Oswald glanced around at the line up of people standing outside The Factory, aptly named as it used to be one before Falcone had it renovated into a bar. Oswald had never been here before ... Come to think of it, if it wasn't for Murphy he wouldn't have been caught dead here.
Though from the looks of it it seemed a lot classier than Maroni's club down the street which was fighting this one for business. Even the name was significantly classier ... And that's hard to do when you named something 'The Factory.' But Maroni had done it ... Had thought calling it 'Mad Buttz' would bring in customers by throwing in your face just how gay his gay bar was.
Murphy snickered, glancing down the street at the sign in front of Maroni's establishment. "I guess Maroni gets points for effort," he said. "I'll admit, I almost want to investigate out of curiosity." But he knew it was safer not to, and the place was probably a total trainwreck anyway.
"I don't." He said quietly as they got to the front of the line. The bouncer at the gate looked Oswald up and down with a raised eyebrow before glancing at Murphy.
Murphy took out his ID casually, not acknowledging the scrutinizing look that the bouncer gave Oswald. He knew Oswald was barely 21 and looked even younger … and admittedly, his height didn't help with that impression either. But he knew Oswald was self-conscious about that. Hopefully, the bouncer would just check both of their IDs and not make a big deal out of it.
Oswald passed the man his ID and the man stared at it skeptically. "You look to young to be 21. What are you really?" He asked. "Seventeen? Eighteen? Younger?"
"I'm 21." He said quietly. "I'm old enough to work for Fish Mooney." He said knowing she didn't employ anyone under age.
"Yeah ... Right." He said handing Oswald back his ID. "Get out of here."
"Oswald!" Oswald paused as he saw none other than Butch Gilzean coming out of the club, a black bag tucked under his arm. "Well well ... You and your uh ... Boyfriend come to have a little fun."
"Mr. Gilzean." Oswald said, his face turning bright red, the bouncer letting the people behind them in without even IDing them.
Murphy stared at Butch for a moment, his head tilting slightly as he tried to process why Butch might be there. Could he … No, Murphy didn't think so. Given the image Butch projected, he didn't seem the type to be open about it, even if he was gay. And if Butch was here for recreational purposes, he was leaving awfully early … the club had just opened for the evening after all. He glanced down at the black bag under Gilzean's arm. No, Butch was definitely here on business.
"Apparently not," Murphy said, as calmly as if they'd run into each other at the supermarket. It wasn't as if they could deny where they were, or claim they had any other reason for being here. He wanted to put a hand on Oswald's shoulder, but refrained, afraid that it might just embarrass him further. "The bouncer here says otherwise." He decided against mentioning why. Oswald seemed self-conscious enough already.
"Fred, let my boys in. They're cool." Butch said with a wink at Oswald clearly wanting something in return. Fred looked at Oswald before glancing at Butch deciding who he feared more, Mooney's left hand, or his boss.
"Fine." Fred said allowing a red-faced Oswald and Murphy into the club.
"Relax Ozzie ... I won't say anything to anyone." He said with a laugh. He definitely wanted something in return.
"Thanks," Murphy said uneasily, uncomfortable with the way Gilzean had looked at Oswald, as if he wanted him to know that he was holding this over them. Murphy frowned as they entered the club. Maybe this hadn't been such a great idea after all… but then, how could they have known they'd run into Butch here? "What do you think he wants?" he asked quietly.
On the surface, getting them in here had been a pretty small favor… but keeping quiet about it would be a much larger one. Their coworkers were big enough assholes to Oswald already without an eye-witness confirmation from Butch.
Oswald entered the club behind Murphy looking around. He knew it wouldn't be long before it was crowded but there were already people milling around in the bar, drinking and dancing, the music far too loud for Oswald's taste.
When Oswald didn't answer, Murphy decided to shrug the encounter off. They could worry about Butch later. But right now, they were here, so they might as well have a fun evening anyway. He took hold of Oswald's hand and headed for the bar. "Come let me buy you a drink," he said. "Even if it's a week late, you're 21 now, and it's mandatory that we celebrate."
"I wouldn't know what to get." Oswald said looking up at Murphy. "Just get me something you think I'll like. I'll go grab us a table." He said over the roar of music.
