A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm back with another update!
Before we get started, I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone that read last chapter as well as a special shout-out to winterschild11, Side1ways and annabellex2 for reviewing!
I hope you all enjoy the new chapter! :)
His father was one of the most influential Society agents of all time. His mother looked delicate but implied she'd bury him in an unmarked grave if he hurt her son. She was the singular most frightening woman Kendall had ever met including Lucy. Holy shit... was James the normal one?!
"Could you please pass the mashed potatoes?" Kendall asked, noticing the very slight tremor in his voice. That was a bad sign.
Joanna handed him the bowl. When he thanked her, she seemed surprised. "You're a lot more polite than the gutter trash James usually drags in." She gasped. "I'm so sorry! Usually, I'm only that bitchy in my head."
Kendall coughed uncomfortably. Here comes the awkwardness. "It's my fault."
"People can't lie around Kendall. It's his voodoo." James grinned. "Well, except for me. And I'm having lots of fun with it."
Joanna's eyebrow rose in a frighteningly familiar way. "Can't lie?" She looked at her husband. "So how much money have you spent fixing up that piece of shit in our garage, dear?"
Aaron's eyes narrowed. Kendall shifted uncomfortably as he felt the subtle influence of his power winding around Aaron until, finally, he opened his mouth to answer and the words spilled out beyond his control. "Triple what you said I could."
"Ha! I knew it! And to think of the hard time you gave me over ordering my begonias."
"Cars are worth it. Flowers are not."
"How dare you!" Despite the bite in the words, her eyes danced with cheer. "I suppose that it wasn't a freak snowstorm that killed my chrysanthemums either?"
"No... I forgot to water them."
"I knew it! Didn't I tell you, James? My garden might've survived if your father wasn't glued to that wreck outside."
"It's not a wreck. It's a vintage Cadillac. You told me when I retired I could get a hobby."
"Yes, but I don't remember telling you that your hobby could prevent me from parking in the garage during the winter." Joanna looked at Kendall. "This must be annoying after a while. Do you find it hard to cope with?"
"You have no idea." Kendall replied.
James squeezed his knee under the table. "It's terrific, actually. I have, like, a thousand questions I know you two always lie about." He laughed maniacally. "Mom, true or false, you've threatened Kendall with death tonight."
"True." Joanna winced. "I'm sorry sweetie, but it's important to get your cards out on the table first thing."
James shook his head. "Don't worry, Ken. She very rarely follows through."
Yeah... that makes me feel better.
"If we're digging into truths, James, why don't you tell your mother and I what happened to the car during your road trip to Aspen?"
"Sorry, Dad. Doesn't work on me. I stand by my assertion that it was stolen by a Yeti for his illegal flight past the Canadian border patrol."
Straight-up weirdest reaction to his abilities ever. Kendall Knight, unsuspecting Society agent. You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind...
He'd once dated a woman who'd dragged him along to a restaurant to meet her ex. Once they'd all been seated, she'd proceeded to grill the guy about every aspect of their three-year relationship, from his fidelity to small arguments she'd obviously obsessed over for years. Ever since, Kendall resigned himself to being stuck in the same situation, a tool to be discarded when his usefulness was done. Because he was useful. Very useful. But that usefulness eventually ran out.
This was different. The bickering between Joanna and Aaron didn't have any real malice, Kendall had a sneaking suspicion that Aaron knew exactly what'd happened to the car before he'd brought it up. This is what a family is supposed to be.
James slung an arm over the back of his chair, and Kendall jumped slightly. His fingers skimmed the narrow space between Kendall's collar and his hairline. The touch carried a buzzing electric charge that burned through him, sending small sparks dancing across his nerve endings. From the pleased look on James' face, he was well aware of the fact.
"This is how we are, Ken." James settled back in his seat, leaving Kendall be so he could finish his dinner.
Eating one-handed was awkward, but fortunately he didn't need a knife to handle meatloaf and potatoes, which he suspected had been arranged last minute to make up for his broken arm. It didn't matter. Aaron really was a fantastic cook. Too bad their stir-fry hadn't made it to the table.
Kendall thought back to the snippets of conversation he'd heard outside the kitchen window, in between Joanna's death threats and trying to figure out the complexities of one-handed stir-fry. Things with James had been going well. Ridiculously well. Absurdly well. Maybe the two of us really can do this for the long run.
He gently nudged James with his shoulder in lieu of taking his hand. James responded with a smile by doing the same.
Dinner ended too quickly, finished with the most amazing cheesecake he'd ever eaten. After hours of angsting over meeting James' parents, it seemed like a shame to head home for the evening. Home.
"It was great to meet you, Kendall." Joanna told him, kissing his cheek quickly. "I like you much more than the men I usually bring for James."
"That's because I have taste." James said jokingly, narrowly avoiding a swat to his head before kissing his mother's cheek. "Goodnight, Mom."
Standing on the porch, looking out over the rest of the small neighborhood, Kendall suddenly felt a deep-seated unrest in his chest. Something was off. He scanned the street for anything out of place. Nothing jumped out, but he never dismissed his instincts. They'd saved his life more than once. He tentatively stepped in front of James as the started down the stairs, a gesture he knew wouldn't go unnoticed.
James shifted, picking up on the tension suddenly flooding the air. "What's up?"
"Act natural."
Aaron stood on the stone walkway leading to their front door, considering Kendall's car. "She's nice, Kendall."
Kendall allowed the swell of pride to distract him for a second. "Thank you, sir. She's my baby. I got her at a used car auction, and I think I've spent as much fixing her up as I did on the deed."
"I can tell." He shook Kendall's hand. Damn, he was strong. "Night, Kendall. You've passed inspection. Next time you come over though, you can drop the 'sir.'" He felt it too. Kendall could tell from the set of Aaron's shoulders and the tension in his legs that he felt something was off as well.
"Yes, sir."
Aaron manhandled James into a one-armed hug. "Remember what I said." The words almost too low for Kendall to hear. But James chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, Dad. But that goes both ways, alright?"
Aaron waved them to Kendall's car. Despite the causal ease of the gesture, Kendall could tell he was scanning the area too. Kendall seized the handle and opened the door by half an inch, freezing in place when he felt an unusual pressure against the hinges. "Fuck."
"What?"
"Somebody's booby-trapped my car."
Done! So...yeah... a little cliffhanger for you guys! Good news is, meeting the parents went great! You all also got a little peek into Kendall's past. Bad news is that...well, you know :P
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!
And to make up for leaving you all on that cliffhanger, the next chapter will be coming very soon! And by very soon, I mean within the next couple of days, so you won't have to wait long to see what happens next ;)
Until next time!
-Epically Obsessed