Don't Tell My Brother

Chapter 50 - The Talk

"Go back to bed. It's too early."

"I'm up now." Lucas grumbled, though he wasn't really annoyed. "Come on. I'll walk you to the door."

"Aren't I lucky?" Damien said, teasing, and kissed Lucas' answering frown away.

Lucas padded down the corridor, still in a T-shirt and boxers, Damien's arm around his waist. Nobody else in the house was awake. Just them, descending the stairs, Damien slipping fingers underneath the shirt until they made contact with his skin. He was doing that absentminded, rhythmic little movement, thumbs rubbing circles at the base of his skin. It gave Lucas goosebumps.

"Come meet me after, yeah? We'll just be at my school's football field, it should finish around five."

"Seven until five?" Lucas was aghast. He didn't think he could run for ten minutes, let alone ten hours. "How do you do that? If I did even half of that, I don't think I'd survive."

"Maybe I'm just better than you." Damien said. "Kidding. It's not just training. We have breaks and shit, and I agreed I'd go out with the boys for a bit after. They keep asking where I've been, y'know." Some of Lucas' distaste must have shown on his face, because Damien added. "They're not all bad. But don't worry, we'll go as soon as you get there. You won't even have to talk to them."

Lucas did worry about it. He hadn't liked most of Damien's friends. There'd been something a little sharp, a little cruel about them, and it'd set Lucas on edge. Damien didn't seem comfortable around them either. Whether he admitted it or not, Damien's drastic change around them had been very telling, as was the fact he hadn't come out to any of them. Except Mallory, that is.

"You're giving me that face." Damien said, interrupting Lucas' reverie. "I told you, don't worry."

Lucas would've liked to say more, to ask about his friends, but it wasn't the time. He made a mental note to bring it up later.

"Fine, fine. I won't." He would, probably, but it wasn't as if anything bad could happen at a football training. "Do you need anything? A bottle of water, maybe? I know Mark keeps a ton of these protein bars in the cupboard, if you need those...?" He wasn't sure what you even needed to play football, but food and water seemed like a start.

"Coach'll have them." Damien said. "I'm all sorted. Promise." He opened the door, but paused at the threshold. "Shit, almost forgot." He leaned forward and kissed Lucas, briefly, softly, with a gentleness Lucas didn't think he'd had before. Damien's hands were cupping his face, leaning down until they were at eye level. His heart was sent into overdrive. It wasn't normal how much power this boy had over him.

"Aren't you late?" He said, instead of what he wanted to say. He didn't even know what he wanted to say. He couldn't find the right words.

"You're worth it."

And, as if Damien had flipped some sort of switch, Lucas found he was beaming. It was ridiculous. "That's cheesy."

"It worked. Look at you." Lucas immediately tried to cover his expression, which only made Damien grin. "God, you're so cute."

"Go."

"I'm going, I'm going." And with one final kiss, Damien shut the door, and set off down the street.

Lucas was left in the hall, fighting the urge to clutch at his chest, stop all this feeling from spilling out. It was too soon to say it. This wasn't how things usually worked, was it? He wouldn't let himself think it, not yet. There was something dangerous in the vulnerability of the unsaid something that had settled itself in his chest, coiled tightly around his heart.