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“It’s not exactly easy worrying about the both of you, by the way.” Flynn was curled up beside his husband and he sighed into Quinn’s hair. Quinn was in a coma and now Flynn’s best friend was missing. If anything happened to Deirdre now, Flynn might just die of internal combustion. He was mostly there already.
Flynn was about to say more when he heard a sound and he glanced up just in time to see Quinn’s birth parents entering the room. He panicked internally, and he jumped up off of the bed, shooting away from Quinn as if he had just been caught doing something wrong. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, staring down at his ratty Converse instead of looking up at Susanna and Dermot.
“How is our son?” Susanna asked, her voice soft. Flynn was too distracted to notice she was trying to set him at ease. After so many years of feeling like Quinn’s birth parents hated him, it was hard to convince himself otherwise. Flynn had sat by Quinn’s side while he healed before, and Quinn’s parents had treated him with open hostility. They had gotten better over the past year and it had been Mr Quinn who had brought up the idea of a civil union to begin with. Now Quinn was lying in a coma having been injured by Flynn’s brother for that very thing. The Quinns had blamed Flynn for their son’s injuries before. He was terrified it would happen again.
“Uh…you know, he’s the same,” Flynn replied, feeling very twitchy. “I didn’t…I just got here, I wasn’t doing anything.”
Dermot didn’t look like he cared, nor did he look all that comfortable. He took a chair that was as far from Quinn as possible and he sat in it, staring out the window. Susanna, however, took a few steps closer to Flynn, though she stopped when he backed away. Flynn was a different person now than the headstrong boy who had refused to leave an injured Quinn’s room at the curious age of sixteen. He knew the Quinns couldn’t hurt him physically, but his shy demeanor was more a reflection of his guilt.
“We appreciate you staying with him, Malachy. Don’t we, Dermot?”
Dermot grunted.
“Thank you,” Susanna smiled. “Have the doctors said anything?”
“Uhm…just that he’s still. You know. In a coma.” Flynn felt completely at a loss with these two, and now, to top it off, he felt like an idiot for pointing out the obvious. “They said he erm…he’ll wake up in his own time and we shouldn’t be worried.” Flynn took a chance then, even though he felt like he might throw up from being here with them. “But I am anyway.”
Susanna managed to close the distance between them without causing Flynn to run away. She hugged him and he let her, even if the act did confuse him. Affection coming from Susanna Quinn was not normal. “So are we,” she said while he was in her arms.
“I just want to talk to him,” Flynn continued, hoping that this bonding could continue however grim the subject happened to be. He hoped Quinn could hear them relating. He hoped it made Quinn happy… “Our friend Renee was in a coma a while back and it’s…it’s just so hard waiting.”
“It is,” Susanna sighed. She let Flynn lean against her and it felt good to relax.
Flynn bit the bullet, because it felt like there was an elephant in the room and he had enough to deal with at the moment without adding elephants to the mix. A big, damn herd of parental-issuey elephants. “My brother did this to him because we got married.” Flynn made sure he sounded quite distressed about that, which was easy because he rather was.
“We know,” Susanna acknowledged quietly. She did not move away from him.
“You uhm…you once said that was my fault.” Flynn cleared his throat and then he turned to look at Susanna, since Dermot was successfully ignoring him. “When Frankie hurt Quinn in Whitehead, you said I was to blame and you practically barred me from your home.” He wasn't accusing them of anything, he simply wanted to know what had changed.
“Flynn, we can see clearly you love him now. And we’re very glad Quinn is with someone who is so constant in his affection for our son. Back then…we didn’t understand,” Susanna sighed, reaching for Flynn’s hand. “We didn’t know it was…we didn’t know you loved him.” Her voice was quiet and regretful. “Ardal had never really…we didn’t know our son was gay, he never told us! Ardal always told us everything we needed to know. All the important things. His relationship with you was different. You kept it secret and Dermot and I assumed you were just friends!”
