Page 84 of Fast Break
“Mum, Dad, this is Gran and Amy,” I begin, making awkward introductions with my hands. “And Quinn. This is Quinn.” My voice is raspy, like I’ve swallowed gravel, and I feel Quinn’s worried eyes on me, like he doesn’t know how I’m going to react. Well, that makes two of us. I don’t know how I’m going to react either.
Amy is the first to recover. “Well hello,” she says easily, pretending she doesn’t know how really bloody awkward this encounter is. “It’s lovely to meet JT’s parents.”
Dad clears his throat, ingrained manners forcing him to respond. “You too,” he says in a formal tone. “Ah, this is Penelope. And I’m David,” he adds right before he shocks the hell out of me when he holds his hand out to my boyfriend. “Quinn?” he asks.
Quinn is slow to react but quickly shakes my dad’s hand, his nerves evident only to me. “Nice to meet you, sir,” he says in a quiet voice.
My heart is pounding in my ears, sweat pooling down my back as Quinn glances my way and I don’t know where to look or what to do. Gran comes to the rescue once again with her sweet innocence and I want to hug the old lady.
“Will you boys help me to the car?” she asks, eyes on me and Quinn. “I have trouble standing for too long these days. It was very nice to meet you, David and Penelope. JT is such a lovely boy. You’ve done very well.”
I am finding it hard to breathe but Gran wheels towards us and we both move into gear, helping her wheel down the footpath to Quinn’s car—which I hadn’t even realised we were standing in front of the whole time. We both help Gran into the front seat and I’m aware of Amy still talking quietly with my parents, but I don’t have enough energy to spare for that.
Once Gran is safely deposited in the front seat, Quinn and I wheel her mobility aid to the back of the car. Quinn pops the boot which conceals us from our parents for the moment and I let out a deep breath.
“You okay?” Quinn asks, using the cover of the car to brush his thumb over my hand.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “That was … unexpected.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
I can feel his eyes on me, but I am spiralling a little bit here. “I better go,” I finally say.
“Come over later?” Quinn asks.
“Yeah,” I nod. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. Call me if you need me,” he adds as we step apart and Quinn closes the boot. I find my parents watching us, Mum’s eyes on Quinn, but I can’t do much about that other than lean into the front seat to give Gran a goodbye hug.
I step back up to the footpath where Amy gives me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before she is walking to the car. Quinn holds my eye before he slides into the front seat and next minute the three people I love like my own family drive away.
My parents say nothing, and I don’t know if that is worse than saying something, anything really. We make it to Dad’s car and the silence continues all the way home which is when I decide that silence is definitely worse.
They both seem to be in a state of shock, almost like seeing the Dayton’s today has made them suddenly real. Like maybe before, Quinn was just this imaginary villainous caricature they’d conjured up in their minds who corrupted their son. But now they’ve seen him—my beautiful, kind, oh-so handsome Quinn—and they’ve seen his mum and his sweet, lovely grandma, and they probably can’t reconcile the two in their minds.
I pace my bedroom for exactly five minutes before I grab the keys to my Valiant and hit the road. Amy answers the door and pulls me into a hug as I step inside.
“Oh, darling,” she says. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” I assure her. I glance up to see Quinn coming into view and I beeline for him, stepping straight into his open arms as he holds me close. He presses a kiss to the top of my head and suddenly everything feels okay again.
“What happened with your parents?” he asks.
“Nothing,” I tell him, not letting go of him yet. I just need a little bit longer in his arms. “They literally have not said a word to me since we saw you.”
“Is that weird?” Quinn asks.
“It was definitely weird while I was living it.”
I let out a deep sigh and tighten my grip, needing my boyfriend’s arms around me after the strangest encounter of my life. He knows exactly what I need too, rocking me softly as he peppers my head with kisses.
“What did you talk about with my parents?” I ask Amy as she sits back down at the dining table with her cup of tea.
“Well, we made small talk about the soup kitchen, and I asked your dad about the ministry,” she explains. “And then I bit the bullet and said how important you were to my son and that it would be nice to get to know them better.”
“You did?”
“Yes,” she smiles. “I even invited them around for a lunch sometime.”