Murphy nodded in agreement, letting go of his hand reluctantly. Oswald was right, of course. It was best to claim a table now before this place became completely packed. He made his way to the bar, weighing his bartending knowledge of beginning drinkers with his personal knowledge of Oswald. Nothing too strong, or with a heavily alcoholic flavor, since Oswald wouldn't have developed either the tolerance or the taste for it. But he didn't think something overly sweet would appeal to him either. And definitely not a beer; that rarely appealed to anyone on their first try, and it didn't seem like Oswald's style at all. He decided his best bet would be to look over the bar's wine list… which turned out to have a better selection than he'd expected, and ended up picking out a good but not too outrageously-priced champagne, that he knew would have a light, pleasant flavour, not too dry or too sweet. He declined the bartender's offer to order it by the bottle for now, since he didn't know yet whether Oswald would even like it, and brought back two glasses to the table Oswald had found.
"Give this a try," he said, handing a glass to Oswald and sitting down across from him. "And if that doesn't appeal to you, let me know. I promise to find something you like if it takes all evening."
Oswald smiled as Murphy handed him his glass. "Classy." He said as Murphy handed him the glass. He took a sip of it as he looked around the bar. He felt so out of place here. There were so many good looking men and women around here that fit right into this scene. And Oswald was sure Murphy could have his pick of any one of them. It made Oswald a bit uneasy. He looked down at his glass of champagne before realizing Murphy was staring at him expectantly.
"It's good." He said rubbing his finger over the glass.
"Is it?" Murphy asked, watching his expression closely. Maybe it wasn't the champagne, but something was definitely off. He took Oswald's hand in his affectionately, enjoying being able to do that around other people without worrying what they might do. "Then what's wrong?"
Oswald looked at Murphy's hand as it took his before gently pulling his hand out.
"This was a mistake." Oswald said pushing his champagne away from him. He stared down at the glass as a young male came up to their table, a huge smile on his face before Oswald could explain why.
"Hey man," he said to Murphy. "Hi I'm Brian ..." He said clearly overly friendly. "I ain't seen you here before. You two havin' fun?" He asked.
Murphy could see where this was going, and wanted to shut it down quickly. "Yes," Murphy said pleasantly, leaning over and kissing Oswald on the cheek. "We are." Hopefully, Brian would take the hint and go hit on someone else.
Brian glanced at Oswald and smirked. The man looked strange, it shouldn't be hard to pull him away from him. "Cute. Hey, wanna come dance with us? It'll be fun."
Oswald tapped his finger on the table as the man asked Murphy to dance. "Go ... Have fun." Oswald said standing from the table. Murphy and Brian looked like they'd suit each other better anyway.
Murphy grabbed hold of Oswald's hand, not wanting to get separated from him. "No thanks," he said, looking back at Brian with a cold stare. "I'm not interested." Somehow, he doubted dancing was all Brian had in mind, and he'd seen the condescending way the man had looked at Oswald.
"Come on man, your boy toy here just gave you permission." He said. The guy must be a great lay, there was no way someone as good looking as Murphy would be with this freak for any other reason. "Come have some fun." He said as Oswald pulled his hand out of Murphy's and moved to leave.
"Permission's not the issue," Murphy said angrily, taking Oswald's hand again and pulling him back into his seat. "I just told you I don't want to. Now, kindly leave me and my boyfriend alone and go ask someone else."
"Boyfriend?" Brian asked. "Man you could have so much more fun with me man ... Besides a pretty guy like you ... You could have much better than this penguin."
"Hey man." A guy sitting at the table next to them said. "He said buzz off, get out of here; he doesn't want you." He said.
"Hey mind your own business." Brian said before the man stood up to intervene.
"Why should he mind his own business when you won't mind yours?" Murphy said, exasperated. He didn't know if Brian had had a few too many already, or if he was always this full of himself, but he had no qualms left about hurting this asshole's feelings. "I said no. You've insulted my boyfriend. You've insulted my taste. And you're really damn annoying. To put it in words you might understand: Fuck. Off."
