Disclaimer: first few chapters. Same here lol. Lazy.
Happy late christmas!
Now here is your gift~.
Chapter Seven
...By your hand........
"You know the I used to think the world was a bag or shit and no one liked me?" I rubbed my nose. I was currently sitting on the hood of Liam's truck. He was right next to me but with his back leaned up against the hood. "Everything they told me didn't make sense. I didn't know who to believe."
"Well, you did have a traumatic experience." Liam had his arms crossed and was looking out ahead at the kids playing. We had left Slushy Mountain, making sure Ashley and Tom didn't see us, then went to the park. "Not many nine year olds see there family...die."
I chuckled. "Murdered. I have already processed it and moved on. There was nothing to really think about. It happened and things couldn't be changed. It wasn't anyone's fault. She didn't want help. Grandma didn't tell you that, did she?"
"No." He stayed quiet. "Who did it?"
I finished my slushy and got off the hood. "Not important right now." It wasn't. At least right now. "It's that back then I thought everyone was lying to me. They kept things from me; it was for my own good but I didn't see it that way."
"It didn't help, huh?" He looked at me, a little sad. I shook my head. "Thought so."
I started walking backwards and watched him follow. "It was good of them not to though. I was already dealing with the horrifying flash backs. No need for them to tell me the things I didn't remember." I stopped and smiled. "If they did even a little bit, which they didn't, there was a chance my mind would be lost. For a while at least."
I turned around and started walking to a trashcan. He didn't say anything but I heard his footsteps. "Thirteen was a really bad age for me. I did things people did when they're twenty or higher." I tossed the cup away. "I'm not proud but I'm not ashamed either." I walked a bit further and found a nice spot next to a tree. A few kids were out and there were a few people off in the distance minding themselves.
"Lots of people aren't proud of the things they did in the past." He sat down next to me. "I have a few things myself." He gave me a little nudge with his elbow.
I gave a little chuckle. What he did was probably nothing compared to what I did. "Yeah." I crossed my legs and started picking out a few strands of grass. "But I went out to make the feelings disappear."
"They were too much for you to handle. She told me Steve had a hard time too and he was older." That he did. He had a few problems like me but his were more towards people. He didn't want to be too close to people.
"He went to therapy." I sighed. "Like I said before, I'm not ashamed but......" He reached over and held my hand. "...I was really messed up. At least once a week I got drunk off my ass and had to go to the hospital at least three times that year." The nurses called child services each time. Thankfully Dr. Nova had explained to them my situation.
"A lot of people do that. Well probably once a week but you get the point." He squeezed my hand. "I went over to a friends house once and we broke into his dad's liquor cabinet." He shook his head and smiled. "Got super wasted and ended up passing out in my own puke."
Nothing compare too......"At least you didn't wake up in some strangers bed." I sighed. "Didn't whore myself out or anything like that but-"
"So you had a little more fun than the normal kid." He looked at me and smiled. "Nothing bad about that."
I shook my head. "I'm not the best guy, you know?" I kinda lost count around thirty, about the same time Ashley came over to beat some sense into me.
"Who is?" He brought my hand up and kissed it. "I'm not a saint either."
"Yeah, Amber right?" I felt a little jealous but I had way more crap on my plate.
"No, we never touched that subject. Just when we had a party now and then, a drunk girl and I ended up somewhere." He chuckled. "Each time I ended up thinking about you."
I smiled. "I can't say I thought of you when I did those things. I just wanted to get away from things. Even for a little bit."
"I don't care what you did." He looked at me with a little smile. "So you don't have to tell me those things if you don't want to."
"Well, that's mostly it." Among other small things. "Underage drinking and casual sex with people around my age. A few older guys above that, though. I didn't want to with them but after a few drinks you kinda give in. Never did any hardcore drugs. Couple of people did let me smoke weed. Not my thing though."
"Well, we are pretty well matched then." He gave my hand another kiss. "So your grandma let you get pierced?"
I laughed. "She actually took me to get them. I wanted to rebel more and asked her to let me get them. Seeing as I was going to do it either way, she took me. That way, it was done cleanly. She wanted to make sure I didn't do it elsewhere and get an infection."
He nodded. "I wanted to get my ears pierced but kinda grew out of it."
"I did too but it was one of the things I did with grandma. After I got help, I didn't have the heart to get rid of them. Grandma made it a special day after we got them." She made me forget about everything.
"Whatever keeps you happy." He moved a little closer to me. "Which I will make sure you are."
"A week after that I got into a pretty bad accident." I looked up and saw a few birds fly by. "I was in a car with some guys and ended up hitting another car. Everyone was fine but it made me realize I was going to die if I kept it up."
"It takes things like that to make you see what we will miss." He leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Glad everyone was okay."
"I didn't see that accident as anything really. But Ashley saw how out of control I was getting and got her parents to let her visit me." I shook my head. "She beat me down real bad. I had to go to the hospital for a broken nose. She had never been so mad. Afterwards she ended up crying; didn't want to lose me. She and grandma made me see I needed to confront my feelings."
