Edited: 9 August, 2013.
Updated with complete English names, removed some old author's comments. I'm not sure if I'll get around to updating all of those stories, and if I don't... Well, I happen to like this one most.
"She actually said that?" Nate asked. Astonishment leaked into his voice, and he was never the best at hiding his emotions to begin with, even when it was needed of him.
It was a mistake that even he realized, as he heard the rustling on the other side of the phone. "Um..."
"Never mind. Forget I said anything, you probably don't want to talk about it."
The boy on the other side of the phone lapsed into silence, and Nate quietly contemplated a chance of subject. The last time he'd seen Hugh was shortly before his mother asked him to leave. Nate had never suspected that such a calm and polite woman could have a glare as frigid as ice water and a quiet tone cold enough to match when she'd ordered him out of her house. So she could, "talk to her son," she's said, but apparently that talk hadn't gone so well, and that made the subject kind of unavoidable.
"So, uh... Did you need a place to stay or anything?" Nate asked nervously. "Because, um, you're welcome to stay at my place, if you need it..."
"Nah, it'll be fine," Hugh mumbled in return. His voice sounded a little shaky, but not like he was crying. The Hugh he knew didn't cry. "I'm just going out for a walk, giving everyone some time to cool down..." There was another long pause over the phone before he continued indecisively, "Maybe just for the night."
"That's good. I'd honestly feel better if you stayed with me for the night. I don't know what she said to you, but whatever it was, you don't deserve to stay with people who would treat you like that," Nate replied, unable to see the way Hugh flinched.
There was no way Hugh could open his mouth to say, "Please don't talk about my mother like that. We might have had a falling out today, but she's done a good job taking care of me otherwise, and I still love and respect her" though.
"Just tell me where you are," Nate continued. "It's getting kind of dark out, so I can have my mom go and pick you up."
"No, that's fine. I... I'm almost there anyway, I'll just keep walking."
"...You'd rather be alone right now, huh?" Nate guessed reluctantly.
"Erm, yeah I would... But it will only take a few minutes to get there, I swear. I'll be right at your house in just a few."
000
A few minutes felt like it stretched on forever.
Nate lay sprawled on the couch waiting, worry creasing his features. The television was turned on to one of his favorite programs, and the volume was up loud so his mother could hear it in the kitchen. Right now, it felt annoying more than anything, and Nate couldn't bring himself to watch the screen with any form of real interest. He turned over restlessly and continued waiting.
When Hugh's mom had caught them, they'd been lying on a couch just like this one, watching a movie together. Hugh had always been cautious about letting other people know about their relationship, and now Nate knew why.
It had been his fault.
"My parents are probably going to be back soon," Hugh had warned him.
And he'd ignored his boyfriend, pulling him in for another kiss instead.
He'd been stupid and imagined Hugh's parents would react the same way his own mother had, only caring about whether or not they were happy together and not doing anything appropriate at the age of sixteen. He felt guilty about it now.
Neither of them had heard the front door opening. Neither had heard the footsteps approaching.
It was entirely his fault.
000
"Who could that be?" Nate heard his mother sighing from the kitchen.
More importantly, he heard the sound of knocking on their door, and was on his feet so quickly he practically flew. Out of habit, Nate took the time to mute the television and raced past her. It was only himself and his mom in the house tonight, but he wanted his face to be the first one Hugh saw.
"I'll get it!"
If he'd taken the time to look back, he might have noticed that his mother looked puzzled.
Instead, it was only a matter of seconds before he was unlocking the door and twisting the knob open so quickly his hands almost slipped.
Hugh stood on his porch looking far grimmer even than he had sounded over the phone. His face was pale and tired looking, and evidently Nate had been wrong to hadn't cried, even a little bit, because the tear streaks on his face thin and nearly dried, but they were still there.
"Oh, man..." Nate breathed, and before he even knew what he was doing, he was pulling Hugh into an embrace.
Kyouhei's mother walked in a second later, the only part of Hugh visible to her eyes being the mop of black hair resting against her son's shoulder. And at least they wouldn't have to worry about her, Nate thought bitterly. At least she wouldn't get angry and throw them both out.
It was then that Hugh realized he'd forgotten to tell her something important.
"Mom, Hugh's staying over for the night."
She folded her arms, looking stern, motherly, and responsible, and Nate realized his second mistake before she began talking. "Honey, you know what this household's rules about dating are. They go home at eight, no exceptions."
"Yeah, well..." There was no gentle way to put this. The next time he opened his mouth, he could feel Hugh cringing in his arms. "He kind of can't go home, Mom. His parents found out, and they kicked him out."
His mom thankfully didn't need to ask what he was talking about. Her frown deepened and her face said she was concerned, but the "responsible adult" side was still in control of her. "But he sleeps on the couch," she replied, since there wasn't anything she could do besides agree to let him stay. "He's had a tough day, but it's going to get a lot tougher for both of you if I wake up to the night because you two are in the middle of some funny business," she continued sharply, knowing when her son was about to protest.
