I turned my head away from him to avoid his gaze. While we waited, AJ poured my drink and sat the pitcher back on the table. He smiled at me reassuringly as he brushed a stray hair from my cheek and then laid his arm across the back of my chair. His father sighed aloud in frustration watching us interact with one another. AJ lifted his head and glowered at Mr. Hahn in anger. The tension was thick and heavy there in the dining room.
We mostly ate in silence. Poor Mrs. Hahn tried desperately to keep up the entire conversation by herself, but she too gave up halfway through the meal. I helped her clear the table and load the dishes into the dishwasher while AJ and his father conversed in the living room. I would have given my right eye to be a fly on the wall and hear what was being said. After we put the leftovers away, she and I joined the men. When we entered, AJ stood silently with his arms crossed as he stared out the large picture window beside the couch. Mr. Hahn sat in a chair stiffly and silently. His face was pale and lifeless. His expression made me wonder what transpired in my absence. When he heard my footsteps his eyes turned quickly to me. I didn’t understand why his mood shifted. He’d already been unwelcoming toward me tonight, but now he looked angry enough to commit a homicide – and I’d be his victim of choice.
He watched me as I crossed the room and stood beside AJ. When AJ felt my hands wrap around his bicep, he turned to face me and I could see that he was troubled, but I had no idea why. The sound of Mr. Hahn’s shoes scuffling across the marble tiles caught my attention in time to see him leaving the room hurriedly with his wife trailing closely behind him.
“We should probably go before he tells my mom,” AJ stated flatly.
I was puzzled. “Before he tells your mom what?” I asked.
“He was saying some really terrible things about you and I blurted it out just to shut him up.” His nostrils flared angrily as he recalled the memory.
I still didn’t understand. “What did you tell him?”
“That I’m going to Charleston to be with you.”
My mouth gaped open. I suddenly felt the same sense of urgency as AJ and moved quickly to the coat closet. We walked swiftly to the car and I couldn’t help but to frequently check over my shoulder as we drove at top speed down the driveway. He clutched my hand in his as we barreled toward my house. The snow covered trees were a blur as we sped past. I was still in shock that anything this entire night had even happened. We hadn’t really discussed how we’d go about telling our parents, but I know that this wasn’t the way either of us envisioned it. There were certainly going to be repercussions for AJ, but I couldn’t even guess what they would be. He didn’t seem to care and I let that comfort me for the time being.
Any thoughts that I’d had in the past about our relationship being imbalanced faded away that night. He put himself out there on the line just as I had. It couldn’t have been an easy thing for him to stand up to his father to defend me, but he did it without any second thoughts.
We pulled up to my house and sat there in the car. I was hit with the realization that we had no place to go where our love for one another would be accepted. At school we endured constant ridicule. I wasn’t welcome in his home and he wasn’t welcome in mine. It was almost like the very forces that flung us in one another’s path was working equally as hard to pull us apart. Worry set in at the thought of him leaving me because the odds seemed to be against us. It’s easy to love through the thin, but the true test is making it through the thick. I tightened my grip on his hand as we sat there in the loudest silence I’ve ever heard in my life. It crossed my mind that his thoughts may have been aligned with mine.
“I meant it,” he said softly enough that I barely heard him speak at all.
“Meant what?” I asked quietly.”