The House
"Out." My dad spat, through his teeth. "Get out!"
"Ally, how could you?" This was my mom. Neither of us said anything, though Austin's hand tightened around mine.
And that was enough.
"He's not going anywhere." I managed to say. I tried to sound firm, but my voice trembled, somewhat ruining the effect.
"Ally, this is my home, and Austin is leaving-"
"Like she said, he's not going anywhere." Dez said, his voice sounding much stronger than mine.
I nodded gratefully at him and he nodded back.
Both my parents turned to Dez, speechless at the 180 turn-around he'd made, and then turned back to glare at Austin.
Austin met their gaze, not even flinching. "Mr and Mrs Dawson... I love your daughter, and I can't apologise for that. I can leave now, but I can't promise to stay away permanently."
My dad spluttered, his face turning redder than it already was. "This is my home, and you are not welcome in it anymore!" He bellowed, taking a step towards Austin.
"Why?" Trish asked, speaking for the first time. We all looked at her. She knew why. So why was she asking?
"He - he defiled my daughter!"
"Defiled?" Trish repeated.
"Yes." My mom said, folding her arms across her chest. She was calmer than my dad.
"Look at Ally. Does she look like someone who's been "defiled" to you?"
"Trish-" Lester started to say.
"Look at her." She repeated.
They turned grudgingly towards me. Both looked as if they wanted to kill me. Austin rubbed soothing circles into the back of my hand.
"Ally was perfectly fine," Dez began. "She ate normally, slept normally, had a social life... She was perfectly okay before Austin got thrown out."
"Don't pretend like you didn't have a major part in that-"
Dez cut Penny off. "I'm not saying I didn't. I'm saying that what we did was wrong."
"Dez. Austin is leaving. Now."
"He's staying." I said, finding my voice again.
Lester shook his head at me, somewhat pityingly. "Ally, can't you see? Austin isn't in love with you, it's just lust. That's all there is."
"That's not true." Austin said, his voice a little louder now.
"Don't you pretend it's not. You saw Ally as an easy target when you moved in here-"
"Ally's anything but an easy target. If she didn't... like me that way, she'd have said so."
"What you did was practically rape." His voice lowered, his eyes narrowed.
"I didn't do anything to her that she didn't want."
Things got very hectic then.
Lester flew at Austin, but Dez seemed to anticipate this happening, and he had moved behind him, holding him back, surprisingly effortlessly. My mom stood next to my dad, stroking his arm.
"He's too old for her!" He practically roared.
Austin stood where he was, not even flinching.
I looked over at Trish, and she nodded encouragingly at me.
"Dad." I said, when he had calmed down a little.
He glared at me.
"How old were you when you met mom?"
Dez grinned, so I knew I was onto something.
"That's irrelevant," my mom answered for him.
"Tell her. Unless you're ashamed, of course," Dez said.
My dad took a deep breath, looking at all of us in turn.
"I was twenty-five,"
"And how old was mom?" Dez asked, a smirk on his face like he already knew the answer, which I guessed he did.
"Seventeen," he sighed.
I heard Austin chuckle quietly.
"Listen, Ally," Lester said, looking at me. "I know how my mind worked when I was in Austin's situation. I... I wanted things that she wasn't ready for. The age gap was a big problem-"
"But here you are," Austin interrupted. "Married. Like you have been for twenty years now. Right?"
He grudgingly nodded.
"And you were even older than I am now. So why is it so hard to let this happen? Why are you so scared?"
"I knew how my mind worked when I was your age. Boys like you are only after one thing."
"Have you ever thought that maybe my mind doesn't work the way yours did?"
Lester's jaw clenched. "What are you implying?"
"I'm just saying. Just because you might have only wanted girls for their bodies when you were nineteen, doesn't mean I'm like that."
"How dare you-"
A shrill ring made us all jump. My mom grabbed the oven gloves off the kitchen counter.
"The potatoes are ready..." She turned to my dad. "Maybe we should just have dinner as planned... We can discuss this later,"
My dad stared at her in surprise, as did the rest of us. Was she on our side now?
My dad shook his head at us, and grubbed all the way to the dining room. I let out a long breath I didn't know I had been holding.
"And as for you four," she continued, folding her arms. We all braced ourselves.
"Since you think you're big enough to take decisions like this without informing anyone, you can finish getting dinner ready by yourselves."
And my mom walked away.
We waited until we couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, but we still stayed frozen. Dez by the fridge, Trish leaning against the counter, and Austin and I in the middle of the kitchen, my hand in his.
Then Trish sighed, and cracked her knuckles. "That went pretty well, if I do say so myself."
"I know, right? I thought the main course would end up being Austin's balls or something."
She stretched her fist over to him, and he gave her knucks.
I looked up at Austin and he looked down at me. Then, all of a sudden, his lips were crushed against mine, his hands on my waist as mine wrapped against his neck.
"Jesus." Dez groaned, looking away. Trish laughed, telling him not to be such a baby.
I barely even noticed.