Chapter Thirteen: I can't believe this!
Seth P.O.V
New found feelings? Really Vulcan? They aren't exactly new when you've been experiencing them for a while now! "Hey Seth, have you seen Vulcan?" Aiden asked as he sat next to me. I haven't left Vulcan's house since yesterday. "I think he's in his room." I replied. Aiden shook his head. "No he isn't, I checked." Well that was strange. Maia came into the room then holding a sandwich and a glass of milk. "Have you seen Vulcan?" I asked. She nodded. "He went out. He said he needed to do something." "When was this?" Aiden asked. "Early this morning." She replied. How in the hell can he leave and not tell anybody? I sighed. "Well now I'm bored." Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. Aiden stood up and went to answer it. A few seconds later, Aiden came back with my mom behind him. "I brought you some fresh clothes Seth." She said as she tossed me my backpack. I smiled my thanks at her. She turned to Aiden and looked him up and down. "I don't believe we've met." "I'm Aiden..." He said looking down. My mom smiled at his shyness. "Don't be so shy hon, I don't bite." My mom's personality is only good in small doses. Too much could throw you for a loop. "Anyway, what I really came here for is to check on Maia." Maia looked up. "How are you doing sweetheart?" My mom asked. Maia smiled a little in embarrassment. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I caused so much trouble." Mom waved her off. "Nonsense...every girl has a little difficulty her first time." Maia nodded in understanding and ate the last bite of her sandwich.
My mom looked around the house and then back at us. "Where's Vulcan?" Aiden shook his head. "He went out this morning." He suddenly flinched and looked up at my mom. "Oh, where are my manners? Have a seat. Do you want something to drink?" He pulled my mom over to the couch and gently nudged her to sit. My mom smiled up at him. "My what manners. Seth you could learn a thing or two!" "Yeah I could but then...why bother?" I really shouldn't have said that. Next thing I know, there's a perfectly aimed pillow heading towards my gut. I didn't dodge it. Somehow I think dodging it would upset mom even more. "Well Maia, do you want to have a girl's day out?" My mom asked. Maia looked up. "Really?" Mom nodded and smiled. "Sure, we can do everything. We can get our hair done, get a mani-pedi, go shopping, and then stuff ourselves silly with ice cream. What do you say?" Maia lit up. I realized that every girl needed a mother for certain things, whether it's your first period or just spending some quality girl time. "Can I go?" She looked at me and Aiden. "Um...yeah?" I replied, kinda confused as to why she'd ask us. "I say go and have fun." Aiden said as he opened his arms out for her. She plunged herself into his hug and squeezed him. She jumped on me next and before I knew it she disappeared out the door with my mom.
"Is it me or has her personality changed?" I asked, glancing at Aiden. "Well hitting puberty does that to a person." He replied. I nodded. "So it's just us. Dude time!" Aiden laughed. "Whattaya wanna do?" I suddenly had a thought. "Can we just sit? Like how we did before?" Aiden's face turned gentle as he nodded. I grinned. I sat down on the couch, patting the space next to me. Aiden sat down beside me and snuggled up to me like a little cat. I put my arm around him and got comfortable. "You know, since I've met you things have gotten so much better." I said. Aiden sighed. "It's gotten better for me too. I mean, I'm so happy and scared at the same time. But the happiness outweighs the fear. I trust you guys." I squeezed him closer to me. "You and I should have talks like these more often." He nodded. "Can I ask you something?" I nodded and started playing with his hair. "What?" He sighed out again and then grabbed my free hand. "Is it bad that I like Vulcan?" I had to stop myself from laughing. If only he knew. "No it isn't. Your feelings are special." I replied. "You're okay with it?" He asked, and I noticed the concern in his voice. I rested my head on his and nodded. "I'm completely fine with it. Because I know that you two would never hurt each other. If you got involved with someone I was sure was gonna hurt you then I'd have a problem." He chuckled. "Hey Seth?" I hummed in response. "Tell me about when you lost your virginity." Okay, why did he want to know that? "Um...why?" He shrugged. "I'm just curious." I thought about it. "Well I was fourteen. It's pretty typical. We were on a field trip and I had a girlfriend at the time. We snuck off and found an empty room. We were just gonna make out but next thing I know she's pulling at my belt. I'm pretty sure you can go on from there." Aiden snickered. "On a field trip huh?" "What about you?" He went still. "It was that man I was seeing in middle school." "Oh..." That was all I could say. "Ever try it with a girl?" I asked, trying to move the topic to a different course. He nodded. "It wasn't bad. It just wasn't my thing." "Um...not to bring up bad memories but...Vulcan showed me that video of him and Ross." Aiden stilled. "He did?" I moved my hand from his hair to running my fingers over his arm. He seemed to relax at that. "I understand, you know." I was silent, hoping he'd get what I meant. It took a while but I heard a small gasp as he pulled away from me to look me in the eye. I smiled nervously. "Surprised?" He suddenly trembled. "I'm sorry..." He whispered as if Mr. Ross molesting me was his fault. I grabbed him and hugged him, leaning back on the couch as I turned this into a cuddle session.
