Sync - 4. Chapter 4

Sam stumbled in the door of his house close to midnight, hauling in his backpack and workout duffle bag behind him. He tripped over a pile of shoes at the door, and if his loud entrance didn’t wake his family, yelping and falling to the floor did.

A minute later his older brother was on the stairs he was home from college for the weekend. “Sam, what the hell are you doing?” Nick asked with a yawn.

Sam flushed with embarrassment and climbed back up to his feet. Nick leaned on the wall in his pajama pants and sleep tank watching his brother pick up his things. Nick was only two years older and all lean muscle, but almost identical to Sam with light brown hair and green eyes.

“Where were you?” Nick asked carefully. Sam didn’t answer right away and tried to squeeze passed his brother up the stairs. Nick stuck an arm out and braced the palm of his hand on the wall, barring Sam from running. “Were you out with a guy?”

Sam clenched his jaw, not answering. Nick was the only one that knew he was gay, and it hadn’t been a voluntary discovery. It was still an awkward topic for Sam to cover, but Nick seemed intent on having some part of it.

“…His name is Dexter,” Sam finally answered when his brother’s arm didn’t move.

Nick softened and smiled. “You two are dating?”

Sam shrugged mutely, wanting even more to run and hide in his room. Nick guided him back into the kitchen instead, turning on the lights and sitting them down at the small square kitchen table. Sam slouched in his chair while Nick propped his elbows up on the table and folded his hands under his chin. He only smiled thoughtfully at his younger brother, waiting for Sam to speak more.

Sam rubbed a nervous hand over the back of his neck, glaring down at his lap. “He’s uh… same grade. He’s a few months younger.”

“How did you two meet?” Nick pressed with interest.

No way was Sam telling him about knowing each other over the Internet—Nick wasn’t too fond of online relationships meeting in the real world. So Sam answered with the most truth he could give with, “Through Kelly.”

“Are you two out?” Nick looked hopeful again.

Sam shook his head quickly. “Maybe… after football season is over or something. It’s too much drama otherwise.”

Nick sighed, obviously disappointed. “It really shouldn’t make a difference,” he paused and ran a hand over his chin. “Give him your letterman jacket. You have one, don’t you? Don’t most people do that with their girlfriends?”

“Not really,” Sam argued. “It’s not that big of a trend anymore. I mean some guys do that, but they’re all assholes with—”

Nick held up his hand, stopping Sam. “Doesn’t have to be a trend for you to do it. It could mean a lot… but come up with all the excuses you want. It’s late, we should go to bed.”

Sam wanted to protest, but Nick was already heading for the stairs, he was gone. Sighing, Sam picked up his bags and took them up into his room. His mother poked her head out the door of her bedroom, sending a chastising look. “Go to bed, it’s late,” she hissed sourly before retreating.

Sam clenched his jaw and stalked into his room, a little more than angry with his brother.

Saturday morning and Nick was pounding on Sam’s door, demanding that they get out and do something together. Sam stayed curled up in bed for an hour, trying to ignore the older boy until Nick came barreling in.

“I respected your privacy within limits, no bitching,” Nick announced and yanked the covers off the bed. Sam groaned in protest and tried to curl up tighter; knowing their conversation from last night was going to continue. He didn’t want to talk about it.

“Come on, mom said I can drag you out shopping,” Nick continued and started to roll Sam out of the bed.

“Shopping where?” Sam asked suspiciously. He was pretty sure Nick’s definition of shopping would be something that fit with the gay stereotype. No way in hell was Sam going shopping with him if that happened.

“Just get up and get dressed. Where we’re going isn’t important.” Nick scowled and started to chuck clothes across the room at Sam, urging him to get dressed. Sam shut Nick out of his room before pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Nick was waiting downstairs, juggling a cluster of keys and his cell phone. Sam shot him another suspicious look.

“Go spend time with your brother!” Their mother called out from the living room. She peeked over the couch, having to prop herself up. She was oddly short in their family at only five feet four inches, while the rest were well over six feet tall. “And if you come home after midnight on a school night Sam, you’re grounded.”

“It wasn’t a school night!” Sam protested.

“I know. It’s just a warning. Who were you out with anyways?” She asked.

Sam clammed up with panic, but Nick intervened. “Probably some friends from the football team… Kelly and those guys. Right?” Nick shot an expectant look at Sam to agree.

“Yeah, Kelly.” Sam mumbled awkwardly.

“Anyways, Mom, we’ll be back later,” Nick announced and started to push Sam towards the door. Giving up, Sam went out to his brother’s car in the driveway. Only then did he look at the clock and see it was approaching noon. He rarely slept in that late. He wondered for a moment if Dexter was awake yet, but then pushed the question away. He needed to focus on whatever Nick wanted.

