Be Happy, My Love (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Thirteen

Dedicated to AllyEatsUrBrain.  I love reading your comments =)

*Adam's POV*

I stopped my bike in front of Jamie's house and he unwrapped his arms from around me, swung his leg around and stood up next to me. I smirked when I saw his reluctance in doing so. Taking him home was the last thing I wanted to do, but I would keep my promise. I always did. Besides, I could see that Jamie was uncomfortable with leaving his brother by himself when he was sick. At least, I assumed he was by himself. I had a feeling his parents weren't around very often.

Jamie had the same look on his face that he had earlier today, when he was thinking hard about something. His eyebrows were pinched together slightly and his head was cocked to the side. His eyes were far away and, once again, I didn't want to interrupt his thoughts.

Eventually, he seemed to make up his mind about something, and his eyes went from distant to piercing in a second. He looked behind his shoulder and looked back to me.

"Would you like to come in for a while?" He asked politely.

I wanted to accept the offer, but I felt that his offer was out of mere courtesy. After spinning it over in my head, however, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take him up on his offer.

His house was small, and I estimated that I could walk around it in less than a minute. Still though, it was a lot better than many other houses or apartments around here. There were two windows- both cracked and covered in clear tape. The door of the house was wooden, with a deep crack about halfway down the side. Stuck to the door, was a white piece of paper. And when Jamie saw it, he walked a few steps ahead of me and yanked it off and stuffed it into his pocket before I could see what it was.

He removed a key from his pocket and unlocked the door before opening it and directing me inside.

"I'm just going to check on Nicky." Jamie said after an uncomfortably long silence.

I nod and watch as he goes down the hallway and disappears into a doorway before looking around me, at the place Jamie calls home.

The inside of the house was small and cramped with the living area connected to the kitchen. To my right was a short hallway that Jamie disappeared into. 

In the middle of the room, there was an old brown love-seat that was backed up against the walls. There was a small television in front of the love-seat that was sitting on a wooden coffee table.

In the kitchen there were a few cabinets, a small refridgerator and a microwave. A card table sat in the space between the kitchen and living room that had two chairs against it. There was a third chair against the wall, but from the stack of paper upon it, I assumed it went unused. Despite it being cramped, however, the work put into the house in being presentable was obvious.

Suddenly Jamie was standing next to me again, staring intently at the love-seat against the wall. I looked between the couch and him, trying to see what was bothering him, when he sighed.

"Nicky." He said towards the couch, sounding like an exhausted parent. "Come out."

Suddenly a head tentatively peeked out from behind the couch and I was staring into a pair of intense blue eyes.

"Come out from there, Nicky. You're getting too old to hide from strangers."

Nicky pouted, but crawled out from behind the couch and stood up next to Jamie, his head tilted downward so his shaggy brown hair covered his face from me.

I could still see most of his face, however, and I gaped at the resemblance between the two boys.

I now understood what Jamie meant before about Nicky being smaller than him. They were the same height, but when they stood side by side, it made Jamie almost look... muscular, one of the last words I would use to describe him. Nicky and Jamie both had the same haircut, or rather, lack of. It was just a slight shade lighter than Jamie's chestnut brown. His eyes were a beautiful dark blue with the same thick lashes as Jamie. They looked innocent, and I could see why Jamie worried the way he did about him. Under his eyes were dark blue shadows from lack of sleep and his skin looked pale. His eyes were closing from exhaustion and from the way he was leaning on Jamie, he looked like he would topple over any second. The longer I gazed at Nicky, the more he seemed to shrink into Jamie's side. I suppose I could see why. I'm not exactly known to look like the most friendly person around. Jamie put an assuring arm around his brother.

"Adam, this is my brother Nicky. Nicky this is Adam, a...friend."

I gave what I hoped to be a friendly smile and stuck my hand out. "Hi, Nicky. i've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you" Great. Sound like a stalker much?

Nicky only stared at my hand before Jamie pushed Nicky away from his side. He grasped my hand weakly and mumbled a 'hi' toward his feet before letting go and shuffling back into Jamie again.

There was another uncomfortably long silence. Nicky was looking down and shuffling his feet and Jamie's eyes were searching the room, probably trying to think of something to say.

I cleared my throat. "Well-"

Suddenly, Nicky was leaning his entire body into Jamie, who stumbled backward into the wall behind him. He seemed peeved at first, as if Nicky was merely acting childish, but when his body crumpled to the floor, he seemed to realize the severity of Nicky's condition.

"Nicky!"

Jamie was able to catch Nicky before his head slammed into the floor.

"Adam!" He looked up at me as he cradled Nicky to his chest, and I understood what he wanted.

Kneeling down next to them I slipped my arms under his knees and torso and stood up with him in my arms.

"First door on the right." He said before I could ask.

I tried not to notice how light his body felt as I walked into the room, Jamie trailing behind me. Or how thin he was - how I could feel the jutting of his ribs against my chest. Or the way his body was lost in my arms or how he shivered through a thin sheen of sweat

I gently laid him down on the twin mattress that was placed on the floor of the tiny room, telling myself not to panic. Jamie seemed to be handling this just fine, making me think that this is in the norm for Nicky.

I turned around and watched as Jamie entered the room with a cloth that was dripped water.  I moved out of his way as he neared the bed and pressed the rag onto Nicky's forehead.

Jamie let out an exhausted sigh and he turned back around to face.  "Thank you so much for everything today, Adam.  I had a great time.  I'm sorry about the turn of events." He said with a tentative smile.

"It's no problem, Jamie.  Is he going to be okay though?"  I gestured to Nicky's trembling body.

"He'll be okay in a day or two.  Thank you, Adam."  He said again. 

"So, I guess I'll see you later Jamie."  Although he didn't say it, I knew he wanted me to leave.  I was touching on extremely personal territory.  

"Sure thing." He didn't look up from Nicky's face as he responded, and I couldn't help but think of his answer as half-assed.

"Jamie."  

"Hm?"  He said, still looking at Nicky from the bedside.

I stepped close to him, and leaned down.  I gently turned his face and pressed my lips softly against his.  "I'll see you later, okay?"  

His eyes as big as saucers and his cheeks turned a soft pink.  I practically gloated in having his full attention.  "Okay," he eventually squeaked out.

I chuckled and ran my hand through his hair.  "If you need anything, just call me."

He nodded, his eyes glazed over as he ran his fingers across his lips.

I was all smiles as I left his house.  And at that moment, I realized that I could not have been happier than I am right now.

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So I owe everyone an apology for not updating waaaaaay sooner.  I just got so busy that every time I sat down to write I couldn't concentrate at all.  Anyhoo, I'm going to start writing more often now that things have sort of calmed down.  Thank each and every one of you who reads and supports this story!  Sorry this one is a bit short!  Enjoy!

Don't you love these boys?! =)