A/N Here's another chapter. Sorry I'm a day late, I had some stuff to do so I only managed to get one update in. Here it is anyway, unbeta'd and boring as usual, full of Fail and whine.

20

Tyler made a huge breakfast the next day, getting up extra early to do so. The simple task had not been so easy, seeing as he first had to remove himself from Chris’ tight hold and then had to get out of bed without waking the boy. It took about fifteen minutes, either way, and he gratefully escaped into a shower and then down the stairs to start on his breakfast. Chris woke as he was cooking and wobbled into the kitchen, looking as adorable as ever, kissed him good morning, and helped make the pancakes.

Ian ate with gusto when he woke a little later, Tyler sure that he’d eaten more than he and Chris combined. The boy was fat and happy when he was done and actually went and took a nap.

Chris plopped down on the couch after they cleaned up the kitchen and Tyler plopped down on top of him. Chris giggled and they kissed, a little bit of passion seeping in, earning soft coos, before they parted and just snuggled.

“Class today?” Tyler asked.

“Mm-hmm,” Chris hummed.

“What time?”

“Noon…guess what,” he said.

“Hmm?” Tyler hummed, staring down at the boy beneath him.

Chris grinned. “My thesis went through,” he said.

Tyler’s face lit up. “Ah, Chris, that’s great! That’s incredible! Oh wow, that’s awesome!” he said, hugging the chuckling boy tightly. “Celebration dinner tonight, I can’t believe it…wow…When do you graduate?”

Chris shrugged. “Some time in March I think…that’s when my quarter ends. I can’t wait, it’s getting so boring now, we’re just going over the same gawd damned stuff,” he said.

Tyler chuckled. “Well, that’s life, completely repetitive,” he said.

Chris ticked his tongue. “Not yours. You do something different all the time,” he said.

“What! I don’t think so, my life is so repetitive. Yeah I go different places, but I’ve sung the same songs for the last year or so. It’s repetitive, really,” he said.

Chris sighed. “Yeah, but you get to go traveling and see all these neat places. So you sing the same songs but everything’s always so different. I want to go on a real tour with you,” he said.

Tyler let out a short laugh. “No, no you don’t and I don’t want to have to go one another one for at least a few more months. I’m so exhausted, I don’t want to have to go on any more tours,” he said.

“I don’t blame you. You were exhausted even when I arrived. I don’t want to think how stressful all of that must be,” he said.

“Enough that I don’t want to have to do it. But it actually got better when you were there. I could relax more. That’s why I love you I guess,” he said, kissing him gently. Chris chuckled and jumped when the phone rang. It didn’t often and even Tyler jumped. He grabbed the phone. “Hello? Reighn, oh my gawd, what happened, what’s wrong? Reighn, calm down, what happened?”

The man stopped his incomprehensible rant and took a deep breath. “Can I just…talk to Chris please?”

Tyler furrowed his brow. “Umm…yeah I guess…Here,” he said and he handed the phone over to Chris. The boy took it, furrowing his brow in question.

“Hello? Hey Reighn what…oh…oh ok…uh huh….Okay well…le-lemme see. Just a second—Tyler,” he said, covering the mouth piece.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked.

Chris shrugged. “Reighn wants to know if he can come up here for a while. Apparently Ricardo uh…he just needs some support right now,” he said.

Tyler nodded. “Well yeah he can, that’s fine, but is he all right?” he asked.

Chris nodded. “Yeah, Reighn, you can come up that’s more than fine…Okay….Okay, see you then,” he said and he hung up.

Tyler stared at him. “Well what happened?” he asked.

Chris sighed. “He was cleaning his room the other day and found bank receipts signed for Ricardo. Apparently when Ric got a hold of Reighn’s account information he started pulling small amounts of cash here and there and shipping them off to a different account. He had close to a hundred grand when Reighn found out. So they broke up, Reighn got his money back and now he needs some support. He’s a mess,” he said.

Tyler sighed. “Wow…and Ricardo seemed so perfect for him…poor Reighn, that’s awful,” he said.

Chris nodded. “Yeah it is.” It wasn’t just awful because Ricardo was an asshole, but because Andy was gone and Andy really did love Reighn. Chris saw it in his eyes that night in the hall…and then he left. He sighed and sat back on the couch with a flop, resting his head on the back of the couch.

Tyler looked over at him and reached out, gently running his fingers through his hair. “Hey…you all right? You seem to be takin’ this pretty hard,” he said.

Chris sighed and shrugged. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. I can only imagine how Reighn must feel right now…” ‘Like he deserved it for cheating on Ricardo,’ he thought to himself.

