31. get together

THIRTY ONE

get together

Saturday, May 10th

Isaiah never expected the day to come where his mom insisted on having any of her children's friends come over. Jordan's ate everything, Dylan's were loud and annoying, and Isaiah's just never came over in general.

So when she took him by the arms and said, "You should invite your friends over," Isaiah was confused. She hated having more kids than necessary in her house. Dad didn't care, but he got headaches from Dylan's friends all the time. Then again he wasn't home much, so his opinion was irrelevant.

Isaiah gave her a wary look. "Why?" Then he squinted and leaned down to her height, searching her face as if he was suspicious. Which, he was. "Who are you and what have you done with my mom?"

She scoffed and let go, hitting his arm lightly. "I'm serious!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. "I did this with Jordan when she was close to the end of her senior year, remember? To celebrate the next step in life! College!"

"Jordan didn't go to college," Isaiah deadpanned.

"But you are!" Mom said, then got a desperate look in her eyes. "You are, right? I don't think I can handle another kid refusing to go."

Isaiah cracked a smile. "Yes, Ma, I'm going. Can't miss out on my baseball scholarship."

She sighed in relief. "Gracias a Dios. I knew I could count on you," she said, then placed her hands on Isaiah's cheeks. "Don't tell Jordan I said that."

"Your secret's safe with me." For added effect, Isaiah saluted her. She gave him an unimpressed look and let go of him, running her fingers through her hair.

Mom sat down at the kitchen counter, drumming her fingers against the marble top. "Invite your friends over," she said, a lot more serious this time. "You only hang out with them at school, and when it's outside the house, it's usually with the team, too. Even if it's not for celebrating, okay?"

"Yeah. I will," he told her, already pulling out his phone to text to the munchies group chat (thanks, Ashton). He thought it was funny, for some reason, because they all sat together at lunch. No one had the heart to tell him it was dumb, not even Steve.

Isaiah: hey, so like - my mom?? wants to do this celebratory thingie for us ending our senior year tonight. y'all down or what

ash: hecc yeah!!! i miss mama carr!! and you ofc, but mostly ur mom

steve-o: Yeah, sure. What time?

marco polo: ^^ yeah I haven't seen your mom and dad in forever. lmao can't wait to bother the shit outta dyl

morgan: omg i get to meet your family??? i'm down!

august ❤️: meeting the 'rents finally ((;

Isaiah: August shut up. are you coming or not

august ❤️: oh, I'm coming 🥵😉

steve-o has left the chat

ash: HAHAHAH

___

It was almost six when the doorbell rang, and just as Isaiah was about to get up and answer it, his mother bolted out of the kitchen at a freakishly fast pace, slippers scuffing against the hardwood floor. Isaiah halted in his movements and frowned.

I feel like this whole thing isn't to celebrate, he thought to himself as he followed her to the front door.

"Steve!" Mom exclaimed happily when she opened the door. Steve sent her a polite smile, one that just looked weird on his face. A smiling Steve made Isaiah uncomfortable. "I haven't seen you in forever! Excluding games. How are you?"

"I'm good," he replied, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and tugging the woman into a side hug. "And you?"

"I'm wonderful. Gracias, cariño."

Steve made his way over to Isaiah next and slapped him on the back, face neutral until he muttered, "No flirting in the groupchat." Isaiah groaned out loud, shoving him away.

"I didn't," he grumbled. "It was—" He lowered his voice. "—August. Not me."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. Anyway, Ashton said he was riding with Marcus. Morgan and August are probably together, too." He brushed past him and dropped down onto the sofa, Isaiah taking the spot Steve's feet didn't occupy.

"Hey," Steve said suddenly, voice low enough so Isaiah's mom couldn't hear if she was nearby. "I didn't get to tell you, but I'm proud of you. For coming out like that. Sorry if my teasing about you and August before all of that made you uncomfortable."

Isaiah shrugged. "It's okay." He picked at the edge of his phone case before asking: "You're not upset?"

Steve frowned. "With you being gay?"

"No, no. That I didn't tell you guys first."

