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After the two were done kissing, Cole looked at William, his smile not leaving his face "Hey, William, how was school?" He asked, looking down at William's backpack, which was leaning against the wall. "I'll assume you wanted this," Cole said, picking the backpack up and handing it to William.

William nodded promptly, "Yeah," He muttered, grabbing the backpack from his mom's boyfriend. "Thanks," He said a little louder, having ignored Cole's earlier question, before making his way to the staircase and upstairs.

William walked past Rory's room, and paused, making a few steps backward and stopping in front of the door that led to Rory's room. He knocked a few times before walking in. A pillow was instantly thrown at him and he shielded his face with his hand.

Rory turned to him, "What do you want?" They asked, turning in their bed entirely just to face him. "Mom's boyfriend is home now." William revealed, "Just thought I'd let you know." He said, his tone neutral.

Rory sighed and nodded, "Thanks." They mumbled, sitting up in their bed. William nodded, "Sorry for leaving your backpack in the hall, I can go get it for you." He said, shrugging.

Rory shook their head, "No, it's fine, I'll get it after I get changed." They said, looking up at William. Their brother nodded, "How's the pain?" He questioned, not leaving the doorway.

Rory shrugged, "It's getting better, I'm just.." They paused, trying to find the appropriate word for their feelings while snapping their fingers. "Overwhelmed?" William added to their sentence.

Rory nodded immediately, pointing at William, "Yeah, that!" They said, before sighing. William walked into the room and closed the door behind him, "Yeah, I get that." He nodded, holding his backpack by its strap.

Rory smiled a little, "I fucking hate going to the dentist." They revealed. William chuckled, nodding "Yeah, I do too." He said, "One time I thought I had a cavity, but it turned out to be just a piece of salad stuck between my teeth."

"Are you serious?" Rory began laughing, shaking their head. "God, yeah, man!" William joined his sibling in the laughing fit.

After a bit of further talking, William opened the door to walk out. Before he stepped out, he turned to Rory "If you want to, I can go downstairs when you go." He suggested, still holding his backpack on his shoulder by its strap.

Rory got up from their bed and nodded, "Yeah, that'd be nice." They agreed, giving their brother a small smile. "Now get the fuck out of here, I want to get changed." Rory chuckled, flipping him off.

William laughed, flipping them off back and walking out, leaving the door just slightly open. "Fuck you!" Rory said louder, closing the door entirely. William couldn't help but continue laughing as he walked to his room.

He made his way into his bedroom and closed the door behind him, dropping his backpack next to his bed. He let out a deep sigh, looking around, his eyes falling on a framed photo on a shelf — a photo of his father and him.

William picked up the photo with slightly shaking hands and looked at it, his face betraying no emotion. The photo was a cruel reminder of better days — of days when William didn't have to worry about life as much as he did now.

His parents had divorced when William was 12 and ever since then, he felt like his life had only gotten worse and worse. Court meetings, the custody fight between his parents, the weekdays spent with his mom, and weekends spent with his dad — it all was tearing him apart at such a young age.

William set down the photo and shook his head, "Whatever.." He muttered to himself as he went on to change his clothes into more comfortable ones.

He stepped out of his room afterward and waited for Rory to come out of their room so that they both could go downstairs together like he said they would.