I grabbed a rock and tossed it. "Took about a year for me to stop feeling so shitty. Two years sober now also."
"That's great. Six months for me." He gave a laugh and I joined him. "I'm glad you're doing better."
"I tried to contact you three years ago but I'm glad you didn't let me." I really was glad. "You would have seen a real messed up me."
He kissed my hand. "Or maybe I could have helped you. I'm sorry about that. It was just hard thinking you abandoned me."
I touched his cheek. "It's all right. I get that. No use crying over the past right?"
He nodded. "What's done is done. We have our whole lives together."
"So tell me about your past." I looked at him, his eyes shinning from the sun's light. "What have you done these past few years?"
He started thinking and frowned a bit. "Well after you left I got really mad at everyone but then got really sad. I stopped hanging out with Ashley and was alone for quite a while. Made some new friends in middle school but couldn't stop thinking of my husband back then."
I laughed. "You're not serious right?" At least I wasn't the only one.
"Yeah, I am. But you know how kids are when they grow up. My friends started talking about girls and all I wanted to do was talk about my husband." He chuckled. "I got over the fact you abandoned me and just thought of the fun we had together."
"Sorry about that."
"It wasn't your fault." I sighed and was surprised when he pulled me into his lap, his arms around my waist and his head on top of mine. "You didn't have control of things back then."
"That's the truth."
"I got into track freshman year of school; wasn't that good at it but I learned. Also liked baseball; tried out for it but didn't make it. Might get into it next year again." He grabbed both of my hands. "If I play, will you watch me?"
I blushed when I noticed a few people watching. Not that I cared what they thought but just of the act. No one ever kissed me or touched me in public. "I don't like sports, it gets boring for me."
"You'll get bored watching me?"
"No." Some of the people stopped looking and went back to their business.
"So you will watch me." It was not a question.
"We'll see about that." I was going to watch him if he did end up joining. I knew how much he liked baseball. Running and biking, too. It was one of the things we did a lot - out exploring.
"So did I change much from back then?"
I laughed. "Not really. You're still slow." He bit my ear. Oh... that was nice... "You're still the same guy though - nice, sweet, stubborn, and compassionate."
"That's good. You really changed though." He nuzzled my neck.
"Really?" From the way he treated me I doubt it changed how he felt about me.
"Yeah." He hugged me. "You're more self reliant - don't need me to take care of you." A little sad tone. "Not as spoiled as before though. A little lazy. Sweet like always." I shivered as he licked the back of my neck. " You care about all the people around you. Not to mention cute as always." I blushed.
"I still need you." In more ways than he would know. Not that way, pervs.
"I know but not as much. But that's okay since I need you too." He held me silently for a few seconds. "It's nice having you back with me."
It was nice having him back. "Thanks for having me back."
I played with his hands as we relaxed. It was nice. Just like the old times. We used to play then sat down and stayed close when we got tired. We were inseparable. Nice to have someone on your back.
"You know how much it hurt trying to keep away from you?" He held me closer. "It was so hard trying to not care. I couldn't get close to you. I didn't want to have you and then have you leave me again."
I chuckled. "I thought we weren't supposed to think about the past?"
He sighed. "Yeah, I know. But if I welcomed you with open arms, we could have been in a different stage right now." He intertwined his fingers with mine.
"Maybe but I'd rather be like this instead of thinking of what could be." I leaned into his chest and closed my eyes.
"Yeah." He hugged me tighter. "Remember when you got attacked by that swan?"
I blushed. "Sh-shut up!"
"Is that all you got?" Ashley smiled as I glared at the checkers board. She was kicking my ass.
"Silence......I still got a few moves." I double jumped her twice and smiled. "Hah! Take that!"
"Ugh, please." She jumped me four times and won the game. "You should really practice, you suck."
"I know how to suck so I don't need practice." I dodged a flying pillow. "So......I saw something yesterday after school. Something really interesting."
"Please stop using the word interesting. I don't want you looping, saying how interesting it is that you say interesting so much after saying interesting." I smiled as she said what I usually did. "Shut up and tell me what you saw."
I raised an eyebrow. "How am I suppose to tell you what I saw when I'm suppose to shut up?"
"Tell me or I will tell Liam how you got attacked by a pigeon last week!"
I frowned. "You swore never to speak about that!" The damn pigeon went crazy after I gave it a few pieces of bread.
"Then tell me what you saw."
"Before that. How are you and Liam doing?" They seemed to be getting along.
"Good for now. Not as well as you and him are doing but you guys are...What are you guys doing by the way - dating or friends?" She raised her eyebrow.
"Dunno right now. Crossing back and forth." I wanted to get used to getting to know the new Liam. He was the same sure but having him back in my life was a tailspin.
"Well, we talked a bit. Gave him a few bruises. Aside from that we are peachy." She took out the hairband she had all day and shook her head. Lately, her hair was becoming more tamed. She looked good either way but why the sudden change? "So what was interesting?"
