#kootranewz

When they had gone, Dan sat down at the table across from Aleks. He placed a mug down and pushed it towards him. Aleks peered into the cup and snorted.

“Don’t like hot chocolate.”

“Everyone likes hot chocolate,” Dan squirted whipped cream into the mug.

“Prefer black coffee.”

“Personally, I find that quite bitter.” Dan dusted the top with chocolate flakes.

Aleks had never known their house to have chocolate flakes. He held back a smile at the thought of his dad grumbling to Dan about the calories and how unhealthy it was for you. Aleks schooled his face quite quickly.

“Yeah, well, my dad makes it for me.”

“Your dad makes a lot of stuff,” Dan muttered.

Aleks looked up then. Dan had nudged the mug toward him. He’d stuck half a kit kat inside. The other half was nestled between his teeth. It bobbed up and down like a cigarette in a cartoon. Aleks sighed.

“How many did he make this time?”

Dan’s eyebrow raised. Aleks nodded to the birdhouse mounted on the wall. He’d explained to his dad several times that there was no point in it being there but Jordan had insisted it looked nice. Dan shook his head.

“No birdhouses, only furniture. Did you not notice your new bedside table?”

Aleks chewed his lower lip and gently shook his head. His room felt like a train station to him now, it had become simply something that he passed through. Aleks grabbed the hot chocolate. He took a big, deep gulp. The whipped cream frothed on his nose. Dan smiled.

“Better than a black coffee?”

“It’s different,” Aleks admitted.

“But not bad?”

Aleks licked at the cream on his nose. His tongue kept poking at one bit on the very tip. He paused.

“It’s too much at once,” Aleks pushed the mug back toward Dan. His tongue poked at the froth once more. With a defeated huff, he wiped it away with the back of his hand. Dan took the mug and poured the hot chocolate down the sink. He rinsed it out and gave it a quick scrub.

When he returned to the table and sat across from Aleks, Dan offered him a mug of black coffee instead. Aleks smiled. He blew on the coffee and took a sip. Aleks’ face scrunched up.

“Do you want any sugar?” Dan pointed to the cup with a spoon. Jordan insisted everything was in a little pot, the ones bought from the shops mothers flocked to when they had spare cash. Dan had never knew he needed a butter tray until now. Aleks shook his head. Dan offered him the spoon again. “But it is better when it’s a little sweeter, isn’t it?”

Aleks rolled his eyes. He pushed the mug toward Dan and let him chuck some sugar into it. When he sipped at the coffee this time, Aleks’ face remained neutral.

“It can be a bit bitter, yeah, but that’s just how coffee is.”

“True but coffee can be sweet if you just work on finding the perfect blend,” Dan pointed at him with the spoon.

Aleks looked away from Dan. He chewed upon his lower lip and shrugged.

~

Aleks slumped on the couch. His thumbs lazily skimmed over the controller. He scoffed as he shot Dan’s character yet again. Dan squeaked as he went down and the noise quickly trickled into a laugh. Aleks rolled his eyes. He collected more ammo and pushed his character into a sprint. Dan’s character popped out in front of him and shot. Aleks stopped moving. His character took barely any damage. With one flick of the trigger, Dan’s character was dead. Dan howled with laughter then.

“How are you this bad?” Aleks groaned.

Dan shrugged. He wiped the tears from his eyes and dropped his controller onto his lap. The screen revealed their points. Dan had scored an impressive zero. Aleks tossed his own controller onto the floor.

“You don’t want to play another game then?”

Aleks shook his head. Out of the five games they had played already, Dan had won none of them. On the third he’d managed to kill Aleks. Once. Only once. While murdering his character had been therapeutic at first, especially since he had logged in on James’ profile, Aleks was quite over the appeal of slaughtering a pixel.

Dan turned the console off. He shifted on the couch so that he could look at Aleks. Aleks looked anywhere but Dan. Dan cleared his throat. Aleks let his head roll to face him.

“Do you want to go out somewhere for dinner?” Dan cocked his head to the side. Aleks shook his own head so violently his long fringe became a blur. “It will blow over, Aleks.”

“You’re defending him,” Aleks snapped.

“No, what James did was wrong,” Dan took a deep breath. “But he wanted to help your father.”

“Why? He’s not his dad.”

Dan sighed. Aleks shrugged him off. He reached into his jeans’ pocket and pulled out his phone. Dan watched as he opened the just eat app.

Dan glanced around the room. His eyes strayed to the DVD cabinet. Jordan had organised them all alphabetically and by genre. There were quite a few Batman films, courtesy of Dan himself, a couple of romance films, quite a few marvel films and tucked right into the very corner of the case only one horror film. Dan’s lip twitched at the sight of it. He got up and passed in front of Aleks to go to the case. He slid the DVD out, opening it to see if it actually had the disk inside. He smiled. Aleks didn’t bother to look up as Dan sat back down next to him. He offered him the phone. Dan took it but, before Aleks could snatch his hand back, he replaced it with the DVD. Aleks’ eyebrow rose. He glanced to the new object and smirked a little.

“Dad said I wasn’t allowed to watch this until I was eighteen, remember?”

“Yeah but he’s not here right now, is he?”

Aleks looked up. Dan was giving him that same look he had a year ago. He had raised one eyebrow and the right side of his lip was pulled up slightly. It was an olive branch, an attempt to connect and to understand Aleks. Aleks rolled his eyes. He threw the DVD case onto Dan’s lap. Dan’s smile faltered a little until Aleks pointed to the TV.

“Go on then, put it on.”

Halfway through the movie, Aleks turned the TV off. Dan turned towards him. Aleks pulled his noodles from his mouth and dropped them onto his plate. His face was pale, paler than usual that is, and he swallowed several times to keep down bile.

“Not the kind of movie to watch over dinner then?” Dan asked.

Aleks looked up at Dan. Dan had to stifle a laugh when he saw that his eyes were watering too. Aleks shook his head slowly. He cast his plate aside and pulled his knees up onto his chest. Dan forked some more noodles into his mouth. Aleks looked away then, his lips curled up and bile still swimming around his throat. Dan snatched the remote and put on the TV for some background noise while he finished his dinner.

“I should record this, it’s James’ favourite show. He’d hate to miss it,” Dan murmured.

“Don’t bother, he should miss it.”

Aleks physically turned away from Dan then. Dan lowered the remote and sighed.

“What did he do?”

Aleks whipped around and glared at Dan. “He took pictures of my-“

“Before that,” Dan crossed his arms over his chest. “Why did you go so far out of your way to avoid him?”

Aleks’ shoulders slumped. He pulled his legs back up to his chest and chewed upon his lip. What didn’t James do? He treated everything like a joke – acted as if what they were going through was no big deal. He felt Dan’s eyes on him. He guessed now was just as appropriate as ever to mention it.

“Something happened at a party the weekend…”

“God I told him not to drink so much, what did he do?”

Aleks frowned at Dan. He turned toward him.

“What do you mean, you told him not to drink so much?”

“When Jordan suggested he go to that party and meet you before we moved in, I made him promise not to drink more than a beer or two. I told him, ‘go and find Aleks and get acquainted’ and when he came back with a big dopey smile I knew he’d got with someone. Was it one of your friends?”

Aleks’ hands crept into his hair. He tugged at his scalp and grit his teeth. Dan muttered to himself.

“He came to the party to look for me?” Aleks launched himself off of the couch. Dan nodded.

“Did he find you?”

Yes, Aleks wanted to scream. Yes he found him and he kissed him and they had a moment and then he showed up on the doorstep the next morning as his new brother. Then he wouldn’t stop reminding Aleks of that moment. He just kept grating and grating on him – joking and being nice and caring and – Aleks screamed. Out loud. So loud Dan had to cover his ears. He slowly lowered his hands and stared at Aleks. His look was unreadable. Aleks shook his head.

“No, no he didn’t find me.”

Dan wanted to ask him more but Aleks turned away from him. The boy shook. Dan had asked James a similar question when he’d stumbled home that night but he’d just mumbled an answer and Dan had let it be. Now he was wondering whether he should have pushed him further.

“So what did he do?”

Aleks turned back to Dan. He couldn’t tell him the truth now, couldn’t say that he was so angry because James had kissed him and then became his step brother.

“He just – after you two moved in, he clung to me like a koala. It was suffocating. He wouldn’t leave me alone and he kept winding me up and he didn’t respect my space and… and… he was just always there.” Aleks started to pace.

“I’m sorry he came on so strong it’s just… that’s James. He likes new people and he was just so happy that I’d found someone that he was probably trying extra hard to impress you.”

“Why would anyone be happy that their parent found someone new?”

Aleks had never known anyone but Jordan but he was sure if he had, he’d have hated Dan more for barging in and ruining it all. He was sure that James had to have a mother.

Dan rubbed at his scalp. He swallowed. He opened his mouth to say something and then he closed it again. Aleks raised his eyebrow.

“I haven’t dated anyone since… since his mother and that was five years ago. There was a time when I wouldn’t even talk to my friends, let alone go on a date. It was easy for me to move away, to move here with your dad because there’s no-one left. Not after I pushed them away,” Dan admitted.

Aleks sat down on the couch beside Dan. He wasn’t sure what to do after that – he’d never been on this end of the interaction before. So he just leaned against Dan and rest his cheek on his shoulder. Dan went on:

“He just wanted it to work, I guess. He tried so hard to keep me afloat back then and I wouldn’t wish it on him again. If I ever lost your dad… I don’t think I could help myself.”

Aleks wrapped his arm around Dan’s. He sighed against him. He felt Dan shift as he wiped his eyes. Dan laughed at himself. Aleks smiled with him. Dan pressed his head against Aleks’. He pat the teenager on the leg.

“Right, enough of this,” Dan said. “Let’s have a fun James-free weekend.”

Aleks huffed as he threw down his last card. It was the fourth time he’d won Uno in the past fifteen minutes – Dan really was not a challenge at all. Dan started to reshuffle the pack but Aleks placed a hand over his to stop him. He slumped against the couch and kicked Dan’s legs underneath the coffee table. They’d opted to sit on the floor to not strain their backs. Aleks had started to think that that might be more fun. They had already exhausted every other board game in their library. Aleks never thought he’d hear himself say it but, before he could stop himself, he turned to Dan and said:

“I give you twenty dollars and you come back with this?” Jordan held the Chinese finger trap in his hand. He hadn’t seen one in years, not since he and Dan had tried it out in that joke shop all those years ago. They were stupid, cheaply made and not worth his cash. “I want the rest of my money back.” Jordan held his palm out expectantly. Seamus raised his eyebrow at him,

“Your money? It’s my allowance.” Seamus had earned that money, one bite at a time.

“How much did you spend on this?” Jordan gave it back, dropping his palm when Seamus made no move to offer the money back. If it was more than fifty cents he was going to lose his mind.

“What do you care? You spend your money on what you want and I’ll spend it on what I want,” Seamus said.

“Seamus!” Jordan screeched.

