Author's Notes: Hey there! Sorry it took a while to get this chapter up. I hope you haven't forgotten me. xD Well, read away!

Jace loved sunflowers. When he and his brother were ten years old, their parents had packed them up and taken them to their Uncle's house in Kansas for a visit. Uncle Rod had an enormous plot of land, mostly used for farming. However, he left a good portion of the land alone and grew sunflowers there. He said it was for his late wife, who had passed away before Jace and Jackson had even been born. She had always loved sunflowers, so he grew them just for her.

When they had arrived and gotten their things squared away, their mother had shooed them outside to play while the grownups talked. As soon as Jace saw all of the gigantic sunflowers, he took off running toward them with Jackson close behind. They ran through the flowers together, laughing and yelling like kids tend to do. For a while they played hide and seek, ducking down in the thick forest of blooms to hide.

The sun was starting to set and the bugs were coming out when Jace tripped on a stone and fell. His leg screamed in pain and he couldn't stand up, but his brother was too far away to find him. He curled up on the ground and cried for what seemed like an hour before he heard his brother calling. Before long, Jackson emerged from the flowers and found Jace on the ground. They had gotten too far away from the house to call for their parents, so Jackson wrestled his twin onto his back and started to weave his way back through the flowers.

As they made their way back to their uncle's house, a trip punctuated by many breaks so Jackson could rest, Jace could think of nothing other than how much he loved his brother. Instead of leaving him in the flowers and going back to the house, he had searched and searched until he found his twin, then carried him all the way back, despite Jackson being a scrawny ten year old boy. For the rest of the trip, Jackson had done everything he could to help Jace have fun, despite his injury.

"Jace," a voice spoke softly. There was a hand on his shoulder, pushing him gently back and forth.

"Jackson?" he mumbled, half asleep. The voice didn't sound quite like Jackson's, though.

"Wake up, Jace. Jackson's here to get you." Jace stirred and cracked his eyes open. It was Megan that was speaking to him. "He's waiting downstairs. He brought you some food, too."

The mention of food was good enough to get Jace out of bed. He sat up and stretched, running a hand through his mussed hair. He hoped he hadn't drooled on Meagan's pillow. "What time is it?"

"Nine," Megan said after a glance at her bedside clock. "Have you been sleeping all right?"

"Not really," Jace admitted. He grabbed his English book and stuffed it into his backpack. "Thanks for letting me nap."

"No problem. Just don't stress yourself out so much and you'll sleep better, okay?" Megan stepped over her own English book, still sprawled on the floor, and gave Jace a hug. "You smell like Jackson," she commented, burying her noise in his shirt.

He smiled and hugged her back. "I know."

Jackson, however, smelled more like food than Jackson when Jace finally made his way down the stairs. Stomach rumbling, he looked for any signs of something edible.

"I got McDonald's; it's in the car."

The twins both said goodbye to Megan, then headed out to the car.

"Sorry I didn't come by sooner. The quiz took forever and by the time I was done, I figured you were home. I went back there, took a shower, and watched a movie before I realized you weren't."

"It's okay." Jace eyed the McDonald's bag hungrily. As his twin dug around in the bag and pulled out different items, he recalled the memory he'd had while he was sleeping. "Hey Jackson, do you remember when we went to Uncle Rod's? When I feel down in the sunflower field?"

"Of course, I had to carry your fat ass all the way back." Jackson grinned at his brother.

Jace smiled back at him. "Thanks for that."

Jackson raised an eyebrow, but didn't question him. "No problem. I got you a chicken club sandwich; I hope that's okay." He passed over the sandwich and dug the same one out for himself. He also pulled out two medium fries, two apple pies, and a straw for each of their cokes.

Rather than eat while they drove, Jackson just left the car off and they ate in the parking lot of Megan's apartment. The coke was helping Jace wake up, which he was grateful for. Since he had fallen asleep for so long at Megan's, he would have to stay up later to finish his homework tonight.

"I gave Kade the go-ahead to spread the invite for Friday," Jackson finally said after he devoured the last of his sandwich. Jace's mouth was full, so he just nodded in response. "You excited?" Jace nodded again, though less enthusiastically.

He swallowed his food. "I guess. I'm just worried that mom and dad will find out about the drinking. That and who knows how many people are going to try to sneak off and have sex. I don't know if I could sleep in my bed if somebody did that. And what if somebody-"

Jackson reached over and put his hand over his twin's mouth. "You worry too much. I'll lock our door or something. It'll be fun." Jackson's reassuring smile helped, and Jace nodded a third time and went back to his food.

