by Alice Layne
“You okay?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I mumbled.
He reached over and squeezed my thigh, “Your knuckles are white. Dude, it’s going to be okay. You’re going to have to believe me when I say this shit all looks a lot worse than it is.” Hunter patted my knee and pointed to his left, “That’s our stop.”
The trailer he pointed to wasn’t the worst in the neighborhood, but there was no way I could pretend it wouldn’t benefit from a little TLC. I pulled in behind a truck that had a blue door, a black tailgate, and a red body. So long as it ran well, that was all that mattered, I guessed. Hunter got out of the car as soon as I stopped, leaving me no time to second guess my decision to come over at all.
Hunter walked around the side of the trailer and I followed him. What might have been the back entrance at one point had a rather nicely constructed porch with cheap lawn furniture on it. I wasn’t trying to judge everything I saw, but that didn’t mean I didn’t.
“I like the porch,” I muttered.
“Thanks, I built it with some spare lumber my dad’s friend Joey had.” Hunter beamed with pride and in that moment, nothing else mattered. Fuck the preconceptions I had about this place, it was my boyfriend’s home. He was happy and proud of it, I needed to be supportive.
We took the three steps and he pulled open the screen door and shoulder checked the main door. It screamed in agony as it scraped against the frame, “And that’s the next thing I need to fix. We’re going to need a new door and probably hinges. It still works, but I’d love to see you try to open it.”
I shook my head, “No thanks.”
Hunter stood there at the door and nodded his head towards the inside, but there was no way in hell I was going in first. After a few moments of awkwardly standing on his porch, he stepped inside and called out, “Hey guys, I want to introduce you to Levi.”
A pair of feet thumped against the floor of the trailer and a girl no older than ten burst past Hunter and smiled warmly at me, “Hello! Mom said you would probably come around a bit. If that’s true, you’re going to have to see my room now before someone spoils the surprise!”
She reached a hand out to me and I glanced at Hunter. He chuckled and ruffled her messy brown hair, “You really need to tell people your name when you introduce yourself, Raven. Levi, this is my little sister. You should check out her room though, it’s freaking awesome.”
He almost slipped the F-bomb in there, but it was a good save. I took her hand and before I had the chance to formally introduce myself, Raven tugged me into the trailer and down the narrow hall on the right that led to two bedrooms. The first one on the left was our stop, luckily, and I did have to give her credit, it was certainly unique.
Hand-drawn pictures of characters from movies and TV shows the far wall, on the right wall was her closet, but the doors were two tall mirrors that were attached to sliding rails. The left side of her small room was dominated by a twin bunk bed, but the bottom one was altered to fit a large piece of smooth wood that she seemed to be using as a desk.
“Hunter helped me with the bed and the closet doors, but the art is all mine!” Raven exclaimed happily.
“I’m sorry, but awesome isn’t the right word for your room,” I said softly. Her smile faded and before that disappointment could settle in, I smiled at her warmly and finished, “It’s phenomenal.”
“Raven, let the poor boy come introduce himself!” a deep voice bellowed out from the other side of the trailer.
“Sorry, Dad!” she yelled back.
I’d probably get a headache if I had to listen to them yell back and forth, but luckily Hunter came to my rescue. He stepped into the room and stared down at Raven while sneering, “And I catch you holding my boyfriend’s hand? Raven! After all I’ve done for you!”
Raven snatched her hand out of mine and took a step back and crossed her arms, “I don’t want your man. I could get better.”
“Wait, should I be offended or relieved?” I asked.
Hunter took my hand and smiled at me, “Yes.”
“That’s not even an answer,” I groaned, but he wasn’t having any of it.
Hunter guided me into the living room area which was essentially a large, stained wrap around couch with a TV on an entertainment center. DVDs of all sorts were stacked on either side of the TV and on the four shelves beneath it. Behind the TV was a counter that transitioned into an open kitchen. There wasn’t a ton of room to move around, but it wasn’t impossible either.
