American Differences

American Differences 26

**Disclaimer:

All other content or otherwise are works of my own imagination. All events are fictitious in nature.

****Any similarities to persons living, dead, or otherwise are purely coincidental.

This story contains strong themes of homosexual content, if this offends you in any way, please refrain from reading further. If you are not of legal age to read this, please leave now.

****_**A/N: I'd like to thank TalonRider for editing this chapter. His unparalleled excellence and tireless effort applied to my work is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I'd also like to thank the brilliant Librent and kayden for beta-reading this chapter. Thanks!_

American Differences
-By Emulated

Chapter 26: Li

She knew. There was no way that she didn’t. She’d pieced everything together and figured us out. That note, that bloody note! When will I stop fucking things up, when will I…Li looked down at the piece of paper again. Her eyes scanned over the pencilled outline of a heart. Her frown deepened as she opened her mouth, her head shaking in confusion,

“B…But this was yours…” She stammered, her eyes on Jamie.

Bile entered my mouth. I swallowed, “Li…”

“No, I saw you put this in his locker…” She shook her head again, “I’m sure…”

“Li…” I began again, only for my mind to draw another blank. What the hell was I supposed to say to her?

The bell rang out in the hall, causing everyone in the class to hurriedly pack their things away, Li included. It wasn’t over. I couldn’t let her get away without knowing exactly how and what she felt. I couldn’t risk her suddenly running her mouth. My stomach lurched again.

“Relax, we’ll speak to her outside class. She probably doesn’t know.” Came Jamie’s voice, trying to reassure me. I wanted to laugh.‘Of course she bloody knows!’ I thought to myself as I watched her step away from the table. She crumpled up the note, threw it in the bin, and hovered there for a moment. I wanted to say something else, to better understand how she felt. She headed back over, eyes on the floor as she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of class. Sarah, who had been with the teacher while this was going on, called after her, but to no effect.

Sarah walked up to us, “Did something happen?” She asked, looking at me.

“Uh…” I began.

Jamie shrugged, “We don’t know. She just walked out.” He replied.

Sarah frowned, before she walked quickly over to the door and stepped out, looking for Li.

Jamie tugged on my arm, “We got to go find her too.”

I nodded, slinging my bag over my shoulder and following him out. With the school day officially over, the corridors were packed with kids trying to get from one place to another. I glanced from side to side, not being able to pick out either Sarah or Li from the crowd. I stepped to the side and followed Jamie as we squeezed through, heading away from the doors.

“Why would she be back in the school?” I asked, looking at Jamie, “She’s probably outside now, on her way home where she-“

He held up a hand, “Matt, relax. Please.” He said sternly, not in an aggressive way, but it was clear that he was trying to think things through. He glanced around, noting the few students that were there, with most behind us, “She only saw the note. It could mean anything to her.”

“I think she has a good idea what it means. Shit, Jamie, are we really that obvious?” I asked, lowering my voice.

“You’ve asked me that before.” He pointed out, as we neared our form.

“Well, are we?”

He peered inside the empty room, “I don’t think so.” He turned to me, “Do you have her number?”

I shook my head, “Not her new number.”

“Damn, we need to talk to her.” He said, before we headed through the school again. We’d only been there about five minutes after the bell, but already the place was almost deserted, with most kids having left the place straight away. Li wasn’t in sight anywhere, it seemed that she had also left instead of hanging around.

“We’ll go past the lockers again.” Spoke Jamie, answering the question in my mind.

We turned down the hall and immediately noticed Li standing next to her open locker, putting some books inside. My phone started to vibrate in my pocket, making me jump. I pulled it out and looked at the caller ID, before bringing it to my ear.“Hey, you guys got detention or something?” Came Connor’s voice.

“Erm, not exactly.” I replied, “We will be a while so you can head home. We’ll catch up with you guys later.”“You sure?” He asked, “We can wait.”

Li looked up, noticing us approaching her, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her jumper.

“Yeah, Con. I’ll see you later.” I replied, looking at her.