Tyler sighed. “I know…it doesn’t seem fair, huh? Poor Reighn’s never been given a real chance,” he said. Chris looked over at him and scooted closer, resting his head on Tyler’s shoulder with a gentle sigh. Tyler smiled. “At least I know you love me.”

Chris ticked his tongue. “Of course I do. I love you more than you know. I’d never do something like that to you, never,” he said, grabbing one of Tyler’s arms then and snuggling into him further.

Tyler sighed and resting back into Chris, letting his head sit on the boy’s. “I have to go Christmas shopping and you have an appointment with the online therapist at noon. I’m gunna go browse around for a bit. Love you,” he said with a gentle kiss.

“Love you too,” said Chris, letting the man up to walk back to the office. He sighed as he was suddenly alone on the couch and thought about some things. He was starting to realize just how lucky he was. He had a good home now, a man that loved him and wanted nothing more than to take care of him and see him happy. He had his little brother, safe and tucked away, going through his own rehab to help him cope with the hard past that he had to go through. He himself was going through rehab, rehab that he actually liked. He had food, a bed, clothes, he was finishing school. It was perfect and when Chris really thought about it…he concluded he was the luckiest damn man on the face of the planet.

Around noon Ian was up again, well rested this time and looking much healthier, and Tyler was deciding what to make for lunch. Chris was in the back in another session, a session that was going fairly well.

Ian looked up at Tyler as he finished scribbling a little sentence in his notebook. “Mr. Tyler, why is your house so nice and big?” he asked.

Tyler sighed as he flipped a burger and looked over his shoulder. “Well…I guess it’s because fate told me I’d be taking care of a lot of people. I needed a big house,” he said.

Ian rolled his eyes. “No, I meant like why you got such a big house to begin with,” he said.

Tyler chuckled. “Because when I bought it I was young and stupid and didn’t know what to do with my money. I do now though,” he said.

Ian furrowed his brow. “Whatcha mean money?” he asked.

Tyler sighed again and set his spatula down, walking over and taking a seat in front of Ian. “Well…the job that I have gets me a lot of money. So I can afford lots of big, fancy things,” he said.

Ian’s eyes widened. “You mean like…like you’re rich,” he said.

Tyler hummed. “Yeah I guess so. Doesn’t matter though, I don’t act like it. To me it just means that if there’s something someone wants I can get it for them. But, lil’ mister, that does not mean I’m going to get you everything you want. Chris and I both decided you are not to be spoiled just because I make money,” he said, jumping up to fiddle with the burgers. He pulled out a head of lettuce and went about pulling it apart and sticking the leaves in a strainer.

Ian sighed. “So like…if I need something I can get it…like for school, like a book bag,” he said.

Tyler looked over at him and nodded. “Mm-hmm, stuff like that I’ll get for you, clothes if you need ‘em. But if there’s something you want like a toy or something you gotta work to get it yourself. I can set you up with an allowance if you want,” he said.

Ian’s eyes lit up. “You mean like for doin’ chores and stuff?” he asked. Tyler nodded. “Well sure! My mom and dad never gave me even a nickel for helpin’ ‘round the house. You just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it,” he said.

Tyler smiled and chuckled. “All right then. Why don’t you grab three plates out of this strainer here…then get me the tomato and pickles out of the fridge,” he said, turning on the faucet to rinse the lettuce. Ian jumped to do as asked and rushed around the room, pulling out the plates and setting them on the table, then grabbing the objects from the fridge and setting them on the counter next to where Tyler was patting dry the lettuce. “Thank you. Now go ahead and get the ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise and stick ‘em on the table,” he said. Ian did so without a problem and soon Tyler was sticking the sliced and chopped toppings on the table with them. Ian took his notebook out to the living room and waited there. Tyler wouldn’t actually have lunch until Chris was done with his session, something that didn’t bother Ian. He liked sitting down together. It felt like a family.

Tyler worked away in the kitchen, using the previously made macaroni and hard boiled eggs to make a little macaroni salad. He hadn’t cooked in such capacity for a while and it was odd making such large amounts of food. There were four burgers cooking instead of two, a giant bowl of salad instead of a single serving, bottles and plates of garnishing instead of little slices and pieces here and there. He sighed when he thought about it. It was like they were a real family and he was the ‘housewife’. He chuckled and shook his head.

Chris came into the kitchen just as Tyler was finishing up and plopped into a chair with a sigh. “I hate therapists,” he mumbled.

Tyler furrowed his brow as he carried the bowl to the table. “Why, what happened?” he asked.

Chris shrugged. “I dunno, it just kinda felt like the therapist was leading me on more than listening to what I actually had to say,” he said, sitting up and taking the proffered plate.

