𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚 𝟐𝟓𝟖 [𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]

𝟒𝟐. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞?

After that sentence from Louis to which I had whispered a shy "Really?" and to which he had answered a shy "Yes" things between us had definitely improved. We didn't fight anymore, we didn't give each other murderous looks and we talked quietly.

Louis could be a really great person, he had listened to me when I told him about the conversation with my mother and he understood.

When we were with her he always tried to talk to her in a friendly way but still kept his distance from me and she too was doing really well on her part. She treated me as always, in fact she was even more affectionate as if she wanted to make up for it and she was very kind to Louis, sometimes even calling him 'darling.

But now I could clearly see what was hidden behind her eyes, it wasn't anger, it was just disappointment. Despite this, I appreciated the efforts she made both to accept me and not to show me how much she really couldn't do it to the end. Her smiles were tight and when she looked at me she always tried to avoid my eyes. But I certainly preferred her a thousand times over my stepfather.

I'd always had a pretty good relationship with Robin, which was why I was rather upset when I found out that now he basically hated me.

When I had confessed being gay I had done it mostly to tease him but if I had even remotely imagined that reaction I would have avoided telling him. I had to admit that I overestimated my parents. Between my mother looking like she wanted to cry whenever she saw me and Louis getting a little too close and Robin disappearing I didn't know what to think anymore.

Yes, because I hardly saw Robin anymore, he was out at work all day and only reappeared for dinner and they were terrifying dinners. If we had had a competition with the monks to see who spoke the least, we probably would have won. Sometimes my mother or sister tried to break the ice but soon realised that it was completely useless.

In moments of greatest despondency Louis grabbed my hand under the table for support. I answered him with a smile and immediately felt a little better. After dinners Robin would disappear into the bedroom and no one saw him again until dinner the following day. I tried to console myself by thinking that in the end it could have been worse, he could have hit me or hit Louis or kicked me out of the house. In the end he was just pretending I didn't exist.

Usually my mother, after fixing the kitchen, would follow my father into the bedroom assuring me that she would talk to him and that she would convince him not to behave like this. Needless to say, she hadn't succeeded yet, after all it couldn't have been easy to convince a person when she herself didn't believe anything she was saying and when maybe after all she simply wanted to behave like him.

So in the evening Louis and I, without the presence of my parents, took over the sofa in the living room and watched some television program or film. Sometimes Gemma joined us.

I apologised for what I said, pointing out that I didn't really mean it and that I was just nervous about the whole situation and she understood.

Things were back to normal but now she was going out with her boyfriend a lot more and spending a lot less time with mine and I couldn't say I was sorry about it, especially given how things had turned out. Louis and I had never gotten along better, seriously: we laughed, we joked, we talked and he was also very sweet and understanding with me.

When he had made a video call on Skype with Josh, he had asked me to participate himself, convinced that Josh would be happy to hear from me. After the latter's story about a turtle found at the lake, we saw him get a little embarrassed and he timidly asked us:

"So, how are things between you two?" I immediately panicked because I didn't quite know what to answer and I was afraid of a negative reaction from Louis, who instead simply shrugged and replied "We're friends." Then he put his arm around my shoulders and turned to me smiling asking "Right Haz?" I in turn put my arm around his shoulders in response and uttered a joyful "Sure" as my heart leapt.