“Wait, what? You bought special underwear for me and then gave them away?” Another guy that was sitting at the table raised his arm toward William, his expression a full-on pout. William laughed and walked back over to him. Xander guided him to one of the empty chairs. Tracy sat back down next to who he assumed was Patrick.
“Don’t worry, husband of mine. They came in a pack of three.” William leaned over the guy’s shoulder and kissed him easily. Right there, in front of everyone. Wright looked down at the table and swallowed.
“I would say get a room, but we’d still be able to hear you,” Xander said as he picked up the plate in front of Wright and started putting things on it. Wright wasn’t a bit fan of grits, despite growing up in the south. He kicked his foot against Xander’s and shook his head to silently tell him to skip over that dish.
“It was one time and you walked into the guest house without knocking,” Clark said. “That was on you.”
“You called it ‘conserving water’ I do believe,” Xander said. “I’ve never heard someone have so much fun saving the planet.”
“No sex talk at my table, please,” Tracy said. But she sounded amused more than annoyed.
Everyone laughed and they all went back to eating their food. Patrick was sitting at the head of the table to Wright’s right, Tracy directly across from him. William and his husband were sitting in the two chairs next to her.
“So, Wright.” William’s husband broke the silence after a few minutes. He was trying to cut his food and eat, but it really was hard not being able to use his dominant hand. “How old are you?”
He gave up on eating for the time being. His stomach protested, grumbling just loud enough he could hear it. Xander looked over at him and tilted his head, so maybe it was a little louder than he thought. Without a word, he scooted Wright’s plate closer and started cutting the biscuit smothered in gravy and tore the bacon up in bite sized pieces for him.
“Thank you.” He turned back to look at the rest of the group. They were all watching Xander with varying levels of emotion on their faces. “Um, sorry. I’m really dominantly left-handed and not all that coordinated with my right. But to answer your question, I’m nineteen.”
“Did you grow up in the area?” William asked that question.
“Born and raised,” Wright said. He knew they were just trying to get information about him. He was willing to answer and let them know what they needed. As long as it meant he could stay with them a little longer. The fact that Patrick hadn’t batted an eye when William kissed his husband and Xander made a joke, he was grateful to be there. “I grew up just a little ways from Trinity hospital.”
“You lived near there?” Patrick finally spoke up. His voice was the one Wright recalled from yesterday, the one that told his dad they would take care of him. He’d been terrified of his voice yesterday. But now, he could see the concern etched into the lines of his face. He also didn’t miss the way he used the past tense of that word. “Are you comfortable with going to the doctor today?”
“Xander already asked me that,” Wright said. “I’ll be okay going, as long as I have someone there with me. I don’t live right next to it and my dad works closer to the college, so it should be fine.”
“Is your dad at work?” Tracy asked. He turned his head slightly so he could see out of his good eye. She was looking at her husband though. “If he’s not there, maybe you could stop by so Wright can get some of his things.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Xander said. “We don’t know if he’ll come back and he could press charges for us going inside without him there.”
“But it’s Wright’s house too,” Tracy said. She wasn’t arguing it, just stating facts. “And he’s going to need his things.”
Not so much the clothes but waking up this morning Wright did realize that he had nothing. No toothbrush, actual brush, his phone was no doubt smashed to pieces by now. He would need things. “It’s only Thursday, so he should be at work. He would usually be home by five in the evening, but sometimes he stayed out later and I wouldn’t see him. I don’t know what he would do since I’m not there.”
“We can always drive by and see if he’s there. If not, do you have a way to get in? A key, or something?” Patrick took a sip of his coffee and waited for Wright to answer.
“I don’t,” he said. “But I know I can get into my bedroom window. I wasn’t allowed to lock the door or the window.”
There was a beat of silence from everyone. Not even a fork scraping against a plate. Xander’s arm rested against the back of his chair and his fingers brushed over his good shoulder. Wright dared a glance at the rest of the table. Patrick was looking at his wife. William was smiling softly at him, pity and concern etched in the way he held himself. His husband, who Wright could not remember his name, was staring down at his food.
Wright decided to bite the bullet and give them an explanation. “My dad isn’t nice, as I’m sure you can understand. Yesterday, I was, uh, watching a video on my phone and I guess I forgot to close the tab. He saw it and did all of this.” Wright used his right hand to motion toward his face and then down his body. “I dislocated my shoulder when I fell against a table in the living room. I have bruises on my ribs and lower back as well as the masterpiece that is my face. He’s hit me before, made me stand in cold showers, submerged my head in the sink water when he didn’t think the dishes were clean enough.” Wright closed his eyes and leaned his head back, just the feeling of Xander’s arm behind him enough to help him get through saying everything. “It started after my mom left. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect he was hitting her and when she left, he turned to me. He isn’t religious or anything. I didn’t grow up going to church or mass or whatever. He spends his Sunday mornings drinking and yelling at the TV, when he’s home. He’s just mean. It wasn’t a flip that switched one day, though. It was gradual, comments and arguments at first about how I needed to man up and start doing things around the house to contribute. Then, he’d get mad when I didn’t do something right. By the time I hit high school, I was pretty good at cooking and cleaning but he’d never taught me to use outside things like the mower or weed eater, so he would get mad about that too. I’ve just been counting down until I left. I’m supposed to start at the community college in the Fall.”
He didn’t realize that he was crying until Xander moved to wrap him in a hug. He let him hold him, needing the assurance that he was okay now. There was another hand on his shoulder and he looked to the side to see Tracy standing next to him.
“You don’t have to go back there, Wright. We can easily take you shopping for new clothes.”
“You’ve already done enough for me,” Wright said. Xander brushed his finger up and down the back of his neck and he leaned into the small touch. He looked at the other men sitting at the table. “Seriously, I appreciate everything since yesterday, but I don’t want to impose any more than I have. I can get a hotel room or something and figure it out. I should have done that when I turned eighteen.”
“Nonsense,” Xander said. “You’re injured and I’m not letting you out of my sight until the doctor clears you.”
“Clark has a bunch of clothes he was going to donate,” William said with a smile.
“And by that, he means I made him go through his clothes too to get rid of things. For someone that doesn’t wear shirts or socks in the house, I don’t understand how he accumulates so much stuff. Take a guess at how many long sleeve shirts this man owns.” Clark didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “Twenty. Twenty long sleeve shirts. We live in Texas.”
“It gets cold still!”
“Yeah, but then you’re just wearing my hoodie and ignoring the twenty, two-zero, shirts that you own.” Clark turned from William to Wright. “I made him pack up at least ten of them. We were going to donate them after the honeymoon but you’re more than welcome to go through them first.”
