No one offers me a seat. They just stand there, watching me with thinly veiled hostility.
“Mr Elliott,” Mr Arnette says again, this time more firmly. “Please leave. My son is resting. He’ll contact you when he’s ready.”
My hands curl into fists, but I keep my voice level. “I’m not going anywhere until I see him with my own eyes. And if he wants me to leave, he can say so himself.”
“Why are you being so stubborn?” Mrs Arnette snaps, exasperated. “Why can’t you understand?”
She stops. Something shifts in the air. I turn, and there he is. Sebastian, rushing down the stairs, eyes wide, breath unsteady. And before I can even process what’s happening, he’s throwing himself into my arms, clinging to me like he might fall apart if I don’t catch him.
“Remi… You came. You came for me?” he whispers, voice cracked and trembling against my neck.
His disbelief breaks something in me. How could he ever think I wouldn’t come? I wrap my arms around him tighter, lifting him slightly off the ground, holding him as if I can somehow shield him from everything that’s hurt him. He buries his face in my neck, and I feel the wet heat of his tears soaking into my skin.
Gently, I set him back down and tilt his chin until our eyes meet, and what I see guts me. His face is blotchy, red, his eyes glassy and swollen. His hair’s a mess. But it’s the look in his eyes that hits the hardest: utter devastation. Like someone’s reached in and crushed whatever was left of him.
Fury rises in my chest like a tide. Who could do this to him?
I don’t need to wonder. The answer is standing right beside me.
I place a hand gently on his shoulder, keeping my voice soft. “Let’s go, Seb. I’m taking you home.”
He nods, something resolute flickering in his eyes. He doesn’t question it, he just knows.
“You are not going anywhere!” his mother snaps, her composure cracking, her voice suddenly sharp and shrill.
I bite back my reply. This isn’t my fight, not right now. Sebastian needs to take this stand himself.
And he does.
“I’m packing my things. Don’t try to stop me. I’ve made up my mind,” he says, his voice calm but unshakable.
He turns and heads upstairs, and I feel a surge of pride so strong it almost chokes me. His father says nothing, just watches in silence. But Mrs Arnette turns on me, eyes blazing.
“So it was you,” she hisses. “May warned us there was a boy, but we never imagined someone could corrupt our son so completely. What do you evenwantfrom him? No, don’t answer. I don’t care what revolting things you’ve lured him into. Sebastian had a future here. A suitable girl. A proper life. And you’ve destroyed it.”
Her venom lands like acid, but I don’t flinch.
What stuns me isn’t her hatred, it’s the truth buried beneath her words.
May told them.
She outed him.
The rage that surges in me is nuclear, white-hot, and blinding.
But before I can speak, Sebastian’s voice cuts through the silence like a blade.
“Mum, stop. Remi didn’t ruin anything. I’ve always been gay. If anyone’s ruined a life, it’s me, his.”
My heart twists, but I don’t let it show. As I follow him upstairs, I lean in and whisper, “Don’t say that again, Seb. Ever.”
He gives a faint nod, his eyes shimmering with something softer. Steadier. He drags his enormous pink suitcase into the hall, and despite everything, the chaos, the pain, I can’t help but smile.
“I’ve got it,” I say, brushing my hand against his cheek. And I mean it. Not just about the suitcase. Abouthim. Aboutus.
He seems to understand. As we make our way down the stairs, he reaches for my hand and squeezes it tightly.
That’s all I need. That’s everything.
