Miles apart (Man × Man) ✔

31) s c o l d e d

"Miles, what is this?"

It was a good question, but not one Miles had prepared to answer. He had hoped his dad wouldn't find out about Eli and Benjamin bunking on the couch, and that he could ease him in the idea of Ash living there in time. That for once he could make his own decisions without his dad intervening.

"Um, how about we talk about it over a coffee? I'd love to get some fresh air." Miles suggested. He licked his lip, and then brought his hand to cover his mouth. He didn't want his dad to see how nervous he was.

Anthony gave Miles a once-over, pursing his lips at the sight of him. His tone was, yet again, light, but the words were meant to cut: "Go change first and do something to that hair."

Miles could feel his cheeks heating up and without noticing it himself he lifted his hand to flatten his hair. It was one thing to get scolded when they were alone, and another to be scolded in front of his friends.

Miles nodded and escaped into the bedroom. He picked up a pair of slacks and a knitted sweater, which was a present from his dad. It was itchy and he only used it to please his dad. Then he did his best to flatten his hair with salt spray, but there wasn't much he could do to it in such a short notice.

Miles heard the bathroom door opening and closing, and saw the frown on Ash's face when he walked across the room to him.

"Will you be okay?" Ash hugged him from behind, whispering the words in his ear. Miles met his eyes through the mirror, before averting his gaze. He hadn't told Ash it was his dad who owned the apartment and that he had failed to mention to him about Ash moving in.

"I guess I'll have to." Miles sighed. He took another glance at his stubbornly unruly hair and the dark circles under his eyes. The pale skin and the reddened cheeks. "How do I look?"

"You look good, like you always do." Ash stated it like a fact. "You don't have to go, if you don't want to."

"Stop acting like I'm going to a war or something, it's just coffee with dad." Miles attempted to lighten the mood and managed to get a small chuckle from Ash. Then, steeling himself with a deep breath, he stepped away from him. "I better go before he comes to look for me."

Anthony didn't take Miles to a café, but to an organic smoothie bar. Miles didn't even want to guess what was in the green abomination of a drink his dad ordered for him. It tasted like grass, but Miles tried not to grimace when he took a sip. Not that he could have enjoyed the drink even if it had been tasty, when his stomach was in such tight knots.

Another sign of how angry and beside himself Anthony was was that they didn’t stay at the smoothie bar. Instead, they found themselves a private spot nearby a park. That could only mean one thing: Anthony wanted to yell and he didn't want any witnesses to his outburst. He set down his smoothie on top of a trash can and turned to glare at Miles.

"Dad, I.." Miles began, one hand gripping the smoothie and the other clenched so tight his nails left marks into his palm. It was all he could think of doing so that he wouldn't start shaking in front of his dad.

"Do you think nothing of me? Do you think it's easy to make the money for an apartment like that?" Anthony lifted his eyebrows, keeping his voice low even as the bitter poison started to seep in. "Do you think I'm paying for it so that you can turn it into some homeless shelter? To let them eat your food and take advantage of your naive generosity?"

"Benjamin and Eli are my friends and they would do the same for me. And Ash —" Miles started to object, but Anthony wasn't done yet. He lifted his hand, palm up, to silence him.

"What? Loves you?" Anthony sneered. He started pacing and raked a hand through his neatly cut hair. "He doesn't love you, he loves what he can get from you. You can't seriously be so naive you don't see how everyone is just using you for money."