When we were Wallflowers

Chapter 15: Idol

Thank you for 100,000 reads! This book will be coming to an end soon I think, probably around or before we hit 20 chapters. In chapter 24 of EwB, I give two book ideas before I decided to do these spin-offs. Which one would you like to read next and I'll make it my priority.

This chapter is dedicated to the lovely @the_ninki_minjaj

Brent left Finley's house soon after they'd... got intimate.

He had managed to meet Finley's mother before he left.

She had nearly fell through the door, exhausted and weary. She was slightly shorter than Finley -reinforcing Brent's feelings of being a very tall bull in a China shop- and her black curly hair was held back from her face with a navy head band. She was wearing sweatpants and a baggy shirt and she looked scared shitless when she craned her neck skywards to look Brent in the eyes.

She scrambled in her handbag and ripped out a bottle of pepper-spray.

Finley pushed Brent back and yelled at his mom. "MOM! THIS IS BRENT!"

Finley's mom looked frantically between the two, Brent noticed her dark eye bags. If he wasn't so terrified, he'd probably ask her if she was okay. She nodded and seemed to calm down a bit.

"I'm sorry." She said, her face falling into her hands. "I'm so sorry." She lifted her face and smiled at Brent who anxiously smiled back.

"That's alright, my height often shocks people."

"I have no doubt it does. I am sorry though, I've just had a very long shift at the hospital and I am not... I'm not in the right frame of mind." She offered her hand to Brent.

"I'm Deja, thank you for putting up with my son." They shook hands.

"How are you sleep deprived and still a big meany to me." Finley whined.

"Quiet, you." She smacked his arm. "What a terrible first impression. Are you leaving already?"

"Yeah, my dad is waiting around the corner."

"I won't hold you up then. Next time we see each other, I'll try not to mace you."

Brent began to leave through the door, Finley following him. He heard Deja's hushed voice say to Finley; "He's a very handsome boy."

That was enough for Brent to get flustered, but heat soared through his body straight to his cheeks when Finely replied to her in a quiet whisper: "I know."

They walked down the street in silence. Brent far too ruffled to think of anything sensical to talk about.

The evening sun placed a pleasant heat upon his exposed legs and face. The sky fading into a delicate blend of yellow and pink.

"I hope my family hasn't spooked you too badly." Finley interrupted the silence, his voice remaining quiet but firm, afraid of possibly spooking Brent anymore.

"Your family are lovely." Brent assured. "Maybe I'll introduce you to mine soon."

"Brent." Finley stopped walking, his hands shoved into his pockets. "You don't need to come out if you're not ready. I didn't invite you round here to make you feel like you need to do the same."

"That's not what this is. I want to do it, I do."

"And you know that your family are going to react well."

"Of course, they would!" He didn't mean to yell but he took it very personally that his family wouldn't respond well, because they would. His family loved him. There wasn't a thing that he could do make them hate him, right?