 Dan and the other boys had edged away from the pair. Eddie was gnawing holes into his lower lip, wringing his hands together as he watched his friend get chewed out.

“You know this is your fault, right?” James said because well, he couldn’t help himself.

“Shut up! You should have bought it for me,” Eddie said.

“Yeah? Would you have blushed when I held your ha-“ Eddie clamped his hand over his brother’s mouth. James had never seen such murder behind his brother’s eyes.

“Don’t speak,” Eddie whispered. Dan ignored them both, far too focused on Jordan and Seamus’ bickering. They’d have to go soon, there was probably only half an hour on the car park. Aleks wanted to ask what the big deal was. Eddie and Seamus had held hands a hundred times before. It was just something they did, something they had always done – since when did Eddie get embarrassed over it?

 He couldn’t ask, though, because his father was done lecturing Seamus about taking care of his money and not spending it on stupid shit. It had ended when Seamus had pointed out the fact that Jordan had in fact come out of the thrift store with his own useless, overpriced find. Neither of Jordan’s sons would ever get the hype over the stupid figurines Jordan endlessly collected. Aleks smirked a little as he remembered their tiny town lady. He wondered if his father would like to add her to his collection. That’s if Seamus hadn’t thrown it out in fear yet. He’d have to remember to ask, right after he cornered James about the whole Eddie thing.

“Right,” Jordan clapped his hands together, “home time?”

“Yes, let’s all get back so that we can have some dinner and maybe play a game or something, as a family?” Dan had wanted to crack out that monopoly board he’d managed to sneak with them.

 Unfortunately, none of the frowning faces gave Dan much hope for that happening. Still, he was sure he’d managed to snag them all at least once this week.

“Fine, let’s just go to the clubhouse again tonight.” Dan loved the clubhouse, he did, but there was only so much cheesy entertainment and over-priced, watered down drinks one could stomach.

“We’re all right, Aleks and I are just gonna stay back again tonight,” James said, opening the car door for his boyfriend.

“Yeah, my hand still hurts.” Aleks held it up to remind everyone of his injury, “I’d be no good on those arcade machines.”

“That’s all right, you can hang with me and your dad,” Dan beamed. James rolled his eyes at him. Well, so much for a family holiday. “Eddie, Seamus?” The two youngest boys shook their heads vigorously. Dan remembered the days when they couldn’t get enough of him. When he was the coolest guy around and there wasn’t a minute he found peace. He’d hated it then but now, as he watched his youngest son gleefully show his friend a millimetre of hair upon his chin, Dan missed it.

 Even back at the camp, once he’d cooked them a meal and forced them to sit together, everyone was doing their own thing. Jordan rang his wife, understandable, but the boys skilfully ignored each other. James fiddled with the Chinese finger trap. Aleks flicked through his phone, occasionally lifting it to take the perfect selfie. Seamus fell in love with the burger he’d been given, eyes bulging and mouth watering around it. Eddie… Eddie kept chancing looks at Seamus. Come to think of it, Dan had seen that look before. Eyes wide, watching everything… Mouth twitching every time Seamus did anything remotely well, Seamus. Dan felt the word on the tip of his tongue. It tickled him and he wanted to spit it out. He couldn’t though, couldn’t get it out fast enough before his son was leaping up from his stool.

 “C’mon Seamus, you’re taking foreveeeeeeeeeeeeer,” Eddie fell to his knees at his friend’s feet. He pouted up at Seamus, resting his chin upon the other boy’s knee. Seamus looked down at him from behind his burger. It was barely there, a bite from being finished but Seamus wasn’t ready to give it up. Not just yet, just five more minutes with what could have easily been called the love of his life.

“Yeah, Moose – just eat it already. I’m wasting away just watching you,” Aleks said. He hadn’t been watching, not really, but he’d say anything to put a stop to an ‘Eddie tantrum’.

“Just plop it into your mouth and eat it, it’s not that hard,” James chimed in. He had been watching. He’d seen the way Eddie had been jostling his leg just watching, waiting and then becoming aggressively impatient.

 Seamus raised his eyebrow at them all. It was his burger, it was his love, it was his. He was going to savour each and every bite. Even when it went cold, it would still taste good. He knew it would.

“Please, I just want to go and make the bracelets already.” Eddie’s chin dug into Seamus’ knee as he spoke. Seamus could feel the hair he’d been shown earlier. Eddie let out a little whimper. So Seamus sighed heavily. He was sure to drag it out, to let Eddie know that this was absolutely not what he wanted. Then, when his breath was short and he thought he might pass out, Seamus ate the burger.

 He stood up, still chewing. Eddie went sprawling. James laughed behind his hand. Even Dan had to look away and snicker discreetly into the crease of his elbow. Eddie glared at them all. He tucked his arm into Seamus’ and tugged him towards Seamus’ tent. He opened the door for them both, waving the boy inside. He waited until his friend had sat before he took a step inside himself. He turned to everyone still sitting around the campfire and with the dramatic flair only an Eddie scorned was capable of, he yanked the zip shut, enclosing him and Seamus in their own little bubble.

 Seamus had already recovered the plastic box. He’d popped the lid off, looking at all the different colours of string and the beads it came with. The beads looked tacky and too clunky for him. He picked at the thread instead, looking up at Eddie before pulling out strands of red and white. Eddie almost kicked the box over as he scrambled to sit across from his friend, so close their knees touched. Seamus shielded the box, glaring at Eddie from underneath his eyebrows.

“Why aren’t you using the beads?” Eddie picked one up and peered through the tiny hole.

“They’re girly,” Seamus said. He started to weave the thread together with ease.

“Oh,” Eddie dropped the bead. He didn’t think that mattered. Still, he was making a bracelet for Seamus, his friend. Eddie looked at all the colours. He couldn’t resist the sparkly black one and thought that it would pair perfectly with the purple colour. He held them up for Seamus’ inspection. When Seamus nodded, it felt like Eddie had received an A on his math test (a feat he’d never quite managed).

 He got to work, sneaking a glance at the bracelet Seamus was making. Seamus had gone for a classic three strand braid which was nice, Eddie could agree but he wanted to do one better. He went for an ambitious fish tail braid. Eddie began by knotting the top, feeling his tongue slip through his lips as he threaded the strands together. It went better than expected, not perfect – a little lopsided and definitely a little too loose but it was at least a solid strand. Seamus finished before Eddie by minutes, pinching the ends of his so that they didn’t come loose.

“Um,” Seamus said when Eddie held his up, “I’ll tie yours first?” Seamus leant forward with bracelet in hand. Eddie kept his pinched between his fingers. He giggled as Seamus wrapped the thread around his wrists. Seamus smiled too as he tied the bracelet so that it fit Eddie’s wrist. He pulled it a little to make sure it wouldn’t slip off but ensured it was loose enough to stay. When he was done, there was a lot of extra thread just hanging off of Eddie’s wrist.

 “We’re going to need scissors,” Seamus said. Eddie shook his head.

“Why? I like it!” He shook his wrist, forgetting about the bracelet in his hand. It unwound a little as it slipped from his fingers. Eddie gasped, trying to thread it back together. “Seamus, Seamus – quick, quick!” Eddie almost burned Seamus’ arm with the speed he wrapped the thread around his wrist. He pulled it too tight, at first, but Seamus hissed and he immediately loosened it. Eddie tightened it and noticed there was a lot more thread hanging from Seamus’ arm than there was his. Seamus turned his wrist slowly, marvelling at his bracelet. Eddie did the same. They were simple but very, very pretty. Seamus looked up for just a second and Eddie caught his gaze. They smiled at one another. Seamus gestured towards the tent door.

“I’ll go ask Dad if he brought any scissors,” Seamus said.

 He started to push himself up. His palm caught the extra thread and it tugged and tightened the bracelet. Seamus stuck his finger between the bracelet and his skin to loosen it. He showed it to Eddie to prove his earlier point and then he reached for the zip of the tent. That was as far as he ever got, falling back as he heard his father shout from outside.

“No, James! I want to be the race car, not the stupid thimble,” Jordan was screeching. Seamus shared another look with Eddie. An all-knowing “let’s not bother them” look.

“What do you want to do now?” Seamus pushed the box aside. Eddie frowned.

“Well, we’ve still got lots of thread left.” He picked some out.

“So? Want to make another bracelet?” Seamus wanted to try and do a fancy braid this time.

“Nah,” Eddie pulled a little bit out, “but I can try and braid it into your hair… if you want.”

 Seamus stared back at him. Eddie pulled out some blue thread, dangling it near his own short hair and trying to show Seamus just how cool he’d look with it in his. Eddie hadn’t thought it had worked but then Seamus shrugged and said, “Ok.”

So Eddie shuffled closer until their knees weren’t just touching, they were overlapping. Seamus was so close Eddie could pick out his individual eyelashes. He cleared his throat and reached out. It would have been easier for him to just get up and braid it from the back but well, the view was definitely better. Eddie weaved his fingers into Seamus’ hair and smiled at the familiar texture. It was so soft, not clogged with gel like Eddie’s hair often was. He thought it looked nice and Seamus liked to help him stick it up. Eddie wove the thread into a simple three strand braid. When he was done, he tugged on his bracelet instead of the hairband on his other wrist. They shared a laugh that died off until they were just looking at each other instead.

 Eddie fiddled with the end of the braid. This was his moment, Seamus was his love, this was it. He was going to savour each and every second. He knew even if it went wrong, it would still be great. He knew it would.

Morning filtered through James’ eyelids slowly and then all at once, blinding him as Eddie ripped open the door of their tent. The zip was too loud in the quiet of the early hours. James gurgled some phlegm and threw his arm over his face. Eddie hopped out but left the door flapping. James pushed himself up on his elbow. He glared out at the sunshine and watched his brother get smaller and smaller. He could see his father already hunched around a small campfire. Dan passed what looked like a thermos to Eddie and James couldn’t stop his tongue as it darted out and licked his lips. He reached for his phone, holding the button down to try and wake it up. He huffed when it flashed the red battery at him. He knew that somewhere, among the mess of sleeping bags and pillows, there was a portable charger he’d stolen from Aleks before the trip. When he didn’t find it within seconds of reaching out, James gave up. His shoulders slumped and he looked again to the outside of the tent.

 It took him almost five minutes to force himself up and out of the tent to join his brother. James looked desperately at his father, hand outstretched and awaiting sweet coffee. Dan rolled his eyes and handed James his own thermos. He’d have to make more coffee soon, if the rustling from the other tent was any indication. James’ lips hesitated over the mouth of his drink. His eyes narrowed at Eddie whose head was tipped back, throat throbbing as he drank.

“You didn’t give him coffee, did you?” James asked his father. He blew into his drink.

“Oh, hell no. He’s got hot chocolate,” Dan said. Eddie pulled his thermos from his mouth with a string of spit. He saw his family staring and turned to face them, grinning as he broke the spit.

“I hate him,” James said as he tentatively took a sip from his own drink.

“Sure, that’s why you made sure he was home safe last night.” Dan began to make more coffee. James sighed.

