Sunday rolled around and I had just gotten into my car when my phone flashed and Ian's name appeared on my screen.

"Hey," I said.

"What should I wear?"

I smiled almost devilishly. "Anything."

"Your parents are rich, I can't just wear anything I want."

"Screw that, wear anything comfortable."

I heard him huff in the background. "I'm going to kill you if anything embarrassing happens."

"I'll be there in ten!" I said cheerfully before hanging up.

A few minutes later, I had my car parked outside and Ian was making his way to the front seat.

He climbed in and gave the inside of my car a quick look over. "Nice car."

"Thanks, I like your outfit," I said, beaming at his torn jeans, graphic tee and combat boots. He even had metallic chains hooked from one hoop on his jeans to the other.

Long story short, he looked like someone my parents would much rather have outside their house than in.

"You did this on purpose," he said, not even bothering to make it sound like he was asking a question.

I tried to suppress a grin and instead put up a fake confused look on my face. "What? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"On a scale of zero to ten, and ten being the worst, how bad are your parents going to freak out?"

"Eleven."

He shook his head at me, a faint smile across his lips. "I don't know why I let you drag me into this."

"Because you know how fun it'll be."

"Are you going to pretend to be my boyfriend?" he teased.

I rolled my eyes, finally driving away from the apartment building. "I think I'll pass this time."

"Good."

"How's Dev?"

"He hasn't talked to you yet?"

I shook my head. "Just a few texts. I'm sure he's busy. Why?"

"He didn't call me last night. Just left me a text."

I spared him a quick glance before turning my attention back to the road. "Are you worried?"

I saw him shrug in the corner of my eye. "Just a little. He was probably busy, like you said."

"Dev tends to live more in the moment than most people. He's just having the most fun he possibly can with all his friends and stuff."

"Yeah, but he didn't even mention his parents."

I frowned, that was weird. "At all?"

"Just on the first night he got back. That barely counts as anything."

Part me felt relieved. That meant things really were turning out for the best on Devin's side of things, but another part of me worried. What was he doing? Surely nothing that important could come in the way of his relationship with Ian. He cherished that more than anything.

"Did you guys get into an argument or something?" I asked.

"No, at least I don't think so," he said before inhaling a long deep breath. "Forget it. I'll call him tonight and things will clear up."

I nodded. "It's almost been a week right?"

He nodded. "It'll be a week in a couple of days."

"Has he talked to you about staying longer?"

"No, but I'm expecting him to stay there a couple of days longer, it's only natural."

"You're right," I agreed.

The car fell into a hush after that.

Although I soon realized that the closer to I drove to my parents' house, the nosier it grew inside my head.

Go to your room, Nate.

You're still a child.

The nanny will take you there.

Why can't you be more like the other children, Nate?

It was the echo of their voices, the sound of their disappointments.

"How much closer are we?"

Ian's voice broke me out of my self pitying stupor, my fingers relaxing against the steering wheel where I had clenched them tight enough to turn my knuckles white.

I cleared my throat before replying.

"Just a few more blocks."

We were starting to approach the higher end of the city, where most of the buildings started to clear away and new, modern looking houses lay in streets facing each other.

"Which one's yours?" he asked.

"It's at the end of the street."

We passed a park and I smiled as I remembered the times I spent there with Devin. The swing set was still there, only repainted a darker shade of red.

"You used to hang out there a lot?" Ian asked.

I nodded. "A long time ago. We used to buy snacks from this small grocery store just a few minutes away and head over to the park when it was dark. Our parents thought we were asleep but by twelve AM sharp, Dev and I would be right by the gate trying to climb over it."

"Sounds like fun."

"It was. We found a hiding spot under the slide, between the slide itself and the ground. It was dark so no one could have seen us anyway. But it was fun pretending to hide from bad guys and stuff. Then we'd eat all the food we bought until our stomachs ached and both of us were too tired to stay there any longer."

It was sunnier than usual in the car. Cold, since it was still winter, but the sun was out. The light bounced back against the windows, producing a supposedly calm environment when all I really felt was panic.

Ian distracted me, his voice diminishing the ones in my head but when he stopped speaking, they came back.

I swallowed hard, reaching out to turn on the radio.

Music started to play and I turned the volume up enough to blur out most of the noise in my head.

I drove the car closer to my prior house, driving up the hill, passing rows upon rows of trees which had lost most, if not all, of their leaves.

"That's your house?" Ian asked, pointing at the big house we were approaching.

"Yeah."

"It's practically a mansion."

It was a big house.

"I wouldn't call it a mansion-"

"It's a freakin' mansion!"

Somehow I found enough energy inside me to let out a laugh. Or a sad attempt of one.

"Are you nervous?"

I glanced at Ian. "A little."

