Paparino's Piccolo Gattino

When Thanksgiving finally rolled around, Ash was happier than he ever remembered being after his father’s untimely demise. Adelaide had finally been convicted of all the charges she’d had filed against her and was serving several consecutive life sentences as a result. In fact, she was so violent, both in prison and in the courtroom, particularly when he had to testify against her, that she was in a maximum security prison in Raleigh until she drew her dying breath.

To top that off, he and Andy were officially in a relationship together, which hadn’t happened for another couple weeks after the night he took him out to dinner. The only ones who knew about their relationship were Jake, Jinxx, and CC, considering that no one else could know. Even though he was emancipated and it was perfectly legal for them to date, the school board would frown upon their relationship for two reasons: one, because they were gay and living in the heart of the Bible Belt, and two, because it would still be considered a teacher-student relationship on Orange High’s campus.

Even though they had to hide their relationship while on campus, which meant that Andy treated him no differently during school hours than he would other students, he was perfectly content. Once he graduated the following summer, it wouldn’t matter if they flaunted their relationship on campus; he wouldn’t be a student there any longer, and therefore the administration could do nothing to either of them.

“Nervous about getting to meet my parents?” the older man chuckled as he packed for their Thanksgiving trip to Ohio.

Since his mother’d poisoned their minds with her own prejudices, his own family hated him, and he refused to go anywhere near where he wasn’t wanted, even for a holiday normally spent with one’s family, so it was either go with his lover, or stay in North Carolina by himself. Considering that he loved Andy with every fiber of his being and didn’t really feel safe without him, he’d decided to go with him.

“Yeah, I am,” Ash answered nervously. “Despite what you say, I can’t help but worry that they won’t like me.”

“Mom and Dad already love you, and they haven’t even met you yet,” Andy laughed. “They’ve always been sweet-natured like that, and I doubt it’s gonna change anytime soon.”

“Still, after having my own family poisoned against me by my own mother…” he trailed off as he zipped his suitcase up.

“True enough. I guess I can understand why you’re still worried,” his lover agreed, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind.

“I mean, your folks sound nice enough, but appearances can be deceiving,” the teen sighed.

He relaxed back into the older man’s grip, knowing that he’d rather kill himself or die for him than hurt him after all he’d been through. In fact, that’s why, even though he called him his lover, Andy wasn’t really his lover in truth. Sure, they’d been dating for a couple months now, but he hadn’t felt ready to take that step in their relationship, and thankfully he hadn’t pushed him.

It was pretty obvious that he wanted to take the next step in their relationship by taking their intimacy to a whole new level, but he was showing and exercising the patience of a saint by not pressuring him. Ash knew he wanted to show him just how good sex could feel in the hands of a trusted partner, had even walked in on him jacking off when his own urges became too much to handle, but he still hadn’t felt ready. He felt kind of bad that he was making him wait, but then again, it might make their bond that much stronger because he’d had to wait before getting something so precious from him.

Now that they were fully packed, they started taking their suitcases out to the teen’s car, which they’d be taking to the airport since riding Andy’s bike just wouldn’t be feasible. They had enough to last them a few days, considering that they couldn’t stay much longer than that because of school, but that was fine by them. They’d get to go back for at least a couple weeks the following month during Christmas break, if all went well this time, which they could only hope and pray for.

After getting to RDU and parking the car in a lot meant for vehicles that were going to be there for a while, the older man helped him get their luggage before taking his hand and leading him into the airport. They got some odd and even disgusted looks once people figured out that Ash was a guy, but they brushed them off and got through security unscathed. Once getting through that and letting their luggage be taken away to be put on the plane, they waited patiently until their flight’s boarding call came, then headed to the plane. Having been on a plane once in his entire life, the teen was a bit nervous, but Andy managed to calm him down relatively quickly. He was grateful that he was by his side and hoped things in Ohio went well for them.

* * *

“Andy!”

The guys had just disembarked from their freshly-landed flight at Lost Bridge Airport not far from two small towns, Hooven and Cleves, near the Ohio-Indiana and Ohio-Kentucky state lines. They’d just walked through the doors of the airport and hadn’t even had a chance to head over to baggage claim for their luggage before a fairly petite woman with blonde hair and blue eyes had launched herself at the older man, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Judging by their joyful laughter, Ash could only assume that this was his lover’s mother, and that the man following her at a more leisurely pace was his father.

“Oh, my God! I’ve missed you so much!” she cried, laughing when he picked her up and spun her around.

“I’ve missed you, too, Mom,” Andy answered as he set her back on her feet. “Hey, Dad!”

“Your flight go all right, son?” the man asked, wrapping his arm around the woman’s shoulders in a loving gesture.

“Other than a bit of turbulence that scared the crap out of Ash about halfway here,” he chuckled, wrapping his own arm around him. “Speaking of which, this is my boyfriend, Ashley. Ash, these are my parents, Amy and Chris.”

