Authors Note: Hey guys! Guess what?? I've finally reached 100 reviews! Thank you guys soooooo much!!
So today is Day of Silence for gay rights. Did anyone participate? It was SO hard for me not to talk all day! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thanks to someoneudontknow5, animasya18, and FantasyFreak1110 for reviewing the last chapter!
You all rock! Please enjoy the story!
"Will you just listen to me, dad?" I questioned, the annoyance in my voice rising to levels I had never heard before.
"What?" He snapped, stopping abruptly and turning to face me. I was caught off-guard for a moment, because I had been yelling at him to stop walking away for the past five minutes and he had been completely ignoring me until just then. I quickly regained my composure.
"Why do you want me to move home?" I asked. It had sounded angry in my mind, but it came out a lot quieter then I had planned.
Why was I so afraid to stand up to him?
"I'm not letting you stay here with…bad influences." He replied.
"'Bad influences'?" I repeated incredulously. I couldn't believe what he was implying. "You think Gray made me gay?"
His response was to turn and start storming off again, obviously flustered by the whole situation.
"Dad!" I exclaimed, starting to walk quickly to catch up with him. "No one can cause you to be gay. It's just who you are! It's just who I am!"
"So what is this then," He started, not slowing down his pace, "another one of you rebellions?"
"What?" I asked, not sure what he meant.
"You've always done everything possible to defy me," He explained. "You do the complete opposite of everything I say. Heaven knows why. I've always gave you everything you ever wanted."
"No you haven't," I stated, finally stopping. I was surprised when my father stopped with me, looking back. He was actually paying attention to what I had to say. "You've given me tons and tons of material things, but none of that ever mattered. The only thing I ever wanted was your attention,"
My father's face softened, but he stayed silent.
"I guess that's why I kind of 'rebelled'," I continued, lowering my voice. "I wanted you to act like I wasn't just some trophy to show off."
There was a few minutes of silence before I heard a hushed "sorry" from my dad.
I smiled softly. "It's okay," I told him. "I just wish you would have acted more like a dad. It's not too late to, you know," I looked back at Rose Square, where the festival continued. I saw Jeremy and my mom sitting on a bench, eating cotton candy and smiling. "Take some time off work every once in awhile, spend some time with your family. Jeremy shouldn't have to feel the way I did."
My father was looking back at them too at this point. "You're right, Cliff." He told me. "I've always wanted to do the best for my family. I thought to do that I had to work hard so we could afford anything we needed…but I guess that's not exactly true, huh?" He was more talking more to himself than to me at this point, "I guess quality time with your family is more important than having a lot of money…"
I was quiet, not sure what to say. It seemed like hours before he snapped out of his trance. "Cliff, about Gray…"
"Nothing's going to change," I told him. "I didn't choose to be gay, and I didn't choose to love Gray. It's just…how it happened."
He thought about this for a moment. "Maybe I am being a little ridiculous." He admitted.
"'A little'?" I asked, finally allowing my anger to show through. "Gray makes me happy and you didn't want me to be with him because you were afraid of how it looks to everyone else."
"He makes you happy?" He asked.
I was silent. I felt uncomfortable talking to my father about that.
"I'm glad," He continued. "I'm really glad that you're happy."
I was still quiet. Inside, I was grateful he said that. It felt good to know he cared about my happiness, but I wasn't sure how to react. It felt weird talking to him like that because we hadn't had a serious conversation since-well, ever. We had lived together for eighteen years but every single time we spoke to each other was completely pointless. Stupid things like about how I was doing in school, or how his business was going.
I hope he can have a better relationship with Jeremy.
"So you're not mad at me?" I questioned.
"Of course not," He answered. "And…I'm sorry that I talked to you like that. I don't want you to leave a place that makes you so happy. I've seen you smile more in the past two days than I've ever seen you smile in your whole life," He looked up at me, "It's nice to see."
"Good, because I don't care what you say. I'm not leaving Mineral Town." I told him with a smile.
He smiled as well, but it seemed more sad and confused than anything. I think he was still trying to take in everything that had just happened.
"So…we're good?" I asked.
He nodded and held out his hand. I gave him a look that said 'after all that we're just going to shake hands?'. He laughed and pulled me into a hug. Once he pulled away he whispered, "You know I love you Cliff, right?"
I nodded. "I love you, too."
Suddenly, we were interrupted by shouting.
"Dad! Dad!" It was Jeremy. We both turned to face him.
"What is it?" My dad asked.
"Mom said we're leaving tomorrow!" He whined "Why?!" A disappointed look spread across his face.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to get back to work in two days." He explained.
Jeremy and I both frowned. My father and I exchanged glances. I looked at him expectantly, wondering if he had learned anything from out conversation.
"But I promise we'll come back to visit in a few months." He added.
Jeremy's frown disappeared. His head turned to me. "Did you hear that, Cliff?" He asked excitedly. "We're going to come back to see you soon!"
"Can't wait, buddy." I told him, ruffling his hair. Usually when I did that, he would act annoyed, but this time he laughed.
Suddenly, he turned back to my father. "Come on, dad! You're missing the whole festival!" He tugged on our dad's sleeve, urging him to hurry.
My father followed him, only pausing a moment to wave goodbye to me before Jeremy complained to him again for delaying his fun.
I smiled, glad my father wasn't yelling at him to calm down like he would when I was Jeremy's age. Maybe he really was paying attention during out conversation. I smiled to myself before taking off down the road to talk to Gray.
