Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:26:18 +0000 From: Kyro Clark Subject: Glitter and Trauma 14 ============================================================================== Disclaimer. This story is a work of fiction although it is loosely based on the real life experiences of the author. This story contains graphical depictions of sexual contact between two adult males. This story also contains harsh language or swearing and depicts scenes of alcohol and drug use. It should not be read by anyone where it is illegal to read such material and should not be read by anyone under the age of 18. The author retains the copyright, and any other rights to this story. This story may not be published, copied or redistributed in any way without the explicit consent of the author. ============================================================================= Authors note. Hey! So as promised, the wait between chapters was a lot less than what it has been previously :D. This is the first chapter that my new editor helped me with, I dubbed him 'RedPanda' because Scotland (specifically Edinburgh) has just been given two giant Panda's from China and everyone is going Panda crazy. Hmm. Panda crazy, I like that, I think I may coin it :D Anyway, my new editor has given me permission to use his real name so I just want to say a big thanks to Josh for not only editing but helping me out with a few suggestions here and there, they really helped :-p. Not much has been happening lately, I have finished writing the first chapter of three other stories but I'm not sure if any of them will be uploaded. They're still pretty rough and are in the 'development stage.' Josh is being my sounding board (or beta reader if you will) as is someone else, (he knows who he is, but I don't want to mention him by name without asking if I can do so, first) so I may have another one or two or three stories out in the not too distant future. I've been getting a tonne of emails lately (I'm not really sure why, the story seems to be really taking off for some reason) which is obviously great, but it does mean that it's taking me a little while longer to get back to people. I promise that it's not that I'm disinterested in emailing you, quite the opposite; it's just taking me a while to answer everyone. Finally, I just want to sign off with something I wrote in an email to someone which I think is weirdly true. "Being human is about the imperfections. Weirdly, in order to be perfect, you need to be imperfect." Send any feedback to: kyro3@hotmail.co.uk And could you please include the title of the story, thanks in advance :D ============================================================================= RECAP: I looked down at the bag of pic n' mix, "That was... special but..." I paused unsure how I could word my feelings. "But..." Ryan hastened. "I do believe you, about everything you said earlier..." "But you just don't really trust me," Ryan said defeated. I looked up into his eyes briefly and shook my head; he had found the words that I couldn't. "I'm just so unsure," I said. Ryan looked down at the bag of pic n' mix thoughtfully. "Do you remember after our first time at the pictures, after I kissed you, you came to the flat the next day and you asked me to go out on a date with you?" "I remember." "You asked me to give you another chance." I knew what he was getting at; I knew what he was asking. "You'd still wanna go out with me knowing I'm in two minds about you?" I asked. Ryan nodded seriously before looking back into my eyes, "I don't blame you for not trusting me, not after everything that's happened, I probably wouldn't trust me just now," he smiled. "We can take it slow, and if nothing happens, then at least we've gained a friendship. Please," he pleaded. A warm smile swam across my face, how could I say no to him? Not while I was still unsure as to how I felt about him. "OK." I caved. A huge grin broke out across Ryan's face, "So can I pick you up tomorrow at eight and we can head to the pictures again, maybe get something to eat before it and just talk?" I smiled, "I'd like that." Ryan swung the dolphin in his hand up to his lips by the tail and caught the head in his mouth, I smiled and reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "G'night Ryan." ============================================================================= Glitter & Trauma Chapter 14 - By Kyro My eyes shot open and took in the darkened surroundings of my bedroom. "Fucking dreams," I groaned to myself as I threw the covers to the floor so I could cool off. It took me a few seconds to realise that I was hard...as a rock. Since everything that had happened with my family, I had barely been hard more than a handful of times. Most were random or spontaneous because I had been drinking so much coffee, and a couple were when I was with Ryan and Gregg. But bar a few incidents, I had been pretty flaccid for a month or so with absolutely no orgasm to speak of. I laughed to myself, "the irony." When I was at home, I was masturbating sometimes two or three times a day, and that was me when I was barely drinking any coffee. I'd been thrown out because I got caught looking at the gay porn I needed to get my rocks off, and now, because I had been thrown out, I didn't need porn as I wasn't getting off at all. I sat up on my bed laughing, "Jesus, a shrink would have a field day with me," I said smiling wryly. I stepped out of bed, picked my duvet up off the floor and tossed it onto the bed. I looked down at my rucksack, it was almost empty. Alex had shown me how to work the washing machine but I had barely bothered to use it. After the once or twice that I had used it, rather than coming in and putting the clean clothes away in a drawer, I had just thrown them on the floor next to the rucksack and the rest of the dirty clothes. It was now too difficult to tell what was clean and what was dirty. I had to have a cull, but I just couldn't be bothered, washing was boring. I yawned just thinking about it and stretched out again. I hadn't been for a run in a while so I decided to pull on a pair of jogging bottoms, my JLS hoodie, and my hat. I walked out into the hall and debated having a coffee or something to eat before I ran. I hated running on a full stomach so I pulled on my shoes and slipped outside. When I opened the exit of the flat's lobby, the wind howled and the rain came battering in through the door. It was torrential. I pulled my hood up, put my head down and began my run. Even with the wind battering me and the cold rain lashing against my face time and time again, I still enjoyed the jog, I enjoyed the fight with my exhausted body, begging me to stop and my mind; driving me on, just one more corner, just one more hill. 