Sitting directly across from the TV was the largest man I’d ever seen in my life. Even though he was sitting down, he was almost eye level with me. His broad shoulders and barrel chest made his son’s look tiny in comparison. I much preferred Hunter’s build, but if he boxed with his dad, I could imagine that Hunter could take a hit. They shared the same dark brown hair, but his dad had brown eyes.
In the kitchen, Hunter’s mom was working over the stove. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wasn’t much different than Hunter or her husband in the fact that she could probably kick my ass. Fuck, if I had to guess, Hunter’s little sister could probably beat me up. Everything about his family screamed resilience. From their house, to their car, to their simplistic way of living. It wasn’t much, but they made it work. But they weren’t the downtrodden people I imagined living in this sketchy neighborhood.
Hunter cleared his throat, “Mom, Dad, this is Levi. I don’t want to hear no gay jokes while he’s around and I’d like him to feel like family when he’s here.”
“Then he can get in the kitchen and help your mom cook while you take out the trash and help your sister with her homework,” his dad rumbled.
I glanced at his mom and smiled warmly, “I’d love to help if I can, Mrs. George.”
“Boy, if you don’t call me Mom in this house, I’ma whoop your ass. I ain’t an old woman yet,” she said and smiled back at me. “Stir the noodles while I get the sweet peas in the microwave and set the table.”
“Uhm, okay, Mom,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. It wasn’t quite what I expected when I met his family, but Hunter’s dad definitely didn’t mind putting me to work. I’d much rather help make dinner than be treated like some sort of honored guest, though.
Hunter followed me into the kitchen and had to turn sideways to get around me. I could feel my cheeks burning as his hips rubbed against my butt on his way through, but it probably wasn’t intentional. The trash can was on the other side of me, anyway. But I could still hope that it was at least a little bit intentional. From what I knew about Hunter so far, he loved to prove me wrong. So yeah, it probably was intentional.
His mom reached over my shoulder after Hunter went through and turned on a loud fan to help pull some of the steam away from the pot. “So how’d you two meet?”
Raven chirped, “Hunter said he met Levi at a party.”
Hunter let out a loud groan, “Sis, are you seriously going to make me regret telling you about that?”
“So you’re just going to tell Raven about your crush and leave your old man out of the loop?” his dad asked.
“Oh, Dad, Hunter told me all about Levi a while back. I think I was in third grade,” Raven said.
I glanced over at Hunter in time to see his face turn slightly red, “Raven, I’m never telling you anything ever again. Go to your room and get your homework out.”
“Fine. Before I go, I wanted to say thank you, Levi,” she called out.
“For what?” I asked.
She smiled at me and shook her head, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.” With that, she went back to her phenomenal room.
Hunter went out the actual front door with a bag of trash and left me alone with his parents. As soon as we were somewhat alone, Mrs. George asked, “He isn’t pressuring you into anything, is he?”
“Not really,” I said.
“Good, he’s a sweet boy, but he’s got a bit of a mean streak in him. I ain’t trying to scare you
, just making sure he ain’t doing something that’d piss me off,” she said.
Mr. George turned off the TV and stood, “Honey, Hunter isn’t going to do a damn thing to Levi that I wouldn’t do to you, baby. I’d put his ass in the ground if he did something stupid.”
I wasn’t huge on threats, but it seemed to come from a good place. Well, as good as it could be coming from a man that could probably break me in half with one hand.
Mrs. George mumbled, “Let’s hope he wouldn’t do some of the same things, then. I don’t know if Levi would be able to handle getting teased too much.”
Hunter came back in through the back door and smiled at me before disappearing into Raven’s room. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about any of what was happening, but I could say that it was nice to not be an outcast because of my sexuality.
Mrs. George eventually replaced me at the stove and pointed to a drawer, “Trash bags are in there, put one in the can for me and then I’ll let you go sit down.” I did as she asked and she called out, “Thanks,” as I walked by her and into the living room.
