“Upon arrival the guests had all stared. Dripping wet and clearly depressed, he’d headed straight for the stairs. No longer cool but a boy in a stitch, unprepared for a life full of lies and failing relationships.”

                I couldn’t tell whose tongue was in whose mouth, or where my body ended and where Will’s began. I just knew that our shirts were on the ground, our bodies were pressed together, and we were making out heavily.

                “Up the stairs, the station where the act becomes the art of growing up.”

                I pulled Will’s body closer to mine, if that were even possible. My heart was racing, and lust was steadily consuming my body.

                The door creaked open and Will jerked away from me. Sonnet made a face at us and shook her head.

                “Gross. Mom told me to tell you dinner was ready. She called to you, but obviously you were too busy to hear,” she said.

                “Get out, bitch!” Will snapped, whipping a pillow at her head.

                Sonnet caught the pillow and snickered, dropping it to the floor and leaving his room, the door still open. Will rolled off of me and rubbed at his eyes, his face heating up in embarrassment.

                “Stupid bitch,” he grumbled, standing up and tossing my shirt to me as he pulled his own back on.

                “So much more than he could ever give, a life free of lies and a meaningful relationship. He keeps his hands pinned down at his sides. He waits for it to end, and for the aching in his gut to subside.” Will’s speakers continued to sing on.

                Will went over and snatched his iPod, stopping the music. I stood up, running my hands through my hair to fix it.

                “I’m going to head home before my mom thinks I’m dead in the school parking lot,” I said.

                “Bye,” Will said.

                I left their house and popped in my earphones. “Got you down on bended knee, what should my next weapon be?” I mumbled along with my music.

                I was worried about Will. Despite the make out we had slipped into after Asher had left, Will had been acting weird.

                He was worried about people discovering his sexuality. Jude was doing this to him on purpose, and god only knew how far Jude would take this.

                I pushed my front door open and went inside. I went upstairs, following the smell of food into the dining room.

                “Ethan!” mom said in surprise. “I didn’t realize you were coming home for dinner.”

                “Surprise bitch, I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me,” I said and sat down at the table.

                Mom rolled her eyes. “Well, I made enough in case you did come home,” she said, setting food down on the table. “Let me just get your father and then we can eat.”

                She disappeared and reappeared with my dad trailing behind her a minute later. They sat down across from me and we started eating in silence.

                “So where have you been disappearing to lately, Ethan?” dad asked.

                Oops, I guess I forgot to tell my parents I had a hot mess of a boyfriend.

                “Will’s house. We’re dating,” I said with a shrug.

                “You’re dating someone?” mom asked in surprise.

                “Yea. Remember Will? The moody guy with the dark hair? He came here once,” I said. “He’s Sonnet’s brother. I guess I forgot to tell you that we’re going out.”

                “So that’s why you don’t come home some nights?” my dad asked, but I could easily read the question within.

                “No, we’re not having crazy amounts of sex, dad,” I said. “I’m not that lucky.”

                “Ethan!” my mom said sternly, blushing a little. My father was also blushing a little. They had accepted my sexuality, but the thought of me doing it with another guy apparently hadn’t settled in yet.

                “What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “I just told you I’m still a virgin. Don’t give me the stern voice for that!”

                “You should invite him over for dinner. We’d like to meet him,” mom said, changing the subject.

                “Do I have to?” I groaned.

                “Yes!” she said. “Invite him over for dinner tomorrow, Ethan. We want to meet him. Right, Greg?”

                My dad shrugged. “Sure, let’s meet him.”

                “Just don’t be weird,” I said with a sigh.

                We finished eating and I went to my room, pulling out my cell phone. I dialed Will’s number and leaned against my wall as it rang.

                “What do you want?” he answered.

                “My mom is demanding that you come over for dinner tomorrow to meet her and my dad,” I said.

                “I’d love to meet your dad,” he said, and I could imagine the bitter smile on his face. “I’ll come to your house when I get out of class tomorrow.” He hung up.

