I own every bit of this story. Review.

Act One: Scene Three

Forty-five minutes later, we were lying in my bed, him in my arms. It was an equal decision to leave the clothes on my floor, lock the door and go for round two. I cleaned him up afterwards, which left us lying, warm with each other.

He murmured thoughtfully, “This is not your average teenage boy’s Saturday afternoon.”

“What does that mean?”

“They don’t know what they’re missing. A lot.”

“Good boy,” I kissed him.

“Will your sister mind about this? I mean, I could tell you two have a pretty close relationship, and that you tell her a lot of stuff. She won’t mind that we…will she?”

“Nope. She was actually relived that I was gay. Gay men can’t get pregnant.”

“Which is both awesome and sad.”

“We’ll adopt,” I promised him. He cracked a smile.

“You’re amazing. More then I imagined,” he whispered.

“I am, aren’t I?” I decided I might as well let him praise me. I liked it and besides, I deserved it! It was better then a dream, really. Cuddling with him after 30 minutes of the stuff I’ve only wished for. God, I’m a horn-dog.

“Yes. You are amazing, but so much more too. You’re beautiful, and sweet. Charming. Adorable. Smart. Fantastic actor.” He said each of these after placing a kiss down my chest. “Caring. Gay. Mine.” His! I loved the sound of that!

There were a few knocks at the door. “Sorry boys, I’m late!” We quickly scrambled to retrieve some clothes. She obviously heard the shuffling.

“Don’t hurt yourselves. I know you had sex. And I don’t really care. As long as it gives you an appetite and you actually did make time to clean James’s wounds. Ryan?”

“Yes, yes and yes.” I replied hastily, finally getting myself clothed enough to slip out of the room, shutting the door quickly behind me. “Sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first, I should have, but it was the heat of the moment- well heat of the shower and everything, but point is-”

“Chill. I said I didn’t care, or were you screwing then too, so you didn’t here me?”

“We’re done; we were just lying in bed.”

“I’m gonna come up with a nickname for you. Something dirty, but something that I can shout at you in the mall and not get funny looks.”

“Have fun with that one,” I said. James exited the room from behind me.

“Are you two done talking about me?”

“Yes,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along side me.

“Okay, so I’ve got like eighty things for lunch. I’m not sure exactly what half of them are, but they taste good and they fill up young sex-driven boys.” We followed her to the kitchen.

“She’ll tease us forever, won’t she?” James asked me. I nodded, filling up the plate she handed me.

“Me? Tease? Never!” Rosalie said dramatically, “Now I’m gonna go take a shower in my room. A place you two lovebirds are not allowed to venture. Stick to the smaller bathroom, boys. I don’t want to find any surprises in my bed…”

“My room works,” I said.

“Whatever floats your boat,” Rosalie yelled back at us as she disappeared into her room. James followed my suit and filled the plate I’d given him.

“Is she always this…flexible about things?” he asked, curiously.

“Mostly,” I answered. Sometimes she kinda freaked me out. It seemed like something should piss her off. “Why, your siblings aren’t like her?”

“Both moved out and away from the asshole, I mean, my father, as quick as they could. Haven’t heard from them in three years. I don’t really care either, I plan to do the same thing,” he sighed, sitting down next to me at the kitchen table.

“And bring me along, of course.”

“Definitely.” He flashed the sweet smile I loved and continued eating.

“So, are you good with living like this? Food, sex and me?” I asked, praying he’d answer how I hoped. Yes, of course, was my wish.

“You know, all three of those are kinda the same thing. Dirty, ain’t it? But yes, I’m down with that,” he grinned again.

“Good. Now, eat. Your adorable when you eat,” I liked being bossy for a change. Well, I liked somebody who’d listen to me. For once.

The rest of the day was a blur. A long, beautiful, romantic blur. We finished eating, piled up on seconds and thirds (sex makes boys hungry, hello) and then headed for my room, where we proceeded to repeat the days earlier events. After that, I just remember him, near, holding me and then slowly drifting off to sleep…

(The next bit will be in first person from James’s POV, but it will return to Ryan’s POV in the beginning of the next chapter).

I woke, sitting up in bed, yawning absently, then running a hand through my hair. Ryan was still sleeping, snoring. Man was he cute when he slept. Peaceful. I stopped starring, knowing all to well how fast he got me going and stood up, searching in the dark for something to put on. I found a pair of pajama pants and slipped them on, the material soft against my bare legs. I left the room silently and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. However, I remembered there were leftovers and opened the fridge to steal some.

“Freeze.” I jumped and turned quickly to the figure standing a few feet away. Rosalie flipped on the light and smiled curiously at me. “Snack time?”

Searching for an excuse, I whispered, “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Me either.”

“Can I…?” I gestured to the foil-wrapped plate in my hand.

“Only if you get me some,” she said, hopping up on the counter. I handed her the plate and grabbed another one (six plates of leftovers).

“So, do you mind if I ask you something?” I hopped up on the counter next to her.

“Shoot.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” I’d been dying to know. I mean, she didn’t know me, really, and yet she was so kind and generous. Guess I wasn’t used to it in my house.

She stared at me for the longest time. And a slight smile crept up the side of her lips. She took a bite of the food and then answered. “Ryan, he has this smile. It brightens up the whole world. It, frankly, is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. A long time ago, when we were both younger and when I was sad, he’d walk up and just…smile and surprisingly, everything felt fixed. He stopped smiling recently. He’s been doing great in school, but he’s lonely and I can only spend so much of my time attempting to cheer him up. Anyway.” She paused, taking another breath, “You made him smile again. And I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to look at him again if he looks as sad as he did. It breaks my heart.” She was crying now.

“Wow,” I sighed. I wasn’t sure what to say, what to think, what to do. I just leaned in and hugged her. And she hugged me, too.

“He loves you, you know. He really does.” She wiped her face. “You do know if you break his heart I’ll be coming after ya, right?”

“I assumed.” She nodded and set the plate on the counter, walking quietly to the door.

“I want him to smile.”

“I swear I’ll do my best to make him,” I said, every word the truth.

“You don’t have to try,” she whispered, “You just have to be there.”

“I can handle that,” I promised.

“Good.” She gave me one last look and then left. I sat for a long time, trying to figure what the look had meant. Admiration? Trust? Then I figured it out.

It was something of motherly love.