"So you and Tom are dating right?" I raised my eyebrow as her skin rose in color.
She bit her lip as her cheeks reddened. "Yeah... we have been... dating a while now."
I smiled. "That's good. Why didn't you tell me?" I wasn't mad or anything.
"I didn't want to tell anyone if it went sour." She played with a strand of hair. "You know how these things are......one day you could be dating and the next......"
I nodded. "Yeah but he's not doing anything you don't want him to do, right? Or you doing something you don't wanna do?" She was a pretty strong person but these things changed people.
She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. He's pretty great. Just...I'm worried."
"About?"
She sighed. "I don't think I'm pretty enough." She didn't look at me as she said it.
I laughed and she glared at me. "Are you serious?" She didn't say anything. "And you call me stupid." I started laughing and she threw another pillow at me. "Okay, I'll stop but you know you are beautiful, right?"
She blushed darker. "That's you... you're my friend... like a brother to me."
"I am a brother to you." Not blood but we did grow up together.
"Yeah so.... it doesn't really count."
I went over and gave her a kiss before sitting down next to her. "Did he tell you you're not beautiful?"
"No, its me. I think I'm not. Someone like him and someone like me......why would he......"
I reached over and kissed her cheek. "You're beautiful to him." He had to think that.
"He calls me that but how do I know if he means it?"
I put my arm around her. "Ash, I think you get too worried about people - what they think or what they do. It's good but what do you think of yourself? You're a very smart girl; sweet, compassionate, and violent. Can't forget violent." I smiled at her. "And very, very pretty."
She smiled. "But I don't think I'm pretty."
"You know it doesn't matter what people think. But if you don't like something about yourself......"
"I know." She touched her hair. "I've been thinking about it and trying new things."
I noticed. "Yeah. I have been noticing you have been trying things out. You look beautiful however you are. Just don't do cute; that's my thing."
She smiled. "Oh shut up, loser."
The rest of April went by in a flash. Aside from the occasional date with Liam, I was busy practicing for the play, which was going to happen pretty soon. Two weeks after the play we were going to have our final exams and we were going to be on summer break. Two months with my friends! Maybe Liam would want to take things a bit further. We have kissed sure but... maybe more. Not all the way but kissing a little bit more. As something more then friends.
But....
"They can't do that! Have they forgotten what they have done to us? All of the sudden they want to make amends? Fuck that!" I glared at Steve. He didn't deserve it but he was the only one there. He picked me up from school to talk to me about something important. Really important.
"I know that you are angry. So am I but there's nothing we can do about that." He spoke calmly as he looked at me. "They can't do anything right now. The judge said for you to finish up your year before they decide anything."
"They can't do that though!" I gripped my cup but it slipped from my hands and shattered on the floor. No blood. "Those fuckers can suck a piece of shit and die."
He looked at my hand. "Careful." He sighed. "Yes, I know how you feel but like I said, we can't do anything right now. Just have to wait till school ends."
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Didn't work. "They have no right to take me away from you! They should be happy we can't force them out of the company." They still got money from us. They said they wanted to keep an 'eye' on us. More like an 'eye' on their fucking money.
"Look, they kept their distance, which we like, but they still have ties to us." He kept looking at me calmly. Why wasn't he mad? "They own part of the company whether we like it or not. But we can't do anything right now."
I sighed. "They probably want to get a hand on my......" I sighed.
"I know. Which is why we have the upper hand. No one, not even mom, dad, me or even them can touch that." He kept his eyes on me. "We have people on that side to help us. They contacted me before I got the notice today."
I looked at the packet on the middle of the table. "At least we got people we can count on over there." Sure we haven't seen them in a long time but still......That family wasn't so bad. Snotty but not bad.
"Yeah. They know how bad they were to us. So we can prove they are unfit to take care of you. You know no one can touch that until you-"
I nodded. "Eighteen, I know. Sucks that you-"
"No, he was right to give it to you. Only you. Lots of people where mad when he did that. Which is why we didn't get along with that part of the family. He knew you weren't going to be like one of them. I got all I need so why bother about that?"
I still didn't know what to do about that. "I'd rather die than be with those bags of dicks." I sighed. Today was looking like a good day but it took a turn for the worse.
"Don't say that, Noah." He looked sad.
"I'm sorry, I just... hate them." Just the thought that I shared a name and blood with those people.... ugh.
"We are going to New York to get everything settled. It's going to take two months for everything to be settled."
Summer plans all gone. Shit. "As long as we don't let them get their fucking hands on me I'm good." I didn't care about what he left me but they could probably find a way to get their hands on it once I turned eighteen. Maybe say that they needed it for me.
"Mom and dad.... they made sure we were going to be okay." He sighed. "They made sure we were going to be okay if anything happened and we have. They can't do much but try to get a judge to see it their way. But just to make sure, I got something planned."
I looked at him. He had a little weird smile on his face. "What are you planning?"
