Page 95 of Time to Shine

Mike and Joanna both looked excited about this, but Joanna said, “We don’t want to be in the way.”

“Of course you’re not in the way,” Casey said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you. It’s going to be a fun week.”

“Totally,” Landon agreed, a bit cautiously. “It’ll be great.”

“Well, first we need to get our bags,” Joanna said. “I may have overpacked.”

His parents started walking toward baggage claim, and Casey lagged behind with Landon. “They seem happy to see you.”

“I know. It’s not that we don’t get along or anything like that. It’s just... I don’t know. Something we need to figure out, I guess. Too many years of avoiding saying things that need to be said.”

Casey touched his fingertips to Landon’s elbow, just for a second. “You gonna say them this week, do you think?”

Landon nodded, once. “I need to.”

Chapter Thirty

Landon woke alone the next morning in the guest room down the hall from Casey’s room. He’d set an alarm, knowing his parents would be up early because they were on Nova Scotia time. When he walked downstairs in his trackpants and Calgary Outlaws hoodie, his parents were already in the kitchen. Mom was cooking, and Dad was closely inspecting the coffee maker. Landon’s heart lurched because it had been so long since he had woken up to a morning like this: his parents awake before him, in the kitchen together as they prepared for their separate days. Even in someone else’s house it was painfully nostalgic, and god, he’d missed them.

“Good morning,” Landon said.

Mom turned away from the stove to smile at him. “I’m making oatmeal. This kitchen is something else!”

“Unreal,” Landon agreed. He nodded at Dad. “Need help?”

“What kind of degree do you need to work this thing?”

“It’s easier than it looks. Here.” Landon hit the correct buttons in the correct order, and the machine came to life. “Now we just wait.”

“The world is passing us by, Jo,” Mike joked. “We’re too old to make a cup of coffee in these modern times.”

“Speak for yourself. I got this stove working just fine.”

Landon smiled. It was nice to hear them joking around. His family had always liked to tease each other, before. Erin had been especially talented at lovingly roasting them all.

“Is Casey still in bed?” Mom asked.

“Probably. I don’t know. I wasn’t in his room. I have my own room.” Wow. Okay. Landon needed to shut up.

Mom stared at him in the same confused, slightly amused way he knew he did to others. Dad laughed and said, “I think every speck of dust gets its own room in this house.”

“Yeah,” Landon said. He rubbed the back of his own neck. “Anyway. He’ll be up soon because we’ve got practice in an hour.”

“Does he like oatmeal?”

“Yeah. With lots of brown sugar, though. Like, a lot.”

“So you have something in common, then.”

More than you’d think, he wanted to say. Instead, he grabbed a banana off the counter and peeled it. He ate it in three bites, then grabbed another. He honestly had no idea how or if he was going to tell his parents about Casey. Or what exactly there was to tell. Would he say, “Hey guys, Casey and I have been making out and stuff, but that’ll probably stop soon because I am heading back to Saskatoon any day now”? Or maybe, “You know what’s stupid? I fell in love with my roommate and I think it’s going to kill me when I have to leave”?

If what he and Casey had seemed like something that could last, it might be worth telling his parents about it. As it was, it didn’t seem worth the risk of potentially making this Christmas visit weird. Landon didn’t think his parents were homophobic, but it would still be a lot of big revelations at once, and it was likely the case that none of those revelations was important anyway: Casey and Landon would most likely go their separate ways after Landon was sent back down, and as for Landon’s sexuality, he still wasn’t sure what he even was. He wasn’t even sure he cared.

Just as Landon was finishing his second banana and had decided to go the rest of the week without mentioning anything about Casey and him to his parents, Casey came downstairs and scrambled Landon’s brain.

He didn’t even look any different from usual—athletic clothes, hair in a messy bun, sleepy eyes and a friendly smile—but Landon wanted to grab him, hold him, kiss him in front of the whole world.

“Morning,” Casey said, then yawned. “Is that oatmeal?”

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