Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:39:53 -0500
From: Cy-kun <cysanonymouslyanonymousemail@gmail.com>
Subject: Everything Will Turn Out Alright Part 30

Disclaimer: Even though you're gonna do it anyway don't read this unless
you're of legal age and this type of thing isn't outlawed where you live.
If you object to reading about sex and love between young boys then this
isn't for you. I'd still love to know why you're here though.  Copyrighted
material that may be mentioned is owned by the people who own it and I am
not one of them. All of this is fictional, fake, and never happened.


	Introduction: HAPPY SKYRIM DAY EVERYBODY! Seriously, this should be
a holiday. You have NO idea how long I've been looking forward to
this. These past two weeks were like being 10 and falling asleep Christmas
Eve. Every. Single. Day. Total torture. But oh so worth it. As you're
reading this I'm probably slaying a dragon or rising through the ranks of
the Dark Brotherhood or trying to find the perfect husband for my elf, so
not much writing's getting done. But! Don't worry. I'm not gonna get so
distracted that I completely forget to get the next chapter done. It'll
most likely be a bit longer of a wait than......well I was gonna say "than
usual" but that means exactly crap :P lol. It'll probably be a few weeks,
but not more than two. Probably. Now that I've said that....

	Mr Crusher! Set course for chapter 30! Engage!

	-Cy



--------------------------------------------



	Road trip movies are made of lies.

	Seriously.

	They all make it look like long road trips are filled with wacky
adventures and interesting locations and quirky but loveable people. But
it's bullshit. A real road trip goes exactly like this.

	You get in a car. You drive. You get on the highway. You drive. You
stay on the highway, driving. You stop to pee. You drive. You spend like 4
fucking hours going through Pennsylvania, the most boring state ever. You
drive. You stop for lunch at the small town you barely made it to because
you waited until the last gallon was left in the gas tank before looking
for a place to stop. You drive. You practically explode from the pee you've
been holding in because you fell asleep and your mom missed the "last exit
for 40 miles" sign. You drive. You hit an hour fucking delay because a
whole lane of the highway was closed down for SEVEN MILES because two guys
are digging a five foot hole in a work area that's only 100 FUCKING FEET
LONG. You drive while listening to your mom curse. You drive through back
roads for half an hour because your mom thinks she knows a better route
than the GPS and promptly gets you lost. You drive. You start to have a
horrible suspicion that you forgot to pack pants. You worry, while driving.

	By the time we finally got to New York, three hours later than we
wanted, I totally understood why people went on killing sprees. How an
eight hour drive on mostly major US highways can have more shit go wrong
than a three day drive through fucking Canada I'll never know. But, even
with the tiredness and the acheyness and the new found desire for mass
murder the second I saw the unmistakable skyline of New York in the
distance a smile spread across my lips and I started bouncing in my
seat. Vicky was in there, somewhere, and I was so close I could practically
smell him.

	"You're looking . . . . better." my mom said hesitantly. I could
understand why she wasn't eager to talk to me. For the last three hours all
I did was whine and snap at her and make bitchy comments about
everything. Not to mention the brand new dent in the dashboard where I
might have kicked it during a small, insignificant, not even really worth
mentioning temper tantrum/nervous breakdown.

	But all that was behind us now. I grinned. "Yep." I said
happily. "We're almost to Vicky. Wow! Those buildings are huge!"

	I turned a wide eyed gaze out to the skyscrapers as we got closer
to the city, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed that she was still
giving me a worried, cautious look. I rolled my eyes. Ok, yeah, I get it,
but, come on that was like, MINUTES ago. I'm totally fine now.

	And people say I don't know how to let things go.

	It was a good thing she turned her attention back to the road
though because one stereotype about New York that's apparently not really
all that exaggerated is the way people drive. Even though we weren't
actually in the city yet it was pretty bad. Speeding, cutting us off,
passing on the right, not to mention that no one seems to have working
signal lights up here. Or maybe it's just too hard to use them with a cell
phone in one hand and a drink in the other. Strangely enough the worst
drivers all had New Jersey license plates. Weird.

	As we got closer to the city itself my jaw dropped and I let out a
tiny gasp. The skyscrapers were even bigger up close! Ok, I know, duh
right? But they're really really huge. I mean, I KNEW they were huge, I've
seen New York in movies probably a million times but the biggest city I've
ever been in was Chicago and that was back when we moved to Cooper from
Alaska. And I slept through it. So I was shocked at how insanely huge
everything was. It was almost enough to give me a whole new height complex.

	As we got closer I started recognizing buildings. "Look!" I said
pointing. "The Empire State building! That got blown up in Independence
Day. Oh! And there's the Chrysler Building! It got hit by a meteor in
Armageddon. I wonder if we'll see that weird corner building that they made
into the Daily Bugle in Spider Man?" Yeah, I was rambling, but I didn't
care. This was so awesome!

	"Maybe we can get Jack to show us around before we leave." my mom
said. "Son of a bitch! Why does everyone cut me off the second I put my
turn signal on?"

	As we finally got into the city itself I gave up trying to talk
about anything and just settled for staring up with my mouth open like a
beached fish. I wonder if I'll ever get used to seeing giant ass buildings
that just keep going up and up? I doubted it. And it was ever weirder
looking at the streets. So many people! And not a single one of them seemed
to have any problem stepping out in the middle of traffic.

	"Nate," my mom said suddenly, making me jump a bit. I'd kinda
forgotten she was there. "Can you look in the glove box and get the piece
of paper in there out and read it."

	"Kay." I said. I got it out and looked at it, then frowned in
confusion. "Directions?"

	"Jack gave them to me. He was worried about the GPS taking us into
dangerous areas by accident."

	"You mean like, gang areas and stuff?" I asked, wide eyed.

	My mom shrugged. "Probably."

	I grinned. "Cool! Maybe we can see a gang war! Or an actual crack
whore!" I said excitedly.