Flynn refrained from pointing out that Quinn had had to go to them with important things because they had paid very little attention to him growing up. He also didn’t mention that they had hidden their relationship because of the Quinns and the way they treated Flynn, though Frankie had certainly contributed to that too. “But I obviously cared about him…”
“We thought you were just using him for schoolwork or for whatever other reason,” Susanna sighed. “He said you were bringing his homework to him when he was injured…we just assumed you were doing it to be self-serving. We saw our boy falling in with a bad crowd, and we didn’t want that for him. We didn’t want Ardal surrounded by violence…”
Flynn sighed and he looked over at poor, pacifist Quinn. “He never would have let himself get involved with someone if they were violent.” Flynn knew that well. He did not say that if they had known their son better, they would have been aware of that. They could have trusted his judgment.
“We didn’t know you had changed either. You two were just so…secretive. You didn’t let us understand, and then he ran away to be with you and we just assumed we’d been proven right.”
“And then I called you,” Flynn said quietly. Quinn had been with him on the streets of Dublin for four months and by the end of that time, it was obvious it was going to kill him. Flynn had gone to two people who hated him for help in order to save Quinn’s life. It had been one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make, and certainly the hardest ever up to that point.
“And then you called,” Susanna said quietly. “When Ardal got back to us he was different. He told us you were in love and he used to go wait by your house to see if you would show up again. Your brother’s friends threatened him and we had no way to understand the situation or our boy so we sent him to my sister…” Susanna swept her hands through her white-blond hair. “It’s hard to own up to the fact that someone else knows your child better than you ever have. We were so ready to blame you for everything and then you saved his life. He…he never told us what it was like for him out there.”
Flynn chewed on his lip and he watched the steady rise and fall of Quinn’s chest. Very carefully, and because he could, he said, “I forgive you.” He turned his grey eyes back to meet Susanna’s green ones. They were so like Quinn’s it was painful. “Whatever assumptions were made don’t matter anymore. Okay?”
Susanna nodded, looking terrible relieved. "Oh, Malachy. Thank you.”
It felt like a huge weight had lifted from everyone’s shoulders, even Dermot who was now watching them carefully instead of staring out the window. Flynn and Susanna finally sat down, and Dermot pulled his chair over. “What do you want to know about Dublin?” Flynn asked quietly. “Ask anything, I don’t mind.”
“Was…was he scared?” Susanna asked quietly.
“Yes,” Flynn nodded. “We both were.”
“Where did…where did you stay?” she asked, reaching for her husband’s hand.
“We avoided shelters because Quinn was a runaway and they report you if you check in. Uhm…most of the time, we found empty buildings. There was an office block we stayed in a lot because it was relatively empty. It had been locked up, but I can…you know…it’s not an obstacle…” Considering he had broken in to their home before, that was a touchy subject, but they did not react so he carried on. “Dublin has a lot of empty houses as you move further out into the poorer suburbs. Those can be dangerous though because other people want them too. We got chased out of them a few times. And there were some unfortunate nights we couldn’t find a place so we were out in the open…”
“It was winter!” Susanna cried in shock.
“Yeah. It blew,” Flynn grumbled. “I could never sleep then. I was too afraid I’d wake up and Quinn would be hurt or dying from exposure. I watched him all night long. One time he actually had hypothermia and I had to warm him up…” Flynn saw that Susanna looked distressed and he reached out to pat her arm. “It’s okay. It’s all okay now.” Or…it would be when Quinn woke up.
“What did you eat?” Susanna asked, her voice wavering.
“Erm…that’s, heh. That’s a slightly yucky topic.”
"I don't want to know," Susanna said, flapping her hands about. "Malachy, I want you to know we're sorry-"
Flynn smiled at her then and he interrupted her so she wouldn't go farther. "I already said you're forgiven. And if there's more to say, maybe we should wait until Quinn wakes up. I think he could do with hearing it too?"
"That's a good point," Dermot said, and Flynn smiled at him too.