"Murphy relax it's fine ... I'll go." Oswald said meekly. Obviously this wouldn't be an issue if he wasn't there. Sure Murphy was declining him but if he wasn't there ... Then maybe he'd be able to have fun tonight instead of being stuck with him.
"Fine. I get it." Brian said as the other man sat back down. "Hope to see you around. Maybe next time you won't have your pet freak with you." He said before walking away.
For a moment, Murphy looked like he was seconds away from flipping over the table and punching Brian in the face, but he took a couple of deep breaths, before turning to Oswald and saying quietly: "What the hell was that? Were you seriously going to leave me with him?"
Oswald was silent for a moment. "You'd look a lot better with him than with me. He seemed nice until you rejected him." He said his voice barely audible over the music.
" Nice until I rejected him? " Murphy repeated, still angry. "Oswald, someone who's 'nice until you reject them' isn't really nice. I made it really damn clear that I didn't want to go with him, and you didn't listen to me any better than he did. I can't believe you would have just abandoned me with that asshole!"
"I wasn't abandoning you. You deserve to have some fun ... You deserve someone better than me and looking around at everyone else it's very clear I don't belong here." Oswald said sounding hurt rather than angry.
Murphy shook his head, the anger fading from his eyes. "Oswald," he said, reaching over and running a hand through Oswald's hair before gently tilting Oswald's chin up to look at him. "I told you, I just wanted to go somewhere with you. I don't give a damn about all these other people. I just … thought it might be nice to go out somewhere we don't have to hide that we're together." He leaned in and kissed Oswald gently.
Oswald's face turned red with embarrassment when Murphy kissed him. But he knew there were other couples doing the same and kissed Murphy back. "I'm sorry." He said shyly. He still had a hard time understanding why Murphy was with him, but he very clearly wanted him.
Murphy sighed moving his chair closer to Oswald's. "It's not your fault. I just … It bothers me when you keep saying you're not good enough. I think you're amazing, and I don't want anyone else." He said putting his arm around him, his fingers playing with the tips of his short hair.
Oswald finished his champagne and pushed the glass towards Murphy. "I think if you tell me that a few more times, it might help." He said with a slight smile. "Would you mind getting me another?" He asked, leaning over and kissing Murphy just below his ear.
Murphy smiled, a slight shiver running through him as Oswald kissed below his ear. "I can do that," he said, his fingers brushing through Oswald's hair again before he stood up, took Oswald's empty champagne glass, and headed back to the bar.
"Hey." Oswald turned to see the guy sitting at the table behind him. The guy who had stood up to Brian.
"Yes?" Oswald asked as he realized the man was talking to him.
"Your boyfriend is very lucky." He said sipping on his bottle of beer. Oswald looked confused by this.
"W-what do you mean?" He asked.
"You're far too hard on yourself. You're adorable. If you weren't spoken for I'd nab you up for myself." He said with a wink. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You're cute together."
"I uh ... Thanks." Oswald said nervously.
"I'm sorry if I'm being too bold in saying, it's very clear you've been hurt before ... But he seems to love you very much. I haven't seen that look on someone's face in a long time."
"W-what look?" Oswald asked looking over to Murphy.
"Like you're the only person in the room. He keeps glancing at you even now. He wouldn't be doing that if he didn't truly care about you." He said, smiling at Murphy and raising his beer towards him when he saw Murphy looking at him. "You're both very lucky to have found each other."
Murphy nodded back to him, a little confused to see the stranger who had stood up for them chatting with Oswald, who seemed nervous. He headed back to the table, handing Oswald another glass of champagne and sat down next to Oswald, putting an arm around him again. He smiled back at the other man.
"Thanks for trying to help earlier," he said, sincerely. With even Oswald about to give in, it had been comforting to know someone was on their side. "Everything okay?" he asked, looking at Oswald. He didn't think it was likely that this guy would tell Brian to leave them alone one minute, and start bothering Oswald the next, but you never could be sure.
"Yes," Oswald said. "We were just talking."
"I was telling uh ..." He paused when he realised he didn't know their names.
"Oswald." He said.