	My mom gave me a weird look. "Or," she said slowly. "We could use
the directions and not get killed right away. That would be good too."

	"I guess." I said reluctantly, which got me another look. I guess
she was having trouble figuring out if I was serious or not. Wow, I must
have been in a really bad mood before if she's that confused about my
mental state. I didn't tell her I was joking though. This was definitely
one of those times when I was gonna enjoy being the one fucking with her
for a change.

	I did read her the directions though. As cool as it would be to see
a gang shoot out or a crack whore I kinda wanted to see Vicky more. We
drove through awful city traffic for about another half hour before we
started getting into an area that had actual houses way too close together
instead of apartment buildings. I guess we were still in the city,
technically, but it was a lot more like a neighborhood I'd be familiar
with, not someplace filled with giant, concrety awesomeness.

	The houses were nice though.

	It wasn't until we actually pulled up next to one of them, in what
was probably an incredibly improbable open space that my mom immediately
declared we weren't moving from until it was time to leave, that I started
to worry about something that I probably should have thought of before.

	Who the hell am I here as?

	Am I here as Vicky's boyfriend? Just his friend? The son of the
woman who's dating his dad? I tried really hard to remember if Vicky ever
told me if he was out to the rest of his family but I don't think we ever
talked about it. Was I gonna have to go into "parental stealth" mode around
him so no one knows we're together? Would we even be able to sleep in the
same room? That last one caused a tiny bit of panic. We were staying until
Sunday and we've already went through how much I can't fucking sleep
without Vicky on the weekends.

	Suddenly, the weekend didn't seem as awesome as it did a few
seconds ago.

	"Come on." my mom said as she shut off the car. "We're late enough,
we can come back for the suitcases later." I just nodded and followed her
out of the car.

	And was immediately smacked in the face by a solid wall of freezing
air.

	"Fuck!" I said and hugged myself for warmth. "It's cold!"

	My mom just rolled her eyes and walked towards the door. You'd
think with the whole "born in Alaska" thing I'd have a much better
tolerance for cold but, no, I'm a summer boy, always have been. Winter is
my mortal enemy and with living so far south I'd completely forgot that
weather could even GET this cold.

	And of course I didn't pack a single fucking jacket.

	By the time we got to the door I was a shivering mess. If they had
a fire going I was gonna throw myself in it and happily burn to death with
a smile on my face. My mom rang the bell and after a few, agonizing seconds
someone FINALLY got off their lazy, no doubt way warmer than mine, ass and
opened the door.

	The girl standing in the doorway looked like she was probably in
her late teens, maybe a few years older than Michelle's sister. She had
long, dark brown hair that was a bit curly and hung a little bit past her
shoulders in a slightly frizzy ponytail. She was about Jason's height,
which annoyed me on general principal, and was wearing a pair of gray
sweatpants and a warm looking sweater that I wanted to rip off her and live
in for a year. I was suddenly glad I didn't over dress.

	Before we left I had kind of a mild panic attack trying to figure
out what to wear. That in itself was enough to put me in a bad mood, I'm
getting really sick of having to actually think about what I'm wearing. I
didn't know how formal (read: stuffy and uptight) Vicky's family was about
Thanksgiving. We'd always just wore slightly nicer clothes that normal but
I had no idea what I was gonna be walking into. Would it be like suits and
ties? Business casual (whatever that is)? Nice, pressed shirts? Jeans and T
shirts with a football game in the background? I had no idea. In the end I
decided that looking too nice was better than looking too messy but I only
had the one damn nice shirt and the one damn nice pair of pants. And I
really didn't wanna wear the same thing AGAIN. Even I'd feel weird about
that. In the end, after obsessing over my clothes way more than any
thirteen year old boy ever should, I decided just to wear a black T shirt
with no picture on it under my dance shirt, which I left unbuttoned, and
pair of black jeans that weren't too tight on me. I did pack the tight
jeans though. At least I think I did, if I did pack pants, which if you'll
remember is still in doubt.

	Oh and my mom was wearing dark blue slacks with a dark blouse(?)
like thing if anyone cares.

	The girl smiled widely when she saw us. "Hi!" she said in a loud,
cheery voice. "Julia and Nate, right?"

	My mom smiled back. "That's us. Sorry we're so late, the
construction in Pennsylvania is ridiculous."

	The girl waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You're
not even late, really. Uncle Jack and grandpa just stopped yelling at each
other about the turkey twenty minutes ago so unless they ruined it again
it'll probably be another half hour before dinner's ready anyway." she
smiled at us again, then gasped as her eyes widened. "Oh my God! I'm being
so rude! Please, come in. I'm Sarah, Jack's niece." she said and shook my
mom's hand as she walked in.

	I barely even heard her. The second I heard the words "come in" I
pushed past my mom and practically ran into the warm cocoon of the
wonderfully heated house. I'm pretty sure my mom gave me a look and I was
probably gonna get another "don't be rude" lecture at some point today but
I didn't care. The only important thing was that I was no longer in danger
of dying of hypothermia.

	 Sarah closed the door behind us and laughed as I stood there
shaking and huddled in on myself. "Not used to the cold, huh?" she said in
that annoying way people have of stating the obvious like it's some huge
fucking talking point.

	"It's unnatural." I said, shivering. Ok, so, MAYBE I was
exaggerating my shivers just a bit but I had a point to make. Weather this
cold was wrong and the sooner everyone realized it and stopped living
anywhere north or south of the equator the happier the whole world will be.

	Sarah laughed again. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to get used to. I was
born in Florida so it took a while for me too. You should at least have it
easier since you grew up in West Virginia."

	"Alaska." my mom deadpanned.

	"Huh?" Sarah asked.

	"He grew up in Alaska." my mom said.

	Vicky's cousin looked at my mom, then back to me. "Seriously?"

	"Yep." my mom said. I nodded.

