Chapter Fifteen

"That was the longest birthday dinner of my life," Sebastion fell with a sloshing thud onto his waterbed, not moving as Klause sat down slowly on the edge of it. He stared up at his ceiling, "Poor Benny. She worked so hard on that meal and I don't think I can remember what any of it tasted like."

"At least no one tried to sing 'Happy Birthday' to you. I get the feeling that wouldn't have gone over so well."

"Bah. I don't think we've ever sung." Sebastion paused in thought, "Come to think of it, I can't even remember the last time we were all around for someone's birthday…I guess Charlotte's eighteenth birthday."

Klause reached out to tussle his hair, "Awfully lousy way to spend a birthday. I wish it could have been better for you."

Sebastion caught his hand as Klause drew it back, "Bah. Certainly one of my more interesting birthdays. And I got to tell my father off - there's a lot of satisfaction in that."

"I can tell. You've had some sort of weird high from it all day."

Sheepishly Sebastion laughed, "I guess I'm just attracted to trouble."

"It that why you agreed to go out with another boy? One with tacky hair?"

"Sorry about that," Sebastion reached up with his free hand to brush a green strand from Klause's forehead. "I like your hair."

"Mmm, I hope you don't like it too much. It's going to have to go if I'm going to work on the island with you. Speaking of which, I still have to tell my mom I'll be taking off for the summer. And Leo. Probably should have called them sooner, hmm…" Klause mused. "Ah, well. Seems to be the day for getting yelled at."

Sebastion was looking at, brow furrowed. "I can't picture you with normal hair."

"It's not that interesting. Pale blonde, kinda boring."

"Interesting."

Klause laughed. "Not really. Anyway, I'll be washing this stuff out soon and then I'll just dye it close to my natural color until my hair's normal again."

"Interesting."

"More like boring, really." He sighed dramatically, "But it's the price we pay."

Sebastion frowned, grip on Klause's hand loosening. "Are you really sure you--"

A finger to his lips silenced him, and Klause winked. "Knock it off. Or you won't get your present."

"Present?" Sebastion seemed surprised, "What present?"

"Your birthday present, idiot."

"What did you get me?" Sebastion struggled to sit up on his waterbed, full of curiosity.

Klause grinned, "You mean besides my plans for a serious make-out session when everyone else is asleep?"

"Ah…" Sebastion looked torn between glaring and smiling. "Yeah, besides that."

"I'll go get it. Hang on a second." Tweaking his nose, Klause rose and left the room in a flash. He reappeared a couple of minutes later, his book bag and a rectangular gift in hand.  "I actually have a couple here. I ran into the triplets while I was shopping for it and they were still feeling guilty - as guilty as they get anyway. When I told them what I was doing, they were struck by divine inspiration. So you get a present from them, believe it or not."  Klause handed him the box.

Bastion examined it curiously a moment, then with a shrug shredded the paper and opened the plain white box. He folded back the tissue paper and blinked, "A shirt?"

Klause laughed, "Any excuse to buy clothes works for them. And it comes with the message, "you should hang out with us sometime" which is their way of accepting you. As in, without Mitch around to urge them into it."

"Ah…" Sebastion sighed, "Does this mean I have to start getting along with them?" He toyed with the dark, jewel green shirt, somewhat discomfited when he realized it sort of shimmered when it caught the light. "Do I have to wear this?"

"At least once. And it'll look good. They're never wrong about clothes. You're lucky they didn't buy more. They seem to think any man who dates other men should be decked out in anything and everything shiny."

Sebastion grimaced, "And people say I'm scary…" He looked at Klause, "So? Where's your present?"

Nervousness marred Klause's face, "Right." He rifled in his bag a moment, coming out with a small box wrapped in green tissue paper.  "I never really got around to getting a card…"

"I hate cards." Sebastion said without looking up from tearing the tissue paper. Slowly he pulled off the top of the small, black box. Even more slowly, he pulled out a bracelet of small, round amber beads.

Klause fidgeted, "It isn't much…but I wasn't really sure what to get you yet…so…"

Sliding the bracelet onto his wrist, Sebastion smiled. "To go with my shirt?"

"That's not funny." Klause's grin was mostly relief. "Like I said, it isn't much."

"Bah. I like it. You didn't have to get me anything."

Klause rolled his eyes, "Yes, I did."

"I…" Sebastion seemed to brace himself, then leaned forward and kissed him.

Briefly throw, Klause was quick to recover and didn't give Bastion a chance to pull away. "Now about your other present…"

Sebastion laughed as he pulled slightly away, "This isn't the best time…Reg is going to come crashing in…"

"His fault for not knocking," Klause silenced any further protests.

