Enemies with benefits

Chapter 19: The C in Colby stands for Confused

"Shut. Up." Colby punched Finley in the arm, his face turning bright red.

*

Okay. So, Colby agreed that he should try and talk to Ezra again. Which he was going to do! But now he was standing outside of Ezra's house at 6 o'clock in the evening having second thoughts about whether this was a good idea or not.

He'd promised Finley he wouldn't do anything too stupid but it seemed like a good idea at the time to come over now and get it over with. He was so screwed. However, his mother didn't raise a quitter so he knocked on the door and nearly shit himself when somebody opened it.

It wasn't Ezra who opened the door but he looked a lot like him. He was around Ezra' height and had black hair streaked with grey, he looked around 40. His face reminded Colby of those photographs of Victorian men, where they stare directly at the camera with an emotionless face as hard as stone. "Can I help you?" The man asked, his voice low and unwelcoming.

"Um... is Ezra home?" Colby asked. Who the hell was this guy?

"And you are?"

"Oh. My name's Colby, Colby Williams. I'm a friend from school." He probably should've led with that instead of standing on the porch and demanding Ezra like a freak.

Something flickered in the man's sky blue eyes. "Have you been here before?" The man asked.

This guy was weird, Colby thought. Colby smiled politely and nodded. "I was here last weekend, Ezra let me stay over."

The strangest thing happened -or at least an unexpected thing happened. The man smiled widely and ushered Colby inside. "Come in, come in. I've just finished making dinner if you would like some food." Colby wasn't given a chance to respond. "Of course you do. You're a growing boy after all, always hungry. Even when you shouldn't be." The man's voice was harsh at the end but he was still smiling.

The man shut the door behind Colby and locked it. Was he about to get murdered? Because that's what this felt like to him.

"Ezra, look! Your friend has come for dinner." Colby immediately looked away from the locked door. All thoughts of how to escape the probable murderer leaving him as he saw the boy that had been consuming his thoughts for weeks now. He was wearing a tight black shirt with a pair of denim jeans. He looked straight out of a Calvin Klein photo shoot. "He's come to see you, isn't that nice?" The way the man said it sounded like a threat and it must've been working because Ezra looked terrified.

Did Colby seem like a stalker right now? It hadn't really occurred to him earlier but it was weird to show up uninvited. Damn it! Why couldn't he ever think things through before he did them?

"Hey Ezra." Colby greeted timidly. This was such a bad idea. Why hadn't Finley tried to stop him?

"Hey..." Ezra muttered, he was still frozen in place on the stairs. "...I didn't know you were coming over."

"Surprise?" Colby awkwardly laughed. The atmosphere was thick with unspoken tension.

Ezra managed to compose himself and come down the rest of the stairs. "What's for dinner, dad?" He asked.

This guy was Ezra's dad? That- that- that made a lot of sense now that he thought about it. Colby tried to subtly bang his hand against his head in hopes that that would get his brain cells to start working.

"Lasagna. You like meat, don't you Colby?" That's a weird way of phrasing it, Colby thought.

"Yep, love meat." But who was he to judge how someone spoke.

They walked in silence into the dining room with Ezra's dad keeping a firm hand on Colby's shoulder. He shoved Colby down in a chair and gave Ezra a weird look before he left the room.