A/N: It's been 100 years and I'm sorry but my laptop broke and then I bought a tablet instead of a laptop and I had nothing to type on because I'm a hot mess. Thanks to everyone who is still trying to read this.
"Wanna get something to eat?" Charles asks me after practice.
It wasn't our most productive practice ever. Mostly because Michael invited Denise.
Jacob did not handle it well and refused to let Denise eat any of the sandwiches his mom made.
There was a lot of bickering.
"Me?" I ask, even though me and Charles are the only ones around and he's obviously asking me.
"Yeah, you." Charles says, knocking his shoulders into mine as we walk towards my house.
"I mean, yes, I do. But I don't know if I can. My stepdad is kind of weird about having family dinner."
"Gotcha" Charles says, shooting his fingers at me, "Let me handle it."
Suddenly, Charles sprints to my house and is at my front door before I can even blink.
"What? No! CHARLES" I move to start running to stop Charles from doing whatever he's planning on doing but it's too late.
My stepdad has opened the front door and stepped outside.
I stop.
I'm sure I look like a deer in headlights but I can't make up my mind on whether it's more or less dangerous to join their conversation.
I watch as Charles talks to my stepdad; he's smiling and probably being very charming. On anyone else it'd probably work.
I change my focus to my stepdad; he's looking at me and making a forced smile. That's probably not good. I look down and wrap my arms around myself as I walk towards them.
As I walk closer I can hear Charles promising my stepdad to be "back by curfew"; I glance up and they're shaking hands. I look at my stepdad and he's smiling straight at me.
But his eyes are glaring.
As I approach the front steps, I avoid eye contact and stare at the ground. Charles walks to stand next to me and slaps me playfully on the back.
"Thanks for letting Ian come out with the guys for dinner, Dr. Swain; I sorta promised Amanda Tyler that'd he'd be there and she's really looking forward to it, I think she's got a crush on him." Charles is giving his best leave-it to Beaver "I'm a sweet wholesome guy" impression.
"Oh of course, Charles. I'm always trying to get Ian to go out more with his friends but he's so insistent on eating dinner with the family every night. You two have fun!" I wonder if Charles can hear the disingenuousness in my stepdad's voice.
Charles pulls me away from my house, towards Jacob's where his car is parked.
I've walked about 10 steps when my stepdad yells "Oh Ian…"
I hold my breath and turn towards him.
His eyes are ice cold as I say "Yes, sir?"
"Don't you need some cash, son? Especially if you're going to be paying for your food and Amanda Tyler's" He winks as he walks towards me.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
"Yes, sir, that's a good point."
My stepdad takes out his wallet and hands me a wad of twenty-dollar bills. As he hands the money to me, he leans in and grabs my shoulder.
To an outsider it probably looks like a manly one-shouldered hug.
In reality he's gripping the shit out of my shoulder. Digging his nails into my skin. I feel some of the scratches open into cuts. I try not to wince.
"Behave you two! I better not get any calls from Amanda's dad about you breaking her heart!" He slaps me hard on the shoulder and chuckles like this is all in good fun.
"Of course not, sir!" Charles mimics my stepdad's speech pattern, fake chuckling along with him.
I follow behind Charles, numb, as we walk towards his car and get in.
Charles has no idea the Hell he's opened for me.
As we're pulling away from Jacob's house, Charles glances at me, smiling. His expression changes though and he looks concerned.
"You, okay, Ian?"
"Mmmhmmm" I look out the window. I feel sick. I don't want to go home tonight. I feel like my heart may pound out of my chest or that I'll throw up.
"Ian?" Charles reaches to touch my shoulder; I automatically shake him off.
"Ian, you're shaking." Charles sounds concerned, maybe even scared. He reaches to touch my shoulder again, this time I let him.
"Don't ever do that" I whisper, looking out the window and avoiding his eyes.
"What? What'd I do?" Charles asks, sounding confused. It's understandable. Most people can talk to their friends parents without their friend getting the shit beat out of them later.
I take a moment to gather my thoughts, trying to figure out how to word what I want to say to avoid questions that may lead to answers that I don't want to tell just yet.
"My stepdad isn't someone you can just joke around with and trick into letting me hang out with you." I finally say.
"He seemed okay to me." Charles says, hesitantly. This is probably the first time someone's ever complained to him about their parents letting them go out and have fun.
"He seems like a lot of things." I force myself to look at Charles "But he's really just a sociopath."
"What do you mean?" Charles asks, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion "what does he do?"
I sigh and shrug, looking out the window.
"Nothing…forget about it."
"Well I feel like I did something bad" Charles voice is small and timid.
"You didn't do anything. Sorry I'm being dramatic. Let's go eat."
I turn to him and force to smile and a joke "Make sure Amanda knows we're supposed to be meeting her."
"Ha-ha" Charles says sarcastically "Amanda is definitely not invited."
"But what about her milkshake?" I ask innocently
"It's definitely not bringing you to the yard." Charles says, winking at me.
I laugh and pretend everything is okay because that's what I have to do.