“Hi” Justin said, smiling from ear to ear as he opened the door for Josh. He’d dismissed the butler when he went to open the door with a quick, “I’ll get it” before he scurried to the front door knowing Josh would be on the other side of it.

“Hi” Josh said sheepishly, feeling extremely nervous about officially meeting Justin’s parents.

“You look amazing” Justin complimented his lover as he pulled him inside while looking him up and down. Josh was wearing his best suit and he looked fantastic in it; Justin had never seen anyone look better in a suit and he stared openly at the beauty that was his boyfriend.

“Thank you” Josh blushed, he was never good with compliments. Justin smiled at him.

“You ok?” he asked instantly seeing the worry on his lover’s face.

“Yes,” Josh smiled weakly, “Just nervous”

“Don’t be, I’m here with you” Justin reassured him grasping Josh’s hands giving them a squeeze while gazing into those beautiful pools of blue eyes that were filled with love for him. Footsteps echoed through the house breaking the spell between the two boys in the hallway. Justin jumped slightly and immediately released Josh’s hands before spinning towards his approaching parents.

“Mom, dad, this is Joshua Chasez he’s a friend of mine” Justin introduced his parents to his lover. Justin had wanted his parents to get to know Josh because they were talking badly about him without even meeting him. Justin told his parents that he should at least get a chance. Eventually Howard had told his son to invite Josh to diner and it took a lot of persuading on Justin’s part to get Josh to come. He already knew that Justin’s parents didn’t think that highly of him and a diner wouldn’t change that, would maybe even make it worse. The first bad thing was getting introduced as his friend, just his friend. Josh knew Justin would introduce him as his friend and although he knew that was not all that they were he still wished they could tell them the truth.

Howard stepped forward, extending his hand for Josh to take,

“Nice to meet you Joshua”

“Nice to meet you to sir” Josh said politely while shaking the man’s hand. The woman placed her hand in his as if he was not worth using the energy to hold his hand properly, it lay limp in his and he had the strange feeling she expected him to kiss her hand like in the old days. Josh simply shook it, repeating his phrase he’d just used on her husband before letting go. She watched him in a cocky way as if she was looking down on him and she probably was but then Justin was next to him again.

“Let’s go to the living room” Justin suggested and waited till his parents nodded and went ahead. He swiftly turned to Josh making eye contact.

“Don’t worry about them,” he told him firmly. “I love you” he added softly still looking him in the eye, making sure Josh got the message not only from his words but more importantly through his eyes because they spoke volume, the love radiating off of him.

Josh nodded with a weak smile, he felt so out of place, he didn’t belong here and Justin’s parents would be the first ones to agree with that but he wasn’t here for them; he was here for Justin.

“Come on” Justin urged his lover seeing that he got the message, pulling him with him into the living room where they settled on the couch together. Josh folded his hands in his lap and so did Justin. They made sure there was some space between them to not look suspicious or more than just friends. Howard and Patricia shared a look before looking at the pair on the couch.

“Would you like anything to drink Joshua?” Howard asked politely as he waved the butler over. Josh stared at the butler.

“Um…” he stammered, not knowing what he meant exactly.

“An aperitif; cocktail or a martini maybe?”

“Oh!” he said somewhat surprised, “A cocktail is fine thank you” he said somewhat uncertain although he’d tried to pretend he knew what he was talking about. Josh didn’t like liquor, never had, he didn’t like the taste of it but he didn’t want to decline so he told him a cocktail. He didn’t know what that contained but at least it wouldn’t be as strong as a martini; he hoped.

“Three cocktails, Peter” Howard ordered as if he were in a restaurant and Josh tried not to look shocked but knowing he was failing. Justin sighed inaudible knowing he wasn’t included in the cocktail drinks, he was underage and it wasn’t appropriate for him to drink or so his father said. The room was silent for a while, Josh and Justin shared a few looks and so did Howard and Patricia.

A few minutes later Peter came back with the drinks, the cocktails looked nice and Justin saw the glass of mineral water that was probably for him. He smiled at Peter as he set the drink in front of him, glad he wouldn’t have to stare at his hands and think about how young he really was while the other three drank their cocktails. Josh followed Howard as he took a sip of his cocktail and he almost choked in it. He somehow managed to swallow it and gave Howard a weak smile as he hid a cough. Justin smiled a little knowing Josh didn’t like the liquor while Josh just thought about the fact that he would have rather joined Justin in the mineral water he had in front of him. It was silent for a while as they drank their cocktail and took in the young boy that had befriended their son. Josh shifting now and then as he caught the glares from Justin’s parents.

“Well,” Howard started, “Let’s go sit at the table shall we?”

