Ayah felt the bed jolt as Avery woke with a start. It was still dark out and Ayah was still mostly asleep, one hand groping for the boy beside him; maybe he’d had a bad dream.

“Are you okay—” Ayah’s muffled question was cut short by the phone ringing faintly from the hall. Avery groaned softly beside him, rubbing his eyes. They lay there for a second as a third ring sounded through the wall.

Starting to sit up, Ayah felt a hand land on his chest as Avery pushed himself up from the bed angrily. Avery stomped angrily from the room and Ayah looked after him in the dark helplessly; swinging his legs over the edge of the bed as he tried to follow.

Still in the bedroom, Ayah could hear Avery’s hands sliding against the wall in the hallway and to the end table set up outside their parents’ room; the phone had been put there while they painted, the cord trailing into the empty room itself.

As he stood, clutching the blanket to himself, Ayah could hear a click as Avery picked up the phone.

“What?”

Everything was silent for a moment and Ayah could only hear his sock feet padding across the carpeted hallway as he stumbled towards Avery’s aggravated voice. If he hadn’t been so tired himself, he would’ve found Avery’s frustration embarrassing.

“No—what?” Avery repeated himself, this tone a sharp contrast to his earlier one.

“Who is it…?” Concerned, Ayah dropped the blanket and touched Avery’s arm gently.

Avery brushed him off, turning his shoulder away from the blonde. Even in the dark, Ayah could see Avery’s eyes widen fractionally as the boy’s mouth fell open.

“Mom, I can’t understand—what? No, you need to stop crying. Look, it’s okay. You know we can be there in a few…”

Avery’s voice trailed off and Ayah could hear Linda on the other line, practically wailing. “Will you please… put him on the line; Ayah’s right here.”

With that, the plastic receiver was thrust towards Ayah as Avery shook his head. Not bothering to cover the mouth piece, Avery sighed in the dark, “Sorry. Talk to your dad and see if you can understand what’s going on because my mother is impossible after two in the morning.”

Avery leaned back against the end table and watched Ayah cautiously put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey Ayah. Sorry about Linda, she’s being dramatic.” John’s deep voice cut through the silence and Ayah felt his shoulders drop in relief. He wasn’t sure what had been going on and was assuming the worst; after their last phone call and John’s final words, Ayah had been wondering what could be happening with his father.

“I know it’s late—or rather, it’s early, but you need to listen carefully, okay?”

“Yeah,” Ayah squeaked, avoiding Avery’s questioning glare.

“Since we got down here I haven’t been feeling too great, you know that, don’t you?”

“Sort of.” Sure dad, whatever.

“Well I haven’t gotten any better so we checked into a clinic earlier and some tests are being done. The doctor made a few suggestions and threw around some possibilities; he was sort of blunt. As you probably guessed, it made Linda somewhat—”

There was a choked sob in the background and Ayah flinched.

“Anyway, I didn’t want Linda to call but we’ve had a difficult night and she wanted me to tell you about it; I’m not too sure why it was so important to her but anything to calm her down at this point would be nice…”

Ayah knew this tone.

“What did he say it could be?”

“Well until the tests get back—”

“That’s not what I asked.” Angry with his father’s refusal to include him coupled with the too few hours of sleep, Ayah’s words came out harshly. The other end of the line was quiet for a few moments, save for a slight electrical crackle and Linda’s soft crying.

There was a sudden movement on the other line as the phone was covered by John’s large hand. Ayah could hear his dad quietly insisting that Linda give them a minute to talk alone. There were a few clunking noises as the phone was moved and then the hand was taken off the mouth piece.

“Dad…”

“It doesn’t look great, Ayah.”

Silence.

“Oh.”

“And I’m waiting until we get home to get tests done; they wouldn’t be able to do that out here anyway. Right now I’m just trying to enjoy myself and it’s becoming difficult with Linda acting like she’s walking on eggshells whenever she gets close to me; like she’ll hurt me or something.”

“Okay.”

