Vinny Taylor
The cold breeze slapped my cheeks as I ran through the park with Luna at my side. She was loving every second of it, her mouth wide open with glee as the two of us neared the end of the path where we had started.
She just loved burning off her energy while I needed to blow off steam for a completely different reason. The week had gone by quickly and Friday had snuck up on me before I even realized it. Having dinner with Carson's mom shouldn't make me so nervous, but all I could think about was me messing something up and her thinking I wasn't good enough for her son. I already knew I wasn't, but I at least needed to fake it.
Once Luna and I reached the end of the path, I gave her some water from her bottle with the attached bowl which she gladly took. After she took a drink, the two of us walked home. As soon as we arrived at the house, Luna immediately went to her bed to lay down while my mother called out my name.
"In here, Vin!" she called from the kitchen.
I followed the sound of her voice to where she stood in the kitchen in front of an ironing board, ironing a dark blue button-down shirt.
"Hi, honey!" Mom greeted with a wide smile, looking up from the ironing board. "I was thinking you could wear this to your dinner with Carson and his mother tonight."
The shirt was obviously an old one of my father's. Probably too small for him but too large for me.
"Mom, I think that's a little too... formal," I told her with a strained smile. "It's just at their house, it's not like we're going out."
"Sweetheart, you're meeting your boyfriend's mom tonight," she said. "You need to look presentable!"
"I've already met her. Many times."
"This is different," she retorted. "You're meeting her as her son's boyfriend."
"Are you trying to make me more nervous?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows.
"No, no, of course not," she said, waving her hand. "I just want you going there looking like a respectable young man."
"That shirt isn't even going to fit me."
"Sure it will," she assured me. "Logan's worn it."
"I'm smaller than him."
"Vincent, honey," Mom sighed. "Wear the shirt. You'll look so handsome."
I let out a sigh of my own. "Sure, Mom. Whatever you say."
She sent me a content smile before turning back to the ironing board and continuing on the shirt. I turned on my heel and went upstairs to shower. When I was finished, I went to my room to see the shirt was hanging on my door. I sighed, snatching it off the hanger and put it on after drying off.
Once I was dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror and glared at my appearance. The shirt was too big and I looked ridiculous. It wasn't entirely noticeable, but the shoulders were too broad and it wasn't fit around my torso like it should have been. Maybe I would have fit in it a few months ago, but not now.
I didn't bother changing out of it before leaving my room and going downstairs to where my mother waited for me. She stood at the bottom of the stairs like she was in a teen romance movie waiting for her prom date to descend the stairs while my father sat on the couch in the living room.
"Oh you look so handsome, Vinny!" Mom squealed, clapping her hands together.
"Okay."
"You do," she assured me, grabbing onto my arm and bringing me to the living room in front of my dad. "Doesn't he look great, Jeff?"
"Is that my shirt?" he asked as I stood in front of him with what I was sure was a miserable expression.
"Jeff! It's too small for you now anyway," Mom argued, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at her husband.
"Yes, Vinny, you look great," he told me. I just rolled my eyes at him. "You'll be home by nine, correct?"
"Nine?" I hissed. "When the fuck did my curfew change to nine? Actually, when the fuck did I get a curfew?"
"I really hope you don't talk like that in front of Carson's mom," he replied.
"Since when have you given a shit about how I talk?"
"Vinny, you don't have to be home at nine, I don't know what he's thinking," Mom interjected, sending her husband a look.
"You've been weird ever since I told you about us," I accused him. "What's going on?"
Dad shook his head and scoffed. "No, I haven't, Vinny."
"What, are you okay with having a gay son, but not one with a boyfriend?"
Dad's eyes darkened. "What?"
"Absolutely not!" Mom exclaimed, looking shocked. "We're happy for you!"
"I know you are," I told her, my expression softening as I briefly glanced at her. "I'm talking about him."
"That is not at all true," Dad said in an angry tone.
"Well, it seems like it," I told him, my tone matching his. "I'm leaving."
Neither of them tried to stop me as I turned out of the living room, out the door, and into my car. I sat there for a few moments to calm myself down. The last thing I needed was to show up at Carson's house being nervous and angry. That would be a recipe for disaster.
Eventually, I calmed myself down enough that I felt I was ready to make the drive to Carson's. I tried to think of anything other than my parents and how nervous I was and soon enough I was outside the house. I let out a deep breath before exiting the car and making my way to the front door.
I didn't even have to knock before the door opened and revealed Carson. He leaned in and kissed me before I could even say anything and all that anger from before melted away. At the end of it all, what mattered was how Carson and I felt about each other, not how my dad felt about us.
