Black And White

Hundred Thirty Four

Scott let his shirt fall back down, as he nodded. "Yeah." He looked to Nel again. "I'll have him back for lunch tomorrow."

Mike suddenly looked over at Nel also. "Tomorrow? I didn't know this was an overnight thing. Why didn't you tell me this was an--?"

Nel stood and gently pushed Scott toward the door. "That's fine, Scott. You two have fun."

Mike stood as well. "Now hang on just a minute. I never said that he could take our son out for a whole night!"

"No, you didn't. But I did."

"So that makes it okay?"

"You're so blinded by homophobia and judgement, you can't even make decisions in our son's best interest. So yes, I made the decision for you."

Mitch tried to help as well, even though Scott was trying to gently pull his arm away from the situation. "We're only staying for the night because the drive is too long to do twice in a day. There's no other reason."

Mike scoffed. "Besides him getting you alone all night! I know how teenage boys think, Mitchell!""

"Christ, he's not trying to take advantage of me. You might think you know teenage boys, but you don't know this teenage boy. He's not like the others." Mitch argued.

"I know exactly how he thinks. He's impulsive enough to put things on his skin, and pierce his body, so who's to say he won't impulsively decide to give you a disease?"

"That doesn't make him impulsive! It makes him creative, and passionate, and... Not like you." Mitch crossed his arms over his chest. "God, ever since you found out that we've had sex before, it's all you ever pay attention to."

Nel softly spoke. "Mike, he's nearly an adult... We've done all we can to raise him into who he is, but that's as much influence as we can impose unless he asks for help. Until he does, allow him to be somebody. Please."

"This is not who we raised, Nel. We raised a sweet, oblivious boy that apologized all the time and said hello to strangers out in public because he wanted to improve their day. He was intelligent, and inspiring, and he had goals that he was determined to achieve."

Scott broke in too. "That's still who he is. Deep down, he's still the son you remember. But now he's improved and become stronger. Braver. And you can't keep squashing him down to fit into the mold of your 'perfect son' because that's not who he wants to be anymore."

Mike scoffed loudly at him, gesturing at him wildly. "That's because of you! And all your ignorance! He'd never even seen a piercing until he met you, and then suddenly he was asking Nel if he could pierce his ears. Don't even get me started on how angry I am about you taking his innocence and purity away from him."

Nel tried once more. "Mike, please. Just let them go on their trip, and we can discuss this later."

"I don't want them spending the night together in a hotel, Nel. Period."

Mitch snapped at him. "Well, we didn't ask for your opinion, did we?" 

He stepped a little closer to Mitch, eyes wide. "What happened to you? What is the matter with you? Since when is piercings, alcohol, and sex okay?" He pointed at Scott. "Ever since he walked in here--"

"Are you kidding me? Ever since he walked in here, I've been nothing but happy! He was always kind to me, and never asked me to do anything that I didn't want to do. He didn't force me to take impossible classes or learn instruments or stress myself out so much that I wasn't even breathing anymore. He allows me to be who I really am, which is nowhere near what you're expecting me to be."