'Mind over matter,' I kept telling myself. When I finally made it back to the lobby entrance, I walked inside and closed the door behind me so I would be inside and away from the rain. I began pacing back and forth on the ground level trying to cool down and get my breath back, stretching my legs here and there. When my breathing finally returned to normal, I took a walk upstairs and entered the flat. "JAMIE?" I heard someone shout from the living room. Jesus, I was barely in the door and had to look like a wreck. "WHATS'S UP?" I shouted back. The living room door opened and out stepped Alex, "Can I have a word with you." His face seemed serious. "Sure, I was just out for a run, but if you give me 5 to shower and change then I'll - " "What the fuck are you wearing? JLS!" Alex burst out in a fit of laughter whilst pointing his finger at me. I just smiled back. "Leave it out, it was a gift." Alex was still chuckling with laughter, "that doesn't mean you have to wear it." "Just leave it out," I said getting ratty. "Whatever, cool, I'll be in the living room when you're done." I grabbed a towel and made my way to the bathroom. After turning the shower on and stripping off I stepped inside the shower and reached for the shower gel but my attention was elsewhere. My member had started to grow again. Jesus, this thing just wouldn't let up today. I thought about taking care of it but Alex was waiting on me and the last thing I needed when I was about to get off was pictures of Alex flying through my head. I took the shower gel and quickly gave myself a wash whilst deliberately ignoring my sex. After I washed my hair, I stepped out and began towelling myself off. I was completely at full mast now, why wasn't this letting up? I pushed my member up against my stomach and wrapped my towel around it so it didn't look obvious, I unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway where Rebecca and John stood, apparently ready to head out. "Unbe-fucking-leavable," I muttered to myself as I walked towards them and my room door, still hard but hopefully, inconspicuously. John began wolf-whistling before Rebecca tried to start up a conversation, "I heard things are going good with you and Ryan." "Yeah they're going better," I said stepping round her and trying to dart towards my room. "Just make sure you don't mess him around," she warned. "I won't," I said as I made my way down the home straight to my room door. I heard Rebecca let out a girly giggle before she shouted after me, "Go on; give us a wiggle!" I smiled which Rebecca couldn't see before I stepped inside my room and closed my door, I looked down at my towel, my erection had completely deserted me after the brief encounter I had with Rebecca. "Yep, I'm definitely gay," I said smiling. I picked up a various assortment of clothes and gave them all a sniff to see which smelled cleanest. I finally settled on a white vest, the jogging bottoms Ben had worn yesterday, and I threw on two odd socks which were closest to me (I didn't fancy giving them the sniff test though). I made sure to use a lot of deodorant and then set off to the kitchen. I walked in, put the kettle on and pulled out a bowl for myself, "So what's up?" I asked Alex as he sat and ate at the table. "Do you remember our conversation we had a few days ago?" I thought back, "Yeah, how did your night with Jodie go?" I asked as I poured myself some coffee and then some cereal. "It didn't, I cancelled," he answered sullenly. "Oh." "My parents called, they want me to go home for a family dinner." I took my cereal and coffee over to the table and sat opposite Alex, "What did you say?" "I asked to bring a friend." I nodded my head whilst I ate my cereal. Once I swallowed, I answered, "well, I'm still OK to go if you want me there." "Definitely, mate; thanks." He said breathing a sigh of relief; obviously he was worried that I wasn't going to come through for him. I nodded my head. "No probs. So when is it?" I asked. "It's today, they're having a Sunday dinner and they want it to just be me and them, but I insisted you came." Shit, that was sooner than I'd thought. "That's no problem," I lied coolly, I had to be calm for Alex, I could see he was nervous about the whole affair. "What time tonight?" I asked. "It'll start at about seven so we'll probably have to leave at six if that's cool." "No probs," I reaffirmed. "Do I have to wear anything fancy? I've not got any shirts or anything like that." Alex scratched his chin, "Do you have a plain jumper or something?" "Not really," I said scrunching my face up apologetically, "I'm more of a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy." "I know," Alex said nodding his head. "They'll probably have something to say to you anyway, it might as well be about your lack of shirt than something else." I smiled, "I'm sure you're just over-reacting, take it easy." "I'm not, seriously, I just wanna say I'm sorry in advance for what they say and please don't take anything they say to heart." I was going to tell him to calm down and that everything would be fine, but I