Sunny's Angel - 6. Chapter 6: A Strange Afternoon; Some Plans Backfire.

“Cool!” Devin exclaimed, turning around and heading across the street to where he had parked his car earlier that day.

“Cool?” Sammy asked. To Devin, it sounded as if the boy were miles away.

Devin stopped in the middle of the street and turned to face Sammy squarely.

“Yeah. Cool. You had a problem. You’ve been given a chance to fix that problem. You don’t honestly think you’re the only one around here who has problems with drugs, alcohol, and life, do you?

“Life?” Sammy questioned, his mind latching onto the last part.

“Yes. Life. Anyone who finds himself getting involved in that sort of stuff eventually ends up with a problem. Life in general sucks or is starting to suck, next thing you know you’re out of control, but keep doing that crap because it’s the only thing that makes sense anymore. Eventually you stop caring about your family and friends, then about yourself, and it makes sense to want to die, because you’ve given up and can no longer face yourself in the mirror. Thus, you have a problem with life,” Devin finished.

Devin stared at the car that had stopped a few feet short of him; the guy behind the wheel shouting obscenities that could barely be made out.

Sammy blinked, his mind just beginning to grasp the essence of what Devin had said to him.

“I never looked at it like that before,” Sammy replied.

“That’s obvious, now let’s go, before I beat down that moron in the car with his own steering wheel,” Devin said, his anger plain for everyone to see as he turned toward the guy in the car and promptly flipped him off.

Sammy blinked in surprise, and then followed Devin to a black Pontiac Trans Am that reminded him of the car used in Smokey and the Bandit.

“Nice car dude!” he exclaimed with admiration.

“Thanks,” Devin said softly. “It was a gift from my grandpa. He left it to me in his will when he passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh,” Sammy said, “I’m sorry about your grandpa.”

Sammy started to fidget, he felt bad about bringing up Devin’s grandfather.

“It’s all right, he was great. I’ve gotten over it. Besides, it’s prolly for the best. I dunno how I’d have felt if he’d seen…the things that have happened in the last few years.”

Sammy looked up. He saw Devin’s brow furrow and his eyes take on a distant look. He seemed to be reliving an experience that Sammy could not fathom.

Devin shook his head, sending the memories of his past away with a force of effort that he hadn’t used in a long time. He looked up and frowned at the sight of Sammy’s concerned expression.

“It’s all right, kid. Anyways, what about you? How’d you end up in the city mission?” Devin asked

Sammy frowned. A look of pain crossed his features, matching the look that had just been on Devin’s face.

“My parents sent me to rehab for three months. Cost ‘em a lot of money, then they figured out I was gay and didn’t want me anymore. Didn’t plan on telling em, it just kinda happened. When they figured out I’d been selling my body just to get my hands on drugs and money…” Sammy shrugged as if he was in pain.

“I wasn’t gonna tell them about that, but the counselors thought it would help medeal with my issues,” Sammy whispered.

He didn’t know why he was telling Devin all this. There was just something about Dallas’s older brother that made Sammy trust him, even though he could be a bit standoffish, and more than slightly abrasive.

Sammy blinked and looked up; the sound of a car door slamming shut brought him out of his current thoughts. Devin was sitting in the car with a strange expression that Sammy couldn’t decipher.

Sammy coughed, and felt himself blush.

“C’mon kid,” Devin whispered.

Sammy nodded, quickly opened the door, and got in.

“The worst part, though, is I ended up going to the mission with some guy off the streets, and every night we’re out there trying to hustle up enough money just to get by. Sell drugs if you have too, he says,” Sammy continued in a whisper.

He looked up when Devin touched his arm. Fierce grey eyes stared at him with an inner fire.

“No drugs, kid. Not now, not ever again. You try and you’ll end up in the hellhole you just crawled out of. Life may seem like it’s such a shit hole to you now, but I’m telling you, you’re already better off than you were,” Devin said, his low voice growling with a passion Sammy had never heard from anyone before; not even from the counselors who’d been at the center.

“How do you know?” Sammy whispered, staring into those grey pools that sparkled intensely with undefined emotions.

Devin stared at him as thoughts cascaded through his mind in a jumble, the rush of intense emotions making him tremble as darkness swept across his mind, only to be fought back by a fire that was so bright, it seemed to be constantly seared onto his retinas.

“I know,” Devin whispered, turning to face Sammy. Lifting his arms slightly, he brushed both shirtsleeves back. He turned his hands palm up, revealing a pale, thin line on each arm that ran from his wrists to his elbows.

“I know,” Devin whispered again.

Sammy blinked; his mind was awhirl with confusion at the sight of Devin’s scarred arms raised beseechingly toward him. Devin’s whisper echoed across the infinite distance between the boys to touch something deep within Sammy. Only one other person had come so close to the depths that Devin reached seemingly with no effort: Dallas.

Sammy gulped and raised his eyes to meet Devin’s once more as questions swirled through his mind—questions that Devin seemed to instinctively understand.

“I can’t promise you won’t be tempted again, that life will be full of roses and daisies. But I can promise that if you at least try, and reach out for help when you need it, someone, somewhere, will answer. All you have to do is try. Promise you’ll try, if not for yourself, than for Dallas?” Devin asked calmly, feeling a slight pressure behind his eyes that he hadn’t felt since that horrible night—the night that was so many years ago, but which was still fresh in his mind.

Sammy nodded; tears fell freely down his face at the pain in Devin’s voice.

“I promise,” Sammy whispered. His voice was husky.

Devin nodded and shifted the car into reverse, racing out of his parking spot and onto the road.

“How’d you get help?” Sammy asked out of curiosity.

Devin didn’t answer. Sammy stared out the window, not really seeing anything except the blank look that had settled across Devin’s face. Sammy felt the car come to a stop and turned his head in Devin’s direction.

“You really want to know?” Devin asked. Sammy nodded his head in response.

A small laugh escaped Devin’s mouth as storm clouds raced through his eyes. Sammy turned toward the front of the car, so that Devin could answer Sammy’s question when Devin was ready.

Devin turned to Sammy and started talking in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.

“I was in love with someone once. He was older than me. Turns out he was just…” Devin’s voice trailed off, his voice devoid of all emotion, as he reflected on that night. Devin shook his head, and pulling his mind away from those particular memories, continued to answer Sammy’s question as succinctly as possible. “When I figured it out, I was crushed. One night I got extremely drunk and tried to kill myself. It was my 14^th birthday.”

Sammy stared; surprise and shock registered on his face, leaving him unable to say anything. He got lucky. A car horn sounded behind them, seeming to snap Devin out of his thoughts. Devin put the car in gear again and raced off, leaving Sammy to stare out the window, still speechless as he tried to figure out something to say, uncomfortable with the silence. He was barely aware that Devin had turned on the car stereo to fill that silence until they turned onto a highway that led out of town.

Sammy turned down the stereo, and looked at Devin.

“Where are you going? The mission’s the other way!” he exclaimed.

“I told ya. You’re coming home to help pack up my things and eat dinner with us. Didn’t think you’d mind spending more time with Dallas. Besides, you won’t be staying at the mission anymore, you’ll just end up in more trouble than it’s worth, I think,” Devin announced softly.

Sammy opened his mouth to speak; then shut it—still overwhelmed at the revelation’s regarding part of Devin’s life.

What Devin said finally sank into Sammy’s brain. “Wait! What? Where else am I s’posed to stay?” Sammy objected.

“You’ll move in with us,” Devin asserted, his voice so soft Sammy had to lean toward him just to hear.

“What about your parents?” Sammy asked with disbelief.

“You’re staying with us,” Devin replied firmly as he turned up the stereo, putting an end to the conversation.

“Whatever,” Sammy muttered under his breath.

He leaned back into the passenger seat, allowing his eyes to drift across the landscape. He barely saw the school bus when they passed it. Sammy didn’t want to believe anything Devin had said. He didn’t dare to expect that things would be better. Still, hope managed to burn a little hole into his chest.

*****************************

Sunny stared out the window of the bus, feeling slightly irritated at the lack of answers coming from his neighbor. Dallas sat silently next to him. He’d never answered Sunny’s question about why Sunny had to be careful with Devin. He’d only spoken up long enough to say they were going to miss their bus if they didn’t get going.

Fed up with the silence, Sunny reached out to tap his companion on the shoulder, only to withdraw his hand as Dallas suddenly sat up. His head jerked back from the window as a black Trans Am sped past them.

“What the hell is he doing!” Dallas exclaimed rather loudly, turning to look at Sunny.

Sunny blinked, wondering who Dallas was talking about.

“Who?” Sunny asked, deciding that was the proper question to ask.

Dallas looked at him for a moment, his mouth opening and closing in response.

“Devin!” he finally replied, leaning further toward the window as he tried to see the speeding Trans Am that had passed them.

“That’s your brother?”

Dallas rolled his eyes.

“Dude, there’s only one guy around here that drives a Trans Am modeled after the Bandit’s car,” Dallas responded, surprised that Sunny didn’t know this.

Sunny reached out and rapped his knuckles lightly against the back of Dallas’s head, smiling at the annoyed look his companion shot his way.

“Pardon me for not knowing everything about your brother; you kind of clammed up a while ago,” Sunny said before Dallas could get anything out of his mouth.

“Oh,” was Dallas’s reply, as he once more turned toward the window and leaned his head against it, frowning.

Sunny scowled, feeling more than annoyed now at Dallas’s lack of answers, before he finally shrugged his shoulders and faced forward, allowing his body to slump in the uncomfortable seat.

*****************************

Devin raced through his neighborhood, ignoring Sammy’s obvious panic as they took each turn at a fast speed. The wind flowing through Devin’s hair made his nerves tingle and his heart speed up, pumping adrenalin through his body. The feral grin on his face said it all.

Devin almost felt like he was alive.

Sammy groaned as they made another turn, his hands tightening their grip on the seat. He began to feel sick as Speed Racer continued toward their destination. He swallowed a bit of upchuck that pushed into his mouth as two trucks—one with a moving company’s logo, and the other with a furniture store’s name—appeared directly in front of them.

