Title: No One Ever Told Me When I Was Alone

Author: Death's Release

Summary: Ezra is tired of being lonely. His older brothers hate him and do their best to make sure everyone at school hates him too. But things start looking up unexpectedly one afternoon...Slash M/M

Warnings: This is SLASH. And language. Bad words. Be warned.

A/N: Well for starters, I am sorry. I know, I know, it takes me forever to update (though I do have a semi-valid excuse this time! Explained at the bottom of this chapter). But I would just like reiterate that no matter how long it takes me, and I know it takes me TOO long, I will continue all of my stories. They will NEVER be discontinued or abandoned. I would not do that to you. Promise!

Also, so great news – I have somehow completely screwed up the timeline of this story! XD Woo-hoo! -_- It's absolutely my own fault. I leave a story untouched for months at a time and then expect I can just come back and pick up again without forgetting a single detail. Well I did. In case any of you missed it, around chapter 3 the story suddenly jumped from Monday to Friday. And because I am so awesome I am just now noticing. SO here is the solution. We're going to pretend that the story STARTED on Friday, mkay? Which would mean the last chapter ended on Saturday night, and this one is beginning on Sunday. And if I manage to screw it up again, I give you all permission to throw rotten tomatoes in my direction. Deal? Okay.

Aaaaaand end scene!


Chapter 7

Ezra fell asleep listening to Paris breathing. It was surprisingly soothing, like the steady hum of waves as they ebbed and flowed against the shore. He was asleep within moments despite his plan to stay only until he was sure Paris wouldn't wake up, and then escape to the safety of his own room. He had severe doubts about the mood his older brother would be waking in, and he definitely hadn't planned on being around to witness it.

But, naturally, as was his luck he was still fast asleep when Paris rolled over and opened his eyes to find his younger brother fast asleep below him on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded, smacking Ezra on the side of the head with a pillow. "Get up, loser, you're drooling all over my carpet."

Ezra groaned and tried to escape the attack of cotton from above. "Good morning to you too, grumpy. And you're very welcome for taking care of your inebriated ass last night, by the way."

"Please," Paris snorted and buried his head beneath the quilt. "Jesus Christ it's bright in here! Close the curtains on your way out, yeah?"

"Dude, come on," Ezra mumbled. "Let me sleep. It's still early."

"For fuck's sake, man, your room is right across the hall! Get your lazy ass up off that floor and get out of here so I can die in peace."

"You're not dying," Ezra rolled onto his back and stretched. "You're just hungover."

"I wish I was dying," Paris grumbled. "My head is killing me and my breath is so fowl even I can smell it. I need to puke, but I can't will myself to get up and I refuse to do it in my own bed like some little kid."

"You want me to bring you a trash can?"

"No, man, I just want you to leave me the hell alone," he snapped halfheartedly, burrowing further beneath his sheets.

Ezra chuckled and sat up, yawning. "How about I bring you some dry toast and coffee instead? And maybe some mouth wash?"

"Funny, man, real fucking funny."

Ezra grinned as he stepped into the hallway, carefully closing the door behind him. It was still early, barely past seven in the morning, and the house was still and silent. He tiptoed past Darhi's room and crept down the stairs, trying to avoid the creaking floorboard about half way down.

The kitchen was pale in the morning light, small stripes or red and pink and orange spiraling along the walls and tile floor. The dishes from last night had been cleaned and put away, and Ezra found himself idly wondering if Darhi had checked in on him in Paris' room before crashing for the night. He certainly wouldn't it past him, although he definitely wouldn't have bet on him leaving him in there. If anything he would have thought he'd have burst in on them and spirited Ezra away from the mean clutches of his older brother and into the safety of Darhi's own room. Or maybe that was just his own wishful thinking.

Sighing, he set about finding the coffee maker in the mess that his mother called a pantry. He might not actually drink the stuff himself, because frankly he found it revolting, but he wasn't too proud to say he made a pretty mean pot of coffee. It came from years of taking care of his hungover father before he finally decided to take off.

"Kinda early for you, isn't it?"

Ezra jumped spun around, coffee pot yielded in front of him like some kind of shield. Mars was standing just inside the doorway, a small smirk playing about his mouth, his body hunched in silent laughter.

"You scared me!" Ezra accused, turning back to his work.

"Obviously," the older boy drawled. He strolled into the kitchen and hiked himself up to sit on the counter. "Grab me a beer, would ya?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Ezra deadpanned. "It's barely past sunrise!"

"So?"

"So?" Ezra repeated. "Don't you think it's a little early?"

