Forgotten

Before Jonathan had realized what he was doing he found his hand under Caden’s chin, lifting it slightly so he could look into his eyes.

“P-Please,” Cadey murmured, his voice constricted.

“Hey, get your asses in here, pancakes and french toast and every other cruelly delicious breakfast carb is ready to be eaten!” Liv called from the kitchen. Jonathan pulled his hand away from Caden’s chin and helped him up.

“…I-I think the same about you,” Jonathan muttered, not daring to look at Caden as he walked into the kitchen.

Mrs. Gibbons smiled warmly as she gestured for us to take our seats around the table laden with mountains of food.

“Wow. This looks great,” Jonathan said, his eyes sweeping over the plates piled high with waffles, pancakes, french toast, bacon and sausage.

“You’ll have to excuse my mom… she’s Italian. It’s in her nature to try to stuff her guests so full of food they burst.” Liv explained with a roll of her eyes. Caden nodded in agreement. “And for the record, we don’t always eat like this. Normally it’s cheerios but when guests come over she goes a little nuts.” Stacy glared at her daughter but didn’t deny it.

As Mrs. Gibbons began to serve us it was clear that Liv hadn’t been joking. “Thank you. That’s enough!” Jonathan said. She placed one more piece of french toast on his plate and handed it back to him.

“You’re the football captain, right?” she asked. Jon nodded. “Then you can burn these calories off. Now eat!” she said as she began to fill Caden’s plate. “And you, young man. I want you to eat too. You’re too skinny, sweetie.”

“Mom. Chill,” Liv muttered, once again rolling her eyes. Half an hour later they had each eaten as much as they possibly could and there was still at least half the food left on their plates.

“So, ‘Stacy Gibbons’ – that’s not a very Italian name,” Jonathan said.

“Yeah. My father wanted a good English name for his daughter now that he was in America. And Gibbons was my husband’s name.” Stacy explained, a bittersweet smile flickering across her face at the mention of her husband. “Alright, well let’s put the food away before it gets stale. Liv, you load the dishwasher.” Liv nodded and stood up, pulling tupperware containers from a cabinet behind her.

“Can I help with anything?” Jonathan asked.

“No, but thank you, sweetie.” Stacy said with a smile as she began pushing the food into the tupperware containers.

“Can I?” Caden asked.

“No baby. You two just go back into the living room and Liv’ll be there in a few minutes. If you need anything I’ll be upstairs in my office, okay?” Liv, Cadey and Jonathan nodded. Stacy made a playful shooing gesture and Caden and Jonathan took it as their cue to leave.

“L-Liv’s dad died w-when she was eight,” Caden whispered as they sat back down on the couch.

“Oh crap. I shouldn’t have said anything --”

“It’s okay. You d-didn’t know,” Caden said earnestly. A moment of awkward silence settled over them. Stacy walked through the living room with a small wave at Jonathan and Caden and climbed the stairs. Liv walked in right after, leaning over the back of the sofa between the two boys.

“I’ve got some homework I want to get out of the way… so I’ll be upstairs too,” Liv said with a small grin. She turned and made her way upstairs as well.

Subtle, Jonathan thought wryly, suddenly very aware of just how very alone the two of them were again. He felt Caden’s eyes on his face and looked over. Their eyes locked. Finally, Jonathan broke contact and stared down into his lap. He suddenly remembered earlier when Caden had fallen into it.

“So, um, when did you start drawing?” he asked, trying to make conversation.

“A-As long as I c-can remember,” Caden stuttered.

“You’re a really talented artist,” Jonathan said.

“Th-Thanks,” Caden whispered though he always felt uncomfortable when he was complimented about anything. Jonathan watched as a dull blush crept into Cadey’s cheeks.

Caden began to chew on his lips, his arms crossed against his chest in a rather self-conscious manner. Jon found himself staring at Caden’s lips. What’s wrong with you? he thought angrily to himself. He slammed his eyes shut, forcing himself to stop looking at Cadey.

“Are, are you o-okay?” Caden asked tentatively.

“Yeah. No. I-I don’t know,” Jonathan muttered, his eyes still shut tight. He became very aware of the fact that their legs were just barely touching. His leg twitched involuntarily, pushing itself closer to Caden. His eyes shot open to see Caden staring at him questioningly.

He felt himself move slightly closer to Caden and before he could stop himself, his lips had brushed against Cadey’s ever so lightly. His face hovered inches from Caden’s for a second, both staring into each other’s eyes before Jonathan pulled away.

“I-I gotta go,” he said as he hurriedly stood and walked out the front door, leaving Cadey sitting there, stunned.