His smile grew. "Oh little baby bunny brother. You will see." He smiled showing his teeth. "No one messes with my brother and gets away with it."
I kept looking at him smiling at me and swallowed. Why did I suddenly feel bad for them?
I got into the parking lot and yawned. I was tired - didn't get much sleep last night. I was talking to Eric about how to start up a conversation with his brother. We had found him - he was living in LA. They haven't talked because Eric wanted to go see him in person and he wanted to go see him this weekend.
Tomorrow was Saturday so he was going to be busy. Sunday was the best bet. We had decided to just go by ourselves. Our friends knew we were looking for his brother but not that we had found him. He wanted support but not too much. If all of us went, it was going to be a little weird. Since too many people would want to talk and not give him the time he wanted with his brother.
I gave another yawn as I walked over to Ash and Erika. I was pretty late getting ready. I even forgot to bring my helmet but I was lucky I didn't pass by any cops. Steve was going to stop by during his lunch and drop it off. He had the spare key so he could lock it up.
"So when are we getting the tickets, Noah?" Erika said as I walked over. "Mom wants to make sure we get them before next week."
I scratched the back of my head as I yawned again. "I should get them today." I shook my head. "Three for you guys, three for Ashley, two for Eric, one for me." Schala and Sam didn't need any since they were going to be in the play. Eric wanted one just in case his brother wanted to go.
"Yes and why are you so tired? Didn't you get enough sleep?" Ashley gave a little smile. "Or did you have fun with Liam?"
Before I could say anything Erika spoke up. "No, Liam was studying for the final exams. He wants his math not to be so horrible."
That reminded me that I had to study a bit too. The end of the school year was going to be in two weeks. The school year went by pretty fast but a lot of things had happened so it was understandable. Especially since I had two months with Liam. He sure made everyday go by in a blur.
"I Was talking to-" I looked over and saw Liam coming over. "Oh, hey Liam!"
He smiled and jogged the rest of the way. "Hey there, Noah." He leaned down and kissed my cheek. Ever so close to my lips. I told him no kissing in school but he had to be sneaky. It was probably genetic. "Thought you weren't going to come."
"Oh, hi Liam. How are you today? Horny? Yes, thought so, you perv. Now please keep things g-rated." Ashley rolled her eyes and bumped Liam.
"Yes, talk about coming when I'm not around." Erika smiled. "Now I think we should be getting to class." She got Ashley's hand. "Now if you can walk with me, I wanted to talk about that... thing."
Ashley looked at her confused, then "Oh, right yeah. I forgot." She smiled at us. "Right. See you guys later." They walked away talking quietly to each other.
"You know they're going to do something evil right?" Liam said as he looked at them walk away.
"Like kiss me in front of school?" I raised my eyebrow.
"I would wrap my arm around your shoulder if I knew you weren't going to hit me... or get mad." He gave me a smile as we walked to class.
"I wouldn't hit you." Hard.
"I know but you would get mad."
He knew me so well.
"So she has been making Noah's life a living hell?" Ashley asked as we ate our food. Why did Schala have to open up her mouth and talk about Amber? We were having a nice meal. Plus Schala was already making Amber's life hell, too.
"Yes. Yesterday, she set him on fire." Schala bit her apple. Today she was wearing surprisingly normal clothes - white shirt and a pink skirt. Nothing black, which kind of scared me. Schala wasn't herself if she didn't wear black. So why?
"She set you on fire?" Ashley looked at me shocked.
"It probably wasn't on purpose. We where doing the death scene and there was a candle stick nearby." She couldn't be actually trying to set me on fire right?
"But did you see the way she was smiling afterwards? I swear Erika has that face after she makes one of her little plans. Good plans, not evil. Well, not much." Schala tossed the apple onto the grass. Biodegradable.
I glared as she glared at me. One of us was going to lose - it wasn't going to be me. Her eyes twinkled but I kept my glare. She was enjoying this but like hell was I going to lose. She was a good opponent. Really good. I don't think a normal glare would scare her but boy was I trying.
Her black hair was swept to the side without breaking eye contact. She wanted to win. She probably thought she was going to win. But I was going to be the victor. I was going to make sure I won. I did not want her to think she was better.
But......she was.
"Ugh!" I shook my head and looked away as Schala gave a triumphant smile. "You win." Hell she always wins. No mater how many times we did this she won.
"Well of course, I glare at myself all the time." She smiled and fixed her skirt, which reminded me.
"Why are you not wearing black?"
"Can't I mix it up?" She said as she glared at me. We had to practice our glares today. Something about our death glares not up to spec. Schala's, of course, was perfect. Even Amber's death glare was below Mistress' level.
I felt bad for Sam though. At least Schala gave me the death glare without wanting me to die. Well, I doubted Amber wanted Sam to die but she was mean to him. The 'real' death glares were directed at me. Rumors started going around that I was dating Liam. A few people asked and I told them the truth.
I didn't know.
"You need to put more malice into your eyes, Noah." Mistress walked by before heading off to the next group.