“Well, if you want to try someone else put in a form for it, but you have to do it—Ian, lunch!—because we could both get in lots of trouble if you don’t and I want you to talk to someone anyway so you don’t stay depressed,” he said, setting a plate down in front of Ian when the boy sat.

“I’m not gunna do it again, though, I swear,” said Chris.

Tyler sighed as he walked back with the hot burgers. “I know, you say that a lot, but I just want to make sure, Chris, I love you,” he said, sitting down now himself.

Chris sighed again and took one of the offered burgers. “I love you too…I’ll put in a form,” he said grudgingly.

Tyler sighed. “Thank you. Here, Ian,” he said, spooning the boy some salad.

“Thank you,” said the boy, already munching away on his burger. Tyler spooned some to Chris without asking and then dumped some on his own plate, making a burger.

Chris sighed as he put his burger together. “So did you find anything interesting?” he asked.

Tyler nodded. “Found a few things. I’ll show them to you but I’m not showing you what I picked for you,” he teased.

Chris chuckled. “I didn’t ask you too. What do you want?” he asked.

Tyler looked up and sighed dramatically. “Nothing,” he said breathily, quickly taking a large bite out of his burger.

Chris ticked his tongue. “Oh, come on, Tyler, there has to be something,” he said.

Tyler hummed and gave him a dangerous look. “I’ll think about it,” he said. Chris shivered at the look and both quickly busied themselves with their meal. Ian gave them both a look but finished his own food just the same. Tyler was glad he’d made an extra burger since Ian quickly gulped that down and even had a second helping of salad.

Tyler stared at him. “Boy, do you have two stomachs or something?” he said as Ian finished up.

“It was good. I’m sorry, Mr. Tyler, I never had good food like this,” he said.

“He’s right. Ma, and Frank never had food. Frank spent it all on beer,” said Chris, finishing his own burger. He still ate really slow.

Tyler sighed. “Well I’m glad that you enjoy it and all, but too much might make you sick. You be careful how much you eat,” he said.

“I will, Mr. Tyler,” he said. “May I be excused?”

Chris smiled. “Yes you may,” he said. Ian jumped up and rushed off.

Tyler sighed. “Is he ever going to stop callin’ me Mr. Tyler?” he asked.

Chris chuckled. “He will, don’t worry. Frank probably made him do it for strangers, some way to make it seem like he was raisin’ him right. He’ll stop when he gets more used to being here,” he said, forking in some salad.

Tyler sighed and leaned back, checking the living room and leaning in to whisper to Chris, “What if I got him a game system?”

Chris stopped eating a moment and sighed. “I dunno. I don’t think I want him sitting in front of a TV all the time,” he whispered back.

Tyler sighed again. “Well…I want to get him a bike,” he whispered.

Chris nodded. “I like that, that’s a good idea,” he said. He jumped when Ian suddenly spoke behind him.

“Mr. Tyler…I was wonderin’ somethin’,” he said.

Tyler huffed and cleared his throat. “And what would that be?” he asked.

Ian bit his lip and shuffled his foot. “Can I maybe…go down to the beach?” he asked.

Tyler hummed and sat back in his chair, giving Ian a scrutinizing gaze. “Yes,” he said suddenly and smiled when Ian’s face lit up with excitement. “But tell ya what, let’s wait until a little later when Chris gets back from his classes and then we’ll go to the beach and get some ice cream while we take a walk. I just hope it won’t be too chilly down there.”

Chris smiled. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Promise not to argue and wear a long sleeved shirt and jacket?” he said, pointing at Ian sternly.

Ian nodded. “I promise.”

“Good. I gotta go get ready to go,” said Chris, he stood and took his dishes to the sink, kissing Tyler gently before he rushed upstairs to shower and dress for the day. Tyler sighed and stood to clean up.

“I can do it Mr. Tyler!” said Ian quickly, bounding over and grabbing some of the plates. He carried them over to the counter and then stopped. Now what?

Tyler watched him and chuckled, walking up behind him and opening one of the cupboards. He pulled down a few containers and let Ian go, watching from his seat at the table as the boy rushed back and forth and put everything away. He hummed as he thought about what to do for an allowance, and got to his feet, walking around back to the office and into the rarely used back room. There were a few old things back there, little knickknacks that he didn’t want to keep out front. He opened an old cabinet, glass front, and looked at the jars that were in it, deciding on a plain one, and carrying back to the kitchen. Ian had moved on to washing dishes and Tyler put the jar down on a counter out of the way.

Ian plopped down in a chair when he was done and sighed. “All done, Mr. Tyler,” he said with a small smile.