Devin laughed with glee as he swerved around them, gunning the car forward and squeezing past the two trucks, narrowly missing a Volvo parked on the side of the street. He got ahead of them by another hundred yards before he finally turned sharply into a curved driveway leading to huge house.

Sammy watched with fear as Devin raced toward the end of the driveway where another building lay. He closed his eyes when it began to loom closer and closer. Devin showed no signs of slowing.

Devin slammed on the brakes and looked at Sammy, laughing at the expression on the younger boy’s face. Sammy opened his eyes when he felt the engine die and pushed the door, unbuckling his seat belt before his new companion could decide to go for another ride.

Sammy crawled out of the car and almost kissed the ground, pleased that he hadn’t thrown up yet, and even more elated that he was still alive. It wasn’t until he looked toward the front of the vehicle and realized that it was parked only an inch from the garage door that the heaving feeling in his stomach finally won. He raced toward the side of the building and bent over with his hands on his knees as lunch finally made a return, while the sound of Devin’s laughter ringing in the background grated on his nerves.

“When you’re done, just come up to the main house, back door will be unlocked!” Devin shouted over his shoulder.

Devin never saw Sammy’s weak wave in response as he ran to the house, entered the backdoor, and raced to the front, opening that door before the men from the two vans reached the sidewalk.

“Hi,” Devin said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large stack of bills.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” he said, addressing the men from the moving van. “You’re movers and I got things that need to be moved. I already paid for three hours of your time, this won’t even take half that long, and I’ll throw in an extra five hundred dollars if you get this done quick.”

He turned to the men from the furniture company.

“You’re furniture delivery people, and you’re early. I’ve already paid for the furniture, and I’ll throw an extra five hundred dollars in if you help them. Deal?” Devin asked with a raised eyebrow.

The two groups of men looked at each other, before one of the guys in charge stepped up.

“Cash?” the guy asked.

“Cash,” Devin replied while nodding his head.

The two supervisors talked quietly for a few seconds before turning back toward Devin.

“Show us what you want done,” one of the guys said. Devin grinned in response.

*******************************

Sunny got out of the seat and stepped back, allowing Dallas to slide out and lead the way off the now empty bus. Apparently, their neighborhood was the last drop off point for the school bus; it was about an hour after school had let out that they finally managed to get home. Sunny groaned to himself, realizing he’d have to find another way to get to and from school, because if the trip to school were anything like the trip back home, he’d have to catch the bus before 7:00 AM, and there was no way he was getting up that early.

He quickly followed Dallas off the bus and then almost ran into him when Dallas came to an abrupt stop as they rounded the corner of the bus. Sunny almost asked Dallas what was wrong when he realized he didn’t have to. The shirtless men moving furniture from the back of a huge truck answered his question. It took another few seconds for him to realize they were moving the furniture toward Dallas’s back yard.

“What’s going on at your house?” Sunny asked.

Dallas shook his head.

“I have no idea,” he replied before continuing across the street. Sunny followed, curious to see what was going on.

They bypassed the front door entirely and made their way toward the backyard; stopping momentarily to allow a few men to pass. Nodding his head in response to their greetings, Dallas almost back-pedaled into Sunny as a guy with red hair passed, his lean frame drenched in sweat.

“Dude!” Dallas and Sunny whispered at the same time while ogling the guy, before they burst into giggles. Turning around, they made their way quickly into the backyard, and saw that the pool house was open.

“Dude!” Sunny whispered in response to the sight that greeted him next.

Devin was lounging on a chair with his shirt off, sun-glasses framing his face. Sitting on a tray was a margarita glass full of some strawberry ice thing.

“Yeah,” Dallas whispered in agreement; his gaze on the person in the lounge chair next to his brother.

Sammy was equally shirtless and shaded, and had his own full margarita glass.

Dallas glanced between his brother and Sammy, before his gaze finally fell on Sammy and he walked toward them. Sunny followed, keeping his eyes focused on Devin’s hairless chest; drooling over the faint treasure trail that ran from Devin’s navel into his shorts.

“Uh, hey guys, what’s…going on?” Dallas asked his brother, while keeping his eyes on Sammy.

“Hey Dally,” Devin greeted quietly, “You know Sammy, doncha?”

Dallas nodded his head, wondering why Sammy was at his house, half-dressed, and drinking margaritas with Devin.

“Cool. Pull up a chair, help us supervise,” Devin mumbled distractedly as Sammy almost fell out of his chair in an effort to see something behind Sunny and Dallas.

Dallas turned to see what his boyfriend was looking at and then nodded his head in agreement when he spotted the shirtless red-head helping someone carry a large table into the pool house.

“Okay,” he responded, deciding that his questions could wait until later.

“Yeah,” Sunny said in agreement. Dallas took the chair next to Sammy. Sunny sat next to Devin—the dark-haired enigma who made him sweat with nervousness. Perhaps it wasn’t nervousness; perhaps it was the heat. All Sunny knew was that his throat was strangely parched. He didn’t say anything. He just sat quietly, wishing for a pair of shades so he could stare at the redhead— and more importantly—Devin.

“Take your shirt off,” Devin said to Sunny a few minutes later.

Sunny blinked in surprise, wondering if he’d missed something. He turned to face Devin, who was running his tongue over the frozen red mustache across his upper lip.

“Pardon?” Sunny asked, not quite sure he’d heard Devin right.

“You’re sweating buckets, and it’s hot. Take your shirt off,” Devin repeated softly.

“Oh! Right,” Sunny mumbled, nodding his head in response to Devin’s reasoning, only to balk at the thought of taking his shirt off.

“C’mon, you’ll feel better,” Devin whispered softly, trying to goad the younger boy into removing his shirt. He wasn’t sure why, he just felt it was important to get Sunny out of his shirt.

“Uhm…why again?” Sunny asked, mind awhirl at the thought of Devin cajoling him to take off his shirt.

Devin sighed, suddenly nervous and slightly impatient.

“Because, everyone else isn’t wearing one…now… please, take it off so I can reward you,” Devin said in a husky voice laced with innuendo.

Sunny nodded his head again, before he leaned forward and pulled off his shirt; his heart was pounding in his chest.

“Good lad,” Devin whispered, grabbing a margarita glass full of the same strawberry stuff the others were drinking and a pair of sunglasses and setting them next to Sunny.

“Thanks,” Sunny mumbled.

Sunny put the shades on and took a sip. He sat up and coughed slightly.

“You okay?” Devin asked in a soft voice full of concern.

Sunny coughed again before looking at Devin.

“Yeah…but…what is this?” Sunny asked.

Devin smirked slightly. “Virgin strawberry daiquiri. Fresh out of rum, sorry.”

Sunny nodded, feeling his face flush slightly.

“All good,” Sunny said.

“…and just so you know…being out of rum is a federal offense,” Sunny added under his breath.

Devin looked at Sunny for a moment with an upraised eyebrow, before he nodded his head. Sunny wasn’t sure if it was in agreement or if it was because of something else. He didn’t ask, but turned his attention to the shirtless movers instead, still feeling slightly uncomfortable in Devin’s presence.

For the next hour and a half, the boys sat outside on lounge chairs, Sammy and Dallas talking softly between themselves while Sunny and Devin flirted awkwardly with one another. Their attempts at flirting left them in silence more than anything else. So finally they just sat quietly, finding more comfort in silence than in chatter.

*******************************

Detective Ian Reis stood in the locker room of Carson High School, surrounded by three uniformed police officers. He’d arrived in town that afternoon and had headed straight to the police station. Upon his arrival he’d promptly been handed a badge and a gun and his first case. A teacher had been attacked at the local high school, and since Ian was the newly hired, and only, detective on the force, it had been passed straight to him. No one in this small town had seen anything like this before.

“Detective Reis, we found this next to the victim,” one of his fellow police officers reported, coming up to Ian and handing him an evidence bag containing what appeared to be a baggie of cocaine.

Ian nodded. “How’d it test?” he asked.

“Positive for cocaine,” was the reply.

Ian nodded. Interesting, he thought, apparently the school has a drug problem.

“Has anything else been found?” He asked.

“One of the baseball bats showed positive for traces of blood, looks like whoever did this tried to cover their tracks. Victim looks to have been attacked from behind, his shorts were around his ankles and it looks like his shirt had been caught around his head.”

“That’s not all sir,” another officer spoke up. “It doesn’t look like he was getting ready to shower, his shoes were still on.”

Ian frowned. Apparently drugs aren’t the only problem around here either.

“Fingerprints?”

“Multiple traces, sir, nothing definable. All traces on the bat were smudged.”

“DNA?”

The officer looked at him and rolled his eyes. “We’re still looking sir. To be honest, there’s just so many kids in and out of these locker rooms, it’ll take a while to narrow anything down.”

“Did anyone see anything?”

The officer shook his head. “Negative, sir.”

Ian sighed. “Right, relative time frame?”

“Our best guess is the attack happened sometime after the last gym class,” the police officer responded.

Ian nodded. “Get a student roster with addresses for that class from the main office.”

The police officer nodded.

“Were there any fingerprints on the bag?”

The officer nodded. He had been wondering when the new detective would get around to that.

“Yes, you’ll never guess who they belonged to, either,” the officer said, some of his youthfulness showing through.

Ian looked at the officer questioningly, deciding he could wait the young man out.

The officer gave in. “The fingerprints belong to the vic.”

Ian nodded his head. He wasn’t entirely surprised, but the fact that the drugs had been left behind ruled out a drug deal gone bad. That still didn’t explain why the attack had happened.

He looked at his watch and sighed. It was almost five in the afternoon. So much for getting settled into his new home before his youngest brother got home from school.

“All right, once you get those lists, start checking them out. Call me on my cell phone if you find out anything, all right?”

The officer nodded.

“All right. You have my number?”

The officer nodded again.

Ian had started to walk away when he stopped and turned around. “You don’t want to know where I’ll be?” he asked.

The officer looked up from the notepad he was scribbling on. “Considering you look like you’ve been in those clothes for a couple days, the stubble on your cheeks, and the rings under your eyes, I’d say you’ll be at your new home unpacking.”