Feeling shy like he always did around new people, Ash waved at them, but ducked his head to hide his face behind his hair.

“Don’t worry about him; he’s always a little shy till he gets to know someone,” his lover told them.

“Well, it’s still good to meet you, Ashley,” Chris said, using the same tone he’d used to comfort his own son when he’d wake up from a nightmare as a child.

The teen barely glanced up to grace him with a nervous smile before ducking his head again.

“Let’s get over to baggage claim for your stuff before it disappears into a black hole,” Amy said, leading the way over to baggage claim.

The three men fell into step behind her, Ash having the easiest time doing so since he was the shortest besides her. Having gotten a good look at his parents, he could definitely see where his lover got his genetics from. He was almost the spitting image of his mother when it came to his looks, though he now assumed he dyed his hair since neither of his parents had raven hair like he did, but he got his height from his dad.

Like Andy, Chris was a tall fucker that most had to look up at to see his face, and his voice was almost as deep as his son’s. He assumed that the middle-aged man didn’t smoke, and since his lover did, he figured that could explain why his was slightly deeper. He allowed himself to become lost in his thoughts as he observed the trio he was with, not really paying attention to the conversation they were having since it was basically small talk while they were in public.

After collecting their luggage, they headed out to Chris’ and Amy’s car, the former and his son taking the front seat because of their long legs. Amy sat in the back with Ash, who had to curl his legs up a little closer to himself than his lover’s mother did, but otherwise, he was perfectly comfortable. It was better than if all four of them had been crammed into his car, as the Mustang wasn’t exactly roomy enough for two long-legged fuckers like Chris and Andy. The middle-aged woman tried engaging him in their conversation, but he refused to speak around them just yet, his selective mutism kicking in a bit. Sensing what was wrong, Andy spun in his seat enough to grab his hand, which he rubbed gently with his thumb.

“I’m glad you followed my advice, son,” his mother chuckled softly. “You two are incredibly cute together.”

“Thanks, Mom. Both for the advice, and the compliment,” the older man said, grinning.

“So is he mute, or what?” Chris asked curiously, glancing at him in the rearview mirror before turning his attention back to the road ahead.

“Oh, no, he can talk,” Andy assured them. “He’s what you could call a selective mute. He doesn’t normally talk until he’s comfortable around someone.”

“Well, hopefully he’ll find his comfort zone around us soon,” Amy said.

“It might take a while. I think the only reason he spoke to me on the first day of school, especially after I startled him with the depth of my voice, was because he felt like he had to because I was a teacher,” his lover chuckled.

He shook his head furiously at such an assumption, knowing that it wasn’t true.

“What? That’s not why you actually spoke to me on the first day of school?” he asked, knitting his brows in confusion.

Again, Ash shook his head, trying to convey his thoughts with his eyes.

“Then what was your reason?” the older man asked, the endeavor failing.

“Because you made me feel safe,” he answered quietly, barely loud enough to be heard.

“I made you feel safe, even then?” Andy asked, a bit shocked.

Still feeling too shy to speak, the teen merely nodded and squeezed his lover’s hand, where the entwined appendages rested on his knee.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart; you don’t have to talk any more than you want to,” he assured him.

“That’s right, Ashley,” Amy agreed. “Believe it or not, Andy used to be just as shy as you; he wouldn’t speak to someone he didn’t know to save his life until he was comfortable around them.”

“Mom!” Andy all but whined, sounding like a child again. This drew a chuckle from the teen as his eyes lit up with laughter.

“You know it’s true,” his mother responded, a smile stretching her lips.

“That doesn’t mean I want Ash knowing that,” he grumbled.

“Like he doesn’t know nearly everything else about you,” Chris laughed.

“Don’t…start,” his lover warned through gritted teeth.

“Okay, okay,” his father conceded, unwilling to start a fight during a time that was supposed to be filled with happiness.

The rest of the ride to the Biersacks’ home was spent making small talk, and Ash found himself growing more and more comfortable with his lover’s parents. He’d add a few short sentences here and there, but wouldn’t really join the conversation more than that, but at least he was making a bit of progress. Amy warned them that his cousin Joe was going to be there and that Andy might get a bit wild because they’d always been that way growing up, but told him not to worry.

A bit disturbed that his lover could show a wild side, he decided to stick close to Chris and Amy once they got to their house, knowing they’d protect him while their son was horsing around. Besides, if need be, the middle-aged man would just break them up as he’d done in their youth while his wife kept the shy, previously abused teen out of harm’s way.

Having never really had such a loving family unit before, the teen was grateful that they were already treating him as a part of their family, despite having just met him no more than forty-five minutes ago. Andy grinned at him and mouthed “I told you they loved you”, which caused his cheeks to turn a bit pink. His lover then squeezed his hand and warned him that he was going to get glomped as soon as he got out of the car and to stay back if he didn’t want to get hurt. Ash quickly nodded as Chris pulled into what he assumed was their driveway and realized that the party was about to begin, in a figurative sense.

Notes