Apology Accepted

My stomach was twisted in knots and my hands shook as I tried to apply my eyeliner for the third time in the last ten minutes. I was nervous as fuck and I could hardly fathom the thought that I was going to be at Oliver’s house, with his parents and his brother in less than fifteen minutes. I’d already changed twice as Matt had mentioned this was only a dinner, not a god damn wedding. I didn’t know how to dress for Oliver’s parents. I’d never been to his freaking house. Matt then mentioned Oli’s tattoos, ripped jeans, and old t shirts.

Which convinced me to dress in a pair of skinny jeans and an old t shirt with Seether scrawled across the chest. My chopped off hair was straightened to the point where not even the rain could make a wave in it. I finally managed to outline my eyes in black and dress my lashes up in some mascara.

“Sam, we’re gonna be late! ‘Urry up!” Matt sighed, rapping on the door slightly.

I took a step back and viewed myself in the mirror. I was pale and sick looking, but that would probably fade once I made it to Oliver’s and managed to embarrass myself.

I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed a coat from my open suit case, as the rest of my clothing was stashed in Matt’s washer. I pulled a pair of socks on and tied up my converse.

“Okay.” I said, standing up straight to face Matt.

He swung his keys around his finger and held the door open for me. I trudged down the ice covered steps and stopped at Matt’s car, waiting for him to unlock the doors. I leaned away from the door for just a second as a fresh wave of nausea washed over me. I gripped my stomach as I felt the contents shifting around inside, praying to God that I didn’t have a repeat of the last time I showed up at Oliver’s.

“All right?” Matt asked from the other side of the car unlocking the doors, “Yeh’re just workin’ yerself up, come on.”

I merely nodded and tugged at the door handle, letting myself in the car. I clicked my seat belt into the buckle and leaned my arm against the window, staring straight ahead as Matt pulled away from the curb, checking nervously over his shoulder, as there were children playing in the snow only a few feet away.

Matt and I didn’t talk much on our way to Oli’s. I was too preoccupied with breathing correctly and keeping my stomach under control. A few moments later, Matt pulled to a stop outside Oliver’s house. It still looked rather intimidating to me, but the light on outside the door and blanket of snow that covered the front yard had a much better feel to it than the sluts and cars that surrounded it last time.

I took a deep breath, refusing to take my eyes off the front door as I unlocked my seat belt and stepped out of the car. I made it to the big door without slipping, and I stole a quick glance at Matt before he pushed the door open like he owned the place.

“’Oney! ‘M ‘ome!” He yelled, looking at me and beckoning me inside, “An’ ‘ve brought a gift!”

I stepped in gingerly and waved at a rather upset looking Audri, who was ignoring the boy sitting next to her as he tried over and over to get her attention. He had a mop of light brown hair that barely hung above his eyebrows, which almost disguised his ice blue eyes. I might have thought they were prettier if he wasn’t glaring at me and muttering something about me being nowhere near a gift.

That was obviously Tom.

I just turned towards Matt, expecting Oli to appear at any moment, pretending I didn’t hear a thing that he had said. Although, I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as I heard a light slap and a complaint about being hit in the arm again.

An older man came around the corner, I’m guessing from the kitchen, as he was working at pulling his apron off. He was much similar to Tom, with the same eyes, only his were full of a certain warmth, and welcoming. His hair was slightly grey at the top and he was rather stocky and short, with a small belly. He was the cutest middle aged man I’d ever seen.

He smiled at me warmly, wiping his hands off before saying, “’Ey Love, can yeh close meh door? Yeh’re lettin’ the cold in.”

I turned around and closed it softly. Cue embarrassing moment, and return with red cheeks, “Sorry.”

“No worries, Doll. ‘M Ian. Olleh’s dad.”

“Hi,” I said, shaking his hand, “I’m Sam.”

“Oh, I know who yeh are.” He grinned, leaning in closer to me and pretending to whisper, “Olleh speaks of yeh nonstop. ‘Es like a little girl, been runnin’ around all giddy today, waitin’ fer yeh teh show up.”

“Dad!” Oli laughed, an embarrassed shade of red on his face as he came around the corner across from the kitchen, “Shut yer gob, yeah?”

I merely smiled at him. At least I wasn’t going to be the only embarrassed one with my hands in my pockets tonight.

“Are yeh all ready teh eat?” A cute voice called from the kitchen.

“Of course we are Carol!” Matt beamed, taking off his coat and tossing it at Oliver before walking towards the kitchen, “Do yeh need ‘elp with settin’ the table?”

