to come along. He has a boyfriend.”
Monica
wrinkled her nose at the mention of Jamie, “I hate that boy,
coming in here, doing those dirty things to MY son.”
Amanda
looked at her, “They were kissing each other, not doing
dirty things.”
She shook her head again, “No!
That boy is trying to confuse Matt, trying to get him to act all
queer with him.”
“Why do you find it so hard to
accept the fact that Matt is gay?” Asked Amanda.
“I’m
his mother, I think I would know if my son was…one of those.”
She retorted sarcastically.
“Or he was so scared by how
you’d react that he did all he could to hide it from
you.”
Monica looked as though she pondered it for a
second, before she cast her an angry look, “No! Matt doesn’t
hide things from me.” She frowned, “He’s not gay.”
“You can keep saying that until you’re blue in
the face but it isn’t going to make it any more true.”
She paused, “What is it that scares you so much? What’s
so bad about Matt being gay?”
“It’s sick.
That’s why.” She replied, “What those…people
do to each other. It’s unnatural.”
She paused,
“Matt’s gay, and you have to deal with that.”
“I
can’t.”
“You have to, for his sake.”
Reiterated Amanda.
“No, I have to help him.”
Amanda
frowned, “Help him? He doesn’t need help, he needs
your love, as a mum.”
“As a mum, I can’t let
him do this to himself. I’ve seen it on the telly, how all
those people get sick from what they do. It’s dirty and
disgusting. Matt’s better than that.”
“You’re
blowing this out of proportion, we’re talking about Matt here,
your son. Just because he’s gay, it doesn’t mean that
he’s going to be sleeping around with any old person, or not
take the necessary precautions if he decides to be with
someone-“
Monica shook, “Stop it.” She
frowned, “Matt’s a good boy, always has been. I don’t
understand why he’s letting this boy-“
“He’s
in love, Monica.” Interrupted Amanda, “He’s in love
with Jamie.”
“He can’t love another
boy.”
“What if he can? What if you’re
wrong?”
“I’m not.”
Amanda
raised her voice, “I’m only going to tell you this once
so bloody well listen: What you are doing to Matt, right now, is
hurting him. It’s hurting him in ways that you can’t
imagine. Your talking out against who he is, what he’s allowed
to do. No one has the right to tell him that he can’t love
another boy, even his mum.” She leaned closer, “And
you keep up this damned stupid attitude and you’ll end up
losing him, Monica. One day he’ll just go, out that door and
leave you lot.”
Monica looked at her, remaining
silent.
“Is that what you want? Do you want Matt to
leave, to walk out?” She shook her head, “That’s
the question you have to ask yourself now, because believe me, it
will happen. As long as you sit there doing nothing, he’ll go.”
*
Joe
leaned against the railing of his patio and exhaled the smoke from
his lungs, “Why?” He asked quietly, “Why would he
do this? We’ve given him everything he ever wanted. He’s
got a nice home, good friends. He goes to a good school.” He
looked at Terry, “Was it us? Did we do something wrong?”
“No.”
Replied Terry, “You didn’t do anything wrong. Matt just
happens to like boys. That’s it.” He said, eyeing the
cigarette. He was certain that Joe never used to smoke before,
evidently he found some refuge in the tobacco.
Joe took a drag
of the cigarette again, “I’ve been reading, online, about
how the lack of…” He paused, “A father figure, it
makes them gay.”
“Nothing makes someone
gay, Joe.”
Joe threw the cigarette on the floor and
stamped it out, “I failed him, Terry. I’ve fucked up my
son’s life.”
“I told you, noth-“
“No!”
Replied Joe harshly, “I should have been there for him more
often. I should have been harder, not so soft with him.” He
looked at Terry, “I should have made him a man.”
“He
is a man.”
“No…” He shook his head,
“He’s…he’s…” He paused, “I
done this to him.”
“You didn’t do anything
wrong, except turning your back on him now.”
Joe shook
his head, “I can’t help him.”
Terry looked
at him, “He doesn’t need any help. He needs to
know that his parents still love him.” He paused, “Do you
still love him?”
“I love both my sons…but…”
He began, “…he likes boys…”
Terry
watched him closely.
Joe spoke again, “I…I just
don’t understand.”
“Then why don’t you
talk to him, to try to understand?” Asked Terry.
“I
can’t.”
“Why?”
“He…I…”
He turned to him, “He…what he does, with boys…”
He took a breath, “It makes me sick.” He muttered.
Terry
frowned, “It’s not sick for Matt.”
“But
it is to me. Every time I look at him, I see him and…that
boy.” He spat, scrunching his face.
“Then
don’t think about it. You think that Matt pictures you and
Monica together? I don’t think so.”
Joe thought
for a moment, unsure of what to say next.
“Come on,
let’s go back inside.” Said Terry.