Hunter’s dad was in the process of picking a DVD out of the stack and I chose to sit on the couch as close to the hallway leading into Raven’s room as possible. My instinct was to run back to Hunter and cling to him for dear life, but that would probably make his parents feel like I didn’t want to be around them. The last thing I wanted to do was make a bad impression.
After a few more moments of perusing, his dad picked a movie that I wasn’t familiar with and left it on the title screen. He sat down a couple feet away from me and reached over and offered his hand to me, “Todd, by the way.”
I shook his hand, well, if you could call having my hand swallowed whole by his a shake. “Levi, but you’re probably tired of hearing my name already.”
Todd leaned back into the couch and let out a low, rumbling chuckle. “Not quite. So, what did my son do to catch your attention?”
“I guess there was a lot that I was interested in, but he’s just not like most people I’ve met. I’ll be honest, Mr. George, I barely know him on a personal level. Have you ever met someone that you just know in your heart that you’re going to get along with?” I asked.
He smiled and nodded towards his wife, “People thought we wouldn’t last a week together, let alone twenty-six years.”
Mrs. George let out an exasperated sigh as she strained her pasta. “That’s what happens when you meet in a bar,” she called out.
“I never read anywhere that love had to be found in a certain place,” he said.
“Baby, that’s because you don’t know how to read,” she said.
Todd slapped a hand to his chest, “That’s why you complete me. You can’t count and I can’t read, but together, we make one half of a functioning person.”
I couldn’t hide the giggle that escaped my lips, but neither of them seemed to mind. A faint smile lingered on Mrs. George’s lips and Todd’s much more obvious grin made it clear that this was normal between them. Hunter and I might be like in the future. I could already imagine trying to embarrass our child’s date.
Hunter and Raven walked into the living room a few moments later. His sister had a piece of paper in her hands and rushed over to her dad to proudly show it to him. Hunter smiled at me as he sat down beside me. According to chapter two, subsection six of the bro code, his dad had to scoot down about another two feet to give us space.
“They didn’t do anything too cruel to you while I was gone, did they?” he asked softly.
I shook my head, “They definitely made me feel like part of the family.”
Hunter groaned and put a hand on my knee. “Oh damn, did Dad tell you about his time in the army already? He tells that one to all my friends.”
“Nope, I got to hear about where they met, though. That was pretty cool. They weren’t in a place much different than where we met,” I whispered.
“We technically met at school, not Wendall’s, we just never really talked to one another at school until recently,” Hunter said.
“Alright, y’all can come and fix a plate. Are we eating at the table or in the living room?” his mom asked.
Todd stood from the couch, but didn’t take a step towards the kitchen, “I picked out a movie for us to watch in here while we ate. I’m not about to pretend we’re some kind of uppity family eats dinner around a table and talks about our feelings for Levi. If the boy is going to come around, he might as well get to know us as the people we are, not who we want him to see us as.”
Hunter got up and offered me a hand, “But around here, guests make the first plate.”
I took his hand and tried to ignore the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Food really wasn’t on my mind, I just wanted to stop feeling so out of place. His family was just being… well, a family. I didn’t realize just how different his home life was in comparison to mine. My parents would have sat around the table. They would have probably said grace before the meal, even though they weren’t even religious. It was all about putting on a show for other people.
The George family was nothing like that. They were unapologetically themselves. I didn’t know if I’d ever feel comfortable around them or not, but it wouldn’t be because they tried to make me feel like an outcast. There was still the issue of finding out if Hunter and I would even last a week. Fuck, there was the issue of not even knowing if my parents would be okay with our relationship. After tonight, I knew I’d have to come out to my parents and probably introduce them to Hunter. If my stomach wasn’t uneasy enough before, that thought ruined my appetite.