I didn't know how or why I was admitting it to him, but I did, and he only nodded in understanding.

"Do they have a chef or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "A cook."

"Is there a difference?"

I snorted. "Yes."

"Is she any good?"

"What makes you think the cook is a woman?"

"It's not?"

"Nope."

"Oh, is he any good?"

I laughed. "Yeah, he's good. Unless they changed the cook, then I don't know. But when I still lived here, he was the best."

"Good, I only came for the food."

I grinned. "Couldn't have guessed."

"Shut up."

"Your stomach is already making unnatural noises. Maybe you should consider getting it looked at by a doctor."

He started to say something, but we were at the closed gates. The guard stepped towards my car and I had to roll down the windows.

"Name?"

I glanced at the guard's face, not recognizing him.

"Nate."

The guard frowned.

I cleared my throat. "Nathaniel-"

"Oh, you can go in, sorry for taking up your time, Sir." The guard stumbled over his words, his hand reaching up to adjust his cap a number of times.

"No problem," I muttered.

The gate opened and I drove us through the gaping space.

I reached out to open the car door but a man beat me to it.

I had forgotten about the valets.

I stepped outside, the wind instantly blowing fresh air against my skin.

I walked to the other end of the car, where Ian was standing and nodded at him to follow me to the door. We had to climb a set of stone stairs first until we go to the door, where I pressed the button next to the meticulously hand carve door and heard the wringing of the bell echo inside.

"Would you like my help, Sir?" Ian mocked, a smirk on his face.

I scowled. "Shut up."

"Sorry to offend you, Sir."

I was contemplating whether or not I should punch him, but a maid opened the door for us before I came up to a decision.

"Good afternoon, Sir," the maid nodded.

I nodded back, but a knot started to grow in the pit of my stomach and I couldn't manage a smile.

"Oh," the maid squeaked when I stepped through and Ian followed after me.

The shock on her face almost made me laugh. "Tell my mother I brought along a friend. It would be a good idea to set up another plate in the dining room as well."

The maid nodded and scurried away.

Ian whistled, his eyes skimming over the entrance. "Can your parents adopt me?"

"Please, if they were disappointed in me I can't imagine what they would do with you."

Ian laughed. "Most people would be insulted by that, Nate."

"You're not like most people, are you?"

"Are you kidding?"

I smiled, turning away from him to look at the house I grew up in for most of my life.

The spiral staircase stood in the middle of the entrance as it always did. The living room door to our left stood open, and I caught sight of the familiar furniture. In fact, everything looked exactly the same.

"Come on," I said to Ian, and I led him inside the living room.

"Can this place look any better?"

I ignored his question and walked over to one of the leather couches and took a seat.

Ian followed suit after taking a quick look around the room.

The door opened and my mother walked in, a smile painted across her face. "Hello, son."

I stood up and Ian stumbled after me. "Hi."

"Hey," Ian waved lamely.

My mother eyed him wearily, from his combat boots to his leather jacket, spiky hair, and ear piercing.

"Hello, what is your name?" my mother asked.

"Ian," he stretched a hand out and my mother shook it slowly before glancing at me.

"You should have told me in advance that you were bringing a friend along, Nathaniel."

Ian smirked. 'Nathaniel' he mouthed teasingly.

I clenched my hands with aggravation.

I met my mother's glance. "Must have slipped my mind."

Her lips twitched for a moment before settling into a smile once again. "I should go check up on the dining room."

Ian let out a low chuckle as soon as she disappeared down the hall. "Did you see the look on her face? Priceless."

I smiled. "Yeah."

"She's kind of younger than I expected," he mused.

"My parents married young."

"No shit."

I rolled my eyes. "Want to sneak into the kitchen?"

Ian's eyebrows perked up. "Will it get us in trouble?"

I shrugged. "Probably."

"Let's do it."

I smiled wider and we left the living room and I took us both to the other end of the house where the kitchen was. I pushed back the double doors and was met by the cluttering sound of the cook and the other workers working their magic.

"This is the kitchen? It's bigger than the whole of my apartment."

I nodded in understanding before leading us around the numerous tables where the staff were stationed, silently completing their work. A few must have recognized me, because I received a fair number of friendly smiles.

"Man, I'm starving. Shouldn't you be feeding me or something?"

"Lunch isn't ready yet."

"Can't I have a snack?"

I sighed. "If you stop complaining."

"Deal."

I walked across the large kitchen to where I remembered we used to keep all the good food. I opened the small door, found the light switch and turned it on before taking a few more steps inside.

"This is bigger than our bathroom back at the apartment," Ian said.

I rolled my eyes."Pick anything you want."

"Anything is a dangerous word, Nate."

I shook my head at him. "Do you want food or not?"