                “Ass,” I grumbled, tossing my phone onto my nightstand.

                Well, tomorrow would certainly be interesting.

                                                                                                ***

                “Can you drop me off at my house today?” I asked Benji as I caught up to him afterschool.

                “Sure,” he said with a shrug. “You’re not hanging out with Will?”

                “He’s coming to my house for dinner,” I said miserably.

                “I’m glad I never have to go through an awkward first dinner with Gideon’s parents,” he said, laughing.

                “My parents love you,” Gideon said, also laughing. “I remember going to Jude’s house for dinner for the first time after we started dating. His parents were always really nice to me.”

                “Oh yea, I got the pleasure of meeting Nate’s brother yesterday,” I said.

                “Asher?” Benji asked curiously.

                “You know him?” I asked.

                Benji and Gideon both nodded. “He was on the soccer team. I mean, we didn’t really know Asher that well. But he taught us some moves,” Benji said.

                “I always liked him more than Nate,” Gideon said. “Before I broke up with Jude, Nate and I got along pretty well. But Nate was an ass to Benji a lot, so I never really liked him that much.”

                “Let’s go. It’s raining really badly out,” Benji said, looking around. “Where’s Sonnet?”

                “Here,” Sonnet said, appearing in front of us. “Sorry, I was turning something in.”

                We left the school, hurrying down to the parking lot and jumping into Benji’s car. It was absolutely pouring rain outside.

                Benji dropped Sonnet and Gideon off before driving to my house. I only lived about five minutes away from Benji.

                “Thanks. I’m going to go bash my head against the wall until I’m dead before Will gets to my house,” I said.

                Benji rolled his eyes and pat me on the back. “It’ll be fine Ethan,” he said with a bright smile.

                “Probably not. See you later,” I said, getting out of his car and dashing into my house.

                I went into my bedroom and changed my clothes. It was raining so freaking hard outside. Maybe the world would drown before I had to face dinner with my parents and boyfriend.

                After about an hour of me contemplating burning my house down, the doorbell rang. I sprinted out of my room to go let Will in before my mom got to the door.

                “Will,” I said, pulling the door open. “Run. Run while you have the chance.”

                “Not happening,” he said, pushing me out of the way and stepping into my house.

                He was soaking wet from the rain. He shrugged his jacket off and I hung it over the banister before leading him upstairs.

                “I knew I could make people wet, but I didn’t realize I could do this,” I said, gesturing to his drenched body.

                “Oh, shut up,” he said with a scowl.

                I pulled him into the kitchen, where my mom was setting the table. She looked up and smiled at Will, trying to hide her excitement that I was having intimate human interaction.

                “Hello,” she greeted.

                “Mom, Will. Even though you’ve already met him,” I said.

                I tugged Will so that he was sitting next to me at the table. Mom finished setting the table and frowned at Will.

                “Will, do you want a towel?” she asked.

                “No thanks,” Will said, pushing his wet hair out of his face. “I’m fine.”

                My dad came into the dining room. I caught the flash in his eyes before it was gone. There sat his son. His gay son. The boy that had let him down in every possible way, right down to who he was kissing.

                “Dad, this is Will. Even though you’ve also already met him,” I said. I could tell by Will’s expression that he had seen that look in my dad’s eyes too.

                “We briefly met him, Ethan,” mom reminded, sitting down with us.

                “So, Will, how old are you? Ethan said you’re Sonnet’s brother,” dad said as we began to pile food onto our plates.

                “I’m 20,” Will said. “And yea, Sonnet’s my little sister. Sadly.”

                “She scares me,” I said.

                “She scares everyone,” he said with a scowl.

                “Are you in college?” mom asked him.

                Will nodded. “I am in college. I’m a mass communications major.”

                “That sounds interesting!” mom said.

                Will looked at me and I felt my face pale. Oh, no. Don’t do it you messy haired pain in my ass. Don’t you dare do it.