A loud banging on the door halted his efforts.

Sebastion stifled a laugh and shouted before Klause could voice the thoughts blatant on his face. "Come in."

A redhead peeked around the door, eyes closed. "Are you decent."

"Unfortunately yes," Klause said acidly. "I'm starting to lean toward not liking you again."

Regan opened his brilliant blue eyes, "Too damn bad. You shouldn't be fooling around with his parents in the house, anyway. Man, his dad catching you?" he paused, thoughtful. "Actually, his reaction might be kind of amusing. How about you two start making out, and I go get his dad? He explodes, we all--" the rest of his words were muffled by a large hand.

Chris glared balefully down at his boyfriend. "How about we just kill you and give us all some peace and quiet?"

Pulling his hand away, Regan returned the glare. "How about we just go tell your parents what exactly it is you do at my house? Then you can have your peace and quiet."

"Shut up."

"Not happening."

A tortured sigh, "Yes, I know."

"If you're both done, you're welcome to leave." Klause said, torn between amusement and irritation.

Chris let out another long-suffering sigh, "I wish. But the short one is on a mission."

Klause made a face.

Laughing Regan dropped to sit next to them on the floor, pulling down Chris beside him.  "We figured we'd come chat one last time, before we all get hauled off and you and Chris get grounded or executed or whatever. I didn't bring you a gift, I figured my smiling face was enough."

"I suppose that will suffice." Sebastion said dryly. Then he turned serious, "I guess things really didn't go too well, did they?"

Chris snorted, "You guess they didn't go well? I would have thought it was pretty obvious. Though I have to hand it to your brother for that last bit, Lord. I thought your dad was going to have kittens."

That made Sebastion snicker briefly, "It wouldn't be the first time Ex has driven dad to that…though I didn't think he'd threaten to quit like that. He hasn't tried anything like that since their blowout years ago. That fight made today look like a tea party."

Klause whistled, "Wouldn't want to see that."

"It was pretty hideous," Sebastion said. "Anyway, I'm more concerned with what's going to happen now. Dad is livid about his ultimatum…he's not just going to accept being shoved into a corner like that."

A sharp rap on the door interrupted the discussion, and Ex poked his head in. "You've been summoned."

Anxiety filled Sebastion's face for a moment, but he smiled weakly when Klause squeezed his hand reassuringly and clambered to his feet. He followed his brother down the hall to the bedroom their parents were using.

Terrence sat in an overstuffed chair by the window, and motioned his sons to come stand before him. He frowned long and hard at each of them. "I don’t like any of this. Both of you are behaving in a manner that is most unsatisfactory. Neither one of you has anywhere near the respect you should. Xavier, I don't appreciate your ultimatum. I trust you to run Paradise, and someday to take my place at the top - carelessly threatening to abandon the business and thereby the family is not something I'll tolerate. And you," he glared at his youngest son.

Here it comes. Sebastion thought with resignation.

"You've been nothing but trouble for as long as I can remember. I clearly am becoming too lenient with my children."

Oh, so it's okay for Law and Charlotte to be worthless and annoying but not for me to be a bit opinionated.

"Clearly I've let your mother get away with coddling the lot of you."

Xavier didn't let that slide, "It's not so much coddling as it is neglecting, father. And you know it. That's why Law and Charlotte are so out of hand. And don't try to tell me otherwise.”

"Perhaps. That still does not excuse your behavior today. Or yours for the past few years," he narrowed his eyes at Bastion again. "But frankly I am growing tired of the melodrama, and I have too much to do to remain here and fight everything out. I had hoped you'd learned your lesson, Sebastion."

Sebastion returned his glare, "I have learned my lesson. Maybe I'm as unorthodox as ever, but believe me when I say my life this past year has really really sucked.  But if you'll recall," he said icily, "I asked several times to be allowed to attend a school other than the Academy. And you just ignored me. So I tried a different way."

"Everyone goes to the academy, Sebastion. It was nonnegotiable."

"That's why I didn't want to go!" Must not lose temper. "I'm tired of being 'Lord' all the time. I'm the youngest of four in a family that already had too many members. I just wanted to be different. To do things my own way. I don't get why that's so damned hard to understand."

Terrence frowned, "Watch your language." He fell into a pensive silence. "What would you have me do? I can hardly condone your behavior now, and all that aside Sebastion there is the fact that you're eighteen. You know what that means. It's not entirely safe to put you somewhere so far from the family."

