On Thin Ice

47

I had somehow ended up at Micah's house before returning home from Fox's. Thoughts of what happened with Landon earlier in the day pushed me to feel like I had to discuss it with the Hanson's. Or at the very least, I had to discuss it with Micah.

Landon's outburst wasn't all that surprising looking back on it, but I was still curious as to what had led to it. Mr. Hanson must have confronted Landon's father, but I wondered what had actually happened.

Without much more thought, I heaved myself out of the driver's seat and made my way up to the Hanson household and knocked on the door. Mrs. Hanson was the one to answer.

"Elijah," she said, surprise evident on her face. "Is everything alright?"

"Is Micah home?" I asked, looking past her into the house.

She nodded, moving aside so I could step into the house.

"He's in his room," Mrs. Hanson told me. "You can go on up."

It had been a while since I had ascended these steps. Growing up, I had spent a lot of time here and it seemed as if another memory popped into my head with every step I took. Although my relationship with Micah would never be the same, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic as I walked down the familiar hall to his bedroom.

I knocked twice on the door and paused briefly before landing three more swift knocks. This was how Micah and I always knocked on each other's doors when we were friends, so we would always know who was on the other side.

"Elijah?" Micah answered as he whipped open the bedroom door.

"Can we talk?" I asked to which Micah nodded, allowing me into his room and shutting the door behind us.

"What's going on?" Micah asked with concern lacing his tone as he sat down on his bed.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

"Landon came to my school today," I confessed, Micah's eyes widening. "And he was angry. Really angry."

"My dad talked to his parents," he told me. "He told them that if they weren't happy having a gay son, then he could come live with us instead of going with Dave and Susan."

Micah's words surprised me. I didn't know what I thought Mr. Hanson would do for Landon, but I didn't expect him to offer up his home.

"He'd really let him stay here?" I wondered, sitting down beside Micah on the bed.

He nodded, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. "He's doing for Landon what he wished he did for you."

I stared at him in silence.

"He feels guilty for not sticking up for you when Susan kicked you out," Micah continued, looking down at his lap. "We all do."

I looked forward, leaning back on my hands. "That's not important right now. What's important is that we may have made things worse for Landon."

"My dad still thinks he can convince them to leave Landon with us," he replied, causing me to turn my gaze toward him. "I'm thinking convincing Landon to stay with us will be the hard part."

I nodded in agreement. "Probably."

"Things will work out," Micah assured me.

We sat in silence for a few moments. I hadn't thought about how weird it was to be sitting alone with Micah in his bedroom until our conversation ceased. The last time I had been in here was months ago, though it felt like a lifetime.