“Alright.” He replied, before I hung up abruptly. I’d explain things to him later.

I slipped the phone in my pocket and stepped up to Li, “Hey, are you ok?” I asked.

“MmHmm.” She replied, fiddling about with some books.

“Uh, um...” I looked at Jamie, flashing him a look.

He stepped forward, “Li, I think there’s been some misunderstanding.” He said, “That note is mine, but it was only a joke, you know. I don’t real-“

“You said it was some cheats for a game.” She replied, “But I knew you were lying, even then.”

I shook my head, “It’s not like that, we didn’t mean-“

“So what, are you guys like…together or something?” She inquired, “Seriously I want to know.” She said somewhat demandingly.

Jamie faked a smile, looking at me, “Together? Like gay or something?”

She continued staring at him, “Yeah.” She said simply, “And I don’t care what you say because I know it’s true.” She added, her voice quivering at the end, as more tears filled her eyes.

Jamie reached out with a hand, “Li, you’re getting it wrong, we’re not…” I touched Jamie’s arm, looking into his eyes. This was ridiculous. We all knew the game was up, and frankly…I just couldn’t bring myself to lie again. I’d been doing so much lying throughout the years that it’d become second nature, but in that moment I had a choice, I could tell the truth. But that came at a cost. Could I trust Li enough with our deepest secret?

Jamie searched my eyes, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded, “It’s ok.”

Li looked at us, “What’s ok?”

Jamie regarded me again, “Matt…”

I checked the corridor. Empty. I nodded again, “It’s ok.”

Jamie turned to her, taking in a breath, “You want the truth? Fine.” He paused, “Yes, we’re together.”

She suddenly stopped moving and stood there. Seconds passed yet she continued to remain motionless.

“Li, are you ok?” Asked Jamie, before she started to move again, slowly at first before she stopped. She brought her sleeve to her face as the tears rolled down her cheeks. That really hit me hard. Just seeing her like that reminded me of the time when Josh first found out. They shared the same look of confusion, of loss, of sadness. I walked up to her, extending my arms and wrapping them around her. She rested her face against my shoulder and breathed steadily. I placed a hand on the top of her back and rubbed her soothingly, wanting to take away her sadness.

“I’m so sorry.” I found myself saying, as Jamie walked around and came into view, “You were never meant to find out like this, Li.”

She remained silent, sniffling every now and again.

I lowered my face to her ear, “Is it because of your coursework?” I asked, recalling the piece she’d given me weeks before, where she admitted her feelings for Jamie.

She shook her head, “It wasn’t my real coursework.” She said softly, “But yeah…it’s because of that.”

Jamie frowned slightly. Things started to make sense when she said that. It was clear that she still had feelings for Jamie, and with her having found out like she did…she simply wasn’t prepared for it at all.

“I…I never thought that he’d…” She pulled back, looking at Jamie, “You don’t seem…”

“Gay?” He answered, somewhat louder than I’d have liked, “Yeah, I am.”

My eyes scanned the corridor again. Too much fiction from the Internet had made me paranoid about ‘scenes’ like those. As though someone was waiting around the corner, hearing every word. Ok, in reality Jamie hadn’t said things that loud, he practically whispered them, so that ruled out anyone else overhearing, but hearing him say it in a public place still freaked me out a bit.

“And you too, Matt?”

“Huh?” I asked, noticing Li staring at me.

“Are you gay too?”

Instead of telling her outright, I opted for a semi-subtle nod.

Her eyes squinted slightly when I confirmed what she had been thinking all along. And with my mind already in overdrive, I confirmed that fact with myself too, ‘Now she knows. Now she really knows.’ But as soon as I managed to compute that, another alarming thing happened,

Li smiled at us.

My eyes shot at Jamie, wondering what was going on.

“I’m not angry at you, ok?” Her red eyes shifting from Jamie to me, before she pulled the books from her locker, placing them in her bag, “I just need to get home.”

