Chapter 57: Chapter Fifty-Seven

Omniscient Narrative

"Mom, this isn't a phase. This is my reality!" Dylan's frustration surged, sparking a fire inside him. "You're not going to change who I am with your words." He was so angry at her. 

"Your reality? You're going to destroy your reality if you keep this up! Don't you understand? This isn't just wrong—it's dangerous!" Margaret's anger twisted into something more toxic, layering her criticism with threats. "You'll get hurt, you'll be alone. You won't have a future if you continue down this path." She had veins popping on her forehead as she yelled at her 'son'. 

A sob escaped Dylan's throat, a mixture of sadness and anger bubbling within him. "If you loved me, you'd want me to be happy, not miserable and lying about who I am." He cried out to her, she was his mother, why was she being this way?.

Moments passed in silence, and he could hear the heavy breaths from the other end. When she spoke again, her voice was a harsh whisper. "If you're looking for acceptance, you can forget it. You're bringing shame to this family, Dylan." She truthfully told him. 

"Shame? This is who I am! Why should I be ashamed of loving someone?" Dylan spat back, his voice rising in volume, fueled by desperation. "Your beliefs are not my beliefs!"

He was more angry at her, who was she to judge him and then talk about shame, while she was sleeping with the male workers in their home and his father slept with every woman he set his eyes on. They were both cheating on each other and yet she had the mind to shame him? 

"Your beliefs!" she barked back, her voice sharp as a knife. "You mean your confusion. Because this is certainly not love, no matter how much you try to rationalize it. Love is between a man and a woman, not whatever this... thing you're trying to create."

'A man and woman, not a man with many women and a woman with many men' he wanted to bite back. 

They're acting like he's a demon when they're the dirty ones themselves. They were worse than him. At least he didn't have a religion to shame. Meanwhile they did. They were the type of people who made others think religion was a bad thing. Shame on them, SHAME!!!! 

He felt as though he'd been punched in the gut. "You don't get to define love for me, Mom! I understand what love is, and it's nothing like what you've made it out to be."

"You think you understand?" Richard, his father, finally interjected, his deep voice booming like thunder. "You have no idea what you're saying! You're leading a life that is a recipe for loneliness, heartbreak, and damnation."

"Dad, please." Dylan's voice was softer now, but it was laced with pain. "Is it so awful to want to love and be loved? You don't know Von and Michael. They're good people."

"Good? You think this is about good? You're sick in the mind if you think this is good!" Richard's voice dripped with scorn. "You should be ashamed to call them your partners. You think we raised someone normal, and then you turn around and do this?" He spoke with hate laced in his words. 

"Normal?" Dylan echoed, hurt lacing his voice. "You think there's only one way to be normal? All my life, I've tried to be what you wanted. I've done everything you asked. Now, I'm just being honest about who I really am. If that's too much for you to handle, then that's on you, not me!"

'Did they think THEY were normal?'

Margaret scoffed. "Honest? You think this is honesty? You're nothing more than a misguided child. You think you're brave? You're just too far gone, and believe me, this will haunt you for the rest of your life."

Dylan struggled to process the vitriol spilling from his parents' mouths, an unsettling knot forming in his stomach. "Haunt me? Mom, this is my life! I'm happy! I can't believe you would throw that back in my face!" Dylan was honestly tired of them. 

"Happy?" Richard thundered, his anger palpable. "You can't be happy doing this! You're playing with fire, and one day, you will get burned. You'll lose everything. I won't let that happen. You need to wake up and see it for what it is."

"Lose everything?" he screamed, the tension boiling over. "What everything? The chance to live my truth? The opportunity to love without fear? You honestly think that loving my boyfriends is going to ruin my life?" He was about to have a panic attack if they keep coming like this: 

"Yes! Because that life you're dreaming of is a lie! You think society will accept you? You'll be judged in every aspect of life. People don't want to hire 'that guy'! You'll become an outcast, and when that happens, you'll ever be able to come back to us, understand?"

"An outcast?" Dylan's voice cracked. "You're making me feel like a monster for loving who I want. You're the ones pushing me away!" He was so frustrated he wanted to just scream, scream his lungs out in frustration 

"Good! You need to realize your mistakes before it's too late! I won't sit back and watch my son ruin his future!" Margaret shouted, her words laced with anger.

"I can't believe you both! I thought you would at least listen to me!" Dylan fought the tears that threatened to spill over, his heart shattering under the weight of their rejection.

"You don't deserve to be listened to when you're playing with fire!" Richard spat back.

At that moment, it hit Dylan like a tidal wave—the knowledge that his parents, the very people who were supposed to love him unconditionally, would never accept him. He felt utterly alone in a world that offered no solace. "I will not change who I am for you!" he declared vehemently, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was being truthful, if they couldn't accept him, then that was their loss. 

"Then you've made your choice," his father said, steady and cold. "You're choosing to walk away from us."

"That's not what I want!" Dylan shouted, feeling desperation clawing at him. "I just want to be loved for who I am. Why can't you see that?" 

'Are they serious?' 

"Because we can't condone this! We refuse to enable your poor choices!" Margaret's tone had shifted to something chilling, devoid of warmth. "If you choose this lifestyle, you are not our son! You are a stranger."

The finality of her words struck him deep. A wave of despair washed over him, and he realized he had nowhere to turn but inward. "You're really willing to throw me away like this?" His voice dropped to a whisper, desperation hanging in the air.

"I'll make it clear to you, Dylan," Richard said, each word dripping with disappointment. "You're bringing disgrace upon us. If you continue down this path, don't expect any support from us. Your mother and I deserve better than this."

And they meant every thing, it was no secret that Dylan's parents were rich and well respected people, they had a name and face to hold so having a gay son wasn't something they wanted to get out, to tarnish their image, one that they spent years building. They didn't care if he never showed his face as long as their names were as clean as a slate. 

Dylan felt his world spiraling out of control. "So, what? That's it? You'll just cut me out of your lives forever? Because I refuse to conform?"

"Yes," Margaret replied, her voice ice-cold. "This discussion is over. We don't want to hear about this twisted life you've chosen—ever again, the house your living in is all yours so we won't be asking for it, the money your grandparents gave you is all yours but don't ever think you will be in our will, you're no longer our son, so enjoy your stupid freedom and your sinful life, disgrace."

The call ended abruptly, leaving Dylan alone with the weight of their rejection reverberating in the silence. 

He stared blankly at the wall, feeling hollowed out, as if a part of him had been cleaved away. The warmth from the sunlight that had once poured through the window now felt more like a harsh reminder of his solitude. 

He dropped the phone onto the bed, his hands trembling as he tried to process the flood of emotions destroying his calm. The heartache surged, crushing him under its weight. How could people who claimed to love him cause him so much pain?