	"Oh." she said, looking bemused.

	I shrugged. "I'm a summer boy." I said.

	"NATE!" A very sexy and familiar voice cut off any response Sarah
might have had to that. My head shot up just in time to see a grinning
Vicky running full speed towards me. I didn't even have time to smile or
realize that I suddenly wasn't at all cold anymore before he leaped at me,
flung his arms around my neck and kissed me hard.

	Well, I guess I don't have to worry about keeping my hands off
Vicky this weekend.

	It had barely been two days since we'd last seen each other but
devoured his kiss like I hadn't felt his lips in years. It was one of those
awesome and insanely romantic moments where nothing exists outside of Vicky
and me, more specifically the parts of us touching, and time stands totally
still. I licked at his lips and my hands may have started to go to some of
their favorite places when someone close by cleared their throat loudly.

	We stopped kissing, but even though I was in a house filled with
people I'd never met I didn't jump back or bother getting too
embarrassed. Over the last few months with Vicky I'd pretty much stopped
being bothered by being all lovey in front of people, mostly. I looked over
and saw my mom and Sarah standing by the door with almost identical amused
smirks on their faces. Warning bells started going off in my head, the same
kind that I had when Luke and Jason first met, and while I didn't think
this would end with one of them having a crush on the other one they
suddenly seemed way too much alike for me to ever wanna be left alone in a
room with them.

	"Aww, aren't they cute?" Sarah asked my mom.

	My mom's smirk widened and I knew without even the littlest bit of
doubt that she knew she found a kindred soul. "They have their moments."
she allowed. "As long as Nate keeps his potty mouth shut sometimes he can
even be adorable."

	"Mom!" I yelled, horrified. Great, I'm going to be slandered before
I even get to know anyone here.

	"He can't possibly be worse than Vicky." Sarah said casually. "I
don't even know what some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth means."

	"Sarah!" Vicky shouted.

	"Vicky?" my mom said, ignoring us completely. "I can't believe
that. He's always been a perfect gentleman around me."

	Sarah snorted. "Are you sure you're talking about that kid right
there?" she pointed to Vicky.

	Vicky flushed and I knew my face wasn't any better. "Can we just
get out of here?" I asked him, taking a page out of my mom's book and
ignoring them.

	"Yeah, let's-"

	And of course that's when the rest of the family decided to come
over and meet us.

	They swarmed. Which was a bit scary itself but me and Vicky still
had our arms around each other. It made the "Oh, hi! You must be Jack's
girlfriend" which trust me was bad enough on it's own, at least for me,
from a woman who I assumed was Vicky's aunt trail off into a surprised "Oh"
and a slightly awkward silence. I felt my face get even hotter. It wasn't
that I was embarrassed to be seen holding Vicky, not really, it was more
the fact that we were the cause of everyone just standing there looking at
each other weirdly, and they all knew it. I HATE being the center of
attention like that.

	Finally, mercifully, the tall, old guy standing behind the small
crowd of newcomers let out an annoyed huff. "For Christ's sake Anne, it's
not like we didn't know the boy was bent. Stop gawking at them." he pushed
past Jack, the woman, Anne, and another guy who was probably Vicky's uncle
and thrust his hand out to my mom. "Timothy Clarke." he said brusquely.

	My mom didn't even hesitate, she shook his hand, one of those
firm-grip two-pump things that redneck comedians like to make jokes
about. "Julia Ellis, it's nice to meet you." she said with a small smile.

	Vicky's grandpa, Timothy, had thick salt and pepper hair, a stiff,
straight back and was very tall. Taller than Jack even, and he towered over
my mom. He was probably too close for someone who just introduced himself
and his whole posture was a little intimidating, but it was subtle enough
that if you called him out on it he could act like you were the one being
weird. My mom didn't say or do anything though, she just looked him right
in the eye as the silence dragged out past the comfortable point. Everyone
was watching and I was pretty sure none of us were breathing, I know I
wasn't. This guy was judging my mom and it kinda scared me. Annoyed me too
but I'm not sure if it was because I was being protective of her or because
I would have liked to see her squirm a bit instead of doing the calm,
professional woman VP thing.

	I know. I'm a shitty son sometimes.

	Finally, Timothy just nodded once, dropped her hand and turned to
Jack. "Better than the last one." he grunted.

	"Thanks dad." Jack said dryly.

	Timothy just grunted again and turned all his attention towards me.

	I won't lie. Peeing myself and running did, briefly, cross my
mind. The guy was incredibly intimidating and his steel gray eyes, like
Vicky's but a lot harder and a little darker, seemed like they could see
every flaw you've ever had or ever would have. Principal Alomar's got
NOTHING on this guy. I might have done the whole peeing and running thing
too if Vicky didn't give me a quick, covert wink and a reassuring smile. It
was only on his face for a second before he took a step back from
me. Before I could panic though he took my hand and stood by my side,
seeming completely unconcerned with the roiling miasma of judgment and
disapproval that was focusing all it's attention on us.

	Timothy walked over to us and the only thing, besides the bowel
clenching fear, that kept me from running was Vicky's confident grip on my
hand. If he wasn't worried or intimidated then I could at least try to
pretend I wasn't. Like always, Vicky was my strength in situations like
this. Which is why I wanted him at the custody hearing. But, whatever,
that's over with and I'm not gonna start bitching about it again. He did
the same thing he did with my mom, thrusting his hand out and crowding my
personal space, before speaking in that same tone. "Timothy Clarke."

	Vicky was on my right side, holding my right hand, so I was gonna
have to let him go to shake Timothy's hand. And I totally would have, but
when I started to let go Vicky tightened his grip almost to the point of
hurting and wouldn't let me. And that was when I started to freak out just
a bit. Oh god! He's gonna think I'm being rude or disrespectful or
something for not shaking his hand! He's gonna tell me I'm not good enough
for Vicky and cast me out into the freezing death cold of New York's fall!
He won't let my mom see Jack and she'll hate me for ruining her
relationship!