Ian smiled. The officer was smarter than he looked.

****************************************

The silence that had fallen after the movers left Devin and Dallas’s house was broken by the boys’ mother, Susie.

“Hey boys, you all hungry?” she asked from the back door as she glanced around the backyard. Spotting the margarita glasses on the table, she tried to be nonchalant as she walked toward them.

A smattering of yeahs and hello’s greeted her as she got to them. Devin watched through eyes half-closed in amusement as she picked up his glass and sipped at it. The relief that blossomed on her face quickly faded when she realized that the new neighbor boy and another she vaguely remembered were there.

“All right, are you all staying for dinner?” she asked.

“Sammy, Dallas, and I are for sure,” Devin replied quietly, as he tried to stifle a yawn.

“Sunny?” he asked.

“Sunny!” a voice shouted from next door, “Dinner’s almost ready!”

Sunny groaned.

“Save me some?” Sunny requested. “I’ll try to eat just enough to satisfy him and not be poisoned,” he added as an after-thought.

The soft sound of laughter arose around him. Susie smiled as she saw something she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Sure,” she answered. Wishing for a camera, she did the next best thing—tried to memorize the smile on Devin’s face before she went back inside to make supper.

Sunny got up and put his empty margarita glass on the table. He grabbed his shirt and backpack and started toward his house before he remembered that he was still wearing Devin’s shades. He took them off and started to set them on the table.

A thwacking sound echoed across the backyard as a yelp escaped from Sunny’s lips. Devin had smacked him soundly across his rear.

“Keep ‘em,” Devin said softly as Sammy and Dallas opened their eyes to see what was going on.

“Okay, thanks,” Sunny said. He smiled as he headed home, elated that this afternoon had turned out so well compared to his mostly dull day at school, while wondering if it had been rude to invite himself back after dinner for more edible food than what he’d find at home.

An electric feeling settled in the pit of Devin’s stomach as he watched Sunny walk away. He sighed, and then began to pick up the mess from their afternoon of camaraderie and guy-watching.

The other two boys stood and helped clean up. Putting on their shirts, they all went inside. Dallas was unable to remember the last time he’d had so much fun at home. He’d definitely seen Devin smile more in the past two days than he had in the past three years.

Sammy’s mind was awhirl, his thoughts once more turning toward Devin’s earlier words. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly going to be allowed to move in.

It’ll definitely be weird living with my boyfriend’s family,he thought to himself as he followed Dallas; glad for the sunglasses that covered his eyes while his gaze was firmly fixed on Dallas’s rear end.

Dallas handed Sammy a Dr. Pepper from the refrigerator, and gestured him to one of the bar stools at the kitchen island. Sammy looked uncomfortable. Something’s wrong, Dallas thought. Unseen by the others, Dallas squeezed Sammy’s hands in reassurance. Dallas, however, was full of uncertainty, himself. Why’d Devin bring Sammy here? And what’s going on between Devin and Sunny? He shook these thoughts off, and stepped toward the silverware drawer.

Devin was there ahead of him. Devin had taken out silverware and was setting the table. Susie looked at Devin with an expression of wonder, and then caught Dallas’s eye. They both shook their heads gently; and then, Susie smiled. Whatever had gotten hold of Devin, and however long it lasted, she was going to savor it. It had been so long since Devin had laughed; it had been so long since he had smiled; it had been years since he’d wanted to be with his family, and now, he was acting as if he set the table every day. Dallas was talking, mostly about all the classes he and Sammy had together, but Susie hardly paid him any attention; she was focused on Devin. Now, Dallas was complaining about his teachers; Devin had reached into the cabinet and brought out plates, which he put on the table. Susie came out of her reverie. “Don’t you boys have homework?” she asked.

Sammy and Dallas nodded in response.

“Why don’t you two go shower. Sammy can wear some of your clothes, and then you two can start on your homework,” she suggested. “It will be a while before dinner is ready,” she finished.

Dallas nodded and turned toward Sammy who still looked uncertain. Devin stood by the refrigerator, an enigmatic smile on his face.

Glad to see somebody’s amused,Sammy thought with some annoyance, extremely unsure of himself and the whole situation Devin had created.

“Sammy can use the shower in the basement,” Devin announced quietly, deciding to have some compassion for the boy. “Feel free to do your homework down there too,” he added.

Susie looked at Devin in surprise, knowing how much he hated anyone else in his personal space, but pleased with his generosity. Then she remembered the phone call from her husband earlier that afternoon, and squinted her eyes slightly in suspicion.

Devin’s up to something, she thought to herself, I’m just not quite sure what it is. She’d find out though, just as soon as her husband got home. Susie and Paul found it was easier to deal with Devin as a team.

“Uhm, okay, cool,” Sammy nodded his head in response.

“Dallas can show you the way. I’ll use the shower in the pool house,” Devin mumbled. “I’ll see you for dinner in a bit,” he announced as he bolted out the back door before the other two boys could leave the kitchen. Devin was clearly uncomfortable at the thought of being alone with his mom.

Dallas raised his eyebrows. Strange, he thought. Devin didn’t take any clothes with him. He looked at his mother, and saw that she was worried about something. It probably has something to do with the movers…or, does she even know about them? They were gone before she got home. That means Devin’s up to something, and she knows it. She just doesn’t know what it is. Dallas turned his attention once more to Sammy.

Dallas sighed, and then shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed Sammy’s hand and hauled him out of the kitchen, grabbing some spare clothes from his bedroom before leading the way into the basement. Allowing Sammy to enter the bathroom first, he followed and shut the door behind him

“Hi,” Dallas said softly. He was determined to wipe the uncertain look from Sammy’s face that he had been wearing since Dallas’s mom had arrived home. Dallas dropped the bundle of things in his arms and, stepping forward, grabbed Sammy by the waistband of his shorts and followed his greeting with a slow kiss, grinding his hips into Sammy’s body.

“Hi,” Sammy panted in response when they finally pulled up for air.

“So what’d coach want?” Dallas asked softly. Dallas was still curious to know how Sammy had come to be at his home in the first place, but at the moment, he really didn’t care. He had something much more important on his mind.

Dallas didn’t see the look of trepidation that crossed Sammy’s face. Dallas had turned his back and begun removing his clothes. Finally naked, Dallas looked into the mirror and saw Sammy staring at his rear. Dallas grinned, and turned on the water in the shower.

“C’mon, get naked!” Dallas whispered excitedly as he adjusted the water temperature. He looked up, and saw a strange expression on Sammy’s face.

“What?” Dallas asked.

“Your mom is home,” Sammy whispered, shifting uncomfortably.

“My folks never come down here,” Dallas said impatiently. He reached out and pulled Sammy’s shirt over his head. Sammy responded, lifting his arms above his head. Dallas grinned. He sat on the toilet seat and nimbly undid Sammy’s shorts. With both hands, he pulled shorts and boxers to the floor, pleased with the result that greeted him—and bopped him firmly on the nose. He looked up and saw the amused expression on Sammy’s face.

“What?” Dallas asked, feeling suddenly shy.

“Your eyes,” Sammy mumbled in response.

“What about ‘em?”

“They’re green,” Sammy whispered, pleased.

“Uhm, okay… so what?” Dallas asked, confused about why that should matter at this moment.

“Nothing, just something your brother said to me earlier,” Sammy whispered, before leaning down and promptly losing his tongue in Dallas’s mouth.

“Mmmmm, somethin’ my brother said,” Dallas tried to mumble around Sammy’s tongue.

Apparently he was understood, because Sammy hummed a response. Pulling back, Dallas looked at Sammy. “Devin brought you home with him?”

“Mmmmhmm,” Sammy responded, as he grabbed Dallas by his leash and lead him into the shower, where they found more interesting things to do before they were called to dinner.

********************************

Paul strode toward his front door, annoyed that two jeeps were parked in the driveway and that he’d been unable to get to his own garage. He was puzzled by the two men who were ahead of him on the sidewalk, and passed them briskly, reaching the front door before they did.

“May I help you,” he asked, his voice strained by the effort he was making to keep temper.

“Special delivery,” one of the guys said, holding out two manila envelopes and nodding his head in the direction of the two jeeps.

“Oh, right. Devin!” Paul scowled. He snatched the envelopes from the man’s hand, opened the door and stepped inside; the door slammed shut in the two men’s faces.

“Devin!” Paul yelled, his voice ringing through the house. Devin didn’t answer; Paul was greeted only by his wife who came scurrying from the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Where’s Devin?” Paul asked, trying to restrain his temper, and more importantly, the growing headache that had been nagging him since the faxes had come in. He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned around and bounded down the stairs, into the basement common area where he saw not Devin, but Dallas and another young man looking at him curiously.

Paul stopped in his tracks, unsure what to make of Dallas and a stranger in Devin’s area. He shrugged and headed toward Devin’s room. Knocking, he watched as the door swung open at his touch. Paul stepped inside and saw that the walls were bare; the drawers of the dresser, also empty, gaped open; and that the closet was cleaned out. He turned around and walked down the hallway toward Dallas and his friend.

“Where’s Devin?” Paul demanded as he stepped back into the common area. Seeing the confused look on the two boys’ faces, he sighed and rushed back up the stairs.

“Where’s D—” Paul began to say.

He stopped when he saw his wife; arms folded against her chest, foot tapping and an impatient look on her face. Paul sighed and held his hands up. He wouldn’t get anywhere with her looking like that.

“Honey?”

“Devin’s up to something,” Susie confided in a low voice as Paul dropped his arms. She led Paul into the living room, watching as he set the manila envelopes down on the coffee table.

“I know that! I told you th—” Paul started, only to stop as she turned and raised a sharp eyebrow at him.

“No Paul, I mean, he’s up to something; he wants something; and, I think he wants it really badly,” she stated again.

Paul gave in. “What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously.

“I got home and he was in the backyard with Sunny, Dallas and Sammy. He looked like he was having fun. He even had a smile on his face” Susie whispered excitedly,” And, he came inside and helped set the table for dinner, even interacted with everyone a bit. He told Sam to use his shower and that Dallas and Sammy could study in his entertainment room. That’s not all either!” Susie stopped, waiting with an expectant air.

