(TW - homophobia)
Later that night, they decided to order food; no one wanted to cook for Kenny's father. They plated up the food, and Aj hesitated, holding Umar's food. "Aje, I'll take the food up to him for you." Niko appeared next to Aj, offering his hand out.
Aj took a deep breath and shook his head slowly. "No, I'll take it. It's fine. I don't want to give him another reason to think I'm disrespectful." He forced a smile, but his heart wasn't in it. As he walked up the stairs, he could feel Niko's concerned gaze on him. When he reached Umar's door, he took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in," came Umar's gruff voice. Aj pushed open the door and stepped inside, setting the plate of food down on the nightstand. Umar was already lying in bed, his eyes closed. "Here's your food, sir."
Umar opened one eye and looked at Aj. "Thank you." His tone was curt, but not as cruel as it had been earlier. Aj didn't dare stay any longer, not wanting to risk angering his friend's father. He turned to leave, but before he could reach the door, Umar spoke again. "You know, Ayaanle... you remind me of my son when he was younger."
The comment caught Aj off guard. He turned back to face Umar, unsure how to respond. "He used to say he was a homosexual. Well, until I trained him out of it." Umar snorted. Aj swallowed hard. He knew that Umar had a hand in changing his son from the person he was into someone he wasn't, but he never knew just how far it had gone.
Umar studied Aj's expression for a moment before letting out a small chuckle. "You are one, aren't you? And don't lie to me, boy; I don't like liars."
Aj felt his stomach drop. He knew what Umar was referring to, and he couldn't deny it. He took a deep breath, bracing himself for the inevitable confrontation. "I guess."
Umar let out a low chuckle. "I thought as much. It's a shame your parents didn't rid it out of you like I did with my son. It isn't right. And I think it is disgusting that you are living under the same roof as my son. I bet you're trying to undo all the work I did for him. Spreading your... your disease."
Aj felt a combination of anger and hurt wash over him. "I'm not trying to do anything to him. I don't understand why you think that."
"Oh please. Alright then, if not my son, then who? Which one of your other roommates have you converted to your side? Who's bed are you in at night?" Umar growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You're disgusting, you know that? Just like your kind. You're all the same. You should be ashamed of yourself for living like this. You're going to hell, boy."
Aj's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Umar to react this way. He felt a stinging sensation in his eyes as he struggled to hold back his tears. "Excuse me?" he managed to choke out.
Umar gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "You think you can just... pretend it's normal. But it isn't. It's a sickness, and if it were still up to me, I wouldn't have my son around it."
Aj felt his temper flare. "With all due respect, sir, your son is an adult. And he is happy. You can't control who he loves or who he chooses to be with."
Umar's expression turned menacing. "You're very lucky that I don't throw you out by your ear. You're disgusting. A disgrace to your family. I bet your mother regrets having to raise you just to see what you turned out to be." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "And you need to stay away from my son. I won't have him corrupted by someone like you. I don't want him being round a fag-"
Aj felt his cheeks flush with anger and hurt. "You're actually crazy. Don't talk about my mother like that," he spat. "And you don't want anything good for Kenny!"
Umar's expression turned into a sneer. Before Aj could react or run, Umar had stood up quickly, stumbling towards him, and slapped him across the face. The force of the blow sent Aj stumbling backward, his cheek burning from the slap. "How dare you speak to me that way?" Umar roared. "You are nothing but a disrespectful little maggot!"
Aj's hands flew to his stinging cheek as he struggled to maintain his composure. His eyes watered, and he could feel the stinging sensation spreading across his cheekbone.
Aj finally came to his senses and rushed out of the room. He avoided his own room that was right next door and instead ran inside Niko's room, slamming the door shut loudly and ensuring he locked it.
He didn't know what to do. His mind was reeling from the confrontation with Umar. He felt a mixture of anger, hurt, and fear. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he tried to compose himself. A flood of footsteps were heard running up the stairs to Niko's door. There was a chorus of voices asking Aj questions.
Aj's hands were shaking, and his mind was racing as he tried to calm himself down. "No, please, not now." He muttered to himself as he leaned against Niko's wall, hands tightly over his ears.
There was one voice that stood out to him through the haze. "Aje, let me in, please?" It was Niko. He hesitated for a moment before slowly unlocking the door. Niko's face was pale and concerned as Aj pulled on his arm and squeezed him through the gap, shutting and locking the door behind him, ignoring the others who stood outside.
"Hey Aje, what's going on?" Niko asked gently, moving towards him. He took in the red mark on Aj's cheek and the look of pain and anger in his eyes. Then he took in the rapid movement of the smaller man's chest and the shallow breaths he was taking.
Aj shook his head, unable to speak. He leaned into Niko, burying his face in the younger man's chest. Niko hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around Aj, not holding too tight. He didn't want to make the boy overstimulated.
"Take deep breaths, Aje," he whispered, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "That's it. Just breathe. You're doing so well, baby," Niko murmured, his voice soothing and steady. Aj felt Niko's strong arms envelop him, holding him close and protecting him from the world. The familiar scent of his cologne and the warmth of his body began to calm him down. Any nausea he was feeling had lessened greatly.
