21 Part Twenty One

On his way home, Nathan felt very worried. He did not know what to expect and what should he say once he arrived home. But with the courage that Joseph gave him just before, he tried to smile to calm himself down.

"Okay okay, take a deep breath." Nathan said to himself before knocking on the door.

The door was opened. His mother peeked through the door and she looked very happy when she realized it was his son.

"My sweetheart! I'm really glad that you're back!" she said as she hugged Nathan.

"Mom, I have something really important to tell you." Nathan hugged back.

"Let's talk inside." she let Nathan in and closed the door. Then, they sat on the couch together.

"So... What do you want to tell me, sweetheart?" his mom asked, smiling.

"Mom, I... I'm in a relationship." Nathan stuttered.

"Did you get back with Allison?" she had a bright smile on her face, "She's a great girl! I'm happy for you!"

"No Mom! I don't love her anymore!" Nathan raised his voice.

"Then who is that? Do I know her?" she asked with her eyebrows crooked.

"You don't know him, Mom." Nathan replied.

"Wait... Him? You mean 'HER', right?"

"No. It's a him, mom." Nathan muttered.

"Are you serious?" she asked with her furrowed eyebrows, "That's what you're trying to tell me the whole time?"

Nathan nodded his head and murmured a "yes".

"I-" she sobbed, "How long have you been with him?"

"Almost three months now..." Nathan replied.

His mother's eyes welled up with tears immediately, "Gosh... This can't be true... You were just with Allison! How could you be with a boy now! It's despicable, and disgusting..."

Seeing his mother upset, Nathan felt very sad as well. He felt like his heart just got stabbed by a knife a million times. Tears also started to flow in his eyes. He had never seen his mother this sad before.

"Mom..., I-" Nathan tried to talk to his mother.

"Could you get out? I...I don't want to see you." she cut him off. She covered her face with both of her hands to hide her disappointment while pointing at the door.

"Mom..." Nathan tried to comfort his mom.

"Get out! Can't you hear what I said?" she growled and signaled Nathan to leave.

Nathan knew that there was nothing he could do to calm her down. "I'm sorry. I'll leave now." he said while wiping his tears off. Before he walked out of the door, he took a look back at his mother. All he saw was his mother crying on the couch in the living room alone, with her hands clenching to her face.

Nathan left his home and he felt like his world was falling apart. All the words that his mother had said to him was still in his head.

His tears started to flow again. Some passersby looked at him with weird eyes. To escape public's eyes, he walked faster and looked down to avoid any eye contact. Then, he took his phone out to call Joseph.

Joseph answered the phone within seconds.

"Hello?" Joseph said.

"I... I will not be able to make it back. I-"

"Are you okay?" Joseph asked worriedly as he heard Nathan's shaky voice.

"I'm okay, baby. See you tomorrow." Nathan said and he hung up immediately.

Instead of going back to Joseph's house, he went to his old friend's, Ian's house. He did not want to let Joseph be sad with him. Therefore, he made his decision to go to Ian's house. He gave Ian a call.

"Hey man! What's up!" Ian said after picking up the call.

"Are you free now? I want to come over." Nathan said.

"Okay... Are you okay man?" Ian noticed Nathan sounded weird.

"I'm just really exhausted. So, are you free now? Can I come over?" Nathan demanded.

"You can come over. But are you okay?" Ian asked worriedly.

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Talk to you later." Nathan hung up on Ian before Ian could say his goodbye.

Nathan bolted his way to Ian's house and when Ian opened the door, he hugged Ian so tightly that Ian almost fell on the floor.

"Whoa! What happened!?!" Ian said with wide eyes.

Nathan pulled away and his eyes were red and watery.

"Come in first! I'll get you some tissues." Ian let Nathan in at once and closed the door. Then, he got some tissues from the TV cabinet and gave it to Nathan.

Ian also pulled both of them chairs to sit down and talk.

"So, what happened?" Ian asked.

"My mom probably just disowned me." Nathan sighed.

"WHAT? Why?" Ian yelled.

"First, promise me. Don't tell anyone. If you tell someone else, I will kill you, okay?"

"Okay... I won't tell anyone else."

"You know Joseph right?"

"Of course I know. You always hang out with him."

"Actually, we are something more than friends."

"What do you mean?"

"For God's sake Ian... Are you serious? You don't understand what I mean?" Nathan rolled his eyes.

"I know you two are best friends but why-"

Nathan cut him off, "We are something more than best friends. He is my boyfriend."

"Oh..." Ian dropped his jaw.

"I'm not lying to you. I just tell my mom about that and she got really upset."

"Wait, how long have you and Joseph been together?"

"Probably 3 months or so."

"Since the beginning of the school year?! How come I didn't realize that!?!"

"That's not the main point..."

"Okay, go on. I'm listening."

"I know it is bad to make my mom sad but I really really love Joseph. I don't want to break up with him because of my mom. Is it bad if I ignore her?"

"I don't have experience with things like this but I do think that it is important to have approval from your mom." Ian continued, "You can use time as a prove to show her that your relationship is serious. Maybe this way she will accept it?"

Nathan plunged deep into thoughts after hearing what Ian had said.

"But now, you should probably get some rest first. I guess you have no place to live now. If you don't mind, you can sleep in my guest room."

"Thanks Ian." Nathan smiled.

"No problem. I got you bro." Ian put his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "But I need to take a shower now. If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom."

Afterwards, Ian left Nathan alone and went to the bathroom.