Mars shook his head. "Maybe it's too early to start drinking. But it's perfectly fine if you never stopped."

Ezra rolled his eyes and made his way to the fridge. Wrenching the door open he grabbed a bottle or orange juice and thrust it into his brother's chest.

"This isn't beer."

"No shit, Sherlock," Ezra grinned. "I'm making toast. You want some?"

"Fuck no," Mars wrinkled his nose. "Make me pancakes, bitch."

"There's an IHOP down the street," Ezra said, pressing the bread down into the toaster. "Ask for extra blueberries – I hear they're free on Sundays."

Mars groaned and leaned back against the cabinets. "You suck."

"Gee, thanks."

The toast popped and Ezra grabbed a paper plate and a coffee mug from the pantry. He poured a generous helping of black coffee into the mug and turned back to Mars. "Want some?"

"Eh, why not?" Mars shrugged and hopped off the counter. "Where's my mickey mouse mug?"

Ezra bit his lip to suppress a smile and pointed to the sink. "Darhi cleaned it last night."

"Oh good, Italian germs," Mars grumbled taking the pot from Ezra.

"Sure you don't want any toast?" Ezra offered one last time before unplugging the toaster.

"I don't do breakfast," Mars said, inhaling the steam from his mug. "Why you offering anyway? Not like we're friends."

Ezra flushed and shrugged. Sometimes, rare time, likes these mornings, he and Mars almost got along. It was like his brother forgot he hated him, and they could talk like normal siblings – he didn't want to ruin that now.

"Just didn't want to have to get it back out later," Ezra said.

"Whatever," Mars took a large, loud slurp of coffee. "Since when do you eat dry toast anyway? I thought you were a peanut butter man."

"It's not for me."

"Oh? Don't tell me that Italian dick has you making him breakfast in bed now."

"No," Ezra grinned. "It's for Paris. My own patented hangover cure."

Mars frowned and lowered his cup. His eyes were narrow and his mouth was pressed in a familiar sneer that made Ezra shiver. Oh well - looks like their little reprieve was over.

"What, you his bitch-boy now or something?"

Ezra sighed and took a step towards the door. Mars blocked his ways, his arms crossed, the cup of coffee still held tightly in one fist.

"Don't ignore me! What's with you two being so fucking cozy all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing," Ezra protested. "He had a hard night, and he's really sick this morning. I wanted to help out. That's all."

Mars stared at him for a moment, but didn't move. Instead of softening, his expression seemed to grow darker and more thunderous and he took a few quick steps closer to Ezra until he was towering over him like some sort of ominous tree.

"How do you know that, huh? You spend the night with him?"

Ezra swallowed and took a tiny step backwards. "He was sick. I – I slept on the floor."

Mars laughed. "So you really are his bitch-boy then."

Ezra took a quick step to the side and bolted around the table. He could feel the grappling of Mars' hands as he stretched to grab the back of his shirt, but luckily Ezra was faster. He took the stairs two at a time, spilling large glops of coffee along the way. He didn't stop to look back and see if Mars was following him, but instead slammed into Paris room, threw the cold breakfast on the desk, and locked the door behind him.

"Well that was quite the wakeup call," Paris said, sitting up in bed and wincing as the morning light hit his eyes. "What's got your panties in a bunch?"

Ezra huffed and leaned against the closed door, listening intently.

"Uh, Ez? Whatcha doing?"

"Shh," Ezra waved behind his back. After a few moments of silence he sighed and turned back to face his ruffled older brother.

"How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" Paris blinked. "Like shit, actually, but thanks for asking. Is that my breakfast?"

"Uh, yeah," he shifted uncomfortably. "It's probably a little cold though. And, uh, I think I spilled about half the coffee on the run up here."

"Great," Paris rolled his eyes. "Five-star service at its best. Well, hand it over then, Jeeves, my stomach is about to revolt."

Ezra did as he was bid then collapsed to the floor where his abandoned pillow from last night still lay. He buried his face in the soft cotton and sighed. He just wanted to go back to sleep and forget the morning had ever happened.

"So what exactly had you in such a tizzy?" Paris asked while munching on a piece of toast. "You ran in here like a bat out of hell."

Ezra sighed and rolled over, staring intently at the ceiling. "Ahh, nothing. Just thought I had gotten a small respite from reality for a second there, but then it all came crashing back down."

Paris paused in his chewing and peered over the edge of the bed. "What does that mean?"

"Means Mars is still as charming as ever," Ezra said dryly.

Paris stopped eating at once and set his cup on the dresser. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Ezra. Tell me."

"No," Ezra shook his head. "It's no big deal."