"Oswald. Nice to meet you, I'm Geoff." He said shaking his hand. "I was telling Oswald here how cute you are together. Just my opinion. If you're ever interested in a threesome." He said jokingly winking at Murphy. Or perhaps, half joking.
Murphy laughed a little at that. "We're happy just the two of us, thanks," he said, not really taking offense. He relaxed slightly; if Oswald wasn't bothered by this guy, then Murphy didn't have a problem either. "Good to meet you, Geoff," he said, reaching forward and shaking his hand, his other hand still lingering on Oswald's shoulder. "I'm Murphy … And I'm glad to hear you've been giving Oswald a second opinion. No matter how many times I tell him he's cute, he doesn't quite seem to believe me."
"Yes well I'm sure you'll manage to drill it into his head one day." Geoff said. "Hey feel free to say no, but I came here with some friends who deemed it appropriate to ditch me, do you mind if I join you two?" He asked. "Feel free to say no, I promise I won't take any offence."
Murphy glanced over at Oswald. "Is that okay with you?" he asked. He was alright with letting Geoff hang out with them for a little while, since he seemed polite enough and generally nicer than most people Murphy had talked to since moving to Gotham. But he didn't want to tell him he could stick around if Oswald was uncomfortable with it.
Oswald shrugged. "It's fine with me." He said sipping on his champagne. He could tell why Mooney drank it all the time. This stuff was actually pretty good.
Murphy nodded. "Pull up a chair then, Geoff," he said, motioning for him to join them. "And tell us why your friends ran off. It's still a little early to leave, isn't it?"
"Oh they're still here." He said joining them at their table. "They're just a new couple and all that. New love. They wanna go do their own thing and leave the single people to wallow at their tables alone." He said with a smile, not seeming the least bit upset at being left alone.
"Those bastards," Murphy smiled. He could relate to that. He looked back at the man, with his dark-rimmed glasses, messily-spiked hair, and full sleeve tattoos. He seemed like an interesting guy, to say the least. "So, tell us about yourself, Geoff. You been in Gotham long?"
"All my life. I've never left really. Not much to tell. I went to school at Gotham County High, never went to college, lucked out with an internship at Wayne Enterprises. I was married for two years, currently going through a divorce which will be finalized next week. You know, typical bull shit life." He said with a smile.
Murphy winced. "Sorry to hear about the divorce," he said. Breakups were always painful… But then, Geoff didn't seem terribly bothered by it at the moment. And if he was completely gay, it was possible that he'd never been happy with the marriage to begin with. "Sounds like you're doing alright though, landing prestigious internships."
"Yeah well, it's pretty low in the company as far as positions go but ... A job's a job right? It's so hard to find one these days without leaving Gotham. What do you guys do?"
"We work over at Fish Mooney's Place," Murphy said. "I'm a bartender. So, no one here's raking in the millions just now." Though Geoff probably had more opportunities for advancement in his future. And a paid internship was damned hard to land… Murphy wondered who Geoff had managed to impress enough to pull that off without a degree.
"Sounds like it's a lot more fun than what I'm doing. Personally I'd rather open my own tattoo shop, but my dad's always pressured me into getting a career ... He works in upper management for Wayne Enterprises. So maybe I'll do this, get myself set up and then do what I want ... We'll see." He said taking another sip of his beer. "So what do you two do for fun?"
"I wouldn't really consider it fun but it pays the bills." Oswald said glancing at Murphy. He couldn't really think of anything he did for fun. He worked more often than not or just spent time with Murphy.
Murphy returned Oswald's glance with a slight smile. "For fun? Well, there's the obvious," he said, resting a hand on Oswald's knee. "...But I'm also into skateboarding, which Oswald kindly tolerates."
"I've been practicing." Oswald said shyly.
"No way, I love skating. We should go sometime." Geoff said smiling at how Murphy very openly put his hand on Oswald's knee. It was clear they didn't get much opportunity for public displays of affection.
"Sure," Oswald agreed. "Just don't laugh at me." Oswald said running his finger around the rim of his champagne glass.
"Naw I'd never laugh. Everyone's gotta start somewhere."
"Oswald's being modest," said Murphy. "He's making progress really quickly… though for some reason, he seems to think I'm biased when I tell him so. You should come with us sometime. Maybe he'll believe a second opinion."
