Dinner was served as the enormous feast was on the table. A mouthwatering turkey was the centrepiece of today's meal. A mountain of mashed potatoes was also served, along with stuffing, a mixed vegetable casserole, green beans and corn, cranberry sauce, gravy and bread rolls.

Adrian sat besides his mother, intercepting the spot so that he was also besides Julian, and across from Brody.

They were about to dig in when Julian decided to make a speech. Clinking the knife against his glass, "I just wanted to say that I'm glad we could all be here today, to celebrate this joyous occasion. It's a shame that not everybody could be here today, but I'm glad that we still have the time for each other, when we are allowed to see each other of course."

Everybody looked around the table, confused about that last bit of the sentence. But Sally looked away as she just accepted it.

"To spending more time as a family." While everyone seemed to cheer with their glasses, Sally just drank her large glass of wine and ignored Julian's speech.

Adrian reached for his mother's hand that was on the table, and gave it a loving squeeze. Sally looked back at her son and her heart bloomed because of that action.

After mouthing a 'thank you,' they all began to start eating.

~~~~~~~~~~

The conversation at the table was uplifting after the speech. Susie's husband had video called them and apologised for not making it, being called up abroad at last minute. Everyone had complimented the chef's cooking, who had to thank her 2 helpers for today. Things became more exciting when Sally talked to her sister about planning another trip to Europe together, some time after Christmas.

Julian began talking to Adrian again, still at the dinner table as everybody was still eating. "You need to eat more son, so you're strong like your dad was."

Adrian watched as Julian added some more turkey onto his plate, stating that protein was good for him. "Can you tell me more about my dad?" It had been over 12 years since his dad passed away and since Adrian was young when he died, his memories of him became less clearer.

Julian lightened up about reminiscing over his precious and beloved son. "Well when he was your age, he was on a lot of teams - sports, academic, and even extra curricular activities. He was very bright, handsome, and you remind me of him every time I see a picture of you. The resemblance is uncanny."

Adrian felt emotional about his father being spoken so well about. "That makes me like the opposite of him then." Adrian laughed, with him feeling a little bit of sad bittersweet inside of him.

"You've still got plenty of time son, you inherited your good looks from him. Plus you're still young, probably a heartbreaker just like him."

Adrian looked back at his grandad, interested. "He was a heartbreaker?"

Julian laughed at remembering all the different girls that used to ask him out after a match. "There were always a lot of girls who were interested in him. He should have explored those options more when he was younger, maybe things could have been different."

Adrian didn't understand, "What do you mean by that?"

"Calvin shouldn't have been tied down so soon, he was 22 when he had to put everything on hold, and become a father and a husband."

Learning about his grandfather's perspective about his father, Adrian felt intimidated under the aggression from Julian's voice.

"What are you suggesting, like he was forced into all of this?"

"Us men in our family are brought up with traditional, family values. We as men must do our part and fulfil our roles that we were taught by our fathers. Your dad was going to law school, he would have had a great job and earned lots of money. Next would be a nice house, and then a wife and child - not like how his life turned out."

If Adrian understood it correctly, Julian was saying his father was forced to raise his family and put everything on hold, to take care of them the right and old fashioned way.

Adrian summarised everything his grandfather said in his mind. 'That's why grandad hates mom, he blames her for holding dad back and not letting him achieve more before he died.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Across the table, a young and attractive Crystal was talking to the other non-related person who was at a similar age to herself.

"You really do look familiar." Crystal said as she looked at Brody's complexion.

Brody seemed to laugh it off, "Maybe I have one of those faces?"

Crystal shook her head as if the sudden action would jog her memory. "It will come back to me. Anyway, Adrian says you also play hockey for your school?"

"Yeah, it's kind of how we met. My school had some issues and because of them I had to practice at Adrian's school."

"Scandals? Now I'm even more interested." Crystal said with excitement as she enjoyed gossip from her childhood home town.

"Young pregnancies, money laundering, school violence, stabbings and psychopaths. There's quite a bit frankly."

"This does sound really familiar," Crystal laughed, "What's the school called?"

"Stonebrook Academy."

"Stonebrook, why does that sound familiar?" And then Crystal seemed to remember hearing about it, "One of the students stabbed my cousin, am I right?"