Tyler smiled and pointed to the jar, in which sat a couple dollars. Ian furrowed his brow. “That’s your jar. I’ll put all the money you earn in there and when you want to spend it on something you can go ahead and go in there and get it, ok?” he said.

Ian nodded, an excited look on his face. “Yessir, Mr. Tyler, thank you so much! I’ve never had an allowance before,” he said.

Tyler smiled. “Well you just use the money wisely. Don’t spend it all too fast,” he said.

Ian nodded. “I won’t, I promise,” he said.

“Good, now, why don’t you go and get cleaned up some, I’ll take you out to the park again while Chris’ at school,” he said. Ian jumped up and hurried off just as Chris was coming down the stairs.

“Whoa, hellfire comin through, no running in the house!” he shouted even as Ian slammed the door to his room. He sighed and shook his head, pulling on a sweater before he grabbed his shoes.

“I’m takin’ him to the park while you’re at school. He’s a little excited,” he said.

Chris chuckled. “A little? That boy was bookin’. All right, I gotta go, love you, baby,” he said, kissing Tyler lovingly on the lips.

Tyler laughed. “Love you too. Get good grades,” he said as Chris left. Chris just waved and hurried off, slinging his bag on his shoulder as he went.

A few days went by, Ian slowly getting used to the house and being able to relax like he was, Chris finishing up what he had left to do for his classes. He wrote his paper up without a problem, the most taxing of the project actually making a small animated video, so most of his time anymore was spent on the computer when he got home. Tyler didn’t mind so much since Chris still went to bed with him and they got all their snuggling time in later at night. He himself had gotten through another book with all the time he had and was already halfway through when they got the phone call stating that Reighn was in town and on his way.

Chris rushed to the door when the doorbell rang, Ian mocking him by shouting ‘no running in the house’, and stopped behind Tyler when the man opened the door. Reighn was standing there, looking rather dejected, and they could both tell he was taking the whole thing really hard. Tyler was really glad he’d told him he could come then.

“Hey guys…. Long time no see,” said Reighn with a sigh.

Tyler shook his head. “C’mon in Reighn.” He held the door open and the man walked in, Chris taking his bag and putting it next to the stairs. Reighn kicked off his shoes and hung up his coat, and as soon as Tyler was holding him he was crying, sobbing lightly into the man’s shoulder as Tyler cooed. Chris could really tell that Reighn was upset. After all, he’d been misled by the man he loved and thought loved him, and the man the really did love him was no where to be found. Andy had made sure of that.

Tyler patted Reighn softly as he cried and nudged him over to the couch, sitting down with him while Reighn tried to compose himself, Chris grabbing him a tissue. Ian was staring at the man in confusion, partially wondering why he was crying, and another part wondering why his hair was blue.

“You okay, Reighn?” Chris asked.

Reighn snuffed and wiped at his eyes. “I actually haven't cried that much since I found those receipts. I don’t know, it’s just…I’m happy I’m here,” he said, pushing his bangs to the side with a fluff of his fingers.

“What happened?” Tyler asked, a sincere question that meant all around.

Reighn shrugged. “I dunno. Ricardo’d been…taking money out of my account and slowly transferring it into one of his own in Mexico. I also found plane tickets and shit, other receipts for an apartment some where in the Bahamas. He was seriously planning on ripping me off and leaving. I was almost sick that night when he came home and was all sweet like he usually is, all lovey-dovey. And then I threw the papers at him and he booked it. I’d called the police anyway so…everything’s fine now except I feel like my chest has just been torn apart,” he said, snuffing again and wiping away another set of loosed tears.

Chris rubbed his back gently. “It’ll be all right,” he said.

Reighn snuffed. “I don’t really know if it will this time…I lost the only person that I actually, truly loved,” he said, giving Chris a look that said Ricardo wasn’t the one he was talking about. Chris sighed and nodded and Reighn just bowed his head in shame. He felt ashamed.

Tyler sighed and handed Reighn another tissue. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that,” he said.

Reighn shrugged. “To be honest…I’m surprised I didn’t find out sooner,” he said. “It’s not like they were hidden or anything.”

“Love is blind,” said Tyler.

Reighn nodded. “Yeah it is…do you mind if I take a nap? I’m kind of jet lagged,” he said. Tyler shrugged and they walked upstairs together, Reighn picking one of the other abandoned rooms and settling in on what was there. He was so depressed that Tyler and Chris just let him sleep and when Ian came up Chris quickly ushered him away before he started asking questions.

“Is that the man that got all lied to by his friend?” he asked.

Chris nodded as they walked into Ian’s room. “Yup it is. And he needs to sleep right now so you be quiet and let him,” he said.

