Mask of Celibacy

Chapter 34

A/N: Please be sure to read Chapter 33 first, or this chapter won't make sense. Thanks, dear readers! 💜

Fair warning: Just in this chapter, there's lots of swearing because of all the pent-up emotion. Especially from Jack. Only in this one, though.

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The heavens had opened on my way to Care's house. That didn't bother me. Rain or shine, I needed to get away from my fuckwit family. 

Care opened her front door before I'd reached the top step and hurried me inside. She handed me a towel after I'd taken off my shoes and socks, both of which were sopping wet. 

"Holy Trinity!" said Care in a hushed whisper. "What the hell is going down at your place?"

"Did Mom call?" I growled under my breath.

"Yaya is roasting her like a stuck pig!"

I balked. "What?"

"Oh, yeah. Her and Pappous are telling your grandmother off something fierce," she said, her eyes twinkling with delight. 

Care rarely made callous grammatical errors, much less together with New England slang. 

Jesus, she must be really out of it.

"Eric came over," I said with a dismal expression.

Her face fell. "Oh, shit."

"No, you don't understand," I said, tears trickling down my cheeks. "This is freaking Ben and Jerry's ice cream territory."

Care escorted me to her room and handed me a hair dryer. She found me a fresh change of clothes from the spare bedroom, which belonged to me except when the Stavros family had company. The pants hung precariously on my hips thanks to all my unexpected weight loss. 

"All right, take a deep breath and tell me what happened," she said.

"Okay, you know how I misinterpret things all the damn time, and it gets me into trouble?" I asked.

"Yeaaaah," she said in a wary tone.

"Well, this was so freaking bad it made Eric mad," I said. "Angry enough to leave as soon as it was politely possible. So this time, it's not just me."

Her eyes widened. "Jesus, are you for real?"

"Yeah..."

She sat beside me and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. I sat there shaking as I relayed the story. Mostly from anger and adrenaline. Care rubbed my back to comfort me while my voice trembled with anger and fear.

"Oh, man! That's so messed up!" exclaimed Care once I'd finished. 

"What the hell is her problem?" I demanded, stifling choked sobs. "Everything was going so well until Mom screwed it up."

"Why is she worrying about something that far in the future?" asked Care. "Don't scare a guy away because of what might or might not happen in five years."

"I know, right?" I shook my head. "She made a pass-fail test for him on day one. And then she wonders why I hide guys from her."

"Probably the first test Eric ever failed."

"It wasn't even his fault."

"And it concerned the two of the things that mean the most to him."

"Two?"

"Atheism and you."

That made me fall silent. 

Of course! He wouldn't have gotten upset because of Grace alone, annoying though that was. By forcing him to accept the prayer before meals, Mom had told him that he'd never be good enough for me. That he'd have to choose between me and his beliefs.