Gaijin No More

Cody's POV

Aiden dropped me home after a few hours of kissing and just talking on his bed. I felt pretty lightheaded, to be honest. This whole thing was so new to me and I was overwhelmed with emotions. In a good way, mostly.

We were boyfriends now. And God did it feel good. If I had known something this simple could make me feel so good, I would've tried this whole dating thing a lot earlier. But better late than never, right?

“Dad! I'm home,” I called as I entered our house. I was about to remove my shoes when I was pounced by my dad.

“So, how did it go? Tell me everything. What did he say? Are you together now? You don't look upset, so I take it went well,” he rambled, with an anxious expression on his face, as if my answer would be the solution for cancer.

I smiled widely. For a moment I pondered if I should mess with his head a bit, but then I decided against it.

“It went well indeed. We are a couple now.”

My dad blinked once, then twice. I began to think that he hadn't understood what I had just told him, but then he started to laugh boisterously.

“That's my boy!” he said and patted my back. “I'm happy for you.”

Damn I love my dad.

Dad wiped his eyes and pulled me into a bear hug. I would've hugged back but he pulled away almost immediately, taking a hold from my chin and turning my head so he could take a better look of my neck. For what reason, I had no idea.

“Holy smoke, that dude wastes absolutely no time,” he exclaimed and let out a low whistle. I furrowed my brows, as I didn't know what he was talking about.

“What?” I asked and touched my neck, not finding anything out of ordinary

“Nothing nothing. It's just, you have one huge hickey on your neck,” he stated admiringly. My eyes widened and I quickly tilted my head so I could see my reflection from the mirror hanging on the wall.

And there it was. A huge, red mark right under my ear.

“Geez! It will be impossible to cover this,” I muttered, softly stroking the bruise.

“I think that's what Aiden was aiming for,” dad quipped, “He obviously wants to show everyone who you belong to.”

I smacked him on the shoulder. “Don't talk about it so crudely,” I scolded.

“Hey, don't blame me! Aiden is the one who marked you, hit him,” he laughed and skipped to the kitchen.

Wait... Since when does my dad skip?

I followed him, only know noticing the change in his aura. He seemed to be more giddy than normally and now he was whistling some old song while making a sandwich.

“Dad? What's wrong with you?” I questioned, smelling that something was up.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” he said in a sing song voice.

“You are acting differently,” I said, “You are not high, are you?”

“Nooo, nothing like that, my dear son.”

Dear son? What the fuck was wrong with my old man?

“Okay, spill it!” I demanded to know.

Dad spun around to face me with this silly grin on his face, making the slight wrinkles around his eyes visible.

“I have a date tonight!” he squealed, with this dreamy look in his eyes.

My jaw probably dropped down to China.

“You have a what tonight?!”

“A date!”

“Yeah yeah, I heard that! But with who?” This was unbelievable! For years I had thought my dad had completely lost any sense of romance he might have had, but now it seems like I was wrong.

“Her name is Laureen and I met her last night at a bar.”

“A bar? You went to a bar?”

“Yeah, with a couple of guys from work.”

“But you never go to a bar.”

“Yeah, but since you were spending the night at Aiden's house I thought I could go and have some fun.”

I opened my mouth to ask some more questions about this Laureen woman, but I stopped myself to think for a second what my dad had just said.

Was he saying that he had never gone to a bar since he didn't want to leave me alone at home?

“Dad... Don't tell me you've stayed home at weekends just because you haven't wanted to leave me alone,” I said in disbelieving tone.

Dad looked embarrassed.

“Well, I couldn't just leave you and go get drunk with guys, think about it! I wouldn't have been a very good dad if I had done that, right?”

I felt like slapping him. For God's sake, I would've been able to take care of myself since I was thirteen. The world wouldn't have ended if dad had went out once in a while.

“You are one silly, silly old man,” I sighed. “From now on you'll go out at least twice a month. I'm more than capable of being one Friday or Saturday alone at home.”

My dad mumbled something in return, his cheeks slightly pink. He sure knew how to be overprotective.

“So, tell me more about this Laureen,” I said, my curiosity demanding to be satisfied. My dad deserved to have a nice woman, so I was more than excited about the fact that he was going on a date.

We spent the next hour and half talking about our Friday nights. He wasn't very pleased when I told him how I had gotten sick because of that drink, but he let it go when I said Aiden had taken good care of me.

Time flew by and soon my dad decided to go get ready for his date. I went in to my room to read, only coming out when the doorbell rang and dad asked me to go to open the door.

“Oh shit, she's early!” dad panicked and tried to tie his tie. “Argh, why is this always so difficult?” he whined when his fingers got tangled with the tie.

“Let me,” I said and quickly finished tying it. Soon I'd have to get a Valium for my dad if he didn't stop being so nervous.

“Thanks son. Now go open the door!” he told me and went back into his bedroom to get his shoes. I rolled my eyes and did as I was told to.

Behind the door stood an average height woman, with reddish brown hair that reached her shoulders. She had a kind smile on her pretty face, and a nice sparkle in her hazel eyes.

“Hi! You must be Laureen,” I said and offered my hand. “I'm Cody, Bruce's son.”

“Ah yes! He told me yesterday he had a son. Nice to meet you,” she said and smiled, shaking my hand.

“Come on in, my dad should be ready soon.” I stepped aside, allowing her to come in.

Right on cue dad stumbled down the stair, his face slightly flushed.

“H-Hello Laureen,” he greeted and pecked her cheek. I smirked, making kissy faces so only my dad could see. He gave me a quick glare before giving his attention to Laureen.

“I see you've met my rascal son,” he said, fiddling with his hands. Geez, he was acting like a teenage boy going on his first date. I would so mock him about this later.

“Yup, we've met, now get going. And Laureen, make sure he doesn't come back before midnight,” I teased them and opened the door for them.

Laureen laughed and told me she'd do her best. Dad told me to behave, clearly trying to impress Laureen by acting like a strict father who knew how to raise his son. Yeah right.

I waved them bye and collapsed on the couch in the living room, turning on the TV and beginning to watch some action movie. I was tempted to text Aiden, but decided not to. I'd see him tomorrow anyway.

It was nice just to lay there, in peace. Now that I had Aiden, and dad's thing with Laureen wouldn't hopefully be just a fling, life was starting to look bright.

Too bad I didn't know how difficult things would become soon.