Crashing into You (Wattpad Edition)

Chapter Forty-Eight: Dinner with Pastor Tom

"Welcome, Thomas. It's good to see you," Felicity smiled and shook Pastor Tom's hand as he entered the house.

I stood a few feet back, my hands in the pockets of my khakis. When Tom nodded at me in greeting, I gave him a small smile.

Dinner the night before had been awkward, with Felicity trying to force conversation forward while Dan and I kept our eyes on our plates.

Maybe tonight will be better.

"Thank you for having me," Tom told Felicity. "I can't remember if I told you, last time I was here, how beautiful your home is."

"Oh," Felicity smiled brightly. "Thank you for saying so."

Trying to tune out their small talk, I followed them into the sitting room. I couldn't stop my knee from bouncing nervously as Felicity and Tom kept talking about the house, the weather, and upcoming events at the church.

"I'm sorry I'm late," my shoulders tensed as Uncle Dan's voice swept over my head and into the rest of the room. "A meeting ran long. Let me change and I'll join you all shortly."

"Take your time," Pastor Tom nodded, turning back to my aunt to continue their conversation.

A few minutes later, Dan returned, in a different suit than he'd been wearing before.

What is the point in changing from one suit to another? A suit is a suit.

My uncle offered Pastor Tom some coffee before suggesting that the two of them talk in his office before dinner.

"All due respect, Mr. Schultz, I don't think that will be necessary."

My uncle's eyebrows shot up, and I held my breath. It was really strange hearing someone tell my Uncle 'no,' even if it was politely.

"Well, I imagine you want to discuss why you've invited me here," Tom explained, "But I'm fairly certain I already know the situation."

"Did my wife explain it to you?" My uncle asked coolly.

"Felicity did explain parts of it, yes. You were hoping that I could talk to Tristan about the suspension and about sexuality?"

"Yes," Dan's face turned red, though I wasn't sure if it was because of the mention of my sexuality, or because he was upset that Felicity had already talked to Tom.

"I'm more than happy to discuss this with all three of you," Tom smiled up at my uncle, who was still standing, "If you and I chat in your office, we'll just have to repeat ourselves when we all talk together, right?"

"I suppose," my uncle eventually said through gritted teeth. His control over the situation was faltering.

We'll see how you like not being the one in charge.

"Great. So, should we have the discussion now, or after we eat?" Tom asked, rising from the chair.

"Oh, let's eat first," Felicity suggested, "I've always felt that serious conversations flow better on a full stomach."

And none of us will have an appetite afterwards.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After what felt like 2 hours, but couldn't have been more than 40 minutes, the four of us sat in silence at the table. I sat with my hands folded, resting on the table in front of me, waiting for one of the adults to start the conversation.

They'd done a great job of tiptoeing around it throughout dinner; talking about everything under the sun except for my suspension.

"Well, no use waiting around for this to get even more awkward," Tom clapped his hands together, "Are we going to have this chat here at the table, or somewhere else?"