I watched her. We both knew that she was suffering over this, “Li…”

“I said it’s ok.” She snapped, “Just please…” She began, before she knocked over one of her folders, causing her sheets to fan out across the floor.

“I’ve got it.” Called out Jamie, as he bent down to retrieve them.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she shut me off.

“Matt, I just don’t know, alright.” She said, “I don’t know what to think, what to say.” She glanced down at Jamie before she turned and squeezed shut her eyes, “God.”

Jamie stood up, handing Li the folder, “I know this is hard for you, but please try to understand.”

Her phone started to ring. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out, “It’s Sarah.” She said, before she inhaled and answered it, “Hi.”

I glanced at Jamie, wondering what Li was going to say.

“No, I just had to deal with a few things…” She said, before remaining silent, listening to Sarah, “That’s fine, you go collect him from school. I’ll see you later.” She added, probably referring to Sarah picking up her younger brother. “Ok, sure, bye.” She finished, hanging up.

We all glanced at each other, not sure of what to say after the interruption. Jamie looked up, “Why don’t you come back with Matt and me?”

Li and I gazed at him, unsure of what he meant by that.

He nodded, “You can come back with us and we can talk about it.” He said, “We’re not all that hard to understand.”

I thought for a moment. It wasn’t actually that bad of an idea. At the very least it’d give us some more time to speak to Li, hopefully better gauge her reaction and to tell her a few things, namely to keep it to herself.

Li nodded, “Ok.”

I shared a look with Jamie, hoping that it was the right decision to make.

*

I looked about his room, taking note of Li sitting on the edge of his bed, realising that she was the only girl that he had ever brought up there. I swivelled on his desk chair and faced her. Li was great, amazing even, if only we could get her to understand.

“But I thought you just had a girlfrie-“ She began, before she pieced it together, her eyes piercing mine, “Was it a lie too?”

Jamie nodded, “Yeah. But you have to understand, it was the only way we could…I could…” He paused, “We didn’t want you to know that I was dating Matt, so we made that up.”

She faced me, “Did you tell him what I wrote?”

“Yeah.” I replied plainly, “I couldn’t lie to him, Li.”

She shot me this look, one that read, ‘Yeah, but you could lie to me.’

I glanced down to the floor, completely unsure of how to respond to that.

Li swallowed some of the Coke, “Matt I can kind of understand you being gay, but Jamie? Really?”

My head shot up, “What? What do you mean, ‘kind of’?” I exclaimed.

She shrugged, “I dunno, you seem more…” She smiled, “I can just see you being gay easier than I can see Jamie.”

Jamie winked at me, causing me to shake my head at him. Had it been a different time and place, I’d have walked across and kissed him in front of her, just to show her how ‘gay’ Jamie was. I shook my head again at that, as if there were varying levels of ‘gayness’. That’s crazy talk!

“Sarah isn’t going to believe any of this!” She said.

That got my heart racing, “Sarah? No, no, she can’t know.” I said, waving my hand.

She looked taken aback from my sudden outburst, “I never said that I’ll tell her.” She replied, sighing, “But she isn’t as tunnel minded as you think. You know she used to hang out with Stephen.”

Jamie looked at me, “Who’s Stephen?”

I shrugged, “Some guy from another school who’s in our year, apparently he’s gay.”

“And you’ve never told me about him?”

“I’ve never met the guy. Only ever seen him on Facebook.” I replied, turning to Li, “But it’s different with Stephen, Sarah has known me since we were tiny.” I said, using my hands for emphasis.

“And?” She asked. “You think she’ll stop liking you or something?” She paused, “You really don’t give her the credit she deserves.”

“You already know what happened with Max.” I retorted.

“But he’s a guy!” She cried, holding her hand up to Jamie, “And no offence, but I don’t think guys take it as good as girls.”

I tried very hard not to snigger at that one. I’d be sure to tell it to Connor and Ayo. But it seemed that Li noticed my face.

“What? You know what I mean. Some guys can’t handle another guy being gay.”

I coughed and nodded, “I agree with you. It’s just not the best thing to think about when you’ve got a lot of male friends.”