	Wait! Maybe I could still save myself. If I just introduced myself
like my mom did maybe he wouldn't hate me. I took what was supposed to be a
calming breath (two guesses if it worked) and said with as much calm and
confidence as I could, "N-nice, um, Nate. I-I'm Nate. Ellis. Nathan
Ellis. Nice to me-et. You." I winced. Oh. My. God. I am such a fucking
loser. There's no way he doesn't hate me now. Hell, I hate me now. If he
threw me out on my ass I deserved to freeze to death.

	Timothy's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Are you trying to be
cute?"

	"I think he's cute." Vicky said in a perky voice. I blushed so hard
I was pretty sure my face could have warmed me up in the frigid wind
outside better than a jacket at this point. What the hell was Vicky-then he
leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Very cute."

	He's trying to get me killed, isn't he?

	Timothy harrumphed. "Well you would, wouldn't you." But even as he
said it he leaned back just enough to stop crowding me and the intensity of
his look died down a lot. "Well," he said slowly, to me this time. "You're
too pretty. And a little on the short side. But for some reason my grandson
seems to like you, probably a queer thing, so I'll overlook your no doubt
many flaws and let you eat at my table." He stepped back and gave me an
expectant look.

	I . . . had no idea how to react to that. My heart was still
pounding and everyone (mom included) was just staring at me like I was
supposed to DO something and I had no idea what. Did this scary old guy
want me to thank him for oh so graciously allowing me to eat in his house
after insulting me? Was I just gonna let him get away with that?

	"Thank you." I said quietly.

	Yes. Yes I am. Because I believe I already mentioned the scary part
and deep down inside I'm kind of a big wuss.

	Timothy grunted and turned back to my mom. "Dinner'll be ready in
twenty minutes. Maybe next year you can cook because my son's
hopeless. Happy Thanksgiving." And with that he walked out of the hall and
into what I assumed was the living room.

	I caught a quick glimpse of Jack rolling his eyes at Timothy' back
and walking over to my mom before the other two adults descended on us. The
woman, Anne, was Vicky's aunt just like I thought. She was a little on the
short side and more than a little on the pudgy side but she wore it
well. Her light brown hair was cut in a bob of all things and hung around
her roundish cheeks in a way that actually made her cute more than
pretty. For a woman anyway. She seemed nice enough, shaking my hand and
smiling a knowing smile. At first I thought maybe the smile was some kind
of "don't worry, even though I almost had a stroke when I saw you groping
on my nephew I'm modern and enlightened and completely down with the gay
thing" look but after Vicky's uncle introduced himself as Jack's brother I
figured it was more over a shared "experience" with Timothy.

	Vicky's uncle was actually named Timothy Jr, but he liked to go by
his middle name, Will. I didn't blame him. I wouldn't wanna share a name
with Old Man Death either. He was taller than his wife but shorter than
Jack, but only by a little bit. I wondered how the hell Vicky ended up the
size he did with all these tall men in his family. Then I had the horrible
thought that maybe they all started out small and grew when they got older
and really, REALLY hoped I was wrong and Vicky's mom was like a midget or
something. I think if Vicky got that much taller than me I'd actually
cry. Will's hair was the exact same color as Sarah's and was in a really
short Ceaser cut so I couldn't tell if she also got her frizzy hair from
him or not. He shook my hand after introducing himself to my mom and me and
I got a much warmer smile and a "It's nice to finally meet you, Vicky
hasn't stopped talking about you all day" that made my face turn red all
over again. Then he said he'd love to play me in Street Fighter 4 before I
left and I decided that he was my new favorite adult.

	After that they all started to make their way into the living
room(?) but me and Vicky held back. When they were all gone I whirled
around to face him. "What the hell is with your grandpa?" I hissed.

	Vicky just chuckled. "Don't worry about it, he's actually really
sweet, he just does that every time someone brings a boyfriend or
girlfriend over. He's kinda . . . "

	"Evil?" I supplied.

	Vicky laughed. "No. Well, maybe. But he loves people who don't get
scared or intimidated by him. That's why I didn't let you shake his hand."
Vicky narrowed his eyes playfully. "Which you completely ruined by the
way."

	I groaned. "So, he hates me now?"

	"No. If he hated you you'd definitely know. He hated my mom and my
dad won't tell me what he said to her when they met but it was enough to
make her run crying from the house and keep my dad from talking to him for
like a year." Vicky let out a snort of laughter. "It's actually kind of a
family legend."

	I opened my mouth to say how completely fucked up that was, then an
image of my dad flashed in my mind and I paused. "I guess it's not as bad
as having a religious nut, ex alcoholic dad."

	Vicky smiled. "True." He kissed me quickly on the cheek, which
brought back something else that I'd been worrying about.

	"Is your family really ok with, you know, you and me?" I asked
hesitantly.

	"Of course." Vicky said.

	I shot him a skeptical look. "Even your grandpa? I mean, he called
you bent and queer . . ." And I'm completely leaving out the part where if
I had any balls at all I would have told him off for insulting my Vicky
like that. I'll be feeling shame over that one for a long time.

	Vicky shrugged. "That's just how he talks. He says 'colored people'
and 'guido' too. He doesn't mean anything by it."

	"If you say so." I said doubtfully. "He still scares me." I
mumbled.

	Vicky pulled me close for a one armed hug. "You don't need to be
scared Nate." he lowered his voice and whispered in my ear. "I'll protect
you, if you want."

	I rolled my eyes and shoved him away, which made him laugh, but I
couldn't help the warm smile that crossed my lips because while he was
joking, he was also totally serious. And honestly it made me feel better
knowing that I could count on Vicky to stand between me and his grandpa.

	He caught my smile and returned it. "I'm really glad you're here."
he said. "I just can't believe you're in the neighborhood I grew up in. I
wanna take you around and show you everything and-well, if you want to that
is." he finished shyly.