could see he was clearly getting worked up, so I just nodded my head instead. "And even though they're my parents, I just wanna say that I'm not like them, no matter how much they say I am." "Alex mate, I've known you for ages and we live together. I know you, I don't need to meet your parents to 'get' you." Alex smiled nervously, clearly still uneasy, "I know, I'm just saying. Anyway, I'm away to start to get ready for it." Alex stood up and made his way out of the kitchen. He was away to get ready for it? It wasn't even midday yet! If I were to say that I wasn't worried, then it would be a lie. Alex had barely spoken to me about his parents but when he had , he had nothing nice to say about them. It wasn't them I was worried about, though; it was me. When I get nervous my tongue gets loose and I usually say something I don't mean or something stupid. Not only that but if they really were to continually 'have a go' at me I'd be likely to say something back. I wasn't sore about being poorer than most, but I wasn't going to let a couple of stuck-up elitists rip on me. I shook my head. I had already pre-judged them as elitists. That was wrong, I hadn't met them yet and I hated it when people did that to me. I had to go into this dinner being as open-minded about them as possible and yet somehow still stay on Alex's side should any argument happen. "This oughta be fun," I murmured. I stood up, put my empty bowl in the sink, and then walked out into the hallway on my way back to my room. Alex was standing at the front door looking through all his pairs of shoes, clearly looking for the cleanest ones whilst I walked towards him. Tonight at seven I thought to myself, but be ready for six. "SHIT!" I exclaimed. "What's up?" Alex asked alarmed. I forgot about Ryan. I was supposed to be going with him to the cinema tonight at eight; I'd never be back in time. But I couldn't let Alex down; just looking at him told me that. "Oh, eh... I just have to do washing that I forgot about," I lied. Great, now I have to do washing as well as let Ryan down, what a shit lie! I marched into my room, snatched at the mountain of clothes lying next to my bed, and then humphed them into the kitchen. I had to make another two trips to make sure I got all of my clothes into the kitchen, eventually though; I began separating them into 3 piles, darks, whites, and colours. While I was doing that I was thinking about what I should do with the Ryan situation. Should I head round to his flat and speak to him face to face? If I did then I'd probably have to see Louise and Danny which wasn't a particularly appetising thought. Should I call him? It's not as if this was that big of a deal. I wasn't cancelling a date and saying that I never wanted to see him again, I was just... postponing it. That sounded like a nice way of putting it. I made a mental note of that while I put the first bundle of clothes into the washing machine and started it up. My mobile was wrecked and I hadn't even managed to pick up a cheap one yet so I had to ask Alex to borrow his. He had tonnes of free minutes on his so he didn't mind loaning me it. I took his mobile and headed into my room to call Ryan. I rang Ryan's number and waited anxiously until he picked up. "Hi, what's up?" Wow, he had a strange phone voice, it sounded really deep and serious. "Eh hi Ryan, it's me... Jamie." "Oh, hi," he said in a much lighter and friendlier tone. That was weird. "Em, I was just calling about tonight." "What's up?" He asked. His mood sounded bouncy and jovial, it only further increased my feeling of guilt. "Ryan, I can't go tonight, I forgot I had this thing to do." "Oh..." there was a moment of silence while I tried to remember what I had planned to say to him. "What came up?" He asked. "Eh..." I couldn't tell him, I would be betraying Alex's trust; Alex didn't want anyone to know about his parents, he had deliberately gone out of his way to keep that part of his life private, it wasn't for me to go telling people. "It's just some stuff, nothing important." "You're cancelling our night out for 'nothing important?'" "It's not like that," I hurried. "I mean, it is important. And I'm not cancelling, I'm just postponing," I said relieved that I had remembered what to say. "Yeah, whatever." I heard a click and then a constant droning indicating that Ryan had hung up the phone. "Wow! That really couldn't have gone any worse." I slapped myself on the forehead 5 or 6 times, "Nothing important?! How big a fucking idiot am I? Jesus fucking Christ!" I made my way over to my desk and pulled out some uni notes. Keeping busy could only be a good thing. I scribbled and tried to study but I was too annoyed at myself and was constantly stopping as I had to attend to the mountain of washing in the kitchen. After a few hours and five or six washes, I decided that it was best that I started to get ready for tonight. I pulled on a pair of freshly washed, black skinnys and finally settled on a plain, dark grey t-shirt with a V-neck. When I looked at myself in the mirror I thought I looked pretty presentable, a bit boring and plain, but I was going to meet Alex's parents and this is what he wanted, I think. I walked out into the living room, sat and put on the TV whilst I waited on Alex. After a few minutes, at about ten to six, he came into the living room looking strangely smart. He was wearing a tan chequered shirt and a brown suit jacket with a pair of tan chords. I smiled, only Alex could pull off that look, he looked smart, rich, sophisticated, and somehow, he still seemed like the same Alex that I was use to; slumming around in a pair of chords and a t-shirt. "Ready?" he asked. "I was born with a set of Speedos baby, let's do this." Alex smiled, "Let's get it over with." We made our way outside and walked to the subway (or The Clockwork Orange as it is known locally) in relative silence. Alex was clearly nervous but I couldn't think