“Yeah, but most of them already know. Who else do you hang around with, Dean?”

Jamie nodded, “I don’t think he’ll take it well, given the things that he’s said.”

“To you?”

“No, about gay people.” He replied.

She sighed, “I don’t know, perhaps other people won’t take it as badly as you think.” She sipped the Coke again, “Aside from Max all your other friends took it well, yeah?”

I nodded, “But we were just really lucky.”

“Or it’s how things will be if you came out.”

My eyes widened, “Who said anything about coming out? You found out by accident, and I’m sure as hell not going to let-“

“Matt.” Called out Jamie, “I know, we won’t let it happen again.” He said, trying to reassure me. He seemed so calm about this, sometimes I wished I had more of his temperament.

“Ok.”

Li looked at me, “People finding out really bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“You have no idea.” I replied, “I wish it wasn’t an issue. We’re just two guys.”

“Yeah, well some people just have their heads up their asses. They can’t understand things like that.” She looked at me, “Things will change, it just takes time.”

I glanced at Jamie, ‘Yeah, well we can’t really afford forty-years or whatever for people to stop fucking us around.’ I thought to myself, before nodding, “Yeah, time.”

Li smiled devilish at me, “This does explain a lot though, especially why you hate Hayley so much.”

“You mean I didn’t already have a good enough reason, before she tried to hit on Jamie?”

She laughed, “No, of course you did, but I see why you were so pissy with her.”

“Matt gets like that sometimes.” Smiled Jamie.

I glared at him, “You’re a right charmer! After all the times I fought away Hayley you say that!” I grinned.

He blew me a kiss.

“You two are really serious, aren’t you?” Asked Li.

We nodded, “You bet.” Said Jamie, giving me that stare of his.

“Uh, guys?” She called out, “You can stare at each other all you want in a minute once I’m gone.”

I looked at her, “Are we grossing you out that much with our stares?” I joked.

“What? No!” She said quickly, before noticing my smile, “I’m just scared that Jamie’s going to dive across me any second to get to you.”

I grinned, “Oh, I can tame the beast just fine. Toilet training him was the hard part.”

She scrunched up her face as she giggled.

“See what I mean!” Cried Jamie, “He IS pissy!”

We all got a laugh out of that before Li picked up her bag, “I better head off. Mum will be wondering where I am.”

I nodded and stood up, “Sure, thanks for coming back with us, letting us speak, and stuff.”

She smiled and stood up, “Thanks for telling me.” She said, before she walked over and hugged me, “I hope things get better for you, Matt.”

“Thanks, Li.”

She pulled back, before looking over at Jamie, reaching her arms out and hugging him, “You take care too. And take care of Matt.”

He laughed, “I will.”

She hugged him for a moment longer. I figured she needed some sort of closure there to accept that Jamie was…well, unavailable, for lack of a better word. She pulled back and grinned, “Sorry if I caused any trouble with you guys, with me, uh, with my coursework.”

Jamie smiled, “Don’t worry about it.”

She nodded, “Good.”

We walked her downstairs and to the front door.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow then.” She said, as she stepped out.

“Yep, see you, Li.”

“Bye.” I called out as she walked down the path, before Jamie closed the door, leaning back against it. We stood there for a moment, “That went surprisingly well.”

He nodded, “Yeah, it did.” He said before giggling, “Surprisingly.” He mocked, “Jeez, you’re so posh.” He laughed, as he threw an arm over my shoulder, leading me back to the stairs.

I nudged him, “Shut up, Dude.” I smiled, “Just because I’m too awesome.”

He leaned across and kissed my cheek, “More like you’re too adorable.”

I faced him, sharing a kiss on the lips. I pulled back as we reached the stairs, “Listen, I think I’m gonna head off too.”

He turned around giving me these cute puppy dog eyes and making little whimpering sounds.

“Hehehe, what? You’ll see me in a little while.”

He placed his hands on my hips and kissed my cheek again, “It’s too long.” He said softly, resting his forehead against mine, “But it’ll have to do.”