On the way home, Jace relaxed and thought about his dream. He wondered if that was the day he had really started to have feelings for his brother. In middle school, Jackson had brought home nearly three different girlfriends before Jace finally realized why he didn't like any of them. Nearly two years later, Jackson noticed that the girls he brought home made his brother uncomfortable. Since then, he'd made an effort to keep his relationships private. Jace wondered when the last time his brother had actually had a girlfriend was. The mental image of Jackson laying in bed and pleasuring himself returned.

As soon as they arrived at home, Jace excused himself to go shower. He wished desperately that he hadn't seen his brother that night, because now he couldn't get the image to leave him alone.

The next day, Jace excused himself from an after school hangout with his friends and walked to the Starbucks he and his brother stopped at in the mornings when they didn't make their own coffee. The door chimed when he pushed through it and the handsome barista that usually served them coffee looked up and greeted him.

"Raspberry or Vanilla mocha?" he asked, eyeing Jace and trying to figure out which he was. The twins ordered the same thing every morning, so he knew it was one of the two drinks.

"Raspberry, please." Jace fished his wallet out of his backpack and handed over the cash.

"You got it." said the barista, whose name tag read 'Marshal'. Jace found an empty table in the corner of the café and shrugged off his backpack. He dug out his English homework, his textbook, and a pencil, then dropped his back onto one of the chairs. "Drink's ready," Marshal called. Jace retrieved it and went back to his corner.

He tried to study, but really he just wanted some time to himself to talk himself out of his feelings for Jackson. He had spent the entire night laying in bed and telling himself that his twin was absolutely off limits. He had spent the following day telling himself that even if Jackson wasn't off limits, he wasn't interested. He had even tried to convince himself to ask out a girl, but he couldn't bring himself to go that far.

"You studying or falling asleep over there?" Marshal asked. He was leaning over the counter and resting his chin in his hands. The entire café was empty save for the two of them.

"Pondering," Jace admitted. He dropped his pencil on the notebook. It wasn't likely that much of his homework would get done.

"What about?"

Jace considered for a moment. He rarely talked to anybody about personal things, but Marshal was enough of a stranger that it might be okay. "I have feelings for somebody… but I could never be with them. I'm trying to talk myself out of liking them, I suppose." He couldn't bring himself to look at the barista.

"Oh? Why can't you be with them?"

Jace reddened and fumbled for an answer. "He's straight," he blurted. It took him a minute to realize that he had just admitted to being gay. He flushed even more, feeling a bit panicked.

"Ah. It happens. Is he really straight or just says he's straight?"

Jace was nearly dumbfounded. "He… uh, he has a girlfriend too," he mumbled, not even knowing if it was true.

"Well in that case, just try to avoid him until the feelings wear off. Try dating other people or hanging out with different friends."

Jace finally made himself look at Marshal. He wondered how old he was; he didn't look much older than Jace was. Perhaps he had been a senior at their high school last year. "Thanks. Um, please don't tell my brother that I'm.. ah.."

"Queer?"

Jace frowned. "Yeah, that." He turned his attention back to his coffee.

"You haven't come out yet?" Marshal looked amused.

"Just to my best friend and a barista," Jace grumbled. He was thoroughly embarrassed.

"Don't worry, coming out isn't as scary as you might think. Well, I guess that depends on your friends and your family, but it went a lot smoother for me than I thought it would."

Jace almost spit his coffee out. "You're-" he gaped.

"Queer? You won't burst into flames if you say it. If you don't like that word, you could always use something like gay, fairy, homo…" Jace's face reddened gradually. Finally, Marshal's straight face dissolved into a handsome grin and he chuckled. "Squeamish, aren't you?"

"Not really," Jace muttered, packing up his study supplies. He thought it was wise to get out of the coffee shop before he admitted anything else stupid.

"If you say so. If you ever need anyone to talk to though, I don't mind. Being gay is easier with friends that know the feeling."

Jace nodded absentmindedly, popping the to-go lid onto his drink and shouldering his bag. He was on his way to the door when it occurred to him that Marshal wasn't making fun of him or accusing him of being gross, but simply offering to be a friend. He paused. "Um, if you want…"

"Hmm?"

"If you want to, my brother and I are having a birthday party this Saturday. It's pretty much open invite…"

Marshal smiled and snatched a pen from the pen-cup, then scribbled his phone number on an abandoned coffee sleeve. "Here, text me the time?"
Jace nodded and slipped the cardboard sleeve into his bag. "Later, then."

"See you."

More Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! I would super super appreciated it if you left just a tiny comment. What do you think about Jace? Jackson? Marshal? Let me know :D I'll have another chapter up soon!

Also, if you like my writing at all, I would be extremely grateful if you would check out the other one I have up on this site 3 Thanks!