                “You know what else is interesting? Ethan’s decreasing appetite,” Will said, nodding at my half empty plate.

                Oh, he did it.

                “Ethan, why aren’t you eating?” mom asked, concern rising in her eyes.

                I looked down at my plate. “Uh…because your cooking sucks?”

                “Ethan!” My dad glared at me. “Don’t be rude to your mother. Why aren’t you eating?”

                “I hope Sonnet kills you in your sleep,” I said to Will. “And I’m seriously reconsidering my decision not to shove a koala up your ass.”

                “What? Your parents deserve to know,” he said with a shrug.

                “He’s right, Ethan. How long has this been going on for?” mom asked.

                “It’s pretty recent,” Will said.

                “Is there anything else you need to tell us?” dad asked.

                “I’m probably going to start taking steroids so that I can get strong enough to kill William,” I said. “But other than that, no. There’s nothing else to tell.”

                Thankfully, Will didn’t mention my nightmares or the panic attack. He simply watched me with that closed off expression of his.

                “I think we’re done eating. Let’s go in my room,” I said, standing up and pulling Will with me.

                “Ethan, we’ll talk later,” my mom said seriously.

                “Can’t wait,” I grumbled, dragging Will into my bedroom and shutting the door. I spun around and glared at him. “What was that, William?”

                “Don’t call me William,” he said.

                “Fine. What was that, asshole?”

                “That was me informing your parents that you’re barely eating anything,” he said.

                “I’m eating!” I argued.

                “No, you’re not. And don’t you get mad at me,” he said, scowling.

                “How can I not get mad at you? Do you even know what you just did?” I glared harder.

                “I just told your parents that you’re barely eating anything because they have a right to know, and because I’m worried about you. You’ve lost some weight, Ethan. You’re scrawny enough as it is. I can’t help you with your eating problem. But your parents can.” He dropped his gaze and shrugged. “I was worried about you, and I didn’t know what else to do. So I told your parents.”

                “Great, now my mom is going to force feed me,” I said, dropping onto my bed.

                “Good,” he said, sitting next to me and pulling me closer to himself. “You need to eat more. You’re way too skinny.”               

                I rested my head on his shoulder. He was just trying to help me. He did it in ways that I hated, but he did it because he cared.

                “Hey Will?”

                He looked down at me. “Yea?”

                I swallowed down the words I truly wanted to say. “You make a comfy pillow,” I said instead.

                “Good to know,” he said with a scowl.

                He sighed and pushed me off of himself, standing up. “I’m bored. Do you want to come back to my house? We can watch a movie or play video games or something,” he said.

                “Sure,” I said with a shrug. I wanted to get out of my house. Away from my parents now that they knew I was slipping back into those old habits.

                I jumped p and grabbed a warm jacket and shoes that I didn’t care about ruining. Will waited for me to tie my shoes, and we left my bedroom together.

                “I’m going to Will’s,” I told my parents. They were sitting together in the living room, probably talking about me.

                “Okay Ethan. We can talk when you get home,” my mom said.

                “In that case, I’m living with Will for the rest of my life,” I said.

                “Like hell you are. I don’t want to deal with you 24/7,” Will said, scowling.

                “You’re so sweet and romantic,” I said.

                “I can’t help it that you’re annoying,” he said.

                “And on that lovely note, let’s go,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him downstairs. I waited for him to pull his shoes and jacket on.

                The two of us made a mad dash for his car, still getting fairly wet by the time we slammed the doors shut. The rain seemed to be increasing, and I wondered how long it would take for the streets to begin flooding.

                Will plugged his iPod into the car and pulled out of my driveway, taking off towards his house. I leaned against the seat, pushing my hood down.

                “I could open up the sky, I could give you my devotion until the end of time. And you will never be forgotten with me by your side,” the music sang.

                Will’s phone went off and he pulled over to the side of the road. He answered his phone, holding it up to his ear.