"Of course not." Steve nudged his socked foot against Isaiah's leg, one knee propped up and the other laid out in front of him. "Just because we're your friends doesn't mean you're obligated to come out solely to us before anyone else. It's your life, your choice. What you decide is up to you as long as you're happy."

Isaiah smiled, hating that he felt like crying because of that. "You're gonna make me cry," he mumbled, looking up at the ceiling and blinking rapidly to keep happy tears from falling. He didn't know he was so emotional until a couple months ago.

"Don't cry, please," Steve begged, sitting up and placing his hand on Isaiah's arm. "You know I'm not good at dealing with people who cry. Morgan started bawling during a movie last week, and I didn't know what to do."

Isaiah let out a laugh, sniffing. "Poor Morgan. Are you two a thing yet?"

Steve let go and sunk back into his spot. "Maybe." When he spotted Isaiah's teasing grin, he scowled. "Shut up, dickwad."

"I didn't say anything."

"I can see it written on your face."

Isaiah grinned, shaking his head. Just as he was about to ask something else, the doorbell rang, and Isaiah didn't even bother to stand up this time. "I'll get it!" Isaiah's mom exclaimed, and then she was hurrying to the front door. She was definitely up to something, but Isaiah had no idea what.

"Mama Carr!" Ashton's voice rang out, and Isaiah's mom laughed, the two probably hugging. Ashton had always been one of her favorites, which Isaiah couldn't blame her for. He was nice and funny, and always complimented her food, even if it tasted like shit. Not to mention he liked to give hugs, and his mom was an affectionate person. Unlike the rest of the family.

"Hi, Ashton. Marcus," she greeted, and then a couple moments later she walked into the living room, the two boys in tow. Ashton's eyes zeroed in on the small amount of space left on the sofa between Isaiah and Steve, and Isaiah almost groaned, knowing what was about to happen. And he was right, because Ashton darted forward and squeezed himself between the two, arms dropping onto the back of the couch, legs spread, looking like some mini mafia boss.

Marcus sighed, taking the free armchair. "Ashton, you really need a girlfriend."

Ashton pointed at him and arched an eyebrow. "Hey, you don't know what I'm into. What if I need a boyfriend, huh? Or a significant other."

Marcus frowned. "Isn't a significant other the same as a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"Yes, but also, after I—" Ashton seemed to remember Isaiah's mom was in the house, so he pivoted. "—I had a cousin come out last week, I did my research." He nodded proudly, placing his hand against his chest. "Apparently there are people who consider themselves nonbinary. Or agender, something like that."

"I don't know what that is," Marcus replied, "but okay."

"It's like," Ashton began, furrowing his brows as he tried to remember what the definition was, "an absence of gender, I think. Like you're not a dude or a chick, you're just a person. So, like, the person would most likely use they or them pronouns. Anything. What's it called?" He snapped his fingers, as if doing that would jog his memory.

"Gender neutral?" Steve offered, and Ashton beamed, pointing.

"Yeah, that thing!" he exclaimed, then turned back to Marcus. "Shit's crazy, dude. I didn't know that was a thing. It's kinda cool, if you ask me."

Isaiah blinked. He hadn't even known that was a thing. And now that he thought about it, he only knew the basics of sexuality and gender as well, not everything else on the spectrum. He slumped into the cushions; he should probably familiarize himself with that stuff. Accidentally offending someone wasn't on his to-do list. He didn't think he could handle making someone feel like crap because of his own ignorance.

Buzz. Isaiah pulled his phone out, absently smiling at August's name on the screen. He would probably know a lot, Isaiah realized. He could ask him sometime.

august ❤️: hey, we're like, five minutes away or smth.

august ❤️: also, pls send help. morgan is gushing over steve and it's gross. kinda cute, but kinda gross.

Isaiah: lmao, sucker

august ❤️: I don't like how you're picking up my way of talking it's kind of unnerving pls stop. go back to cute, embarrassed, fluffy izzy thx

Isaiah: Izzy?

august ❤️: 😉

"Oh, God," Isaiah blurted out loud. His friends gave him curious looks, and Isaiah blushed. He lowered his voice and explained. "August gave me a nickname. It's cute. Is that a thing? That people do in relationships? Do I have to give him a cute nickname now?"

