New York • Sean & Kaycee

The Parents - End

If this is what an interrogation felt like, they'd really much rather go back to the yelling.

WHAT?!

YOU'RE TOGETHER?

TWO WHOLE MONTHS?

HOW IN THE WORLD DID THIS HAPPEN?

YOU'VE BEEN LYING TO US?!

Needless to say, dinner was quickly forgotten. Utensils were tossed down, Laura downed her wine way too quickly, and Oreo got scared away. It wasn't a pretty sight, a dizzying hurricane happening all at once.

Laura and Miya were on their feet, shouting simultaneously at both teens, neither of whom could find an opening to explain. Brad frowned and threw questions, a loud bass underscoring their mother's tone near-shrieks. But what unsettled Sean the most was his father, who simply sat there, looking directly at him with disapproval.

Their siblings excused themselves but their parents paid them no mind, too preoccupied with the duo's confession.

And when the voices died down, it was replaced by a quiet simmering static. Laura and Miya sat back down, both breathing heavily.

"Explain." Brad commanded.

So they did.

They tried their best to remain truthful, only leaving out a few parts. Like the whole Dylan fiasco, and Sean leaving home for a week, and Kaycee barely eating and sleeping without him, and the dramatic reunion followed by...bodily activities.

Okay, so a lot. They left out a lot. But they managed to weave together a parent-friendly version of the story that they could digest without getting into more trouble than they were already in.

And once Sean and Kaycee were done talking, Miya dismissed them so that the parents could confer on their fates.

It was odd, being on the other side of the fence. Sean and Kaycee were hardly ever scolded, and never for anything they did together.

Both teens sat at the kitchen table, comforted by their siblings. To their credit, the older Lew sisters and the Rices managed to hold their tongues, saving their burning questions until after the storm blew over.

After an excruciating amount of time (twenty minutes, Serris said), Sean and Kaycee were called into the living room to face the council.

They stood side by side, facing a couch full of their glaring parents. Kaycee's hand tingled as the warmth of Sean's knuckles brushed against hers by accident. She bit her cheek, wanting nothing more than to grab on to him for comfort and reassurance. But she kept her cool, knowing that any sign of affection, whilst okay on a normal day, might just cause an aneurysm at this point.

For a long time, no one spoke nor moved. Just like one of those old Western cowboy movies where the two parties stared each other down trying to gauge who shoots the first bullet, no one spoke nor moved, transforming the awkward tension into palpable electricity.

"Someone please say something?" Kaycee broke the silence, having had enough. She wanted to get it over with. There was no point in making them suffer more.

"Fine, I'll go." Laura sighed, meeting her daughter's worried gaze with a glare of her own. "Why did you two lie to us, huh? For two months. You had all the time in the world."

"That one's on me," Sean answered quickly, grabbing Kaycee's wrist to signal that he had it. She glanced down at his thumb circling against her pulse point.

I've got you, his touch said.

"I wanted us to take some time to settle everything first, just between us." Sean continued. "It took us a long time to get to this place, and I felt like we needed the privacy to figure things out before everyone in on it. Our partnership was always a family affair, and we knew that taking this step was bigger than us. I'm sorry I made us lie, I really am. So please don't be mad at Kaycee for this."