Alfred hadn't planned on starting the conversation until a little later. He'd planned to at least finish half of his meal.
"Oh?" His mother said. "And what's that?"
She smiled sweetly, but it didn't quite match her eyes.
"Err..." Alfred said. All eyes were on him, except for Arthur's. He was looking at his plate. "So, Arthur and I..."
Arthur turned to look at him. Great, now all eyes really were on him.
"Well, er.." Alfred said. "Soo...we're not just friends."
The table stayed silent. Alfred tried looking at Matthew, who nodded at him encouragingly.
"We're together." Alfred says. "As in boyfriend and boyfriend. As in romantically dating. As in...I'm gay."
Alfred looked around at everyone. Matthew smiled. His father rose an eyebrow.
"Well, thank you for letting us know." he said. "Arthur seems like a nice boy."
Alfred relaxed.
His mother's face was still frozen in a fake smile.
"Yes, he does." she said. She has a sip of her wine. "How long have you two been together?"
"About two months." Alfred answered, picking up his fork and digging in. Arthur pushed his food around his plate, frowning.
"You look older than Alfred, Arthur."
"He's a senior." Alfred said. "Well, he was."
"Did you graduate early?" Alfred's mother said.
"No." Arthur said. "I dropped out a month ago."
"In your last year?" she said. Her tone was drowning in disapproval.
Arthur didn't meet her eye.
"You'll understand my concern in age difference."
"Mom, it's two years." Alfred says. "That's less than there is between you and dad."
"Two years is a lot when you're sixteen and eighteen." she said. "You'll want different things. So, Arthur, do you have a job?"
"Not exactly." Arthur said.
"And you live at home?"
"Not exactly."
Alfred sighed. He should have seen this coming. He looked at his father for help.
"Then what do you do?" Julia said.
"Now, Julia, let the boy eat." Alfred's father finally interrupted.
Arthur forced chicken into his mouth. He felt too uncomfortable to eat, but he didn't want to look ungrateful. And it wasn't like they could force him to talk with food in his mouth. He tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Alfred was quiet. Arthur decided he didn't like that at all. He put his hand on Alfred's knee and carried on eating with his free hand. The food was, objectively, quite nice, but it turned evermore sour with each distasteful look he revived from Alfred's mother. After they'd eaten, Alfred took him by the arm and pulled him out of the room.
"It's Matt's turn to do the dishes." he said.
"Can you not pull me everywhere?" Arthur says. "I'm not a dog."
"Sorry." Alfred said. "Just had to get out of there. I can't believe she -"
"Honestly, Alfred I expected it." Arthur said, he smiled warily. "You said we've been together two months."
"From the first time we kissed." Alfred said.
"I should probably go back to Francis's."
"Really? Already?" Alfred said. "I walk you."
"No, you probably have studying or something to do." Arthur said. "I'd hate to interrupt that."
"No, I only have some math and that's easy." Alfred says. "I'll walk ya."
"If you insist." Arthur says. "Where's my coat?"
"I'll go grab it and tell my dad we're going. He likes you."
"Hm." Arthur says. He leans against the front door and waits for Alfred. He thinks about bolting, but Alfred would catch up eventually. And he wants his coat.
"I feel better telling them." Alfred said, as they stepped outside and began to walk. "Even if my mom was total...idiot about it."
"She doesn't care that you're gay, Alfred. She cares that you're dating a loser." Arthur said.
"Well, I'm not, am I?"
"Of course not." Arthur said. "But I am."
Alfred laughed. "Hey, that's not nice."
"Tough. I'm not nice." Arthur said, sliding his fingers through Alfred's.
"I think you're nice." Alfred said. "And interesting. Go on."
"Go on what?"
"I told you what I like about you. Now you tell me." Alfred said, swinging their arms, keeping a tight grip.
"I don't know where to start." Arthur said. "I like that you never shut up, even though you probably should and it's going to get you into trouble one day. I like that you're smart, but in a different way to most people. You don't have to throw in people's faces or even speak properly. I like that you're friendly. I like that you always smile at people, even if you don't like them. I like that you're handsome, which is superficial, I know, but it's true. I like that you're sunny even when it's raining. I like that you seem to really care about me, and you looked for me even after I was terrible to you and did an awful thing that most people would hate me forever for. I don't deserve you, Alfred, and I like that you haven't quite figured that one out yet."
"Uh, wow. Thanks." Alfred said. "I didn't know you felt that way about me."
"Of course I do." Arthur said, "The only reason I made that stupid bet was so I could get close you without Francis finding out how I really felt. It was misguided, obviously, but it wasn't to embarrass you or make you feel used. It's because I couldn't admit that I actually liked someone. Other than for sex, I couldn't even admit it to myself."
"Lets not talk about the bet. I promised I wouldn't." Alfred said. "What do you want to be, Arthur?"
"What?"
"I told you want to be an astronaut. But you never told me."
Arthur shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I want. I'm never going to get it."
"So there was something." Alfred said, nudging Arthur's elbow.
"No." Arthur said. "It's pointless now, anyhow."
"Come on." Alfred says. "Tell me tell me tell me."
"I wanted to be a archeologist." Arthur says. "Only when I was a kid. Gave that up when I was ten."
"You could still be an archeologist, you could get your GED, go to college..."
"You don't understand." Arthur said. "I'm not smart like you."
"Francis said you used to get good grades all the time." Alfred said. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Francis needs to learn to shut up." Arthur said. "I fell behind and never caught up and never will. It's as simple as that."
"That's defeatist."
"That's a big word." Arthur said. He removed his have from Alfred's. "I'll walk the rest of the way alone."
"Artie..."
"What?"
"I need to protect you. From werewolves."
"It's not a full-moon." Arthur said. He puts his hand on Alfred's neck and pulls him into a kiss, his teeth teasing at Alfred's lips. "Night, Alfred. Watch out for the ghosts."
He said, and he slipped out of Alfred's reach, taking off quickly down the road and refusing to look back.
Alfred shivers, a sudden chill running down his spine. The sky is purple, and the light breeze rustling through the trees does sound like ghosts. Alfred turns around quickly and rushes home, his lips still felt electric.
88
a/n: ugh sorry this feels so short. Anyway, thank you for reading so far! :)