#slypkc

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:

The next morning, Aleks swore that Jordan was ripping open his tent door before the sun had even risen. That or his father’s large body was blocking out the light. Aleks ducked further into his sleeping bag, pressing his nose against the side and breathing in the cheap polyester.

“C’mon, Aleks – get up or you’ll miss the mountain walk,” Jordan said.

“Oh no, I’ll miss exercising. I’ll just have to sleep more.” Aleks stretched as much as he could inside his sleeping bag. Jordan kicked at his wriggling body. Aleks groaned peeped his head out. Jordan raised his eyebrow at him. Aleks slowly unzipped his bag and yawned. It was only when he raised his arms above his head and pushed his feet into the bottom of his sleeping bag that Jordan left.

“I want you out here in ten minutes Aleks or you’ll miss breakfast,” Jordan said. Aleks rolled his eyes but started to unzip his sleeping bag.

 James, Seamus, Eddie and Dan were huddled around the grill. Eddie pulled the crispy, brown bits of egg from his roll. He flicked them onto a paper towel. Dan picked each piece up and shoved it into his mouth. James supported his head on one fist, watching the tent Aleks was getting dressed in. He squinted at the shadow he could see through the flimsy material. He closed his eyes for a second to imagine what Aleks looked like at that moment. It was as close to Aleks as he could get until the trip was over. Seamus was sucking on his fingers in an effort to try and clean them. Jordan clicked his tongue and pulled from his shirt pocket a scented wipe he’d hoarded from the many restaurants they’d visited that week. Seamus thanked him in the form of a smile. His finger popped as he pulled it from his mouth. Jordan shivered as he saw the streaks of ketchup smeared across Seamus’ finger.

 Jordan scoffed as Aleks came swaggering out of the tent. He had his hands rammed into the pockets of his skinny jeans. The skin of his fingers bunched up around the lining. His hair remained unbrushed as it stuck out at odd angles. His jacket was rolled up at the sleeves and his shoes had more holes in them than a net. Aleks shielded his eyes from the sun with large dark sunglasses. As he got closer to the group, he tipped his head and the glasses slid down the bridge of his nose. Aleks slipped into James’ lap and winked at his boyfriend.

“That doesn’t look appropriate for mountain walking,” Jordan said. Aleks rolled his eyes at him.

“It doesn’t need to be appropriate, I look cool.” Aleks shot finger guns at his father. Jordan opened his mouth to say something else but James beat him to it.

“You look like a douchebag,” James said. Aleks whacked him on the arm for his efforts.

“Right, come on – Aleks, eat something and let’s go,” Dan clapped his hands together.

 _-_

 James and Aleks bumped shoulders as their steps started get slower and slower. They watched their families start to disappear over a hill. They came to a stop and James tugged his boyfriend off of the path. Aleks looked down at their hands and smiled. James used his thumb to guide Aleks’ eyes to his. He pinched the frames of Aleks’ sunglasses and pulled them away so that he could see his boyfriend.

“Hey,” James said. Aleks’ eyes wrinkled at the corners as he laughed, leaning forward into James’ chest. His breath tickled James’ neck as he giggled into it. James tried not to smile, burying his face in Aleks’ bedhead to try and hide it. Aleks stood back up after a few minutes, wiping away a few stray tears that had slipped. “This is our spot,” James said. Aleks looked around.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t look like the exact spot,” he said. James rolled his eyes.

“A technicality – it’s still the same place we first kissed.” James tucked Aleks’ sunglasses into the collar of his shirt. He brushed his thumb across Aleks’ cheek.

 Aleks was the one who leaned forward, letting their lips meet in a gentle caress. For a second they just shared breath, savouring the moment, before they deepened the kiss. James’ fingers slipped into Aleks’ hair and ruffled it further. Aleks’ fingers wound around James’ shirt and pulled. The material wrinkled between his fingers. It felt as though their whole summer had led to this moment. They broke away for just a second to catch their breath, caught each other’s eyes and both thanked their lucky stars that they were dating. Then James pressed his lips back against Aleks’, snaking his arm around his boyfriend’s waist and pulling him impossibly close.

 “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew, gross.” Eddie cupped his hands around his mouth. James and Aleks leapt away from one another. Aleks placed his heart against his chest as he realised that it was just Eddie. James went bowling towards him, hands curled into fists. As he came upon his younger brother, Eddie threw his hands up in surrender and backed away. Seamus popped up from behind Eddie. He slid in front of his best friend and smiled sweetly up at James.

“What are you doing here?” James growled. Seamus stepped back against his friend.

“We wanted you guys so that we could do something,” Seamus said. James frowned.

“It couldn’t have waited?” He folded his arms across his chest. Aleks walked over to the three of them and cupped James’ shoulder. He gave it a little squeeze.