Josh nodded in agreement before getting up, grateful he didn’t have to sit there any longer and let them look at him which made him feel like he wasn’t good enough for them, for their son. However he had a feeling that silence was best with these people as words only made him feel worse. They all took a seat at the table; Justin sitting opposite of him while Howard and Patricia sat on both sides.

“So what do you do for a living Joshua?” Patricia Timberlake asked with mock interest once they were settled and the first plate was set in front of them. Josh scraped his throat nervously putting down his fork carefully before looking her in the eye.

“I... um I work at a deli in the mall and I’m a waiter in a nightclub downtown, ma’am” he told her politely twisting his hands in his lap nervously.

“Ah” Patricia acknowledged with the world’s fakest smile you could ever see. Josh smiled back to the best of his ability before quickly meeting Justin’s loving eyes, silently reassuring him with the bright smile that was meant only for him.

“How do you combine that with you studies?” Howard asked, always a sucker for education. Josh shifted his gaze to the man on his right.

“Uh, I um I don’t”

“What do you mean?” Howard asked confused, bringing his fork to his mouth before putting it in his mouth. He chewed his food as he gazed at the young man next to him.

“I don’t go to college at the moment” Josh admitted, trying not to feel bad about that. These people didn’t know the real reason behind him not going to college. It wasn’t really any of their business either and he wasn’t keen on telling them. He didn’t really tell people about his personal stuff anymore, he wasn’t as naďve as he had been a while back. He knew now how easily something like that could be used against you.

“Ah I see” Patricia said degrading. Josh uncomfortably shifted in his seat, his eyes dropped to his hands in his lap and he jumped slightly when he felt something brush against his leg. Josh looked up and met Justin’s sweet smile dead on, he even managed a small smile himself ignoring the two adults on either side of them.

“How did you meet Justin?” Howard asked, “Since you’re not in the same school and all” he added, another degrading remark but it was subtle and Josh pretended not to hear it.

“I told you father, we met through Joey” Justin cut in, not sure if he’d informed Josh of his lie about how they’d met. Josh shot Justin a glance, catching onto the lie; Josh nodded in agreement, backing his lover up.

“How did you meet Joey, Josh?” Howard asked before he scooped another fork full of food into his mouth.

“Well uh sir, we grew up only a couple of blocks from each other”

“Ah” Howard said again a degrading tone in his voice.

“On the east side of New York?” Howard asked knowingly.

“Well yes sir” Josh answered, noticing how Howard had said the east side. The east side was probably a bad neighborhood in their eyes but he’d had a good childhood there. His family hadn’t been as fortunate as Justin’s but they didn’t have anything to complain about. They’d had a roof over their head and food in their stomachs and love for one another, something that Howard could learn something from because this man may have everything but love was not one of them.

“And you liked it there?” Howard asked, looking at him over the brim of his glasses, the cockiness back in full force. The thought of his childhood and the love he’d received gave him courage to answer the man’s question and not feel bad about it.

“Well yes sir I did” he told him confidently, staring straight at him. Justin suppressed a smile as he cheered on the inside for Josh. He’d been sitting by watching how his own parents degrade his boyfriend and yes he wanted to stick up for him but he knew his father wouldn’t appreciate that so he’d offered Josh silent comfort. It seemed to have helped when Josh’s comeback put his father in place and Justin couldn’t help but smile. He quickly took a sip of his water as he saw his mother watching him out of the corner of her eye in disapproval, no she was definitely not happy but who cared about her anyway? They didn’t care about how they made Josh feel either just because he has less money than they do. Justin thought it served his father right but from now smiled on the inside letting Josh see that by the sparkle in his eyes.

The rest of diner was spent with small talk, they asked Josh simple questions and he gave simple answers with Justin adding stuff here and there. The evening was soon over and although the degrading comments had been less after his comeback they were still there and Justin hoped Josh would be ok.

When he walked Josh to the door with his parents following closely behind Justin desperately wanted to kiss Josh and reassure him that he loved him and that he shouldn’t worry about his parents. A quick hug that had to pass off as one among friends was the closest they would get to an actual kiss but it reassured Josh at least somewhat. Justin pulled back, nonchalantly brushing their hands together purposefully on accident. Josh shook Howard and Patricia’s hand with a little more confidence than he’d had when he came in a few hours ago then turned and walked out through the doorway. Justin stared after him he’d wanted to kiss Josh but with his parents right behind him there was no way in hell that he would be able to do that. Josh was a little hurt but understood perfectly that it wasn’t possible and left with a wave of his hand, a secret smile for Justin before he got in the car Howard had offered after he’d learned Josh didn’t have a car. Josh had told him it was fine; he would walk back he didn’t mind but Howard had insisted and so he eventually accepted. Justin watched as the car drove off, staring after it till he was out of sight.

He sighed before closing the door, closing off the night that had been different that he’d wanted although he knew it would go like this he wished he could have done more for Josh but with parents like this that just was wishful thinking.