"Just think about Amber sucking off Liam." Schala said with a little smile. It made the glare even more deadlier for some reason.
I tried to put more malice in the glare. "They never did anything."
"She wanted to." She kept the creepy smile up. Crap, it was starting to make me uncomfortable.
"Yes, yes, so do a few people." Me being one of them. But she did not need to know that. Well hell, all my friends knew I had a thing for Liam. Kinda not hard to see when he was nearby and I started blushing or being kissed by him. He had no limits. Bastard...cute bastard.... hot bastard... sneaky bastard.
I gave up and she smirked. "Ah well, nice try. Guess you love everyone, right?"
I took a breath and looked at her. "Not everyone." I thought about them - my grandparents. My other grandparents. Schala's face became their faces. I felt myself get a little mad but kept it in check. No need to end up screaming in the middle of class.
"Oh wow, scary." Schala said as she looked to the side. I won.
The image of them faded and Schala looked up at me with a smile. "Nice job with that glare, Noah. It gave me chills. You almost turned me on with that one. Almost. Like really zero point zero one percent."
I laughed. The bell rang and the teacher clapped to get our attention. "Okay, the play is next Wednesday so please come pick up your tickets." I waited for everyone to get their tickets before I got mine. Schala even waited for me.
"So going to wait for your maybe boyfriend or going to go straight home?" She asked as we walked over to the parking lot. She lived nearby. I haven't been to her house and she said I shouldn't ever go. Something about her dad behaving like an ass in front of people.
"He has practice today." I took out my keys as we got closer to the bike. "He wanted me to stay but I think it would be weird." Yeah, every gay guy would be able to see guys in shorts run all sweaty without something happening... in there pants.
"Popping boners while watching him... exhibitionist." She said in an approving tone.
"No. I haven't and don't plan to either." I put on my helmet. "Want to come home with me or going to go home?" Chances were there wouldn't be any cops to catch us.
"No. I have to study for the finals but I wanted to ask your opinion on something." She looked at me seriously.
"Sure, what's up?" I sat on the bike but didn't turn it on.
"I have a date today but I don't know if I do since she is younger."
Oh. "Well, how young?"
"A year younger. Getting pretty close to the people she knows. Doesn't want anyone finding out though. Still finding things about herself."
I nodded. People our age were still finding themselves. Hell, older people are still finding themselves. "Well you should help her out. Doesn't matter if she is younger, just not too young you know?" She nodded. "Have fun and be yourself." I reached over and touched her skirt. "You always look awesome but you and I know this is not you."
She laughed. "I'll take that into consideration."
She backed up and let me drive away. That was weird. Well, for her at least. She would change herself to make the other person like her. I guess we all do things for the people we like, even if we don't like it. I smiled. I wasn't used to PDA but I let Liam have his way. Wasn't used to something I never had.
I opened the door and gave the person a mean ass glare. It was fucking six-thirty in the fucking morning. On a fucking damned Saturday! What person likes waking up at that ungodly hour? They should be shot, burned, and then executed.
Said person raised up a brown bag. "Mom asked if I could drop off some muffins for you." Liam gave a smile and leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek, almost kissing my lips. "Too early?" He asked as he looked at my sour expression.
"If you didn't bring muffins I would have ended you five seconds ago." I took the bag and dug out a muffin. I bit it and moaned. It was still warm.
He laughed. "Mom makes them for the guys. Had a little extra so she asked if I could bring them over." I looked at him as I ate my muffin. God it was good. She was the cook I wished Steve would be. Hell, I should learn how to cook from her. I was after her son.
"You practice this fucking early?" I started eating another muffin. They had little nuts in them.
"Such a dirty mouth." He put his hand on my face and rubbed his thump on my lip. "Yes, we get up this early and practice for a few hours. Gotta stay limber."
I was half tempted to bite his thumb...and other things but I was grumpy. I wanted sleep. "Thanks for dropping them off. Make sure you give those shoes hell." He was wearing white running shoes, wearing the school track shirt, a gray one, and blue shorts. Which you could see his bulÑ- eyes away.
"Have a good day, see you later." He leaned down and kissed me. On the lips and gave them a lick. "You're always tasty." He bit his lip and left.
Great, I had an unexpected visitor. I was usually in control of my hormones but it was early in the morning. I put the bag on the table and went back to sleep.
I had a very lazy day. Didn't wake up until eleven in the morning and I stayed in bed for another three hours before deciding to study. I got done with ten pages before deciding it was too much work to turn the page. I barely had enough strength to use the remote on the TV.
Steve came home later in the day and dropped off food. He was going to do some work in his room and left me alone. He figured I was in one of my lazy moods. It was funny since I barely moved on the bed. I was barely able to text message. It was too hard.
I was watching television when the lights and everything in my room turned off. I jumped up and felt my heart start beating fast. Fuck. My mind, being the bitch that it was, started making the shadows get darker. I could hear the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.
"Noah sweetheart, come to mommy." I heard her voice echo in my ear.
