Made To Be Broken

Necessary Lessons

“You’ve gone too far
Who do you think you are
Is this what you came for
Well this means war.”

- This Means War,  NICKELBACK

……………….

“Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like a fire in my blood.”

- Holding Out For A Hero,  BONNIE TYLER

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 Mason was lost. What the hell was going on here? The desperation with which Noble clung to his hand, and the distress in his eyes didn’t coincide with the words coming out of his mouth. Or rather, that one word; Yes. Of course, Alan wanted Jonah out of his life…but why was Noble going along with it?

“Excuse me.” Mason murmured, but Noble held onto his hand when he started to leave, anxiety strong in the young man’s eyes. He squeezed Noble’s hand. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He felt as if he were leaving the boy in the midst of a pool of sharks as he left the room, but Jonah needed to know what he was walking into. And what to expect when he got here.

In the waiting room, he called Jonah a second time. When it went straight to voice mail, he deduced that Jonah must be driving through a no service area at the moment. So he left a message assuring Jonah that Noble would be okay, but explained his condition and what happened – according to Alan. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we should talk before you just walk in there. Text me when you get here.”

Mason closed the phone and ran his fingers through his hair then rubbed his eyes. God, could this get any worse? He groaned and shook his head. Please don’t answer that.

“You called your son?”

Mason flinched and turned quickly. Alan stared at him dryly. “Yes. I did.” Mason admitted.

“Is Rebecca right?” Alan asked stiffly. “Do you expect her to just step away and sacrifice Noble to an abominable existence?”

“Well, first of all,” Mason said. “I don’t appreciate your reference to my son’s life as abominable. And second, Rebecca is an adult. I’m not going to tell her what to do. Although I really think it would be in everyone’s best interest to face the reality of the situation.”

“Tell me,” Alan raised a cynical eyebrow. “What is this reality you speak of?”

“Noble is gay.” Mason said. “And no program is going to change that. Marrying him to a woman isn’t going to fix him. It’s just going to leave them both miserable, locked into a relationship that isn’t fulfilling to either of them.” He shook his head. “I care about Rebecca and Noble both, and I want to see them both in strong, healthy relationships.”

Alan stared at him. “And you think Noble engaging in a relationship with your son is healthy?”

“I do.” Mason nodded. “But I realize, we don’t see eye to eye on that.”

“You damn well got that right.” Alan said tightly. “And it is a mute point because Noble is in favor of marrying Rebecca. He understands that being in a relationship with another man is…sick. So I do hope that while speaking with your son…you told him to stay away from mine.”

Working very hard to keep his anger in check, Mason told him, “Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Jonah cares deeply for Noble. Nothing I – or anyone else – says is going to keep him away from here when he knows that Noble has been hurt.”