“Ayah, you really are the best son a man could ask for. I’m glad I can trust you.”

“You too, dad.” Oh god.

“I’m gonna let you go, it must be late and you sound tired. Give Avery a kiss from his mom, will you?” John laughed to himself and Ayah laughed bitterly at the irony of his dad’s joke.

With a quiet goodbye, Ayah put the phone into its cradle and sighed.

“So?” The sound of Avery’s voice made Ayah jump and he met the boy’s eyes; Avery had been so still that he’d been close to invisible in the pitch black of the hall.

Swallowing thickly, Ayah ran a hand through his hair.

“My dad’s just sick and apparently Linda’s making it harder than it has to be.”

Avery detached himself from the shadows on the wall and picked up the quilt from the floor. Swinging it, he threw it around Ayah’s broad shoulders and pulled the corners down and around his collar like a cape. Avery’s hands lingered on Ayah’s chest and they both looked down.

“She’s like that sometimes.” Avery whispered. His fingers traced the line of Ayah’s stomach and he pressed a chaste kiss against the bottom of his throat.

Reaching for Avery’s wrist, Ayah returned the kiss, mimicking its briefness. He turned away from the boy and for a second, Avery was scared; of what, he wasn’t sure. Ayah’s grip tightened on his wrist and he gently tugged Avery back down the hall with him.

Falling onto the bed with the blanket wrapped around their shoulders, both boys immediately found themselves tangled in the other; somehow, the situation held no humour.

Ayah pulled himself down Avery’s thin body until his arms could hold the boy right against himself, bending Avery’s legs over one arm and supporting his shoulders with the other. Curled against Ayah, Avery let out a quiet huff of air as he felt a scorching hand roaming beneath his shirt; the shiver that crept down his spine had nothing to do with the cold.

On his back, Avery got the impression that he was being pushed into the mattress, that if Ayah wasn’t holding him so tightly his shoulder and hip bones would tear the fabric and he’d disappear.

Avery giggled quietly in his tired state, pressing himself closer to Ayah. They stilled and Avery felt himself rapidly falling out of consciousness, eyes clouding over and closing in record time.

Pressed against Ayah’s chest, he felt the boy take a shaky breath and frowned to himself, eyes closed tightly.

“Ayah…?” he whispered, hands moving to Ayah’s face. They framed his cheeks and Avery’s eyes snapped open when he felt the hot wetness of a tear slide against his palm. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Taking another shaky breath, Ayah tried to blink away the remaining blurriness in his eyes.

“Nothing; I’m cool.” He met Avery’s calculating gaze and blushed guiltily. “Well… nothing’s happened yet. But what if it happens soon? What if they find out, Avery?”

Continuing to frown, Avery didn’t understand where this had come from.

“I mean, dealing with them would be one thing,” Ayah choked on his next words a bit, another tear escaping from his bright eyes. “But what about us?”

“What about us?”

Ayah hesitated. “Without all of the excitement, you might get bored with me—”

“Bored? With you? Are you crazy?” Scowling in the dark, Avery looked up at Ayah sceptically. “Honestly, Ayah, you have to give me more credit than that; I’m not that easily amused that I’ll just move on like that…”

“Even without all of this risk?” Ayah sniffed subtly.

“You’re all the excitement I need, babe.” Scowl vanishing, Avery pointedly stroked the back of his left hand across Ayah’s cheek. Any evidence of Ayah’s tears disappeared and a half-smile graced his girlish features.

Leaning up, Avery coaxed Ayah into a slow kiss. One hand gripped Ayah’s chin, angling it towards his own as the other stretched towards the chilly floor and his discarded jeans from earlier. Avery managed not to break the kiss as he retrieved a small object and moved back against Ayah’s warm body. He wasn’t sure why, but tonight seemed more than suiting…

Finding Ayah’s free hand, Avery entwined their fingers together and pressed a tiny bottle into Ayah’s palm. Ayah froze, backing off to give Avery a perplexed look. Avery tried to quiet his laughter as he watched realization visibly dawn on Ayah; how many uses does lubrication really have?