 Inside their own tent, Seamus was battling with the roof as he tried to change his clothes. He’d asked Aleks to close his eyes and his brother had pressed his face into the floor of their tent. Seamus could see his nose twitching as he tried to breathe.

“You know you could just close your eyes, right?” Seamus’ voice was muffled by his t-shirt as he pulled it over his head. Aleks murmured something to the floor but Seamus honestly couldn’t make it out. He started to tap on the ground while Seamus shuffled beside him. Seamus swiped Aleks’ deodorant and quickly sprayed under his pits. He placed it back, eyeing his brother as he tried to get it into the right position. He was sure that Aleks must know, by now, he’d been using it all week but Seamus liked to think himself sneaky. “All right, I’m ready.” As Aleks pushed himself up he gasped like he’d been held underwater for far too long. Seamus rolled his eyes at him, folding his arms over his chest.

 “Why’d you make me do that, anyway? It’s not like I haven’t seen you shirtless before.” Aleks said. “Because,” Seamus said as though that alone answered his brother’s question, “I’m a man now.” Seamus frowned when Aleks burst into laughter, holding his stomach as he doubled over. Seamus hit his brother over the head, smirking at the satisfying thud it made. He tried again but Aleks had ducked away, wiping non-existent tears from his cheeks.

“What? You get like, three armpit hairs and you’re a man now?” Aleks laughed.

“You’re right, maybe one day I’ll grow an amazing beard like yours.” Seamus bent down and plucked the one hair that had stood proudly on Aleks’ chin. Aleks’ gasped as Seamus flicked it from his fingers. Aleks glared up at his younger brother, eyes diving towards his chin. He huffed through his nose. He tried to think of something to say back to his brother but he couldn’t come up with anything good.

 Instead he reached for the suitcase he and Seamus had kept from James and Eddie, waiting until Seamus kicked it towards him. Aleks had slept in the clothes they’d worn the night before and they were all wrinkled. He rummaged through Eddie’s too small t-shirts, Seamus’ abundance of socks and James’ worn out boxers to find his own clothes. Aleks settled on a pair of ripped jeans, one of his many ‘cat in space on pizza’ t-shirts James hated and a well-loved beanie. Seamus saw his t-shirt and snorted, muttering an insult under his breath. Aleks paid him no mind, glancing up at his brother.

“Quick, cover your eyes – you might see my chest hair!” Aleks started to tug on the edge of his t-shirt. Seamus pushed his way past Aleks, grabbing the door zip with more force than necessary and ripping it upwards so that he could escape his brother’s obnoxious behaviour. He yanked it down as he left, muffling Aleks’ laughing.

 Eddie skipped towards Seamus once he’d noticed him walking over. He jumped once he was close enough, strangling Seamus with his arms as he attempted to cling onto him with his legs. Seamus had the good sense to push his arms outwards as Eddie pulled them both down towards the ground. He shot Eddie a look when he heard him grunt in pain but before Seamus could blink the boy beneath him was smiling again. Eddie released Seamus neck and reached upwards to press his finger into Seamus’ nose.

“Boop,” Eddie said before he started to wriggle and try to escape from underneath his friend. Seamus didn’t put up much of a fight, wrinkling his nose as he felt Eddie’s phantom touch. He looked up as Eddie stood and brushed the dirt from his knees. Seamus watched as James winked at his brother. If Eddie had been facing him, Seamus would have seen the blush that graced his cheeks.

 Eddie made sure that he couldn’t by running towards James and attempting to tackle him instead. He merely crashed into his brother’s chest. James easily threw him aside. Eddie stumbled, breathing heavily as he fought to stay upright. He looked back at Seamus then, grinning again. Now Eddie was confident that if Seamus asked why his cheeks were so red he could blame it on running. Seamus smiled back at him. He got up and frowned down at the mess Eddie had made of his clothes. He licked his thumb and started to wipe it away. All he seemed to do was smear it but Seamus knew he didn’t have anything else to wear today. He blew out a breath, knowing only one thing could make him feel better.

“Hey Uncle Dan,” Seamus said, “what’s for breakfast?” Seamus rubbed his hands together. He knew, even before Dan spoke, that he wouldn’t like the answer. Dan rubbed the back of his head, shrugging just slightly.

“Well, I was thinking we’d get some while we were out,” Dan said.

 It was like Nintendo had just announced they’d never make another Pokemon game, like Cartoon Network had decided to call it quits, like Eddie had said he would never speak to Seamus again. It was like… well, it was like Dan had said that they weren’t eating breakfast that morning. Seamus’ stomach growled its protests. His lower lip popped out of its own accord, wobbling dramatically as Seamus sucked in a whimper. His eyes widened as they watered. Big, fat tears perched upon the waterline of his eyes as Seamus thought of how long he’d have to wait to have food in his stomach. Where would they even eat? What could possibly compare to Dan’s fry-ups? Seamus wanted – no, Seamus needed – Dan’s greasy, great grub.

“I mean, maybe I could quickly make you an egg roll or something?” Dan offered. Seamus nodded immediately. His stomach finally quietened. Balance had been restored.

 Dan rummaged through their cooking things to find the pain, eyeing the fire as it started to die. He’d started it when he’d woke to keep warm. He’d have to feed it to be able to cook. He jumped as Jordan snuck up behind him. The other man used his height to loom over Dan’s shoulder.

“Why’re you grabbing that? I thought we were eating out,” Jordan said.

“Moose wants to eat now and, he did – he did the thing and y’know how it is,” Dan said. Jordan smiled as he caught the nickname. It was only a reminder of how often Aleks had spent with James over the past year. Still, Jordan frowned as Dan walked over to the fire.

“You shouldn’t indulge him.” Jordan followed his friend. He didn’t take the pan, instead handing Dan the eggs when he gestured towards them. Dan only shrugged, cracking an egg and watching it plop into the pan.

 Jordan looked up as his sons’ tent unzipped for the second time that morning. Aleks poked his head out first, yanking his head to the side when the teeth of the zip tugged on his beanie. He stepped out and was immediately greeted by James. He scrunched his face up as James kissed his cheek, wincing when his boyfriend cupped his bandaged hand. Jordan squinted at them both then.

“What’d you do?” Jordan marched towards the two teenagers. Aleks’ eyes widened. He looked to James for help, hoping he’d come up with a story that would be Dad-approved.

“Did you know how much of a sore loser your son is?” James said. Jordan looked at James with a face that mimicked a baby trying a lemon for the first time.

“What has that got to do with anything?” Jordan grabbed his son’s wrist, forcing his arm upwards so that he could examine the bandage. He could see faint spots of red beneath it.

“He tried to steal a plushie from one of those grab machines,” James said. Jordan dropped Aleks’ hand and studied his son’s face. Aleks was looking at the ground. Jordan looked to James as the boy smiled unconvincingly at him. Jordan sighed.

“Whatever,” he said.

 Jordan let the two boys pass him. He stared into his son’s tent, glancing around and trying to see if anything was amiss. The only thing out of place was the boys’ case, left wide open with all of the clothes thrown about. Jordan knelt down, ready to climb in and clean up. He yelped when Eddie pushed past him, barely managing to stay on his knees. The boy grinned at him as he zipped up the tent. Jordan pressed his face into his hand as he heard Eddie start to rip the case apart. Jordan knew that once Eddie was done his brother would throw around whatever was left. Jordan took a deep breath. They’d definitely be leaving later than anticipated then. Jordan simply couldn’t leave the mess inside his son’s tent. His fingers twitch as the walls of the tents bounced, Eddie chucking clothes around it. Jordan wanted to climb inside, chuck Eddie out with a bundle of clothes and start cleaning now.

 It was Dan who kept him from tumbling inside. He pressed a gentle hand to Jordan’s shoulder, smiling down at his friend as he watched his eye twitch.

“C’mon, let’s wash this pan,” Dan said. He felt Jordan’s shoulders slump in relief. Jordan nodded and got up, following his friend over to where he’d cooked. Seamus was sitting on one of their foldable stools. He was halfway through his roll. Jordan noticed how he kept nibbling at the edges, licking the yolk that dripped out of the side. Jordan shook his head at the son. He was almost glad Dan had made Seamus a roll so early. It meant his wallet wouldn’t take such a hit at the diner. Jordan knew that there was no way Seamus could eat the egg roll and have another breakfast within the hour. He may think like a hobbit, constantly wondering about his next meal, but Jordan’s son certainly didn’t have the stomach of one.

 Aleks was standing beside his brother. He was staring at him intently. James was trying to catch his attention, waving his thermos of coffee under his boyfriend’s face. Aleks batted it away and almost lost it all. He flinched as the quickly cooling liquid splashed in his direction but his eyes never wavered. James settled for stepping in Aleks’ line of sight. Aleks tried to duck around him but James cupped his chin. His thumb pressed into one cheek while his fingers pressed into the other, forcing Aleks’ lips outwards. James ignored the glare Aleks was giving him and kissed his lips. To tease Aleks further, James pressed their noses together in an eskimo kiss. Aleks pushed him away. He caught James before he could fall on Seamus, though. He turned when James tried to kiss him again, sighing heavily as James peppered his cheek with kisses instead.

 “Right,” Dan said as he watched Eddie leave the tent, “James, go and get dressed and then we’ll leave.”

“What? I am dressed.” James gestured to his wrinkled clothes. Dan shot him his best ‘I’m your father, do as I say’ look and that did the trick. James handed his thermos to an unwilling Aleks, forcing it into his fingers before he hopped away. Aleks tore his gaze from Seamus long enough to take a sip from the coffee. He winced as it went down. He shook the thermos to see what was left. The mug barely sloshed. Aleks held it out for Dan to take. Dan nodded his thanks as he swiped it, walking away to hand it to Jordan. James got dressed faster than anyone, so fast that Dan couldn’t be sure he hadn’t just thrown a hoody over what he’d been wearing. James stalked towards Aleks, frowning when he saw the lack of thermos.

“I was still drinking that,” James said. Aleks stepped into his space, resting his head on James’ shoulder and watching Seamus lick his fingers as he finished his roll off.

 Dan clapped his hands together, surveying the camp site. Aleks’ eyes had closed as he tried to fall asleep on James’ shoulder. Seamus was sat, content, on his stool while Eddie ran circles around him babbling about some game Dan didn’t know. James had closed the tent, thankfully, and there really wasn’t anything else to clean up. Jordan started towards the tent but Dan stopped him, shaking his head and gesturing towards the car.

“But the mess,” Jordan said. Dan pat his shoulder and pulled. Jordan breathed heavily through his nose but followed. He knew that Dan was right, that they had to leave now or they never would. It didn’t make climbing into the car knowing the horrific mess they’d left behind any easier. Eddie followed them both with no hesitation. He glanced behind him as Seamus folded his chair and tucked it away. James led Aleks to the car, shuffling very slowly as Aleks refused to move.

 It took them at least ten minutes to get everyone in. Aleks slouched in the very back, head lulling against the window. James had his arm over his shoulder but was staring out of his own window. Eddie had already had his DS out while Seamus was trying to find his. Jordan sat tense in his seat, wringing his hands together while he waited for Dan to start the car.

