Chapter Eleven: Uncovered

Syne was nervous. The silence that descended in the room was very much palpable.

   "Excuse me?" Sophie asked softly. She was no longer smiling.

   Chris really looked like he wanted to chicken out and Syne could only cross his fingers.

   "I said", he began, looking straight at her. "Let's break up. I'm tired of being with you".

   "Why the fuck would you want to do that?!" Her voice was rising.

   She looked red in the face, hands squeezed in fists.

   "We're perfect for each other, Chris. Why would you want to break up our amazing– ?" 

   "Oh, fuck off!" Chris spat, standing up, shocking both her and Syne. "We break up every fucking year and it's always you who initiates it, then you go around sleeping with other guys. We've been together for six years, Sophie. Six! Years! And we're going nowhere, I'm going nowhere.

   "You get to do whatever you want, on your terms and usually give some bullshit excuse when asked questions. You don't care about anyone but yourself and I've tried, tried so fucking hard to be patient and understanding, but it's no use. You're just wasting my damn time, Sophie".

   Tears brimmed in Sophie's eyes. "Is it someone else?"

   Syne couldn't help but gape at what he was hearing. Didn't this bitch hear everything her "boyfriend" was screaming about?! Or did she just not care about how he felt. What kind of human being has Chris been dating all these while?

   "Who is it? Who is the motherfucker that convinced you to dump me?!" She shouted, standing up to look at Chris who was fuming silently.

   Syne gasped, shocked as Sophie slapped Chris right in the face.

   "You bastard!" She slapped him again, and again, but he didn't do anything to stop her. She didn't care of course, she started kicking him and slapping him at thesame time.

   Syne was filled with rage as he ran out of the kitchen and pushed his aunt to the floor, away from Chris. He wasn't able to look at Chris properly because he was standing in front of him and looking down at Sophie.

   She looked up at him, expression a mixture of rage and surprise as she came to a conclusion.

   "It's you isn't it?" She sneered. "You're the one he's dumping me for. My own fucking nephew!"

   She stood up, looked at Chris. There was a look of disgust and rage. Her face was so red, it was like smokes were going to come out of her ears and nose.

   "You're a faggot!" She spat.

   "And you're a bitch", Syne replied, angry. "Get the fuck out of here if you have nothing else to say".

   She opened her mouth to talk but this time, it was Chris who spoke.

   "Get the fuck out, Sophie", he said quietly. "The only reason I didn't hit you back is because you're a fucking woman, but if I still see you here within a few meters from me, I'm not going to be so nice".

   Sophie cowered at the threat. She was obviously conflicted, but it took her few seconds to realize that it wasn't worth it trying to see whether Chris would really hit her.

   She glared at both of them as she picked her bag and walked out the door, banging it loudly.

   "I thought I told you to stay in the kitchen", Chris said when Syne looked back at him after staring at the door for a while. 

   Syne shrugged. "I couldn't take her hitting you". He held one of his hands. "Let's go to the bathroom and fix your face".

   Chris gave a small smile. "Okay, you already know where the bathroom is".

   Syne continued holding his hand and led the way. 

   "Told you I could do it".

   Syne rolled his eyes. "Took you six years. I'm glad you did it though, not just for me".

   "Me too".

   Syne stopped walking, faced a confused Chris. He smiled after a few seconds of contemplation, leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

*****

   Mom and Dad, plus, the twins, were analysing Chris after Syne explained all that happened the other day at his house between them and aunt Sophie.

   They didn't really care about what happened to aunt Sophie and were concerned when they saw the marks on Chris's face because of her slap. They were most concerned about Syne who was the 'innocent bystander' though.

   Syne had felt a bit uncertain to let Chris meet his parents just like that after such a big fight, but the older man had insisted.

   "So are you guys dating?" Jayne asked, looking directly at Chris.

   "Good question. Have you asked my brother to be your boyfriend yet?" Her twin joined.

   "Um– "

   "Or are you going to be a dick and break it off before it even started?" His Mom fixed a dark glare at him.

   Syne rolled his eyes, smiling at his father who returned the smile. "Calm down guys, I think you should stop attacking Chris".

   He placed a hand on Chris's arm, bringing him closer to him. "We're going upstairs to my room. I just wanted to tell you guys what happened".

   "Whatever", the twins chorused.

   "At least you're not a coward", Kayne muttered, not caring how loud he was.

   Chris smiled nervously at that. "Yeah, about that…" 

   Syne raised a brow. "What?" He didn't seem willing to follow him.

   "Would you be willing to date me? Even if it's for a while?" He asked. "J– just to see if you still like me– "

   "Of course", Syne answered, a wide smile on his face. 

   He could feel his family members looking at him, they obviously weren't mad since they weren't saying anything terrible, especially the twins.

   "One thing's settled now, thank God", his Dad broke their sweet silence. "Now please, leave my presence, I need to watch something".

   Syne simply chuckled, watching the others leave, holding onto Chris's hand as they walked up the stairs.