	I know I've probably said it a million times by now, but Vicky is
SO cute when he gets all shy like that. As much as I love the idea of him
protecting me, Shy Vicky makes me wanna protect him just as much.  "Of
course I want to." I said warmly. "I wanna know everything about you and
that definitely includes seeing where you grew up."

	Vicky lit up. "Really? Awesome! I've always had a bit of a fantasy
about showing you around the city and you being all in awe of everything
and stuff."

	"Really?" I asked, fighting to hold back the smile because I didn't
want him to think I was laughing at him. "You fantasize about that?"

	"Well, yeah." Vicky said with a sort of self conscious shrug. "Not
all my fantasies are sex fantasies."

	I ignored how he may have said that just a bit louder than I was
comfortable with considering where we were. Instead, I remembered all the
day dreams I had about cuddling with Vicky or going to Virginia Beach with
him or kissing him at the top of a really tall building or having a
romantic dinner at an expensive restaurant and maybe even one or two about
us living on the Millennium Falcon together and this time I couldn't hold
back the smile. "I know exactly what you mean." I said softly.

	Vicky just grinned back at me. "You'll have to tell me yours
sometime."

	"I will-"

	"Hey guys!" Jack called, cutting off what could have been a pretty
smooth line. "Come into the dining room, dinner will be ready soon!"

	"Ok dad!" Vicky called back. I took a deep, steadying breath and
tried to keep from getting all nervous. Going to spend time with Timothy
the Evil One was not something I was looking forward to. I'd much rather
stay here and tell Vicky all the romantic things I wanna do with him. But,
instead of making the one I just had about him grabbing me and taking me
away to, I dunno rainbows and puppy dog land or something-I never got that
far in it, Vicky took my hand and lead me towards where Jack shouted
from. "It'll be fine." he said and gave my hand a squeeze. "I promise."

	And you know what? I actually believed him.

	We walked through the living room (I was right. And insanely
jealous of their massive TV by the way) to get to the dining room. Vicky's
grandpa was at the head of the table with his back towards a window with a
surprisingly nice view of their small backyard. On his right was Jack and
next to Jack was my mom. There were two seats next to her so me and Vicky
took those seats. I half expected some kind of comment about that but
everyone there barely noticed we'd even sat down. Next to Vicky at the
other head of the table (seriously what the hell is that called?) was Will
and to his right was Anne. Sarah sat across from me. Next to her was an
empty seat with no plate in front of it and for a second I thought that it
was because no one but Jack wanted to sit next to Timothy but then I
noticed that everyone else seemed to get this sad little look whenever they
looked over at it and it hit me. That had to be Vicky's grandma's seat. I
felt a pang of sadness for him and squeezed his leg under the table. I
dunno if he knew why I did it, but he patted my hand and smiled at me so I
decided to believe that he did.

	The table was covered in typical Thanksgiving food. Baked potatoes,
cranberry sauce, stuffing, stringy vegetable things, potato salad and, of
course, a huge ass turkey. Everything smelled awesome, even the stuffing
which I usually hate, and my stomach suddenly remembered that it hadn't had
any food in it since we stopped for lunch back when we thought we wouldn't
run into the Construction Site of Doom and let out a loud gurgle which of
course happened during a lull in the conversation, so everyone heard it and
laughed. At least I got another hand squeeze from Vicky for my
embarrassment.

	"Hungry boy?" Timothy asked.

	Ok, so, usually a question that stupid would get the full force of
my sarcasm turned on the asker but, yeah, still terrified of the guy so I
just nodded meekly and hoped that he'd stop talking to me.

	"Well," he said "Fill up on something that isn't the turkey. It's
undercooked and I don't want you getting sick on the table."

	"Dad," Jack said with that special kind of exasperation reserved
for people telling their parents something they've tried to explain a
million times. "The turkey's fine."

	"You didn't preheat the oven long enough."

	Jack sighed. "Dad, it's an electric oven. You don't need to heat it
up as long as a gas oven. The turkeys done just as much as it always is."

	As they argued I took a piece of turkey and carefully bit into
it. Perfectly fine. Actually, really good. I inhaled the whole piece so
quickly I can't even be sure I chewed and turned to Vicky. "The turkey's
great."

	"It always is." Vicky said with a small eye roll. "Grandpa does
this every year."

	"Every year?" I asked. "When did they get a new oven?"

	"No idea." Vicky said with a shrug. "They've had the same one my
whole life."

	"Mine too." Sarah cut in. "but every year it's the same
thing. Well, except last year when dad made the turkey and actually DID
undercook it-"

	"Sarah, don't bring that up." Will groaned.

	"-and grandpa got sick and forbid him from ever cooking anything
ever again." she finished with a mischievous smile. Yeah, definitely way
too much like my mom.

	Will shook his head but couldn't quite hide the amused smile he
had. "I don't think I've ever heard so much swearing coming from a
bathroom."

	Vicky giggled. "I learned half of the swear words I know that day."

	"Wow." I said with a smirk. "So that potty mouth actually came from
the bathroom?"

	Sarah burst out laughing then quickly covered her mouth. Will and
Anne just smiled.

	Vicky rolled his eyes. "You don't complain about my mouth when-"
his eyes shot open wide and he cut himself off with a little squeak and
blushed furiously.

	It took me a second to catch up but when I realized what he almost
said I felt my face heat up too. Holy shit! Did anyone know where that was
going? Judging by the way Sarah's face turned red with all the laughing she
was holding in with her hands and the awkward looks Vicky's aunt and uncle
were giving each other I'd say yeah, pretty much everyone. No way in hell
was I gonna look down at the other end of the table.

	"Well," Anne cleared her throat awkwardly, then seemed to realize
she didn't have anything to go with after than and paused before
practically spewing out a rushed, "How's school going for you boys?"

