“Why are you here? Are you in trouble again?”
Dex raised his hands with a wide smile. “Oh, no! There’s no trouble. We just came for a little visit."
Peter’s attention focused on him, and a little groove appeared between his brows, like it sometimes did on Hammer’s face. “And you are…?”
Hammer stepped in before Dex could have spoken. “My partner, Dex,” he said, and his arm rested on Dex’s shoulders, causing fires all over them.
Dex bit his lip, worried it might be rude to grin too widely.Yes. He was in. Hammer was so serious about him he even told his parents right off the bat. Frank had no idea what he was talking about when he claimed Dex was an experiment!
Dex felt as if he might turn into a puddle of goo and melt into the doormat, but he kept himself upright somehow. He wouldnotfuck up this evening, and do everything in his power to prove himself worthy of being a goodpartner. He’d charm Hammer’s family and forever endear himself to his beloved beast of a man.
Hammer’s parents were like two flamingos dropped in the middle of Alaska in winter, gawking at him as if they had no programming to deal with this unexpected situation. Hammer’s mom snapped out of her stupor first and offered Dex her hand. “Cynthia.” Her husband followed suit, introducing himself, but it did not escape Dex’s attention that neither of them had yet touched their own son, as if there was an invisible barrier separating them from each other.
Hammer’s arm was stiff against Dex, but his voice sounded normal when he spoke. “I’m sorry for barging in like this. I know you find uninvited visitors rude, but it’s been so long since we last saw each other, and being in the neighborhood, I thought… it would be worth a shot. I didn’t have your new phone numbers to call and ask.”
Dex’s body buzzed, in need of bouncing in place. Hammer had already been surprisingly affectionate in public back at the diner, but being touched in front of his parents was a level up for their budding relationship.
Peter cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “If this is about you needing legal advice—”
Dex shook his head. “No, no! Ham—Florian was just very eager to show me where he grew up and we thought it would be great to get in touch. He’s changed so much about his life.” Well, Dex didn’t know much about that, but from what Hammer had told him, he’d definitely found his place in the world since leaving family behind and wasn’t as volatile as he’d been as a teen.
Cynthia glanced back into the house, flustered. “Well, it’s nothing all that special…”
Dex laughed, once more taking in the facade of the grand mansion. “What? The house is amazing! If I grew up in a historical building like this, I’d feel like a prince. Though to be fair, I’d probably be afraid of ghosts. If the place is really old, it’s bound to have them, since people would have died here throughout the ages.”
Cynthia stilled, with air in her chest. “Um… no, the house was built in the 1990s. It’s just in a period style,” she said and looked above Dex’s head, at her son.
“It’s good to see you both,” Hammer said and stepped forward, coming close enough for her to touch him. The topic of the house was over the moment she placed her hands on his shoulders and took him in.
“Yes… it’s good to see you too. You’ve certainly changed… visually.”
“Let’s hope in other ways too,” Peter said with a sparse smile and gave Hammer a pat on the shoulder.
“And… Are you saying you’re gay? Excuse me,” Cynthia said and moved back inside, gesturing to invite them. “Come in for dinner.”
“Bisexual,” Hammer said and grabbed Dex’s hand like a real boyfriend, before leading him into a tall entrance hall with a copper chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a massive bouquet of fresh flowers aromatizing the air from an antique sideboard close to a hotel-sized staircase.
Peter opened a large wooden wardrobe filled with all manner of outerwear. “Your coats?”
Hammer reached for a hanger and placed his leather jacket inside, remaining in a black hoodie and the leather vest with club patches. His parents stilled, but Dex only noticed the uncomfortable silence once he hung up his own jacket.
Peter frowned and gestured at the leather cut. “Isthis... a hobby of yours, or—”
“Work. And lifestyle,” Hammer said.
“And I’m joining the club too, so we’ll be working together,” Dex added, glancing at the long row of coats, only to spot some that were child-sized. He drifted to them with a smile. “You kept Florian’s old jackets?”
Cynthia hummed. “No, they’re… They’re your brother’s.” She wouldn’t look at Hammer, making Dex worry that he’d said the wrong thing and made her upset.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry. Has he passed?”
“Mybrother?” Hammer asked, yet more stiffly, and Cynthia rubbed her hands while staring at the floor.
“Well, he was born after you left. We didn’t seek you out, since you clearly didn’t want to be found.”
“Did you go because you thought we wouldn’t accept you—” Peter exhaled and gestured between Hammer and Dex, but Hammer shook his head.
“No.”