Twenty Over Thirty || manxman

XIV - Wants & Needs

After making sure they had everything they'd need for a one-night trip, Dmitri closed he and Kurt's luggage and lugged it over his shoulder. They were going to visit his family just outside of Anavrin, and he had to admit that he was actually pretty anxious for his mother and father to meet Kurt. There was just something about his parents that made other's feel welcomed, and he wanted that very much for the young man he loved. Even if Kurt chose to distance himself from the rest of his family, Dimitri at least wanted him to feel like he had somewhere else to call home outside of Great Britain.

The moment he'd gotten home from work, he changed into something more comfortable and made his ordinary string bean salad, and while Kurt had been home for three hours before he'd gotten off, he was happy to see Kurt had taken it upon himself to make a dessert for the dinner tomorrow. It looked delicious with strawberries and what looked like some kind of cream and jelly in between two soft pieces of cake, as well as a sort of white sugar sprinkled on top. Kurt had called it Victoria Sponge Cake, and Dimitri had to say it looked pretty darn tasty.

While he carried their bags and his salad, Kurt was careful with the cake he'd made and they locked up the apartment. Taking Dimitri's Mercedes, he tossed them into the back seat and situated the salad bowl so it wouldn't fall over on the way. "I'm so nervous," Kurt said, buckling his belt when he dropped into the passenger side. "I know you keep saying your parents will like me, but, I don't know; I feel like I'm not the 'bring home to meet your mom' type of guy."

Dimitri gave life to the engine and backed out of the parking spot, "I guess I know how you feel," he said, driving off out of the apartment complex. "I've met my share of parents before, and it is a pretty nerve-racking thing. But I swear you have nothing to worry about with my mom and dad." He smiled as he merged onto the highway from the access road. "My mom might seem a little overwhelming at first, but that's just because she likes meeting new people. She's a very social creature. My dad, he's pretty laid back, so he'll probably just introduce himself and then get back to worrying about what bets he's placing with my uncles for the football game tomorrow."

Kurt huffed a small laugh, "Emphasis on American football, please. Don't get me hopes up."

"Did you ever play for a team back in the UK?" Dimitri nodded with an amused smile. "Were you good at football?"

"Shit yeah! Dad got me on a youth team when I was six, and I played up into early secondary. I stopped playing when – when they passed away, but it was always fun every time him and Mom came out to a game." Kurt found a bit of humor in what he shared, and went on, and Dimitri was happy to listen to the easy times from his previous life. "I swear, he always looked like he'd bite his arm off whenever I got the ball, screaming, 'You got it, lad! Bring it home!' He was so embarrassing." Before Dimitri could think to comment, Kurt added, "They'd like you if they were still here. I know it."

The older man touched a hand to the back of Kurt's hair when the silence settled in, nothing but the low radio sounding out around them.

"Bollocks..." Kurt's voice cracked and he wiped beneath his eyes, clearing the shine of tears before they could fall. "It's been so long since I actually talked about them. I never realize how much I miss them until I really think about them never coming back."

"I'm sorry," Dimitri said, "We don't have to–."

"No, I want to. Can I – Can I tell you about them some more?"

"Of course," glad he was willing to open a part of his past that already made him feel a pinch of sorrow.

Kurt tried to blink away the remaining droplets, and leaned back in the passenger seat as their journey continued. "I'll never forget when me Mom said I was her miracle baby. After Danny, the doctors told her she'd never have any more children due to some kind of complication, but then I came along fourteen years later. They always treated me like some kind of fragile ornament and I loved it. While Danny was off being the smart one, getting good grades and what not, I was sheltered by me parents. Usually kids hate when their Moms and Dads are overly concerned for them, but I loved being with them all the time anyways. They made me feel like the life I had meant something."