I closed my eyes and relaxed for a moment.

“Remember, we still have a date this weekend.”

I opened my eyes, “A date?”

He nodded, kissing me, “The sleepover.” He said, his lips next to my ear, “I can’t wait.”

*

Two hours later I found myself standing in front of the mirror in my room, checking out my apparel, which consisted of, a light pink t-shirt, and a dark pair of faded jeans. I turned sideways on in the mirror and smiled. I looked quite good! After a few minutes, I heard the doorbell ring downstairs so I rushed down to answer it before my parents. Josh was having dinner around one of his friend’s houses, so he wasn’t about. But that wasn’t a coincidence there, no my parents gave him the idea so they could have Jamie and me by ourselves. Not in some kind of malicious or devious way, but just to limit the things that could mess things up.

I skipped over to the door and opened it, revealing a stunning Jamie Keller. He looked so darling as he stood there with his hands in his pockets, keeping warm. He winked at me again, “Hey, Matt.”

I winked back, “Come in, Jamie.” I ushered, letting him inside as I closed the door behind him.

He quickly removed his jacket and hung it up, giving me the time to check him out. He was wearing a plain white shirt and a dark pair of jeans, both designer brands. Not excessively expensive, but the best of his wardrobe. He was clearly trying to impress my parents.

"It’s not too much, is it?" He asked.

I shook my head, "You look great."

He smiled, "You too."

“It’s good to see you, Jamie.” Came my dad’s voice, as he shook his hand.

“You too, Mr Blake.”

Dad smiled, “Joe will do fine.”

Jamie nodded and smiled back.

Dad looked at me, “Mum and I are finishing dinner now, it should be done in about half an hour. I’ll call you guys down once it’s done.”

“Ok.” I said, as I led Jamie to the stairs and headed up.

We entered my room, with me closing the door behind us. I sniffed the air. I paused for a moment before I followed the scent over to Jamie.

“You wearing some cologne?” I asked.

“Is it too strong?” He asked.

I smiled, “No, it’s great.” I sniffed him, “You smell good.”

He leaned close and sniffed me, “You could have showered.”

I slapped his arm lightly, “I did!”

We ultimately ended up playing some Playstation during the twenty-or-so minutes while we waited for the food to be ready. Part of me was ecstatic to have Jamie in my room again, but the other half was freaking out, wondering if it’d be the last time he’d be in my room. A little extreme, sure, but at that point my mind was going over every possible outcome. And after our little wait, it was time to get the night started. I couldn’t wait.

*

“So you’ve both got exams next month?” Asked Dad.

Jamie nodded, “Yeah, late next month.” He replied, looking at me, or better still, watching the face-off between my mum and me.

We’d been sitting at the table for about five minutes, but my mum had hardly said five words to me, and even less to Jamie. I couldn’t figure out what her problem was, much less figure out a way for her to start talking, even something trivial. Dad, on the other hand, kept things moving. Sure I didn’t really want to talk about exams and such, but if there was little alternative then I’d gladly take that over silence. Still, I had to do something, I couldn’t afford to let this opportunity slip up.

“So, mum, how’s work going?” I asked.

She looked up, “What?”

“Work, you know, how are things?”

She nodded, “They’re ok.”

I wasn’t even trying to squeeze blood out of a stone, I just wanted her to acknowledge Jamie in some way. If the indirect approach didn’t work, then I’d have to be more upfront with her.

“You know, Jamie is really good at rounders. He beat me a few times.” I said, looking at her.

She glanced at him, “Is he?” She replied plainly.

I clenched my jaw, ‘But he’s a better kisser though.’ Was at the tip of my tongue. I wanted to just say something that’d shake things up, but I decided against it. I didn’t want things to get out of hand, at least they were somewhat controllable now.

“If you don’t want me here, Mrs Blake, I can leave.” Said Jamie.

I turned to him, ready to object, but he tapped me twice on the leg. I closed my mouth and remained quiet.