Joe nodded and
followed him back inside. They walked into the lounge and sat down
opposite the women. Amanda spoke up.
“I’ve just
told Monica this, but I wanted both of you to hear it. While Matt is
persisting at the moment, he’ll reach a point where he will
just stop. He won’t try to help you understand, he’ll
turn away from you. You’ll lose him.” She looked at them,
“And as confused and as angry as you are right now, nothing can
be as bad as losing a son. Especially when you had it in yourself to
keep him close, to show him that you love him.”
Terry
nodded, “Matt doesn’t need you to jump up and down acting
all fine and dandy, all he wants is your love. The question is, can
you find it within yourselves to love him, regardless of his
sexuality? Or are you ready to declare him a lost cause?” He
paused, “We’ll help out as much as we can, but only you
can decide that. Only you can decide if Matt’s worth it.”
*
I
walked down the stairs behind Connor, watching as his parents walked
through the door. They seemed to be quite calm so I figured that
things must have gone ok.
“What happened?” Asked
Connor, as we entered the lounge.
Terry waited until we sat
down before he spoke, “We spoke to them and as difficult as
they seem at the moment, I think that they’ll listen to you if
you go and talk to them.” He said, looking at me. “They’re
acting this way because they don’t understand. They don’t
understand what you being gay means and how it affects them.”
I
looked at them, “It means I like boys. That isn’t so hard
to understand.”
Amanda piped in, “They know that
much, but they also have their own impressions and stereotypes of
what a gay person is like. And then you told them that you’re
gay, but you don’t fit to those stereotypes. That’s why
they’re finding it hard to understand.”
I thought
for a moment, “So they want me to go over there to talk to
them, about being gay?”
“Yes.”
“Will
it do any good?”
Amanda nodded, “I think it will.
All they need is to see that their son hasn’t changed, that
he’s still the same person that they’ve raised all these
years.” She looked at me, “Just talk to them, tell them
that you’re just the same, tell them that being gay doesn’t
change who you are.”
“We’ve told them those
things, but they need to hear it from you.” Said Terry.
“Ok.”
I said, pausing, “I’ll talk to them.”
*
I
sat in my usual spot opposite them, only this time I didn’t
feel like their son, I felt like a defendant in a courtroom. I was
there to tell my story, and to be judged by it. They had heard from
the witnesses, but now it was my turn. There was no jury, no judge,
just my mum and dad. And Matthew Blake on the stand.
“Are
you guys gonna talk, or are you just gonna stare at me all night?”
I asked.
They quickly averted their eyes from me.
“I’m
here because Amanda and Terry said that you wanted to talk about
this. About me.”
Mum turned to me, “Why did you
tell them?”
“Why did I tell them that I’m
gay?” I asked, wanting to see her reaction.
She froze
for a second before she nodded slowly.
“Because I
thought that they could help you guys understand.”
She
seemed to ignore my reply, “What about us, Matt? Are you even
thinking about what could happen?”
I looked at her,
“What? What do you mean, ‘what could happen’?”
She
frowned, “If people find out about you. The rest of the family
could find out, people at our work could find out.”
“Seeing
as Jamie’s dad’s your boss, I think you’ll still
have a job.” I retorted.
“What about Josh?”
She replied quickly, “What will the kids at school say to
him?”
“W…What?” I asked.
“When
they find out that his brother is gay.”
“That’s
not fair!” I replied.
“It’s not fair on US,
Matt.”
“How dare you!?!?!” I shouted, “You
sit there, not giving a shit about anyone but yourself!” I
fumed, “All I wanted was for you to try to understand, but
would you do that?” I looked at their faces, “No, instead
you kick me out, decide that I’m not worth it.”
My
mum looked at me, “We’re not your enemy, Matt. We want to
help you.”
“Help me?”
“Yes.
There’s some people who might be abl-“
If I wasn’t
so angry, I’d have probably burst out in laughter. But people
who could help me? No way. NO FUCKING WAY! “You’ve got to
be fucking kidding me!”
“You watch your
language!”
I ignored her, “Are you both really
THAT stupid to think that those people can help me?”
Mum
hesitated for a second, “If they can help, why don’t you
take it?”
I shook my head at her. Never in a
million years would I have guessed that my parents, my parents
would have been sucked in by those FUCKING MORONS! I looked at them
sitting opposite me. They weren’t stupid people, hell, they
were both bloody smart, yet they seemed to believe that someone can
help sort out my problem. “Ok, this is getting
ridiculous now.”
She nodded, “I agree.”
“What?”
I snapped.
“Something has to be done, we need to sort
this out.” She replied.
“No, what we need is for
you two to deal with this like decent people.”
She shook
her head, “Decent people? What you were doing with that
boy wasn’t decent!”
A snide remark was at the tip
of my tongue, but I withheld it and turned to Dad, “What about
you? Do you agree with…her idea, that I need help?”