“Everybody ready?” Dan asked the group. He got several muttered replies, muffled by Eddie’s excited shout. He just missed Jordan’s whispered no but Dan didn’t wait for him to repeat. He started the car and with one last look at their camp, Dan pulled away.

 To Jordan it felt like forever until they were turning into that familiar diner. He pressed his face against the window as Dan parked the car.

“How does it still look so old?” James smacked his hands against his cheeks.

“It didn’t change for years, what makes you think they’d change it now?” Dan said. He opened his door, stepping out and inhaling the fresh air. He loved his family and friends, honestly, but being stuck in a car with four teenagers – especially one who’d just ate egg – was the worst. Eddie hopped out of the car after his Dad, covering his eyes from the morning sun as he looked at the diner. Aleks came after him, shoving Seamus aside so that he could escape the stuffy car. He wheezed over dramatically as Seamus laughed behind him.

“You’re never,” Aleks pointed at Seamus’ face, “ever allowed to eat egg again,” Aleks said.

“I second that.” James pat Aleks’ back as he appeared behind him.

 Once Aleks was breathing normally they all entered the diner. Seamus and Eddie immediately found the space they’d sat last year, nudging each other as they tried to get the best seat. Eddie won, clapping his hands as he stared out of the window he’d managed to sit next to. Aleks didn’t quite get the hype, all they could see was the near-empty car park and a dusty road. He let James slide in before him and then sat down. He was sat across from Seamus. Dan slid in next to him while Jordan hovered over the table. His hand sat in his jean pocket, fingers twitching around the wallet.

“Right, what does everybody want?” Jordan asked. He flinched as everyone placed their orders at once. He barely heard Aleks’ request for a breakfast muffin underneath Eddie and Seamus’ resounding shouts begging for a large breakfast. “Seamus, you don’t need anything else to eat, you’ve already eaten,” Jordan said. He nodded as Dan asked for a cheese toastie and James asked for just a regular sized breakfast.

 Jordan tried to avoid Seamus’ eyes as he ran through the list in his head: breakfast muffin, regular breakfast, toastie, a large breakfast, another regular breakfast for himself.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” Jordan hoped Seamus would cave, tell him to grab some toast and some drink. Instead Seamus did the thing, the damn puppy thing. “Fine, but if you don’t eat it all I’m not giving you any money for the town.” Jordan turned on his heel and strode towards the bar.

“He didn’t ask us what we wanted to drink,” James said with a frown.

“We’re probably all getting water.” Aleks shook his head.

“I didn’t want water,” Seamus complained.

 Jordan did indeed return with waters for everybody. Seamus muttered when he realised that his father hadn’t even splashed for bottled water. They were all drinking tap. He got over it very quickly once he’d seen the size of his plate. It was twice the size of his head and once placed the edges of it knocked Eddie’s own food. Eddie’s plate was wedged against the wall. He tried to turn it for a better fit but as his plate knocked James’ he caught his brother’s glare and thought better of it. Dan rubbed his hands together as Jordan placed his toastie in front of him. Then, after putting his own food down, Jordan finally sat.

“Bone apple tea,” Aleks said. James hit his left arm, scowling at his boyfriend.

“Dude, it’s bon appetite.” James pinched a bit of Aleks’ muffin as punishment for being an idiot.

“I know,” Aleks said. He swiped a bit of James’ bacon in retaliation. James tried to take it back but Aleks already had it in his mouth and well, it was all over then.

 Eddie sat across from them, eyeballing the exchange as Seamus began devouring his meal beside him. He looked down at Seamus’ plate. Eddie chewed upon his lip, staring intently at Seamus’ own bacon. It the blond a moment but eventually he noticed. Eddie sighed as Seamus shielded his plate with his arm and nudged Eddie’s shoulder.

“Aren’t you going to eat your own food?” Seamus asked. Eddie coughed and picked up his knife and fork. He stabbed at his bacon, ripping it apart with his knife. He shoved it into his mouth. Eddie could feel James’ eyes on him. He kept his own gaze to his plate. Why did James and Aleks make it look so easy? Eddie had always been bold and rash but with Seamus simply blurting it out didn’t feel right. Eddie just had to find the right moment… if there’d ever be one. He severed his egg yolk in one quick motion, letting it spill out onto his plate.

 After a while, everyone had devoured their breakfast. Well, everyone bar one. Seamus slumped in his chair, right hand barely holding his fork. He’d done quite well, making an attempt to eat at least one of everything on his plate. The only thing keeping him from his allowance was that one damn sausage and a hash brown that had turned to mush on his plate. Seamus had tried, and failed, to scoop the potato pile up onto a fork several times but now he’d simply given up. Jordan stood with a smug smirk, placing his hands on his hips.

“Right, I’m off to the toilet. Anyone else need to go before we leave?” Jordan looked at each and every one at the table. Nobody replied. “Well, all right then.” Jordan turned on his heel and headed towards the toilets.

 Aleks watched his father until the door had swung shut on his back. He waited for a few seconds and then, when he was sure Jordan wouldn’t suddenly come out again, leaned heavily over the table. He snatched Seamus’ sausage, cramming it into his mouth. He used his finger to push it into his cheeks. He kept chewing as he took his brother’s knife and piled as much of the hash brown mess onto his fork. Aleks took the time to swallow what was left of the sausage before shovelling that into his mouth too. He reclined back in his chair, wiping some potato from his mouth with his thumb. Seamus looked down at his now empty plate then back at his brother. Aleks winked at him before swallowing. Seamus moved his knife and fork together on his plate.

 Jordan returned barely a minute after. He opened his mouth to declare his parental victory over his son before he realised the plate was empty.

“Oh.” Jordan crouched down to look under the table. He regretted it immediately. Jordan snapped back up and shuddered. He’d have to wash his eyes out to forget the grime underneath. There was, surprisingly, no food. With the click of his tongue, Jordan reached into his jeans for his wallet.

“Fine,” he said, “don’t spent it all.” Jordan handed Seamus twenty dollars. The young boy’s eyes lit up as he took the money. Dan sat quietly. He knew that he should probably say something to Jordan, as his friend, but he couldn’t help but admire the brotherly support. He hoped it would inspire something within his own sons. They were jolting in their seats as they kicked one another under the table. Then again, Dan thought that would take a miracle.

 From the diner, the children and the adults split up. Jordan and Dan dropped the boys off in the town before they left to visit their beloved thrift store, Jordan droning on and on about how he was looking out for some old figurines. The boys marched towards the heart of the town where they hoped the old joke shop still awaited them.

“Thanks.” Seamus lightly punched his brother’s arm. Aleks shrugged.

“For what? I was still hungry.” He grinned down at his younger brother. Seamus would have believed him if it wasn’t for the small smirk Aleks gave him afterwards. They walked together as Eddie and James argued up ahead over who won their fight of footsies. Seamus thought that Eddie had won and would have asked Aleks his opinion if he didn’t already know he’d choose James.

 “Well, look at that. It’s still standing.” James looked up at the weather-worn shop front. The sign in the door claimed it was open though none of the boys would have ever guessed. The lights inside didn’t seem to be on and they could have sworn the window display hadn’t changed in a year. Eddie turned the door handle and pushed it wide open. The daylight filtered through and revealed all the little dust particles floating in the air. It near blinded the old man who sat at the counter. He covered his eyes with his hand and glared at the kids from behind it. His eyes widened when Seamus pushed his way through the door. James and Aleks followed their brothers inside. The door had barely closed behind them when the old man stepped out from behind his counter. The older boys were worried he was about to tell them to leave which would have been disappointing but understandable. Instead, he presented Seamus with a paper sick bag. Seamus took it begrudgingly and thanked the old man. Aleks tucked his face into James’ shoulder to hide his laughter from his younger brother.

 Eddie grabbed Seamus’ hand as he caught sight of a scary clown mask. He dragged him towards the wall it hung on, pausing mere inches underneath it. Eddie craned his neck to look, jaw dropping open as he admired its creepy beauty. Seamus stepped behind him, squeezing his best friend’s hand. He looked at the ground instead, frowning when he saw a stain that looked eerily familiar.

“That’s so cool,” Eddie said. Seamus drew his attention to the small joke gifts instead.

“Look, it’s a Chinese finger trap.” Seamus had seen these before but he’d never tried one. Eddie was quick to shove his finger in, wriggling it around and poking Seamus’ cheek. Eddie let go of his hand only to grab the other and manoeuvre Seamus’ unwilling finger into the trap with him. When he’d succeeded, Eddie grabbed his hand again.

“Now we’re stuck together forever,” Eddie said. Well, Seamus could deal with that.

 James and Aleks had wandered off on their own. James’ hand was tucked into Aleks’ jean pocket and he was teasing Aleks by pointing out all of the creepy things on the walls. They neared the back of the store and found a curtain blocking them from going further.

“Huh, didn’t see this before.” James reached for the edge of the curtain but Aleks slapped his hand away. Ready to chastise his boyfriend for being rude, James followed Aleks’ finger as he pointed to a sign that hung above the curtain. It told them that this was off limits for anybody under 18. James’ eyes lit up, already guessing what could be beyond the forbidden curtain. He pulled it aside and stepped through. His hand slipped from Aleks’ pants as he refused to move. Aleks crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head at James.

“What? You’ve never been scared of cock before.” James laughed at his boyfriend. Aleks reached in to swat him. James caught his wrist and pulled.

 Aleks tumbled over the threshold into the forbidden area. He clung to James to keep himself upright. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into James’ shoulder to shield his eyes.

“Seriously?” James murmured. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend all the same and looked around. It was all pretty standard. The area was filled with fake books, fake dicks and everything one would need to make a hilarious bachelor or bachelorette party. Honestly, James was rather disappointed. He’d wanted to torment Aleks by waving porno DVDs in his face but there were none to be seen. He sighed heavily.

“Can we leave now?” Aleks pulled upon James’ hoodie in an effort to pull him towards the curtain.

“Fine, you big baby.” James led his boyfriend back out into the shop.

 They collided with their younger brothers. James raised an eyebrow at them both as they lifted their fingers, still stuck in the Chinese finger trap.

“What’s in there?” Eddie peered around his older brother. James followed his movements and blocked his line of sight.

“Nothing special, you need help out of that?” James had to look around Aleks as he finally stood up.

“It says over 18s only, you’re not 18. You shouldn’t have been in there.” Eddie still kept trying to look around his brother. What could be in there? Eddie reckoned it was full of all the really cool video games his Dad wouldn’t let him play.

“Do you want help or not?” James pinched the younger boys’ fingers. Eddie winced in pain as James manipulated the Chinese finger trap until it released the two boys. He threw it onto the wrong shelf when he was done.

 “Can we leave now?” Aleks frowned at the dusty shelves. He was sure he was breathing in way too many dead skin cells. James held onto Aleks’ elbow and started to guide him to the exit.

