Taking his stepson's head in his hands, Joey made sure to have the boy's undivided attention before addressing him again. "That's really what you believe, isn't it?"
"I just..." Futily attempted to pull out of his stepfather's grip, Craig willed himself not to break down.
The stress. The loneliness. Joey's questions. It was all too much. He just couldn't take it anymore.
As the single tear slide down the teen's cheek, his stepfather quickly brushed it away with his thumb before addressing him again. "I want you to listen to me, Craig."
Nodding his head despite the man's grip, Craig forced himself to meet the salesman's eyes.
"Are you listening?" Joey asked again. As the teen continued to nod, he pressed forward. "Because this is really important and I need to know you've heard me, okay?"
"Okay." Craig responded quietly.
When Joey didn't immediately continue, the boy's trepidation skyrocketed. "What is, Joey?"
"You could never, ever...Are you listening to me?" Joey very slowly continued. "You could never be a burden on me. Do you hear me? Never."
Looking into his stepfather's eyes, Craig found himself desperately wanting to believe the man. "You."
As the single word drifted into nothingness, the internal turmoil the boy was trying hard to repress tore at his stepfather's heart. He made sure to annunciate each word carefully as he spoke, wanting the boy to understand how serious he was about what he was saying. "You are not a burden. Do you understand that?"
Tears began to flow down the teen's cheeks as his stepfather continued to force him to hold his gaze. When the teen finally forced his head out of the man's grip to look away, Joey allowed it.
Looking over to the side of the room, staring at the empty wall, Craig was glad to have anything to focus on other than the man hovering over him. He needed to pull himself together and Joey was definitely not helping the cause. Locking onto the faded stripped pattern of the wallpaper, the boy was finally beginning to regain some composure. That is, until his stepfather once again pulled the unwilling teen into his arms.
Allowing himself to be pulled up once more, Craig vaguely began to wonder when Joey had become such a touchy-feely guy. Not that the father wasn't affectionate with Angie. Or with any of the women in his life. Or even with his friends for that matter. It just wasn't how the man usually acted with his teenage stepson.
Joey, however, was hardly focused on his past treatment of the teen. He was much more concerned with the future. The immediate future to be exact. As he continued to hold his stepson close, he racked his brain in an attempt to come up with a game plan. He had figured out the reassuring words and hugs. Surprisingly, that part had come fairly easily. It was figuring out what to do to make things better for Craig from here on in that he really had no idea about.