Ian nodded. “Chris, why was that man’s hair blue?” he asked.

Chris shrugged. “Because that’s the color he wanted it to be,” he said.

Ian hummed in thought. “Can I die my hair?” he asked.

“If you want to. You make sure to ask Tyler first, his house, his rules,” he said. Ian nodded.

“Ask me what?” asked Tyler softly, walking into the room.

“I wanna dye my hair sir,” said Ian, biting his lip a bit.

“Oh yeah? What color?” he asked. Ian shrugged. “Well tell ya what. Reighn needs a little something to help cheer him up, so when he wakes up you can go ahead and ask him if he’ll help you pick out a color and dye your hair, all right?” Ian nodded happily.

“Nothing too dramatic though, not if you’re going to be going in to counseling, I don’t want them to think we’re not fit to be your guardians,” said Chris.

“Awe, there’s nothing wrong with a little color, it’ll be fine,” said Tyler.

“Yeah, I know, but not every one thinks that way, Tyler,” said Chris.

Tyler waved it off. “He’s a kid, he’s allowed to experiment like that. If he doesn’t do it now then he won’t have any fun when he’s older, his hair will have to stay plain,” he said.

Chris sighed and shrugged. Tyler was right. Ian needed that sort of freedom now while he had the chance. He didn’t know how long Frank and his mom would be in prison or what would happen to Ian if they ever got out. He sighed again and consented. “Just not pink…stains porcelain,” he said. Ian squealed and hugged him tightly.

Christmas came up faster than they expected. There was dinner to attend to, Chris’ performance in a Christmas Concert, Tyler still had gifts to purchase, and everyone was running around in fits. Reighn and Ian were the only ones that seemed mildly relaxed. Ian had started his therapy and Reighn had done as the boy asked and happily did his hair. Ian had decided on a dark green and a different hair cut, the color okay for Chris, but the cut skeptical until he saw it.

Much to Tyler’s relief, Reighn’s presences was a great help. As things got busy and he put four of his cars up for sale and had to run around to get things that were out of town, Reighn took charge of Ian so that they didn’t have to find a babysitter. Ian swore he was old enough to be on his own, but it had been Chris that didn’t want him alone quite yet and he didn’t argue, having fun with Reighn anyway, who doted on him like a grandparent would, getting him little things, then getting yelled at for spoiling him. Ian insisted he wasn’t being spoiled.

Chris came home late one evening, light snow fluffing the ground and making him shiver only slightly, to Tyler talking to some man about one of his cars. He waited at distance for a moment to see what would happen and gasped when Tyler handed over the keys after checking what appeared to be a check. The man took the keys, drove the car up onto a little cart, and strapped it on.

Chris rushed over to Tyler as the man helped secure the chains. “Ty, what’re you doin’?” he asked.

Tyler looked over. “I’m strappin the car down, why?” he asked.

“No I mean, what are you doing, with the car, what are you doing with the car!” he asked quickly.

Tyler sighed. “It’s just a car, Chris and…I dunno…I didn’t want it anymore. Besides, now with Ian and Reighn bein’ here for gawd knows how long I need a family car, not this tiny little sporty thing. I’m sellin’ three of the five corvettes and I still have that four door that you used, so…I dunno, maybe I’ll just get rid of all the corvettes,” he said as a thought.

Chris was horror struck. “But you love the ’97,” he said.

“I know I do, but…it’s too small,” he said.

“Tyler I refuse to let you sell that car,” he said, trying to be the dominant one for once.

Tyler locked the chain into place and sighed heavily. “To be honest, Chris, I’ll do whatever I want with the damn things. You’re all set, Henry, thanks, pleasure doin business with ya,” he said, shaking the man’s hand.

“Pleasures all mine. Car’s in excellent condition. Thanks, that five hundred k was worth it,” he said.

Tyler sighed and patted his car affectionately. “Well…I did my best with her huh?” he said.

The man chuckled. “I’ll keep ya posted, don’t worry. Thanks again,” said the man and he climbed into his truck and headed off.

Chris was nearly in tears for Tyler. “Ty, that…you loved that car,” he said.

Tyler shrugged. “It’s just a car, love it or not. Besides, this right here will be well used. It’s gunna get expensive with everyone in the house. Two more went for the same price, the men that bought ‘em are comin’ down shortly,” he said, heading back to the house.

Chris followed him angrily. “How can you just go ahead and sell everything like that? How, Tyler, those were yours, those cars are yours,” he said.

“Because, Chris, as much as I may have loved my cars I love you and Ian more. And gawd damnit if that means I need to get rid of the cars to keep things from getting tight around here then I’ll do it,” he said, his voice raised a bit with his anger. It wasn’t easy for him in the least and he clutched the check tightly in his hand to remind him that the money he just made would help keep them very, very comfortable.