"Doubtful." Oswald said. "I'm horrid. I spend more time on the ground than on the board."
"Who doesn't, at first?" Geoff said, a little amused. Murphy wasn't kidding; Oswald really could use a little more confidence. He'd probably been put down a lot before.
"You're definitely doing better than I was when I started out," Murphy asserted, not for the first time. Though he could understand being frustrated that he wasn't immediately an expert.
"I should tell you what happened to me the first time, but that will have to wait until another time." Geoff said looking down at his watch. "I have a shift early tomorrow and should head home." He said finishing off the last of his beer. He held his hand out to Murphy to shake his hand. "It was nice meeting you." He said before shaking Oswald's as well. "Hey, here." He said digging around his pockets and finding a pen and an old receipt. "I'll give you my number, call me sometime we should hang out." He said writing down his number pausing as he was about to hand it to Oswald. "If that's okay." He said looking over at Murphy.
"Sure. That sounds fun," Murphy said, a little surprised that Geoff felt the need to ask, since he'd already said it would be a good idea. But he appreciated that he didn't want to overstep any boundaries, or cause any problems in their relationship. But Murphy trusted Oswald… And anyway, Oswald could use more friends. So could he, for that matter.
Geoff handed Oswald his number. "I'll see you guys around then." He said smiling at them as he left the bar to get an early night sleep, not bothering to say goodbye to the friends who had ditched him.
"He seemed ... Nice." Oswald said.
"Yes…" Murphy said, taking a contemplative sip at his drink. "He did… I didn't even know they still made nice people in Gotham. Think you'll want to take him up on that offer and hang out sometime?"
"If you want ..." Oswald said raising his glass to his lips. He paused with the glass against his mouth before he lowered it again, his eyes widened with fear. His hand went to Murphy's sleeve. "Murphy, I want to go home. I want to go home now." He said gripping Murphy's sleeve.
"O-okay," said Murphy, confused and alarmed by the sudden panic in Oswald's eyes. He kept a steadying hand firmly on Oswald's shoulder. "We can leave. But … Oswald, what is it?" he followed the direction of Oswald's terrified gaze, trying to see who or what could have upset him this much.
At the bar stood a man Oswald's age. Very well dressed and groomed. The man looked friendly enough, smiling with some guy he'd clearly just met. He didn't look much like how Oswald remembered, he gained a bit of weight especially around the middle, but it was most definitely him.
"At the bar, with the black tie ... That's Tommy." He said pointing at his side here Murphy knew Oswald's scar was.
Murphy's expression darkened into an angry glower, and his arm wrapped around Oswald's shoulders protectively. "Let's get you out of here," Murphy said quietly, and moved to stand up with Oswald, occasionally glancing back at Tommy, hatred in his stare, burning the bastard's appearance into his memory. The more he did, though, the more difficult it felt to just walk away. The sick son of a bitch had damn near killed Oswald, and he was right there. There had to be a way to get Tommy alone, away from all of these witnesses… But no, he needed to make sure Oswald was okay first.
Oswald grabbed his jacket and followed beside Murphy, careful to stay beside him in case Tommy turned around. Once they were outside Oswald shivered, though he wasn't sure if it was from the cooler night air now that it was a bit later, or if it was because of what happened inside.
"I want to go home." Oswald said quietly. His mother would be worried about him anyway, he hadn't been home in a few days.
Murphy nodded, looking down at Oswald with sadness in his eyes. He hated that anyone had hurt him enough for the pain to linger this long… and then had gotten away with it. "Okay," Murphy agreed, pulling him into a gentle hug. Going home might be the best thing he could do right now. "Do you want me to walk you back?" he asked. Of course, if he did that, he wouldn't be able to stick around and deal with Tommy… but it was more important right now to make Oswald feel safe.
"It's not far from here ... I'll be fine." He said hearing an off tone in Murphy's voice. It sounded almost like he didn't want to leave the bar. "I'll talk to you tomorrow or something."
Murphy held Oswald even closer, his fingers running lightly through Oswald's hair. "I'm sorry tonight sucked," he said, before leaning down and kissing him.
