Can't Stay Away

I hesitated in the doorway of the kitchen, watching my mom wash the dishes from this morning. She didn't know that I was standing there.

"Mom?" I said finally. She looked startled at first, but then smiled when she saw me.

"Hey sweetie," she said. She returned to the dishes. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you something," I said, scratching the back of my neck.

"What is it?" she asked, rinsing off the last of the dishes.

"Well...Brendon and I...we're sort of together," I said.

"I had a feeling that something was going on," she said, smiling at me. "Thank you for telling me."

I smiled. That was easy.

"You know, Ryan," she said. "I know that that was probably hard for you to tell me, but I want you to know that you can tell me anything because I love you and I support all of your choices."

"I know Mom," I said smiling. She returned the smile and turned the water off. I left the room as she was drying her hands.

When I got upstairs, I picked up my phone and called Brendon. I knew that neither of his parents were home right now.

"Hello?" Brendon said.

"Hey Bren," I said, smiling at the sound of his voice.

"Hey Ryan," he said. "What's up?"

"I just told my mom about us," I said immediately.

"Really?" he asked. "What'd she say?"

"She said that she kind of figured that something was going on between us," I said. "I'm not sure how though seeing as we've been sneaking around."

"Well, it doesn't matter how she knew," Brendon said. "At least she does know."

"Yeah," I said. I heard a loud banging noise on Brendon's line. "What was that?"

"Shit," Brendon said. "Someone's home. I gotta go."

Before I could say bye, Brendon had already hung up. I walked downstairs and went to look out the front window. Looking in Brendon's driveway, I saw Mr. Urie's car parked in the driveway. I looked at the clock. Why was he home early?

As I watched, Brendon's mom pulled into the driveway. I had a bad feeling about all of this.

And I was right.

As Mrs. Urie got out of her car, Mr. Urie was coming out of their front door, his face red. A clear sign that he was angry. Beyond angry, actually. He was furious. I watched in worry as he grabbed his wife's arm, gripping it hard as he pulled her towards the house. While it was obvious that Mr. Urie's anger was directed towards Mrs. Urie, I couldn't help but worry about Brendon. If he got hurt again, I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to handle it. I continued to stare even when Mr. and Mrs. Urie were in their house. Minutes ticked by slowly and still their were no signs of what was going on in the house. I just stood, staring out of the window. I was so focused on the Uries' house, that I didn't even hear my mother enter the room.

"Ryan?" she was saying. "Ryan, what's wrong?"

But I wasn't listening. I felt my mom's hand on my shoulder, but I still didn't respond. It was in that moment that the front door of Brendon's house opened and Brendon himself came running out, looking frightened. He was running towards my house and I rushed to the front door to open it for him. When he was closer, it was clear that he was crying.

"Brendon," I said. "What's going on?"

"M--My m-mom," he choked out, sobbing.

"Is it your dad?" I asked. Brendon, now not being able to speak because of his tears, simply nodded.

"Mom, call the cops!" I yelled into the house, as I wrapped my arms around Brendon, hugging him. I led him into the house after my mom told me that the police were on their way. We sat on the couch and waited. My mom had stopped trying to find out what was wrong and was now standing by the window, watching.

I continued to hold Brendon, trying to comfort him. But everything I did wasn't working and he continued to shake with sobs. And even though I knew Brendon was hurting because of whatever was going on in his house, I couldn't help but feel glad that it wasn't Brendon the one facing his father.