Step Brothers

Road Trip - Chapter Twenty-Nine

(I don't even have an excuse for taking so long to update. I just wasn't feeling it and I tried super hard to write everyday but most of the time nothing came out. I apologize. Hope you enjoy the chapter either way and don't forget to vote and comment)

[Derek's Point Of View]

Leo and Nathan sat separately on their own beds. I sat between them on a computer chair with my back facing the closed door. Leo intensely watched Nathan and I just awkwardly glanced back and forth in silence.

"We've been sitting here for five minutes is anyone going to say something?" Leo said without taking a pause.

"I don't know," Nathan started, pulling his legs up to move back and sit against the wall, "I feel like I'm about to be yelled at again."

"I've already yelled," Leo said.

"Didn't you already say what you wanted to say?"

"First of all, don't give me that tone," Leo warned him, lifting the finger. "I will beat the shit out of you."

"What?!" Nathan exclaimed, waving his arms frantically.

"Sure, I said a bunch. I might have yelled a few times, but you haven't gotten to speak what's on your mind." Leo looked at me. "And we want to listen to your side."

Nathan scoffed. "Okay, don't be so dramatic about it."

Leo stood up and jumped from his bed to Nathan's and begun to smack anywhere Nathan wasn't protecting with his hands. Leo wasn't his usual self today and he was taking it out on Nathan, literally. It was his father's birthday. There was a lot of anger in him. I didn't bring it up, but I remembered.

Nathan was definitely giving Leo some nasty vibe, but I could tell it was without harm, some humor, but mostly just messing with Leo like he usually did. It was going over Leo completely.

I was leaving in two hours, meaning I was leaving Leo alone with whatever was bothering him. I wanted so badly to ask him how he was, but I knew him, he would only throw me off by switching the subject or by lying to me by saying he was alright.

"OKAY! YOU'VE MADE YOUR POINT!" Nathan screamed when he had enough.

Leo backed away, fixing his invisible wig and moving back to his bed.

"We do want you to speak what's on your mind," I told him, reassuring that it wasn't just Leo's idea.

"Won't it be awkward?" Nathan said.

"No? You've been in the same room when we've fucked before," Leo said, pointing at me and him.

"Leo, really?" I said, my voice cracking at the end. They both looked at me as I shockingly grabbed my throat. "S-sorry."

"We're all going to pretend that never happened, sweetie," Leo said, tapping my knee. "Don't worry, your manly voice is still with us and hasn't at all departed to the next dimension."

I cleared my throat. "Please, go on."

"What do you guys want me to say that I haven't already said?"

"Start from the beginning," Leo said. "Tell us your side. It's okay if you've already said it to me before. Now that Derek is here, he can know more."

"I guess it started when we met? That's when I started liking you, but it was more of a crush really." He laughed awkwardly to himself while I just stared. He forced a cough when he looked at me and continued. "It just stayed as a crush even after Leo told me he had a boyfriend. It was harmless. Just a harmless . . . crush. A year later when we started getting close and I got a personal invitation to the mess that was your relationship. But that was just my view point! Everyone has their own stupid opinions when they're outside looking in. I wanted you guys to make up, be better, fix your shit, but you never did and it went on for so long. I was there when Leo cried and screamed and chewed his pillows to death. I just . . . grew close to him. I care so much about him and his happiness and I was so angry at Derek for putting Leo through so much stress."