Sneeze. “I’m fine, not that you care. It’s just a cold.” Pause. “What the hell does that have to do with anything? It’s not Mike’s fault I’m sick!” Actually, it was, but he wasn’t about to give his father the satisfaction of knowing he was even partially right. “Look, Father, I’m tired and I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s very apparent that you love her far more than you love me. No, I’m not trying to make this hard on you.” Pause. “I’m not being selfish! If I were being selfish I would relish that fact that I’m going to be the talk of next years Christmas party when I walk in arm and arm with my boyfriend and call your soon-to-be-wife Mommy-dearest! Yeah, let all her friends laugh it up that she has a step son practically the same age as her and he’s got a better looking guy than she does!”
Keith was steadily getting louder and Mike could hear his breath beginning to pant. “Yeah, you heard me, my boyfriend! You know, the guy that you stuck your nose up last night? Him.” Keith coughed, then his voice turned hard and almost cruel. “Believe me, I’d dare. You taught me well in that, regard.”
Mike’s heart couldn’t have felt more full. Guilt quickly followed to remind him how badly he hurt his boyfriend just hours before. He still had yet to be able to talk to Keith to apologize.
“Oh, yeah, well fuck your damn will! See if I care! Unlike your fiancée, it was never about the money for me, Father! All I wanted was you, you sick son of a bitch!” Keith’s voice caught in his throat as his father railed at him. The man really didn’t care. Somewhere along the line, his father had died as surely as his mother had so many years ago. “Fuck you, Father, if you can’t accept me. Fuck you.”
There was an audible click as Keith hung up the phone, but Mike made no move to enter the room just yet. There was a sniff, then an almost inhuman growl that turned into a furious yell, followed by a crash that Mike assumed was the phone hitting the wall. He finally took a step in the doorway, concern gripping his chest. Keith’s world was coming down around him and there was nothing he could do. “Keith?”
“Leave me alone, Mike,” Keith was pulling on a hooded sweatshirt with intermediate sniffles.
“Keith, we need to talk.”
“No, Mike, we really don’t. Not right now. I’ve had enough talking from everyone.” Keith pushed past him out of the room, Mike right behind him.
“Keith, don’t walk away from me. Please, we need to talk. Where are you going?”
“Out! Away from here. Stop following me or I swear to God I’ll knee you again!” Keith growled as he hurried down the stairs and headed for the door.
Scott looked at Kelly. “I think our little tiger is becoming quite fierce. Did he really knee Mike?”
Kelly sighed and watched Mike jump in front of the door, trying to block the exit. She instinctively knew where this was going. Never corner a tiger.
Mike yelped as Keith kneed him. He really didn’t think he’d do it! Son of a bitch that hurt! “Fuck, Keith!”
“I warned you, didn’t I? Don’t blame me for this, asshole!”
“Damn,” Jason said in awe.
“Oh, my,” Toni winced.
Kelly shook her head. “Never underestimate the underdog.”
Scott’s eyes grew wide. “No shit!” He shrugged. “Maybe he shows his affection this way?”
Mike leaned against the wall and gasped. He glared over at Keith who eagerly glared right back at him. “Please, Keith, you have to let me apologize.”
“You know what? I really don’t. I don’t really give a shit right now that you feel you have to apologize just to make yourself feel better.”
“Damn it, Keith! That’s not what I meant! Don’t treat me like an enemy here! I’m not your father, I’m your boyfriend!”
Keith’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he opened the front door with enough force that it slammed into the wall. “Than consider this our first fucking fight!”
Mike slid down the wall as Keith stormed out into the rain, pulling his hood up as he went. Silence dominated.
Toni cleared her throat. “Mike, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, this isn’t as bad as it looks.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it, babe,” Jason said as he rested his arm around her shoulder. It was hard acting calm, cool, and collected when he was as freaked out as he was. He’d never seen Keith so mad, much less violent! “Keith just needs to blow off some steam.”
“How can you say that wasn’t so bad?”
Scott grinned as he walked over to give Mike a hand up. “Simple. He called this their first fight instead of telling Mike here to go fuck himself six ways from Sunday.”
“Yeah,” Kelly threw in, “He never said they were through. With Keith, you really have to listen to what he says and what he doesn’t say. If Mike would have listened, he would not be feeling as delicate as he is now.”
Mike glanced out the still open door, but the rain had already swallowed Keith up. He couldn’t even manage to be angry at Keith. He’d happily allow him to beat on him all night if Keith would just come back.
“Where did he go?” Toni asked. She was surprised when all four answered her at the same time.
“The library.”
*****
Keith wandered the historical section for an hour. He couldn’t say many nice things about the college, but it did have one hell of a library! Just the section on Greek Mythology alone was phenomenal.
The rain pounded on the windows in a seemingly endless drizzle. He’d almost dried out, he’d been in the library so long, but he still felt restless. His fight with his father had upset him, but he’d known it was coming for a long time. It was almost a relief to have it over with. Granted, now he was broke and he was going to have to find a job to support him through school, but he felt like a huge burden had lifted off of him. No one’s expectations were waiting except his own. It felt good. It felt like freedom.
He growled and pushed a book on Apollo back into it’s slot. So why the hell wasn’t he happy? Mike, that was why! “The bastard.”
Was it too much to ask for someone who cared about him and didn’t hurt him? He knew instinctively Mike hadn’t done it on purpose. Hell, he’d even tried to apologize before Keith had kneed him. Again. But what the hell? Not even an hour after saying they were going to be together, Mike forgets his name as soon as an old flame walks through the door? If he hadn’t had a complex before, this was enough to give him one.
Part of him wanted to break it off with Mike, say to hell with it and walk away. The other part wanted to go back the house and have it out with Mike to see if there was still a way to keep their relationship. It broke his heart at the thought of not being with Mike, even after this.
He pulled out a book on Eros and flopped into a nearby stuffed chair. He’d always loved the story of Cupid and Psyche. After reading the first paragraph three time, he shut the book in a huff. This was getting him no where. All his life he ran away from trouble because it was easier that way. He pretended it didn’t hurt as bad, but Keith was finally getting to the point where he could admit it hurt just as much because it always surfaced at some point. Today had been the first time he hadn’t run away when his father had called. Pride rose in his breast as he thought about how he’d not backed down like he always did. But then, he’d run away from Mike when he should have stayed.