Lawn Boy

I knew that I had to tell Ash what happened right away, so I decided to leave. But when I opened the door, my dad was on the other end. He smiled at me.
“Hello Maxwell,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want?”
“Is your mother home?”
“No, she’s not. What do you want?”
“Please stop talking to me like that. I just…I want to make up for everything.” He looked at the keys in my hand. “Where are you going?”
“To see my boyfriend,” I said.
“Well, I can take you. Let me take you.”
“I might be a while.”
“I’ll wait in the car.”
“Please, dad, stop pretending that you approve of who I am. Just leave me alone.”
“But you’re my son. I only said those things because it was a surprise. I’m sorry for what I said.”
I skeptical to believe him, but he did sound genuine.
“Sorry, dad, I need to do this on my own. Ashley’s inside, though.”
“When will you be back?”
“I don’t know. It could be ten minutes. It could be an hour. It could be ten minutes. Look, just go inside and talk to Ashley. I’ll be back.”
I walked passed him. I sat in the SUV before I turned it on. I can’t stand seeing my dad. He makes me so flustered that I can’t even think straight. So, I took a deep breath and I started the engine.
I got more and more anxious the closer I got to Asher’s house. I was so afraid that he would break up with me. Who am I kidding? He’s gonna break up with me. He’ll probably never want to see me again. I wouldn’t blame him. I would probably react the same way. When I knocked on Asher’s door, his dad answered.
“Hello Mr. Grant. Is Asher home?”
“Yes” He looked at me like he wanted to kill me. I suspect that Asher told him. “He’s in his room.”
“Is it okay if I go up and see him? It’s really important.”
He looked me up and down and just nodded his head. He stepped aside and let me in.
“Thank you,” I said as I walked in.
I walked upstairs and knocked on Asher’s door before walking in. When he saw me, his face lit up.
“Max!” He wrapped his arms around me.
“Hey Ash,” I said a little more calmly.
He kissed my cheek. “What a surprise. What’re you doing here?”
“I-I came to tell you something.”
“Oh, I need to tell you something, too.”
“You first,” I said.
“Well, I told my dad.”
“How did that go?”
“Okay, he wasn’t thrilled, but he didn’t freak out or anything.”
“That’s great, really,” I said.
“He even said he wanted to meet you properly.”
“Really? I didn’t get that impression downstairs.”
“What? Was it because of his stare? Don’t worry about that. He used to give girls that stare, too.”
“So that’s normal?”
“Yeah, really. He’s harmless.” He took my hand and brought to his bed. We sat down. “What did you wanna tell me?”
I took a deep breath. I felt like I was gonna puke. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Asher and now I’ve done it. I’ve probably ruined my life in the process. I’ve ruined everything for lust.
“Ash, you have to know that I love you. You know that right?”
“I know that,” he said.
“So, what I’m about to tell you is bad. It’s really bad, but you have to know that I never meant for this to happen.”
Asher’s face went from smiling to worry in two seconds. “What’s going on, Max? I don’t like where this is going.”
“I…I almost had sex with Jamie.”
Asher sat in front of me silent and staring at me in shock. He got up from the bed and started to pace the room.
“Asher, please you have to believe me that I stopped it as soon as it got too far.”
I tried to grab his arm, but he flinched and batted me away. “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me!” I could see tears flowing down his face.
“Please Asher. You believe me, right?” Now I was starting to cry.
“I want you to leave.”
“Asher, please. I love you. Don’t end this.”
“If you loved me you wouldn’t have almost had sex with him!”
I ran out, crying hysterically. I ran to the SUV and drove home as fast as I could. I ran into the house crying. I ran up the stairs crying and ran into my room crying. I couldn’t stop. I heard my dad calling my name, but I wasn’t gonna stop for him.
I threw myself onto my bed and my head into my pillow and cried. My dad came in and he sat on the foot of my bed.
“Max, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. Go away.”
“Tell me what happened,” he said.
“Just go away, dad, okay. I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“I’m your dad. You can tell me. I’m not leaving until you do.”
I might as well tell him right? Just to get him to leave and it would help me feel better right? It would help to get it off my chest. So, I decided to just tell him.
“So, there’s this guy,” I started.
“Asher?”
“Yes, him too.”
“I’m talking about Jamie, the kid who does our lawn.”
“What about him?”
“I almost cheated on Asher with him…accidentally.”
“Max, you don’t just accidently cheat on someone.”
“I knew I had to tell Asher the truth so I went to tell him.”
“Did he break up with you?”
“If ‘get out of my fucking house’ doesn’t mean he broke up with me. I don’t know what does.”
“Cheating is a very serious thing. Trust me, I know.”
“I know you know,” I said a little angrily.
I’m such a hypocrite. How can I hate my dad for cheating on my mom and hurting her when I’m just as bad.
“Dad,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For being so hard on you,” I said. “I know now what you’ve been through with mom.”
“Well, from what I can tell, your situation is a bit different from the one I had with your mother,” said dad. “It seems that you still love Asher.”
“I do. I never stopped loving Asher, but Jamie is just always there. He’s always hitting on me and trying to kiss me and he’s really attractive and I just couldn’t help myself anymore.”
“Well, it sounds like you did the right thing, son. No matter how horrible you feel right now, you did the right thing by telling Asher the truth and stopping it before it got too far. Now, you just have to be patient.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Give Asher some time. He’ll either forgive you or he won’t.”
“That’s comforting.”
“I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but that’s your only option. Don’t pressure him. Stay as far away as possible. If you pressure him, you’ll just push him away further.”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. “You’re really okay with this aren’t you?”
“With what?” Dad asked.
“Me being gay,” I answered.
“Of course I am. Being gay isn’t a big deal. It was just a shock at first, is all. I love you, son, no matter who you love or are attracted to.”
“So…Give Asher some space?”
“Yes”
“Thanks dad,” I said with a smile. Then, I actually hugged him. He hugged back tightly.