Fixing Nico [boyxboy / yaoi]

Ch 2 - Cake and Other Sweet Things

The radio buzzed malevolently - the words it spoke seemed almost like they were in a different language. Chad's blond eyebrows were furrowing over his dark eyes. 

The game had ended with a win for the Rooster. Chase clapped happily, as if the players could hear him from Coffs Harbour, and Nick grunted once more. Chase switched the radio off, turning to me with a grin. 

'Did you meet my Mum?' he asked, 'she makes the best food - can't wait until dinner.'

'Mmm.' Chase and I had been in the same classes all through High School, but we hadn't really been close friends - we had the same circle of friends, but I'd never been to his house or met his parents before. That's why I'd originally thought it was funny, being invited to his holiday home for three weeks… until I discovered who his father was. 

My father's last words before I left with Nick and Chase had been ringing through my head all day. His eyes were a steely, cold blue; always stern under furrowed eyebrows. His mouth was a hard line. Don't embarrass me in front of my colleges, Christian, he snapped. His eyes were ablaze, angry. A boss with no respect isn't fit to be a boss. 

Contempt, shame and distaste. Those were the expressions I could always find on my father's face during the rare occasions when acknowledged my existence. Then again, coming out to my father as gay and telling him I didn't want any part in his company at the same time was probably not the brightest idea in the world…

An uncomfortable lump formed in the throat as I thought about the day I came out to my father… I decided to tuck the thought away and focus on a conversation with Chase. I didn't want to start bawling my eyes out.

'I met your brother, too,' I said, trying to restart a dying conversation. 

'Oh?' Chase's voice suddenly changed - he blinked and glanced down at his feet. 'Yeah?'

'Yeah,' I laughed, 'his suitcases fell on top of him.'

Chase chewed the inside of his cheek. 'Sounds like something he would do,' he murmured.

'Yeah… why'd you wait so long to tell me you had a brother?' I'd only found out this morning - I knew we weren't that close, but I'd always thought he was an only child.

Chase just shrugged. 'Didn't come up, I guess.'

I stared at Chase. Suddenly, he was wearing the same expression my father did whenever I came up in a conversation. Shame.

I felt my eyebrows furrowing - sure, Nico was sort of quiet and short. But that didn't mean Chase should going around pretending he didn't exist. Why would he be ashamed of him, anyway? My fists were clenching. What was wrong with Nico? Okay, he was weird, but that didn't mean he should have to change, did it? Glaring at Chase, I realised exactly why we were both popular. We were both good looking, sure, but we both pretended we had the perfect lives. I went to parties, I hooked up with girls, everyday I pretended I was straight. Maybe that's what Chase was doing… pretending Nico didn't exist, because Nico wasn't… normal.

'Your brother's nice,' I said firmly - suddenly I felt the need to stand up for him. 'Does he go to our school? I haven't seen him around.'

Chase looked a but taken aback - probably because I was complimenting his brother. 'Nah, he did start in Year Seven but… he didn't like it. Then he got accepted into Sydney Boy's High.'

I blinked. 'That's a selective school, right? Wow… he must be pretty smart.'

Chase only shrugged once more. 'I guess so.'

I let the topic drop - obviously, Chase didn't want to talk about his brother. Vaguely, I wondered whether Nico's obvious differences were the only reasons.