I shook my head. No. It wasn't real. Kept repeating it in my head. It was not going to be bad. Everything was going to be okay. Steve was here. He was in his room. I held myself as I walked out of my room. I could hear my own heartbeat louder and quicker. Fuck.
I kept walking forward. Only a few more steps. Each time this happened I couldn't run. Didn't know why but I could never run.
"Why are you leaving mommy alone, Noah? Don't you love me?" Again, I could hear her voice.
No. No. She was dead. My breathing was starting to slow down. I didn't have my pills; they were in my room. I closed my eyes and kept walking. There was no way I was going back there. Steve was going to be in his room.
I opened my eyes and looked into his room and my heart dropped. For a minute I thought I saw my father in my bed but then he disappeared. Steve wasn't there. "Steve...where are you?" I said as my legs lost the energy to stand. I slid on the floor and held myself. Where was he?
"Steve, why did you hide Noah?"
No. It wasn't happening. No.
"Noah!" Steve ran up the stairs and saw me on the floor. He walked over to me and touched my head. "It's okay, I'm here. It's okay. She can't get you. It's alright, brother's here." He pulled me into his chest. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."
I held him as my mind went into the dark.
I gave a yawn as I stretched out on my bed. When did I go to sleep? All I remembered was watching some show on TV. I shook my head as I walked over to the shower. It was nine and Eric was going to drop by in thirty minutes. I changed and checked Steve's room; he wasn't there. I walked around calling him but I guessed he went to work.
I had a quick breakfast before Eric came to pick me up. He borrowed his dad's car, kinda ironic if you think about it. Taking his dads car to go see the brother his dad disowned. The car ride was pretty quiet.
Eric wanted to make sure he was prepared. He didn't know what to say but he wanted to come up with it himself. I didn't know why "hi" wouldn't work.
He stopped the car in front of his brothers apartment. I still didn't know how Eric got his brothers address but he did. Even the number.
"What if he doesn't want to see me?" He looked at me nervous.
I patted his back. "He's your brother. He loves you and he will be happy to see you."
He sighed. "But I don't know. It's been a while. The things dad said......"
"He said, not you. So don't beat yourself on it. Just go there and tell him how you really feel."
"But I also said stuff, Noah. Things like that to Sam and other guys. Hell, even to you."
"Well, I stopped you before I would have really hurt you. Now lets go and say hi to him."
He nodded and turned off the car. We got into the building and found his apartment on the third floor. Eric took a deep breath before knocking on the door. A few seconds passed by and nothing. He did it again and nothing. He tried for the next five minutes and nothing.
"He's not home, Noah." Eric said as he put his head on the door. He had his eyes closed, almost about to cry.
"We can wait little longer." I started rubbing his back. He used up a lot of courage to come over here.
"But......"
"Excuse me but you're in front of my door." We turned around and a guy was there. He was about the same height as me, maybe a little shorter. "Can I help you?" He had brown hair, tanned skin, and dark brown eyes.
"Why, yes you can." I turned Eric around and put an arm around his arm. "My friend's brother lives here and we wanted to see him."
The guy looked at us for a second. "Wait. You're Rick's little brother?" The guy smiled and took a closer look at Eric. "Shit. You're just a little smaller version of him, aren't you?" He gave Eric a hug. "Well, come in then." He opened the door and let us in.
It was a little messy. Well, at least from what grandma would say. It looked lived in. There wasn't anything expensive but it wasn't anything that looked like crap. It looked normal. Pretty nice.
"Is his brother coming soon or is he going to take a while?" Eric sat down on the sofa and I decided to stay standing. "We can only be here for a few hours."
The guy nodded. "School is tomorrow and your parents won't want you out late. He went out to get some food." He gave me a coke and passed one to Eric. "Name's Manuel by the way and yours are?
"My name is Noah and this is-" I looked over to Eric.
"Eric, yeah I know. Rick tells me about him all the time. Surprised he dropped by though." He gave a little whistle. "Good thing I told him to bring pizza." He looked over at Eric. "So how are you? Everything good with your dad?"
Eric didn't say anything. He was probably gathering courage again. "Sorry but I think he is still trying to process this. We just found his brother a few days ago." I sat down next to Eric and rubbed his back.
Manuel raised an eyebrow. "It's all good. So how long have you been together?"
Eric blushed and I laughed. "We're not together." He opened his mouth. "We are just friends."
Eric looked at me with a sly smile. "This guy is in love with my best friend."
"So he speaks." Manuel smiled. "Well, don't worry Noah, you look cute enough to get any guy you want."
"Well, actually he-"
"Baby, I'm home!" The front door opened and closed and the smell of pizza assaulted my nose. The guy who walked in was huge. He was a foot taller than Eric but looked like him. Black hair, pretty built, and tall. He didn't notice us as he walked to Manuel and gave him a kiss. "Meat lovers just as you like."
I think I died and went to heaven.
"Well hello there baby, not that I don't mind the love but look behind you." Manuel pointed at us.
