Is there a road back to the way we were?

Chapter 70

Christmas break came around and everyone went home. As soon as Onyx stepped through the doors of his house, Zayden was there to greet him.

"Finally! I wasn't allowed to eat until you came home." He went to the kitchen where their mother was setting the table. "Mum, Onyx is here."

Onyx took off his shoes and left his bags in the living room then went to the kitchen. "Hi, Mum."

Their mother took the vegetables out of the oven and put them on the table then turned to Onyx. "Hi, honey. Are you okay?" She hugged him tightly and Onyx leaned down so she could kiss his cheek.

"I'm fine. How have you been?"

"Good. Everything's been running smoothly."

He sat at the table next to Zayden as their father entered the kitchen. "You don't seem pleased to see me."

"I am. Now that you're here I can eat."

"So you're just happy you can eat?"

"Yeah."

Onyx rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Typical."

Lunch passed pleasantly with their parents doing most of the talking. Zayden chipped in here and there but Onyx didn't talk much; he usually never did. After lunch he went to his room with his bags to unpack. He didn't bring much back, just his books, laptop and some clothes, leaving everything else in the dorms. It was as he was putting his books on his desk that someone jumped onto his back, wrapping their arms and legs around him.

"So now you like me," he said to Zayden sarcastically.

"I'm not hungry now," replied the sixteen-year-old goofily.

"Get off me. You're too close." He tried to shrug him off so he could continue unpacking but Zayden was clinging to him like a sloth.

"No..." Zayden kissed his cheek.

"Yuck! You idiot, get off me!" This time he succeeded in shrugging his brother off and turned to glare at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Zayden grinned at him mischievously. "I just wanted to see your reaction."

"Idiot."

"I missed you."

Onyx sighed, his frustration melting, and held his arms out. "Come here."

Zayden hugged him again and this time Onyx hugged him back, kissing the top of his head. They sat on his bed and Zayden flooded him with a million questions.

Onyx laughed but answered them. "Yes I've made a friend. I don't stay cooped up in my room. My teachers are nice and the lessons are fun. My favourite classes are when we do experiments in the labs. It's really cool seeing cells and things under the microscope and staining them to identify different things. There was this one experiment where we had to extract DNA from a mouse cell and then do a PCR test."

"What's PCR?"

"Polymerase chain reaction. It's used to amplify DNA sequences so that we can study them."

"So who's your friend? One of your flatmates?"

"Yeah. I get along with all of them but I spend the most time with Elio."

"Elio? What's he like?"

"He's fun. Loud and spontaneous and loves pulling pranks. He can be pretty cute sometimes too but also has a calmer and more serious side. I guess we balance each other out."

"He sounds great. Maybe I can meet him one day."

"Sure. I think he'd like that."

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