"Call him Cracker," Marcus suggested, grinning when Isaiah sent him a glare.

"I'm not calling him that."

Steve snorted. "I think it's funny."

"Of course you do."

"Wait," Ashton said, and Isaiah glanced over, frowning. "Are you the bottom?"

Isaiah was frozen, wondering if he'd heard him correctly. "What?"

"Are you the—"

Isaiah slapped his hand over the boy's mouth. "Ash, what the actual fuck? What did you research? Do you even know what that means?" he whispered harshly, eyes wide. "And that wasn't even what we were talking about!"

Ashton pushed his hand away. "I know what it means. So are you?"

"Why does that matter?" he cried, covering his face with his hands. This was beyond embarrassing. He never expected to have a conversation like this. Especially with Ashton, of all people.

"You are!" Ashton said, sounding delighted with this newfound knowledge. "It makes so much sense. August is—"

The doorbell rang, interrupting Ashton, and Isaiah was up on his feet and running to the door without hesitation. His mom paused in the doorway, surprised at his speed, watching with an amused gaze as he swung the door open, revealing Morgan and August.

Isaiah reached out and grabbed August's arm. "Morgan, I need to borrow him for a second." He then turned to face his mom. "Ma, this is Morgan. Morgan, that's my mom. Go talk, be right back." And then he was allowing Morgan inside and shutting the door, leaving only him and August on the doorstep.

The blond looked perplexed. "Are you okay?" he asked, eyeing him cautiously.

"Ashton knows too much," Isaiah stated seriously, and August immediately busted out into laughter.

Isaiah grabbed his arms and shook him. "August, you don't understand," he complained, then launched into an explanation of what had just happened before. Once he was done, August was laughing even harder, having to hold onto Isaiah in return to keep himself from falling.

"Okay, okay," August said once he'd settled down. "It's just Ash being Ash. Now let me kiss you, then go inside and introduce myself to your mom, yeah? I gotta make her love me."

Isaiah relaxed, nodding. August smiled and placed his hand on the side of Isaiah's neck, pressing their lips together in a short, gentle kiss. He pulled back, pecked him once more, then made his way back inside the house, Isaiah following, cheeks warm.

Talking could be heard from the kitchen, and when Isaiah entered, everyone else was there, eating whatever it was that his mom had just made. Isaiah guided August over to his mother and introduced them, feeling unnecessarily nervous. What if she didn't like him? What if August didn't like her? What if things just went horribly fucking wrong?

"I'm August," he said, reaching out a hand for her to shake.

"Oh, I remember you," she replied, taking his hand and holding it in her own. "The one at the cages with Isaiah, right? I talked to you over the phone."

"Yeah, that's me." August grinned, and Mom did too before she tugged him into one of her signature bear hugs. His eyes widened in surprise, and he exchanged a look with Isaiah, who just shrugged.

When she pulled away and held him at arm's length, August couldn't keep himself from saying: "Your perfume smells really nice. What is it?"

Isaiah's mom beamed. "Japanese Cherry Blossom," she told him. "And then I also have this other one Isaiah's father gave me for our twenty-fifth anniversary." Then they were launched into a discussion about their favorite scents, and Isaiah realized he had nothing to worry about.

Isaiah sat at the kitchen table, resting his chin against his folded arms. He listened and watched them talk, eyes straying to August's soft smile and pretty eyes. He was a lot different from when they'd first met; in the beginning he'd been a total dick (then again Isaiah had his moments, too). Now he was like this, funny and nice, flirty and bright. Though the sarcasm and satire comebacks never left, but Isaiah loved that.

In the beginning it was like he'd been wearing a mask. And now that it was gone, Isaiah couldn't get enough. He couldn't even when August was being a jerk, anyway.

Isaiah had a feeling that what he felt for August was leaning dangerously close to love.

___

Q: what are your favorite kind of books to read? genre wise, trope/clichés wise, all of that.

xx