of anything to say to calm him down or break the tension, so there was little to no conversation until the silence clearly became too much for him as we boarded the subway. "So how are you and Ryan getting on?" "OK," I lied. I don't think he needed to know that we had fallen out over where my presence was tonight. "Just OK?" he asked. I sighed; I hated all this lying and secrecy, could I tell him? Should I tell him? I'm sure if there was one person I could give the pure, unadulterated truth to without any repercussions it would be Alex, still though... I chewed my lip still unsure. "Spit it out for fuck's sake," Alex speeded. Apparently I had been thinking about what to say for too long. "Well, don't sweat it, but, we were supposed to be going out tonight, and obviously I had to cancel for this." I could see Alex's face turn red with annoyance, I should say something; I just don't know what. "You ditched Ryan for this?" Alex asked. "I didn't ditch him, I postponed." Why didn't I sound this honest and sincere when I told Ryan? "What did you tell him?" "Nothing, like you always say, 'I'd never break anyone's confidence,' that's a two way street you know," I said winking. Alex let out a bashful grin, "So Ryan was OK about it?" I scrunched my face up. "He doesn't really know, I never told him I'd be with you, I never told him who I'd be with, just that I couldn't make it tonight." "And he was OK about it?" I took a deep breath, thinking 'here comes the lie that I had been trying to avoid'; I nodded my head indicating yes. Alex nodded his head in response, "good, good. We're nearly here," he said, looking up at the subway's window. We exited the subway and made our way up a narrow lane before we exited onto a wide, open road. "Along here," Alex said pointing along the street. We continued to walk in silence as we passed house after house. My anxiety grew as each house we passed clearly increased in value; just how rich were Alex's family? Finally we came to a long hedge with a break in it where the driveway led up to a pure-white, arcane house. It was big, as was to be expected, but it looked beautiful. I wasn't a massive fan of architecture, but it was plain to see that this wasn't your typical square building with four walls and a roof; there was beautiful stonework, pristinely clean brickwork, and a lawn that was clearly very well looked after. "Nice pad," I commented. Alex just made a non-committal grunt before he started walking towards the door; I had to break into a brisk walk just to keep up. Finally we came to the door and Alex rang the doorbell. It made a stereotypical ding-dong noise which made me smile and Alex mutter something under his breath. After a few minutes the door swung open and there stood a man, not much smaller than Alex (if at all) with a round face, short brown hair and a pair of square spectacles. He was wearing a suit and my immediate reaction was 'Jesus, I'm underdressed for this.' "Come on in son. This must be your friend," he said looking at me. "Hi, I'm Jamie, nice to meet you," I said extending my hand. "I'm Albert, Alex's dad," he said giving my hand a very firm shake while I stepped in the door. "Ahhhh son, you've got a weak grip," the man said whilst letting go of my hand. "It tells the person you're shaking hands with that you're unsure, unconfident and insecure. When shaking someone's hand you should always give them a firm handshake with a firm grip. Do you want to try it again?" He asked me. I was completely baffled and the only response I could come up with was, "Eh..." "No dad, he doesn't want to try it again," Alex said whilst taking me by the shoulder and shepherding me down the hallway. This house was HUGE. You could fit my old house inside it three or four times over. It was even bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside, and it looked giant from the outside. A small plump woman walked towards us wearing an apron and a determined expression. Wow, this is not how I pictured Alex's mum. I always thought she'd be tall and good looking, not too dissimilar to Alex. Obviously Alex takes after his dad in the height department. I extended my hand as the women got closer. "Hi, I'm Jamie, Alex's friend, nice to meet you." The woman's eyes blazed as if I had just mortally offended her. Jesus, I was only introducing myself, not threatening to kill her and all her family. "Jamie, this is Rose, our maid. You and Alex can give her your jackets," Albert said. "You've got a maid?" Alex asked his dad with a hint of annoyance in his voice. I put my hand back down at my side, embarrassed that I thought this was Alex's mother. "Just for three days a week. Your mum and I are so busy with work that it's sometimes difficult to keep up with this place." No wonder, this place is HUGE, I thought to myself. "But there are just two of you, how difficult could it be to clean up after two people?" Alex asked. "Is that my charming son's dulcet tones I hear?" a slightly high pitched voice called from a door on my left. Alex turned and looked at me, "My mum." The door to my left opened up and through it stepped a tall, slim, striking woman. Her brown hair was tied up in some sort of intricate knot that showed-off her stunning facial features, her eyes were an intimidating shade of blue and she wore a deep red lipstick. Her dress was of a dark nature and depending on which way the light caught it, it would sometimes look either purple, or red. I could tell immediately that it must have cost an absolute fortune. She leaned over and gave Alex a brief and slightly distant hug. It was as if Alex was carrying a highly contagious disease and she didn't want to catch it from him; there was no warmth in it. "It's good to see you mum," Alex grumbled before he turned his attention to me slightly. "Mum, this is the friend I was telling you about, Jamie. Jamie, this is my mum, Elizabeth." Alex said introducing us. I took a step