"That must be so hard for you I'm sorry" he plants a soft kiss on Shia's nose, "next time I'm sleeping over I'll wear 2 pants just for you."
"Thank you that's all I ask." Without a word Ryder starts to wiggle out of Shia's embrace which makes him hold the boy tighter, "where do you think you're going?"
"I'm just going for some water" Ryder explains looking at Shia, "I'll be back before you know it." "Fine 10 seconds" Shia loosens his grip, "10, 9, 8..." Ryder chuckles as he gets out of bed walking out
of Shia's room only wearing boxerbriefs and one of Shia's t-shirt.
Walking to the kitchen Ryder grabs a glass open the faucet to fill it, as he's about to bring the cup to his lips Ryder hears "Shia awake yet?"
Startled by the sound of the boy's mom asking as she walks in behind him "Good morning Mrs. Yorkton" Ryder turns, "and yes he's up."
"Well can you go tell him that he needs to go to the store? There's nothing here to eat... you know
when he's done with you in there."
Choosing to ignore the statement Ryder takes the cup of water trying to leave the kitchen, but is stopped when Shia's mom decides to continue, "all I can say to you kid is be careful, Yorkton men have a way of sucking the youth out of you then leaving you to rot," she complains as she puts a cigarette in her mouth. "Don't trust that one in there, may seem all in love with you now but he's just like his daddy, trust me. Bunch of no good men," deciding he's heard enough Ryder leaves the kitchen but stops when he finds Shia standing there behind the wall hearing everything.
Frowning Shia walks away and Ryder follows him until they're back in the room, putting the glass of water down somewhere, Ryder walks over to the boy sitting on his bed with his head down. "Don't listen to her" Ryder sits next to him, "it's all bullshit, she doesn't know you."
"My own mother doesn't know me?" Shia asks with a sad smile being used to his mother's bitterness, "what if she's right though? What if I'm just like him? Abandon any good thing I have for no reason"
"I don't know your dad but I know you, and I know that's not who you are. Your mom will say whatever she wants because of what she's going through, but you have to believe it's not true Shia, misery just loves company."
Shia has been miserable with his mom for a long time, yes he's grateful to have found Ryder but the worry still lingers. What if he's just as fucked up as his family and that causes him to lose Ryder? He didn't know how much he needed the boy, and now that they're finally together, Shia knew he wasn't going to let his mom ruin it for him.
"We don't ever have to be here if you don't want to" "Why wouldn't I want to?" Ryder asks confused
"My mom will just keep doing this until she scares you off, and I can't control her."
"You've met Evan, right?" Shia nods "so I think we're both kind of on the same boat, it'll take a whole lot more than these little scare tactics from your mom to sca