Oswald kissed him back a moment before he broke the kiss. "Murphy, we're outside."
At Oswald's warning, Murphy drew back, his expression saddened as he looked back at Oswald. "Oh," he said. "Right. Sorry." He glanced around apprehensively, to see if anyone was watching who had nothing better to do than bother them about it … Then again, they were standing right outside of a gay bar. A certain amount of that had to be expected.
Murphy sighed. "Will you give me a call when you get back?" he asked. "To let me know you got home safe?"
"You don't have a cell." He said. "I'll call you in the morning."
"You can still call the apartment," Murphy insisted. "If I'm not back yet, you can leave a message on the answering machine." Maybe he was being a little ridiculous about this, but as frightened as Oswald had been a moment ago, he wasn't entirely comfortable parting ways with him.
"I'll be fine. I'll call you ..." He said turning and walking away from Murphy. He didn't understand why he wanted to stay at the bar ... He SHOULD want to take him home ... Insist on it even. But he had told Murphy he deserved some fun ...
Murphy stood there for a moment, reluctantly watching Oswald walk away, wanting to go after him. And he was more than a little apprehensive about what he was about to do. But no one who filled Oswald with that kind of abject terror should get to just walk free all over Gotham. He had to do this. Oswald would understand later. He took a deep breath, and then turned around and went back into the bar.
Tommy sighed as the man he'd been talking to walked away. He shook his head as he ordered another beer. The bars here were worse than they were in London.
Murphy strolled up to the bar beside him, careful to keep the intense feeling of hatred off of his face. "No luck?" he asked, faking a sympathetic smile.
"If you define luck as a lack of interest, then I got tons of it." He said in a very thick British accent. "I thought I saw you leave just now, why'd ya come back?"
So, then. Tommy hadn't seen Oswald. That was probably for the best. Tommy would be less likely to suspect what he was planning. Still, Murphy would have less to remember if he kept as close to the truth as possible. He wasn't as good a liar as Oswald was. "My boyfriend wanted to leave early," Murphy said in an annoyed tone. "But I thought I'd stick around awhile longer … I saw something I like," he added suggestively.
Even pretending, he felt disgusted with himself. He wondered if Tommy would have any misgivings about messing around with someone who was taken. It was always possible that the bully Oswald once knew had grown into a halfway decent human being. If he had… now was the time to find out.
Tommy smirked. "Your boyfriend must not be much of a man if you're looking elsewhere." He said as the bartender handed him his beer. "Thanks mate." He said taking a sip."You wanna have some fun tonight then?"
Murphy forced a sly smile, feeling sick to his stomach. "Unfortunately, he's expecting me, so tonight would be a little tricky," he said. As much as he'd like to take revenge on the smug bastard right now, it wouldn't be right to do this alone. Oswald was the one Tommy had hurt … he was the one who should decide how this went down. Murphy scrawled his number on a cocktail napkin, and slid it over to Tommy. "Give me a call tomorrow if you're still interested."
Tommy gave him a once over before he nodded. "Yeah ... Okay." He said clearly very interested.
"Good," said Murphy, pushing back an intense wave of revulsion as Tommy's eyes slid over him, an image of Oswald's scars flashing through his head. "I'll see you then."
He pushed away from the bar, and made himself give Tommy a lingering glance and flirtatiously touch his leg as he walked away, even though it made his skin crawl. If this was going to work, he had to leave a convincing impression… But he couldn't stay here any longer. He didn't think he could keep up this act for another minute.
He headed for the door, and once he was out in the street, ran after Oswald. That had gone far more quickly than he'd expected, and he might still be able to catch up with him.
The sound of someone running behind him made him jump and turn in fright, but relaxed once he saw it was Murphy.
"What? Change your mind?" Oswald asked annoyed as he kept walking.
"Sorry," he said, falling into step beside him. He didn't blame Oswald for being irritated. "I'll make tonight up to you, I promise." Maybe they would have been better off with a quiet evening at home. "I was just taking care of something." He glanced around and, seeing no one around them within earshot, said quietly: "I've set up a chance for you to get revenge on him."