	Ok, ok we're ignoring it. Awesome. I can definitely get on board
with that. We made some small talk that got less forced as dinner went on
until Jack and his dad finally stopped arguing about the turkey. After than
dinner went really great. Everyone was laughing and joking with each other
and it was really clear that they were a really close, happy
family. Accepting as all hell too because I never once got any impression
that anyone there was uncomfortable with Vicky bringing his boyfriend to
Thanksgiving dinner. Even Timothy seemed to lighten up, or at least what
I'd assume light for him is, like Vicky said. And if his jokes seemed a bit
meaner and his laughter more mocking no one seemed to care and after a
while I realized that Vicky was probably right. That was just how he
was. Not an asshole, just painfully himself.

	I could kinda relate.

	The funny thing was, most of the conversation was focused on my
mom. Accepting or not I would have expected most of the subtle, probing
questions to be directed at me, the guy who's after Vicky's (hilariously
wrongly assumed) virtue. But nope, they were all too busy trying to figure
out if my mom was right for Jack to bother worrying about me and
Vicky. About halfway through dinner the questions stopped and it seemed
like my mom had won everyone over. And it was more than clear how much she
cared about Jack. She was always finding some excuse to touch him or bring
up something amazing he did at the hospital so she could gush proudly about
it or lean close and whisper in his ear. Kinda similar to the stuff me and
Vicky were doing to each other. It was weird, I always thought that I'd be
totally grossed out watching my mom act like someones girlfriend,
especially since I could see so much of how I act with Vicky in it, but
instead I couldn't stop smiling. Every time they touched or whispered or
acted like a couple I got this . . . warmth in my chest that made me
really, really happy. After everything she went through with my dad she
deserved to be in love. Even though she'd probably never admit that she was
actually in love yet, say it was too soon or something like that, I knew
she was.

	Kids can be a lot smarter about these things than adults sometimes.

	By the time we finished dinner I was totally stuffed, and not in
the good way that involves Vicky and privacy. Actually I was so full that
the amazing reunion sex I'd been dying for all day seemed very much up in
the air. Which it could be seeing as it didn't have five pounds of dinner
weighing it down. I didn't get a chance to get to depressed about it
though, because as soon as everyone finished eating Timothy spoke up.

	"So, for all you new people, we have a tradition in this family of
going around and saying what we're thankful for after Thanksgiving dinner."
he said gruffly and even though he made it sound like a big inconvenience
the smiling looks everyone else gave me and my mom made me think that maybe
there was some undertone I was missing. But I was too busy being surprised
that people actually did this outside of Hallmark movies to try and figure
it out.

	Vicky squeezed my thigh and I looked over to see a giddy grin on
his face that kinda made me think I was right about that. "That means he
likes you guys." Vicky whispered in my ear happily. "He said 'this
family'. That means you're in." He squeezed me again.

	I probably would have made some dumb comment like "so we joined the
mafia or something?", after the shock of Vicky's grandpa maybe actually
liking me wore off of course, but before that could happen he was talking
again. "Since Sarah thinks it's funny to laugh about the time my other son
almost killed me with cooking, she can start." he said with a narrow eyed
glare that was completely at odds with the tiny, amused smile on his lips.

	Sarah didn't seem to put out by the "punishment". "Ok." she said
calmly. "I'm thankful that my parents can still afford to send me to
college after that solar company my dad invested in tanked."

	"Sarah." Anne said chidingly.

	She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine." she paused
for a second and then her expression got soft. "I know we said we weren't
gonna talk about it but I'm thankful that grandma isn't in pain anymore. I
know that sounds bad, like I'm saying I'm glad she's dead, but it was so
hard watching her lay in bed and struggle to find enough energy to say
hello to us." she looked down at the table. "I'm just glad she doesn't have
to go through that anymore." she said softly.

	Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mom slip her hand into Jack's
and give it a reassuring squeeze before smiling sympathetically at
Sarah. Across the table I saw Anne doing similar comforting to Will. I felt
another pang of sadness for Vicky -Jesus he'd just had the funeral
yesterday!- and found myself taking his hand and squeezing it, trying to
send all the comfort I possibly could through my touch. He turned and
smiled at me, but I thought it was more from being happy that I was
comforting him than him actually needing it. He didn't seem as sad about
his grandma as everyone else did, and I guess I understood. I don't really
see my grandparents on my mom's side that much and if one of them died,
yeah it'd suck, but it wouldn't really hit me the way it would if it was
Vicky or my mom or even Jack.

	"Sorry for being a downer." Sarah said with a little
self-deprecating laugh.

	"Don't be, sweetie." Anne said and Will and Jack immediately
agreed. Timothy didn't say anything but he did give her a smile that on
anyone else I'd say was almost reassuring. "Well," Anne continued trying,
and actually succeeding, in sounding cheerful. "I'm thankful that Sandy
finally got laid off this week." she said with a little laugh. There were
several knowing smiles around the table but I was lost. A quick glance at
my mom's polite but sorta confused smile showed she didn't know who the
hell Sandy was either. Which, I mean, why would she, right? Anne must have
seen the looks, or maybe she was just considerate, because she immediately
explained. "Sandy has, had, the office next to mine at work. The walls are
really thin and she'd spend hours every day talking to her boyfriend on the
phone."

	I raised my eyebrows slightly. Ok, that doesn't sound all that bad,
except for the personal calls at work thing I guess.

	Now it was Will's turn to see my confused look and try to
explain. "The calls were . . . explicit." he said with a smirk.

	My mom let out a small, delightfully scandalized gasp. "Oh my
God. You mean . . ."

	"Oh yeah." Anne said with a nod. "Sometimes they even had full on
phone sex. God, those moans . . ." she mock shuddered and laughed. "Drew,
the guy who was on the other side of Sandy's office, was practically in
tears when she left."

	Everyone shared a laugh at that.

