Jack Abbot left an entire life behind before he moved to Pittsburgh. He changed his name and almost everything else about himself. He had to get away from the reputation his family name seemed to hold. What he hadn’t meant to do was leave his younger brother, Andrew.

Jack knew that the boy was troubled; how could he not be with a mother like theirs? But troubled in a way where he wouldn’t make it out like Jack had, at least not without a tremendous amount of help. Andrew used to have a friend who seemed completely oblivious to what kind of house he was spending the night at. 

John Carter was bright, idealistic and never stopped talking about how much he wanted to be a doctor. That was something they had in common, though Jack had wanted to be an army doctor; he had thought it was the fastest way to get away from his criminal family. Andrew never really understood it, mostly because John Carter had the family name and the money to do absolutely nothing with his life and have more than enough to share.

Jack also thought his younger brother might’ve been a bit jealous of them getting along, bonding over their shared dream of medical school. Occasionally, Andrew would stay over at the Carters’, but he would always return angry and bitter, saying extra close to their mother, even sleeping in her bed, regardless of whether he was gone a day or a week. Jack knew it was unhealthy, but he never did anything to stop it. There was just no coming between Smurf and her baby.

John asked everybody once, he had been sleeping over, something that had been increasingly common at the time. All three of them were squeezed into Jack’s room, sitting on his bed and playing some video game Jack can’t remember anymore. She knocked on the door and said she had needed to speak to Andrew, leaving John and Jack on their own. Jack remembers the way that John’s chest would lift up with each careful breath, clearly working up the courage to say something. “Why do you think my mom doesn’t love me the way your mom loves you?” There had been absolutely no judgment in John’s question, the way Jack had been expecting, just a deep longing, like Smurf's obsession with her son wasn’t inappropriate but a normal family dynamic that John wasn’t getting from his own family.

He turned to look at John, preparing himself for a gentle conversation on how what they had wasn’t something John wanted, when he saw something else swimming in the man’s brown eyes. Jealousy. Was John jealous of their mom? Is he jealous of Andrew for the family they had? Jack had known, even then, that he needed to be delicate about how he explained things. He didn’t like lying to the kid, but he needed to protect him, protect both of them. “Smurf is harder on Pope, John. It’s not something you should be hoping for. You don’t need that kind of attention from your family; you’re welcome here with us anytime, you know that.” 

Even back then, John knew there was something off about the Cody family. He wasn’t an idiot, but they were close, unlike his own family, who just ignored him until he did something that they considered a screw-up. He felt drawn to them, Andrew and Jack in particular. He remembers the look on his friend's face when he got back from his mother‘s room. A more subdued look, like he had just given up and given in to whatever had been going on.

“It’s getting late, you two should get to bed.” Jack had stated, and John had wanted to argue, but he saw the way that Jack was eyeing up Andrew, and he thought better of it, handing over the game controller and getting up, both of them going down the hall to Andrew‘s room.

John wakes up early, something he’s been conditioned to do, and he always takes a moment to look over his friend's face and body, taking the time to silently name all the bones he can remember as his eyes pass over where they would be. Andrew knew that John did this. He had discovered it months ago, lay there with his eyes closed and listened to John recite the names of bones under his breath. He had never let on the fact that he was awake, but that particular morning, he couldn’t keep his giggles to himself. He cracks when I open and smirks up at John, “Yep, 206 bones, they’re all still there.” 

John freezes for a second, having been caught, then chuckles and shakes his head. “Shut up, man, I just wanna make sure I remember.”

Andrew rubbed at his eyes and sat up. “So you’re really going to do this? You’re going to leave me and go to medical school?”

“I want to be a doctor, Andrew, I wanna help people and not just with my parents' money.” They had this conversation many times since John had brought up the idea of going to med school when they were growing up. “But don’t worry, that’s not for years, and I’m not just going to up and leave, we will always be friends.” John had smiled that bright smile, the one that made his eyes crinkle and always made Andrew’s stomach flutter, even if he didn’t believe a word that John was saying. 

Andrew had thought about kissing John a million times, but mostly when he smiled like that. He didn’t know what it was about this particular day, but he finally gave in to the urge, leaning forward and pressing his lips firmly against Jones. Andrew can feel the other man stiff against him, but it doesn’t make him pull away like it probably should. Like everything else he does, Andrew “Pope” Cody comes at kissing with too much intensity, too hard and too needy. Just as he was about to pull away and apologize, John’s hand came up to cup his cheek, and he began kissing Andrew back. That’s when the trouble really started.