“What did you want, Moose?” Aleks said.

 Seamus reached into his pocket and pulled out the headless lady from the tiny town. Aleks took her from him, running his thumb over her neck where her head would have been attached.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about her.” Aleks showed the figure to James. James rolled his eyes.

“Cool, you brought the headless lady on a walk. Now if you don’t mind,” James tugged on Aleks hand. His boyfriend pulled away from him and clicked his tongue.

“What did you want to do with her?” Aleks handed the figure to his brother. Seamus shrugged.

“I thought we could bury her,” Seamus said. Aleks gasped and snatched the figure back.

“But why? She’s awesome!” Aleks cradled the figurine to his chest. He rubbed down her back and cooed at it as thought it was a real woman. James rolled his eyes.

“We’ll probably come back next year and do the same walk so I just thought it’d be fun to see if she’s still here,” Seamus said. Aleks frowned back at him.

“Why can’t we just bury something not so cool, like you?” Aleks said.

  Seamus scoffed. He stole the figurine back from Aleks and stomped over to where his older brother and James had been standing.

“Fine, if you don’t want to help bury her then buzz off.” Seamus crouched and ran his fingers against the ground. His nails disturbed dirt and brought some up.

“We were here first!” James threw his hands up. He watched as Eddie trod all over his and Aleks’ sacred spot and knelt in the dirt with Seamus. Aleks looked at his boyfriend. James stuck out his lower lip. He tugged on Aleks’ hand and gestured with his head to another spot – away from their younger brother’s eyes. Instead of complying, Aleks pulled James in the opposite direction. He guided his boyfriend to kneel in the dirt with their younger brothers and started to use his fingers to help dig it up. James groaned but shoved his hands into the ground anyway.

 They piled the dirt that they brought up to one side. When they’d made it deep enough, as per Seamus’ instruction, Eddie reached in and placed the headless lady into the hole. As he pulled his hands out, the bracelet on his wrist snagged on a twig that was trapped in the dirt. He ripped it away. Eddie didn’t notice that he’d torn the bracelet. The group of boys packed the earth on top of the figurine. When it was done, Seamus got James to break off a piece of bark from a nearby tree. They shoved it into the ground in a way that eerily resembled a grave stone.

“This is kind of morbid,” James commented. Seamus only shrugged. He stood up and brushed the dirt from his knees. He grabbed Eddie’s hand and helped him up. Even once Eddie was all right to stand by himself, they didn’t let go. Aleks stood up too and James held out his hand expectantly. Aleks turned the other way.

 James huffed as he pushed himself up. His fingers brushed something softer than dirt but he didn’t pay it any attention. He looked at his muddied hands and smirked to himself as Aleks looked away. His boyfriend cried out as James wiped his hands down his back. Aleks tutted as he turned around. He grabbed James’ wrists and used his grip to wipe the dirt from James’ hands onto his own face. James sputtered and closed his eyes. When he was dirty enough, Aleks let him go.

“Aleksandr, look what you’ve done!” James dragged his fingers down his cheek and showed them to his boyfriend. Aleks shrugged.

“You deserved it,” he said. James grumbled something and lunged at his boyfriend. Aleks darted away and James chased him around the path.

“What idiots,” Eddie said. Seamus couldn’t help but nod and agree.

  “What on earth did you boys get up to?” Dan wiped sweat from his forehead. He panted as he came to a halt, surveying the children before him. They were brown from head to toe. James and Aleks were breathless. James had his boyfriend in an unbreakable hold and occasionally Aleks twitched to try and escape it. Eddie and Seamus simply shrugged.

“Children, am I right?” Seamus said. He grinned at his own father. Jordan had his fingers wound into his hair and his teeth were bared to the world in an unpleasant grimace.

“We need to get you lot back to the camp so that you can take a shower,” Jordan said. He stormed ahead of their small group, wrinkling his nose at how dirty all of the boys were. Dan followed behind, walking in step with Seamus and Eddie while James and Aleks lagged behind.

“Y’know, next year all four of you will make it all the way through the trail,” Dan said. Seamus and Eddie laughed because yeah, right.

 It wasn’t until they were in the car that Eddie noticed that his wrist was once again bare. He gasped and showed it to Seamus. When they demanded that they turned the car around, both boys went ignored. Eddie sniffled. They’d made the bracelets to show their love and Eddie had lost his. Seamus linked their hands once again and smiled at his best friend.

“It’s okay – I can make you a better one when we’re home,” Seamus reassured. Eddie thanked him though he knew it wouldn’t feel the same. He tried to think of where it was and remembered that he’d snagged it when they had buried the headless lady. It made him sad to think that something Seamus had worked so hard on was covered in dirt and broken. Still, he smiled to himself as he was filled with hope that when they returned the next year, the bracelet would just be buried there with her and they’d find it again.