Ayah chewed on his bottom lip anxiously. “I’ve only done this with, well, with Ja—”

“Hey,” Avery kissed Ayah’s chin cautiously, interrupting him. He tilted the boy’s face towards his own again. Somehow the lack of light in the room didn’t seem to dull Ayah’s eyes at all and Avery felt caught for a moment; the blue was so clear it seemed inhuman. “Don’t worry about that. This is about now and us.”

Avery punctuated the ‘us’ with a playful tug of Ayah’s blonde hair, earning a timid smile from him. Avery carefully unhooked his legs from Ayah’s arm and stretched them out, bringing their bodies together in a way that made them both gasp silently.

Feeling his body melt into Avery’s, Ayah let his mouth find the brunette’s again and slowly he could feel the anxiety and nervousness leave him.

Everything went on the backburner for Avery.

---

It was about two in the afternoon on Monday before Avery actually considered himself awake. They’d both slept through almost all of Sunday after the too-late night and it’d completely ruined their sleeping schedule.

Late Sunday night they’d woken up to share a piece of toast, but that seemed like the only time they’d even bothered to drag themselves out of bed. Ayah was worried they were coming down with something; Avery tried to convince him it had to do with the spectacular sex.

“Seriously,” he scoffed. “I’m just amazing.”

Pale sunlight had fallen through the window and reflected off the silent television onto both of their faces, so they cuddled together under the heavy purple blanket on the couch to escape it.

Ayah smiled and shook his head at the boy’s haughtiness, causing his blonde hair to flop into his face lamely. It was definitely time to get up and do something.

“Well then dear,” Avery snorted at the term. “Shower? ‘Breakfast’? Midafternoon soaps?” Ayah attempted to stifle a quick yawn, making his words almost completely incomprehensible. “Or maybe we can even go out and take in the countryside—we could walk to the café. Catch up on the gossip of our kingdom?”

Avery couldn’t help the few pitiful puns that crossed his mind at the idea of this town being a ‘kingdom’ and laughed to himself.

Still, all of it sounded perfect to him and he couldn’t hide the smile that spread across his face and lifted the edges of his cheeks into subtle dimples. Avery was without makeup and couldn’t help but notice how greasy his hair felt; in front of Ayah, though, he couldn’t find the will to care. It was weird how comfortable the other boy made him.

“Shower first.”

Flinging the blanket completely off of the couch, Avery giggled at Ayah’s cringe when the sunlight found both of them. Rolling off of Ayah, he jumped to his feet and rushed off to the stairs. Avery stopped at the bottom step and looked back at the rumpled pile of purple and blonde that was his boyfriend; he laughed out loud and blew the boy a kiss before disappearing around the corner and up the stairs.

Ayah gathered the blanket up again and laid back down, eyes shut tight against the sun’s ruthless assault. Curling up onto his side toward the couch’s back and away from the light, he wrapped his arms around himself and sighed. He could smell faint traces of Avery’s cologne still and it brought a soft smile to his lips as he drifted off again.

---

Towel wrapped tightly around his shoulders for the damp warmth and underwear barely clinging to his hips, Avery shakily rushed back downstairs and into the living room where he was promised a warm blanket and Ayah; though he knew the boy had probably fallen back asleep. A shiver shook Avery’s thin body and he clutched the corners of the towel closer to himself, knowing that it wouldn’t quite be enough. Towels were only warm until they started to dry.

From the entryway of the living room he could see Ayah’s shoulders rising subtly with each breath, the purple blanket pulled up over his head. Dropping the towel, Avery raced across the cold floorboards and pounced, making the loveseat whine and crack dangerously against the floor.

With a giggle, he tore his way through the blankets until he was pressed against Ayah’s too-warm skin. Ayah groaned in protest, arms raised to cover his face as the sunlight touched it again. He smiled as Avery giggled again, and the boy’s clean smelling skin came in contact with his.

