Chapter 50

Friday night was football night.

And unfortunately, even with all out preparation, we weren't good enough.

Coach was fuming by the sidelines and I could already hear him scream during out next meeting. We were going to get demolish when he was going to go over each play.

I was barely able to break though our offensive line because they kept being blocked by our rivals' defensive linemen.

Alex passes kept not reaching the receivers.

And our defense was... well to put it plainly, pathetic.

I managed to score one touchdown and it was probably more a struck of luck then my actual talent.

The game ended at 48 to 14 for the other team.

The fact that this was probably the last home game made this whole thing suck a lot more than a loss normally would.

But it was fine. I was trying not to let it get to me too much. I was trying not to become too melancholic about the reality that my whole football experience was about to stop very soon, and I was going to go through more and more last times.

After we were done with the handshakes, and our friends and families could join us on the field, I kind of froze in place when I realized who was walking my way.

It wasn't just Lexi today. My parents and Josh were with her.

They hadn't told me they were coming today. I had implied I wanted them here. But I hadn't actually thought they would pull through.

I understood that seeing me play football was hard for them.

So, I was quite surprised to say the least.

"Hey guys, wow... that's... wow," I started to ramble, once they were within earshot.

"You were right. This is important, so we should be there," my mother replied with a smile.

It was really weird to see them here. Seeing them at museum made sense. Not at high school football game.

"Thank you," I replied, and hugged her, kind of forgetting I was angry for a second, too shocked to see them on this field with me.

"You did good out there, son," my father said, and I hugged him too.

I hugged Josh too, and then Lexi, and she stayed by my side. "You don't need to lie, it wasn't my best performance. It was probably the worst night in terms of getting tackled," I replied, chuckling, feeling a little awkward and not prepared for this interaction.

These were parents. I should really not feel this weird.

"At least they didn't hit you full force while you were running," my father pointed out.

I winced a little, making Lexi chuckle beside me. "I know how it sounds to you, but it sounds bad to me."

"If we were superstitious, I'd have to say this might be our fault," my mother said, looking a little guilty.

I just smiled back at her. "It's fine, we were already kind of ready for that outcome."

"Either way, you played well," she replied.

"How do you know?" I asked, a little teasingly.

I wasn't sure they actually even knew the rules of football.

"Lexi was quite helpful in filling the gaps in what we needed to know," my mother explained.

I looked at my girlfriend, and she just gave a little smile. I squeezed her a little more tightly against my side.

"So, huh, did you guys... want to go eat something?" I asked, not really sure what to do now.

"Don't you usually go out with your friends after a game?" my father pointed out.

"Yeah, usually. We lost though, so the festivities will be a little less... festive." God, I was so destabilized, I was even losing my vocabulary.

"Still, this is part of your ritual and we know you don't have that many games left, so we wouldn't want to take you away from that," my mother said, "How about we have breakfast together tomorrow instead?"

"Wait, wait, wait, you guys want me to wake up tomorrow morning? Unconceivable," Josh whined, shaking his head.

"It's okay Josh, you don't have to come," I told him, patting his shoulder.

Josh glared at me, slapping my hand away, making my family laugh at his antics. "Oh, wow, when you say it like that, then I absolutely need to come."

"We can go late breakfast. I'll probably be coming home late anyway," I pointed out, everyone clearly amused by Josh' outrage.

"How about early dinner instead?" he replied automatically.

"You really don't have to be there, you know," my father pointed out.

Josh let out a whining sound. "This family is crazy."

"Anyway, we should get going now. Let you get changed and join your friends," my mother pointed out.

I nodded. "I'll walk you guys to your car," I offered, not wanting to leave them just yet.

This felt like a precious moment. I wasn't taking it for granted.

Lexi was quiet, just smiling at me and held my hand as we made our way to my parents' car.

They were a little ahead, so I got closer to Josh and asked softly, "was this your idea?"

"We mutually agreed, if you must know," he replied, just as quietly.

I smiled at him, grateful for my brother.

"Thanks for being here. I know you don't particularly like football."

Josh snorted, shaking his head. "God, you're such a drama queen. It's like you enjoy playing the pitiful puppy."

I shoved him with my shoulder, "shut up."

We walked together for a couple of minutes, chatting together about nothing in particular, just filling up the silence comfortably.

"Well, have fun tonight, and we'll have breakfast together tomorrow," my father said, once we'd reached his car, and then looked at Josh's pained expression and corrected himself, "Or brunch."

Josh grinned at the small victory, and we said our goodbyes.

I turned to my girlfriend, who had been mostly quiet throughout all of this. She was smiling softly at me.

"Thanks for taking care of them during the game," I told her, truly feeling grateful.