Rick turned around and froze. He looked at me for a second before looking at Eric. His face gave a big happy smile as he walked over and gave Eric a big hug. Eric was frozen but gave him back a hug. He was smiling. Yay.
"I missed you so much, Eric." Rick backed up before giving Eric another hug. "How did you find me?"
"My friend's dad is a cop." Rick looked at me. "Not him, another friend of mine."
He nodded before giving him another hug. "Are you okay? Did the bastard do anything?"
Eric shook his head and smiled, eyes a little watery. Happy tears. "Yes, I wanted to see you. And no, he didn't do anything."
I felt like an invisible wall after a while. I wasn't mad or anything. It was understandable. They haven't seen each other in a long time. When I was away from Steve I was like that too. When I didn't live with him that was.
"He really loves his brother." Manuel sat down next to me and gave me a pizza slice. "You look like you can use something to eat."
I took it and gave it a bite. OH MY FUCKING GOD! This pizza was fucking awesome. "Thank you!" Sweet Jesus, this was good.
He smiled. "So you don't like Eric? He's a pretty cute guy."
I chuckled. "No. He's a good friend but like he said, I'm into his friend. Who by the way, is into me."
"Nice." He paused and looked at the happy brothers. "Rick knows Eric is gay."
Oh really? "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Little shit over there didn't know about deleting the history on the computer. Luckily Rick deleted it so his dad didn't find out." I laughed. "It's good, they can talk now."
"Eric really missed him. Was in a pretty bad situation himself."
"I don't doubt it with the way their dad is." Manuel shook his head. "Guy almost got his ass kicked when he grabbed me. Could have taken him down but Rick didn't let me. Heck, even he wanted to teach his dad a lesson."
Wow, so Rick was with him since then? "So you guys have been doing okay?"
"Yeah, my uncle owns this building and helped us get jobs." Manual took a bit of his pizza. "I didn't have a dad but my uncle was always there for me. He really got our backs when he found out what happened to Rick."
I nodded. Steve was the same way with me. Almost like a dad. Was a dad, as a matter of fact. My dad.
We were there for a few hours. Rick and Eric had most of that time to themselves. Manuel kept me busy with cooking tips. He said you could never go wrong with chicken. It tasted like everything. Eric was sad to leave but was happy they could see each other now and again. When their father was off doing other things, of course.
I only had a few times to talk to Rick but he seemed like a really nice guy. He was pretty happy that I helped his brother with the whole gay thing. He wanted to help him with it but he couldn't since he got kicked out. He was happy that his brother could have some people to rely on. He was pretty funny telling me how I wouldn't be such a bad brother in law.
Eric dropped me home and told me that he owed me big. My request was to go back sometime and get some of that amazing pizza, which ended up getting eaten by Manuel and me. We ended up going back for more pizza. Yup, that pizza was pretty awesome.
"Look, you stupid, untalented hack." Amber poked my chest at each word. "This show better go off without a hitch or I swear I will rip out your balls and feed them to you."
I smiled. "Aw, you're going to make me dinner? How sweet of you! Here I thought you didn't care." A few people in the background giggled.
It was almost showtime. Most of the audience was here. It was a pretty big crowd. We were only going to do one play due to the fact that it was pretty long. Amber and I were already dressed, just waiting for Mistress to tell us when to begin.
"Look, you boyfriend stealer. I'm going to make Liam fall in love with me and make you wish you have never met me." She got real close. Her eyes were burning. What was wrong with this girl?
"Hey, bitch! I suggest you back the fuck up or you will have an unfortunate accident." Schala stood right next to me. "Since baby here wont do nothing to you but boy, will I." She gave a weird smile.
Amber gave out a noise that mad toddlers made before walking away.
"Thanks for the help." I said as Amber stomp away.
"No problem." Schala took out a rose. "Just wait for her to take a whiff of this."
I got near the rose but Schala stopped me. "I wouldn't if I was you."
I took a step back and nodded. Why was I suddenly nervous?
The play had went off without a hitch and not randomly catching on fire. Especially by me. Everyone was there, even Eric's brother and his boyfriend. I had managed to get one more ticket. Amber grabbed my hand and we walked up to the audience. We gave a few bows and quickly let our hands separate. She didn't like me and I really didn't care where I stood. She could be whatever way she wanted but I was not going to be a dick to her.
A random guy walked by and gave Amber a flower and she was greeted by praise. She took it and gave it a smell. She smiled. I was thinking it was gonna shock her or something but nothing. Was it just a normal flower?
My friends gave me congratulations on a job well done and Liam, the sweet little bastard, gave me a bouquet of roses. Without the thorns. Amber gave me a glare when I got them but went back to her adoring crowd. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a few more flowers. Which ended up getting tossed later into a trash can by Erika.
They had 'accidentally' fallen to the floor by Ashley and stepped on by Schala, Liam, Erika. When I asked why they didn't pick up the flowers when they saw her drop them, they said they didn't see. But they sure did get stepped on a lot. By a lot I mean like someone was jumping on them.