“Wait!” Eddie called, forcing everyone to turn around and look at him. “I want to get this.” He held up the Chinese finger trap. James rolled his eyes but nodded all the same. He tried to leave again but Eddie stopped him. “Can I borrow a dollar?” Eddie looked up coyly. James wanted to bark at him and tell his brother to put it back. There was no way in hell he was going to pay for some stupid gag.

“His walls were supposed to be red,” Jordan flicked the turn signal. “I just got the wrong shade and well, he just laughed and let me paint it.”

“That doesn’t sound like Aleks.”

Jordan shrugged. Sure, he had been angry at Jordan at first. He’d told Jordan he needed to be more observant and that it was clearly pink. But then he’d laughed. His mouth had stretched all wide and his teeth had gleamed in the quickly setting sun. Aleks had a lovely smile. Jordan’s face mimicked Aleks’ on that day. James gazed out of the window.

“Aleks hates everyone to start with.”

“He didn’t hate my dad.”

Jordan barked out a laugh. He cupped a hand over his mouth. He fell over onto the steering wheel and lost sight of the road for a split second. James frowned at him. He reached across to hold onto the wheel and keep the car steady. Jordan sat up quickly and wiped at his eyes.

“Once, when your dad stayed the night, Aleks offered to make us breakfast in bed. He burnt it. Literally left the bacon on the pan, let the toast blow smoke until the alarm got us out of bed. He was just sitting there, smiling, with his own properly cooked plate.”

“That’s not so bad,” James muttered. He knew Aleks could sulk better than that.

“He changed the locks the next time I asked your dad over. I had to call a locksmith. It was so embarrassing to say that your own son had locked you out.”

James grinned. That was genius, he’d have to give that to him. He’d wished he’d thought of something like that. He just avoided Jordan the first few times he’d come to visit.

“I think the first conversation I had with you was when you came out of the bathroom with my dad’s towel around your waist,” James recalled.

“You liked the music I was playing in the shower.”

“I figured you couldn’t be that bad if you had a good music taste, better than my dad’s.”

“You and Aleks will have that moment too, I’m sure,” Jordan hummed. At least, he hoped they would.

 Jordan went quiet as they pulled into the camp site. There weren't many people pitched up for the weekend and those that had had brought a camper van. Of the few tents that were pitched up, most sagged to the ground. James stayed in the car as Jordan got out to announce their arrival. As the door opened, James was assaulted by a gust of wind that brought with it spit-like rain. He reached across and closed the door behind Jordan. He slammed his head against the seat behind him. So this was his weekend now? He thought. It should have been Aleks who was exiled, he’d been the one that had started all this mess. James braced himself against the rain as Jordan climbed back into the car. Jordan passed a map to James. James opened it up and stared at it. It had been scribbled on by someone at reception or even Jordan himself. They had circled the spot where Jordan and James were going to have to spend their weekend and put a cross where they were parked now. Jordan started the car again and looked at James. James took another glance at the map and cleared his throat.

 It took them so long to find their pitch that even the rain gave up on them and just stopped. James had spent the entire time squinting at the map and telling Jordan to turn one way before he changed his mind and decided it was the other direction. By the time they’d parked, Jordan’s car was caked in mud from all the off-road u-turns he’d attempted driving to the pitch. James tried to make up for it by being extra helpful with the tent. He tried to thread the sticks through or help hammer down the pegs but Jordan brushed him aside and took control. James watched from a well-worn in folding chair as Jordan put up their tent faster than they’d found the pitch. When it was up, James offered to start the fire but again Jordan held his hand up and got a fire going with ease. James wasn’t sure what to do with himself. His leg jumped up and down. He clicked each of his knuckles methodically. When Jordan reached into his bag for their dinner, James wanted to offer to cook it all himself. That was until Jordan handed him a long stick, some chocolate, two crackers and an oversized marshmallow.

 “We’re eating smores for dinner?”

James held up his stick and smirked at the marshmallow mess on the other end.

“Sorry, it’s all I packed.”Jordan smiled apologetically at James.

He held his own smore over the fire until it was lightly toasted. He pulled the gooey treat from the stick he’d cooked it on and slurped it down. James shook his head.

“We’re going to have to go shopping tomorrow for some actual food.”

Jordan snorted around his bite. He wiped the sticky marshmallow from his lips.

“All right, who’s the adult here?” Jordan looked down as James pointed to his shirt. Some of the chocolate and marshmallow had dripped onto him. “Touché.”

James kicked at the dirt beneath his feet. He looked around their area. There wasn’t another tent in site, just miserably trod-in pitches and a couple of ugly trees.

“What are we even going to do for a couple of days? Why does Aleks get to mope at home and I have to suffer here?”

“You sent images of the parts of his room he’d be most embarrassed about to the entire school. Why shouldn’t you have to suffer?” Jordan raised his eyebrow.

“He deserved it. He fucked off and- and- and he just left you to deal with it.”

 James threw his stick onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around his self. His fingers dug into his shoulders. Just the thought of Jordan sitting there, chewing his nails to brittle stubs made his blood boil all over again. Aleks was a little brat and should not have been rewarded for acting like one. James heard Jordan sigh heavily. The chair Jordan was sat in squeaked across the damp grass. The ugly bright green arm of the chair snuck into the corner of James’ eye.

“This whole situation is new for him. We underestimated how much of a change this would be. You can’t tell me you were completely fine when your dad said you were moving in with us?”

James scoffed. He’d been furious. It was such an irresponsible, stupid decision. Jordan had just been an occasional guest and then all of a sudden his Dad had decided that they were going to live together. He knew their situation wasn’t ideal, just the two of them, and he knew his dad was lonely but James had thought it was such an extreme decision. He’d told his dad as much but, after his dad’s face had fallen, had offered to help pack their bags as quick as possible.

“I just dealt with it. It’s what I had to do, what Aleks has to do.”

“Aleks just isn’t like that, I’m afraid,” Jordan sighed.

“Well you should have raised him better.”

 James knew he’d said the wrong thing when Jordan got up from his chair. The tent unzipped and rustled as Jordan climbed in. When it zipped back up again, James knew that he wasn’t welcome to follow. He just sat there in silence and stared at the fire as it crackled. James’ foot nudged the stick he’d thrown and he leaned over to pick it up. James looked around. A few feet from their pitch was a communal trashcan. James scooped up Jordan’s stick from the ground as well and trudged over to it. He snapped each stick in half and crammed them in. James glanced back at the tent. Jordan had gone deathly silent once he’d climbed inside. With a heavy sigh, James stomped back to their little pitch. He snatched the map from Jordan’s bag and walked in the opposite direction they had drove in from.

 It was dark by the time James made it back to the tent. He’d walked through a thin wooded area, found a lake, ran from a ferocious coyote that turned out to just be an aggressive dog and he’d managed to check out what little facilities the camp ground offered. He wasn’t impressed by the dingy washroom cubicle, the run down pub or the shop that was the size of a closet. It simply was not fair, he thought. Aleks had ruined everything, not him. He’d simply given the boy a taste of his own medicine. James wanted to stay at home, play some video games and relax. Instead he was here with nothing to do and now, after what he’d said, nobody to talk to. The service sucked, not that anybody was texting him anyway but it still annoyed James to have barely two bars. James could not wait to get home and yell at Aleks and blame him for the miserable time he was sure to have.

 James kicked at the remains of their fire. It was nothing but ash now and the residue stuck to his shoe. Their pitch looked deserted. Jordan must have fallen asleep because their tent was still zipped up tight and dark. Nothing had moved since James had left. James shivered. He pulled his jacket closer to him. James walked to Jordan’s bag. The idiot had left it out in the open. James rifled through it until he found Jordan’s keys. He used them to unlock the car and he climbed into the back seat. He went to lay down but knew he wouldn’t have been able to relax knowing Jordan’s bag had been left outside. He sighed heavily to himself and rushed to grab it. He brought it into the car with him and used it as a pillow instead.

 James shot up when the car door opened. He held his arm up over his face as the light attempted to blind him. A shadow began to loom over him. James lowered his arm and squinted.

“So that’s where my bag went.”

Jordan dragged his bag out from behind James. James rubbed at the back of his head. He glanced past Jordan and saw that the fire was already going. There was a little grill set up over the fire and a frying pan sat upon that. Jordan had already cracked an egg inside.

“How’d you get all this stuff?”

“My wallet was in my jeans, I never put it in my bag. I could lose that,” Jordan winked. James sniffed at the air. The eggs smelled so good, so inviting. Jordan walked towards the fire and mixed the eggs so that they scrambled. James hopped out of the car and shut the door behind him. He walked over to Jordan and slid his hands into his pockets.

“Can I help?”

 Jordan looked up. James’ eyes had bags drooping underneath them. He had little checks imprinted upon his right cheek, most likely from sleeping on the bag. Jordan sighed.

“You can go clean up and change your clothes.”

James let out a breathy laugh. Jordan smiled up at him. He nodded in the direction of the wash room but James already knew where to go. As he walked away, he glanced over his shoulder. Jordan watched him. He nodded at James. James turned away and kept walking. He knew that all had been forgiven.

 Once they’d had breakfast, Jordan took them to the lake James had found the night before. He set up the folding chairs all by himself, refusing James’ help, and even got the fishing rods ready for them both. He handed one to James and chuckled as James simply stared at it. He guided the teenager’s hands into the right position, taught him how to throw the bob out and reel it back in. Then he sat down in his own chair, rod nestled against his thigh, closed his eyes and relaxed. James noticed he’d worn a bright red hat today. He couldn’t resist reaching over and turning it backwards. Jordan huffed. He whipped the hat back around and James laughed. Jordan relaxed back against his chair but he kept one eye open, one eye trained on James, while the other got its rest.

 James groaned. It was too quiet here. There was only the sound of the wind, of Jordan’s breathing, the slight bloop of the bubbles on the lake. James’ feet kicked at the ground. He needed to be stimulated. His thumbs fiddled with the rod. He groaned again. Longer, louder, more guttural. He kicked at Jordan’s feet. Jordan sighed heavily. He opened both his eyes and gave James a look. A dad look, a look that said ‘stop that right now or so help me’. James groaned again.

“I’m bored. Tell me a story.”

“What?”

“Tell me a story.”

“A fairy tale?” Jordan snorted.

“No. Tell me… tell me how my dad won over Aleks.”

James turned to look at Jordan. He still didn’t believe it was possible. He knew he’d seen Aleks and his dad talk but it could have all been an act. Aleks might only hate one person at once and James had just happened to take up the slot. Jordan shrugged.

 “Well, a couple of months after your dad and I started dating – Aleks was begging me to let him see this movie. It was rated eighteen, so of course I told him he couldn’t. He was sixteen, much too young for a movie like that and still too young for a movie like that. But he went on, and on, and on. I stayed strong, told him that I was not going to buy it for him,” Jordan shifted in his chair.

“But then you dad came over and I got called into work, one of the computers had combusted or something, so I asked him to stay with Aleks. I was nervous, they still had barely spoken since we’d started dating. But I had to leave so I did. I spent a few hours fixing a computer, worried the entire time that I was going to come home to a blood bath. I’m not proud of it but I ran several red lights to get back there. I opened the door and there they were, laughing with one another and talking. Actually talking!”