“What else?” Paul asked obligingly.

“He said he’d see us for dinner!” she announced ecstatically.

Paul stared at his wife in surprise.

“Wow, he must really want something if he did all that!” Paul exclaimed, trying to bite back the sarcasm in his voice, before he turned serious again. “I wonder if it has something to do with the two jeeps in the driveway, the lease agreement he faxed to my office, arrangements between him and a moving company, and a furniture store charging his bank account for, oh, you’ll never believe it, new furniture!”

“Paul!”

Paul sighed and stared at his wife in bemusement as their thoughts turned to Devin’s unexplained behavior that afternoon. Devin didn’t suck up for anything and he certainly didn’t ask for permission to get anything he wanted. Finally, he never announced any life-altering changes ahead of time, he just made them. They thought about this carefully, and considered the possibility that the jeeps were not all he really wanted. The furniture and movers could be explained by Aunt Karen moving back into town; however, that didn’t explain the lease agreement or his school calling to say they’d miss him.

They thought back to Devin announcing that he’d be joining them for dinner.

“No, he wants something else,” Paul said. His eyes squinted in thought.

Susie nodded her head in agreement, having reached the same conclusion. “He’s in the pool house,” she said.

“I’ll go figure out what he wants,” Paul said with trepidation.

“You want me to co-”, Susie began to ask.

Paul shook his head.

“I got it,” he said, “I hope,” he added under his breath.

“Just remember dinner will be soon,” Susie reminded Paul.

Susie gave her husband an encouraging smile before she made her way back into the kitchen to finish dinner. Paul took a couple deep breaths, steeling himself for whatever was about to come, and decided that no matter what, he seriously doubted he’d ever be ready. Grabbing the manila envelopes, he made his way out the backdoor and into the pool house where he spotted Devin sitting at the bar and watching TV.

“Uh, Devin?” Paul asked.

“Hi, dad,” Devin greeted, turning his head briefly before removing his feet from the top of the bar.

“Uh, Devin…what’s going on?” Paul asked in surprise as he moved toward a new leather couch facing a large TV that hadn’t been there before.

“What do ya mean?” Devin asked.

Devin stood up, grabbed his soda from the counter and sat next to his dad.

Paul opened his mouth and quickly shut it, unsure what to say, before he opened it and tried again.

He failed.

“You bought and paid for new furniture,” Paul finally said.

Devin nodded in agreement.

“Went and got movers to do I have no idea what,” Paul continued.

Devin opened his mouth to explain. He didn’t get the chance.

“You’re no longer enrolled in school at Prescott Private…”

“Yeah, I tr…” Devin started.

“Which, I had to find out from some secretary because the dean is apparently a busy man, and all he could do was call and congratulate me on your move, but couldn’t take my return phone call,” Paul stopped a moment to take a breath.

“So…” Devin started to say in an effort to apologize.

“Your aunt is moving back into town,”

Devin nodded.

“You sent me a lease agreement for an apartment that I haven’t even seen yet.” Paul kept going.

Devin nodded, amused at the tirade coming out of his dad’s mouth.

“And, you bought a jeep…no, two jeeps, that are sitting in my driveway! Where did you get the money for that? Now tell me, what the bloody Sam Hell is going on!” Paul said, his tirade coming to a stop. He stared at Devin, waiting expectantly.

Devin blinked as he tried to decipher everything that had just come out of his father’s mouth. He wondered briefly what the real question was; and then he saw his mom standing in the door of the pool house. Sammy and Dallas stood behind her, looking around in wonder at the changes that had been made.

“The jeeps are here?” Devin asked. He’d figure the rest out later, he decided, as his attention turned back to the one thing he’d been looking forward to all day.

Paul blinked and waved two manila envelopes at his son. He watched with helpless bemusement as Devin snatched them out of his hand and ran past everyone, heading toward the driveway. Dallas and Sammy followed him, babbling excitedly, and throwing questions at Devin.

Paul stared at his wife in frustration, before he finally got up and slowly followed the kids. He watched as his two sons and the other boy clambered around the jeeps.

“Devin, why two jeeps?” Dallas asked. He caught his parents’ attention as they turned toward Devin, who was still examining one of the vehicles.

“Oh. One’s for me. Can’t keep driving The Bandit to school, might get scratched or something,” Devin replied, turning the two envelopes upside down.

The keys landed on the seat in front of him and he hopped in the seat and started trying all the keys. He finally found the right one and fired up the jeep.

“Nice,” Devin said softly. Paul barely heard his son’s whisper.

“What’s the other one for?” Dallas asked. He stood by the half-door of the jeep looking over Devin’s shoulder.

Devin glanced up and smiled at Dallas; as he did so he noticed that his face was beginning to hurt from having smiled so much that day. He suddenly shook his head as memories once more came to mind. He didn’t want to remember the last time he’d laughed or had so much fun around people.

“Oh, it’s in case the other jeep breaks down,” Devin said with a forced laugh.

“Figures,” Dallas muttered.

“Just playin’,” Devin mumbled. He slapped one arm around Dallas’s shoulder and pulled him closer, holding out the other pair of keys to Dallas.

“Happy birthday, lil brother,” Devin mumbled.

Dallas blinked in surprise before he turned into Devin’s body and crushed him in a hug.

Devin smiled and watched as Dallas grabbed the keys from him and ran to the other jeep. Sammy trailed behind him, and they started to make plans for long weekend trips. Devin got out of the jeep, and headed back toward the pool house.

He walked past his stunned parents, and then kept walking as they pulled themselves out of their shock and began to follow him. Before he reached the pool house, it started.

“Okay, I can see the birthday gift, very…loving of you. I can understand not wanting to drive your car to school every day…But that still doesn’t explain where you’re going to school! You withdrew, without tell--”

“Carson High School, with Sammy, Sunny, and Dallas,” Devin interrupted. He kept moving toward the pool house even as his parents stopped. Paul and Susie looked at one another; surprised at this sudden revelation, before they hurried after Devin.

“The movers were for moving things and the furniture was for the pool house. You’ll need the room,” Devin continued.

Paul blinked. “Did I miss something here? Why will we need the room?” Paul asked in confusion as they reached the pool house and followed Devin inside.

The sound of a car horn, brakes squealing, and two muffled “Oh shits” along with the sound of an engine starting and dying interrupted him. Paul rolled his eyes and turned a worried look to his wife. He didn’t have to; she had already turned around and was making her way back toward the other two boys. Paul followed Devin into the pool house.

“We need the room cause Sammy’s moving in with us,” Devin announced, pleased that his brother had unwittingly contributed to his plans, “and since Sammy and Dallas are best friends, I figured it’d be easier for them both to have the basement, and I’ll sleep out here,” Devin concluded.

“Wait, Sammy’s moving in with us?” Paul interrupted, “and you’re not moving as far from us as you can get? Oh that’s great, you almost had me worri…wait, you can’t just say he’s moving in and you’re moving out here…”

“Why not?” Devin asked defiantly, “he’s gay and his parents don’t want him anymore!”

“Don’t want him anymore?” Paul asked, his confusion rising as he tried to keep track of the conversation.

“Besides, we’ll need the help, mom being pregnant and all,” Devin continued, silencing his fathers’ interruption

“Pr-pregnant!” Paul choked in surprise.

“Yeah, least that’s what the doctor said. You’ll prolly be wanting Dallas’s room so the babies are closer to you guys, and this way the only sleep getting interrupted is yours. It’ll be wonderful having more kids, don’t you think?” Devin babbled on, planning the conversation so that his father would latch onto certain parts and ignore the rest.

“Babies? Couple?”

“Dad! Focus!” Devin snapped his fingers in the air.

“Huh?”

“Dallas’s room, you’ll be wanting it for the babies right?”

“Uh…”

“Honey?” Susie’s voice interrupted them.

“Susie?” Paul asked faintly as he turned his attention from Devin to his wife, a broad smile lighting up his features as his green eyes sparkled with delight.

“Paul, is everything okay?” Susie asked, regarding her husband strangely.

“You’re pregnant?” Paul asked.

Susie gulped, astounded at the revelation that her husband knew already when she’d just found out herself.

“Yeah,” she whispered softly as her features softened, until she began to wonder how Paul knew already. Her gaze fell on Devin, who stood silently, an innocent look on his face and mischief in his eyes.

Devin used to be such a happy boy, she reflected quietly to herself, always laughing and affectionate with everyone, full of mischief and delight, arguing until he was blue in the face just to get something he wanted. It wasn’t until he’d started hanging out with an older boy that everything started to change, he’d become stubborn and quiet, not wanting to be with his family, sneaking out nights and hanging out who knew where, doing she had no idea what. Early in the morning on his 14^th birthday, everything went from okay to worse—he’d tried to kill himself.

She would never forget that day. They had gotten home from the fundraiser, and everyone, she had assumed, had gone to bed. It was not until later that she found out otherwise. Devin had snuck out of the house. It was sheer luck that she had found him out by the pool of the old house, bleeding to death. To this day, he still would not say where he had gone, nor why he had tried to kill himself. All they could figure out was that he was gay; he would not discuss anything further with anyone.

He would not even talk to the doctor that he had been sent to. That wasn’t as hurtful as was Devin’s closing himself off from the rest of the family. On the doctor’s recommendation, they had moved into a new house. The new surroundings had made no difference; Devin remained closeted and silent.

Shortly after the move, things got worse. Devin had insisted on going to a private school near his aunt, Paul’s elder sister. He only came home on weekends to see a psychiatrist. He was home during the summer, but he spent most of his time hiding in the basement or sleeping. He ate all his meals alone.

When he was forced to be around his family or other people, he seemed to be in his own world. When he did say or want something, everyone usually listened and he ended up getting whatever he wanted. Lately Susie had started seeing more of him than she was accustomed too, and today she’d seen more of the carefree child that he used to be.

She had a funny, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that he was up to something and she wasn’t sure she would like it at all, especially since he seemed to be going to so much trouble to confound Paul in the process.