“Ayah,” Wrapping his arms around Ayah’s torso, Avery pulled himself closer. “Get up! Come onn. You said something about breakfast…”

“Mmph—mhmm. Coming…”

Avery pressed a quick kiss to Ayah’s bicep, and sat up, taking the blanket with him. Finally opening his eyes, Ayah yawned quietly and smiled at Avery’s enthusiasm. “I’m up.”

“Yeah?” Avery raised an eyebrow suggestively, causing them both to burst out loudly in laughter; everything had seemed louder since the house was empty.

Pulling the blanket back from Ayah’s lap, Avery practically crawled into it; their lips met briefly and Ayah pressed his forehead against Avery’s.

“I love you,” Ayah stated, simply.

Avery’s lips parted slightly in a grin, just barely touching Ayah’s.

“I love you too.”

They were still for a moment and Ayah could feel Avery’s breath on his mouth, could taste the mint on his tongue even when their lips didn’t touch.

Green eyes flicked to blue seductively and their lips crashed together smoothly, arms encircling each other. The silence of the room, save for the soft sound of their kissing, seemed unaffected when an ancient and well known creak was heard.

Heard and dismissed.

Panting quietly for air against Avery’s lips, Ayah grinned.

“Your hair looks so good when it’s wet like that…” He paused, a slight blush coming to his cheeks. “Almost makes me want to—”

A crash was heard and both boys physically jumped, Avery gripping Ayah’s shoulders to keep from falling from his lap. Ayah’s head whipped around and Avery looked up, twin chills making their way down both boys’ spines as they numbed instantly.

Linda stood in the doorway, hands pressed tightly over her mouth in shock. Broken glass was spread across the floor around her feet, but her look of horror wasn’t for the priceless antique. John stood behind her, eyebrows raised in subtle disbelief. He bent almost immediately and began to carefully finger and collect the glass from the floor; John seemed more upset about the vase Linda had been carrying.

Sputtering, Linda kept a hand over her mouth as the other raked through her straight hair roughly, catching on a small tangle and yanking through. Both boys cringed slightly, but didn’t dare look away from her.

Avery and Ayah still hadn’t moved; they’d become statues, hoping pointlessly that their position wouldn’t be discovered, that Linda would take it as a…

As a what? A joke? A game?

Every idea that raced through Ayah’s mind seemed more pathetic than the last. They were supposed to be at school, earning an education and hanging out with friends, not wrapped in each other’s arms, skipping another day of school with the only excuse that they’d wanted to spend time together. Again.

Slowly Ayah was brought back to the moment as he started to feel the sharp edges of Avery’s nails pressed into his skin. He shot Avery a quick look and he eased his hands from Ayah’s shoulders, emotionlessly.

Slipping from Ayah’s lap, Avery stood slowly, trying not to upset his mother further. The blonde untangled himself from the quilt in the same manner, standing beside Avery and wrapping the nearly naked boy in the purple material. In the process, Avery managed to grab his shaking hand behind the blanket and they stood like that for what seemed like hours.

Without a glance, Ayah could see the shivers wracking Avery’s thin body in waves and the fear in his stance. Avery was never afraid of anything, and the realization caused another chill to dance along Ayah’s spine. He shifted his weight to his other foot.

“Ayah, could you please get me the dustpan and broom from the closet? This glass isn’t going to clean itself…” John trailed off, the soft tone of his voice seeming almost like a plea. Avery’s nails curled into Ayah’s palm and for a moment, Ayah felt torn.

Before he could pick either, the tears that had been pooling threateningly in Linda’s eyes began falling down her cheeks. Avery sucked in a quick breath beside him, and Ayah winced again, taking a step back.

“Boys…?” John looked up questioningly at the too-pale teens before him.

Linda began shaking, mirroring her son’s reactions.

“What have you done?”

---

AN: Hullo again.
Hmhmhm. I don't like this chapter.
I'd like to rewrite it sometime soon.
Any ideas?

Reviews are appreciated, you guys.
Let me know what you think of the boys, haha.