AFTER DARK | Johan Liebert

Chapter 29: Welcome home

When I saw the half-timber house, I felt my knees go weak. This was the place I spent my childhood at. It looked so idyllic next to the cherry trees, the flowers and the under the bright sun, but I couldn't help but remember the pressure, the hurting words, my desire to escape...

And at last, I came home.

"I didn't know you wanted to visit your home." Johan's voice was calm, but I could tell he was surprised. I slowly turned to him - he must have noticed my frightened eyes.

"Don't worry. It will be fine."

He came to me, taking my hand in his. Just feeling his touch made me calm down a bit. I closed my eyes for a moment, sighing.

"I wanted you to be here with me when I meet my family again."

He smiled, trying to reassure me. But not only did I want him to be there for me - initially, I wanted to bring him there to give him a glimpse of what family was. I knocked at the door. Surprisingly fast, it was opened by a dark-haired young man.

"Welcome, you two!" Leo brightly smiled at me, then his eyes moved to Johan. My brother looked quite bewildered when he saw him. Eventually, he stepped back, so we could come in. I was about to tell Johan to take off his shoes in our home, but he did it without me saying anything. I smirked to myself. He must have done his research. Or he just remembered that this rule applied to my apartment as well.

The house smelled of delicious food when we entered. As Leo was welcoming us, someone entered the hallway from the kitchen, wearing an apron - it was my mother.

Startled, I stared at her, and she did the same thing. The whole room went quiet. Quickly, I put a polite smile on my face. "Hello, mother."

She returned my smile. "Welcome home, Klara." Then, she looked at Johan. "Welcome. Are you Klara's boyfriend?"

Johan wanted to speak up, but Leo was faster. "Mom, I told you he's a friend of Klara's!"

Then, Leo turned to me, nudging me with his elbow, whispering.

"Though your hand-holding in the driveway said something else."

"Pssht!", I hissed, giving him a 'Shut up'-look.

Johan chuckled at Leo's first remark, then looked at my mother again. "My name is Johan, I'm Klara's friend. Thank you for the invitation."

I could read my mother's mind in that moment, and I wasn't surprised by her reaction to Johan. She was totally mesmerised by him - though she barely showed it. "A friend of my daughter is our friend as well. Let's go to the dining room. I have prepared dinner already."

When I saw the dining table, I was shocked. The whole table was covered with different dishes, everything was decorated more beautifully than usual, which my mother only did for special guests. We sat down at the table. Johan was scanning the table with his slightly widened eyes. Leo sat opposite to us, grinning. "Looks amazing, right? I helped her." He made a gesture towards mother, who was coming out of the kitchen, raising an eyebrow. "You helped me try the Vareniki." As she passed him, she gave him a playful hit with a dish towel on his head. Johan chuckled, and I couldn't help but smile a little as well. My mother picked up the plates in front of her, putting the food on it. Shortly after, we started eating.

"Tell us more about yourself, Johan." My mother put down her spoon for a moment. "How did you meet Klara?"

"Oh, I guess there are multiple points of time that could be considered as our first meeting." I watched them from the side, curious. "The first time I saw Klara was when she was looking for a boy who ran away from school. At that time, I was at work, watching the children from the orphanage on the playground."