James frowned. He gave Jordan a look.

“That’s it? They just started talking?”

Jordan shook his head.

“I thought that, for a few days. Thought Aleks had finally warmed to your dad and that they bonded. They had bonded but not through talking. I found the case to that flippin’ DVD stashed under the couch. God, I wanted to rip your dad’s hair out but at the time he was bald and well, they were getting along. I didn’t want to mess it all up. I’ve never forgiven your dad for that.” Jordan glared at the ground.

 James chewed upon his lower lip. So his dad won Aleks over by showing him an age gated movie? James was eighteen, he could get Aleks any movie he wanted. Though he guessed he’d have to do more than that now. James groaned again. He let his head fall back against the top of the chair.

“That doesn’t help at all. I don’t think Aleks would appreciate me giving him a movie.”

Jordan laughed and shook his head.

“No, but maybe you could start by giving him some space. I’m sure you’ll find something in common eventually.”

James sighed. They had found common ground. At the party. When they’d kissed. James could like anime, if he tried to watch it, and he could even endure a couple of minutes of that screaming music Aleks liked. If Aleks would just warm up a little and stop ruining it for their dads – James could do anything.

 They never did catch a fish. Though James did come close, but he didn’t reel it in fast enough and he lost it. Jordan said that it didn’t matter but James felt dejected as they walked back to the campsite. He offered to cook them dinner to make up for it but Jordan shrugged him off and cooked it for them. When they were full, and the sun had set, Jordan suggested that they go to bed because they were going to get up early in the morning. James snorted. His phone told him that it was only eight in the evening but Jordan insisted so he followed. He sighed in content when he laid down in his sleeping bag. Although it wasn’t cushioned like the back of the car was, there was something much nicer about sharing the tent with Jordan than sleeping alone outside.

 When Jordan woke him up at the crack of dawn, James did not want to leave. He huffed and curled himself up further in the bag. Jordan dragged him out by his feet and dumped him onto the cold, hard floor. James unzipped himself and scowled at his stepfather. Jordan rolled his eyes at him and pointed to their fold out chairs. He’d set them up in the corner of their pitch so that they were facing the sun as it slowly peeked out from the ground. James followed Jordan’s finger and took a seat. Together, they watched as the sun bathed them in a gorgeous light that painted a pretty picture in the morning sky.

 It was so beautiful that James did not have to use a filter when he uploaded a picture of the sky to his snapchat story. Well, he tried to but it failed.

“You know a lot about this place,” James put his phone in his pocket.

“I take Aleks here every year.”

“He doesn’t seem the camping type.”

Jordan shook his head.

“He wasn’t. When I first brought him home, I took him here a couple of months later. It was an exhausting weekend.”

“I can imagine, what idiot takes a newborn to a camp ground?”

 Jordan glanced at James. An odd expression passed over his face. His eyebrows dove towards his nose. His teeth worried his lower lip. Jordan’s eyes flicked away from James. They stared into the ground.

“He was five.”

“Five months old? Still crazy, man.”

“Five years old.”

Jordan chewed on his nails. James’ mouth fell open. Five years old?  That couldn’t be right. That would mean that… that…

“Aleks was adopted?”

Jordan nodded. James scratched at his head. Now that he thought about it, Jordan and Aleks didn’t look too much alike. James just assumed that Aleks got his looks from his mother, like he had.

“He came all the way from Russia. Didn’t speak much the first few months, couldn’t really. I tried teaching him English but he wouldn’t listen. He learnt a lot from that Japanese show, the one with the run? I couldn’t stand the voice acting but it got him out of his shell.”

“Did he do the run?” James smirked a little.

“Oh yeah, we both did. It was the only way I could get him to smile. Especially here – he couldn’t stand it here. It was just me and him, alone, and he didn’t understand what I was saying half the time. But he knew that run,” Jordan smiled to himself. “After that he got used to me, stuck to my side and cried when I dropped him off at school until Eddie came along.”

James relaxed into his seat. Eddie was the only person, aside from Seamus, James had ever seen Aleks speak to at school. Aleks tended to blend in and avoided talking to anybody he didn’t have to. James let out a deep breath.

Aleks pulled his hood over his head. Everyone seemed so obsessed with him today. From the moment he had stepped out of his car, people had stared at him. Eddie had declared it was because his hair was “on fleek” today but all Aleks had done was run his fingers through it. Even if it was true, Eddie’s reasoning did not explain the snickers that had followed Aleks around all day.

“Figured he’d like Sasuke, fucking emo.”

“What emo has pink walls?”

Aleks whipped around. Two girls looked in his direction and laughed. Aleks’ brows furrowed. He shrugged it off. They couldn’t be talking about him, he thought. Nobody but Eddie, Seamus and his dad knew about his room.

 Aleks headed to his next class. It was only once he’d sat down that he realised it was one he was supposed to share with James. Aleks would have got up and left but the teacher gave him a look that kept Aleks glued to his seat. He glanced around the room. The class was in a lab and if Aleks remembered it right, it was supposed to be biology. The benches were arranged in little circles so that the students had to sit in groups of four or six. Aleks had snagged a bench right at the back, far in the corner so that he could hide from everyone. It was the perfect place to people watch as well. A couple of girls filtered in and sat in the middle of the room. Aleks scowled at them as they glanced back at him. They whispered to one another and laughed at his expense. Aleks glanced down at his outfit. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him – black on black on black. Sure, he’d been wearing it for a few days now but nobody cared that much in high school. As more people piled in and stared oddly at him Aleks started to shift in his seat.

 Most people that came to the class sat at the back by Aleks but they still kept a wide berth. Aleks tensed as someone slipped into the seat directly next to him. A quick glance to his left and he uttered a groan. A jock Aleks briefly remembered from the party loomed over him.

“So, what’s he called?”

Aleks frowned and pulled his hood tighter over his face. The jock nudged his arm.

“Is it Mr Snuggles? Fluffy? Or is it something emo like Blood Bear?”

Aleks swallowed. He inched his hood off of his face. The jock leered at him.

“What are you fucking on about?”

“You know, your teddy bear?”

 Aleks’ faced paled considerably. He swallowed and a lump formed in his throat. His fingers slipped over his jeans. He jerked his head away from the jock and out into the classroom. His eyes fell on a group of students huddled around the bench in the middle of the room. Aleks grit his teeth. Two girls hung on the arm of a familiar, curly-haired teenager. As though he sensed Aleks was looking at him, James turned to face him. His eyes studied the expression painted across Aleks’ face and then he grinned. Aleks’ phone beeped in his pocket. He pulled it out. He never took his eyes off of James. He wouldn’t, couldn’t look away. But his phone buzzed again and Aleks couldn’t stand it any longer.

Fucking asshole:

You should really get a lock on your door. Enjoy the pictures!

They came one after the other and each photo was more damning than the last. The first was a simple shot of Aleks’ whole room. The second was a close up on his pink walls. The third was a shot of his posters, more specifically the Naruto poster. The fourth was the most invasive because James had pulled out all of Aleks’ Disney films and laid them out on his bed. The fifth was a shot of his teddy bear, Cuddles, tucked into his duvet. Aleks slammed his hand onto the table. The jock beside him laughed again. It echoed around the room. Aleks took a deep breath. It was going to be a long, long, loooooooong day.

 Jordan paced back and forth across the kitchen. He chewed at the nubs of his nails. He pulled a chair out at the table, then tucked it back in again. Jordan clenched his hand around the top. He pulled the chair out again. This time he sat down.

“Do you think it would be awful if I took his car keys?”

“Would it keep him here?”

Dan folded his arms across his chest. He had watched Jordan from the corner of the kitchen. He was glad that his boyfriend had finally sat down as his head had started to spin. Jordan stared absent-mindedly at the table. After a minute or two, he shook his head and sighed heavily.

“How about I make you some hot chocolate and we can think of a better solution?”

Jordan nodded numbly. Dan chose the most expensive pot of hot chocolate they owned. It wasn’t the time for cheap, instant hot chocolate. It was as he grabbed the milk that the front door slammed. Jordan and Dan looked at one another.

“James?”

 Jordan’s eyes lit up when Aleks scowled at them from the doorway. His body cast a shadow that cut through the pastel tiles. His eyes were almost black.

“Don’t ever fucking say his name again, I want him gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes dad, fucking gone. Out of here. Away from me.”

Jordan looked at Dan for some help. Dan dropped the hot chocolate tub and edged his way to Aleks.

“Aleks, what’s your problem?” Jordan asked.

Dan reached out to Aleks. Aleks flinched away from him. He stormed towards his father and pointed accusingly into his face.

“You. You brought him here. You let him into our house and he ruined everything.”

Jordan’s breath caught in his throat. He hiccupped. Aleks drew away from him but his gaze never faltered. Furious. Unforgiving. Hurt. It’s all Jordan could see swimming behind his irises.

 Dan came over to them both. He cupped Jordan’s shoulder with one hand and Aleks’ with the other.

“Clearly, there are some issues that need to be resolved,” Dan said. “They’re not going to be resolved by screaming at one another or disappearing for days on end.”

Aleks shrugged the hand off of his shoulder. His eyes shot quickly to Dan’s face.

“What are you suggesting?”

“That we all take some time to get to know each other.”

“I’m not-“

“I know, I know. You don’t want to see him. Do you have anything against me?”

Aleks shook his head. For all the hatred, for all of the frustration he felt towards James he could not blame Dan. Dan was nice, always had been and Aleks was sure no matter what he did he always would be. Dan smiled glumly back at him.

“What if Jordan and James spend a weekend somewhere together and we’ll do the same?”

“I’m not leaving the house,” Aleks swallowed. He might get recognised if he did that. If he had his way, he was never leaving this house again.

“Then we don’t have to. Jordan and James can go camping or something.”

Jordan nodded slowly. His eyes never left Aleks’.

 They all jumped when the door shut again. James tiptoed into the room. He tensed when he saw Aleks stare back at him. Dan cupped Aleks’ shoulder once more. With a gentle squeeze, he kept Aleks in place. Dan nodded at his son.

“You just go up and pack your bag, James. You and Jordan are going to go on a trip.”

James mirrored his father’s nod. He glanced once at Jordan, then at Aleks and then he started up the stairs. Aleks took a deep breath. He pulled out a chair and slumped into it. Jordan reached across the table to give his son some comfort but Aleks pulled away from him.

“You should pack too, Dad. You don’t want to keep him waiting.”

James didn’t see Aleks after that. By the time he’d woke up for school, Aleks would be gone. Jordan would offer him an apologetic smiling face-shaped breakfast and offer to drive him in. James would shake him off, take the bus and search for Aleks in the hallways. But he skipped the classes that they shared together, had lunch off campus and stayed at Eddie’s until James had gone to bed. James tried to leave him notes, got his number off of Jordan and called and called until his phone died but Aleks would never pick up. The notes were found crumpled in the bin hours later. James knocked on his door several times and just walked in on one occasion. The bed was made, Aleks’ laptop was missing and the only sign that Aleks had even been there would be the ever growing laundry pile in the corner.

