Miles looked at me with furrowed brows. I shivered from the cold winter breeze.
"Wh-what happened?" he asked as he motioned for me to come inside.
"I just...um, I can't stay with my parents right now. And I didn't really have anywhere else to go." It hit me then, finally, how weird it was to show up at his house, especially without warning.
"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "This is probably really weird and a major imposition on you and your parents. It was just kind of the heat of the moment I guess."
Miles flashed his dimples at me. "I totally understand, okay? I mean, I did basically offer up my house and my parents." He gave me a reassuring pat on my arm. "You did the right thing coming here."
He led me into the living room. "My parents aren't home from work yet, but I'll explain the situation to them when they get here, okay? I'm sure they'll be fine with it."
I sat my bag down next to the couch. Miles gestured for me to sit on the couch. After I did, he sat down on the other end of it. He left the middle cushion between us, careful not to overstep any boundaries.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I shrugged. "My parents...they don't understand, you know? They think being gay is something I chose to be."
"Yikes."
"Yeah, and my dad said he's ashamed of me. Like, actually said that right to my face. So..."
"You left," Miles finished for me.
"Yeah."
Miles was quiet for a moment, like he was searching for the right words. Finally, he said, "I know everything sucks right now and probably feels like your entire world just burst into flames, but I feel like it's necessary for me to point out that you look amazing."
When I gave him a Huh? look, he elaborated. "I mean...that wasn't me coming onto you." Miles laughed. "I just mean that you look so much more confident and, like...more comfortable with yourself than the last time I saw you. Connor, you looked so terrified the last time you were here!"
I couldn't help but laugh. "I had never hung out with a guy like that before! You were crazy intimidating."
Miles turned around, like he was searching for another person in the room. Then, he turned back to me and pointed to himself. "Me? Intimidating?"
I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Yes!"
"I'm the least intimidating person I know. In fact, I think I'm very approachable. I look like the kind of person you could punch in the face and I'd be the one that apologized."
"No, that's 100% me," I argued. "I'm basically a doormat."
Miles laughed and said, "Something tells me you're not someone to be fucked with anymore. You have this aura of power around you now. I can tell."
"I mean, I did wear makeup to school today. Not sure if that screams Don't fuck with me or Please bully me."
"No, that's amazing! Oh god, I bet the other students were totally freaked out. I'd have loved to see their faces."
The familiarity of Miles and his genial, easy-going personality almost made me forget what a mess my life was. He was a comforting presence.
"Yeah, it was something," I said.
"How's your boyfriend doing with everything?" he asked then. He asked it in a sincere way, like he wasn't just bringing up the B word out of courtesy.
"I don't know. I haven't heard from him since yesterday." I frowned. "I'm really worried about him. I keep texting and calling him, but he hasn't answered."
Miles looked like he was about to say something, but then we heard the front door opening. "Can you just wait here for a sec?" he asked. I nodded.
Miles got up and went towards the front door. I couldn't see them from the living room, but I heard Miles talking indistinctly. After a minute or so, he and his parents entered the living room.
His mom gave me a big smile. "Good to see you again, Connor."
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie," I greeted them shyly.
"Oh, please, call us Maggie and Nick," she said.
"Oh, okay," I said. My parents never let my friends call them by their first names, so that struck me as unusual.
"So, Miles told us a little bit about your situation," Maggie said. "We are, first foremost, very sorry to hear about your parents' negative reactions."
Nick McKenzie nodded solemnly. "Such a shame."
Maggie said, "We would happily let you stay here for a bit, but we do think that maybe we should get your parents' permission first. We don't want...anyone to get in any sort of trouble, you know?"
"I'm eighteen," I said. "You won't get in any trouble."
"Not just us," Nick said, "but also you, Connor. Do your parents know where you are right now?"
I looked down at my hands, which were folded in my lap. "No, they don't."
"Mom, Dad," Miles interrupted. "Connor needs a safe space right now. You guys have seen how people are around here. It's not like back home." Miles looked at me with a reassuring smile. "Connor is smart enough to make decisions for himself, and if he thinks being away from home right now is the right decision, then I think we need to listen to him."
"I won't stay here long, I promise," I said. "Just a couple of days maybe. My parents and I...we just need some space from each other right now I think." I swallowed. "I really don't have anywhere else to go."
Miles' parents looked at me with sympathy, and then looked at each other. They made facial expressions I couldn't quite read, as though they were silently communicating with each other.
Then, Maggie said, "Alright, Connor. If Miles vouches for you, you can take the guest bedroom."
Nick walked over and picked up my duffel bag. "You can follow me. We'll get you set up."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Seriously, thank you guys so much. I'm sorry to just kind of show up like this, but I really appreciate it."
"Aw, sweetie." Maggie smiled at me and then walked up to me, enveloping me in a hug. "If you need anyone to talk to, we're here for you, okay?"
"Thank you," I said, hesitantly hugging her back.
Then Nick also wrapped me in a hug. My dad wasn't someone who really expressed his love through physical touch, so I was very much taken aback by Nick's gentle show of affection.
Miles and I followed his dad through a hallway and into their guest bedroom. I was surprised to see that it looked like it belonged to someone else, that it was full of posters and clothing and other personal belongings.
"Yeah, sorry," Miles said. "This is actually my sister's bedroom, but she's away at college right now."
"Oh." I realized that I truly didn't know very much about Miles.
"Little Ms. Ivy League is my parents' pride and joy," Miles joked.
"Well, son, there's nothing wrong with being second best," Nick replied with a very serious expression on his face.
Miles burst into laughter when he saw the shocked look on my face. "Oh, man. Connor here has Only Child Syndrome. We're just joking, I swear."
"Our daughter, Andi, is in her first year at Yale," Nick explained. "Miles here didn't even apply to any Ivies."
Miles rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with Berkeley."
"I applied to Berkeley," I said, "but I don't think I'll get in."
"You definitely seem like someone who has good grades," Miles told me. "I bet you could get in anywhere."
"I just don't have extracurriculars or anything on my resume."
"Really?" Miles asked. "Not even one of those bullshit extracurriculars, like anime or film club?"
I laughed. "No, I just...I don't know, I was never really interested in any of that."
"You should start a club," he said. "Something you're interested in." Miles paused. "What are you interested in? And don't say men."
Miles and his dad both laughed at that, which threw me for a loop. He and his dad could actually joke about those things? "I uh...I don't know."
Miles' face lit up suddenly. "You should start a GSA club!"
"GSA?"
"Yeah, like gay-straight alliance."
"No one at my school would join," I said. "Actually, I don't know if they'd even let me do that."
"You should look into it. It'd look good on your resume. Plus, there definitely are other LGBTQ+ students around here. They're just scared for anyone to know. You could create a safe environment for them."
I nodded slowly, considering the idea. I doubted I could ever make it work, but it was an interesting thought.
Miles's dad left the room to begin cooking dinner. Once again, I was thrown off by the dynamic of the McKenzie household; my mom was always the one who cooked the meals at home.
Miles, ever the gracious host, showed me the guest bathroom and gave a basic rundown of the house and where I could find anything I'd need.
"The bag you brought doesn't look like it has a ton in it, so if you need any clothes or literally anything, just ask me," Miles told me.
"Seriously, thank you." I gave him a sheepish smile. "For everything."
"Pretty crazy that I'm now living with a boy I kissed, like, twice," Miles replied with a laugh.
The bizarreness of the situation did not escape me, either.