Chapter 11

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Oliver's POV

I can't believe Mom was so accepting so quick! It's amazing! We've been talking since I told her and she's been asking about Sam and I. Keeping her questions to the basics; how long, and why didn't we tell her sooner. We're all helping to make dinner now.

"Can you pass me the flour?" I ask Sam as Mom puts the rolls in the oven. Sam grabs the flour and passes it across the counter to me, accidentally getting flour all over my shirt.

"Sorry," Sam stifles a laugh as he goes back to seasoning the chicken.

"Sure you are," I nod and pour the right amount of flour into the bowl of ingredients. Once the food is done cooking we put the brownie mix into the oven to let it cook while we eat.

"Thank you, Mom, for being so accepting and letting us help with dinner."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm just loving my kid. How could I not?" We all smile and talk as we eat the dinner we prepared. After eating we wash dishes and put leftovers in the fridge before getting the brownies into a better container. We each have one before putting the rest on the counter in their container.

Coming out went great, dinner was amazing and the brownies were delicious. What could go wrong?

As Mom, Sam, and I are cleaning up the kitchen of any ingredients or remnants of the meal, the front door is thrown open and Dad lets his stuff hit the floor next to him with a loud thud. "Oliver Smith, what the hell is wrong with you?!" he booms through the house, I stop dead in my tracks and Sam quickly throws the paper towel in the trash as Mom goes to meet Dad at the door.

"What's wrong?" Mom asks him as Sam and I step into the living room.

"What is he doing here!? You know the rules, Oliver," Dad gives me an angry look as Sam steps slightly in front of me and Dad's anger rises.

"I- I-"

"Get that punk out of my house," he points at Sam.

"No," the sternness in my tone shocks even me. "I'm assuming Danny told you everything?"

"You're goddamn right he did. Now get him out of my house before I make him leave."

"No! If Danny told you everything, then you know that I'm gay, Sam and I are together, and you can't change that. You're not dictating my life anymore. I never liked Danny, he's an egotistical asshole that doesn't care about who someone is as long as they aren't poor, gay, or out of tradition in any way. I won't let you tell me who to be around anymore. It's my life."

"You ungrateful little runt," he almost growls instead of speaking. "You," he points at Sam as he gets closer, "get out of my house, and you," he turns to me, "you are never talking to that punk again. You will go to school and come right home, not going to the store or diner. Nothing. You come home and sit in your room until I say you can leave. I've had it."

"Chad, that's a bit harsh don't you think? He's a teenager," Mom tries to help.

"Clare, stay out of this!" Dad yells.

"Stop!" I yell back. "I'm not doing any of that! I'm almost eighteen, I can make my own decisions and you can't stop me from being gay by locking me up like I'm your prisoner! You're my father, not my warden!"

"How can you be so ungrateful?!" He gets only a foot away from me as Sam stays closer, his fists clenched at his sides. "I've given you everything!"

"You've given me everything that I don't want! That room is filled with the stuff you want me to like! Not any of the stuff I actually care about!" I can see how angry he is by how dark the grey in his eyes has become.

"Get out," I can barely hear him but I take a step back, my expression going from angry to scared in a millisecond.

"What?"

"Get the shit you apparently hate, and get the fuck out of my house."

"Chad!" Mom yells. "No, you can't kick him out." Sam and I go to my room and I start putting clothes in my bag as Mom pleads with Dad.

"You can stay at my place," Sam says as we grab my books.

"Thanks," I nod and I put my bag over my shoulder. "I don't need anything else right now so we can just go."

"Okay," he nods and we leave my room. Mom argues with Dad as we walk to the front door. It's already dark as we put our shoes on.

"Ollie," Mom comes over to us as I tie my shoes. "Are you staying with Sam?" I nod. "Okay, call me and text me. Go to school, I'll talk to your father."

"Okay, Mom," I nod as she follows us to Sam's bike.

"I love you, be safe and responsible," tears fall from her eyes.

"I will. I love you too," I hug her for a few moments before pulling away, wiping one of her tears away. I put my helmet on after putting my glasses in my bag and get behind Sam as he starts the bike.

He pulls away from my house and I watch it all disappear as we turn the corner. After only a few minutes we stop and Sam leads me inside. His house isn't that big. It's nice. "You should shower and change. There's still flour on your shirt and a shower helps a lot of things," I nod and Sam shows me the bathroom.

I take one of the shirts and some pajama pants from my bag and take a shower. The shower is relaxing. Why does Dad have to be such a dick? Why couldn't he have accepted me like Mom did? Maybe he'll come around one day. But he probably won't. He's stubborn and he hates anything that doesn't fit his view. I'm glad I'm finally out of that place.

After the shower, I put on the clean clothes and leave the bathroom. Sam is sitting on the couch watching TV with a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

"Hey," he smiles so kindly as I step toward him. "Wanna talk?"

"No," I mutter and shake my head. "What are you watching?" I sit next to him.

"A Disney show. I can't remember the name," he shrugs as I sit next to him. It's an animated show with a human in a realm of demons and witches. It's actually really entertaining. I lay my head on Sam's shoulder as we watch the show and eat popcorn. A few episodes into the show we run out of popcorn so Sam pauses it to make more.

Maybe this is a good thing. I don't have to be home by a certain time and Sam is being nice enough to let me stay here. I'm finally free of all my dad's stupid rules. Like his rule about going out after curfew. If it's after six I can't do anything with anyone unless Dad knows them, their family, what we're doing, and where we're going. Well, not anymore.

But what about Mom? I just left her there with Dad. What is she gonna do? What will Dad do? I know he has anger issues and he yells a lot, but would he hurt her?

"Hey, it's okay. Why are you crying?" Sam appears next to me as he sets the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

"What?" I feel the tears forming in my eyes as one slips. "Oh, I- I didn't realize."

"What were you thinking about?" he calmly sits next to me, turning on the couch so he's facing me.

"Nothing, just stressed," I shrug.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened?" He looks concerned as he gently wipes one of the tears from my face.

"Not tonight," I shake my head. "Can we just relax?" I sniffle and wipe my face on my arm.

"Of course," he nods and presses play on the show as we sit with the popcorn. I can feel a few more tears rolling down my face but I ignore them as we watch the show.

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