                “What?” he asked in annoyance. “I can tell it’s raining hard, mom. I’m on my way back home right now. Yes, I’m driving carefully. No, I pulled the car over to answer the phone. Uh-huh. Bye.”

                He tucked his phone into his pocket and tried to move the car. He growled out an impressive string of cuss words as the tires spun, but the car didn’t move.

                “Fantastic. We’re stuck in the mud,” he grumbled. “Get out and help me push the car out of the mud.”

                “You constantly remind me how scrawny I am and then ask me to help you move a freaking car?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

                “Oh, just help me,” he said.

                “This is going to end horribly,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, you should play the tough boyfriend who can handle this on his own.”

                “Quit being a little bitch and help me. It’s just a little rain outside. It won’t kill you,” he said, leaning over and kissing me.

                “I might melt,” I said, grinning.

                “I’m not that lucky,” he said, returning the grin.

                We pushed the doors of the car open and got out. I was instantly drenched as I followed Will around to the back of the car.

                “Let’s hurry up!” Will said, having to yell over the sound of the pounding rain.

                He and I braced ourselves against the car and pushed it as hard as we could. I was surprised as we actually managed to get it out of the mud enough for Will to drive.

                “Is that good enough?” I asked, raising my voice so he could hear me.

                “It should be!” he called back. He paused and pulled his cell phone out, holding it up to his ear. “Hello?”

                I watched him, feeling anxious as his face paled horribly. He began to tremble slightly and he gulped.

                “What do you mean everyone is talking about it at college?” he asked, his voice weak. I had to shift closer to him to even hear him.

                “No,” he whispered. He hung up the phone and stuffed it in his pocket. “No,” he repeated.

                “Will? What’s wrong?” I asked in concern.

                He looked at me and the wall in his eyes came crumbling down. Terror, agony, and fury battled for dominance.

                “This is your fault!” he screamed.

                “What?” I asked in shock.

                “That was Phoenix! He just called because apparently everyone on campus is talking about how I’m secretly dating you!” he snapped. He buried his face in his hands miserably. “This is your fault, Ethan! You pissed Jude Tibbits off, and he’s the one that told people!”

                He pulled his face out of his hands, and I saw him desperately fighting off his emotions. The terror in his eyes was winning out.

                “Fuck you!” He pointed at me, cautiously backing up. “You stay away from me. We’re through. This is your fault! You ruined everything!”

                I stared at him, unable to believe this was happening. He got in the car and slammed the door, pulling away from the side of the road.

                “Will!” I screamed as the car started to drive away, knowing it was no use. “Will!”

                My throat burned with tears and I swallowed painfully. The car disappeared out of my sight. My body seemed eternally soaked through with rain, but I knew that was only part of the reason why I suddenly felt so cold.

                My words from earlier came back to me. The words I had wanted to say, but had been worried they would frighten Will away.

                “I love you Will,” I mumbled.

                A shiver racked my body and I knew that I should start walking home. But some pathetic part of me deep down clung to Will’s promise and was waiting for him to turn around and come back for me.

                He was scared of being exposed as gay, so of course he was going to run away. It was cowardly of him, but it was understandable. We as humans had a fight or flight instinct, and since Will couldn’t fight this, he was going to take flight.

                And he was also right in saying that this was my fault. Yes, Jude still held a grudge against Will for punching him. But Will was right when he said I had a habit of taunting Jude. I had a big mouth because I didn’t care if Jude came after me. But now Jude was going after Will, killing two birds with one stone.

                I stared at the empty road, desperately wishing to see Will’s car but knowing it wouldn’t happen. As my vision began to blur, I no longer had any idea if it was with rain or tears.  

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A.N.- The picture on the side is the playlist I made to write this chapter to, so go check out all those songs because they're fantastic c: 

But...sad chapter. Very sad chapter :c What are you guys thinking right now about this chapter?