“So do I get to meet him?” Nick picked right up on the conversation.

“No,” Sam answered sourly and crossed his arms over his chest. Nick started up the car and backed out from their house. Sam tried to figure out where they were going, but it seemed to be taking random turns in order to take up time while Nick thought of something more to say.

“You should introduce him to mom and dad,” Nick suggested before glancing over to his brother and seeing Sam shake his head to that as well. “They wouldn’t have a problem with that, you know. I don’t think so anyways. You know uh, Uncle Rodger is gay.”

“And he lives far, far away and we hardly speak to him,” Sam hissed.

Nick rolled his eyes. “That’s not what’s going to happen to you. He’s a family friend. Mom and dad never had a problem with him. We don’t talk so much anymore because he had to move for work.”

Sam only answered with silence, refusing to give Nick anything more to talk about. Nick let out a deep sigh and continued to drive around without a destination.

“The Homecoming dance,” Nick murmured. “Isn’t that soon? When is it?”

Sam groaned and slunk down in his seat. “It’s next Friday,” he admitted sourly.

“And are you two going to that?” Nick stressed excitedly.

“Dexter mentioned it, but he said it wasn’t a big deal if we didn’t go. There’s still a couple other dances, after football season,” Sam explained, wishing that Nick would just drop it. Sam didn’t want to come out any time soon, but Nick wouldn’t accept that.

“Well if he mentioned it, that’s probably him hinting that he wants to go, you dipshit!” Nick chuckled. “Girls do the same thing. Not that I’m calling him a girl. Or you one. But—ah, hell.” Nick let out another sigh. Relationships all work the same? There, that works.”

“Ava will probably drag Dexter shopping with her, and I doubt he’d want to go after that.” Sam threw out another excuse.

“Why would Ava be going? Isn’t she that girl you don’t like?”

“Yeah, but she and Dexter are friends, and it would be in a group with Ava and Kell—”

“Why would you be going in a group?” Nick interrupted. “It’s not like guys don’t go together.”

“Guys go with other friends.” Sam stressed. “Ava and Kelly are friends. Most friends go in groups larger than two, or it seems like…”

“A date,” Nick finished. “Don’t you think it’s important to him, though? If he wants to go, he wants to go with you, probably, not with some other friends mingling around.”

“Ava will invite herself along, I bet,” Sam grumbled.

“Jesus Christ, Sam,” Nick snapped, getting frustrated. “It’s your senior year! Fuck them all and just go with your fucking boyfriend.”

Sam frowned and fell silent. It was his senior year, but he still had to spend the rest of the year in that school! Nick let out another sigh and gave up on the conversation.

***

Sam was thankful once Monday rolled around. Once Nick woke up, he would begin the two-hour drive back to college and be gone for another week. By then, Homecoming would have past and he would have one less thing to hassle Sam about.

“How was your weekend? I barely heard from you,” Dexter spoke up when Sam arrived at school that morning. Sam smiled guiltily and sat down next to the other boy. Ava was at the table with her head on her arms trying to sleep, and Kelly was nowhere to be seen yet.

“Yeah, my brother was around the whole weekend, sorry. Mom was all into doing family stuff, together, and bitched if she even saw a glimpse of a cell phone.”

Dexter chuckled lightly, picking Sam up just a little bit. “Right. He’s a… sophomore in college now, right? Where does he go?”

“He goes to CSU.” Sam couldn’t help smiling still, just a little happy that Dexter remembered about his brother from a few short conversations about him over the phone and Internet.

The bell rang and Ava popped up, clothing creases pressed into her forehead as she began to pick up her things. Pausing, she looked around in confusion. “Where’s Kelly?”

Both Sam and Dexter could only shrug, and Ava darted off to class. Sam took the chance absence to walk Dexter to class. Kelly was just arriving at the door then, looking anything but happy. “Damn stepsister was late waking up, and of course her makeup had to take like thirty minutes,” Kelly complained, looking questioningly between his two friends before sliding into class.

“Think we can sneak away from Ava and Kelly for lunch?” Sam asked quietly, wanting a little silence and time with Dexter after a whole weekend with his family. Nick and his father both believed that men should be loud and obnoxious when together, and Sam was tired of the competitive yelling.

“Sure,” Dexter agreed and retreated into his class. Sam left the door and went to his first period, ready to fall asleep already. During second period, Kelly was complaining about his stepsisters. Sam half listened, glad he never had any siblings to take to school and make him late.

Lunch finally came, and Sam met with Dexter in front of the library. They left school out the back staircase and walked to Sam’s car in the lot. Once the two were somewhat safe from public eye, Sam reached out and took Dexter’s hand in a firm grasp.

Sam managed to maneuver out of the lot one-handed most of the time, enjoying the feel of Dexter’s slimmer hand in his own. They drove to his house and stopped outside, though Sam was immediately on alert. Nick’s car was still in the driveway. He should have left hours ago!