Mum stopped eating and looked at him, “I…this isn’t easy for me, Jamie.”

“I know, but I’m trying to make it easy, I really am.” He said, “I just want to be with Matt, and not upset either of you two.”

Mum continued to look at him, “I’m sorry, Jamie. It’s going to take me-“

“Time.” I finished, “Yeah, we know. But at least have the decency to talk to the guy, because there’s more to him than being gay and being my boyfriend.”

We were all silent for a moment, before Mum looked down at her plate, then to me, and finally to Jamie, “So…” She paused, and then something passed over her face, “I was talking to your dad about life back in America, like thanksgiving, and he was saying what you had to eat.”

Jamie nodded, “We usually had family come over so we had a huge turkey and stuff.”

“Just like Christmas.” I added.

“Yeah, kinda like that.”

He smiled, “But we almost messed things up last year.” He said, “While we were busy packing to come here, we had a slight accident with the turkey..,”

“What happened?” Asked Dad.

I started to smile, recalling the story when Jamie first told me.

“I dropped it on the floor.”

“You dropped it?” Asked Dad.

He nodded, “I didn’t even notice it, I just walked into the kitchen and the next thing I know is that the uncooked turkey’s on the floor.”

“Did you still eat it?” Asked Mum.

“Yep.” He said, “The floor was clean, we just rinsed it.”

I grimaced, “I’d never eat that.”

“It was in the packet, and I remember telling you that part!”

I shrugged, “It still fell on the floor though.” I said, “I just can’t believe you dropped the turkey. So heavy handed.”

He giggled, “No I’m not. You’re more than I am.” He said, sipping some of his drink.

“Yeah, all of you and your greatness!” I joked.

Jamie laughed, causing some of the drink to trickle down his chin and onto his shirt. He quickly blushed, “Sorry, I didn’t mea-“

I started to wipe up his shirt, still giggling, “Don’t worry, Babes. I’ve got it.”

“Thanks.” He said, before giggling as I wiped his chin.

I looked up to meet the stares of my parents, expecting them to be frowning, or grimacing at me for being so physical with Jamie, but they weren’t. Mum was handing me some proper towels, while dad was wetting one with some bottled water.

I smiled, taking the dampened towel and the dry ones, “Thanks, guys.” I replied, before using them on Jamie’s shirt.

“Try not to spread it around too much.” Said Mum, leaning forward, and then looked at me, “If we wash it now it won’t stain as much.” She looked at me, “Perhaps you could lend Jamie a shirt.”

Jamie looked at us, “I really don’t want to cause any more hassle, not while we’re eating…” He began, but my mum stood up, shaking her head.

“It’s fine, just head upstairs and put on one of Matt’s shirts. Bring your one down and we’ll stick it in the machine.”

I didn’t know whether to jump for joy or bury my face in my hands out of frustration. On one hand you had Mum talking and interacting with Jamie, but on the other hand dinner had been completely disrupted.

“Matt?” Called out my mum, “Jamie still needs a shirt.”

“Oh.” I said, before standing, “Right.” I stepped away from the table and motioned for Jamie to follow me upstairs. We reached the stairs and went up into my room. I pulled open my closet and peered inside, looking for something that’d suit Jamie.

“I’m so sorry about this, Matt. I know you wanted tonight to go well and now I’ve gone an-“ He began, before I cut him off.

“I made you laugh so it was my fault, besides, it got Mum talking.” I said, handing him a shirt.

He nodded, taking it from me, “Yeah, but talking for all the wrong reasons. I bet she sees me as a real nuisance now.”

“Or she sees you as a normal person who makes mistakes.” I suggested, “At least you’re not on some kind of pedestal now…” I smiled, “Well, perhaps you’re still on a pedestal…with a bib.”

Jamie swatted my arm, “You bitch.”

I slapped my ass, “I try.”

He sighed, “Stop teasing me, otherwise I’d need to borrow some of your boxers too.”

I laughed, “See? You’re always trying to get into my pants, literally.”