I asked, looking at him.
He was silent for a moment, “We
both…decided.”
I nodded, “So you are both
stupid then.”
They sat there silently.
I stood up
and walked over to the table in the middle of the room before I sat
on it, facing them. I breathed deeply, “Look, I always knew
that this wasn’t going to be easy, but part of me liked to
think that you guys would eventually understand.” I paused, “I
know that this is hard for both of you. I get that. But at least hear
me out, let me explain this from my side.” I looked at them,
“Because believe it or not, I am still your son, not some
devilish creature that just sleeps with men.”
They
remained silent for what seemed an eternity before my dad spoke,
“Ok.” My mum quickly shot him a look, but backed down
when she realised that he was serious. He wanted to hear what I had
to say.
“Ok.” I said, trying to figure out where
to begin, “I really began to notice that I was…different
when I was twelve years old. It wasn’t anything big then, but
small enough for me to notice. While the other guys, Connor and Max
would talk about girls, I would think about boys.”
They
seemed to be slightly uncomfortable about it, but I kept on.
“I
knew what ‘being gay’ meant back then, but I didn’t
associate it with myself. I just liked guys and that was it.” I
paused, “When I was thirteen, nearly fourteen, I started to
notice boys more and more, but I never liked girls. At all. So I
started to think that, you know, I might actually be gay. I might be
one of those people that everyone makes fun of.” I looked at
them, “I knew what you guys thought of gay people, I knew that
you hated them, so I tried to ignore it. I tried to put it
aside.”
Both mum and dad seemed to be taking an interest
in what I was saying. They were both watching me and for the first
time in nearly a week, I didn’t feel threatened by their
stares. “Whenever I’d see a guy that I thought was
good-looking, I’d look away and think about something else.”
I paused, “But that idea didn’t work, it made it harder
than doing nothing, so that’s what I decided to do: nothing. I
just lived with it.” I shook my head, “It wasn’t
easy, I had to watch everything I did: what I said, how I talked,
hell, I even had to make sure that I didn’t walk in a
way that could make me look gay. It was so hard. Sometimes I came
really close to messing up, or someone almost caught me looking at a
boy or something.”
“You guys have no idea what it
was like. For nearly four years, I’ve had to keep this a
secret, just in case someone found out. I couldn’t risk that
happening. Again, I knew that you guys thought about it, so I was
scared about what could happen, what you’d do if you found
out.” I paused, “And in school. I was scared about what
the other kids would say to me, what they’d do to me if they
found out that I liked other boys. That’s why I worked so hard
to hide it from everyone. It was too big a risk.”
“And
for a time everything was going well. I was ok with being gay and I
was even pretty good at hiding it.” I paused again, “But
that all changed in January. You see, there was this new kid, this
really good looking boy from America who came into my class, and I
knew, from the moment that I saw him, that things were going to get
really hard, real quick.” I looked at my parents and thought
that it’d be best if I skipped over a few things, “Long
story short, I found out that he was gay, and even better, I found
out that he liked me too. So we started dating, if that’s what
you call it.”
“And once again I thought that it’d
be easy, I mean, who would think that Jamie and I were together? He
had all the girls chasing him, so who’d suspect it, right? We
could walk around town, go to the park together, and no one would
suspect a thing.” I shook my head, “But it wasn’t
easy. There were times where I’d look at him or something and
I’d want to hold his hand or even give him a small kiss. But I
couldn’t do that. Not in public, not where other people could
see.”
I looked at my parents, “I know that you
guys don’t understand, but whenever I’m with him it feels
like I’m free. That I’m being who, what I’m
supposed to be.” I paused, “It doesn’t feel wrong
or indecent. It feels right. I…just…” I paused,
“I really wish you would understand, just so you could know
what it’s like for Jamie and me.” I said, looking at
them. The ball was in their court now.
They sat there for a
good few minutes before my dad spoke, “Matt, we…Terry
and Amanda said that you could stay over at their house if we
thought…”
“Thought what?” I asked,
frowning.
“We’ll need time to talk about this…and
it would be best if you…weren’t here.” He
replied.
I thought for a moment, I had assumed that they’d
say something like that, but I was through arguing, I just wanted
this whole thing to be over and done with. “Ok, I’ll go
over to Connor’s.”
“Thank you.” He
replied.
I stood up and walked to the door, “I’ll
get some of my things, and then I’ll go.”
They
both nodded at me before I turned and headed up the stairs. It didn’t
take that long for me to pack my things, I only took what was needed
for the night. Mostly it was just my school uniform and a change of
clothes. Once I had everything packed, I flung the bag over my
shoulder and headed downstairs. I didn’t bother to say anything
to my parents, I just took my things and walked out of the door,
heading to Connor’s house.