"It is to me," Paris insisted, grabbing his brother's shoulder and pulling him closer to the side of the bed. "Now tell me before I go downstairs and beat it out of him."

Ezra choked on a laugh but still shook his head. "He was just being an asshole as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Paris eyed him for a moment. "Did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Right," Paris sighed and let go. "Not physically anyway."

Ezra blinked. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing," Paris shook his head and stood. "I'm going to take a shower. Thanks for the breakfast, cold and sloppy as it was."

"No problem," Ezra said uneasily, eyeing the bedroom door with nothing short of trepidation.

Paris caught his stare and grinned very slightly. "You're welcome to hang out for a while. Lock the door behind me if you want and go back to sleep. Just make sure you wake the hell up when I knock to get back in."

Relief flooded Ezra and he smiled, more grateful than he could possibly put into words.

"Thanks, Paris," he said.

Paris just shrugged and left to take a shower.


Several hours later Ezra was sitting at the kitchen table munching on a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch while Darhi and Paris sat across from him trying their best not to look at or talk to each other. Mars had left the house, probably sometime after his encounter with Ezra, and no one knew where he had gone or when he'd be back. But then again, no one was really that concerned either.

"So," Darhi grinned. "What are the plans for today?"

"Uh," Ezra traded glances with Paris. "I don't know? I have homework to do later, and I should probably mow the lawn before mom and Craig get home on Saturday…"

"Oh pish," Darhi waved his hand. "You have all week to mow the law. It's the weekend! We have to do something fun."

"We?" Paris chimed in, eyebrows raised in reluctant interest.

"Yes, grumpy-gills, you're invited too," Darhi smirked, "so long as you understand that there is to be no Ezra-picking for the entirety of the day."

"Ezra-picking?" The brothers asked in unison.

Darhi ignored them. "So what will it be? Bowling? Laser tag? Paintball?"

Paris frowned and buried his head in the newspaper. Ezra took a giant mouthful of cereal and shrugged.

"I know!" Darhi grinned and jumped to his feet.

"Uh-oh," Ezra mumbled lowering his spoon.

"The carnival is in town!"

Paris growled and shook his head. "I don't do roller coasters, and I definitely don't do big pink stuffed bears."

"Oh come on," Darhi grinned and reached out to ruffle Paris' carefully manicured hair. "No one hates the carnival – not even a great bit old sourpuss like yourself. Whatdya say, huh Ez? Sound like fun?"

"Sure, I guess," Ezra shrugged. "And don't call me Ez."

"No," Paris repeated. "No, no, no. I am not going. You two have fun. But I absolutely refuse."

Darhi grinned and there was touch of something maniacal that sparkled in his too-bright eyes.

"Okay," he said in a sing-song voice. "If you're not coming with, then I guess that leaves me no choice but to invite Ravi."

"Excuse me?" Paris said, his eyes snapping up from the newspaper.

"You heard me," Darhi smirked. "If you don't come along, I'm going to call up Ravi and invite him. I think it's about time he gets to meet Ezra after all."

"Um, how about hell no?" Paris slammed his fist on the tabletop.

"Oh, but why ever not?" Darhi blinked his huge eyes innocently, a smirk creeping across his face.

"You are not letting that pervert anywhere near my little brother, do you understand me?" Paris hissed, rising slowly to his feet. "I mean it, guido, that fucking sicko gets within five feet of Ezra and I will pummel you into the ground."

"Well if that's the way you feel about it then guess you better come along and make sure it doesn't happen," Darhi grinned and skipped from the kitchen, humming all the while the theme song from Bonanza.

"What the hell?" Paris growled shoving away from the table. "That little bitch just blackmailed me, didn't he?"

"Uh," Ezra coughed into his hand to cover up a poorly disguised laugh, "Yeah, yeah I think so."

"This fucking sucks."

"Well," Ezra hedged. "You don't have to go. I'm sure Ravi is…"

"Is what?" Paris snapped. "A polite nymphomaniac? A well-behaved sex-addict? There's no such thing."

"Well, I mean, if Darhi likes him…"

"Oh please," Paris scoffed. "That guy would do it with a poodle if it licked him the right way."

"Eww! That's disgusting!"

Paris' face softened into a smile, and he laughed at the sight of Ezra's scrunched up nose. "Well, it got my meaning across didn't it?"

"Are you boys getting ready?" Darhi's voice came echoing from the hallways upstairs. "We're leaving in twenty minutes!"

Paris sighed. "Well, there's no helping it."

"Ahh come on, it won't be so bad," Ezra grinned and left the room. "Maybe we'll win a goldfish."

