A Coalition Story

Cal Does Have a Heart (Hypothetically)

"Cal. I thought you were done with your experimenting," Meg greeted her brother, sitting down at his lunch table. He groaned at the sound of her voice, but didn't look up at first. Not until she called his relationship with Torin an experiment.

"Meg. I thought you were done being a snob. Guess things don't end up how we thought they would," he retorted with icy eyes. She gave him a flat look.

"I don't care about who you date, Excalibur. But I do care that Daddy approves, because I'm not letting you abandon us, and if you keep dating your boy toy, then you'll have made your choice. I know you think you love him, Cal, but you love your family more. So pick before Daddy finds out." Meg stood again, and gave her brother a hard look before stalking off in the direction she must have come from.

Cal sighed, maybe a touch dramatically, and placed his head in his hands. He hated to admit it, and he hated even more to admit that she was right, but Meg was right. Aldric Cole did not tolerate same sex relationships. He'd made that very clear the one time Cal had been caught staring at a hot guy in the grocery store at age 13. Cal could date and sleep with anyone, so long as that anyone was a woman. Except Torin wasn't a woman. And Cal was completely in love with him.

But his family.

Meg was right. Cal couldn't abandon his family. At least not until Meg was out of the house and away from that toxic household. And then his mom... He wasn't close with his mom, but he still saw the subtle abuse and manipulation his father put her through. Cal couldn't leave his mother to go through that alone. And he especially couldn't make her lose a child, too. Avalon and Erik barely came home as it was.

No, Cal couldn't abandon his family. Not yet, at least.

Swearing loudly, he picked up his try and brought it over to the trash area. So much for eating lunch today. And definitely no eating lunch with Torin, today, either.

Cal hated himself sometimes, and he wanted to hate his family even more. But he couldn't. Family came first, whether he wanted them to or not.

Pushing through the doors of the cafeteria with a ferocious glare on his face, he nearly ran Torin over. Great.

"Excalibur? What's wrong?" he asked, catching his boyfriend's wrist in his hand gently. Something was definitely wrong. Cal walked angrily 100% of the time, yes, but this was way more than usual.

"Not right now, Sloane," Cal hissed, the fury in his eyes that was directed at his boyfriend burning only for his father instead. Torin stepped back, pulling the other man with him and out into the hall. A fight was coming, and they did not need to make another scene in the cafeteria.

"Excalibur, I'm not about to let you break up with me again. Don't tell me you don't care about me," Torin growled, already sensing exactly where this was headed again. Cal didn't call him Sloane when he was happy.

"No? Well I don't care. Let go of me and get out of my way," he hissed, giving the shorter man a single chance to drop his hand. If not, well, Cal wouldn't be gentle. Even if it would be a shame to break Torin's beautiful face. Luckily for both of them, he dropped his hand.

"Leave me alone for good, Sloane. No more coming up to me and begging for me to take you back, okay? I'm done with you. For good," Cal spat out, stalking away. He left Torin staring after him, confusion and hurt eating away at his soul. Somebody had gotten into Cal's head once again, and Torin had a stinking suspicion that it wouldn't be so easy to get them out this time.