forwards and extended my hand, "It's nice to meet you." She took my hand and like her husband gave me a firm shake. This, coming from a man, was rather annoying, but coming from a woman, was just downright unsettling and awkward. "Hmmph," she said breaking the shake. "You have a weak grip. Did you know that this subconsciously tells the person - " "He knows, mum," Alex jumped in. His mum didn't look too pleased about being interrupted but instead turned her attention to Alex. "I see you still haven't shaved that godforsaken mess off of your face yet?" Jesus! My jaw just about hit the floor and I could see Alex physically biting his lip, but to his credit, he never said anything. "Anyway, shall we head into the living room and have a drink whilst we wait on the maid preparing the dinner?" Albert asked clearly hoping to diffuse the tension. "Certainly," Elizabeth replied. Wow! They didn't even use her name; they just referred to her as 'the maid.' "What would you like to drink Alexander?" Elizabeth asked. Alex let out a sigh, "Will you please call me Alex?" "Don't be silly, it was me who named you Alexander, why would I call you Alex?" "Because I hate being called Alexander." He said taking a seat in the living room. I sat down on the couch next to him. Alex's mum stopped walking at the door that lead back out into the hallway and just stared at Alex. Finally Alex let out a sigh and shook his head. "Anything, a beer or a cider please." Alex's mum let out a shrill high-pitched laugh that sounded less jovial and more manic. It completely startled me and I'm sure it gave Alex a fright too. "Cider is the drink of the poor, dear, but we do have some Dutch beer that your father has become rather attached to. Would you care for the same, Jamie?" "Em, yes please," I answered. "I'll pour us a few glasses then gents," Albert said as he walked back out into the hallway with his wife. I looked to my right and Alex was rubbing his forehead with his eyes closed, "You really thought I was kidding; didn't you? You really thought I was laying it on thick. You were probably thinking, 'oh I'm sure they're not that bad, I'm sure Alex is just exaggerating.'" "They're really not that bad," I lied trying to reassure him that I was OK. "If you want to leave, right now, I wouldn't blame you. In fact, I'm honestly considering just getting up and leaving myself." I gave him a nudge with my shoulder which made him open his eyes and look at me. "You came here because you wanted to have some sort of relationship with your parents, just try and stick it out for a bit, It's only a couple of hours, and besides, I'm fucking starving and that dinner smells awesome," I joked. I finally got a laugh out of Alex that seemed to ease a bit of the tension. A few minutes later Albert walked back in with a tray carrying three glasses of beer. He handed me and Alex one each and we both thanked him. "So, how is university going, Alexander?" I immediately felt Alex tense up to my right. As Albert wasn't talking to me, I decided to take a sip of my beer and I couldn't help but scrunch my face up after I had tasted it, it tasted like wine! It tasted absolutely nothing like beer, it was like drinking vinegar. I never once in my life considered that there would be a beer on this planet that I didn't like. Somehow though, I had found one. I quickly straightened my face and noticed that Albert was looking at me; I could feel myself turning red so I quickly shot my gaze to the floor. "It's going fine. Me and Jamie are in the same classes and both of us are doing well, we're near the top of the class." I arched my brow before I quickly straightened my face. There was no way to know who was top of the class at this stage in the semester, but I remember Alex telling me how much pressure his parents put on his academic success. Apparently he thought it would help things between them if he was to simply lie and appease them. I didn't even notice Alex's mum standing at the door until she began to speak, "That's good; I'm glad to hear that you've started living up to your potential and stopped your waning grades from deteriorating any further. I'll bet it's because you've stopped being friends with this plebeian, East- ender you spoke of and found more suitable associates." It took me a few seconds to realise just what she had said, but when I did, it felt like someone had put a knife through my stomach, she was talking about me. I was the plebeian she was talking about, I was the East-ender, and it was me who was from the opposite end of the city where there weren't any white houses with massive interiors and perfect lawns. I swallowed hard, I wasn't going to cry, not by a long shot, but her comment had really knocked me for six. It took Alex shifting awkwardly in the seat next to me to remind me why I was here. I plastered a smile on my face and looked up towards Elizabeth as she walked into the living room and sat on the couch next to her husband. "Stop calling them that mum. It doesn't matter where they from, if they're decent people then that's all that matters," Alex spoke up. "That's a noble sentiment son, but how many Prime Ministers do you know who have been from underprivileged backgrounds? How many C.E.O.s have been from the slums? None. That's how many. You may be having the time of your life at university meeting people from all sorts of backgrounds, but eventually the novelty will wear off and when it comes to the end of the day, you'd best stick with your own kind otherwise these lower-class charity cases will bleed you dry. Isn't that right, Jamie?" There was an awkward silence while I took a quick drink of my beer, my throat felt like it had shrivelled up to the size of a pinhole and I didn't know what to say. My heart was telling me to tell this woman that it doesn't matter where you come from in life; that I've never asked Alex for anything more than his friendship and that her stuck-up