"You're welcome! I'm glad things didn't seem to be too awkward," she added, knowing I hadn't had the best run with my parents lately.

"I honestly felt before like I had no idea how things were going to get back to normal, but I think now... I think this is how. Just feeling like they actually care about my life and the things that I want, the things that I like. Not thinking about it, but... just feeling it I guess."

"That makes sense," Lexi agreed, smiling at me.

"Now, come on," I announced, throwing my hands up in the air, "let's stop thinking about my problems. It's time to party."

"Is there actually a party? I love you Blakey-Boy, but you didn't actually win that game," my girlfriend said giving me an awkward smile.

I gapped at her. "Ouch," I said, but laughed at her grimace.

My Pumpkin raised her hands beside her defensively. "Hey, I wasn't the one on the field, you were."

"Double ouch," I said, laughing again. "But yeah, we do have a party. It's our last home game after all."

"That's going to be a weird party."

And weird it indeed was. 

After washing up and going to gorge ourselves at our usual Italian place, we all met up at Jessica house, one of cheerleaders.

But everyone was a being a little too emotional.

At one point, Trevor got up on one of the tables, raising his a red cup in the air. "To out last home game. We always knew we weren't going to win the championship."

"Dude, shut the fuck up, we still have another game to play, and we're getting in the first rounds of finals," Connor yelled back at him.

"Come on. Let's be realistic here. We know what's going to happen. Come on," Trevor replied.

"Booooooo!" Someone screamed from afar.

"If you had done a better defensive job than maybe we would have had a fucking chance," Davis yelled at him.

"What did you just say to me?" Trevor yelled back in consternation.

"OUR DEFENSE SUCKS!" Davis repeated.

"SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"

"I JUST DID!"

"Ohmygod this party is a mess," Lexi laughed beside me.

At one point, me and Lexi just sat on one of the couches with our drinks and just laughed at the screaming match happening between the guys.

So much for brotherhood.

It was quite hilarious.

But it was also making me sad. Because this made it feel more and more like the end of an era. And era I wasn't exactly ready to let go just yet.

I didn't stay too late at the party. I wanted to be able to wake up for breakfast with my family the next morning.

Lexi had plans with her family in the morning, so I reluctantly dropped her off at her house, after a lot of complaining, and some kissing in the car.

And so the next morning, at eleven sharp, I was sitting at the dinning room table with a full English breakfast in front of me, something I hadn't eaten in a while, to the great joy of my mother.

I didn't particularly like the beans in there, but kept that to myself.

"Thank you for coming to my game yesterday, it meant a lot to me," I told my parents again and Josh.

"Shhhhhhh, inside voice," Josh whispered, eyes closed, face almost falling into his plate.

"You know you could have stayed home, right?" my mother pointed out with a smile.

"Also, I'm the one who went to a party yesterday, not you," I remarked.

Josh gave me a nasty glare, that was just amusing to me. "What makes you think I did not have a party of my own? I am a single man of legal age and nothing but time on his hands. I could have gone to a bar."

I wondered if he had gone out. Something had been going on between him and Daphnee after all, before I learned about his feelings for my brother. Maybe he had met up with her too. He might have seen her at the game.

"What Thai drama did you end up watching?" my mother asked him, completely ignoring his little rant.

"You still watch those?" my father asked, looking at him with curiosity.

Josh let out an exasperated sigh and explained, "If I don't, I'm going to forget how to speak Thai."

When Josh was in high school, he was in an exchange program and went to study on year in Thailand with a host family. That was how he learned to speak Thai.

Josh had never truly felt at home in his house, with his father, and had searched around for a place that would feel as such.

I understood that feeling. Of never feeling quite at home.

But as I looked around the table at my family and Josh joking around together, I realized for the first time that this house, it did feel like home. I had never let myself see this before, because this was space Jayden had never inhabited, so it wasn't a place where I wanted to allow myself to feel like home.

But I did. Regardless of my issues with my parents, I knew I would get over it eventually.

This house felt like home.

Maybe I was truly beginning to heal.

______________________________

Very late happy Monday my little Pumpkins! XD

Still Monday here! Sorry, this weekend was a mess, I went back home for my niece's birthday and I was running around with toddlers all weekend long and I am deaaaaaad. I'm getting too old for this. XD And I have to work on Mondays during the whole month of June. Which I kind of hate. It messes up with my usual schedule.

So yeah. I juuuust managed to sit in front of my computer and finish editing this chapter. Ugh. 

So yeah, sorry again.

This weekend I don't have any plans, so I should be able to upload on Sunday evening as usual. 

Alright. I got some more writing to do, so I'm gonna go now.

Byyyyyyye! Love you all! Thanks for being patient! <3