“That’s great!” Paul exclaimed happily, running to his wife and wrapping her in a hug.

Susie smiled, pleased that her husband wasn’t upset over this revelation.

“What’s great?” Dallas’s voice asked from the doorway.

Susie and Paul turned toward Dallas’s voice, and realized that the other boy, Sammy was standing behind him.

“Well, you’re mom and I are pregnant,” Paul announced happily.

Dallas blinked, before cringing at the scenes that started playing in his mind.

“Eww, that’s gross,” Dallas mumbled.

Paul paused, then looked at Dallas; affronted by his comment, before he caught on to what his younger son meant.

“I mean, that’s great, really!” Dallas quickly spoke up, noting the look on his dad’s face.

Paul nodded his head, before letting another smile stretch across his face.

“That means you’ll have to move into the other bedroom down in the basement,” Paul said, noticing the sudden frown cross Dallas’s face.

“I assume that won’t be a problem with Sammy moving in, will it?” Paul asked his younger son. “Besides, Devin has already moved his stuff into the pool house,” he added, feeling a bit put out as he realized he’d fallen into Devin’s trap.

Dallas blinked in surprise, before turning to Sammy questioningly. Sammy only shrugged in response, but a blush tinged his cheeks.

“Moving in?” Susie whispered softly to her husband, noticing the triumphant grin on Devin’s face.

“Yeah, apparently the boys’ parents don’t want him anymore, something to do with him being gay and all, so he’s moving in with us,” Paul whispered distractedly as he rubbed a hand across his wife’s abdomen.

Susie smiled as green eyes sparkled at her from under a head full of dark hair.

“Ok,” she whispered agreeably.

“Sooo…When’s dinner?” Devin asked quietly, all traces of his triumph wiped from his face.

“Soon,” Susie replied, tugging on her husband’s hand as she led Paul out of the pool house and toward the kitchen. The three boys watched carefully from the pool house as the two adults walked into the kitchen of the main house, before they, too, started walking toward the main house.

“Eww,” Devin whispered with a slight snicker.

Dallas and Sammy turned toward him, questioning looks plain on their faces as Devin pushed them along.

“What?” Dallas asked

“Just thinking, you might want to move your stuff after dinner. Things might be a bit… noisy… tonight, is all…” Devin quipped, watching as understanding suddenly crossed the younger boys’ faces. “Good thing I already moved out of the basement with Sammy living here now!” he added for good measure as the two boys turned and looked at one another with grins on their faces.

Devin laughed in response to the shocked look that crossed Dallas’s face, and the blush that tinged Sammy’s cheek, before he started walking ahead of the other two boys, giving them some semblance of privacy.

“So, you’re really moving in with us?” Dallas asked Sammy.

“Yup,” Sammy replied, his voice tinged with wonder. He was still trying to figure out how Devin had pulled it off.

*******************************

Ian stepped out of his car and stared at the large house in front of him as he tried to straighten out his clothes. He hadn’t been there when Peter had decided to buy the house. He’d been too busy handing off the cases he’d had at his last precinct to help Peter make decisions, only talking briefly on the phone with Peter every night. They had made the decision to move on with their lives, only now there was a difference: They were doing it together, and they were dragging Sunny along in the process.

Ian walked toward the front of the car and waited as Andy joined him, looking just as nervous as he felt.

“Well, this is it. We’re here,” Andy said.

“Ayup,” Ian agreed. He grabbed Andy’s hand and led the way to the front door. Andy flashed him a strange look when Ian knocked on the door.

“Uhm…”

Ian shrugged his shoulders in response. It wasn’t his fault he was losing his mind.

The door opened and Ian let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. Peter had opened the door, a strange look on his face as he noticed who was standing in front of him.

“You’re early,” Peter said in surprise.

Ian nodded his head in agreement and let out a strained smile in response.

“Yeah, I got everything taken care of as quickly as I could,”

Peter nodded his head as he took note of the young man who stood next to Ian. Letting a smile cross his face he held out his hand to greet him.

“Hi, you must be Andy. I’m Peter, Ian’s brother, welcome to the family,” Peter said.

Andy smiled as he flashed a look at Ian while shaking Peter’s hand. Yup, Andy was definitely nervous, Ian noted.

“Well…Come in, and welcome home,” Peter said as he held the door open and stepped out of the way. Ian and Andy stepped inside, dodging the boxes that were still being unpacked.

Peter led his Ian and Andy into the house, taking them into the basement.

“I figured you two might want your own space,” he began. “So I had the movers bring your stuff down here when it arrived this afternoon.”

Ian and Andy nodded their heads as they looked around.

“It’s…” Andy began, “…so huge,” he mumbled under his breath in surprise. Ian flashed his partner a smile, suddenly reminded of the first time he and Andy had gotten together. Just like then, Andy sounded really happy.

Peter watched Ian and Andy survey the basement. He was unsure of how to act around these two, especially Andy. They’d met briefly for the first time at the funeral for their parents a few months ago, and then Andy had left while Ian had stuck around for a few days to help him consider Sunny’s living arrangements. It had taken several days to come to the agreement that they’d all move in together and try being the family that Sunny deserved. It had taken even longer to agree on new settings for all of them.

“So, uhm…” Peter started.

“Is Sunny here?” Ian asked at the same time. He was anxious to see his little brother. Sunny had been about to turn one the last time Ian had seen him.

Peter nodded. “He’s in his bedroom getting cleaned up,” he replied.

“Oh,” Ian replied with some disappointment in his voice.

Ian and Peter fell silent, unsure of what to say. Andy rolled his eyes at the awkwardness between the two brothers. “He’s in my class,” Andy said suddenly.

Peter blinked. “Oh..uhm…that might not be good,” he said.

Ian and Andy looked at Peter with questioningly.

Peter sighed. “I told Sunny you were moving in Ian…I just..didn’t…mention you had a partner,” he confessed.

Ian felt his face flush slightly, wondering if he would have to go through the same thing with Peter that he’d gone through with his parents. The shame he felt then began to bubble up.

“Why not? Are you ash…”

“No, Ian, it’s not that. Look, it’s been really rough trying to deal with him alone. You remember how he cut himself off from everyone when mom and dad died. He hasn’t taken the move very well either.”

“Oh,” Ian said as he took a deep breath and calmed himself down while Andy stood back and observed the two brothers.

“I told him last night that you’re moving in with us, he tried running out on me. It didn’t seem like such a good idea to mention that you have a partner and he’d be coming to stay with us as well,” Peter said. “I’m sorry,” he added.

Ian sighed. “Okay,” he replied. “I don’t like it, but…we’ll deal with it. We’re just…nervous, is all.”

Peter laughed in response. “You’re not the only one, I’m afraid he’s going to throw another temper tantrum like the one he threw last night when we had dinner at the neighbors’ house.”

“Temper tantrum?” Ian asked, surprised that a fifteen year old boy would throw a temper tantrum, before he reminded himself that Sunny had practically been raised as an only child.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, he didn’t react very well when he found out he’d be going to school here. I think he thought he’d be returning to his old school.”

Ian frowned to himself.

“Now why would Sunny think that?” he asked.

Peter hung his head slightly in shame. “Mom and dad practically ignored him. They shipped him off to private school and had Mrs. Henderson take care of him during the summer. The only family he’s really known is me. That changed after he turned seven, when I went off to college. It’s my belief that he expects us to abandon him the way mom and dad did, or at least treat him the same way.”

“So you think he’s pushing you away to avoid getting hurt?” Andy asked, reminding them that he was still there.

Peter frowned. He had not thought of Sunny’s behavior in that way, before.

Ian sighed as he thought about what Peter had just told them.

Peter shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I think he just doesn’t know what to expect from us. He’s not…used to having people in his life who care, much less tell him what he can and cannot do; except for old Mrs. Henderson,” Peter finally replied.

“So what do we do?” Ian asked.

The three adults frowned as they thought about the situation they found themselves in. Andy finally responded, the teacher in him coming out.

“We show him we care. Set some ground rules up, and let him know he’s still a child and has to abide by our rules. We just have to be careful, or he’ll end up rebelling. Keep in mind the fact that he has feelings, ask him his thoughts, let him have his space when he needs it. Hopefully that will reverse some of the damage you’re parents did while he was growing up.”

Ian raised an eyebrow. “He’s not damaged goods!” he objected.

Andy grinned. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it. You need to provide stability and love, not ignore him and let him get away with whatever he wants.”

Peter nodded his head in agreement while Ian thought about what Andy had said some more.

“Okay,” Ian finally agreed.

Andy let out the breath he was holding before he finally asked the one question that had been bothering him throughout this whole ordeal.

“Where do I fit into all of this?” he asked.

“Support system, you deal with kids more than me,” Ian answered without thinking about it. “Besides, you’re family,” he added as he looked at Peter.

Peter nodded in agreement.

Andy let out a soft sigh as he asked the next question that had been bothering him.

“How do feel about us?” Andy asked as he gestured between himself and Ian.

Peter blinked in surprise.

“I love Ian, he’s family. You’re his partner. That makes you family too. I don’t expect things to be easy for the three of us, we’ll all be adjusting to the changes. Sunny will be adjusting just as much as we are, if not more so. Let’s just remember that we’re adults and can discuss any differences we have,” Peter responded.

Andy frowned as he continued to look at Peter.

Peter fidgeted. “Okay, I don’t understand it, but it doesn’t bother me. Besides, Sunny’s gay too, and I don’t know the first thing about being gay. I mean, what if he has questions about…” Peter blushed. “…you know, sex. I know that’s not much of an answer, all I know is I love Sunny, and I love Ian, and given enough time I’m sure I’ll come to love you too.”

Andy smiled. “Okay.”

Peter blinked. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Andy and Ian said together.

Peter nodded his head. They had figured out what he really needed from them—role models.

The beeping of a timer interrupted their bonding moment.

“Oh! Dinner!” Peter said as he glanced up. Peter ran up the stairs and into the kitchen. Ian and Andy followed him upstairs and watched as Peter pulled a large casserole out of the oven.