"I'm so happy to see you," I murmured against his lips.
He pulled away with a look of concern. "Is everything okay?"
I pecked his lips. "Now it is."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," I said, sneaking my arm around his waist. "Let's go see your mom."
"You look good," Carson said with a wide grin. "I like you all dressed up."
"Shut up."
Carson let out a laugh and threw his arm around my shoulder and led me to the kitchen after closing the door where his mother, Cass, stood at the stove.
"Vinny!" she exclaimed, placing the spoon she was holding down on the counter before scurrying over to me and wrapping me up in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here!"
I let out a quiet laugh and hugged her back. "Thanks for having me over, Cass."
She pulled away, keeping her hands on my shoulders. "We will have you over any time! I mean it."
Her kind eyes instantly put me at ease. Carson and his mother were very similar in that way. Both of them had a way of making me feel welcome and wanted.
"You boys go sit," she said. "I'll have dinner out in a few minutes."
"She really is so excited you're here," Carson told me in a whisper as he led me to the dining room. "She's been so happy since she got home from work."
"Let's hope I don't make her regret this then," I said, earning an annoyed glance from my boyfriend.
"You won't," he replied, eyes narrowed at me.
Almost as soon as the two of us sat down, Cass came rushing into the dining room with a dish and placed it on the table in front of us before sitting down across from her son.
"So, Vinny," Cass started as she served herself. "How are things? How's your family?"
"Good," I replied as Carson filled my plate. "There's not much going on with us honestly."
She nodded. "So, how did this happen?" She gestured to the two of us. "Only if you want to tell me of course, but I'm curious about how you guys got together."
"I made a fool of myself one night and kissed him and he rejected me," Carson told her, causing his mother to throw her head back in laughter.
"I didn't reject you," I interjected. "I was just... nervous?"
Cass let out another giggle as Carson shot me a look of disbelief.
"You did reject me," he said with a pointed look. "More than once."
"You guys are so cute," Cass added with a content sigh and I couldn't help but smile at her.
This dinner was going better than I imagined it would. My nerves had disappeared and it was nice being able to have a good, low-key night with Carson and his mom. That was until there was a knock on the door.
Cass jumped from her seat. "Oh, they're here!"
Carson's eyes widened. "Who? Who did you invite?"
Cass was already out of the dining room and headed toward the door. "Paul said to start without them because they were going to be late. I didn't expect them this soon!"
Carson looked to me with an expression that looked partly guilty and partly nervous.
"Is Paul your mom's boyfriend?" I asked him, placing my hand on his upper arm. "Do you not like him or something?"
"Vinny, there's something I need to tell you that I should've told you before, but I didn't expect something like this to happen." His voice was low and rushed, making it sound like something horrible was about to happen.
"Carson, what the fuck?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest. "What's the matter?"
He didn't have time to answer me before Cass re-entered the dining room with Paul following behind her and I instantly figured out what had gotten Carson so worked up.
I recognized Paul as soon as I saw him. One would hope I would since I had been going over his house since I was a kid. Spencer stood behind him, his eyes wide as he nervously fiddled with his hands in front of him like he always did when he was uncomfortable.
"Vinny!" Paul exclaimed and I grimaced, though he didn't seem to notice. "It's so good to see you!"
"You too, Paul," I said with a strained smile.
"Oh! I forgot you and Spencer were friends," Cass said, sitting back down at the table.
"Yeah, we go way back," I muttered, shooting a glare over at Carson who was looking at me with a guilty expression.
It was like I could feel myself shrinking. Any walls I had let fall while I was here with Cass and Carson were put back up and there was nowhere I could hide. I kept my eyes down on my half-finished plate while I could feel the stares of Carson and Spencer burning my skin. Carson placed his hand on my leg under the table, but I shoved it off.
I didn't want his comfort. I wanted to evaporate into thin air or go back in time so I could say no to coming to this stupid dinner.
Luckily, the others at the table kept the conversation going among each other and Carson directed the conversation away from me. It was the least he could do.
When everyone was finished with their meals, I couldn't get out of my seat fast enough.
"Dinner was great, Cass, thank you so much for having me," I said to Carson's mom with a tight smile, offering her a hug.
She wrapped her arms around me. "You have to leave so soon."
"Yeah, my parents want me home."
She nodded in understanding and released me. I briefly waved to Paul and started toward the door with Carson following closely behind me. I refused to turn to face him, but he grabbed my arm and spun me around before I could open my car door.
"Don't fucking touch me right now, Carson," I snarled, ripping my arm free from his grasp. "What the fuck was that?"
