Red and Black – Chapter 14
BestUsernameEver54321: we will soon have rid of some of that fluff. ;-)
I am changing some of the place names and stuff here so that you can't stalk me, but this is genuinely the area where I go to school and all the school events and jokes to follow did actually happen; and a friend of mine may be making a guest appearance here! Although Tim's school is not my school, it's our rival but the set-up is pretty much the same.
In which Somerset is actually kind of crap…
"Well, here it is. Borton; where student's dreams come to die." Said Tim as they drove down the worryingly narrow high street; he pointed out some of the old, sunken stone houses that lined the street. They stopped and got out of the car and crossed the street to stand in front of house, there was a blue plaque on the door. Prince House? Gordon asked, what is this place?
"My old boarding house." He began,
"Four working showers between thirty of us, never enough hot water; open drains, dead mice in the walls and stupid curfew times. Those were the days, and the other two schools aren't much better." Tim's face grimaced at the memories as he scanned the ancient building up and down.
"Other two schools?" Gordon asked, this school seemed to already take up half the town; how were there more?
"Yeah, there's a girl's school at the top of the hill and a state school on the middle of the hill; they're both just as shit as ours. Well, the state school is probably worse off in more ways." But Gordon still didn't quite understand, he was still trying to understand the British differences to public, private, and state schools.
"How could that possibly be worse?" He asked.
"Well, one year at one of the socials at the girl's school; which is like a massive disco by the way, a bunch of the state kids went and sprayed a swastika on their English class-block." Gordon's face was horrified, it was the 21st century; that wasn't the kind of crap that people did.
"Why the fuck would anyone do that? What happened?" They began walking down the street again together, avoiding each other's hands and waists at Tim's warning; it turned out that it still wasn't totally safe for them to show affection in conservative England.
"The guys were caught and forced to scrub it off by hand, the mark is still there apparently; a friend of a friend says they grew a load of bushes and stuff to cover it up." They strolled into a white rustic-style building that was surprisingly busy for a place in the countryside, they sat at a table and Gordon craned around to look at the odd shape of the interior. The long windows looked weirdly familiar, and there was an overhanging circle floor above them.
"Was this a church once?" He asked, this place was clearly very familiar to Tim; who was not even the least bit curious about the building.
"Yeah, it used to be a private chapel; and now it's a place that makes excellent bread."
TBTBTBTBTBTBTB
"Boys!" Penelope greeted them gleefully at the entrance; she was overly jovial to see that her plan had clearly worked. Gordon and Tim trusted her, they knew that here they were safe to be themselves and free to actually show their affection. They sat together on the sofa, barely leaving each other alone; and always sharing each other's comfort.
"So, does Jeff know yet?" She asked Gordon as she poured the tea.
"Not yet, and I don't plan on telling him any time soon. Scott knows though, he overheard my phone call and he's completely fine about it." This was exactly what Penny had expected, she would have known by now if he had told Jeff.
"You'll have to tell him sooner or later, or would you rather he found out on his own?" Gordon shuddered slightly at the thought and tightly gripped a hand that he didn't even know that he was holding.
"I suppose you're right, that would be worse. But what do I even say to him? 'Hey dad, guess what? I have a boyfriend?' Yeah somehow I don't think that would work so well." Penelope passed the teacups, and found Gordon's lack of faith and thought somewhat distasteful.
"That might work." She said, in a matter-of-fact way; Penelope knew that especially for Gordon this would not be an ideal resolution, but there were very few options.
"WHAT?!" they gasped in unison, nearly spilling their teas as they jolted from the shock.
"Just sit him down, and simply explain it to him, Gordon. I don't believe he's as unreasonable as you think he is, and I seriously doubt he would do something as drastic as kick you out. You're his son, he loves you no matter what; and he should continue to do so."
TBTBTBTBTBTB
They arrived back at Tim's house very much later that night, and there was very little hesitation to get changed and go straight to bed. Just as they settled down in the same beautiful way as the night before, Tim nuzzled small kisses into the back of Gordon's neck; his arms wrapped around the smaller man's waist as they started to fall asleep.
"Do you really have to leave tomorrow night?" Tim whined quietly.
"Yeah, Tracy duty calls, baby. I wish it didn't." Tim was almost already asleep, but Gordon forced himself to stay awake for a few more minutes. He knew that it was time to start considering something; if the circumstance arose, would he be willing to leave International Rescue for Tim?
Hopefully Gordon will soon get the courage to come out to his dad, which will be no easy job; I promise!
If I haven't fallen asleep by the time that this is uploaded I will try and write another quick chapter but I can't guarantee anything.
The fluff will progress into more serious stuff soon, don't worry.