"I knew he was perving on me...being overly nice, asking me to do little tasks so I would stay after class, but he never did anything beyond that. I felt uncomfortable but I could bear it, and just like you he asked me to stay after class and everything got weird really fast. I was lucky that I was able to overpower him but he got a few feels in before I could do so. I ran out of that classroom with my pants almost to my knees. I was glad no one was around but I hid. I was angry and I wanted to kill him. I didn't tell Vulcan until I saw the video. It made me regret not telling him. Maybe if I did Mr. Ross would've been taken care of sooner and you would never have fallen into his trap." "No, it's okay. How could you want to tell anyone? You were scared, it's understandable." Aiden was understanding. I guess I half expected him to be mad at me. Because if I had told someone sooner, he wouldn't have been a victim too. But he wasn't mad, he was concerned about me. "Nothing beyond that happened? I mean..." He trailed off. "No little dude, nothing beyond him feeling me up happened." I squeezed him. "Well I'm hungry. Want a peanut butter sandwich?" Aiden laughed. "I've noticed your love of peanut butter." I grinned. "I'd like a sandwich...with chocolate milk." He said as he got up. Then his face turned serious. "How are you able to hold me like that and not cringe?" "Uh...because I'm not homophobic or an asshole?" I replied, a little confused as to why he would ask that. He laughed. "No you're not!" Then he tackled me in a hug before running to the kitchen. I shook my head and followed, laughing to myself. I actually liked having these talks with him. It just made sense.
An hour went by and Vulcan came home. He opened the door and shrugged off his jacket. "Hey guys!?" He yelled. "In the kitchen!" I yelled back. Vulcan came in and found me and Aiden eating out of the peanut butter jar. "That makes three jars..." He said as he grabbed a spoon and sat down. "Where'd you go?" Aiden asked. Vulcan's face was turning pink and I had to keep eating in order not to laugh. "I went to the cemetery...to see my parents. I talked to them...about everything." He looked at me so I'd understand what he meant by everything. I nodded, completely getting it. "Did it help?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah...it did." He smiled before looking up to meet Aiden's eyes. "So what did you guys do while I was gone?" "Well Maia is out with Seth's mom having a so-called `girl's day out' so me and Seth have just been here talking, cuddling, and eating peanut butter." He replied. "Cuddled huh? Sheesh you guys get along better more and more these days." I think he was starting to feel left out. "I think if I had a big brother it would be Seth." Aiden said as he scooped some peanut butter out of the jar and ate it. "Brother huh? Then what am I?" Vulcan asked. I'm pretty sure he meant it in an innocent way, but the look on Aiden's face was too adorable. He was bright red.