"I'm so sorry, Vinny," Carson said with wide, glistening eyes. I was so mad at that moment those eyes couldn't even calm me down. "I should have told you but I never knew when would be the right time and I didn't expect that to happen."
"You could've warned me!" I shouted.
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect—"
"I know you didn't fucking expect it!" I exclaimed.
I ran my hand through my hair before taking my cigarettes out of my pocket and lit one in my mouth. I breathed out a puff of smoke before continuing.
"You know I have issues with Spencer and you didn't think it would be bright idea to let me know your mom is with Paul? What the fuck, Carson."
"I didn't know my mom invited them," he said, reaching out to grab my hand put I pulled it away from him. "If I knew she did, I would have told you."
"Now your mom's gonna think I'm a huge asshole for rushing out of there so quick and being silent through dinner," I complained, pacing in front of my car as I took another drag from my cigarette. "Fuck!"
"No, she won't," Carson assured me, shaking his head. "She won't."
"It really hurts to see him," I admitted, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose. I couldn't look at Carson as I admitted this. "It really fucking hurts and it's ten times worse because I wasn't prepared."
"Vinny, I'm so—"
"Sorry, I know," I cut him off, opening my eyes to shoot him a glare. "I'm going home."
"Vin, wait—"
I opened my door and got in the car before slamming it shut. I didn't want to hear his apologies at that moment. I just wanted to be alone.
When I got home, I hoped to sneak past my parents, but Dad saw me and he instantly knew I was upset.
"You're home early," he commented. "I wasn't actually serious about the curfew thing, you know. I was just being protective."
I tried to ignore him but I should have known he would never let me get away with that.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, grabbing onto my arm to stop me from going up the stairs. "Is everything okay?"
"I just want to be alone."
"Did something happen with Carson?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Vincent—"
"Can I just be upset without you feeling the need to fix me?" I snapped.
He let go of my arm with a solemn expression and nodded.
Once I was free from his grip I jogged up the stairs and locked myself in my room.
***
Carson Hughes
I should have known when I showed up at Vinny's house the next day, the first person I would see would be Jeff. He looked at me with a serious expression as I entered the house.
"Is Vinny here?" I asked in a soft tone.
"What happened?" Jeff crossed his arms over his chest and stood from where he sat on the couch.
"I really just want to see Vinny," I said.
I hadn't really spoken to Jeff since we had that talk and I wasn't planning on speaking to him much after that anyway. All I wanted was to make things right with Vinny. I never knew how much seeing Spencer would affect him, but I should have told him about it anyway.
Vinny had opened up to me so much since we first started dating and I possibly ruined that by not telling him this and allowing him to be blindsided and cornered at my house.
"He was really upset when he came home last night," Jeff told me. "What happened?"
"What happened was my fault, not his," I said. I didn't want him thinking that Vinny had done something that had made the both of us upset.
"Have you thought at all about what I said?" Jeff asked, looking as if he already knew the answer.
"No, I haven't," I snapped. "In fact, I try not to think about it at all."
"That's clear," he said. "Look, I obviously don't know what happened, but whether it was something big or small, Vinny is going to react like this."
"What are you talking about?" I groaned. I was sick of listening to Jeff and what he thought was his wisdom. He clearly knew nothing about me or his son.
"I'm saying it doesn't matter what you do, if it makes Vinny upset, he is going to have a big reaction," Jeff explained. "Which is why I asked you to reconsider because this is going to end up hurting you in the end."
"So I should break up with him because I did something that made him upset and he reacted by being upset?"
"No, Carson, you don't understand what I'm saying," Jeff replied in annoyance. "He is not stable. It doesn't matter what you do. He can react badly to anything and it will hurt you eventually."
I shook my head at him and turned around.
"I'll see Vinny later."
And I walked out the door.
**
**IMPORTANT PLEASE READ**
So as we continue into the later part of this book, there may be more triggering content than in the beginning. As most of you can tell, Vinny has some things he is working through and struggles with. In the chapters we are approaching, we are going to be getting more into Vinny and his struggles with his mental health and his experiences. Chapters with triggering content will have TRIGGER WARNING and what the triggering content is at the very beginning of the chapter. I WILL NOT BE GOING INTO GRAPHIC DETAIL ABOUT ANY TRIGGERING CONTENT. When we do get to a chapter with a trigger warning on it, I want you all to know that I will NOT write graphic scenes about traumatic experiences. I also want to let everyone know there will be no suicide attempts in this book. I know some people have been worried about this with Vinny, but that will not be happening.
Thanks for reading!
Please let me know what you think about the chapter! Did you expect Spencer to show up to the dinner? Do you think Vinny is justified in his anger? How do you think Carson will make it up to him?