"If you even think about bringing a fish into this house I swear I will make you swallow it whole, live and wriggling!"

Ezra's laughter bounced off the walls, and for a fleeting moment Paris felt as if his heart was flying in his chest.


A/N: Well here it is! Months too late, I know, and probably not nearly long enough…but I have a somewhat valid excuse this time! I've been studying abroad for the last five months. It was a sensational experience and I hope it somehow manages to come off in my writing. I am starting back at my home university on Tuesday (super sad face!) but hope it doesn't take me TOO long to update again. Hope you're all still out there! Please REVIEW and let me know!

XxPurexSoulxX: haha, well I hope this doesn't disappoint! ;) Thanks for the support! Let me know what you think?

Kafuka Megumi: So sorry! Here you go, and I hope you like it?

H: Ugh, I'm so sorry it took so long! I hope you enjoyed a little more development between the brothers?

Allanasha Ke Kiri: Thank you very much for your support, it is GREATLY appreciated! Let me know how you liked this chapter?

The Lovely Angel: Thank you! I hope so too! How did you like this update?

Jaded Devil: I agree, at this point, Mars needs to get his shit together! Lol! Hope you enjoyed this?

Blublublub: lol! I agree, Mars has some serious issues! The incest would come in if there was a threesome between Ezra, Mars, and Paris…because Paris and Mars are brothers by blood. Haha and don't forget about Mason because he WILL be back! ;) Thank you for your input, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter?

Thester: Aww, thank you so much! You are absolutely TOO sweet! I am so sorry my updates are so incredibly late – hope you're still out there and that you liked this update?

Wanabet: You know what? I agree. Ezra was much too emo-ish in the earlier chapters. I am now working at giving him somewhat of a backbone. And yes, Mars has a LONG way to go still…let me know how you liked this?

Darkened Desires: Thank you! I very much appreciate your support and input! Hope you liked this chapter?

Fuyublue: haha, here you go! Hope you enjoyed it?

SmexyHuggles: I will definitely consider the second version! Thank for the input and I hope you liked this?

kunf'you'z-ed: Thank you very much for your review, all your support means a ton! I absolutely agree – Paris needs to learn how to communicate better and Mars needs to learn how to cool his temper! Hope you liked this update?

buttercup123: Thank you, and sorry it took so long! Hope you enjoyed this?

Whisperypath: Aww, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this one too?

Dacara: Thanks so very much! Your support is appreciated more than you can know – it's hard when people say they will stop reading, but I agree with you! I will go wherever this story takes me! Thanks again and I really hope you liked this chapter?

Thecowonthebox: haha that IS a possibility! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope you liked this one too?

Writingright: Darhi is pronounced Dar (to rhyme with car) ee (to rhyme with key). I actually got it from an Italian band that I loved, and just changed the spelling. Glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope you liked this update?

moon01234: Aww that is too sweet! Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this?

Reggie Rodgers: Thanks very much – I agree planning does nothing but stress me out and ruin the characterization! I hope you liked this chapter?

28mymusic: Mars IS pretty awful right now, but at least Paris is shaping up! I hope you enjoyed this?

blackcherry21: haha, you're right – we have not heard the last of Gabe! ;) Hope you liked this update?

CharlieTehUnicron: Aww you are far too sweet! Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter?

Fumiki: I will never, EVER abandon my stoires. It may take me forever to update, but I WILL eventually update. Promise! Thanks for your support, and I hope you liked this?

XScarletX: It would only be incest if it was a threesome. Because Mars and Paris ARE related by blood. Thank you for your support and input, hope you liked this update?

Wonkabonbon: Idk…guess we'll have to find out! ;) Hope you liked this?

Madame Penguin: I agree – the last few chapters have shown Ezra in a very emo-ish light. I'm hoping to change that a bit, give him a little more of a backbone Thanks for the input, and I hope you liked this chapter?

Damnhammer: I know, and I apologize for the wait…hope you're still around and that you liked this?

Miyuki31393: hahaha, thanks! I'm not a HUGE fan of Ezra Pound, but he has some interesting ideas in both his poetry and essays – so glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope you liked this one too?

Walnutsalmonds: hahahaha, that is without a doubt the funniest review I have gotten yet! I agree, they are pretty vile – but hopefully you're softening to Paris a LITTLE bit? And I hope you enjoyed this chapter?

BelieveIt: Thank you so much for your positivity and continued support – it absolutely means the world to me! I truly hope you enjoyed this update and that you're not TOO upset with the unreasonably long wait? ;D