Things I Hate About Adrian Vang (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Twenty-Six~ Ezra

Ezra was very happy. Extremely happy. Unconditionally happy. He couldn't stop smiling. Ever since the night before, when he and Adrian had been reunited, Ezra couldn't keep himself from grinning. It didn't even matter to him that he wasn't on the soccer team, and he thought about how much easier it would have been to just make the right choice in the first place.

But Ezra was very happy, and this made his very serious conversation with his father quite awkward.

"I wanted to talk to you," his father said, coming into his room for the first time in over a week. Ezra swallowed, trying to fight the smile on his face that had been there since he saw Adrian's good morning baby text that morning and was reminded that it wasn't a dream, but they were really them again. It was also great to see Adrian at school again, smiling at him everytime he passed and sneaking away at every opportunity to kiss in hidden locations throughout the school. Even lunch had been perfect, having combined Adrian's table (minus Osmond who didn't seem to like Ezra all that much) and Liam's table. Everyone seemed to get along well and they all had interesting conversations. Plus, Ezra got to hold Adrian's hand under the table and ignore the looks being shot at him from the boys at the soccer table.

"About?" Ezra asked, pulling his blanket up over his face to hide his smile, since it obviously wasn't about to go away on it's own.

"I, well, you see, umm," his father stuttered, standing at the end of Ezra's bed and avoiding his son's eyes. Ezra didn't say anything, just watched the man struggle. "I was very upset about you quitting the soccer team-"

"Dad," Ezra said, dropping the blanket as annoyance temporarily took over his happiness. "Can we not talk about this agai-"

"Wait, Ezra, hear me out," his father pleaded, and despite the eye roll Ezra gave, he nodded for his father to continue. "I was upset because you realized that you didn't want to live out my dream". This was new, and Ezra's fists curled into his blanket. His father was rarely open about his true feelings, so Ezra intended to listen to every single word that left the man's mouth. "You're good at it, son. You work hard and you've been doing it for your entire life, but that's my fault. You didn't do any of that because you love it, but because I loved it, and I didn't realize this until-"

"Dad," Ezra interrupted and his father suddenly fell silent. "That's not true at all. Sure, I started playing soccer because you loved it, but I kept playing because you loved it and I loved it. I don't want you to think that I wasted all of these years of my life doing something that I hated, because I didn't. I love soccer dad. I do. It makes me happier than anything else in the world". Well, almost everything.

His father sat on the end of his bed and looked at him. "Then why did you quit? If it makes you so happy, why did you leave?"

"Because," Ezra began, speaking slowly and hoping his father would understand. "I found something that made me happier, and when it was made clear to me that I couldn't have both, I made my choice".

"Is it really worth it?" he asked Ezra, and he wasn't asking him as if he thought it wasn't, but he was asking him because he was actually curious. Ezra nodded and to his surprise, his father chuckled. "Wow," he began, "This girl must be really special".

Ezra grinned. "You have no idea". He didn't correct his father's feminine pronoun, but knew that was something he'd have to do eventually.

"Do you love her?" His father's eyes were filled with excitement and Ezra felt his smile stretched even further as he thought about just how much he loved Adrian.

"I do". His father stood then, reaching forward to slap him on the shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, kid," he said, and Ezra honestly couldn't remember the last time his father had been proud of him, or at least admitted to being proud of him. Ezra watched as the man went to leave the room, and then glanced over his shoulder to him. "You mother told you that we're going out tonight?" Ezra nodded.