Skurdulka's House (a LGBTQ chosen-family thriller)

Part 23: Together

The door hung open to the warm night air. Storm's dad was gone. For now.

Willow pushed Ari against the wall of the foyer. They raised a free hand, covering their bestial countenance.

Watching from the back of the foyer, Storm saw their claws were gone, replaced by black fingernails. Had their nails been black before? Suddenly Storm doubted everything he had seen. He had known Ari could shapeshift, but seeing it in front of his eyes, he still wasn't prepared.

"What are you thinking?" Willow demanded. She released their arm and went to the door, closing it behind her. "What did you do to him?"

When Ari raised their head again, their expression was contorted in barely-reined fury, but it was human again. "Keeping him away from us."

"You permanently scarred that man." She pointed towards the closed door. Her dark brown face mirrored Ari's outrage, but not their direction. "What were you thinking?"

"Good. Everyone should know what he is," Ari snapped back.

"The only thing everyone will know is what he tells them—that an insane person living in the woods cut his face!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Ari glared. "Let him in? Let him hurt my family?"

"No. Send him away without acting insane. You can't cut someone's face because they came to your door, Ari."

"It's my house," Ari growled. "Now he won't come back."

"Now he'll come back with cops."

The outrage in Ari's face faded. Their gaze flickered. They were silent.

"Yeah. You can bet on that now." Willow stared Ari down. "What the hell are you going to do about that?"

Ari's lips flattened into a hard line. "I'll deal with that then." They turned, looking at Storm. The sympathy that overtook Ari's sour expression made Storm realize just how fast his heart was beating, and how scared he must've looked. Embarrassment burned his cheeks. "Storm, come here." Raising a hand, Ari gestured him forward.

Stepping forward, biting the inside of his lip hard, Storm looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry." His voice was small.

Ari pulled him into a hug. "This is not your fault."

Storm swallowed hard, clenching his teeth to hold back tears. He hugged Ari tightly, pressing his face into their shirt. Their familiar scent of lavender and rose, and Ari's arm around his shoulders reassured him just enough to keep back tears.

Hugging Ari, Storm didn't hear Lee and Chris approach behind him. He twitched at first when he felt his friends' arms around him. Lee embraced him from one side, Chris from the other.

"Don't do that without us again," Chris said quietly.

"We stick together," Lee said.

"Storm."

A quiet voice from the stairway made them all turn.

Heather stood in the middle of the stairs, casting a quick glance at Storm, then to Ari, then back at the carpet. "I'm sorry. I didn't think he'd come."

"This isn't your fault either," Ari replied. "This is on him. And... me."

Heather's expression, slanted in a begrudging scowl for weeks, turned fragile as glass. "I got another phone." Her voice broke. "I'm sorry." Tears spilled from her eyes.