Nate abruptly shut his mouth and swallowed the words he had been about to speak. A quick glance at Hugh revealed that he apparently didn't mind the couch though.
"And Hugh, sweetie, your parents must be worried about you. I'll call your mother and talk to her about this, and maybe you can still go home tonight."
"Absolutely not!" Nate snapped protectively, almost before she could finish. This time, he couldn't help but object – there was absolutely no way he was going to forgive Hugh's parents so easily.
They both looked shock. Hugh actually jumped.
"I-I'm sorry," his mother replied, actually faltering for a moment. "It has to be done, and I'm sure they'd prefer sooner rather than..."
"I'd prefer to wait until morning, if it's all the same," Hugh mumbled.
Nate's mother took this into consideration, but all the same turned to her son and asked, "Then what do you want me to tell her if she calls, worrying about her son is?"
"There's no way that's going to happen-"
"Stop it," Hugh growled at him.
Nate was the surprised one now, but he was also a little annoyed that he was the only one who seemed to be as angry at Hugh's parents as they should have been. Another part added his lack of understanding toward his boyfriend and his mother to the list of things about tonight he felt guilty over.
"They're not-"
"We should go upstairs and get you something better to sleep in," his mother interjected quickly. "You're about the same size as Nate, it's not too awkward to be borrowing clothes, is it? And I'm not sure how many blankets you're going to want, but there are plenty of spares in the closet. Try not to stay up too late watching television, dear. And Nate, please shut the door before all the cold air gets in."
They were ignoring him. Aside from the comment about the door, which was more automatic than anything, they were completely ignoring him. Nate stared at them and scowled, watching as his mother started up the stairs and Hugh followed her in such desolate silence it was unnatural.
"I'm upset too," he hissed.
But he shut the front door as he'd been told. And he managed to remain quiet.
There was yet another part of him that almost felt like screaming in frustration, but he held back. He was upset about what had happened earlier, not at Hugh or his mother, even if they disagreed. For once the calm, rational half of his brain outweighed the half fueled by emotions and insisted that the last thing Hugh needed was to be yelled at by him. Hugh was relying on him for support, not to lose his temper.
'If you're going to be angry, be angry at someone who deserves it,' he told himself. 'In the meantime, you have more important things to take care of.'
He ran up the stairs after them; if his mother was going to stick Hugh in a pair of his pajamas, he may as well make sure it was the most comfortable pair he owned.
000
"I'm... really sorry about what happened earlier," Nate mumbled awkwardly. Apologies were not normally a big deal for them, but he still couldn't bring himself to agree. He couldn't see how Hugh didn't hate his family right now.
"It's all right."
His voice sounded absent, dead to the world, maybe.
"I mean, about what I said earlier. I.. I'm really sorry."
Hugh turned to look at him. For the first time in hours, he smiled at him – shaky and with an obvious effort, but he smiled.
Nate found he had to smile back; it just seemed like the right thing to do. Not quite sure what to do next, he drew in a deep breath and continued, letting the words fall out of his mouth without any particular thought behind them. "Your parents... aren't really bad people."
Now that he was saying it out loud, he was surprised to find he still thought that was the truth.
"B-but what they did wasn't right, and...!"
"I wonder what they told my little sister, when I walked out?" Hugh muttered softly. The smile was still there, but it was deeply tinged with sadness now. Hugh sat with his knees to his chest and stared down at his feet or the floor, as if he were finding something interesting there. "...And anyway, it was only my mom that I got in trouble with."
The other boy was stunned into silence, to realize that after all that had happened to him, Hugh was worrying about how his sister would react to him being gone for the night, to have no big brother telling her stories or make-believe adventures before she went to bed. He frowned, and placed a hand on Hugh's shoulder.
"It'll work out," Nate promised, and hoped from the bottom of his heart that he wasn't making a false one. "Your parents must realize how lucky they are to have such a devoted older brother in their family, and besides..."
He wasn't really sure where he was going with that next, so he was immensely grateful when his mother stepped into the living room.
"I just spoke with your mom," she started softly. Nate was close enough to hear Hugh's breath hitch in anticipation. "She seemed relieved when I explained where you were, and I promised to have a talk with her about all of... this, tomorrow. We'll work things out with her then, I promise."
That was exactly what he'd needed to hear. What Hugh had needed to hear.
I don't think Hugh's parents would actually mind, but I write on request and I was considering something similar anyway.
The middle-ending for this one took forever to write. The majority of the time I spent writing this was dedicated to the parts with Nate's mom. I understand not all people are this lucky, but an even worse way to make light of people in this situation is to write about something I don't really understand.
I feel like I could add more parts to this story, but I don't want to risk it...