Chris stared at him, a sour expression on his face. “I just…fuck you,” he said and he stormed off into the house, kicking off his shoes and running up the stairs.

“Now wait just one gawd damned minute! How dare you throw this back in my face—Chris, you sure as hell—,” But he was cut off by the loud slam of a door. Tyler growled and threw his coat on the ground, storming off back to his computer room to check the bidding on the BMW he was getting rid of.

“’Fuck you’ he says. Does he even fucking care what I’m doing this for!” he shouted as he slammed the door.

Ian was shaking a bit and Reighn seemed very on edge. He’d never seen Tyler that angry over something. “You wait here, hun, k? I’m gunna go make sure Ty’s all right,” he said.

Ian shook his head. “Don’t I think he’d get madder,” he said.

Reighn patted him softly. “I don’t think so. Tyler’s just a little upset. I’ll be right back,” he said and he made his way back to the office, knocking on the door softly. It took a few minutes, but Tyler did answer eventually and seemed to relax a bit when he saw it was just Reighn. “You wanna talk about it?” he asked. Tyler shrugged and let him in.

Reighn sat down in the extra desk chair. “So what’s the problem, huh?”

Tyler shrugged. “I sold a few of the cars and Chris got pissed,” he said, sitting down.

Reighn furrowed his brow. “Pissed because you wanted to sell your cars? But you’ve been talking about selling them for like…ever,” he said.

“I know. But it’s more important than that now. Now with both Chris and Ian living here I know taxes and bills are gunna go up. I’m gunna spend twice as much shopping, I have to send Ian to school so there’s costs for his clothes and supplies, the water bill. I’m really gunna need the money these cars are gunna give me. That and I plan on getting some solar panels for the roof and a battery or two,” he said.

“And Chris got pissed. He’s probably upset that you felt the need to get more money. He’s independent, I know he’s gunna wanna do this on his own,” said Reighn. He’d got his own apartment at twenty. He knew what it was like feeling dependent. Especially when that person’s just your boyfriend.

Tyler sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah, I know. He doesn’t like that I’m doing as much as I am to help him, but gawd, what does he expect me to do? I’m not gunna take rent for him and Ian, he’s my boyfriend, not a fuckin’ room mate,” he said.

Reighn shrugged. “I dunno, Tyler. See if…I dunno, instead of you going to get groceries one week see if he’ll do it. Ask him to pay this months water, or gas, or electric or something. There’s gotta be a way he’ll feel useful,” he said.

Tyler sighed. “I don’t want him to. I want to take care of him, I love him,” he said.

Reighn sighed again and reached out, patting Tyler’s shoulder gently. “I know you do, but he’s still young. He wants to have some kind of independence,” he said.

“He can have as much fucking independence as he wants but this is my house, gawd damnit, and I’m gunna take care of him and Ian if they’re going to be living here, whether they like it or not,” he said firmly.

Reighn held up his hands. “Then explain that to him. That’s all I can say, Ty, you have to get into his face and tell him what’s what. He needs to understand that, not think that you’re just doing it because you think he’s incapable of taking care of himself,” he said.

Tyler sighed again and sat up better, looking over at the computer at the last bid he’d received for his car. “I love him to death, Reighn…you don’t…you don’t think that I’m too much for him?” he said, not meeting the man’s gaze.

Reighn winced. He’d been hoping it wouldn’t come to him having to answer some kind of question like that. “I don’t really know, Ty. If…I mean, he came on to you, he initiated, so that leads me to believe that he is looking for something more real than just a boyfriend…I mean, not that he’s gunna wanna get married or anything!” he said quickly when he saw the look on Tyler’s face.

Tyler’s heart clenched at the thought Reighn had just given him. The idea that Chris may be looking for something permanent had never crossed his mind. Tyler never thought about things that far in advance, it never occurred to him to have to think of something like that. But the more he thought about it, the less it seemed to frighten him. What if he and Chris were in this for the long run? Would that make anything any different? Would they still love each other the same? He sighed as all these questions popped into his head and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“You all right?” Reighn asked.

Tyler shrugged. “I need to go talk to Chris. I’ll be back down in a bit,” he said. He got to his feet and walked out, Reighn following him but stopping in the living room to sit with Ian and keep him company.

Tyler continued on, heading upstairs and knocking gently on the door to Chris’ room. “Chris…I want to talk to you,” he said softly.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” said Chris.

