The Bet | Gay BxB |

21. Snitch

"Oh? Did Nic not tell you he gets anxiety and panic attacks because his father is putting him through too much pressure and demands him to study around the clock, and if he doesn't, he'll start guilt-tripping him and basically threatens to stop supporting him financially?" I spoke, the anger slowly starting to leak over.

"What?" she asked again, but her voice was now far from friendly.

Right, right... Now I remembered it.

Mrs. Gabriel adored her sons.

"And I basically have to force-feed Nic because otherwise he won't eat anything. Have you not talked with his teachers? Everyone at school is really worried about him. We're all afraid Nic will end up dying from stress if his dad keeps bullying him."

I chose my words very carefully.

"No, I have not spoken with his teachers because his father claimed everything was going well," she spoke, looking and sounding just as murderous as I felt.

"What is this?" I heard a sharp voice coming from the top of the stairs on our right, and we both turned to look up to see the fucker in question.

"You told me you spoke with Nic's teacher, and everything was fine!" Mrs. Gabriel hissed and made her way to the stairs.

Well then. I suppose witnessing a murder was almost as good as being the murderer.

But Mr. Gabriel ignored his wife and glared at me.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" he asked in a cold manner.

"Just a worried friend," I said. "Nic almost passed out today at school so–"

That wasn't far from the truth.

"He almost passed out?!" Nic's mom screeched and turned to stare at her husband. "You told me everything was fine!"

"Everything is fine, you crazy woman!" Mr. Gabriel yelled at her. "I have told Nic to start paying more attention to his exercises and start eating healthier food instead of that fast food crap kids are living on! I'd tried to tell him to stop staying up so late watching TV and playing with his phone! But he refuses to listen!"

"Nic! Honey!" Mrs. Gabriel shouted, and a short moment later, I heard his footsteps upstairs.

"Yeah?" he replied and stopped next to the railing without noticing me by the door.

He looked awful... His entire posture was timid as well. I'd not seen him like that before. Like he was scared of his parents, and especially of his father. Fucking hell, that made me mad.

"Honey, I want you to tell me the truth," Mrs. Gabriel said gently with a smile, stepping right in front of him. "Are you having panic attacks because of your father?"

Nic's entire posture dropped even more, and I could see the rising anxiety in his eyes all the way down to where I was standing. He was not going to answer that truthfully, not with his father right next to him.

"What do you mean?" Nic asked, letting out a very nervous chuckle. "No?"

Mrs. Gabriel let out a breath and took his hands in hers with a warm smile on her face. "Okay," she said quietly. "Why don't you go out with your friend, hmm? You can stay with him as long as you like. Maybe he'll let you stay the night at his place."

Nic frowned, looked around, and finally spotted me.

"Jax!" he called out in surprise and smiled at me.

"No, he's not going anywhere!" Mr. Gabriel growled, ruining that smile. "He is grounded!"

"Not anymore," she said sharply without looking at him.