Chapter Eight
By the time Levi finished his tiny plate of food, I’d already demolished my food. Baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, and sweet peas were a classic dinner around here and Mom did it justice. I reached over and pulled Levi’s plate out of his hands and stacked ours before grabbing my little sister’s plate as well. After taking them all to the kitchen, I hurried back to the couch and sat down beside Levi.
He still seemed uncomfortable, but by this point, I’d come to realize that Levi was uncomfortable in any situation he was unfamiliar with. I put my hand around his back and grabbed his waist and gently pushed. After I managed to get him to wiggle a little bit away from the back of the couch, I put my leg alongside the couch and wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him against me.
Levi smiled up at me and went back to watching the movie. After a few minutes, his hand started rubbing my leg slowly. I was afraid to do much of anything around my parents, but I told them that he was my boyfriend. If they didn’t expect us to act like a couple, they’d have to get over it.
The night wore on and by the end of the movie, I was more than ready to go to my room and spend some time alone with Levi. Luckily for me, Dad stood and turned off the TV, “Raven, go take a bath and get ready for bed. It’s about time for us to do the same. Boys, don’t stay up too late and keep in mind that these walls are thin.”
“Dad, he’s going to help me study,” I grumbled.
Raven giggled at us before scampering off, calling back, “Night night, love you guys!”
“Love you too, baby girl,” Mom said and got up. She grabbed Dad’s plate from the coffee table and put them in the sink before disappearing off into their bedroom with Dad hot on her heels.
And that left me alone with Levi. I squeezed him against my chest and spoke softly, “They’re not that bad, are they?”
“Your family is pretty awesome. I just hate that I don’t know how things work around here, I feel so out of place,” he said.
“You’ll get used to it. Do you mind if we move this party to my room now? I did hope that you’d be willing to help me a little,” I said and untangled myself from him.
Levi let out a low groan and looked back at me, “I was really enjoying that. I guess we can do some studying.”
I smiled and got off the couch and headed into my room. It wasn’t spotless, but I wasn’t exactly a filthy
guy either. Levi didn’t seem to care about the clothes in the corner of my room beside my dresser. He just walked in, shut the door, and plopped down on my twin bed.
Even if I wanted to have a little space between us, the only place to sit in my room was the bed. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the practice tests again and sat down beside him.
Levi smiled at me and put his arm around my back and his head on my shoulder, “Do them as fast as you can. Don’t change your answers, just pick the one that feels right.”
“That’s real helpful,” I grumbled.
“I can’t help you if I don’t know what your baseline is, Hunter,” he said.
I sighed and pulled a pencil from my pocket and went to work. He had a point, but about midway through the first test, I asked, “How long do I have to wait before I can start calling you baby or whatever?”
Levi shrugged his shoulders and pulled away from me. For a second, I thought I said something wrong, but he got behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. His thin fingers kneaded my neck and shoulders as he spoke softly, “I don’t know if it matters how fast you start calling me things like that. Honestly, all of this is happening really fast. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but I didn’t expect to meet your family for a while. I kind of thought you’d want to keep us a little more private until we figured out if this would last long at all.”
The tightness in my muscles didn’t stand a chance against Levi’s touch. As tense as I usually felt while having to do any kind of schoolwork, having Levi with me made things seem so much less serious. The questions didn’t seem nearly as difficult, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. I couldn’t focus on the test with what he said, though, so I put my pencil down for a moment and leaned forward to give him easier access to my back.
As soon as I did, his hands shifted down to my upper back and he worked his magic there. “Levi, I’m not the kind of person that wants to approach anything like I’m going to lose it. It’s a terrible mindset because all you’re going to look for are the signs of failure. I wanted to introduce you to my folks because I thought you’d take that as a sign that I’m not ashamed of you. If I gave a fuck about what people might think about us, I’d have told you to not get so close when we were in the bleachers. Dude, I like you. I’m not going to pretend that I know if you’ll be the guy I marry, but I’d like to at least treat the relationship with some respect and hope that we might get there at some point.”