“Will one of you set the table? Plates and silverware in the cupboard right there,” Peter said, nodding his head toward the counter.

Ian nodded and started setting the table. “Got anything to drink?” Andy asked.

“Cupboard to the right of the plates are the cups, soda is in the fridge,” Peter replied.

Andy nodded and started to help set the table.

“Sunny!” Peter shouted. “Dinner’s ready!”

Ian and Andy paused as they realized that now was the time Sunny would actually meet them. Andy wasn’t so nervous about meeting Sunny as he was about the fact that the young man would realize his brother-in-law was one of his teachers.

Ian smiled at Andy and led him to the table, where they sat down. Ian grabbed Andy’s hand for comfort, as they waited patiently for whatever was about to happen.

Peter watched from the kitchen as Andy and Ian seated themselves at the table. The nervous looks those two were shooting at one another were making his stomach twist in knots, as he too, began to wonder what would happen when Sunny arrived. He sighed and sat down at the table. He didn’t have long to wait.

“What’s for dinner?” Sunny asked as he walked into the kitchen. He froze when he saw another man and his English teacher sitting at the table, his mind reflecting back to class as he remembered the man introducing himself to the class. Andy Reis. He frowned as he turned his attention to the man seated next to his teacher.

Sunny tilted his head as he studied the older man. He was probably somewhere in his thirties, with blond hair, blue eyes, same nose and chin that he and Peter had, and fairly athletic looking. Sunny realized that Peter and the older man were both watching him with the same tilt to their heads. It almost reminded him of his dad when the old man was looking at business documents. That would make him…

“Hi, Ian,” Sunny said. He turned his attention toward his English teacher. “Mr. Reis,” he greeted.

Andy frowned slightly. “Please call me Andy,” he said as Ian and Peter turned toward him.

Sunny nodded and turned toward Peter. “What’s for dinner?” he asked again.

“Tuna casserole,” Peter replied. He watched Sunny’s shoulders pulled back and his chin raised slightly. That was not a good sign.

Sunny surprised him.

“Okay,” he said as he pulled out a chair and joined them at the dinner table.

Peter and Sunny never talked during meals. With four people at the table, it was twice as silent, if that could be possible. Sunny got more and more uncomfortable. Every time he looked up from his plate, he realized that everyone was watching him, waiting for…Waiting for what? Sunny wondered. Finally, he got sick of it and pushed his dinner plate away.

“May I be excused, please?” he asked, falling back on manners to escape from the table.

The three adults looked at one another in surprise for a moment. Ian didn’t know how to respond to Sunny’s request. Peter was surprised. Andy saved them.

“Sure, if you would please pick up after yourself,” Andy requested.

Sunny stared at Andy as a scathing retort came to mind. He opened his mouth to respond before he closed his mouth again, suddenly unsure of himself. Instead he nodded his head and stood up, grabbed his plate and dumped the remains of his food in the trash can. He set the plate in the sink.

Ian coughed. Sunny walked through the dining room toward the hallway. Ian coughed, again. Sunny frowned.

“You might want to get that cough looked at, you don’t sound so good,” Sunny said over his shoulder as he walked out of the dining room and toward the sanctuary of his bedroom.

The three adults frowned. Ian and Andy looked at Peter. Peter shrugged.

“That went…better than expected,” Peter said as he grabbed his fork and started to eat the food he’d been playing with.

“Perhaps I should talk to him?” Ian suggested.

Peter nodded in agreement. “Just…be gentle with him?”

Ian frowned as he began to think that it may have been a bad idea for Andy and him to uproot their lives on behalf of a kid brother he didn’t even know.

“I’ll do my best,” Ian said softly.

“That’s all any of us can do, Ian.” Peter replied with a bit of sympathy.

Ian smiled at his brother, grateful for the encouragement he was being given, before he stood up and followed Sunny.

                                          *****************************

“C’mon Sammy, let’s go,” Devin said after dinner.

Paul blinked. “Where are you going?”

“He’ll need clothes if he’s moving in with us,” Devin replied.

“Can we take my jeep?” Dallas asked.

Susie frowned. “Dallas….” She said warningly.

Dallas sighed. “I know, not until I get my license,” he muttered.

“We’ll take mine,” Devin said as he grinned at his brother.

Dallas beamed.

“When are you gonna be back?” Paul asked as he reached for his wallet.

Devin shrugged while Sammy glanced back and forth, still surprised at all that had happened that afternoon. He was even more surprised that they were going to spend money to get him new clothes.

“Uh, we could just go to the mission and get my clothes from there,” Sammy spoke up, embarrassed.

He got four frowns in response. Dallas had been shocked to find out that Sammy had been staying in a mission. He was even more annoyed at the fact that Sammy had never even told him.

“Do you really need anything from the mission?” Paul asked as he considered the young man that was blushing in front of him.

Sammy thought about it for a moment before he finally shook his head.

“Okay than, it’s settled,” Paul said. He smiled at the young man as he handed Devin a credit card.

“Let me go grab my shoes,” Dallas said as he bounded downstairs.

Devin led Sammy outside and toward his jeep.

“Hey Sammy?” Devin said softly.

Sammy glanced at Devin. “Yeah?” he asked.

“We didn’t really discuss what happened in the locker room earlier,” Devin said. He’d been meaning to talk to Sammy about it but hadn’t had the chance until now.

Sammy shifted his feet nervously. He didn’t want to think about what had happened.

“I probably don’t need to say this, but just in case, if someone asks you about it…lie.” Devin finished.

Sammy blinked. “Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only stayed after school ‘cause the coach wanted me to join the wrestling team this year. He needed a light weight, offered to teach me to wrestle. I said no, of course.” Sammy muttered.

Devin smiled, pleased.

“Ready to go?” Dallas asked excitedly.

Devin nodded. The three boys piled into the jeep and set off in the direction of Wal-Mart.

**********************************

Ian gently knocked on Sunny’s door.

“It’s open,” Sunny responded.

Ian opened the door and stepped into Sunny’s bedroom.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Sunny repeated as he felt himself become uncomfortable again.

“Uhm, listen, I’m not very good at this sooo…” Ian started.

Sunny frowned. He was definitely ready to second Ian’s opinion of himself.

“Perhaps you could just start by saying what you want to say, and I promise I’ll try not to take it personally,” Sunny stated as he felt his face flush.

Ian nodded.

“Fair enough,” he responded.

Ian frowned. He was suddenly unsure of where to begin.

“Okay, I’m sorry that we don’t know each other very well. It’s not our fault. The blame belongs with mom and dad. Aside from Christmas and birthday cards,” Ian shrugged, before taking a deep breath. “I’m sure this isn’t easy for you. I don’t think it’s easy for any of us, packing up our lives and for the most part starting all over again. I mean, Peter just graduated from law school not so long ago. I passed up a promotion, and Andy, well…” Ian frowned.

He wasn’t sure what Andy had given up. Andy seemed content to be with Ian, didn’t matter where they were or what they did, as long as they were together.

“You’re dating my English teacher,” Sunny mumbled.

Ian blinked as Sunny drew him from his thoughts, and turned to see red cheeks.

“I mean….do you know how awkward that’s going to be?” Sunny asked.

Ian frowned.

“What do you mean,” Ian asked. For some reason he was feeling the urge to apologize to Sunny for dating Andy, but that was one thing he refused to do. As far as he was concerned, Andy was one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

“I mean, do you know how hard it’s gonna be to not giggle in class. For Christ’s sake, you’re sleeping with him…” Sunny suddenly giggled. He tried to stop himself, he really did, but the sudden imagery in his head.

Ian laughed.

“Okay, I guess I can see your point. Would you at least promise to give me a chance, and more importantly, Andy?” Ian asked.

Sunny frowned. He was still uncertain about his new-found family, but, he supposed he could try. Especially after hearing what everyone had given up for him.

“All right, I’ll give it a try.”

Ian smiled and pulled his little brother into a hug. It was awkward at first, but then they started to relax. Their moment of brotherly bonding was abruptly interrupted. Ian’s cell phone rang. Ian pulled away from Sunny.

“Yeah,” he said after he looked at the caller I.D.

“We got something sir,” came the response.

“Talk to me,” Ian said as he stood up and hugged Sunny one more time. He pulled his badge out of his pocket and attached it to his belt. Sunny looked at it in surprise and then he smiled at Ian.

“Two names come up consistently: Dallas Townsend and Sammy Davis. Some of the students report that Sammy was asked to stay after class. One of the kids said he was about the last one out of the locker room, and when he’d left Dallas and Sammy were still in there.”

“All right, you got anything else yet?” Ian asked as he headed downstairs.

“Yes sir. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are saying that Sammy ran away a couple weeks ago. We checked at the city mission and a few people say they recognize him, but they haven’t seen him all day.”

Ian frowned in thought.

“A couple more things came up, sir. I checked our database and there’s no record of a report being filed with the department about Sammy Davis having run away.”

Ian sighed. Parents this day and age just don’t seem to care anymore, he thought to himself as he was once more reminded of his own parents.

“Sir, are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. What’s the second thing?”

“Dallas Townsend is apparently one of your next door neighbors.”

Ian groaned. The last thing he needed was to annoy his neighbors. He went into the kitchen and covered the mouthpiece on his phone.

“Dallas’s parents are very influential. His dad’s a top-notch lawyer, and his mother’s in an architecture business. Has her own firm. She built all the houses in your neck of the woods a few years ago.”

Not good, Ian thought to himself as he came to a stop and looked at Peter and Andy.

“Hey, can you hold on a moment?” Ian said into the phone. He didn’t bother waiting for a reply.

“Peter, have you met the Townsends? Apparently they’re our neighbors,” Ian asked.

Peter looked up and noticed the badge on Ian’s belt. He frowned. This was not good, especially if Ian were acting in an official capacity.

“Yes, I know them. Paul’s my boss. He has two kids and a lovely wife. Sunny was over there earlier this afternoon hanging out with them and another boy,” Peter replied.

Ian closed his eyes.

“Sir?”

“Yes,” Ian answered into the phone.

“What would you like me to do?”