 “I’m so sorry he’s like this.”

Jordan sat on the couch with his head in his hands. He sighed heavily and pulled at his hair. Dan perched beside him. He wrapped his arm around Jordan’s shoulder and leaned against him.

“There’s no need to apologise, we knew it was going to be hard.”

“But he’s making it so difficult. For no reason!”

“Look, I’ll talk to him.”

“Fat chance, it’s like living with a damn ghost. He’s never here!”

Dan sighed. He’d tried to get up early to catch Aleks before he dashed out the door but the boy caught on quick and seemed to leave at three o’clock in the morning. He couldn’t stand what it was doing to Jordan. He locked himself inside his shed and came out days later with a new shelf for the living room or a bedside table for one of the bedrooms. He’d told Dan he was working on that new picnic bench with a snide remark about how there was no need now that Aleks had forcefully ejected himself from their family.

 James watched it all from the hallway. He stole Dan’s car keys from the table Jordan had made a week ago and marched out the door. He closed it gently so that they wouldn’t notice he had slipped out. James sighed in relief when he saw that Dan’s car was parked behind Jordan’s. There was a big, gaping hole where Aleks’ car should have been. James slipped into the driver’s side. He reached across the steering wheel and opened up the glove compartment. Dan’s glove compartment had always been messy but ever since he’d moved into Jordan’s it seemed to have been cleaned up slightly. James rifled for the book he knew Jordan had stashed there ‘in case of emergencies’. He pulled it out and flicked through the pages. His eyes skimmed over the list of addresses and he snorted when he saw that their own address was written in big bold letters on the front page. He flicked through a couple of pages until he reached the page entitled ‘places Aleks might be’.

1.       His room.

2.       At school.

3.       At Eddie’s.

James inputted the address into his phone. He threw it onto the dashboard as it demanded he take a left. Out of curiosity, James flicked forward to his own name.

1.       His room.

2.       At school.

3.       At Eddie’s?

James scoffed. Aleks was possibly right. He really did need to make his own friends.

 Eddie looked up from Seamus’ chest when somebody knocked at the door. He looked up at his boyfriend but Seamus only shrugged.

“Eddie, get the door already.”

Aleks’ eyes never left the TV. His fingers flew across the controller.

“Why don’t you go and get it?” Eddie cuddled closer to Seamus.

“It’s your house.”

“You seem to have settled in quite nicely.”

Eddie cried out when a pillow hit him in the face. He chucked it aside and glared at Aleks. Whoever was at the door continued to knock. Seamus grumbled when Eddie untangled himself from his arms. On his way to the door Eddie made sure to kick at Aleks’ shins.

 Eddie’s mouth fell open when he saw who was on the other side.

“Where is he?”

James peered around Eddie’s head. He took a step towards the door but Eddie blocked his way with his arms.

“He’s not here.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.”

James shouldered his way past him. Eddie cried out and fell into the wall. James spotted Seamus through an open door and he marched towards him. Seamus held his hands up in surrender. He pointed to the armchair James had rushed past.

 Aleks scowled up at James. James gestured with his fingers for Aleks to stand up.

“C’mon, get up. We’re going home.”

“I’m fine thanks.”

“Yeah? Well your dad fucking isn’t so get up.”

James grabbed Aleks by the arm in a manner reminiscent to how Aleks had thrown him out of his room. He got Aleks to his feet before James was shoved off. Aleks came at him with balled up fists. James raised his arms to keep himself from getting battered. A fist slipped through and caught him on the lip. James grimaced as blood trickled down his chin. He was grateful when Seamus shot up and grabbed Aleks by the arms. He pulled them behind Aleks’ back and kept him from lunging at James again. Eddie stepped between them all with his hands outstretched.

“James, I think you should leave.”

“He needs to stop being a pissy baby and come home.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Aleks spat in James’ direction. Eddie pulled a face at Aleks and wiped the spit from his cheek.

“I’ll make sure he gets home safe, James. Just leave please.”

Eddie pressed an insistent hand against James’ chest. James scowled but got the hint.

 Nobody moved after James had left. They all stood in silence as they caught their breath. Aleks coughed. He wriggled against Seamus’ hold. Seamus dropped his arms and pat his back.

“Thanks, guys.”

“He’s right, you know. You’ve got to go home sometime.”

“I do go home.”

“An hour or two a day doesn’t count Aleks.”

Aleks slumped into the armchair. Seamus perched himself on one of the armrests. Eddie took a seat on the other. They both gazed down at Aleks like disapproving parents. Aleks looked down.

“Your dad is probably ripping his hair out.”

“Or building birdhouses,” Seamus laughed. “I still have that one he built after he’d given you the talk.”

“Yeah, it was really weird how he chose that off-white colour to paint it with.”

Aleks shuddered. He smiled a little at the thought of his father building more birdhouses than he had room for. His smile quickly faded.

“I’m not going home. Not until he’s gone.”

Seamus and Eddie peeled themselves off of the armrests. They both groaned in unison. They shared a look with one another. Seamus shrugged slightly. He dropped back down onto the couch. Eddie glanced one more time in Aleks’ direction before he followed his boyfriend’s lead.

 James sped back home. He swerved the car into the driveway and tumbled out of the door. He walked inside with his shoulders squared. As the door shut behind him, James squeezed his eyes shut. He opened one when the yelling he’d anticipated did not come.  No one had come from the living room to scold him for taking the car. James dropped the keys onto the table. He peeked around the edge of the door. Dan lay on the sofa. He hummed softly as he carded his fingers through Jordan’s hair. Jordan’s face was soft and slack. His eyes were closed. James smiled at them both and then slipped up the stairs before Dan could notice his face.

Aleks chucked his keys onto the kitchen table. They scraped across the surface and flew off of the other end with a thud. Dan looked up from his kindle and watched them go. When he turned to the door, Aleks was gone. James stood against the doorframe with a wide grin.

“Aleksandr!”

Jordan’s head popped over James’ shoulder. He looked to James for an explanation but the teenager only shrugged and shook his head.

“Well, I hope he cheers up enough for dinner. I’m going to make fries,” Dan beamed.

“That’s probably not the best idea.”

“You like my fries!”

“We had them at school today, Dad. Maybe you could make Aleks your Bolognese instead?”

“I guess that will have to do.”

 James peeled away from the doorframe. He stepped past Jordan and marched up the stairs. At the landing, he glanced towards Aleks’ room. The door was slightly ajar. James walked up to it. His hand lingered on the handle before he pulled it closed. He continued down the hall to his room and shut himself inside. There wasn’t much to do in his room yet. His TV sat unplugged on the floor because Jordan had insisted that he build him a new entertainment stand. His laptop charger was still inside his backpack but to reach inside and grab it felt like too much effort. The clothes he’d worn over the weekend were still on the floor. His bed was as he’d left it this morning, unmade and inviting. He flopped onto it and huffed into the pillow.

 James grunted as he rolled over. Dan’s hand lingered on his shoulder. He smiled down at his son and shook his head slowly.

“Aw, did you have a big day?”

James shook his dad off. He rubbed at his eyes and failed to supress a yawn.

“Why’d you wake me up?”

“It’s time for dinner, you numpty. I made Bolognese like you suggested.”

James nodded. He stretched as he stood up. He would have just left had it not been for Dan’s disapproving gaze at his bed. He grabbed the corner of his duvet and threw it over. It fell almost perfectly but the sheet was still wrinkled when it settled. James shrugged it off and headed out of the door. Dan didn’t follow for a little while and James knew that when he returned to his room his bed would be perfectly made for him.

 Aleks was already slumped over the kitchen table. His fork turned and turned in his spaghetti. The pasta got thicker and thicker at the bottom of the utensil.

“Be careful there, Aleks. That’ll be quite a mouthful,” Dan said.

“It’s not the first mouthful he’s had today.”

James dropped into the seat across from Aleks. He grinned at him. Aleks threw his fork against his plate. His glare pierced through James’ head. James slowly winked at him.

“Dad, can we swap seats?”

“No, Aleks you can stay where you are.”

Jordan spun his own spaghetti around his fork and bundled it up just as Aleks had done. Dan reached over the table to lay a gentle hand upon his wrist. Jordan looked from his spaghetti to his boyfriend. He slowly unwound the spaghetti until it was a Dan-approved amount.

 They ate mostly in silence. Jordan and Dan tried to liven up the dinner by asking the boys about their day but the pair simply dodged them. James wolfed his dinner down. He scraped his fork against his plate. With every mouthful, the sound interrupted the silence. He ignored his own father’s disapproving gaze and stared intently at Aleks instead. On the third or fourth scrape, Aleks finally looked up. His eyes were hard and unforgiving. James smiled. He took a bite of his spaghetti and made sure that there was a string sticking out of his lips. Without breaking eye contact with Aleks, he sucked the pasta in slowly. He swallowed. His tongue peeked out from between his lips. James dragged it from one end of his mouth to the other.

 Heat rose to Aleks’ cheeks. He forced his food down his throat. He reached for the pitcher of juice Dan had placed in the middle of the table. As his hand closed around it, James’ hand closed around his. James snickered and rubbed his thumb against the back of Aleks’ hand. Aleks tugged the juice away from James and glared at him. He mouthed the word ‘stop’ to James. James mouthed ‘no’ back at him. Aleks kicked him under the table. James covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Jordan and Dan glanced at their sons but didn’t say anything. They were just glad that neither of them had resorted to throwing food at one another yet. Aleks went to kick James again but James caught his foot between his own. Aleks tried to use his other foot to help him break free. James’ feet held strong.

“James.”

“Aleks.”

“Fuckin’ stop.”

 Aleks shrugged off his father’s death glare. James released his foot. Aleks slumped in his chair. He picked up his fork to continue to eat his dinner. He jumped as James recaptured his legs. Aleks dropped his fork once more. He sighed heavily.

“James, can we talk?”

“Sure, what would you like to talk about?”

“James.”

“Me? Well, how nice of you to ask Aleksandr. I like video games, marvel movies and long walks on the beach.”

Aleks tugged his legs free. He stood up from the table and stood in the doorway. He looked back at James for a second and then stormed upstairs. James shrugged.

“Excuse me, apparently the drama queen wants to talk.”

Jordan and Dan shared a look. Without words, they questioned whether they should follow James and see what was up with their sons. Dan chewed upon his lower lip. Jordan spun his fork absent-mindedly. Dan knew he’d come to a decision when he shovelled some spaghetti into his mouth. He glanced back at the door but then shrugged.

“Foos gooh,” Jordan lifted his cleaned-off fork high in the air. Dan rolled his eyes.

  When James got upstairs, he noticed that Aleks’ door was ajar again. He pushed it open this time and walked right in. Aleks had his back to him. He fiddled with something on his desk. James pushed the door closed behind him. His mouth fell open.

“Dude, your room is pink.”

