“’ How well they look! How well they fit!’ said all. ‘What a beautiful pattern! What fine colours! This is a magnificent suit of clothes!’”

For Wynn, it had been three weeks of exquisite torture. After years of pining, Brennan had shown an almost instantaneous attraction to the quiet boy. Wynn was ecstatic and tormented at the same time. While he was overjoyed that his theory had been correct, and that Brennan would love him if only he got to know him, he was also dismayed. He couldn’t afford to return Brennan’s affection. The moment that he did, Reed would snatch him up. As time passed, Brennan appeared frustrated, his actions becoming more and more overt. Wynn had no choice but to act oblivious, contenting himself with his proximity to Brennan and the knowledge of his affections.

“This is torture!” Brennan exclaimed, punching an open locker door, causing it to close with a resounding clang. He stood in front of it, panting and angry, still in his football uniform.

“Aww, what’s the matter, big boy?” Reed slinked over. He had already changed and showered. He had discovered long ago it was hard to act sexy when you were wearing shoulder pads and smelled like a musk ox.

“Your brother, that’s what’s the matter!” Brennan collapsed onto a bench, crossing his arms angrily over his chest. “I’ve been all but throwing myself at him for three weeks, and he hasn’t even blinked! He just laughs and brushes me off! I thought you said he liked me, for fuck’s sake!”

“Oh, he does, he does.” Reed soothed, running his fingers absently through Brennan’s hair. “But something is holding him back… but what….” he shook his head. Thinking about things other than looks, sex, or money was not his strong suit. But something finally clicked for him. “I’ve got it!”

Brennan looked up, a difficult task since Reed’s fingers were tangled in his locks.

“What is it?”

“It’s me!” Brennan’s brow furrowed .Thinking wasn’t his strong suit, either.

“What do you mean, it’s you?”

“It’s me. That’s the reason that Wynn won’t put out. Every time he’s ever shown interest in a guy, I’ve snatched him away at the last second, breaking Wynn’s heart. He must be bound and determined not to let me get my claws into you.”

“Why would you do that to your brother?” Brennan asked him in a disinterest voice. They might has well have been discussing the weather, and not the emotional state of a teenage boy.

“Because I could.” Reed answered simply, shrugging. “Anyways, that completely explains the way he’s acting. We just need a way to get around that… I’ve got it! We’ll have a falling out.”

“A falling out?”

“A major fight. Really public, like in the cafeteria. Hell, you can attack me for how I treat my brother, that’ll buy you some extra virgin deflowering points. Once Wynn knows you wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole, he’ll feel safe enough to go after you.”

“Wynn is a virgin?” Brennan had instantly focused on the part of the conversation most interesting to him, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“Yes, yes, Wynn is a virgin.” Reed flapped his hand dismissively. “Very over-rated, if you ask me. After all, they know absolutely nothing. Now really, don’t you appreciate a boy with a bit more… experience?” he flicked his tongue out, catching the shell of Brennan’s ear. The other boy shivered.

“I suppose that has its good points, too.” He conceded. Reed smirked.

“Besides, according to our deal, you get the best of both worlds.” Reed reasoned. “How about I show you some of those “good points?” Refresh your memory.” He slowly sank to his knees in front of Brennan. As the two boys started to refresh Brennan’s memory in earnest, neither of them noticed the shadow of an observer quickly moving away from the locker room door, or the clink of shells that accompanied their exit.

“What do you mean you don’t like the way I treat my brother?!” Reed emphasized his demand with dramatic hand waving and decibels usually reserved for the breaking of glass.

“I meant just what I said, Reed. I’m tired of you treating your brother like dirt. Wynn is my friend.” Brennan had obviously been watching after school movies in preparation for the confrontation.

“He’s been your friend for all of three weeks! We’ve been on the same football team for three years, you fickle Neanderthal!” Reed had obviously been studying all of the breakup scenes in the classic movies about scorned women.

“Well I like him better.” Brennan insisted, sticking to script. “So you can either deal with it, or get on with your life.”

“Fine! Fine! If you like him better than me, you obviously have no taste! I can do better than you, Kingston, and I will! Have a good life with that social reject over there!” with that, he flounced off. When Brennan returned to his seat, Wynn was looking at him with twice the normal amount of adoration.

“No one treats one of my friends like that.” Brennan declared with satisfaction. This time, when he placed a hesitant hand on Wynn’s arm, Wynn covered the hand with his own, a small smile on his face.

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” He murmured, making small circles over the other’s skin. A few tables away, Oberon watched the entire spectacle with worried eyes.

A few days later, Wynn was pacing as he waited for practice to be over. The day before, Brennan had asked Wynn to “go steady” as he put it. A gobsmacked Wynn hadn’t answered, a million thoughts and worries running through his head. What if it was a trick? What if Reed was waiting in the wings to swoop in again? What if Brennan was doing this out of some misdirected sense of pity? What if he was just going to sleep with him and then dump him? Brennan had finally left before Wynn could sort out the tangles in his tongue. Now he was pacing here, hoping he hadn’t blown things forever with his one true love. When Brennan finally appeared, Wynn all but pounced on him.

