The Impossible is Possible (Ryden)

Chapter 3

The first thing that Brendon notices when he gets home is a jacket hanging up with the rest that he's never seen before. It is, he realises upon closer inspection, a men's jacket, and it smells faintly of tobacco. He decides - though he has no idea why - that he really, really doesn't like it.

Leaving his bag against the wall, he cautiously heads through to the kitchen, where he can hear voices drifting from. He opens the door but doesn't enter, instead studying the occupants with a frown. His mom is sat at the table, laughing - and next to her is sat a tall, bulky man that Brendon's never seen before.

"Uh. Hi. Mom, what's going on?"

She looks up from her conversation and smiles, warmly, at her son. "Hello, Brendon. What do you mean, what's going on? This is Rodney, he works with me and he's come home for dinner."

"I've heard your mom cooks amazingly," the man laughs, with a wink at Brendon. Brendon recoils slightly, not liking the tone of his voice one bit. "You're Brendon, then? I've heard a lot about you."

"Really? I've heard nothing about you. I would have thought that Mom would have mentioned you if you're friends enough with her to come home for dinner, but I guess it just slipped her mind. I wouldn't be surprised, really, because we never have anybody round for dinner normally, especially not a man, so I wouldn't get too --"

"Woah, does the kid ever shut up?" Rodney laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. Brendon narrows his eyes, but doesn't say anything more. His mom looks nervous for a moment, looking between the two men, and then puts a hand tentatively on Rodney's forearm.

"Brendon has ADHD," she explains, quietly, with an imploring look at her son to stay calm. "It's a condition that makes him --"

"I know what ADHD is," Rodney says, again with the irritating laugh. "It's just a load of crap invented to make an excuse for misbehaving kids. My sister's kid supposedly has it, and she always uses it to let him get away with stealing. It's ridiculous."

"Well, for your information --" Brendon begins, hotly, but his mom shakes her head at him, pleadingly.

"How was your day at school?" she asks, biting her lip anxiously, and Brendon hasn't got the heart to start an argument if it's going to hurt her.

"It's was okay, thanks," he shrugs, and then the memory of Ryan inviting himself round hits him, and he grimaces. "Actually, I'm having somebody round for dinner tonight, too. He's coming over to work on a music project so I guess he'll want food too. He's coming around at about six."

"You're having a friend over?" his mom asks, her eyes going wide and a smile blossoming over her face. "Really? That's great! I'll make a bigger dinner, in that case."

"Thanks," Brendon smiles, shaking his hair from his eyes. "I'll, uh, leave you both to it, then. I have to go tidy my room."

He leaves before either of them can say anything else. He doesn't really want to see his mother and Rodney talking. He knows just what's going on, too; the man is obviously trying to get his mom in bed, and the thought makes him feel a bit sick. She hasn't been with anybody, as far as he knows, since his dad left - and he'd rather it stay that way.

Still, he thinks, as he shuts his bedroom door behind him, he can't be the only male in her life forever. Whilst he thinks on this, he sets about tidying his room the best he can, tipping countless lollypop sticks and wrappers into the trash and hiding his Disney videos in the bottom of a drawer. Once he's done this, he carefully lays his guitar and bass out in the middle of the room, just in case Ryan wants to play either of them.

He's got no idea why he feels even more restless than usual, because he doesn't want to admit to himself that he's pretty much terrified about what might happen.