“I tell yeh, Olleh. Yer mum is gonna leave meh fer that damn kid.” Oli’s dad grinned, walking towards the kitchen as well.

Oli looked at me, still embarrassed, “Yeh want meh teh ‘ang yer jacket up?”

I nodded, handing it to him. He opened the closet door and hung mine up, making sure the button at the top was done up so it didn’t slide off the hanger and then he tossed Matt’s to the floor and shoved the door shut.

“Alright?” He asked, turning back to me, “Yeh look a bit warm.”

“I’m just nervous,” I said quietly, sneaking a glance at Tom and Audri and then turning back to Oliver, “Did you talk to Tom?”

“I told yeh I would.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothin’ really.”

I looked up at him, his eyes staring down at me with a rather pissed off expression on his face as he chewed on his lip rings.

“Tell me what he said.”

“’Es upset with meh Sam, not yeh.”

“Well, how come…” I trailed off, not wanting to start yet another epic battle between the two, as I know there has already been plenty.

“’Ow come what?”

“Nothing,” I said quietly, “Never mind.”

Oli stared at me intently and I knew he was about to ask me a question, but he was cut off by Matt yelling it was time to eat.

We both went into the kitchen where dinner was spread out across the table. There was a big pot of noodles, glistening with butter, and a separate pot with meatballs doused in tomato sauce. I guessed they were separated, solely for Matt and Oliver’s choice of vegetarianism. Which, I was extremely grateful for tonight because I hated spaghetti with a passion. Two bottles of wine were set at either end of the table, the corks already popped off and leaning against each other by the food.

I watched with a small grin on my face as Matt hurried to put plates down and silverware and cups next to them. Soon after Matt had finished with the dishes, he made way for a woman carrying a glass bowl filled to the top with salad. She balanced a bowl of ranch in her other hand. She set them both down on the table and turned to go back in the kitchen when Oli grabbed her lightly by the arm.

“Mum?” He asked, gripping my hand tightly.

Her head snapped up quickly and I was met with the same exact eyes I had just been looking at. The woman had pretty red cheeks and pink lips. She looked at me quickly, met my eyes and looked away, like she’d been caught staring.

I looked up at Oli, who had the smile of a three year old who was way too excited about his finger painting project he’d done at school, plastered on his face, “This is Sam,” He said, meeting my gaze, “Sam, this is meh mum, Carol.”

I nodded, looking towards her shyly, still taken aback by how much she resembled Oli, “Hi.”

She smiled quickly at me and scurried away, giving me the impression she either didn’t care too much to meet me, or she was a bit busy. I looked up at Oliver once more, which had lost it’s little kid glow and was replaced by a sad expression, like he was disappointed. I squeezed his hand lightly and leaned into him.

“Oi, yeh gonna eat er what?” Matt asked, pointing to some chairs to his right.

Oli and I made our way into the chairs, and Ian sat down at the other end of the table, facing Matt, Carol then took a seat on his right, next to me, leaving only two seats which were directly across from Oli and I. Audri maneuvered her way into the chair across from mine with a cute little grin on her face. Tom reluctantly sat across from Oliver, a wonderful little sneer adorning his lips.

And dinner had officially started.

I waited for everyone to fill their plates before picking mine up. Oli nudged me slightly and I turned to look at him. He motioned towards the wine and pointed at my glass. I merely grinned and shrugged my shoulders, so he proceeded to fill both of our glasses.

I plopped a pile of noodles on my plate, just as everyone else had done, confused as to why no one chose to have a salad first. I picked up my fork and began twisting the noodles up at the end of it, ready to eat them when Oli accidentally bumped into me and I dropped my fork against my plate.

“Sorry.” He grinned, looking at me.

Ian looked over at my plate and then back at me, “Yeh a veggie too?”

“No,” I replied, not wanting to sound rude, “I just don’t want to eat too much…”

Matt grinned and quickly came to my rescue, “’Er stomach’s been a bit queasy.”

“She’s makin’ meh stomach queasy.” Tom mumbled quietly.

“Shut it arse!” Audri snapped in a harsh tone, looking quickly at me.

I bowed my head down, pretending like I didn’t notice, which really made no difference now, because I saw her look right at me, and I was looking right back. I cast a glance towards Oli, who was having a small side chat with Matt, completely oblivious to Tom’s words, just as everyone else.

“Oi, it’s the time change?” Ian grinned.

“Sorry?” I asked.

“She’s ugly and stupid.”

Kick. Shuffle. A brush of foot against my ankle and then a loud stomp.

