“It’s cool,” he replies, dripping in discomfort. Great. The Dillinger family is scaring away my dream man in record time.
Dinner is uneventful, thank monster god. Dad talks about his job and asks Reed about life as a hospital administrator. The turkey is delicious, and the marble cake and pumpkin pie are the perfect way to end the meal. We go around saying what we’re thankful for, and Reed declares that he’s thankful to meet everyone at the table since we’re so generous. As sweet as that is, I can tell when my boyfriend is uncomfortable.
I’m afraid I’ve overwhelmed him with the people who raised me.
After the family leaves that night, Reed volunteers to help me wash the dishes. Perfect, this is my chance to apologize for how loud and abrasive the Dillingers are. Hopefully he believes that I’m the cool, chill one, and I’ll stay that way.
“Are you okay?” I ask as he scrubs a pan.
“Yup.” He quietly continues cleaning, and I try not to freak out. He’s uncharacteristically withdrawn, and I hate it.
We spend a couple more minutes cleaning up. He washes while I dry and put away leftovers. It’s eerily silent after the long day of noise. I refuse to let this cold shoulder go on.
“Listen, we never have to see them again,” I blurt.
Reed puts away the last dish and raises an eyebrow at me. “Pardon?”
I wave my hands around. “I know my family is…a lot. They’re the reason I left Arizona and never looked back.”
“Huh?” He snaps off the rubber gloves and continues to give me a perplexed look.
“I just don’t think you should hold it against me. I swear, we only minimally have to interact with them.” I put my hands on his shoulders. “Or better yet, pretend today never happened.”
“Why would I wanna do that?”
Shrugging, I look around. “You’re clearly freaking out. Understandable, because my family is so loud. Unless this is about my shithole of an apartment. I promise, we don’t have to hang out here anymore.”
“I don’t care about your apartment.” He looks up at the kitchen exhaust one foot above him. “It seems fine to me.”
“It’s too small. And the Dillingers occupying it made it even smaller.”
“How so?” he asks.
“They can be annoying.”
“Skyler, I like your apartmentandyour family.”
“Really? Then why are you so tense?”
Reed sighs and sits down at the kitchen table. “My parents barely talk to me.”
“What?” I slide a chair next to him as he stares at his hands.
“Skyler, my parents would rather return to Korea and never look back than talk to their monster son.”
“Monster son?”
He shakes his head. “They don’t like monsters. It was always so awkward when Ryan and I talked about our shifting growing up. The Halloween Wave fractured an already cold family. And they particularly don’t like that their only grandson is a shifter. And worst of all, I’m gay, so they think I’m the biggest failure of all.”
My heart breaks as sorrow drips from his words. “Reed.”
He closes his eyes. “My parents don’t like Ryan or Aisen, but they especially don’t want to see me.” His fists clench, and I put my hand on his back. “You’re so lucky, Sky. I don’t have a family who will ever be thankful for me,” he rasps.
Oh.
This whole time, I wanted my folks to tone it down, when in actuality, Reed wishes his parents were like mine.
“Baby.” I rub his back. “It’s okay.”