"Someone....important." Aiden said after a bout of silence. I swear I could see steam coming off his face, he was so red. I had to suppress my laughter as I watched Vulcan take that in. His face wasn't any better. He was as red as Aiden but he smiled shyly. "Well that's a first." I mumbled as I ate another spoonful of peanut butter. I suddenly felt like the third wheel. There was a long period of silence after that statement and I was beginning to get restless so I decided to change the subject. "So anything interesting happen while you were out?" I asked Vulcan. He jolted as if snapping back to reality. I had to keep from rolling my eyes. I was pretty sure I knew where his head was, in Aiden La-La Land. "Oh right...I ran into Lee. He said there would be a more permanent Biology teacher on Monday." Aiden looked confused. "Permanent? So the one I had till now was a sub?" Vulcan nodded. "Apparently..." Then Vulcan's eyes widened. "Holy shit I almost forgot!" I jumped, that shit startled me. "I invited Brett and Eli over for dinner. You know, just to hang out. "You ran into Brett?" Aiden asked, as if the guy hadn't tormented him way back when. "Why?" I asked. "The guy is a douche, and who the hell is Eli?" "Well on my way back I saw Brett and we got to talking and then I invited him over for dinner." Vulcan replied. I just looked at him, eating peanut butter and waiting for my answer. "Oh, Eli is Brett's boyfriend." He added. I chocked on my peanut butter. "Brett's gay!?" Aiden and Vulcan shrugged. "Holy shit Brett's gay." I was shocked. I nodded slowly, letting the news sink in. "Okay he's gay...yeah, I can deal." I can totally deal.
So Brett's gay. Well there's a shocker. No wonder the dude is so angry. I mean, keeping all that to himself...poor guy. "So like, what are we cooking?" Aiden asked. We spent the rest of the time planning out meals and getting the ingredients to make the food. Now that I think about it, with Brett and Eli and Vulcan and Aiden, I was like the fifth wheel. That was depressing! "I can't believe this." I mumbled. Nobody heard me which was fine by me. Who wants to talk to a dateless loser anyway!? "Uh dude...are you okay? Your face kinda looks...well, pathetic." I turned to Vulcan and glared at him. "What did I do?" He asked. I just shook my head. "I'm a dateless loser." I mumbled. He heard me and started laughing. He playfully pushed me and grinned. "Dude, this is not a date. At least...wait, it's not a date right?" Don't tell me he was just now thinking about it. "It's not...yeah it's not...right? Wait that means me and Aiden..." That's when I noticed the little wires in his head short circuiting from his thought process. "Okay dude, calm the fuck down." I said. I shouldn't have opened my mouth. "I'm sorry I was just pouting. It's not a date. It's just dinner." I said slowly. Vulcan absorbed my words and calmed down. "That's right...it's just dinner...right, dinner." I forgot how sensitive he is now. Does admitting your feelings turn you into a crazy person? "Now why don't you come with me into the kitchen and we can get started on cooking." Vulcan nodded and slowly moved passed me, heading towards the kitchen. "I think I'm the only sane one." I muttered as I followed after him.
We got everything together. Not to brag, but I think Vulcan and I are pretty bad ass cooks. I mean seriously, do you know any other teenager that can cook a five star worthy meal? Yeah, I didn't think so. "Dude why do you look so smug?" I gotta learn to control my facial expressions. "Oh nothing just admiring the food." I replied as I turned to Aiden. He had showered and was now drying his hair. "I'm gonna take a shower." I said, taking a cue from him. He nodded and looked over the food. "Looks pretty good." He said, nodding in appreciation. I grinned. I ruffled his wet hair as I ran towards the stairs and made my way to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, trying not to be rude in case Brett and his little boyfriend showed up early. I dried off and wrapped the towel around myself, not really caring whose it was. "I'll replace it." I grabbed my clothes and made my way to Vulcan's room and grabbed a pair of boxers and pulled them on. I tossed the towel and my clothes in the hamper and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I ran my hands through my hair, ruffling it and then smoothing it out. "SETH GET DOWN HERE!" Well so much for being polite. "BE RIGHT THERE!"
When I got downstairs I found Vulcan and Aiden at the door with Brett and who I guessed to be Eli. Brett didn't look like himself. I mean, I'm so used to the angry looking jock that I wasn't expecting to see him so calm. Then I looked at the boy. He must be shorter if not the same height as Aiden. He was a cute kid, kinda like a puppy. "Whoa, sorry rude much...come into the dining room." I said. "You make it sound like it's your house." Vulcan noted. I grinned. "Aw c'mon I practically live here." Vulcan chuckled. "That is true." I looked at Brett and he seemed confused. "What? Something up?" I asked. "Um...I'm kinda just waiting...you now, for you to beat me up." He replied. I laughed. "Nah dude, it's all good." He sighed out in relief. Sheesh did I scare him that much?
