Steam Punk Goggles and Ink Stained Hands

DREW’S POV

~

When the bus pulled up in the vaguely familiar neighbourhood, the nerves started to kick in - it was apprehension but with slightly excitement. I thanked the driver when we stopped and exited the vehicle before walking down the pavement towards a group of shops in the town centre.

Thanks to my slight geographical knowledge (and the fact I have a Google Maps app on my phone), I knew the guitar shop I was looking for was among them, inbetween a bakery and a Game store. I approached the store and gazed through the glass of the windows, peering around the posters advertising gigs before deciding to enter, pushing the door open gently.

This was it, I just hoped he was actually working today and was on shift, if not though, I could at least check with another staff members when he would be.

Apparently though, the back-up plan wasn’t needed.

Standing by the counter was a man who looked very much like Shane, but older. His hair colour was almost the exact same shade as my boyfriend’s and they had the same face and jaw shape; all of this was adding up and now that I’d seen a physical resemblance, my hope was growing stronger.

“Excuse me?” I spoke up, causing the man with eyes the same chocolate as Shane’s to turn slightly and look at me with a smile.

“Hi, how can I help you?” his voice was deep, yet another resemblance.

“We need to talk about a boy named Shane”.

*****

After a long, slightly confusing and just a little awkward conversation, I found myself sitting in the car next to James Sumner, driving back towards my house in Beccles.

Yes, during our conversation in his office, I found out that James is indeed, Shane’s father.

I’d found him.

“So, you and Shane are close then?” James spoke up, interrupting the silence that had settled over us, only briefly taking his eyes off the road to look at me before focusing again.

“Yeah, yeah we are” I kept my reply vague; he didn’t know about Shane and I being together yet and even though he obviously wasn’t going to be homophobic, I didn’t know whether or not Shane wanted me to tell him.

“Well, I’m glad he has someone like you who cares” he mused, turning so that we were now driving down the road to my house as per my instructions.

I didn’t reply, instead, I pulled nervously at the bottom of my t-shirt; I found Shane’s dad and brought him back to him, but how would Shane react? I could gather that he would want to know him but what if the surprise made him act badly?

Despite the anxiety residing in me, I found myself without the time to worry as we were mere metres from my house. As the tyres rolled to a stop and Mr Sumner removed his keys from the ignition, I knew it was time to set the main event rolling; it was time to go see Shane.

“Right, well, no time to lose, let’s go” Mr Sumner seemed honestly quite excited but I suppose it was only natural - after all, he was seeing a son he hadn’t seen in God knows how many years.

Together, we approached my front door, pausing while I dug in my pocket for my keys and unlocked the door before stepping inside to the quiet house.

Both of my parents were at work, so the only presence in the house besides the two of us was Shane who – judging by the soft strumming of a guitar resonating around the house – was upstairs in my room playing guitar.

“He’s up here. When we get to his door, let me go in first and have a quick word with him, then I’ll call you in, okay?” Mr Sumner nodded as we ascended the stairs, our footsteps muffled by the carpet runner covering them. When we reached the door of my bedroom, Mr Sumner stopped while I continued on and pushed the door open.

Here goes…

“Hey, Shaney” I greeted, smiling as Shane lifted his head from where he was studying the guitar and grinned at me.

“Drew, you’re back” he stated with a pleased tone, placing the guitar gently down beside him on the bed before standing up to wrap me in a hug. “I’ve missed you” he whispered into my ear, placing a gentle kiss to my lips.

“I’ve only been gone for an hour!” I chuckled before standing on my toes to give him a kiss in return. “I missed you too, though”.

“Well, you’re back now! So, where did you go, by the way? You never mentioned” he asked as we sat down side by side on my bed, both careful not to damage the guitar in doing so.

“Well actually, that’s something I need to talk to you about. You see, I went to talk to someone and after a chat with them, I think you two should meet” I started, trying to judge from Shane’s facial expressions what he made of this. He seemed rather indifferent, if not a little surprised, then again though, he had no idea who I was about to introduce him to.

Making my way over to the bedroom door which I’d shut behind me, I cast one more glance at Shane, starting to doubt whether this was a good idea or not before pushing it to the back of my mind with the reasoning that I’d already brought him here now.

I pulled open the door, revealing Mr Sumner.

“Shane, this is James Sumner, your father” Shane looked absolutely stunned before his expression returned to normal and he stood up.

This was it, the moment everything changed and at that exact second Shane looked completely calm. I could tell that my second now he was going to react and in all honesty, I had no idea whether he was going to run up to his father and hug him or punch him in the face.

I guess I was about to find out…