Tyler sighed. “C’mon, don’t be like this. What did I do, honestly Chris, what could I possibly have done?” he asked, hurt evident on his voice. There was silence for a moment before finally the door was opened and Chris let him in, not looking at him and instead flopping down on the bed with a gentle plop. Tyler walked over and crawled up next to him, laying down and wrapping an arm around his waste. “I love you.”

Chris sighed. “I love you too,” he said.

“What’s the problem Chris? You know I’ve been wanting to sell those cars, what’s the big deal?” he asked gently.

Chris sighed again and rolled onto his stomach, looking up at Tyler a bit. “I just…I don’t want you to have to give thing sup just to take care of Ian and I. I can get a job and take care of him and myself. I don’t want you to do it,” he said.

Tyler sighed. Reighn was right on. “Look, Chris…let’s say I’m not just doing it for you, but that I’m doing it for me. I love you, and Ian, and I want to take care of you. I want you both to be so fat and comfortable and happy that you’ll go completely out of your minds and sleep out in the dirt just for some kind of discomfort,” he said, earning a small chuckle from Chris.

“I want to be able to take care of him myself though. It’s not that I don’t appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I do, I really do, but…I want to be able to say to him truthfully that I have made something of myself and show him that just because I’ve gone through what I’ve gone through doesn’t mean that I should give up, doesn’t mean that he should give up. I want to take care of him myself, show him that it’s possible,” he said.

Tyler’s heart seemed to stop in his chest. “Well…I guess…if that’s what you want,” he said. Needless to say that there was some misunderstandings at the moment. Tyler slowly moved away, sitting up and biting his lip for a moment before he took in a shuddering breath and got to his feet. If that’s what Chris wanted then he wouldn’t stop him. He rushed out of the boy’s room and into his own, barely getting in and shutting the door before he broke and collapsed, trying to stifle his sobs with his hands. If Chris wanted to leave then he wouldn’t stop him.

Chris sat up, more confused than he thought he should have been, and stared after the man that had practically ran from the room. He didn’t think Tyler would take it that bad. Chris didn’t want to live off the man, he wanted to help pay for things and raise Ian with some sense of self reliance. It wouldn’t be good for the kid to grow up thinking everything would be handed to him. He wasn’t about to let Ian grow up without some kind of moral. He sighed and got out of bed, stopping in front of their room, decided to leave Tyler be for a while, and went downstairs to see to Ian and Reighn.

Reighn looked up and smiled when he saw Chris. “So…is everything all right? I mean, you and Tyler aren’t gunna argue over cars and money, it scared Ian a little I think,” he said, patting the boy who was nodded viciously.

Chris sighed. “We’re not really arguing over money…And I don’t know what he was doing. I told him that I wanted to be able to raise Ian right without spoiling him—no thanks to you Reighn—and he like…freaked out, I dunno…he locked himself in our room,” he said.

Reighn frowned. “Well…give him some time. He likes to take care of the people he loves, Chris, don’t hold it against him,” he said.

“I’m not. I just didn’t think he’d freak out so much. Oh well, it’s not like I hate him for it, I just don’t want to be the helpless little housewife of this relationship,” he said.

Ian took a deep breath. “Are you and Mr. Tyler gunna fight like mamma and dad ‘cause there I’nt enough money?” he asked.

“No, no way, Ian, there’s not gunna be any of that. If anything, Tyler and I were arguing because there is too much money and I don’t want to live off of it,” he said. Ian furrowed his brow. “You’ll get it a little better later.”

Ian shrugged. “Well…I don’t care so long as yer not gunna be fightin all the time. I don’ need any special treatment, so whatever,” he said. Chris smiled and ruffled his hair.

“Hey, let’s have some ice cream and the get you off to bed, all right?” he said. Ian nodded and the three of them walked into the kitchen to get some ice cream.

Chris sighed as he watched Reighn pick at his own, staring off into nothingness while Ian munched away as always and Chris briefly told him to slow down before looking back to Reighn. “What do you think Andy will do for Christmas?”

Reighn sighed and licked at his ice cream a bit. “He won’t come in for Christmas. He left for a reason, Chris, no one can get a hold of him. He’s gone,” he said.

Chris sighed. “Ian, up to bed, go, brush your teeth, I’ll be up in a minute,” he said. Ian gave him a pissed off look but went anyway. “You know, Reighn…”

“Look. I know he loved me. He left because he loved me and he didn’t want to ruin things for me. But I’m the one that fucked ‘em up anyway so…” he sighed heavily and dropped his spoon unhappily into the bowl.

Chris sighed. “I think he’ll come back Reighn. I mean, if he hears what happened with Ric then…I really think he’ll come back,” he said.

Reighn sighed. “We’ll see won’t we,” he said.