prehistoric views are nothing but classist bullshit. But my head, my head was telling me to bite my tongue, my head was telling me that I'm not here to change the views of a narrow-minded, bigoted, intolerant bitch. My head was telling me that these two people sitting in front of meant nothing. My head was telling me that I'm here for the guy sitting to my right, I'm here to help him in any way that I can, even if that means self- deprecation and swallowing my pride. "Yeah, I know what you mean," was all I could manage to say. "See, someone with some sense," Alex's dad chirped in. I could feel Alex tense up beside me. I didn't know how he was going to react and I couldn't think of a way to pass him a message telling him that it was OK. Thankfully though, the tension was broken by Rose as she entered the room. "Dinner is ready, Ma'am." "Ah, excellent. Shall we?" Alex's mum said as she stood up and began making her way out to the hallway, Albert followed straight behind her with Alex and I trailing behind him. Just as Alex and I made it to the door he quickly spun round to face me, "Jamie I can't apologise enough, I promise, if they keep this up, I'll say something and we can leave, I'm not sitting through and hour - " "Alexander dear, where are you and your friend? Don't be tardy, the dinner is about to be served." Elizabeth shouted from the kitchen. "Seriously Alex, I don't mind, I'm here for you, don't go arguing with your parents about me or anything like that. You're here to make it up with them and build bridges. I know it's gotta be hard, but you're doing well. Just try and keep your temper and trust me, I'm fine," I said giving him what I hoped would be my most reassuring smile. He gave me a curt nod before he turned round and began to lead the way. I took a deep breath to compose myself and then I followed into the dining room. For the second time tonight, my jaw hit the floor. The dinner table looked utterly amazing and like nothing I had ever seen before, not even in movies. The table was large and could easily seat twelve or so people but places had only been set for four people set near the top of the table, next to each other. There was an intricate cloth or shroud covering the table that looked more expensive than anything I've ever known or even touched. On top of the table cloth though, was some of the finest dinnerware I had ever seen in my life. There were candle holders, actual candle holders! And they weren't made of some cheap metal and then painted gold to look decorative, these candle holders were silver, and you could tell just by the astounding shine and reflection that they were real and solid to the core. There were three plates, one in the middle and two to the left hand side. The main plates, which we were to eat off (or at least I hoped that's what we were to do with them), had a white background with a gold rim. I hoped to god that the rim wasn't real gold. In the centre of the plates were beautifully detailed greyscale pictures of men, women, horses and carriages all from the Victorian age. I looked at the wine glasses and thankfully nothing seemed too fancy about them, they just seemed like normal wine glasses, but a feeling of panic and anxiety overtook me as I paid a bit more attention to the table set-up. There were forks, lots and lots of forks! In my house, even when we had a fancy meal, there was only one knife, one fork and one spoon which we used for the starter, main course and dessert. There was a row of glistening forks and knives on either side of the delicate dinner plates, and I even counted four spoons, FOUR! I tried to think back to when I was a lot younger and I went to my cousin's wedding. There was a set-up like this although it was nowhere near as fancy. I remember my dad telling something about which set of cutlery to use. He said that you always eat in the way, or was it out? Oh shit! Do you start from the farthest away set of cutlery and as the dishes progress you choose a set of cutlery which is nearer to the plate or is it vice versa? There was a place set at the top of the table, two places set to the right hand side of the table and one final place set on the left hand side. I naturally assumed that Alex and I would be sitting at the two positions near the right hand side with Alex's dad sitting at the top of the table and Elizabeth sitting opposite Alex and me. But as Alex and I began to walk up the same side of the table Elizabeth intervened. "Alex dear, you know you don't sit there, you sit on the other side of the table," she said as she walked out of what I can only assume to be the kitchen. "But I thought I'd sit next to Jamie, he's my guest," Alex pointed out. Elizabeth took a sharp tone. "As you don't live here anymore, technically both you and your friend are my guests." Jesus! That sounded cruel, even for this woman. And why does she keep referring to me as Alex's friend and not Jamie? Apparently Elizabeth thought that her last comment was mildly discourteous because she quickly moved to soften her stance. "It'll be just like old times, with your father at the head and you and I sitting on either side of him." Wow, they really know how to make a guest feel welcome. Alex walked past me around to the other side of the table and slumped into his seat to the left of his father. His mum took her seat and I sat down next to her. It wasn't until I sat down that I realised just how wide the table was. I practically needed a set of binoculars to see Alex. I had barely any time to dwell on that before Rose came out and served each of us a bowl of soup. I looked down at the bowl. The liquid in the soup was a funny orange-brown colour, it didn't look appetising in the slightest. But that wasn't the main problem; the main problem was that there was so much in the bowl beside the actual liquid itself. There were masses of vegetable leaves, mushrooms, and chillies all erupting from the centre of the bowl like Mount Vesuvius. "This is Thai chicken coconut soup, one of my favourites," Elizabeth announced. "And one of Albert's favourites too." I looked up to Albert and he was nodding slightly as he brought the spoon up to his mouth loaded with soup. Shit! I didn't see which spoon he had chosen. My eyes quickly darted to Elizabeth's hands just in time to see her take the spoon which was second from the top, my stomach sank. 