“No it’s not, its red.”

James shook his head. The walls of Aleks’ room were definitely not dark enough to be red. They were littered in an odd assortment of posters ranging from bands that all had either the word dead or blood in the name to mainstream movie posters and a couple of anime posters including a rather large one of Sasuke Uchiha.

“It’s definitely pink.”

“It’s a lightish red.”

“Pink.”

“We’re not here to talk about my fucking room, James.”

Aleks dropped what he had been fiddling with onto his desk. James smirked when he saw it was a figurine of Sasuke Uchiha.

“You like a lot of anime for a goth.”

“Fuck off.”

 The more James looked around Aleks’ room, the less edgy it looked. The walls were pink, or lightish red, and some of the posters were quite gory but there were hints of life in Aleks’ room still. There were neon boxers mixed in with black jeans on the floor, Disney movies nestled in against budget horror flicks and a teddy bear perched upon Aleks’ dark grey duvet cover. Aleks took a seat on his bed. James saw it fit to follow him. He accidentally sat down on the foot of the bear and Aleks ripped it out from under him. He gazed fondly at it before he threw it down onto the floor. James leaned into Aleks’ space.

“Feel familiar?”

Aleks shoved him away. He got up from the bed and walked to the middle of his room. He slipped his hands into his pockets. He kicked at the floor with the toe of his shoe.

“You’ve got to stop coming onto me, man.”

“Coming onto you?”

“The fries, the jokes, the fuckin’ spaghetti.”

The image of James slurping up the spaghetti still haunted Aleks’ mind. He shifted in his jeans. James laughed from behind him.

“I’m just messin’ with ya.”

 Aleks growled, actually growled, as he spun on his heel to face James. He ripped his hands from his pockets and threw them up into the air. He opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut again. He walked three steps forward and four steps back. Aleks dug his fingers into his hair. He huffed loudly. James leaned back on Aleks’ bed.

“Look, I get it.”

“No, you don’t get it. You being here is the worst thing that could ever happen to me.”

“All right, calm down.”

“No. No, I won’t calm down. You’re a huge fucking prick, do you know that?”

James rolled his eyes. His feet kicked at the teddy bear on the floor. He picked it up between them and lifted it so that his hands could grab it instead. He held it up in front of his face and made it dance side to side as he spoke in a squeaky voice.

“Don’t be mad at James, Aleks – he’s not that bad of a guy.”

“Get out.”

 James peeked over the head of the bear. Aleks glared down at him. His right arm pointed at his door. James’ lips twitched into a smile that quickly wilted under Aleks’ intense stare.

“Aleks, c’mon – I’ll cool it with the jokes.”

“I don’t want to look at you right now or, better yet, ever again.”

“Be a bit hard, what with our dads dating and living together.”

Aleks pointed a finger in James’ face. He jabbed it forward over and over again when he spoke.

“I don’t fucking care. Leave my room and don’t bother speaking to me again. Don’t even try.”

Aleks grabbed James by the shoulder. His fingers dug into James’ bicep as he yanked him up off of his bed. James stumbled over his feet as he was shoved towards the door. He fell forward into the hallway and had to catch himself on the wall. The door closed in his face.

 James frowned at the door. He looked down at the bear still in his hand. He raised his fist to knock against the door. It opened before his hand could touch the wood. Aleks’ brooding face appeared in its place. The bear was snatched from James’ hand. The door shut once more. James was left alone. He stood there for what felt like days, weeks even before a hand on his shoulder caused him to turn around. Dan rubbed his shoulder.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is all right.”

“Aleksandr, language!”

Dan clapped his hands over James’ ears. He was a little surprised when Jordan covered his ears too. James cackled and doubled over. He clutched his stomach. He laughed so hard that he started to lose his breath. His hair shook back and forth against his shoulders.

“This can’t be happening, why does it have to happen to me?”

“Stop being dramatic Aleks and greet James properly.”

Jordan frowned when James laughed even harder. He almost fell to the floor.

“What has gotten into you James? It’s not very nice to laugh at people you’ve just met.”

James straightened up. He offered Aleks a shaky hand. Little squeaks of laughter escaped his tightly pressed lips. Aleks shook his head and turned away from James. He got up out of his chair. Their shoulders brushed as Aleks pushed past him. He stalked into the hallway.

“Aleks, get back here you have to help them unpack.”

The resounding thump of Aleks’ door slamming shut was the only answer Jordan received.

 Eight boxes, three stubbed toes and a couple of father-son arguments later Jordan flopped down onto the couch. His legs spread across all three of the cushions. He propped his head up against the armrest. He looked at Dan and pat his chest. Dan laid down on top of him. His cheek squished against Jordan’s t-shirt. His hair tickled Jordan’s nose. Jordan’s fingers threaded through it and brushed it down. He kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head and smiled. James slumped in the armchair and pulled a face at the two men. He looked across the room at Aleks who leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He watched Jordan and Dan with his upper lip curled. He noticed James was staring at him and turned to look at the other boy. James pat the space beside him. He grinned at Aleks. Aleks huffed and turned away.

 “So boys, what shall we do now?”

Jordan tried to clap his hands together. His hand slapped Dan in the face instead. Jordan gasped. He furiously rubbed the spot he’d hit. When Dan pushed him aside, Jordan peppered his face in kisses instead. James cleared his throat.

“How about we have a family game night?”

Aleks’ whole body went stiff against the wall. He cringed when Jordan squealed.

“That’s a great idea James! What do you want to play?”

“Oh, I don’t know… Uno?”

James locked eyes with Aleks.

 Aleks slowly peeled himself from the wall, shook his head ‘no’ and walked out. He stomped up the stairs to try and drown out James’ laughter. He could hear his father call out his name but Aleks did not stop until he was safely in his room. He slammed the door for good measure. How the fuck could this happen to him? He thought. The one time he made out with someone at a party and they had to show up at his house the next day as his new brother? Aleks kicked the leg of his bed. He cursed and fell onto it. His fingers massaged his throbbing toe. When the feeling started to fade, Aleks turned onto his side and curled into a little ball.

“Why?”

 Somebody knocked on his door. Aleks glared at the wood. He hoped that they could feel his anger. The intruder knocked again.

“I know you’re in there.”

“Fuck off, James.”

“If you don’t come out, I’m coming in. We’ve got to talk about this shit.”

Aleks shot up. He rushed over to his door. He opened it barely a crack and slipped through. James had to step back to avoid Aleks stepping on his toe. Aleks glared at him.

“We’re not talking about this. It did not happen. I was drunk.”

“But you don’t drink.”

“I. was. Drunk.”

Aleks accentuated each word with a jab of his finger against James’ chest.

“So we’re not going to talk about this?”

“Talk about what? Nothing happened, fuck off.”

 Aleks turned around and slammed the door in James face. James raised his fist. He knocked again.

“Fuck off!”

“But Aleksandr let’s talk about this.”

“It’s Aleks you asshole. Fuck. Off.”

“But we’re brothers, Aleks – we need to get closer.”

“We’re close enough. Go away.”

James’ fist raised high to knock again but he hesitated. He pressed his ear against the door to listen for any signs that Aleks would come back out. The boy on the other side was silent. James peeled away from the door and headed down the stairs. He almost fell down them when he bumped into his father halfway up.

“Oh, where’s Aleks?”

“In his room, we sorted it.”

“You did?”

Dan let his son pass him. He frowned a little and looked up at the landing.

“He’ll come down for dinner.”

Dan shrugged it off and followed his son down the stairs. James headed straight for the living room where he found Jordan hunched over on the couch. He had been chewing upon his nails.

“So, how about that game of Uno?” James asked.

--

 Jordan licked his lips as he flipped the burger. It was almost perfectly cooked, complete with little char lines from the barbeque. He gave it another minute before he slid the patty onto a bed of salad that Dan had prepped for him earlier. Jordan smiled down at the line of plates. He had cooked the other three burgers and had drawn smiley faces onto each of them in ketchup. But this burger was for Aleks and Jordan knew exactly what to do.

 The corners of Aleks’ mouth lifted slightly before he clapped his hand over it. Jordan had doodled a frown on his burger with two blobs of ketchup at the top and wobbly downward curve at the bottom.

“Oh hey, it’s a spitting image!”

Aleks shoved James aside. He wrapped his arm around his plate and schooled his lips into a straight, thin line. He used his shoulder to block James from looking at his plate. He slipped his phone from his pocket and peeked it over the table’s edge. The camera clicked. Aleks shoved his phone back under the table.

“Did you just take a picture of it?”

“Fuck off, James.”

 Jordan clicked his tongue. He placed his hands upon his hips and looked down at Aleks.

“Aleksandr, I know this is an adjustment but I will not deal with you being outright rude.”

“It’s okay Jordan, we’ve all got to get used to this. I forgive Aleks for being so off with me,” James smiled. “These burgers are great by the way.”

Aleks rolled his eyes at James while Jordan pat James’ back. He took his seat besides Dan. They were crammed onto the bench Jordan had built himself several years ago when Aleks was small and their family was even smaller. Aleks huffed. He placed his bun on top of his burger and took a bite.

“Yeah, dad. They’re good.”

 Jordan raised an eyebrow at his son. He looked between Aleks and James. James was a burst of colour against his own son and he was only wearing light grey and a blue t-shirt. Jordan respected Aleks’ right to wear whatever he wanted but sometimes he wondered if buying his son that eyeliner was a step too far. Maybe he should link Aleks some more youtube tutorials, Jordan thought. Aleks had clearly ignored the last set Jordan had sent him.

“You’re going to have to act a little nicer, Aleks. Tomorrow is James’ first day of school here and he’s going to need you to help him out.”

“You’re going to help me Aleks? That’d be great, really. I’d like that.”

 James grabbed Aleks’ hand. Aleks yanked it away as though he’d been burnt. He rubbed the spot where James’ hand had been.

“Oh yeah, that’s right you’ll be seniors together. If you’re lucky you’ll share some classes.”

Aleks’ burger fell from his bun. It made a wet slap against his plate.

“Are you all right there Aleks?”

Dan mopped at some ketchup that had squirted onto the table in the fall. Aleks nodded. He muttered his thanks to Dan as he scooped the patty back into his bun. He licked the ketchup from his hand. James stared intently at him as he sucked the sauce from his fingers.

 “Look at us, having a nice family meal,” Jordan smiled at the group. His elbows knocked against Dan’s as they tried to eat their burgers. “It looks like I’m going to have to build a new table though.” Jordan nudged Dan playfully to prove his point.

“It’s all right Jordan, these two will leave for college soon and we can have this table all to ourselves.”

Jordan’s face fell at the mere mention of college. He looked across the table at the two teenagers. Aleks had turned his whole body away from James. The eyeliner had smudged down onto his cheeks. While James chewed, a piece of lettuce bounced upon his chin. He was sticking his jaw out further than he needed to.

“You won’t be getting rid of me that easy, Dad. You’re guaranteed at least one more year of my wonderful, exquisite company,” James spoke with a lisp so that he spat with every word.