"I'll give you some time alone with him, but I'll be back soon." And with that, Flynn leaned down to kiss his husband in front of the in-laws that had once treated him like garbage, and he didn't fear their hatred. Then he slipped out of the room, leaving parents with their son.
Flynn was about to say more when he heard a sound and he glanced up just in time to see Quinn’s birth parents entering the room. He panicked internally, and he jumped up off of the bed, shooting away from Quinn as if he had just been caught doing something wrong. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, staring down at his ratty Converse instead of looking up at Susanna and Dermot.
“How is our son?” Susanna asked, her voice soft. Flynn was too distracted to notice she was trying to set him at ease. After so many years of feeling like Quinn’s birth parents hated him, it was hard to convince himself otherwise. Flynn had sat by Quinn’s side while he healed before, and Quinn’s parents had treated him with open hostility. They had gotten better over the past year and it had been Mr Quinn who had brought up the idea of a civil union to begin with. Now Quinn was lying in a coma having been injured by Flynn’s brother for that very thing. The Quinns had blamed Flynn for their son’s injuries before. He was terrified it would happen again.
“Uh…you know, he’s the same,” Flynn replied, feeling very twitchy. “I didn’t…I just got here, I wasn’t doing anything.”
Dermot didn’t look like he cared, nor did he look all that comfortable. He took a chair that was as far from Quinn as possible and he sat in it, staring out the window. Susanna, however, took a few steps closer to Flynn, though she stopped when he backed away. Flynn was a different person now than the headstrong boy who had refused to leave an injured Quinn’s room at the curious age of sixteen. He knew the Quinns couldn’t hurt him physically, but his shy demeanor was more a reflection of his guilt.
“We appreciate you staying with him, Malachy. Don’t we, Dermot?”
Dermot grunted.
“Thank you,” Susanna smiled. “Have the doctors said anything?”
“Uhm…just that he’s still. You know. In a coma.” Flynn felt completely at a loss with these two, and now, to top it off, he felt like an idiot for pointing out the obvious. “They said he erm…he’ll wake up in his own time and we shouldn’t be worried.” Flynn took a chance then, even though he felt like he might throw up from being here with them. “But I am anyway.”
Susanna managed to close the distance between them without causing Flynn to run away. She hugged him and he let her, even if the act did confuse him. Affection coming from Susanna Quinn was not normal. “So are we,” she said while he was in her arms.
“I just want to talk to him,” Flynn continued, hoping that this bonding could continue however grim the subject happened to be. He hoped Quinn could hear them relating. He hoped it made Quinn happy… “Our friend Renee was in a coma a while back and it’s…it’s just so hard waiting.”
“It is,” Susanna sighed. She let Flynn lean against her and it felt good to relax.
Flynn bit the bullet, because it felt like there was an elephant in the room and he had enough to deal with at the moment without adding elephants to the mix. A big, damn herd of parental-issuey elephants. “My brother did this to him because we got married.” Flynn made sure he sounded quite distressed about that, which was easy because he rather was.
“We know,” Susanna acknowledged quietly. She did not move away from him.
“You uhm…you once said that was my fault.” Flynn cleared his throat and then he turned to look at Susanna, since Dermot was successfully ignoring him. “When Frankie hurt Quinn in Whitehead, you said I was to blame and you practically barred me from your home.” He wasn't accusing them of anything, he simply wanted to know what had changed.
“Flynn, we can see clearly you love him now. And we’re very glad Quinn is with someone who is so constant in his affection for our son. Back then…we didn’t understand,” Susanna sighed, reaching for Flynn’s hand. “We didn’t know it was…we didn’t know you loved him.” Her voice was quiet and regretful. “Ardal had never really…we didn’t know our son was gay, he never told us! Ardal always told us everything we needed to know. All the important things. His relationship with you was different. You kept it secret and Dermot and I assumed you were just friends!”
