Lie Like You Mean It

She looked us over. “H-Honey, you can’t mean that you two are…”

“We… we’re d-dating…” I managed to sputter out.

“Do you understand what you’re saying?” My dad asked, but his face had softened.

“Y-yeah…”

Zero just stood there next to me trying to stay close enough so that I could feel the warm skin of his arm brushing against mine. It made me feel a little less nervous to know that he was with me all the way with this.

Then Dad started snickering which escalated into a full laugh. “And here I was, worried about having Mina in the same house as you!” He stood up and wrapped me in a hug. “I have to admit you kinda had me scared with your serious talk.”

“Garrick. You realize our son just came out of the closet don’t you?” My mom said to him. The tone in her voice worried me.

“He didn’t come out of the closet.” I heard the suppressed growl in Zero’s voice as he spoke. “He told me himself that he doesn’t like other guys either. Girls either.”

“It’s only Zero, Mom.” I said, my voice finally losing all of the shakiness and nervousness. She gave a sigh of relief. She was probably worried about me sleeping with strange guys and getting STDs and such, knowing her.

“But you two still share the same room.” She stated blandly.

“Anya, it’s not like one of them can get pregnant.”

“But I don’t want-!” Then she lowered her voice. “I don’t want to walk in on them or something like that.”

“Listen, Anya, you know as well as I do that teenagers have sex. They’re going to find a way to with or without protection, so the least we can do is give them that.”

“I know that Garrick.” She said sternly. “How are they going to warn us? I can’t expect Nicolas to just up and say, ‘Hey, Mom, Zero and I are going to go have sex so don’t come up to our room’.”

“You act like they don’t know how to sneak around. They’re teenagers for god sakes!” He chuckled.

I sank to the floor with the nauseating talk of that and hid my face in my hands. Dad laughed at my position and Zero crouched to join me on the floor to see if I was okay.

“See? He’s not even thinking about that.” Dad said through his laughter.

Mom sighed again. “I just want you to know, I don’t care that you like another guy, Nicolas. I just want you to be safe. You’re my only son.” I knew that made her think of the fact she couldn’t have had more kids even if she wanted to because of the hysterectomy

She left the room after giving each of us a hug and telling Zero that he’d better treat me well. Which left Dad in the room with us.

“So, you really like our son?” He asked Zero.

“Yes.” He answered without any hesitancy.

“Like Anya said, I don’t want you treating him badly.”

“Can I tell you something Garrick?” Zero asked. To be honest, his tone made him sound so mature it was scary. My father nodded and waited for Zero to continue. “I hate everyone. I don’t know how the kid did it, but Nicolas made himself an exception to that. And I am not fucking that up.”

“Okay, okay, I trust you Zero.” My dad laughed even though Zero implied that he hated even my parents.
My dad glanced over to the kitchen to make sure no one was within earshot.

“And between us, if you two do end up needing condoms. Come to me, I don’t want you going off and buying them yourself.”

I blushed intensely at that thought as I gnawed at my bottom lip out of shyness. “And try not to have sex in the house. Your mom really doesn’t want to walk in on that. But I don’t want you going to some rundown hotel either.”

“Listen, I’m not forcing Nicolas into doing anything intimate of that caliber. I’m only going to move at his pace.”

My dad hit me playfully on the arm before saying, “You really have him wrapped around your finger, don’t you?”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I questioned.

“Because I’m too fucking submissive for my own good.” Zero said, giving a light chuckle. “Of course, I’m only submissive for you.”

“No locked doors during the day either.” Dad stated. “Closed doors are okay if you’re making out. We’ll knock first.”

“Dad… please…” I groaned, not wanted to hear anymore.

“What? Am I embarrassing you?” He smirked, tousling my hair. He knew he was.

“Although I was being serious.” Then there was a crashing noise from the top of the steps, which attracted all of our gazes.

“Shit! I blew it.” Came the familiar voice of Michael.

“Michael-l!” Mina groaned, drawing out the end of his name. She pulled her boyfriend down the flight of stairs to meet us in front of the couch looking guilty as hell. “Umm…”

“Did you two know about them?” My dad asked them bluntly.

They both looked at each other then to Zero and I.

“Well, yeah! They’re just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!” Michael blurted, provoking a laugh from Mina.

“It’s true! See?!” She pulled out her cell phone, of which she had the picture she had taken when we all went to go to the lake to build the sandcastle. She held it up to my dad who just laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, I see.”

“Whoa, Nickybear!” Michael said with his arm around me. “Your dad’s awesome. You shoulda seen my old man when I said I liked guys too; he was all fists!”

“What?”

“Oohh… You guys didn’t tell him?” He asked, perplexed at Mina. “I moved to California because he-”

“Michael!” Mina yelled to him making him jump a bit.

“Wha-t?” He asked.

“Nicolas is too innocent for talk like that!”

Okay, I wasn’t that innocent. I knew what they were saying. “Your father drove you out of the house because you liked guys?”

“Yeah, that’s it. See Mina? He’s not as innocent as you think he is!” Michael shot back. She stuck her tongue out at him so he took the opportunity to kiss her on the cheek.

“Well, I need to get back to my card game. Blake and Dominick are waiting.” Dad announced just before heading back into the kitchen. I collapsed on the couch and covered my face with my right arm.

“I guess he’s worn out from all that talk about sex.” Mina laughed.

“His ears must feel dirty. Want me to help you wash them?” Michael grinned down at me. Mina punched him in the arm.

“Like hell you will.” Zero growled at him.

“You’re such a perv Michael!” Mina exclaimed hitting him again. Then he grabbed her arm and leaned her over for a kiss on the lips. “Like I said, ‘perv’!” But she laughed anyways.

“But your dad did take it really well.” Michael said thoughtfully. “We should be brothers.” He laughed.

“If you were my brother, I’d shoot myself.”

Michael gasped as if it were the most vulgar thing he’d ever heard. “You would not! You’re so mean Nickybear!” He turned over to Mina and pretended to cry on her shoulder.

“What? I’d do the same. You’re only okay in small doses.” Zero agreed, lifted my head up so he could sit down on the couch. I looked up at him confusedly. Did he want me to move? Thinking that was want he wanted, I sat up. “I’m going to be your pillow.” He whispered just low enough so that Michael couldn’t hear him through his fake grieving.

“B-but…” I trailed off.

“What? Your parents already know.”

“But it’s still weird to do this in public.” I countered. Although home wasn’t usually considered public, he understood what I meant.

“Alright, whatever you want to do is fine with me.” He said, defeatedly. I don’t know if he knew or not, but there was a sad note in his voice that forced me to give into his request to be a pillow.

Hesitantly, I rested my head on his lap. I felt him jolt slightly because I was sure he wasn’t expecting it. Usually when I said I didn’t want to do something, I really didn’t want to do it.

“Aww…” The two fangirls sighed in unison. I rolled my eyes and chose to ignore it and focus on the slender fingers that ran through my hair.

Zero weight shift as he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, “I like you Nicolas.” His breath tickled my hair against my face.

But nonetheless I whispered up at him, “Me too.”