"I don't see why not." Xavier said thoughtfully. "Look, Bastion has already made it clear that he's not going to cooperate if you keep trying to shove him into the Lord mold. And like it or not, my ultimatum still stands. Instead of being upset that things aren't going your way, let's try doing them Bastion's way. You don't mind compromising in business, why can't you try it with family?"

Damn. I don't think Ex even realizes anymore how much he gets away with. I talk like that, I get banished. He does it like it's normal. Guess it must be by this point.

Their father was silent for several minutes. He spoke just as Sebastion began to grow restless, "You two are, despite everything, the most stable of the four of you. I'm well aware of what your mother has done to the other two. The last thing I want, Sebastion, is to see you become those two." He looked weary, "I still think you are going about things the wrong way. And I am not simply going to bowl over and concede to your wishes. No matter what you say, your behavior in the past was abominable and even if you did not mean to break the rules of your banishment, the fact remains you did."

"But I have high reports from both Nathan and Benjamina, and Xavier has made positive remarks on your behavior of the past couple of days. I am dead set against this Klause but given that I do not think it will last long, I will tolerate his presence in the interests of peace."

He turned to Xavier, "I will permit Sebastion to work on Paradise, however I am quite firm about him actually working. I will leave the matter of Klause up to you. I want nothing to do with it. And I expect daily reports on his behavior and performance."

"Twice a week," Xavier returned.

"Thrice weekly."

Ex nodded, "Deal."

Sebastion was afraid to even breath as his dad again looked at him, "Clearly you will not hear of going back to the Academy. I doubt you would be allowed anyway, given what occurred upon our arrival. Really, Sebastion. You have all but demolished our reputation at that school."

"Given my best friend is dating the next in line, I bet I can do a lot to repair it."

Terrence glared, "That does not excuse the fact that you ruined it in the first place. But I do commend your resolving your own problem, even if you shouldn't have caused that problem to begin with. And I have told you to watch your tone. A little bit of respect, Sebastion, goes a long, long way."

"Yes, sir."

"That's more like it." Their father propped his elbows on the armrest and steepled his fingers. "So, as it stands now you will work on Paradise for the duration of the summer. If at the beginning of August I deem your behavior reformed and your performance acceptable, you will return here to finish high school. If not, then you will be sent to an even more unpleasant location and lose the privilege of helping to decide an appropriate college. While on the island, you are to obey each and every rule set before you. I don't think I need to emphasize just how important it is to maintain our image on the island. One mistake Sebastion and you'll seriously regret it."

"Umm…yes, sir."

Ex grinned, "See? He can be taught."

Sebastion shot his brother a glare.

Their father nodded, "I guess we'll see. I still don't like it, but" he glared at Xavier, "I don't have much choice. But you're going to pay heavily, Xavier, for forcing my hand."

"I know."

Biting his lip, for once knowing to keep silent, Sebastion waited. Even I'm not dumb enough to get between those two.

"Of course," his father said heavily, "The entire deal rests on your behavior the rest of this week. One slip and consider my offer rescinded."

Offer? Sounds more like he's just softening a sentence. Still, I'm getting what I want. Can't complain.  "Right."

"Then go. Consider my leniency your birthday gift."

Sebastion just nodded, turned, and left.  Outside he flooded with relief, his heart speeding up as it really hit him that everything was settled - and with none of the bloodshed he'd half expected. Only because of Ex, though. I wish I knew how to thank him.

He could hear the two of them talking, and hesitated. At last he just shook his head - he couldn't help resolve the issues between those two. No one could, really.

Smiling in relief Bastion wandered back to his room. He was greeted by the sight of three men frowning in concentration over a card game. Still smiling, he waited for someone to notice him.

A minute later Klause threw down his cards in disgust, "I suck at this." He started when he saw his boyfriend, "Bastion! Back already?" He climbed to his feet and wandered over to where Sebastion stood by the door. And started again when Sebastion leaned up and kissed him.  "Wow…I guess things went okay then?"

"Yeah. I'm…on probation, I guess. If I behave all this week, we both go to Paradise, and I come back here for school - I guess with all my privileges restored."

Regan was frowning, "I don't get it. Your dad is like supreme evil. How'd you get him to just cave like that?"

Wincing, Sebastion shook his head. "I didn't - Ex did. He's in a lot of trouble over me." He bit his lip, "I'll have to think of something to make it up to him."

"You can figure that out, later. For now - celebrate! C'mon, let's go raid the kitchen." Regan gathered up the abandoned deck of cards and grabbed Chris, leading the way downstairs to the kitchen.