	"The things you miss out on when you work in a hospital." Jack said
wistfully, which got him a playful elbow in the ribs from my mom and
another laugh from the table, including Jack. "Ow." he said, rubbing his
side.

	"My turn I guess." Will said. "I'm thankful that Jack could get
back for Thanksgiving, and that he brought such a beautiful woman with
him." he grinned playfully, completely ignoring the eye roll from his
wife. "You always liked Cooper a lot more than anyone else did growing up
and I thought that once you got back there it would swallow you whole." he
laughed. "Although there weren't any women like Julia there when we were
kids so maybe I should give it a second chance." he couldn't ignore the
slap on the shoulder than earned him from Anne though.

	"She's from Alaska dad." Sarah said.

	Anne and Will shot identical "seriously?" looks toward my mom, who
nodded. "Born and bred." she said with a small smile.

	"Oh." Will said. "Well, there's no way I'm going there. So I'll
just have to settle for the beautiful creature at my side." he said with
what was probably supposed to be a charming smile at Anne.

	"Oh." she deadpanned. "Thank you. Such a heartfelt declaration of
love makes my knees weak."

	We laughed again and suddenly it was Vicky's turn. I was kind of
expecting him to make a joke out of it so I was more than a little
surprised when Vicky took my hand in both of his and turned to face me with
a smile. "I'm thankful for you, Nate. Being here brought a lot of stuff
back. I remember really hating my life for a while and thinking that I'd
never be happy again. Then I met you, and everything got amazing. I have
someone who loves me, great friends, my dad's happier than I've ever seen
him, and it's all because of you and a five minute conversation we had at
the pool. You're amazing and wonderful and perfect and I love you so much."
He pulled my hand up and gave it a kiss. "And I'm thankful that you're here
so my family can see how happy you make me."

	"I love you too." I said softly. God, I was crying like a girl
after that but I didn't care. As comfortable as we'd gotten with the PDA
stuff Vicky'd never really explained to anyone else how he felt about me
before and the fact that the first time he did was here in front of his
whole family was probably one of the most romantic things I've ever been a
part of. There was no way I was gonna ruin that by pretending it didn't
effect me as much as it did.

	And it was about then, somewhere in between realizing that I was
staring into Vicky's eyes with a goofy smile on my face and feeling the
eyes of everyone else at the table focused on us, that I suddenly,
horribly, realized it was my turn. So, to recap our lesson on Nate: being
the center of attention + not knowing what to say + being around people I
don't really know = PANIC. Which I did. I felt a sudden fist of pressure
clench at my heart and I knew I needed to say something, something
heartfelt and romantic like Vicky, something that shows everyone how much
he means to me without coming off like a complete dork, something that
makes everyone who may still have doubts about me know for sure that I'm
the right boy for Vicky, something that-

	"I'm thankful for Dinner and a Movie!" I blurted out suddenly. I
winced, outwardly and inwardly. Great Nate, way to go. It's the pressure, I
can't deal with it! You idiot, stop talking to yourself and SALVAGE
THIS. "It-it was a show." I said haltingly. "On TBS. I used to watch it
when I was a kid. Um, it was hosted by these two people and they showed a
movie and between commercial breaks they'd show you how to make a meal that
was kinda like a pun about the movie. Like, um, for Interview With A
Vampire they made a Nosfera-tuna melt." Getting off topic, people are
confused, focus! "Um, anyway, one day I was watching and they had
something, I can't remember what, that sounded really good so I tried to
make it. I was, like, seven or something so I can't remember what it was
but I know it said that I needed vinegar and we didn't have any vinegar so
I got the only thing I could find that looked like vinegar, a lemon lime
Power Ade. I know, stupid, but what was even stupider was that I actually
ate the thing when I was done. I think I threw up for a whole hour, it was
horrible, the worst feeling ever, and after that I couldn't even look at a
Power Ade without feeling sick. So, I needed a new drink, and that was when
I had my first Gatorade. I never looked back. A few years later we moved
and I discovered summer and Gatorade go really great together and started
spending all my time at the pool where I could be with both of them." My
throat was a bit dry and I was rambling so I paused and took a quick
drink. "And that's how I met Vicky, standing in front of a Gatorade
machine, trying to figure out what flavor I wanted. And it was special. I
couldn't stop thinking about him that whole summer and I practically LIVED
at the pool hoping I'd see him again. And I know that if we met at school
it would have been different. Vicky was sweet and beautiful and new and the
popular kids would have ate him up before I ever got enough courage to say
hello to him. So, I'm thankful for Dinner and a Movie, because without that
show I never would have met Vicky and we never would have fallen in love
and I don't even wanna think about how my life would be right now if I
didn't have him."

	There, done. I let out a huge relieved breath and slumped down a
little bit in my chair. I have, quite possibly, never made a bigger ass out
of myself than I just did. And that's saying something. But you know what?
It doesn't matter. I could ignore the awkward smiles and strange looks I
was getting because the whole time I was going through that rambling,
barely coherent speech Vicky was grinning happily at me, amused at my
dumbness but still totally touched because he GOT what I was saying. And
that's why we're perfect for each other. Not only does my weirdness and
occasional stupidity not bother him at all, he actually LIKES that about
me. Even if I ever someday wanted someone other than him (yeah, right) no
one would ever fit me the way he does. I'm totally ruined for anyone
else. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I smiled back at Vicky and took
his hand again. We squeezed at the same time and that made us giggle
softly. A bit of hair fell in front of my eye and I went to flip it back
with a head motion the same time as Vicky reached over to brush it off my
face and I jammed my forehead into his fingernail. Our giggles turned into
shy, embarrassed smiles.

	It was a perfect moment.

	When we turned back to the table, still holding hands, everyone was
giving us weird looks. Kinda like they couldn't decide if we were cute or
needed psychiatric help. Well, except for Sarah, she was just laughing
behind her hands again. Finally cute won out though because the smiles
turned warmer, if not exactly understanding. Which was ok. People don't
really need to understand me. Only Vicky.