"Okay, okay," he said and stepped closer to the shelves where he started picking up a few items.

"Don't eat too much. It smells good in here, so lunch is probably great."

Ian nodded. "Don't worry. I'll keep enough space inside."

I rolled my eyes. "Just hurry up before the dragon barges in."

"I hope you are not referring to me, Nathan."

I swiveled around and almost grimaced. "Er, no?"

My mother smiled, "Come on, boys. The table is already arranged and the appetizers are set up."

Ian hurriedly put some of the food back on the shelves, but kept a few and stuffed them in his pockets before munching on a cookie.

I didn't know where he go the cookies from, but it kept him from complaining about his empty stomach. And it stopped him from saying anything stupid, which was even better.

"Is Dad here?" I asked my mother.

"Yes, he's waiting in the dining room. He's excited to see you again."

"Sure he is," I muttered. I wasn't sure she heard me, but either way, she didn't say anything.

We walked out the kitchen, down the hall, passed a few doors, before we stopped outside the dining room.

My father was standing by the window on the other side of the room, a glass of wine in his hand as he stared outside. He turned around suddenly, and placed the cup on a nearby table.

"Come in, son."

I took a few steps forward. My father did the same until he was standing in front of me.

"How are you?" he asked.

I shrugged, tongue-tied.

My father was always a tall man, even for his age. He always wore a grim expression, and as a child my mother told me it was because he always worked so hard.

I looked a lot like him, a spitting image.

I hated it.

"Who's this young man?" he asked, his eyes skimming over Ian.

"Ian."

My father nodded at Ian, who smiled in return. "Let's sit."

We silently took our seats, my parents sat at either end of the large dining table, while Ian and I sat beside each other. I was glad of the arrangement, so I could whisper things to Ian when I needed to, which would have been harder to do if we sat facing each other.

"He's hot," Ian whispered.

I frowned. "Who?"

He smirked. "Who do you think?"

"My dad?" I asked, jaw practically dropping.

He nodded, before turning around like he didn't just say the most revolting thing.

"Nathan," my father said. "Your mother and I wanted to speak to you about something important today."

"Okay," I said.

The food was already set up on the table, but a maid walked over to the table and began holding out plates for us to choose from.

"You must understand that your mother and I married young."

"I know that already," I said.

"We weren't prepared to be parents, Nate."

I clenched my hand. "I wouldn't have guessed myself."

"Nathan!" my mother exclaimed sharply. "Don't speak to your father in that way."

"What? In the same tone he spoke to me my entire life?" I asked.

"Nate!"

"It's okay," my father held a hand out. "He has a point, honey."

"But-"

"I said, it's fine," he said sternly.

My mother glared at me but didn't say anything otherwise.

"As I was saying, we were young. We had our priorities all wrong. We placed our own wants over your own needs and that was wrong of us. We apologize for that."

I frowned, my fingers clenching against the napkin I had over my lap. I peeked a look at Ian, and he mouthed 'awkward' at me which almost made things feel a tiny bit better.

"Maybe you should wait for me outside," I said, directing my statement towards Ian.

He nodded in understanding and left the room despite my mother's protests, shutting the door gently behind him.

I turned back to my parents.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked.

"Nothing," my father said. "We don't expect you to forgive us, Nate, at least not right away. But maybe one day you'll come to accept our apology."

I didn't know what to say. My parents never apologized to me.

I looked at the food in my plate, picked up my fork and began to eat.

"Nate, there's more...," my mother said.

"Honey, maybe it's too soon," my father said gently.

My mother looked down at her own plate and played with a few strands of her hair.

"What is it?" I asked, placing the eating utensils down.

My father shook his head. "You have to forgive us first."

I frowned. "What? What is it?"

I looked between my parents, confused.

"We want to be a proper family again, Nate," my mother said, finally looking up at me.

Her eyes were full of hope, something I wasn't familiar with seeing on her face.

"What?" I blinked.

"Your mother and I wish to start over. Properly. If you would give us a chance, we would like you to move in again. We want to get to know our son."

My heart thudded against my chest as I stared at my father. "W-what?"

His lips twitched a little, and I thought he was going to smile. "Do you think you can forgive us?"

I shook my head, placing a hand against the side of my head, which was pounding painfully. "I don't get it. You never cared. Why now?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't know," I said honestly. "You pushed me away. You deprived me of all the things that made me happy. You left me alone, several times."

"That was a mistake. We want to try again."

"Why now?" I asked again.

"Your mother-"

"I'm pregnant," she said.

My head felt light as I clenched at the napkin again. "You can't."

Hi!

Okay so I'm getting close to my favorite part of this story and I'm SO EXCITED!

Question: who would you cast as Nate?

Thanks for reading :)