Oswald stopped on the sidewalk and turned to Murphy. "You what?!" He practically shrieked.
"He deserves to pay for what he did to you," Murphy said, though he felt a little uncertain now. What if it was too upsetting for Oswald to go near the bastard, even with the promise of revenge? Maybe he should have asked first before doing this. "If you want to take revenge, you'll get your opportunity tomorrow. Or … if you'd prefer, I could take care of it."
"That's what you went back into the bar for?" Oswald asked unsure of how he felt about this. He didn't want to see Tommy again. So many years of bullying and torment, he'd been happy when he was pulled out of school and brought back to America. Out of all the places he could have run into him ... "I don't know ..." Oswald said quietly.
"I should have told you what I was thinking," Murphy admitted. "You can decide what to do. If you don't want to go near him, I can handle it. Or if you don't want that, we can forget about it … I just … I thought it might make you feel better."
"I don't know ..." Oswald said again walking down the street again. "I just want to go home and get some sleep." He said though he didn't look forward to the lecture he'd get from his mother when he got home.
"Okay," Murphy said quietly, and walked with him in silence. He probably could have handled this better.
Once they got to his apartment Oswald said goodnight to Murphy, risking a quick kiss before heading upstairs to deal with the wrath of mom.
He reached the door and sighed. At least it wasn't terribly late. He knocked on the door and heard nothing from inside. "Mother!" He called through the door before knocking again.
There were bustling sounds inside as Gertrud hurried for the door. He could hear her muttering disapprovingly as she unbolted open the locks.
"Oswald!" she cried as she flung the door open, immediately taking Oswald's face in her hands. She somehow looked relieved and angry and disapproving and hurt all at once. "How could you do this to your poor mother, staying away like that, with that Murphy boy? He is a bad influence, making you worry me like that!"
"Mother it's not like that." He said pushing past her and turning to her as she closed the door. "He just lives near work, it's more convenient to sleep on his couch. You wouldn't see me anyway I've been working double shifts all week! I'm exhausted." He lied.
"Maybe for you it is not like that," Gertrud said, shaking her head. "My good, innocent boy wouldn't understand such things… But I'm telling you, that man has wicked ways. It's not good for you to be spending so much time with him. You don't listen to me when I tell you this. How am I supposed to protect my son when he will not listen?"
Oswald looked annoyed and what came out of his mouth shocked even him. "What's the big deal honestly mother. IF I was gay would you love me any less?!"
"WHAT!?" Gertrud squawked, her eyes wide. She launched into a semi-coherent tirade, half in German, switching back into English enough for Oswald to hear: "What do you mean, 'what's the big deal!?' What do you mean 'if you were gay!?' Is this how I raised you?! Why would you say something like this?! This is not you; my Oswald is a good boy, and I won't have that man putting such evil, sinful, unnatural ideas in your head!" She looked as if she might have a heart attack or burst into tears at any minute.
Oswald sighed and looked away from his mother. He loved her dearly but sometimes she was just ... "He hasn't put any ideas in my head mother ... And I'm not saying I am ... But IF I was ... And it was MY choice ... Would you love me any less?" He asked her seriously.
"What?" Gertrud said again, but this time her voice was very quiet, tears in her eyes. "Oswald…" She took Oswald's hand in both of hers. "You are my son, Oswald," she said, looking at him anxiously. "There is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you. But … Oswald. Is there something you want to be telling me … Have you …" She paused, dreading the answer that might come. "Have you done things you should not?"
Oswald sighed and pulled his hand out her hers before pulling her into a hug. "I am tired." Oswald said. "I don't want to talk about hypotheticals." He said stepping away from her. How could he tell her? "Good night Mother."
"Yes, hypotheticals," Gertrud said with a relieved sigh. Of course, she was just worrying over nothing. Her boy had been away from her again, of course, she was worried. "You go and get some rest. Of course you are tired, you work so hard."
Oswald walked to his room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door. Of course, she would never stop loving him ... But she would never accept him being with another man. He knew that from the start. How could he tell her? How could he keep this from her?
Oswald rubbed his temples with his fingers, feeling a headache coming on. He wasn't kidding when he said he was tired and the added stress wasn't helping.