Brody look away nervously as he nodded apologetically, "Yeah, from my school."

"And the dude was a psycho wasn't he? I mean the news spread to my campus, how some rich kid stabbed some random guy at work because of some relationship issues."

Crystal then seemed to remember why she recognised Brody's face. "He was you ex boyfriend wasn't he?! The guy that stabbed Adrian?!"

Crystal's raised voice seem to get everyone's attention, with their eyes staring at the pair who were talking privately.

"Wait what is she talking about?" Sylvia asked.

Crystal seemed to regret bringing up Adrian's attack over dinner. "Sorry, I think I just heard wrong or something. Just forget about it."

"We aren't talking to you anymore," Julian said as he then stared at the person besides her. "My wife was asking you a question Brody, speak up - now!"

Adrian tried to intervene from where was sitting and change the subject. "We don't need to talk about this now, maybe we can-"

"Adrian, do not interrupt when your grandfather is talking!" Julian yelled.

Julian then dropped his cutlery and pointed his dagger like fingers at Brody. "You! You can dare to be friends with my grandson after everything your friend did, everything your boyfriend did?"

Julian spat the word 'boyfriend' with so much disgust, as he grew furious about being in the same room as Brody.

"I'm sorry." Brody apologised, feeling so small and weak from his seat.

Julian let out a harsh breath as his face began to turn red with rage. "This is disgusting, you're shamelessness is horrendous and you still dare to be around my grandson? You are sick in the head, just like all of you people!"

"Julian!" Sally yelled out loud, gobsmacked by his words.

"Don't you dare interrupt me Sally!" The viciousness from his voice made Sally sink back into her seat.

"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Susie yelled back. "And don't talk about Brody like that either, that young man has been nothing but kind hearted and friendly towards us all today."

Brody didn't want to be that weak person anymore, the kind of person who felt guilty about things that weren't under his control. He already did enough self blaming when Adrian was in the hospital, but no more. Brody wasn't going to be the punching bag over something he wasn't responsible for. And he wasn't going to take being verbally assaulted because of his sexuality either, Brody was repulsed by Julian's choice of words.

"I am not sick in the head! Just because I like men, as well as women, does NOT make me sick in the head." Brody fought back proudly. "I have no shame to feel, because I did NOT do anything wrong."

Julian walked up to Brody and pushed him slightly when he walked too close. "Didn't do anything wrong? You are sick in the head, thinking that you can be friends with my grandson after he was stabbed because of your disgusting lover. Your existence alone is wrong, swanning around here and trying to prey on a vulnerable Adrian to use, to turn into god forsaken heathen with untraditional and disturbing beliefs."

Adrian stood up from his chair as the anger inside him reached boiling point. "You can't talk to Brody like that, and you can't treat my mother like this either! How dare you invite yourself round here, and spread your horrible venom towards my family like that."

Julian then stomped back to square up against Adrian. "Family?! You want to talk about family?! You call that sick in the head, shameless freak, family?! And then your mother, who taught you that you can speak to your elders like this? Your so called mother who dragged my precious son down into an early grave, that is your family?!"

Adrian felt the pit in his stomach become a valley of despair. His hatred for the man, who dared to bring the memory of his father down, grew too big. And Adrian couldn't take being around that man any longer.

"My mom has done EVERYTHING for me growing up. With my dad gone, there was nobody else in the family who showed me just a smidgen of how much she loved me. And Brody? You have no idea of all the things Brody has done for me, all the ways that Brody has helped me. I've only known him for 2 months, but they are probably the best 2 months of my grown up life. I don't need YOU in my life, YOU are not my family."

Sally proudly joined her son as they presented a united front against the older man in front of them.

"Get out, now." Sally added, "It's despicable you could even come into our home and dishonour Calvin's name like that. He loved the both of us with all of his heart, and he showed it every single day."

Sally became teary eyed and emotional as she spoke so dearly about her husband. "Calvin chose us as family, and we brought up an amazing son in the short amount of time he was around. Together we taught Adrian our own values of kindness, integrity, principles and morality. So like how Calvin chose us, we choose for you to leave."

Julian turned back to look at Adrian, left ashamed by how Adrian turned out. From a promising young man that resembled his own son, to this young disappointment of a boy in front of him.