'There goes my theory of picking the cutlery farthest out and then moving inwards,' I thought. I picked the same spoon as Elizabeth, carefully took some of the liquid from the side of the bowl, and then brought it to my mouth. My initial reaction was that the soup tasted sweet. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be sweet or whether something had gone very wrong in the making, I quickly glanced up at Albert who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his soup. I moved my spoon back down to the bowl in preparation for another mouthful when I suddenly felt a slight tingle start on the tip of my tongue, it was a slight nipping which soon became a full blown inferno and overtook my mouth, apparently this was a sweet and fire soup! I quickly reached for my beer, hoping to douse the fire in my mouth when Elizabeth decided to take notice of me. "Oh Jamie, you can't drink that at the dinner table. How ignorant of us, we forgot to bring out the wine," she said putting her hand on my forearm and preventing from brining the glass up to my mouth. "Please forgive us," she asked before she called for 'the maid' and a bottle of wine. I sat there with firestorm raging through my mouth and throat and I was completely unable to do anything about it. I picked up my spoon and took another sip of the soup hoping that the last spoonful was somehow a freak incident. At first, I thought I was right as the sweet taste of the soup began to soothe the fire in my mouth, but after a few seconds, just like the last time, I felt a tingle start on my tongue which soon overtook my mouth. I could feel my face turning red and I was actually starting to sweat after only two mouthfuls, is this even possible? And where the fuck was Rose? Was she fucking squashing the grapes for this wine herself? My mouth was hotter than Satan's hellhole! "How do you like the soup, Alexander?" Elizabeth asked. I looked up from my soup with slightly watery eyes to see Alex sitting opposite me with the same expression of watered eyes and a crimson face. But to my utter astonishment, he almost had an empty bowl but for all the leaves and chillies. Even with his crimson face and teary eyes, he didn't seem deterred. He was shovelling mouthful after mouthful down his throat with a haste that you would only expect to see from starving Africans. I was shocked and utterly beside myself with laughter, but I couldn't show it, I couldn't even smile for fear of drawing attention to myself of what Alex was doing; he had taken this starter as some sort of task and seemed desperate to conquer it. "All done!" He proclaimed. "That was delicious." He said utterly beaming from ear to ear. I looked round to Alex's mum who seemed slightly taken aback that he was finished already. Just then, to my great relief, Rose walked back in and poured each of us a glass of wine. I took another a few, large spoonfuls of soup before I immediately reached for my wine glass and took a hefty draught from it. I don't like wine, in fact I hate it, but I would quite gladly have taken the bottle from the middle of the table and drank the entire thing in one. I could see Alex opposite me taking a large gulp of his. I'm sure I must have looked pretty flustered and shocked by the entire starter, but Alex seemed to handle the entire thing with a sense of calm and control. I wonder if he knew what we would be eating and how hot it would be? If he did and didn't tell me, then I'm going to kick him square in the nuts after this dinner. "So Alexander, you said your studies are going well, when are your exams?" Albert asked. And for the rest of the starter Alex kept talking about his exams and his subjects. He would include me in the conversation every now and again but he seemed determined to make sure that he did most of the talking. I'm sure he did this so that his mum and dad weren't saying much at all. 'Smart,' I thought. After Rose took the plates away and bought out the main course of poached salmon and potatoes, Alex seemed to run out of things to say about uni and exams, this left a lull in the conversation which his mum pounced on ruthlessly. "So Alexander." It seemed that she was using his full name at every opportunity, even when it was obvious who she was speaking to. "How is everything in the flat?" "Eh... OK. Actually, Jamie's moved in with me now." "Oh, what happened to the other boy?" Albert asked. "John? He's still there; there are three of us now." Alex said tentatively. I didn't know what kind of reaction he was expecting from his parents but he was apparently really cautious about it. His mum swallowed the bite of salmon she had in her mouth before she began, "so does this mean that you won't be coming to us looking for any more hand-outs?" It's a good thing that I never had anything in my mouth otherwise I may just have choked on it. Even from the other side of the table I could see Alex's face redden and his grasp on his fork tighten. "No mother," he said dryly. "You needn't worry about me coming to you and asking for anything ever again." The amount of menace and venom in Alex's voice was intimidating but Elizabeth seemed to brush it off unnoticed. "Oh good, that's nice to hear," she said pleasantly. It was the first time in the entire evening that her voice sounded upbeat and sort of... mum-like. "Learning to stand on your own two feet, that's what I like to see," Albert said whilst nodding his head like one of those stupid, plastic dogs you'd see in the back of a car. Alex merely continued eating and didn't say a word. My heart went out to him. I don't think I've ever felt this sorry for anyone in my life. I genuinely felt a pain in my chest. Maybe I got off easy by making a clean break from my family? I may not have heard anything from them for well over a month now and they may have thrown me out, disowned me, and said that they couldn't accept who I am, but at least they didn't give me abuse like this on a daily basis. Alex's mum and dad were constantly giving Alex cloaked insults and abuse. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to put up with that whilst growing up. Living in this kind of poisonous atmosphere would turn many a person into a bitter, twisted bastard. But not Alex, he had somehow come through it and became one of the best people I know. The rest of the dinner passed by with Elizabeth and Albert talking about their friends' children who were at university. They were constantly saying how amazing this one was and how smart that one was. It was as if they were constantly trying to either rub Alex's nose in the fact that he didn't really have any extra-curricular activities, or they were trying to show him how bad a career choice it was to pick engineering (they would much rather he chose Law or Business or Economics), or they were just trying to make him jealous either out of spite or out of some misplaced expectation that this jealousy would drive him to the top of the class. Whatever the reason, it didn't work. They weren't getting a rise out of him anymore and I think that bugged them more than anything else. I don't know about his parents, but seeing Alex so deflated was utterly infuriating me. Everyone had finished their dessert but no one had moved from the table. I had an inclination that we would be served tea and coffee if we were to sit here any longer and I don't think Alex could go much more of his parents. There was a large antiquated clock on the wall behind Alex which read 8:23, I thought it would be best if I took some of the heat and got Alex out of there. "Does anyone have the time?" I asked as politely as I could. I had decided to sound as absurdly posh as was possible in a bid to curry some favour. "Only, I have to be back at the flat for nine o'clock tonight, I'm afraid I'm supposed to be meeting a female acquaintance for a night cap." Alex immediately knew that I was taking the piss. I never speak that politely and certainly not in that tone of voice. I saw him sit up slightly, grin and look at the big clock on the wall behind him. I knew that his parents would consider me rude for leaving, but it was the best that I could come up with at short notice and if it helped to take some of the heat off of Alex then I didn't mind. "Two dinner dates in the one night?" Elizabeth asked. "It's not a dinner date, just a nightcap," I reaffirmed. "It's almost half eight, Jamie." Alex said. "Mum, dad, thank you for the lovely dinner," Alex said standing up, "but we really must be going if we're to catch the subway and get home for 9." I stood up too and turned towards my dinner hosts. "Thank you for the lovely dinner and the charming evening. And again, I apologise for having to leave so early, please forgive me." Alex's mum stood up and brushed her dress down. "There's nothing to forgive. Albert and I hope to see you again; only next time, if you don't mind, could you do two tiny things for me?" "Anything," I said smiling. I knew something was coming, some sort of insult, but I just didn't know exactly what. "I hope it wouldn't be in bad taste to ask to you dress more accordingly next time and to not schedule another date afterwards. Only, I feel like we've barely gotten to know you because you're leaving so early." "Crying shame," Albert said as he stood up and gave Alex a handshake before he turned to me with his hand extended, I couldn't suppress the wry grin on my face as I just about crushed the man's hand as we shook. The look on his face was priceless and it felt like a tiny bit of justice in an otherwise fucked up situation! After we were given our coats and said our goodbyes, we stepped out into the cool crisp night. I took a deep breath and we began our walk towards the subway. We were only halfway towards the subway when Alex suddenly stopped; I came to a halt only a few steps later and looked back to see Alex shaking his head. "What's up?" I asked. It was the first piece of conversation we had since we had left his parents' house. "I should go back, I should tell them they're wrong, I should have stuck up for you," Alex said sounding hurt. I felt a warmth towards Alex that I hadn't felt towards anyone since me and Tweak had fallen out. He was willing to defend me against his parents, even though it would most likely mean the final nail in the coffin of his and his parents' relationship. "I don't need you to stick up for me," I smiled. "You did great, mate; honestly. They were baiting you at every turn of hand and were doing everything in their power to get an argument out of you. But you just rose above it. Not to mention the fact that you said loud and clear that you didn't agree with their generalisation about people who are less than well-off." "It just makes me sick to think that they think like that," Alex said. "Well I'll tell you a secret; and if you repeat it to anyone else I'll deny it to the grave." "What?" Alex asked. "It makes me proud to think that you're their son, and you don't think like that. It couldn't have been easy growing up with them as parents." A small smile began to creep across Alex's face and he shook his head slightly as I walked over and gave him a hug which he pretended to return reluctantly. "Alright, alright," he joked breaking the hug, "But I'm still not gonna gay you." We both began to laugh. To Be Continued... Send any feedback to: kyro3@hotmail.co.uk I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!!!