Forest~A Stepbrothers AU

Chapter 7

Evan POV

I could hardly wait for my mom to get home.

You know, not because I'm the kind of person who just waits for his mom to come home because he loves her. Nope.

It's because she was coming back from her date.

Okay, okay, hear me out. Yes, I knew she was going on a date. One day, only a few days ago, when Connor was outside (probably getting high, I was trying to break him of that but he was only human), my mom had come back, grabbed my arm, and quickly pulled me into the bathroom.

"What the heck, Mom?" I said.

"Listen, baby, I need to tell you something but you can't tell Connor." Her eyes looked like they were trying to hide something.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why ca-can't I tell Connor?"

"Because he'll freak out and try to go all detective on this guy, I know it."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "What guy?"

"This guy...that I'm dating," she admitted. "Or..."

She turned around and started fussing with her hair. "I'm only off work for thirty minutes...maybe I should just tell you later."

"M-mom. You can't just drag me into a b-bathroom and then say that you're not going to t-tell me what's wrong," I said, tapping my foot, my arms still crossed. I was staring at the back of her head, and as her hands moved, fixing her hair, something glittered on her hand.

I reached out and grabbed it.

It was a ring.

It took all my willpower to not screech out loud. "What is this?" I hissed, not even stuttering at all.

My mom blushed.

My mom!

Blushing!

"It's a ring," she said softly.

"I can see that."

"It's an engagement ring."

"Who gave it to you?" I demanded.

"Evan," she set her hands on my shoulders. "Please calm down. This isn't something to get excited about."

I shrugged off her touch and began to pace the tiny bathroom, taking only a few steps each way. "This isn't something to get excited about? Let's see, my mom who married an abusive man at the age of eighteen, had me at NINETEEN, finally got up the courage to divorce him when I was five years old, is still dealing with emotional trauma from her previous marriage, just got engaged again and I haven't even met her fiance, been asked about this, or given any warning! I think this is something to get excited about!"

I didn't realize I was scratching my arms until my mom pulled my hands away and held them tightly. "Evan. Shush. Look at me."

Apparently I also had tears running down my face. I tugged a hand free and wiped my tears away.

"I'm sorry that I haven't taken you to meet this man yet," my mom said calmly. "Wait-" realizing something. "Let me start over.

"I'm sorry for my past. I was rushing into things and trying to keep myself safe. Turns out I was only putting myself in more danger." She chuckled weakly.

"But as I saw you grow up, as I saw you become who you are today, I knew what I had to do to protect you. So I divorced your father, and then I devoted myself entirely to you. And I don't regret any of it. Shush," she said as I opened my mouth to talk. "I don't, Evan, I promise. If I could go back to when you were five years old, I wouldn't change a thing.

"I'm sorry for not introducing you to my fiance. But I'm taking a leap of faith with this man. I trust him. I-" she stopped abruptly, swallowed, and continued. "I love him. And I need you to trust him, too. He has a very nice son, and I haven't met him yet, but I've heard all good things. Like I said, I'm trusting. And I need you to, as well."

I realized that even though I had wiped tears away, I was still crying.

"Okay, Mom."

She threw her arms around me, and we hugged for a long time.

Knock knock knock.

"Ev? Are you okay?"

It was Connor.

"Yep, I'm fine!" I called back, hoping my voice didn't squeak.

"Okay, babe. I just wanted to let you know we're out of milk."

I looked at my mom, and her face was disappointed, but her eyes were laughing.

Michael POV

(I feel like there hasn't been enough Michael lately)

I knocked at Jeremy's door and stood there, bouncing on my tiptoes while I waited, humming Bob Marley under my breath. It took a while and I heard hushed voices.

"I'll get it, Dad."

"Jeremy, you're sick."

"And you're on a date."

"Paul? Are you coming?"

"Yes, just a second, sweetie pie. Jeremy-"

"Dad, I'll get it. It's probably Michael anyway. Go back to Heidi."

There were a few more moments of obviously reluctant silence, and then Jeremy opened the door for a split second before we realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt. It was only a split second, but it was enough for both of us to blush furiously and him to slam the door and run upstairs.

I waited, the cold December air cooling my face, for just a few minutes before he opened the door again, this time wearing a shirt.

"Sorry..." he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"No problem." Then, desperate to change the subject, I said, "Who's Heidi?"

"Come in," he said grimly.

I walked inside the house and was hit with a blast of warm air and the smell of chicken noodle soup. We went up the stairs to Jeremy's room and I sat down in his blue beanbag that he kept in his room. He flopped on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Spill."

He sighed.

"My dad has a girlfriend! My dad! And he's dating her and she has a kid who's applying for colleges and she wants to meet me and I think they want to get married!" he blurted.

"Have you met this kid yet?" I asked.

"I haven't even met her."

"I'm guessing you don't like this."

He sat up and stared directly into my eyes, making me flush. "This sucks."

Sorry this has such a flat ending! I hope you enjoyed anyway. Also, I'm having serious writer's block, so next update might be a little late.

ED :)