He nodded, “Funny, Matt. Real funny.”

*

Five minutes later we were back downstairs sitting at the table, continuing with our meal. Jamie was wearing my shirt, while his one was being washed, and my parents seemed to be a little more lively than before. So all in all it was a good moment to restart the night, so off we went; onto ‘round two’.

“How is your mum, Jamie?” Asked my mum, looking at him.

He swallowed, “She’s fine, thanks. Starting to get used to life living here.”

“That’s good to hear, “She replied, “It must be quite hard to adapt.”

“Yeah, some things are really different, but some are the same. We’re all coping though.”

I smiled, listening to him speak of the culture change, but part of me couldn’t help but detect a double meaning to their words. I’m sure Mum was interested in how his mum was coping with his sexuality, however, Jamie’s answers were also cryptic. ‘Coping’? I wouldn’t have said that they were ‘coping’ with life in the UK, but they were with his sexuality. They were ‘coping’ bloody well with that!

“And Sam’s on the netball team, right?” I asked, wanting to steer the topic in a different direction.

He nodded, “Yeah, she’s been put on that.”

Mum played ball with that one, adhering to the new subject, “Is she? So you’re both quite sporty then?”

“We’ve always been into sports, mostly because of my dad.”

My dad nodded, “Noah’s always trying to get me interested in baseball.”

“And…” Asked Jamie with a smile, “Is it working?”

Dad laughed, “Perhaps a little bit, but football’s always going to be my thing.”

“You play?” Asked Jamie.

“Not anymore. I used to play for a local team just before Matt was born, but I had bigger priorities after that.” He replied, winking at me.

I beamed at him, flashing a smile.

“You could always take it up again.” Suggested Mum, “At least it’ll get you moving about.”

“What?” He exclaimed, “You make it sound like I’m overweight.”

“No, but it’s always good to stay in shape.” She pointed out.

Dad laughed, “You mean I should visit the gym with Noah?”

“Your Dad goes to the gym?” I asked Jamie.

He nodded, “Yeah, a few times a week.”

Mum smiled, “It’s just an idea. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“It would to me. Noah’s used to it.”

She nodded, “And it shows. Always taking the stairs instead of the lifts at work.”

Dad covered the side of his face, pretending to stop her from hearing him, “She means that he looks younger.”

Jamie and I laughed aloud, “Yeah, that would be true, “I began, giggling, “But all male Kellers are blessed with good looks.”

Mum and Dad quietened down a little quicker after that. Ok, perhaps I shouldn’t have thrown that one out there, but it just seemed to fit. I looked at Jamie, expecting him to be a little pissed, but instead his cheeks were flushed slightly.

“Are you blushing?” I asked aloud.

His eyes widened slightly, as his cheeks flushed again. Who would have thought that Jamie was susceptible to public praise? I took a mental note of that.

“Leave the guy alone, Matt.” Smiled Dad.

“What? It was a compliment!” I said, looking at Jamie again. He looked so cute sitting there in my shirt. I wanted to take him somewhere and get all loved up!

“You’ll have to forgive Matt.” Began Mum, “He always gets a little excited when at the dinner table.”

Jamie laughed, “Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.”

Mum and Dad both laughed aloud at that one, giving me these little glances, before looking at Jamie, still giggling at my expense.

I smiled at the two of them, before I started to laugh myself. We carried on in hysterics for a few minutes, giving me the chance to look at the four of us now that the ice had officially been broken through by the laughter. We still had a way to go, but maybe, just maybe there was some hope for us after all.

And that meant everything to me.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter of American Differences.

Any comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.
I respond to every email, so feel free to send me a message, even if it's just to say, “Hi!”

You can E-mail me at: emulatedlove[at]gmail.com

Discuss this story with other readers at: http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21594
Each chapter also has a short analysis, which can be found on my blog the day after the chapter's release.

You can visit my blog at: www.emulatedblog.com for news about future chapters and my other stories.

Thanks Again!

Emulated

Copyright © 2009 By Emulated