They stayed like that for a while, Niko slowly guiding Aj through his breaths. When he felt Aj begin to steady himself, he slowly pulled back, cupping his face in his hands. Aj's eyes were red-rimmed and glassy from the tears he had shed. "I'm sorry," he managed to choke out.
"Hey, hey," Niko said, shushing him gently. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about. You're doing great, okay?" He wiped away Aj's tears with his thumbs, careful not to hurt him. "Here, come sit down." Niko guided Aj by his elbows and led him to sit on the edge of the bed. Niko held Aj's face in his hand and turned it towards the light. The left side of his face was red, with an obvious bruise forming near his eye.
"Oh, Aje," Niko murmured, touching the area lightly. "That's going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow." He looked into Aj's eyes, searching for any sign of the rage that had consumed him earlier. He found only fear and pain. "What happened? We heard a yell and a loud bang, and we immediately ran upstairs."
Aj swallowed hard, struggling to find the words. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone, especially Kenny." His pleading eyes were shining with worry.
"Aj, I don't know if-" Niko started, but Aj cut him off.
"Please, Nikolas, please. You...you have to promise. You can't tell him, please, Nick." Aj's voice was pleading and desperate. He searched Niko's eyes, looking for any sign of agreement. "Please."
Niko looked into Aj's eyes, seeing the fear and desperation there. "Hey, hey, alright. Aje, it's okay, I promise. You can trust me." He held Aj's face in his hands, trying to offer some reassurance. "Now, what happened? You can tell me."
Aj took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I took the food up to Umar, and he started saying horrible things...things about me, Kenny... and my mum." His voice trailed off, the pain in his eyes obvious. "He called me a fag." The words were like knives in his chest as he spoke them, the last word coming out as a broken whisper. "I couldn't take it, Niko. I just wanted to make him stop. I just wanted him to leave me alone." His voice broke, and tears welled up in his eyes again. "I raised my voice, and he...he slapped me. Right across the face." Aj's hands shook as he held them against his sore cheek.
Niko's expression hardened, and he stood up immediately. "What?!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the room. "He slapped you? How hard did he- I can see his hand imprinted on your face! I'm gonna-"
Aj grabbed onto Niko's arm, his eyes pleading with him not to do anything rash. "No, please. I don't want to get Kenny in any trouble; I can only guess how bad he was when Kenny was younger. We have no idea what he is capable of. I don't want to talk about it anymore." He turned away, hiding his face in his hands.
Niko looked down at Aj's trembling hands, then back up into his pleading eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He knew Aj was right; they couldn't risk anything happening to Kenny. But it still ate away at him, knowing that someone had hurt someone he loved like that. He sat back down beside Aj, carefully and gently brushed his hair back from his face. "Okay," he said softly. "Okay, we'll deal with it."
"Thank you," Aj leaned in and kissed Nikos cheek softly. "Can I stay with you tonight? It will only be this once, please."
"Of course you can; I was going to ask you to stay anyway. I will not be letting you out of my sight while he is here." Niko kissed Aj's forehead. "I'll make sure you feel better and get some sleep, but first you need to eat."
They stood up and unlocked the bedroom door. The three men waiting outside pushed themselves off the wall. "what happened?" Sharky asked, his brows furrowed in worry, his eyes flicking between the two that left the bedroom.
"Holy shit, Aje!" Chunkz exclaimed, rushing over to him and grabbing his face in his hands. "what happened?" His eyes searched Aj's face, looking for any other signs of injury. Aj removed the hands from his face, wincing.
"I'm fine; I fell and hit my face like an idiot." Aj replied, blushing slightly as he rubbed his cheek again. "It's nothing serious." He looked over at Niko, who was standing nearby. Niko took this as a hint and placed his hand on Aj's back, guiding him past the others and to the stairs.
Sharky and Chunkz exchanged worried glances as they followed the group downstairs. The others had set the table with their food. The tension in the air was slightly suffocating as they all sat down at the table, Aj taking the seat beside Niko.
Niko glanced at Aj and then at Kenny, who was sitting across the table from them. He couldn't help but feel protective of Aj and, at the same time, worried about what might happen if he let his guard down. He knew that they would have to be careful with the guest in the house.
Aj looked up at Niko through his eyelashes and whispered, "I can't eat this. I'm not hungry." His stomach was in knots, and the thought of food made him feel uneasy.
Niko placed his hand on Aj's knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Please just have something, how about just a little bit?" he whispered back. Aj hesitated, then took a small bite of his food. He chewed slowly, swallowed, and took another bite. As they ate in silence, Niko could feel the tension in the air beginning to ease up.
Aj finished around half of his food while focusing on the others mindless chatter. He still felt uncomfortable, but the warmth of Niko's hand on his knee was comforting.
As they all finished their meal, Kenny and Sharky stood up. "Well, we are off to bed. I just want to apologise for bringing my father into the house. I'll make sure he doesn't stay too long." Aj looked up at him, still feeling uncertain about the whole situation. Niko smiled and nodded, standing up as well. "No need for apologies, Kenny. We understand it's not your fault."
All five members of the house headed upstairs, choosing to do the dishes the next day instead.
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My poor boy Aj :(((
Also don't worry I haven't forgotten about Niko's 'girlfriend'.
- B🎧