We entered the dining room and sat down, passing food around and filling our plates. "Dude where's your mom with my sister man?" Vulcan asked. Brett arched a brow. "You have a sister?" "Yeah, she's eleven." Vulcan replied, smiling with affection at the thought of Maia. Suddenly we heard the sound of the door opening and the laughter that followed. "Sorry we're late!" Maia yelled. She came into the dining room and saw Brett and Eli. "Vee has guests?" I nodded. "Yup!" Brett turned to her and held out his hand. "I'm Brett." He said. Maia grinned and took his hand. "Vee has a lot of pretty friends!" Brett's face lit up bright red. I had to stifle my laughter. "I'm Maia." She saw Eli and let go of Brett's hand. "Hi I'm Eli." He said in a gentle voice. Maia held out her hand and Eli shook it. My mother came into the dining room then, looking exhausted. "We had fun didn't we?" Maia nodded. "Sorry we're so late. We lost track of time." My mother chuckled as she looked at Maia, so full of energy while she was all tired out. "Well I made sure she ate so she's good to go. There are some shopping bags in the living room." She then turned to me. "Are you staying here tonight?" I looked at Vulcan who shrugged. "Guess so..." I said. She nodded and then hugged me. "You boys have a good night. Maia go upstairs and brush your teeth and take a bath." Maia nodded and did as she was told. My mom left as soon as she saw Maia disappear up the stairs.
We sat and ate after that. There was silence but it wasn't awkward. I never thought I'd be at a dinner table with Brett of all people. Brett and Eli wouldn't stop glancing at me though. "Is something up?" I asked. Brett just looked at Eli and back at me. "Um...well me and Eli..." I just waved him off. "Yeah I know, it's pretty obvious." Brett just eyed me. "Dude, it's all good." I said as I cut in to my steak. Vulcan makes some pretty good steaks. Eli sighed. "This is delicious." Vulcan and I grinned. "So Aiden, what's new?" Eli asked. Aiden shrugged. "Other than me living here nothing really." "Oh so you and Vulcan are--" Vulcan sputtered and choked on his food. Aiden shook his head vigorously. "No, I mean I left home and Vulcan took me in!" Brett looked at Eli wide eyed. "Eli!" Eli looked panicked and then laughed nervously. "Oh I'm sorry...I thought...well never mind." I laughed a little and looked down, hoping they wouldn't notice. Looks like I'm not the only one who knows. "So you left home?" Brett asked, trying to divert the subject. Aiden nodded. "Yeah long story...not very interesting." Eli still looked awkward. Brett decided to just stay quiet and keep eating. Soon everyone finished their food. Vulcan and Aiden took care of the leftovers while I did the dishes.
We went into the living room and sat down. "Hey Brett...why don't you just...um tell people?" I asked, trying to word it carefully. Brett smiled, it was a sad smile. "Because of the way I treated people." He then grabbed Eli's hand. "I didn't want to admit it...but then this guy stumbled my way and all of a sudden everything made sense." Eli chuckled. "I did not stumble." "You're right, you tripped, fell over, and landed on top of me." Brett said. Eli playfully pushed him. "Shut up..." They seemed so right together. "You never thought this would happen huh?" I leaned back and smirked. "I was so awful to you." Brett said as he looked at Aiden. Aiden just waved him off. "Dude don't worry about it." He smiled and Brett seemed to calm down. Eli leaned against him and it turned into a cuddle. "Eli what's your story?" I asked. He looked at me. "I'm a junior. I met Brett exactly as he said. I tripped over my shoe laces, fell down a flight of stairs, and landed on top of Brett at the bottom. My parents know I'm gay and are totally cool with it. That's about it as far as interesting goes." I smirked. I like this kid. "Does this mean we're friends?" Aiden asked, looking down. He was shy and it was adorable. Vulcan pulled Aiden beside him and put his arm over his shoulder. "Yes or no Brett and don't start this pity shit I don't give a crap that you were a jerk. That was then." Eli looked up at Brett and smiled. "I'd like for us to be friends." Brett said. "Oh and...um...I'm sorry I kicked your ass." Vulcan said. Brett chuckled. "I think my ass totally deserved it." We laughed and hung out. We were getting along so well. I was happy that Vulcan and Aiden were expanding their circles. This was perfect. Even when they left we were still talking about how the unlikely just became likely. Brett and Eli were our friends, and just like with Aiden I was sure Vulcan would be watching their backs...and so will I.