'Cause I'd Find You In Any World (Nick and Charlie - Alternate Universe)

Chapter Thirty Four

Chapter Thirty Four.

Charlie:
As the door opens, my first thought is that I want to throw up; I hate confrontation. My second thought, if I'm being honest, is to close the door in her face. She walks in and looks at James and I. The anger is radiating off of James so much that I can feel it without even looking at him. We all walk into the living room and sit down. Silence.

"How is everyone?" She asks, breaking the silence.

James scoffs, but I decide to be honest.

"The last two months have been the best of my entire life," I say. "How are you?"

I can see that my comment stung her a bit; and honestly, I'm glad it did. I want her to be upset that she's missing this time in my life when I've been the happiest.

"I haven't been too great, obviously," she says.

James laughs sarcastically.

"Whose fault is that?"

She looks at James then back at me.

"I know I didn't handle things right."
"That's the understatement of the year," James quips back.
"You're right, James. I handled things terribly. I was only focused on how things could potentially make me look, mostly in front of your grandparents that I failed to see how hard things must have been for you Charlie, and how hard it must have been holding that in and then telling me; just to get that reaction."
"So.. you were afraid of your parents reaction to this. How do you think I feel when I'm the one going through it? I'm the one who had to tell my parents that this is who I am. And instead of just loving me and trying to understand, you lashed out the same way you think and were afraid that grandma and grandpa would. How does that make sense? You could have broken the cycle but you didn't."

Mum stays silent.

"I really was never afraid of telling Dad, you know? The only reason I waited so long to tell him was because I was afraid that he would want me to tell you right away and that is what terrified me. That my own mother wouldn't be able to accept this part of me even though coming out has made me happier than I've ever been." 
"And that breaks my heart," she says. "That you were hiding yourself because of me."
"With good reason," James chimes in. "Imagine he told you when he was 11 or 12. You probably would have put him in some brain washing therapist's office that would try to convince him he wasn't gay."

I see Mum wiping tears from her eyes.

"I'd really like the chance to start over with you. With both, well all of you," She says looking at us.

Dad puts his hands on James and my shoulders.

"I'd like to respectfully leave that decision to our sons."

James looks over at me. I know he's going to agree with any decision I make.

"If I'm being honest, your words are pretty meaningless with no actions behind it. So I'm willing to take baby steps to see if we can repair the damage you caused but I'm really not ready for us to start acting like a happy family again either. If you want to move back in to try to maybe start over again with Dad, that's up to you, but if that's the case, I'd like to move in with Mia for the time being."
"Me too," James says as I slightly smile at him.
"I totally respect that. I'll stay at Mia's since I already have things there. Would you guys maybe want to have Thanksgiving dinner together?"

Her reaction to my next statement is important, I think to myself.

"I was actually planning inviting Nick and his Mum over since they have been such a great support system for me throughout this. Maybe we can do dinner another time."

She remains silent for a minute.

"That's totally fine, I completely understand. We can do dinner whenever you would like," she says. "We will do this at your pace, Charlie. But I want you to know that things are going to be different, I am going to be different."
"I appreciate that," I say. 

She then looks at Dad.

"Maybe you and I can have dinner somewhere tomorrow night?"

He thinks for a second, and then lightly nods his head.

"Yeah, I think that we are overdue for a chance to have a conversation about what happened and what's been going on these last two months."

After a few more minutes, Mum says goodbye and leaves. James, Dad and I go into the living room and sit down.

"That could have been worse, right?" James asks.
"Definitely. Now lets just see if things get better from here," I say.
"I'm really proud of how you handled yourself," Dad says.

I smile at him. My phone starts to ring and I see that Nick is calling. I get up and head upstairs while I answer.

"Hi," I say.
"What are you doing Thanksgiving?" He says.
"Hi Charlie, how are you today?" I say sarcastically.

He laughs.

"Hi handsome, how are you today?"

I feel myself blushing.

"Actually, I wanted to see if you and your Mum wanted to come over on Thanksgiving for dinner. Do you think she'd say yes?"
"Well, I was going to invite you all over, so I think she'd be okay either way," he says with a chuckle.
"Guess what just happened by the way?"
"On the edge of my seat here," he says.
"My Mum came by."
"Wait, what? What happened?" He asks, his tone completely changing from flirty to serious.
"Dad suggested her coming for Thanksgiving and I told him I didn't want to see her for that but I was willing to have a conversation."
"How did it go?" He asks curiously.
"Um, too early to tell. She apologized; but who knows if she really means it? How can I believe anything she says? I told her maybe we can do dinner another night but until I really see her actions, her words mean nothing."
"Wow," he says.
"Yeah."
"How are you feeling after that?"
"Honestly? I feel okay. These two months have made me realize that I am much happier just being the person I was always suppose to be, and if people have a problem with that; that's their issue and not mine," I say.
"That confidence is very attractive," he says.
"Why don't you come over here and show me how attractive?" I say.
"Don't have to tell me twice, I'll see you soon," he says with a laugh. "Oh, Charlie?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."