Last Hope

Chapter 13

I had to scrape my brain for the memories of when I was still attending church for this chapter.

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"It is said in Leviticus chapter twenty: verse thirteen that, 'If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.' My brothers and sisters, the Lord our God wanted us to prosper-"

It's Sunday today,- a week and a few days after that encounter with my sister- which only means that I had to get up extra early for church. I tried to listen to the old pastor behind the podium, I really did, but I can't help but to think that what he was saying- all of it- are complete and utter bullshit. I mean, no offense, if I had a choice, I wouldn't have went here so that I could just roll my eyes and internally curse the awful and false words that were carelessly rolling off his tongue but obviously, I didn't have a choice. Even though my parents didn't have to drag me out from my room just to sit here for an hour, it's a well-known and given fact that I do have to attend each and every Sunday mass because if I even dare to skip this, all those little dust of trust that they collected from me would swish off in one blow.

My mom nudged my side, causing me to glare at her. I guess she saw me looking disinterested and highly lost in my own cloud of thoughts. "Pay attention, Kellin." She whispered with that smile that most moms pull up whenever they try to get their kid's attention while they trying to keep up with that 'nice parent' façade.

"I am sorry, mother." I mocked, giving her the same shit eating grin that she game me. She seemed pleased about my little act though since she sat right back, turning her attention to the pastor who never even paused with his lecture.

"The gospel of the Lord."

"Thanks be to God." Everyone echoed in chorus, as if someone had flicked a switch that automatically snapped everyone off from this insane trance that they went through.

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"Yeah, but I can't even imagine you giving that kind of insane nonsense in front of over two hundred up-tight religious people." I said with a chuckle, crossing my arms in front of me as I flashed a random lady that just walked by a forced smile.

"Me neither." Brendon chuckled, keeping his voice in the down low. "Man, what have I gotten myself in to, huh?"

"A little bit late for that thought now, Pastor Urie." I teased the young pastor, nudging his side with my elbow.

"I wasn't aware that a man is subjected solely to a woman." Vic's voice surprised me, making me jump a few feet away from the spot where I was calmly standing. "Oh, the stuff that we learn every day, huh?"

"Woah, hey, what are you doing here?" I asked nervously because hell- we're in a public place, in front of our community's church with my parents lurking God knows where, talking to their high-end friends.

"Well, hello to you, too." He shot back with a playful smile. "Just wanted to visit my bae and I thought that maybe I should go and give the church a try, you know."

"You didn't not just used that."

"The what?"

"Bae. Really, Vic?" I looked at him with a glare and a scoff although my lips were betraying me as it slowly pulls up to a stupid little grin.

"Yeah, you're like my before anyone else or whatever." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. He looked so casual explaining it and it just made me fall into a fleet of laughter, Brendon doing the same thing.

"I've been living in this church for about a year now but I know for a fact that calling someone your 'bae' isn't sweet or cute." Brendon said, using his fingers to draw out these air quotation marks. I was just standing there, laughing at Vic when someone let out an obvious and exaggerated cough beside us.

"Are we interrupting something here?" My mom asked, Kelly standing beside her. My mom's gaze was pinned directly at me as she gave me that look that only tells me that I am going to be in so much trouble later.
It started to feel so awkward with the poor pastor beside me and Vic standing in front of us so Brendon decided to make the ultimate move of excusing himself, saying that he has things to settle for the next mass.

"Where's dad?" I tried to change the subject but with my glorious mother, it was put to no use.

"What is.. he doing here?" She spat, looking at Vic from head to toe.

"Hello, Mrs. Quinn." Vic tried to answer for himself, putting his hand out in front of him for my mom to shake. She just stared at it for a moment, though, and Vic got the hint, dropping his hand back to his side. "Our band's visiting town so I thought of maybe dropping by and catching up with Kells here."

"Victor, it's nice to see you after.. a few months but I suggest you to head off now." She said, stepping closer to Vic so that no one else could hear her words.

"But I thought that the church welcomes everyone with open arms?" Vic answered back, an innocent smile plastered on his lips which actually amused me for once. I mean, the fear was still there but it feels awesome seeing this guy defend himself from my venomous mother for once.

"Yes, that is in fact true but-" It seemed like she was out of excuses as she kept her mouth shut, taking in a few heavy breaths. "Victor, you have to leave."

"It is stated in the Leviticus chapter nineteen: verse eighteen that, and I quote, 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.'" Vic calmly replied, showing no evidence of that stuck-up attitude of his and instead, he masked it with his award winning innocent façade. "Mrs. Quinn, I am not here to ruin your son's life, I am peacefully visiting him and I am sorry if we had a pretty rough past but I already took the liberty to put that one behind us. I'd be more than glad if you'd do the same, ma'am." He added, which just made my smile grow wider. What can I say, I'm just so impressed. And may I just tell you this, his entire outfit- the white button down shirt and blue jeans get-up was just the cherry on top. Damn. If I could, I would've kissed him right then and there.

I was expecting for my mom to lash out on him and just slap him hard across his face but instead, she gave him a sympathetic smile and cleared her throat before speaking. "I- I know that, dear. But please, just- just leave."

Wow. Well, I wasn't expecting that, not at all. All of us- Kelly, Vic and I, exchanged weird glances due to my mom's soft and apologetic words. I scanned her face, not being able to believe this 'act' that she was pulling but instead of seeing that usual fake mom-mode that she frequently pulls on every time we're in a public place, I saw no signs of it. Her expression was soft with a tinge of hurry or anxiety on it.

"I'll, uh, I'll call you, alright?" I turned to Vic, my eyebrows pulled together from sheer confusion. I dismissed him off, dragging him to his car.

"What just happened there?" He asked, unlocking the door.

"I have no idea but I'll call you later, m'kay?" I was actually itching on going back to my mom and sister just so that I could find out what the hell just happened and what stunt she's trying to pull off now.

"What, no goodbye kiss?" Vic dragged me down from my floating thoughts, pulling me by my navy blue tie.

"So fucking needy." I joked and cupped his face, planting my hungry lips against his, savoring the feeling and the taste that I haven't grown tired of getting from him.

He hummed against my lips, seeming contented but I cut it short before this even leads us somewhere. "Talk to you later, bae." He called out as he hopped inside his car, jabbing his key to the ignition.

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes at him and turned to my heels, heading back to my mom who was actually and surprisingly watching me and Vic without that disgust look on her face. I mean, she looked uncomfortable but still.

"I will never stop calling you that until you realize that it's cute!" Vic called out and I fucking swear I'm going to lose it if he even tries to call me that again.