“Ouch!”

I heard Oliver laugh next to me, looking at me, then at his dad, “Yeah. ‘M sure that’s it.”

“Well, maybe it’s yeh makin’ ‘er sick.” He grinned.

I laughed nervously, taking a sip of my wine, finding it rather tasteful.

“Yeh in school Sam?”

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Kinda?”

“Well, I took a bit of a break to come here.”

He nodded, “ I see. What’re yeh studyin’?”

“English, mostly. I take a couple art classes to pass some time though.”

“An’ yeh left all that teh come all the way teh Sheffield, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said quickly, forgetting there was a pile of noodles in my mouth. I sat there in sheer horror as I felt the noodles drop from my mouth and land on top of my plate. Everyone saw it. I knew they did. My face heated up quickly and I didn’t know whether to shove them back in my mouth or to push them around my plate and act like it didn’t just happen. I was so embarrassed, I just wanted to cry.

Another mutter from Tom’s direction, “Gross.”

And another retaliation from Audri, “Oi, shut the ‘ell up Tommeh. Yeh’re gross!”

My head snapped up and tears were pricking at my eyes as I looked over at Audri. Oliver’s hand found it’s way to my thigh and he rubbed it reassuringly, only making me more embarrassed than I already was. My gaze then averted to Matt as he laughed slightly and said, “Oi, Audri, what the ‘ell was that for?”

Jesus! Are Audri and I the only ones hearing this? I then looked at Oliver, and my question was answered with a big, fat no as I took into consideration just how irritated he looked.

“Well then,” Ian smiled, gathering they were just having a tiffle, “What kind of art do yeh do?”

“Nothing extravagant. I paint is all.”

“Yeh never told meh that.” Oli piped up.

I smiled, taking a drink of my wine, “I didn’t start until you left.”

“What do yeh paint?” Carol asked from right next to me, startling me a little bit, as she hadn’t seemed to interested in any of the other questions.

I looked at her as she took a small bit of spaghetti. Jesus, she was so god damn pretty. She looked hardly old enough to have a nineteen year old. It fascinated me to no end how she stayed so young looking.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, “I painted my parents once, and Marilyn’s cat. Sometimes I like to go outside and paint trees and stuff. I really like to paint playgrounds.”

She nodded, looking a bit confused, “Olleh said yeh were fostered.”

“Oh, well yeah. But I got adopted a couple months before I turned eighteen.”

“Well that’s nice,” Ian grinned, “Yeh like yer mum and dad?”

“Actually, they’re two women, but yeah, I love them all the same.”

“So you were adopted by lesbians?” Audri asked, saying it as if it were unheard of, “I mean, that’s brill. It’s ‘orrid no one is keen on lettin’ them adopt. ‘Ow did yeh manage teh get adopted?”

Tom snorted, “She’s probably a dyke as well.”

I looked over at Oli, whose face had grown rather menacing. I placed a comforting hand on top of his and squeezed it softly, doing my best to calm him down.

Audri turned fully towards Tom now practically screaming in his face, “Yeh’re such a prat Tom! I swear teh God!” She yelled, slapping him the arm, “One more time.” She then turned back to me and smiled, “So ‘ow’d that work?”

I looked at Carol and Ian, as they had stopped eating to see what all the commotion was about, and they looked rather embarrassed, assuming Tom had been grabbing Audri underneath the table or something.

“The nurse that took care of me while I was in the hospital is Marilyn’s mom, so she mentioned that I was a foster kid who needed to be adopted. They’d been trying forever to adopt, and so they just took me in.”

“What were yeh in the ‘ospital for?” Matt asked suddenly.

I had almost forgot he was there, as he’d been stuffing his face like this was the last supper for the last twenty minutes, completely oblivious to anything that was going on.

And so I explained the story leaving everyone speechless. Except Tom of course.

“She should ‘ave just killed yeh. Woulda saved us a lotta trouble.”

I looked around, and it was completely obvious to me that the whole table had heard it. Carol’s gasp was followed by an embarrassed Ian using Tom’s full name to scold him. Matt’s fork hit his plate as he swallowed roughly. I watched as Audri was about to say something, but my hand did absolutely no good as Oli flew from his seat, almost over the table.

“Shut yeh’re fuckin’ gob Tom! What the ‘ell is yer problem? Yeh’re bein’ a wanka! ‘m fuckin’ sick of this!” He yelled, “Yeh can be as rude teh meh as yeh want! But not Sam, alrigh’? There is somethin’ wrong with yeh, I swear teh God-”

I had finally managed to hook my hand into the inside of Oliver’s jeans, pulling him down roughly back into his chair. He hit the wood with a loud thump and turned to me, angrier than I’d ever seen him and a sorry expression draped over his face.