	"Well," my mom said and gave me a 'you are so preciously weird'
half smile. "My turn. I guess I'd have to be thankful for Dinner and a
Movie too, since if Nate never met Vicky I never would have met Jack." she
turned and, I assume since I could only see the back of her head now,
smiled at him. "And I'm very thankful that I met Jack."

	Then they kissed. And, wow, even though I didn't get a good look it
was still a weird feeling. I'm still happy for my mom and all but she just
KISSED someone in front of me and not just anyone but my BOYFRIEND'S
DAD. It's . . . . gonna take a while to get used to that. Me and Vicky
exchanged looks but apparently we were the only ones who were weirded out
by it because there were "awww's" from the rest of the table and a bit of
brotherly teasing from Will.

	"Alright! Alright!" Jack laughed, holding up his hands. "You people
act like you've never seen people kiss before."

	Sarah snorted. "Not even the first time today." she muttered and
gave me and Vicky a tiny smirk.

	"I'm thankful," Jack started. "That we're all here, together. I
really do miss you guys." he paused and looked at Will. "Well, most of
you." Everyone laughed. "And I'm thankful for meeting Julia and Nate. It
hasn't been that long but I already can't imagine my life without you two
in it." he smiled at us and I had to fight really, REALLY hard to keep from
tearing up. "And," Jack continued with a small, sad smile. "I'm thankful
that mom's last Thanksgiving was here, surrounded by laughter and family
and dad cursing up a storm in the bathroom and not wasting away in some
hospital bed."

	I instantly felt bad for Vicky again. I know, it's obvious that
Jack's more upset about it than Vicky is and I should really be feeling bad
for him, and I do, but Vicky's the one who has to sit back and watch his
dad hurting and not be able to do anything about it. I knew exactly how he
must be feeling, because I felt the same way. I'm not saying that I
suddenly started thinking of Jack like he was my dad or anything, despite
what I said before it's way too soon to even start getting into that mess,
but . . . . he loved my mom, and he cared about me enough to put himself in
the middle of a totally avoidable awkward situation when I came out to my
dad just because he wanted to be there for me. That was way beyond what
anyone would be expected to do for just their son's boyfriend or their
girlfriend's son. So, even if I wasn't ready to jump in his arms and call
him dad he was already more of a father to me than my own had been in
years. Maybe even ever. So I felt pretty crappy about not being able to
make him feel better right now.

	But then again, maybe he didn't need me or Vicky right now. My mom
seemed to be doing a better job of helping him out right now anyway. I
dunno, maybe it's not Vicky's or my job to make him feel better anyway,
maybe that's something my mom's supposed to do now. I hate to go all
'broken home childhood' but I'm really out of practice on normal, healthy
two parent family dynamics. Still, I gave Vicky's hand a squeeze anyway,
just letting him know I'm here for him if he needs it. That IS my job, I
know at least that much.

	Thankfully Vicky's grandpa started his turn and kept me from
thinking too much. Although that was mostly from numb surprise since his
first words were "I'm thankful that you're all happy." It wasn't so much
the words, although I didn't expect them from him, but that he said them in
the same, brusque tone he'd used all night. "It's been a long time since at
least one of you wasn't miserable at this table and it's nice to see the
whole family happy for once. I know Rita would have loved it." And that was
it, short, abrupt, to the point, almost businesslike even but I swear to
god when he was done he blinked away a tear or two. That, more than
anything else, shocked the hell out of me. I wouldn't have guessed that he
even HAD tear ducts. "Alright!" he said with a loud clap of his hands that
made me jump in my seat, "Who wants dessert?"

	There was a chorus agreement from the table and I was a bit
surprised to find myself saying yes too. The whole being thankful thing had
taken like an hour and somehow my stomach had made room for cookies and
cake. Like dinner, dessert was great and I ate way too much while I soaked
up the holiday family atmosphere. At one point Vicky and I started stealing
food off each others plates and when my mom saw what we were doing she
teamed up with Vicky and started stealing from my plate too which caused
Sarah to reach across the table and steal from my mom's plate and pretty
soon everyone was stealing from everyone else, even Timothy got into it
when, after Jack took a huge chunk of cake from him, he just reached over
and took Jack's entire plate and ended up eating everything on both
plates. It was probably the best Thanksgiving I'd ever had, and definitely
the best time I'd ever had with adults.

	After dessert everyone went into the living room and put on the
football game. Apparently another Clarke family Thanksgiving
tradition. There were plenty of couches and chairs but I still ended up
sitting curled up with Vicky in a leather recliner, our arms around each
other and my head on his shoulder. We barely got a second look from anyone,
which was a huge and amazingly comfortable difference from the purposefully
"I'm not seeing this" avoidance we get from most people at school and the
squeals of girly glee we get from the fangirls. I honestly don't think I'd
ever been this comfortable in a group of people in my entire life.

	I didn't watch the game. Aside from not giving a shit and having no
idea what the hell was going on anyway I was too wrapped up in all of
Vicky's little touches. His fingers trailed across my arms and then up to
my shoulders and my face. He spent a good ten minutes running his fingers
through my hair. I closed my eyes and got so wrapped up in the sensations
he was causing that I didn't even know I was hard until his hand ghosted
down past my stomach and brushed against it. I hissed and my eyes shot
open, looking around to see if anyone saw, but they were all to wrapped up
in the game to bother with us.

	I looked in Vicky's eyes and the love and need there was probably
mirrored in my own. I didn't care how full I was or who's house I was in, I
needed him, and I needed him now. "Can we-" I started.

	He nodded eagerly. "-upstairs-"

	"-now." I finished.

	We got up, hand in hand, and barely managed to keep from running
full speed out of the room.

	No one even noticed us leave.

-------------------------------------------

	Oh, and Happy Veteran's Day too. :)