Sebastion paused in the doorway, "Wow, Benny isn't here."

"Duh," Klause grinned and shoved him in. "Her evil husband is probably yelling at her for causing trouble. Or maybe they're making up - and out - right now."

"I really don't need that image, thanks."

"Yeah," Regan agreed, "Benny just cooks food. I don't want to hear about her acting like a real person."

Chris lightly knocked him upside the head, "Stop being an idiot."

"Hey! No violence." Regan plopped down on one of the barstools at the island and began shuffling the cards. "Get me a soda, would you?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"That's 'Yes, master' to you."

Chris just rolled his eyes and fetched the drinks.

Snickering, Regan began dealing the cards. "All right, we're playing five-card draw. Got the chips, Rainbow?"

Sebastion threw down several bags. "Doritos are one hundred, Fritos are fifty, mini-pretzels are twenty-five."

"Cool. Let's play then."

Klause frowned at his cards, "Where's everyone else? I was sure we'd see them again."

"Nah, they've all gone to their rooms. Nothing exciting going on now that the fighting is over." Sebastion's face went carefully blank as he looked at his hand.

Chris smirked, "So you don't get what you want unless you're nice to me all week?"

"No one's around to supervise me now, so I'd watch it." Sebastion retorted. "Play your cards."

Regan tossed in a few Fritos, "You two aren't fooling anyone. Just admit your friends."

"Bah," was the only reply.

Klause just laughed.

Epilogue

Sebastion glared at the object of his affection.

Klause just winked back and kept talking on Bastion's cell phone. "Yes, I promise. Lots of souvenirs…no I will not bring you back a lock of his hair. Not that either. You're mental, Chloe. Seriously, get help. That's illegal. Yes, okay. I promise. Goodbye." Rapidly he punched the off button and flipped the phone closed.

"I really wish you'd distance yourself from those three. They're worse than the reporters that follow my brother around." Sebastion grabbed his phone back and stuffed it into the pocket of his loose jeans.

"You're telling me. Speaking of your brother, make sure he's never around when the triples are. Things could get scary. I think they might be worshipping him, I'm not sure."

Sebastion rolled his eyes, "Freaks. Are they done harassing you now?"

"Hmm? Yeah, that's it. Sorry to steal your phone."  Klause leaned back against the massive glass window that overlooked the airport runways, propping one foot against it and crossing his arms. "They really wanted to come with us. I had to sell my soul to convince them not to."

Snorting Sebastion yanked on Klause's pale blonde hair. "Whatever.  I wouldn't have cared, except that jerk keeps trailing after them."

Klause shrugged, "By the time we get back, Mitch will have moved on to something or someone else."

"He'd better," Sebastion grumbled, his hand dropping away.

Klause grabbed it and pressed a kiss to his palm, "Jealous?" he asked with a wink.

"Bah." Sebastion didn't fight the grip on his hand, but his eyes strayed the planes beyond the glass.

Klause turned his head, "So what exactly are we doing? I know we don't fly straight to the island from here."

"We fly home - my home that is. Assuming there aren't any delays, we're going to lunch with Reg and Chris, then tonight we fly out to the island with Ex."

"Cool." Klause released his hand and wrapped his arm loosely around Sebastion's waist. "You certainly know how to turn a person's life upside down, library boy."

"So I've been told." Sebastion tore his gaze away from the planes. "You don't have to stick around, you know. I doubt it's going to be a lot of fun, most of the time."

"Whatever."

"Bah."

Klause stooped to kiss his cheek, grinning at Bastion's somewhat mollified expression. He looked up as the loudspeaker came on. "Come on, trouble. Time to board."  Shouldering his carry on bag, he took Bastion's hand and they boarded the plane.

**Author's Notes**

_ Looking back at this story, I still think it's the silliest thing I've written to date. But I don't mean that in a bad way, this story always makes me smile. It *still * boggles my mind how many people adore this story. There are too many people to thank, for your comments and reviews. I don't know how to express how much they mean to me. I was sooo close to just giving up my efforts at writing when this story took off. You really do mean the world to me.

I know a lot of people were disappointed I never wrote smut for these boys. But…that's never how this story was meant to be. It was meant to be cute and funny and just 'feel good.' A couple of my stories I might work up the nerve to write more graphic content, but I never planned it for this one. I hope it was worth reading anyway.

So thank you all again for taking the time and effort to read Rainbow. It made my day every time I heard someone else was enjoying it. And you haven't seen the last of these boys; as some who read my lj or website already know, I've started work on Xavier's story, Paradise.

Love y'all muchly, thankee, Amaretto.