They were silent for a moment. “Were you guys…despite it being like…an affair…Well were you serious?” Chris asked softly and sincerely.

Reighn sighed. “We…it was weird really. I mean…we never really got along. He always had something to say to me and I had something to say to him. Then one day he just…and it like clicked in my head. We were acting like children. We picked on each other because we had the fucking hots for each other. Gawd, I dunno but…I’ve never felt like that with another person before. Like…okay, you know when you and Tyler are together and when he touches you you feel hot but you also feel like there isn’t a thing in the world he could do to hurt you and you’d never be safer?”

Chris smiled slowly. “Wow. You felt that with him?” Reighn nodded. “Then Reighn… geez why did you even care about Ric? You like belong to Andy,” he said.

Reighn sighed. “I know I just…I was scared. Andy told me he loved me, he told me a lot, he even fucking made love to me and I still…I’m such an idiot,” he said.

Chris sighed and gripped Reighn’s shoulder gently. “He’ll come back. The way he was acting when I threatened to expose you guys…he’ll come back for sure,” he said.

Reighn let out a depressed sigh. “I hope so. I really do. It hurt so bad, Chris, losing both people that I loved at once. I lost Andy first. He called and told me before he even called John. Ricardo found me crying in our room when John called. And then I lost him because he was stealing my money, even while he lived in my house and told me he loved me. I’m just so fucking out of it,” he said.

Chris ticked his tongue gently. “He’ll come back. He had to want to come back, Reighn, he really does care about you. I mean, despite all those things he said—,”

“We didn’t really get that way until after the first time we had sex. My conscious started talking to me,” said Reighn dejectedly.

“Oh…wait a minute, where the hell did you guys have time to have sex at the beginning of the tour? Tyler told me there was no such thing as a hotel for you until when I showed up,” he said.

Reighn flushed. “He uh…Andy kind of just…one day when I was still cleaning up after the show and everyone had already headed off to have dinner on the bus, Andy popped back up and locked the door. It wasn’t the most comfortable sex but…it was still pretty hot,” he said, his cheeks still red.

Chris chuckled. “Wow. So no one but me knows?” he asked. Reighn shook his head. “That’s amazing. That you were able to do stuff like that and no one found out. When did he tell you he loved you?”

Reighn shrugged. “That night when we came up arguing. We’d just been making out actually and he pulled back, looked me dead in the eyes and told me his all. I freaked out. I didn’t want to hear that from him, not then. So then we started arguing and later that night I went to his room to talk to him about it and we ended up making love instead,” he said, his voice trailing off as he seemed to remember. “No one was ever that gentle with me. It was impossibly perfect…Do you really think he’ll come back?” There were tears in Reighn’s eyes when Chris looked up at him.

He nodded just the same, “Absolutely. Couldn’t tell you when, but I know he’ll come back. C’mon, it’s late, your ice cream has melted, let’s get to bed,” said Chris lightheartedly, trying to ease the mood a bit. Reighn sighed but got up and followed Chris to the sink, rinsing the bowl out and setting it down for later washing.

“Thanks, Chris…really,” said Reighn as they walked upstairs.

“No problem. Try and get some sleep, okay?” he said. Reighn nodded and continued down the hall. Chris sighed and went to walk into the room, but the door was locked. He groaned and thunked his head against the wooden panel. “Ty, what’s wrong? C’mon, you didn’t have to lock me out. I know you wanted some alone time, but please, I don’t want to sleep alone.” He didn’t receive and answer. “Tyler? Ty, c’mon, let me in.” Still nothing. He sighed and walked away a bit when he heard the knob on the door click. He went back and slipped into the dark room to find Tyler just curling up again. He sighed and stripped down, grabbing his pants and pulling them on before he walked over and slid into bed next to the man. As he settled down, not touching Tyler yet, he noticed that the bed was shaking and quickly curled up against him.

“Tyler, what’s wrong?” he asked, rubbing the man’s back, even as he cringed away.

Tyler snuffed. “You want to leave, don’t you?” he said.

Chris gasped. “What?! Tyler, where the hell would you come up with something like that? Of course I don’t want to leave you, I love you to death where…oh,” he said, thinking back to their discussion in his room. He thought about it and figured it did kind of sound like he was talking about leaving. He grabbed Tyler up tightly and held him close. “Tyler, I love you. I don’t want to leave you, that’s not what I meant. I meant that I wanted to help you pay for things; not let you do all the work. I never meant I wanted to leave you, never.” Tyler’s tears seemed to quell a bit after that but he didn’t say anything and Chris just held him close, pulling him back against him until their bodies were flush and slowly slipping to sleep.