*
I
looked at him, suddenly feeling very tired. It had felt as though I
had fought against the whole world that afternoon. And I was
exhausted.
Connor looked at us, “I’ll give you two
a few minutes.”
I smiled at him, “Thanks,
Con.”
He nodded and walked out, closing the door behind
him.
I walked over to Jamie and hugged him, instantly
revelling in his warm embrace, “It’s so good to see you.”
I whispered.
He pulled back and looked into my eyes, “Are
you ok?”
I nodded, unable to stop a tear from rolling
down my cheek.
“Oh, babes.” He said, brushing it
off my cheek.
I looked up at his face. He was so beautiful in
every single way, not a single flaw in sight. And yet, I was being
punished for falling in love with such beauty; not just that I could
see, but that underneath his complexion, the part that melted my
heart. All these thoughts and feelings cumulated into something that
my parents tried to destroy, that they tried to brush away as
‘unnatural’ or ‘sick’. But they were wrong.
Every fibre of my being was telling, screaming
to me that they were wrong. That I was right. That these feelings for
Jamie, those genuine,
raw emotions that I experienced were natural.
“I wish I
could make everything better for you.” He whispered.
“You
do. Everything’s fine when you’re here.”
“Still…”
He began, as he stroked the side of my face, “Why can’t
your parents see the beautiful person that I see?” He paused,
“Why can’t they love the person that I love?”
I
looked at him, “They never loved me.
They loved who I was pretending to be. Straight, heterosexual
Matt.”
Jamie smiled, “Well, I’m glad you’re
not ‘straight Matt’.” He said, “Otherwise
some things could be quite uncomfortable.”
“What
kind of things?”
He inched closer, “These kind of
things.” He whispered, just before his soft lips pressed
tenderly against my own. I instinctively reached out and held onto
him as I returned the gentle kiss.
I pulled back and grinned
at him, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He smiled.
I ran my hand through his blond hair, revelling in
it’s smooth and sleek feel, “I swear you get more
beautiful every time I see you.”
“Then maybe I
should come back in a week.” He joked.
I shook my head,
“Don’t you go anywhere.”
He smiled, “So
you’re staying here, tonight?” He asked, looking around
Connor’s room.
I nodded, “They
need more time to talk.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He replied, squeezing my hand.
“Don’t be. It’s
their problem, not mine.” I said, echoing Connor’s words
from earlier.
Jamie’s eyes flicked to the clock on the
wall, “It’s getting late, I just wanted to see how you’re
doing.”
My heart sank at that, I wanted him to stay
longer, but he was right, it was late. I smiled at him, “You’re
so perfect, you know that?”
He squeezed my hand again,
“You’re perfect, Matt.”
“Come on.”
I said, tugging his hand, “I’ll walk you downstairs.”
Jamie nodded as he followed me down the stairs and to the
door, I opened it for him.
“I’ll see you
tomorrow?” He asked, as he stepped outside.
I glanced
out, noting that Noah was waiting in the car outside, “Of
course.” I replied smiling.
Then he surprised me as he
leaned forward and stole a kiss from my lips, “Goodnight,
babes.”
I stared at him for a few seconds, “Goodnight,
Jamie.”
He smiled again before he turned and headed to
the car. Noah didn’t seem to notice us kiss, but I doubt that
he would have minded anyway. I watched as Jamie opened the door and
got inside. I waved at him and Noah as they drove off, but Jamie,
being the little romanticist that he was, blew a kiss at me instead.
I giggled at him and watched as the car vanished into the
night.
“Matt!” Called out Josh.
I closed
the door and turned around, looking at Josh standing next to Adam,
“Yeah?”
“We’re going to bed now.”
He replied.
“Oh, ok then.” I walked forward, “I’ll
see you in the morning, don’t keep Adam up all night
snoring.”
Josh rolled his eyes at me, “I don’t
snore.”
“Or talking. We’ve got school
tomorrow.” I replied.
He nodded, “Ok.”
“Goodnight,
Josh.”
“Night, Matt.” He replied, wrapping
me in a hug, before he ran up the stairs after Adam.
“Connor
says that Jamie popped in.” Said Terry as he walked out of the
lounge.
I nodded, “Yeah, he just wanted to see how I was
doing.” I looked at him, “Thanks again for letting Josh
sleep over, the last few days have been bad for him.”
“Don’t
worry about it, you’re both welcome to stay as long as you
want.” He replied.
I smiled, “Thanks, but we
should be at home tomorrow. Hopefully.”
He walked
forward and squeezed my shoulder, “Give them time to digest
what you’ve told them. I’m sure they’ll come round
soon.”
I nodded, ‘
I hope so.’ I
thought to myself, ‘not
just for my sake, but for everyone else involved.’
I hope
you enjoyed reading this chapter of American Differences.
Any
comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.
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Emulated
Copyright © 2009 By Emulated