“Brennan!” he called, cursing himself for the desperation in his voice. Brennan looked up, expression cool.

“What is it Wynn?” he demanded coolly. “I have to change out of my gear.” Reed had spent the entire night coaching Brennan on how to play hard to get, forcing Wynn to fall all over himself getting him back. Well, he coached him inbetween the rounds of sex, of course.

“I… I wanted to uh, talk to you.” Wynn returned, feeling incredibly lame.

“What is there to talk about? I thought you made your feelings clear yesterday.”

“No! That wasn’t… you just surprised me. I was so shocked, I couldn’t even get myself to talk.” Wynn twisted his shirt worriedly.

“So what are you trying to tell me, that you really do want to go out with me? It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

“No!” Wynn cried, looking the epitome of distressed. “Brennan, please don’t say that! I was just confused, I told you. I do want to go out with you. I… I think I love you.” He finished in a quiet voice. Brennan turned to him, an eyebrow cocked skeptically.

“You do, do you?”

“I… I mean… yes. I do.”

“Repeat it then. And mean it this time.” Brennan ordered. Wynn took a steadying breath.

“I think… I mean, I know… I love you.” He informed the other boy in a rush. He looked up at Brennan, hopefully. The jock’s expression softened.

“C’mere, Wynn.” He opened his arms. Wynn fell into them happily, allowing the other boy to hug him tightly. “Give me a kiss.” Brennan ordered. Wynn happily complied, turning his lips up and allowing them to be plundered by Brennan. The boy kissed Brennan for long minutes, before pulling away from the breathless Wynn. “Come to my house tomorrow night.” He whispered. “And you can show me how much you love me.” With a parting kiss, he whirled off and was lost to the shadows of the locker room. Wynn touched a disbelieving finger to his lips.

“He kissed me. He actually kissed me. And he wants to…” he blushed. “Oh, wow. He wants to do that.” He collapsed bonelessly to the ground, smiling giddily at the sky. “Oh wow.” He repeated.

“Wynn?” someone called softly.

“Brennan?” he scrambled to his feet instantly.

“No. It’s me, Oberon.” Wynn sighed, falling back to the ground.

“Oh, hey Oberon. What do you want?” His voice was flat, disheartened by the figure approaching him not being Brennan returning for a surreptitious kiss.

“I wanted to talk to you.” Wynn almost laughed at the similarities to the conversation he had just finished having. He doubted this one would end with a kiss. He looked up at Oberon, then blinked. Today Oberon was a mix of his usual “really crazy” look and the “almost normal” look he’d gone for last time Wynn had seen him. Oberon only wore one beaded raid today, and a pleather choker adorned with a crescent moon. His normal jeans and tennis shoes were almost overlookable compared to his emerald green long sleeved shirt, with holes cut out at the shoulder elbow and wrist. He looked almost….cute. Wynn was drawn out of his reverie when Oberon cleared his throat, blushing and smiling slightly. “You were staring.” He told Wynn shyly.

“Sorry. Wynn said quickly, a bit embarrassed, not to mention guilty. What about Brennan? “I’ve been spacey today…. Thinking about Brennan.” Oberon’s face fell, and his lips tightened.

“Yeah…. About that…. Wynn, you shouldn’t go out with him.” Wynn blinked

“What? Why not?”

“He’s not… he’s not nice. He’s not good for you.” He hesitated, nibbling his lower lip in a way that might have been distracting if Wynn hadn’t been so confused. “He doesn’t like you Wynn, he’s going to hurt you.” Wynn blinked. What the… why was Oberon saying such horrible things? Why didn’t he want Wynn to go out with Brennan? Then he got it.

“Reed put you up to this, didn’t he?!” he snarled. Oberon’s eyes widened.

“What? No, of course not, I just-“

“Save it.” Wynn hissed, furious. “Brennan has been the only good thing in my life for a long time, and he’s the only one who was willing to stick up to Reed for me. Tell Reed he’s not going to scare me away this time. I love Brennan, and nothing you or Reed try is going to keep me from him!” Oberon looked distressed.

“No, Wynn, really-“

“Save it.” Wynn repeated, standing. “I expected better of you, Oberon.” He stalked off, leaving a speechless Oberon staring in his wake.

Authors Note: So it’s obviously been quite a while since my last update. And those who also read my story Band might feel cheated, because this update is sizably larger than those I usually manage for Band. And actually, both of these things stem from the same source: I actually kind of know where I want to go with this one. I know, you’re all very shocked. But I do know where this story is (eventually) going to go, so I have more planned action for each scene, making the updates longer. But it also means that if my little muses aren’t cooperating in helping me get from point A to point C, and absolutely refuse to let me scribble down anything about B, then I have very little voice in the matter. So here is the latest update- I’m actually planning the next one out in my head as we speak, and the next Band is also not-so-happily boiling away in my brain. I hope you enjoy!