"You defending a man like that, it makes me sick to call you my grandson. Clearly the lack of your father's presence made you accustom to your mother's awful judgement. And her lack of parenting skills damned you to walk this Earth as a regretful stain in my bloodline."

Sally couldn't stand how Julian was talking about her own son like that. Enough was enough, and they didn't have to hear it anymore. "We don't ever want to see you again Julian, and you're never allowed back in our home again."

Susie got up from her chair and opened the door for Julian. "You heard my sister, she told you to get out. Nobody wants you here."

Julian had his head held high, spitting on floor before he left with his wife behind him. The room was evicted of the negative source of energy as they drove away without ever looking back.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner was ended early as Sally's parents and sister were around her, trying to support her in the way that she needed right now.

Meanwhile upstairs, Brody took Adrian to his room, hoping he could help calm him down after today's blowup.

"You're pacing." Brody called out, already being able to identify what was going to happen next.

"Julian is such a fucking asshole, thinking that he could be absent in all of my life, yet spout out the crap that makes me want to roll around in my own vomit and claim it's all true."

Brody didn't want to defend the guy, Julian became extra cruel to Brody once the news about Sam and his own sexuality came out. They were getting on so well earlier, but when he found out that Brody likes men, he suddenly treated Brody like the mud that was stuck on the bottom of his shoes.

"Maybe it's just a generation thing. It takes more than one dinner to change a person's entire upbringing. It's the sad truth these days, they're too stubborn to adapt into the new world."

Adrian looked at Brody and listened to him, then turned back to pace the floor. "It still doesn't give that senile old man the right to treat the people I love like that."

"Love?" Brody asked, heart beating fast at hearing the small, 4 letter word.

"Well yeah. My dad is dead but Julian was speaking as if he knew my father better than my own mom did. He was using my father's name to try and shame the both of us. And then there's how he's been treating my mom all these years. To think she took all of those verbal beating for years, just for my dad, to only continue being berated by that delusional asshole even after she had no obligation to do so when my dad died."

Brody couldn't lie to himself when he felt a little bit disappointed when Adrian wasn't talking about him. Maybe it was too soon? "Oh."

Adrian looked back in Brody's eyes and found the courage he needed. "And, umm, you."

"Me?" Brody asked, not sure if he believed what he just heard.

Adrian was suddenly on cloud 9, as he worked up the courage and bravery to speak honestly from his heart, now grabbing Brody's hands for comfort.

"I've never been in love before, I wasn't actually sure if what I felt was even love, but it's the way you make me feel that I'm sure it's love. We could be studying in the library together, eating dinner at your place, sleeping in the same bed, or loads of other stuff. Every time we're together you make me feel so cherished, so safe and protected, and there's the butterflies feelings whenever I see you."

Adrian became flushed with embarrassment, but he continued speaking earnestly as his heart was on his sleeves. "The way you make me feel is just indescribable to put into a few words, but I know I want to continue feeling like this for as long as we're together."

If Brody had to describe how he felt with one word, in this very moment, it would be glowing. Brody felt like his body was on fire, radiating with positive energy because of the man in front of him, expressing all of his feelings to Brody. He was still in shock at how powerful Adrian's words were to him.

"Adrian, I-"

Adrian rolled off the bed as he interrupted Brody, pacing the floor again. "Look I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable spot or anything. I'm not trying to get you to say-"

"I love you." Brody finally confessed out loud to Adrian.

Adrian was still having trouble explaining what he wanted to say as he continued talking out loud. "Yeah that, I don't want to pressure you into saying-"

"I love you Adrian." Brody repeated to a still oblivious Adrian.

"Geez let me finish already you jerk!" Adrian laughed.

Brody had enough of this little bit, so he stood up and held Adrian in place so he would stop moving, and could listen to him properly.

"I. Love. You. Too."

Adrian's heart grew bigger than the grinch's after he saved Christmas. The smile on his face showed it as he looked back into Brody's eyes, clear as day to see that he meant it.

"Really?" Adrian seemed to get caught mixing up his spoken voice with his inside head voice.

Brody wholeheartedly laughed back at Adrian, adoring and loving the man in front of him. "Yes you dork, I love you."

With one more award winning smile, Adrian wrapped his arms around Brody as he began to passionately kiss the man he loved.

==========