Ian cleared his throat, looking over at Audri, “Audri, Doll. I think it’s about time yeh get on ‘ome, alrigh’?”

“Fine with me!” She snapped at Tom, standing up and looking over at me, “I’m sorry Sam.”

“It’s not your fault.” I said quietly, not wanting this to ruin anything between not only Tom and his brother, but his girlfriend and his parents as well.

“Right well,” Matt stood up, “Yeh ready teh go Sam?”

I really didn’t want to go, but I didn’t exactly have a choice. I glanced over at Oliver and started to reluctantly get out of my seat, but he grabbed me by my elbow and pulled me back down into my seat, “I’ll bring ‘er over later, alrigh’?”

Matt nodded, tapping me on the chin, “Don’t be out too late, alrigh’ miss?”

I laughed quietly at his antics as he walked through the kitchen, stopping at the closet to pick up his jacket, which didn’t seem to surprise him at all that it was tossed carelessly on the ground, and headed on out of the house.

Which left me with an upset Oli, a pissed off Tom, and two concerned parents.

“Tom. Apologize.” Carol said quietly.

“No.”

“Now,” She said, “’M not jokin’.”

“What?” He yelled defensively, “She yeh’re best friend now too?!”

“I don’t ‘ave teh be ‘er best friend teh know what you just said was completely uncalled for.”

“Well, ‘m not apologizin’.”

Oli tensed up next to me again and I reached over for his hand for what seemed like the millionth time that night, intertwining our fingers and doing my best to keep him in his seat.

“God damn it Tom!” Ian yelled, starting to get frustrated with his youngest son.

I watched as Tom opened his mouth to reply, but I didn’t feel like starting a family fight. I was already feeling horrible enough about Tom fighting with not only Oliver, but now Audri, I didn’t want to sit at the table watching him fight with his parents as well, knowing I was the cause of it all.

So, I interrupted him before he had the chance to speak, “It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.”

“It is a big deal.” Oli spat, glaring at Tom like he was no more than a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of Oliver’s shoe.

“No Oli. It isn’t.” I said quietly.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, now irritated with me as well.

I looked towards Tom, realizing this was now or never. Oli did his best to talk to Tom, and that did nothing, so if I wanted my name cleared, I had to do it myself.

“Tom?” I asked, catching his eyes, “Oli told me he talked to you, but I just wanted to tell you personally that I’m sorry,” I paused, looking at Ian and Carol as well, “I’m sorry for causing you guys any problems in the last few months, they were completely unintentional,” I said, now looking at Oli, “If I knew how much trouble it would cause not showing up, I would have come. But I didn’t, and I’m sorry.” I looked back at Tom, “I know how you feel, everyone around you just wants to like that person, and you just don’t find a reason to. I’m a foster kid, I’ve been there. I just want you to know that it’s not Oli you should be mad at-”

“He ain’t even actin’ like ‘es mad at meh!” Oliver yelled, “’Es sayin’ shit about yeh!”

“Oli, please! Hush, okay?”

He nodded, grasping my hand in his tighter and drumming his fingers on the table.

“So, just don’t spend the rest of your life hating Oli, okay? He misses you and he’s sorry. And you seem like a cool enough guy, so maybe you could give me a chance? I’m really not a heinous bitch.” I grinned, trying to make him smile.

It didn’t work.

He stared right back at me, his voice the equivalent to his eyes; freezing, “Can I be excused?”

“Yeah Tom!” Oli spat, “Yeh can.”

Once Tom had left the room, Carol turned towards me, “I’m really sorry Sam. I didn’t think ‘ed act so ‘orrible.”

I shook my head, “Don’t worry about it, honestly. I totally get where he’s coming from.”

“Well, I’ll go try talking teh ‘im.” Ian said, standing up as Carol had started to gather dishes.

“No!” I said, “I mean, he probably just wants to be by himself, maybe he’ll change his mind later, just leave him alone for awhile. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Oli, sitting next to me, chuckled lightly, “Yeh’re too nice Sam.”

I rolled my eyes at him and stood up, “Do you want some help with the dishes?”

“No, sweetheart, thank you. Why don’t you and Sam go and watch a movie, Olleh?”

Oliver stood up from his seat and grabbed me by the waist, dragging me to his bedroom and flicking the light on, “Alright, what do yeh wanna watch?”