“We going?” Dexter asked, already halfway out the car now. Sam was going to kill his brother if he said one damn thing about Homecoming or a letterman jacket in front of Dexter.

Sam got out of the car and rushed his way up to be in front of Dexter when entering the house. Nick turned in the kitchen, surprised, and his mouth stuffed full of food. He swallowed thickly and looked between Sam and Dexter.

“Nick, what the hell are you still doing here?” Sam demanded, irked that the time he had been looking to have alone with Dexter was no longer happening.

“Well, eating. I was going to leave soon.” Nick gestured vaguely to the microwave clock, though his eyes were more fixed on Dexter. Sam could see Dexter go on the defensive, glaring Nick down. “Dexter?” Nick pointed at the boy next to his brother. “You know, Sam, mom and dad said we’re not allowed to have girls… or in your case, boys, over when they aren’t home.”

Sam scowled and grabbed his brother by the shirt, hauling him up the stairs. “What is your problem?” Sam hissed angrily.

“Are you taking him to Homecoming yet?” Nick asked, avoiding Sam all together. “He’s a little… darker, than I thought he would be though.”

Sam rolled his eyes and fought back the urge to scream at his brother. “Will you just get lost?”

“Dude, I’m not going to make fun of you two.” Nick frowned. “You don’t have to avoid me about it. I’m not the enemy.”

“Yeah, but you have a big fucking mouth, and even if you don’t mean to say it, you’ll say something in front of someone else or end up saying something offensive to him!”

Nick shoved his younger brother away. “Fuck you, then. I haven’t said anything in front of our parents, or anyone else. I’m just trying to help get you out to where you can have a fucking life, and not be so god damned worried about what people will do,” Nick snapped. “So just fuck you. I’m done trying to help you if all you’re going to do is get pissed at me.” Nick stormed back downstairs, and a few seconds later Sam could hear the front door slam.

He waited another minute before slowly going back into the kitchen, where Dexter gave him an expectant look. “Everything okay?”

Sam shrugged and started to move around the kitchen, getting together fixings to make sandwiches. Dexter didn’t ask much more about it and gave Sam a little space. Sam made three sandwiches—two for himself and one for Dexter.

They sat awkwardly around the small kitchen table and ate, while Dexter fiddled with his iPod on the offhand. Sam could hear the faint drift of music from Dexter’s headphones, slow but still grungy and dark. Sam relaxed under the silence and faint music, inhaling his two sandwiches and a few handfuls of chips.

“Ready to go back?” Dexter asked quietly once it seemed Sam had come to a stop in eating. Glancing at the clock showed that they had only passing period to get back to school.

“We’re going to be late, shit.” Sam got up from the table and started to clean up around the kitchen.

“Relax, it’s not a big deal if we’re late.” Dexter got up to help and tucked a few things away in the fridge.

They climbed back into Sam’s car, though he didn’t start it right away.

“What did you two fight about?” Dexter asked carefully.

Sam huffed angrily and glared down at the steering wheel. “Just a bunch of… sexuality related stuff. He gets overbearing with it, and I got fed up.”

Dexter nodded and leaned over in his seat, planting a solid kiss on Sam’s cheek. Sam turned his face into it, catching Dexter’s lips and deepening the moment. Dexter withdrew first, but kept his face close. “I’m fine with whatever, at least for now, okay? I know you want to wait until after football is over.”

“Do you want to go to Homecoming?” Sam questioned nervously. “The dance.”

Dexter hesitated before answering. “I thought you didn’t want to go?”

“I’m asking if you want to go. Ignore the me factor for a second. Do you want to?” Sam stressed.

Dexter shrugged and looked down at his lap. “Kind of. I never really went to any dances at my other school… but Homecoming isn’t that big of a deal, anyways.”

“Fuck.” Sam slapped the steering wheel. “I’m sorry.”

Dexter snuck in another brief kiss on the cheek. “It’s just high school. Not going to dances isn’t going to be the end of the world. We can hang out at my place or something, do our own little thing.”

Sam would rather do that, just hole up in a room and spend some time with Dexter. Still he felt guilty though if he was holding Dexter back from something he wanted to do. Sam had been to plenty of Homecoming dances, with girls and alone. Why the hell couldn’t he go with Dexter?

Sam swore under his breath again and sped off to school. Dexter gave another chaste kiss for reassurance in the car before they walked back up to the school.

“I’m sorry,” Sam repeated again at the doors.

“It’s fine,” Dexter stated again. “There’s still like three other dances.”

It still didn’t help Sam feel any better though. Ava came barreling down the hall and looped an arm around Dexter’s elbow. “There you are, jeez!” She exclaimed and began to drag him off.