Ian sighed. Whoever had first said he was between a rock and a hard place had nothing on Ian. There was no helping it; he had a job to do. Sunny walked into the kitchen.

“You’re taking care of this yourself?” Ian asked.

“Yes sir,” came the reply.

“All right, I’ll go next door to the Townsend place, and while I’m there I’ll see if I can find any information on Sammy Davis,” Ian replied. Sunny’s slight gasp caught him by surprise and he turned to his youngest brother with a questioning look on his face. “Hey, hold on again.”

“What do you want with Sammy?” Sunny asked.

“Do you know where he is, Sunny?”

“Yeah, he’s next door with Dallas.”

“You still there?” Ian asked into the phone.

“Yes sir.”

“I think I’ve just found the Davis boy. Meet me at the Townsend place, and call juvenile detention, let them know we got one coming in.”

“Uh, sir? We don’t have a juvenile detention out here. Most we can do is put him in his own cell, and if I may ask, why aren’t we returning him to his parents?”

Ian frowned. “You said his parents never reported him missing, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Seems to me like something is off there; I’ll be asking Sammy some questions about that as well,” Ian replied.

“Very well, sir. My ETA is 30 minutes.”

Ian hung up the phone and frowned when he realized that everyone was watching him.

He let out a sigh. “I have to go next door,” he said with a slight frown, ignoring the daggers Sunny was suddenly shooting his way.

“Why do you have to call a juvenile detention center?” Sunny asked.

“Sunny, I really am sorry, especially if Sammy is your friend, but I’m working on a case and I can’t really discuss it right now, unless you by chance know anything about a P.E. teacher being attacked earlier this afternoon?”

Sunny gasped as his mind reflected back to earlier that afternoon, when he’d walked in on Dallas and Sammy making out in the locker room. Sammy had been the last person left in there.

“I…don’t know anything about that,” Sunny replied with a stutter. He didn’t know what all was going on, but he’d be damned if he were going to let one of his few friends get hurt.

Ian nodded. “Okay then, I guess…I’ll be going next door.”

Sunny frowned. “Ian?”

“Yeah Sunny?”

“Please…”

“I’m just doing my job, bud. I’ll take it as easy as I possibly can, I promise, okay?”

Sunny let out a sigh as he nodded his head slightly, unhappy with the situation.

Ian reached into his jacket and clipped his gun onto his belt, feeling unhappy himself. Nodding his head to his family, he offered a reassuring smile to Sunny.

“Which house is theirs?”

Sunny pointed.

Ian walked out of the house and went to the neighbors. He let out a deep breath as he ordered his thoughts, and knocked.

The door opened, to reveal a tall man with black hair.

“May I help you?” Paul asked.

“Yes sir. My name is Detective Ian Reis. I’m Peter and Sunny’s eldest brother. First, I’d like to apologize for disturbing you, and second, I’d like to introduce myself as one of your new neighbors,” Ian paused.

Paul took in the gun and badge the detective was wearing while noticing the hesitation on the officer’s face.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, Detective. But somehow, I do not think you are here on a social call.”

Ian shook his head.

“I’m here investigating a case. Is Sammy Davis here, sir?”

Paul raised his eyebrow. “He was, he should be back shortly. I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you know, in an official capacity, of course, that I’ll be representing him as his lawyer. May I ask what this is concerning?”

Ian frowned.

“He’s staying here, sir?”

Paul nodded. “Yes, he’s moving in with us.”

Ian let out a breath.

“That changes a couple things than. In an official capacity I must say one of his teachers was attacked early this afternoon, and he was the last person known to be seen at the scene of the crime. His parents are also saying he ran away from home a couple of weeks ago.”

Paul frowned. “Did his parents file a report about him running away?”

Ian shook his head. “No sir. But…”

Paul nodded his head. “I know, the law says you must take him in custody until the situation is sorted out. Why don’t you come in and relax while we try to sort out some of this mess. I don’t know anything about the incident at school, but Sammy has explained most of his situation at home, perhaps I can help you with that. I must inform you though that I’ll be representing him during any questioning you do. I’ll also have one of my colleagues present.”

Ian nodded his head. “My brother works for you, sir.”

Paul nodded in acknowledgement. “Don’t worry Detective, I won’t put Peter between us, I also won’t take this personally. You’re just doing your job, and I’m just protecting someone my family has decided to adopt. Everything will be fine.”

Ian let out his breath. He was relieved that Mr. Townsend was being so reasonable about the situation. He followed Paul into the house, where they joined Susie in the kitchen where Paul and Susie told Ian what they knew about Sammy’s home life.

*********************************

Devin passed the squad car parked in front of the house, and pulled the jeep into the driveway. He flashed a warning look at Sammy. Sammy acknowledged Devin’s look with a nod of his head.

“I wonder what’s going on,” Dallas said with curiosity.

Devin and Sammy shrugged their shoulders in response as they all hopped out of the jeep and pulled out bags of clothes.

“They’re here for Sammy,” Sunny said, rounding the side of the pool house where he’d been waiting.

“They?” Devin asked softly, taking note of the frown on Sunny’s face while the other two boys looked at Sunny in surprise.

“My brother, Ian. He’s a new detective on the police force. Apparently Mr. Samspon was attacked and they think Sammy has something to do with it,” Sunny replied.

Dallas opened his mouth. “That’s ridiculous. Sammy was with me the whole time!” he declared before he could think about what he was saying.

“Was he?” a voice asked from behind them.

The boys turned and noticed a uniformed police officer approaching them with Paul and an even older version of Sunny trailing behind him.

Dallas put his foot in his mouth.

“Yes,” he stated after casting a quick look at Sunny, only to receive a slight nod of agreement.

“You have someone who can verify this?” the uniformed officer asked before Detective Reis could stop him.

“I can, he got off the bus with me and Sammy!” Sunny said as he stepped forward before it was too late.

Ian frowned. So much for the young police officer being detective material. Procedure had been broken, and it looked like the boys had set up a collaborative story. Paul frowned as he too realized what had just happened.

“Officer?” Ian interrupted before the man could proceed any further.

“Yes, sir?”

“Why don’t you take Sammy and question him separately?” Ian said. The officer’s face paled slightly as he, too, realized what he’d just done.

The officer nodded and asked Sammy to step aside with him.

“Sunny why don’t you go wait with that other young gentleman over there?” Ian asked as he gestured toward the side of the pool house.

Sunny nodded in agreement and followed Devin.

“Dallas, I believe?” Ian asked.

Dallas nodded his head in response as his guard went up.

“I’m Detective Ian Reis, I’ll…”

They got interrupted by Paul, who decided to take advantage of the situation.

“Officer, as Sammy’s lawyer I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask any questions until I join you!” Paul said, his voice raised in the direction of Sammy and the officer. He got an unhappy look from the officer in response. Sammy promptly shut his mouth, ignoring the question he’d just been asked. Ian groaned softly. The neighborly bonding they’d been going through had just come to an end, now that their official business was about to begin.

“If you’ll proceed, Detective Reis,” Paul said. He flashed an apologetic smile at his newest neighbor.

“Dallas, do you know why the coach asked Sammy to stay behind after class?”

Dallas frowned slightly as his mind began to run in circles. He’d overheard something, he just needed to remember what it was.

He almost snapped his fingers.

“Yes sir. The coach wanted Sammy to join the wrestling teach. Offered to teach Sammy everything he could. Apparently they’re lacking light weights this year,” Dallas offered with a shrug.

“What happened after that?”

Keep it simple, Dallas thought to himself.

“Sammy said no and we left, we ran into Sunny and got on the bus, came back here,” he replied.

Ian nodded.

“Thank you, that’s all for now.”

Dallas nodded and watched as his father and the detective joined Sammy and the officer. He glanced around quickly before he moved into the darkness offered by the pool house and joined Devin and Sunny.

“Well?” Devin asked, his grey eyes on Sammy.

“I told ‘em the coach wanted Sammy to join the wrestlin’ team, offered to teach him. Sammy said no. We ran into Sunny on our way out and got on the bus home,” Dallas muttered softly, just loud enough for Sunny and Devin to hear his response.

Sunny nodded his head, acknowledging the role he had yet to play.

******************************

Sammy watched as Paul and the other man joined them, his stomach in knots.

“Hi Sammy, I’m Detective Ian Reis. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Sammy nodded.

“As you heard, one of your school teachers was attacked this afternoon. A couple of students said you were asked to stay behind after P.E. class. Would you tell me why you were asked to stay behind?”

“Coach wanted me to join the wrestling team. He offered to teach me ‘til wrestling season started. I told him no.” Sammy replied with confidence.

“What happened than?”

“Dallas and I left. We found Sunny and came here,” Sammy replied.

“Well, Detective. Their stories are the same,” Paul interrupted. “Coach wanted him to join the team, the boy said no, they ran into Sunny on the way out and got on the bus.”

Ian frowned, but nodded his head slightly in agreement. Something seemed fishy, and he really didn’t like lawyers, most of the time.

“All right,” Ian replied, letting it go.

“Sir?” the officer interrupted.

“Yes?”

“There’s still one more witness,” he pointed out.

Ian frowned. “Who?”

“This Sunny kid,” came the reply. Ian frowned and glanced at Paul.

“You’ll be doing the questioning. The Sunny kid, as you called him, is my little brother,” Ian growled softly.

The officer blinked before he shook his head. There was way too much conflict of interest going on for his liking, but he’d already messed things up enough as it was. He coughed. “Uh sir, if I could speak with you alone for a moment?” he asked.

Ian nodded, and walked away from Sammy and Paul.

“Yes?”

“Uh, sir…”

“Look, I’ll let it go if you do,” Ian interrupted. He’d figured out what the officer was going to say before he said it.

The officer nodded with relief. They re-joined Paul and Sammy.

“Sammy, I’m going to need you to wait with me for a few more minutes,” Ian said. He offered the boy a reassuring smile. Sammy glanced at Paul with a questioning look and received a reassuring nod.

The officer headed toward Sunny with Paul following.

“Sammy, don’t look at me. I need to tell you something, completely off the record,” Ian said under his breath.

Sammy nodded his head slightly.