The only flowers that survived were from Liam, Rick, and Steve. Why they survived was simple: those were the ones that weren't taken away from me.
There was going to be a little after party but everyone decided it was my best interest not to go. Even if I really, really wanted to go. Sam decided to stay back to take some pictures. Eric had offered to stay but Sam did not want to look so suspicious.
Everyone followed us home. Food was laid out all over the table and there was even a cake. Precut, thankfully. There was even a few boxes of the awesome pizza we had down in LA. That led to me getting a lecture from Steve about leaving town and into a big city without him being there and worse not telling him.
The party kept on going for about two hours before Sam came over with a big smile on his face. Schala ran over to him and took his camera. She called everyone over to look at something interesting. She hooked up the camera up to the television.
"So did it happen just like I told you?" Schala smiled as she changed the channel.
"Yes. She didn't even feel it until it was too late." Sam smiled.
Liam put his arm around my shoulder and sat down next to me. Steve and Mrs. Heart looked at us for a minute before looking back at the TV. Steve was neutral while Mrs. Heart had a smile playing on her lips.
"This is not for the faint of heart so those of you with weak stomachs please do not puke on anyone." Schala smiled as she played with the camera. "Did you set it up just before?" Sam nodded. "Perfect." Schala smiled. Again that freaky smile.
"I know it was great, thank you!" Amber came on screen smiling. Sam had zoomed in on her. A serious looking man was right next to her as a bored woman was on her left. "My partner wasn't that good but I'm sure you still enjoyed the show."
"That lying little cunt!"
"Erika! Watch your language!" Mrs. Heart frowned.
"Sorry, but come on mom that bitch is trashing Noah!" Erika got up but Schala pushed her back down. "She fucked up her lines and Noah ended up saving her ass."
"Easy there, princess, just wait." Schala looked back to the screen. Eyes focused on Amber.
"Of course I'm going to keep acting. A great talent like mine is......" Amber stopped and touched her stomach. "......is...... going to......" She stopped again and opened up her mouth.
I covered my mouth as my friends started laughing and saying ew. That was a little cruel. She sprayed the people in front of her and kept on going. It was green. What the hell?
People on the screen started saying she was possessed. She kept on puking for a bit more before she ended up giving out a loud fart. "You didn't, Schala." Everyone looked at her as she smiled.
"Set my friend on fire and threaten him in front of me." She moved her hair behind her shoulder. "I make sure you get your karma back."
I smiled. It was a little mean but it was sweet.
"Oh shit!" It showed Amber slipping on her own puke. I closed my eyes to stop laughing. Okay, very cruel but.... she deserved some of it, right? Everyone started laughing while Mrs. Heart said that it wasn't right. Schala told her not to worry since it wasn't anything poisonous.
It was a combined plan of three people. Ashley had made a special type of cupcake laced with a special herb that Schala had bought. Erika had snuck into the science lab to find a few special ingredients that had been used as frosting. Schala had made sure the final component was in a single flower.
If you combined all the ingredients together you got green puke. Well, they had to be mixed together in a certain amount of water to make it happen. The less water, the faster it took. Seeing as it was in a human stomach, it was a little slow. Basically, they gave Amber a baking soda volcano in her stomach.
Everyone was outside in the backyard enjoying the view. Steve told me it would be best to tell everyone we were leaving for the summer soon rather than later. That way we could tell everyone at once. He wanted me to do it since they were mostly my friends. They were all mine and not really Steve's.
"Hey guys... I have something to tell you." I said as I looked at everyone in our little circle. The circle went as Liam, me, Steve, Ashley, Tom, Eric, Sam, Mrs. Heart, Rick, Manuel, Erika, and Schala, who was next to Liam. Everyone looked. "I won't be able to hang out with you guys during summer break." Before anyone could say anything, "Steve and I are going to New York for the summer."
"But it was going to be the first summer we would have together in a long time!" Ashley frowned.
"Yeah, you can't do that! We were going to go camping next month!" Erika sad angrily.
"I know but it's important." I looked at my hands. Liam's went over mine.
"What's going on?" A confused Mrs. Heart looked at Steve.
"There is a chance that I will lose custody of Noah." Steve said calmly.
"Fuck that! To who?" Ashley got up. "You can't be talking about your grandparents, right? Those bastards disowned you!"
"I know! But we have to go to New York to make sure that doesn't happen! There is a slim chance they can win but I don't want to take that chance and end up losing him." Steve got up and looked at her. "So don't worry and chill. Noah will come back. I promise all of you."
I looked at Liam who was looking at me. He looked sad. "Don't worry. I'll come back to you."
Wee! I hope you guys had a merry Christmas~ I got a shirt and candy.... at least it was something right? But what twenty-two year old wants a lollipop for Christmas Oo. Anyway here you go~ It will be a New PoV the next chapter. Well only for that chapter. It will be two months trimmed down. WEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Anyway happy new years!