Flynn refrained from pointing out that Quinn had had to go to them with important things because they had paid very little attention to him growing up. He also didn’t mention that they had hidden their relationship because of the Quinns and the way they treated Flynn, though Frankie had certainly contributed to that too. “But I obviously cared about him…”
“We thought you were just using him for schoolwork or for whatever other reason,” Susanna sighed. “He said you were bringing his homework to him when he was injured…we just assumed you were doing it to be self-serving. We saw our boy falling in with a bad crowd, and we didn’t want that for him. We didn’t want Ardal surrounded by violence…”
Flynn sighed and he looked over at poor, pacifist Quinn. “He never would have let himself get involved with someone if they were violent.” Flynn knew that well. He did not say that if they had known their son better, they would have been aware of that. They could have trusted his judgment.
“We didn’t know you had changed either. You two were just so…secretive. You didn’t let us understand, and then he ran away to be with you and we just assumed we’d been proven right.”
“And then I called you,” Flynn said quietly. Quinn had been with him on the streets of Dublin for four months and by the end of that time, it was obvious it was going to kill him. Flynn had gone to two people who hated him for help in order to save Quinn’s life. It had been one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make, and certainly the hardest ever up to that point.
“And then you called,” Susanna said quietly. “When Ardal got back to us he was different. He told us you were in love and he used to go wait by your house to see if you would show up again. Your brother’s friends threatened him and we had no way to understand the situation or our boy so we sent him to my sister…” Susanna swept her hands through her white-blond hair. “It’s hard to own up to the fact that someone else knows your child better than you ever have. We were so ready to blame you for everything and then you saved his life. He…he never told us what it was like for him out there.”
Flynn chewed on his lip and he watched the steady rise and fall of Quinn’s chest. Very carefully, and because he could, he said, “I forgive you.” He turned his grey eyes back to meet Susanna’s green ones. They were so like Quinn’s it was painful. “Whatever assumptions were made don’t matter anymore. Okay?”
Susanna nodded, looking terrible relieved. "Oh, Malachy. Thank you.”
It felt like a huge weight had lifted from everyone’s shoulders, even Dermot who was now watching them carefully instead of staring out the window. Flynn and Susanna finally sat down, and Dermot pulled his chair over. “What do you want to know about Dublin?” Flynn asked quietly. “Ask anything, I don’t mind.”
“Was…was he scared?” Susanna asked quietly.
“Yes,” Flynn nodded. “We both were.”
“Where did…where did you stay?” she asked, reaching for her husband’s hand.
“We avoided shelters because Quinn was a runaway and they report you if you check in. Uhm…most of the time, we found empty buildings. There was an office block we stayed in a lot because it was relatively empty. It had been locked up, but I can…you know…it’s not an obstacle…” Considering he had broken in to their home before, that was a touchy subject, but they did not react so he carried on. “Dublin has a lot of empty houses as you move further out into the poorer suburbs. Those can be dangerous though because other people want them too. We got chased out of them a few times. And there were some unfortunate nights we couldn’t find a place so we were out in the open…”
“It was winter!” Susanna cried in shock.
“Yeah. It blew,” Flynn grumbled. “I could never sleep then. I was too afraid I’d wake up and Quinn would be hurt or dying from exposure. I watched him all night long. One time he actually had hypothermia and I had to warm him up…” Flynn saw that Susanna looked distressed and he reached out to pat her arm. “It’s okay. It’s all okay now.” Or…it would be when Quinn woke up.
“What did you eat?” Susanna asked, her voice wavering.
“Erm…that’s, heh. That’s a slightly yucky topic.”
"I don't want to know," Susanna said, flapping her hands about. "Malachy, I want you to know we're sorry-"
Flynn smiled at her then and he interrupted her so she wouldn't go farther. "I already said you're forgiven. And if there's more to say, maybe we should wait until Quinn wakes up. I think he could do with hearing it too?"
"That's a good point," Dermot said, and Flynn smiled at him too.
"I'll give you some time alone with him, but I'll be back soon." And with that, Flynn leaned down to kiss his husband in front of the in-laws that had once treated him like garbage, and he didn't fear their hatred. Then he slipped out of the room, leaving parents with their son.
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