“The officer I was talking to went to your house. He reported that your parents said you ran away. Did you?” Ian asked softly.

“Those lying bastards,” Sammy whispered angrily, “I didn’t run away, they threw me out.”

“Why?” came the softly whispered question.

“Because I’m gay, I had some problems a couple months ago and they sent me to rehab, when they figured the rest out they kicked me to out. I walked out with what I could carry. Haven’t been back since,” Sammy said. His whispers were getting louder as his agitation increased.

Ian frowned sympathetically. “Take it easy, son. Does Paul know all this?” Sammy shook his head.

“He knows most of it, but not everything. I haven’t had a chance to tell him.”

“All right, promise me you’ll stay calm,” Ian requested

Sammy frowned but gave a slight nod of his head.

“I’m going to have to take you into temporary custody. From what I understand this is a fairly small town, so we should be able to get this mess sorted out fairly quickly. I talked to Paul earlier, he says he can pull some strings to get you in court tomorrow.”

Sammy frowned and opened his mouth to object.

He didn’t get the chance. The officer and Paul re-joined them a moment later.

“Well?” Ian asked his fellow officer.

“Same story, sir.”

Ian glanced over the officer’s shoulder and noticed as Dallas came out of the pool house and joined Sunny and the other young man. He frowned to himself as he realized that there was a lot more going on than what he could figure out. The boys didn’t realize it at the time, but they had gotten lucky. Ian had far more bigger concerns than what appeared to be collaboration by at least two boys. First on his mind was the fact that a young man could end up in the crappy state-run foster system, if he wasn’t careful. Unfortunately, while he couldn’t do much much about that, it looked like Paul could—and would. Second, and more importantly: He wanted to know why a coach had drugs in the school.

“All right,” Ian took a deep breath. “Paul, why don’t you talk to Sammy for a moment in private, explain to him what’s going to happen.”

Paul frowned, unhappy with the situation. “Are you sure there’s no other recourse?”

Ian shook his head, just as unhappy with the situation as Paul.

“PLease come with me for a moment Sammy, we need to discuss a few things.”

Sammy nodded and followed Paul toward a corner of the yard while the two police officers sat and waited.

********************************

Devin watched his father and Sammy with interest as he tuned out everything going on around him. Something wasn’t quite right, he could feel it. The two officers should have left after Sunny had been questioned. Instead they were still there, waiting patiently while his dad talked to Sammy.

He watched as Sammy’s shoulders began to shake and realized that Sammy was crying.

Ah, he’s telling dad the rest of his story. I don’t think Dallas knows the whole truth either, this could get ugly if Dallas isn’t prepared.

It was with that thought in mind that Devin turned to Dallas.

“Dallas, I need you and Sunny to do something for me,” Devin said softly as he interrupted their conversation.

The two boys turned to him.

“No matter what happens, I want you to stay calm and trust that Dad knows what he’s doin’, okay.”

Dallas blinked in confusion as his head turned to where Paul and Sammy were standing. Paul had Sammy in a tight hug while the young man was sobbing into Paul’s shirt.

“Hey, why’s Sammy cry…” Dallas began to demand.

Devin put his hand on Dallas’s shoulder and turned his brother toward him so he could look Dallas in the eyes.

“Dallas, promise me. If you can’t believe in Dad, than believe in me. Whatever is about to happen is going to happen, and right now it’s out of our hands, getting riled up over it won’t help. Now listen to me, everything will be just fine,” Devin stated firmly.

Dallas frowned at his older brother while Sunny watched Devin, enraptured by the calming effect Devin seemed to have on Dallas.

“How do you know?” Dallas asked softly. He was scared, it seemed like something bad was about to happen.

Devin looked at his brother with confidence all over his face. “I know,” was his softly given response.

Dallas nodded his head.

Paul joined them. Together the four of them watched as the two officers escorted Sammy toward the squad car. Paul put a hand on Dallas’s shoulder, unsure of how his youngest son would react, not realizing that his wife had been watching out the back window until she joined them a few seconds later.

“Why are they arresting him?” Dallas asked softly as tears streaked down his face.

Paul shook his head.

“They’re not arresting him. They have to take him into custody. His parents said he ran away from home a couple weeks ago,” Paul said softly.

“That’s a load of crap though, they…”

“I know Dallas. The police have some of their own questions. Sammy’s parents never even reported him missing or having run away. It’s just a temporary thing. I have full confidence that I can get to a judge tomorrow and arrange for temporary custody until the situation is worked out.”

“Promise?” Dallas asked with a hitch in his voice.

“I promise son,” Paul replied. He hugged Dallas.

“Is there anything we need to prepare?” Susie asked.

Paul shook his head slightly. “I’ll prepare the documents tonight. The house and our finances might be inspected, but we should be fine; especially since we have plenty of room in the house.”

Susie nodded. They were joined by Ian a few minutes later.

“I really am sorry about this,” Ian said.

“You’re just doing your job, det…” Paul began to respond

“How could you arrest my friend and haul him off to jail!” Sunny demanded.

“Sunny, I’m ju…”

“No, don’t talk to me right now! If you were my brother you wouldn’t have arrested my friend!” Sunny shouted.

Devin stood back and watched the blond go to work on his older brother. The rest of his family could do nothing but watch as well.

“Sunny!”

Sunny scowled and ran through the backyard; into the backdoor of his house.

Ian sighed and turned toward the Townsends as his brother ran off.

“I really am…”

“I’m with him,” Dallas interrupted. He ran into his house.

Susie sighed and followed Dallas into the house so she could try to console her son.

“Well…seems like we all have a mess we need to clean up,” Paul said softly.

Ian frowned. He couldn’t believe how a day that had started out fairly well, despite the assault on a teacher, could go so wrong. At least he’d seen one of Sunny’s temper tantrums.

“I’m sorry ‘bout Sunny’s behavior,” he offered.

Paul shrugged. “He’s a teenage boy. There’s not much out there that can put the responsibilities of a growing boy on his elder siblings, but what I do know is it always happens due to tragedy. I imagine he’s still adjusting. Just take things one day at a time,” Paul said, offering his own perspective on things.

Ian nodded, grateful for the advice of an older man.

“Please tell Peter I look forward to seeing him at work in a couple days—when he’s settled and all this is sorted out,” Paul added. With a gracious smile he walked into the backdoor of his house, leaving Devin and Ian standing in the shadows of the pool house together. Alone.

Ian watched as the boy who had remained quiet throughout the ordeal began to pick up the bags at his feet. He started to walk away before a soft voice stopped him.

“I wouldn’t worry about things much, Officer.”

Ian turned and stepped back as a pair of storm clouds shot through with lightning bolts stared at him.

“Things always work out for us in ways we don’t expect, given enough time.”

Ian gulped as the young man turned and walked into the house behind the rest of his family. Creepy, he thought to himself as he walked to his house, hoping to try to clean up some of his own mess. He didn’t get the chance. Sunny had locked himself into his bedroom and refused to come out.

*********************************

Devin walked back to the pool house, alone. He quietly closed the door, and twisted the lock before walking toward the bar. All traces of emotion had left his face. He reached under the bar for a tall glass and an even taller bottle. A box joined those two items after he carefully poured himself a drink. Devin picked up the first item in the box.

*********************************

It was late. Sunny had no idea what time it was exactly. Quite frankly he didn’t really care. He was standing outside by the pool in Devin’s backyard, his mind whirling with the effects of the alcohol running through his body. He couldn’t believe his own brother hated him so much that he would arrest his friend.

“Drinking doesn’t help the problem go away,” a quiet voice interrupted his anger.

Sunny turned in surprise. Devin stood in the shadows; watching him.

“I know,” Sunny said, trying to keep his voice down.

“So why do it? Afraid of something?”

“Just…p-pissed. I can’t believe…”

“It’s not always about you,” Devin interrupted him.

Sunny blinked as his anger began to rise. Devin stepped forward and looked him in the eyes. Sunny stepped back as grey eyes began to captivate him once more.

“You remember what I asked of you?”

Sunny nodded.

“Now’s the time to do that for me. It’s almost midnight, go home and get some sleep.”

Sunny couldn’t help himself.

“Can I kiss you?” he blurted out. He clapped a hand over his mouth as he realized what he had just said. He felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment.

Devin’s response was the last thing he’d expected.

“Ask me when you’re sober.”

“A-ask you w-when…”

“When you’re sober. Now go home and get some sleep.”

Sunny nodded and stumbled home. He crept as quietly as he could into his house and went to bed. Green grass and soft lips pervaded his dreams that night.

************************

Dallas was still awake. He wasn’t as upset as he had been earlier. Devin’s words kept running through his mind.

Everything will be all right.

He shook his head. He wanted to know how Devin knew everything would be all right.

He crept out of the basement and toward the pool house in search of his answers.

The door opened when he got there, Devin was staring at him expectantly, stripped down to SpongeBob square pants boxers.

“How do you know…”

Devin sighed and opened the door wider.

“It’s late. Come inside.”

Dallas nodded. He stepped inside and watched as Devin shut and locked the door. Devin headed into the loft above the bar where a bed had been set up, Dallas behind him.

“How…”

“C’mon, lie down with me.”

Dallas frowned as he realized what Devin was doing. He finally nodded his head and slid into bed next to his brother. Strong arms wrapped around him in comforting support. Dallas didn’t stand a chance. When he was younger he’d always run to Devin for comfort, knowing his big brother would scare off the monsters.

The same affect that happened then happened again; Dallas fell asleep with his brother’s arms wrapped securely around him.

**********************************

Sammy lay in a ball, lonely, shivering beneath the thin blanket he’d been given to keep him warm in his cell. Sleep was a long time coming

**********************************

He sat in his car as the clock raced toward eight in the morning. The envelope was in his lap. He read the instructions that had been in the envelope again, an expression of disbelief on his face. His hands shook as a hive of hornets kept doing dive bombs in his stomach. He leaned his head on the steering wheel and cracked the window open, trying to get some air into the car to cool himself off. The air conditioner wasn’t doing him any good.

The instructions were clear. He had no choice in the matter