Death's Middle Name {boyxboy}

Chapter Twenty-Six

~Wednesday 27th December 2017~

"Where's Tamari?" Alwynn asked as he passed by his brother sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

"She went out with some friends, wanted to do some shopping whilst she was here," Raul looked up from his phone, "what do you think of her anyway?" Alwynn frowned a little, not expecting the question, "come on, I want to know if you approve and all that shit."

"She's nice," Alwynn murmured with a shrug, having never been asked for his opinion on any of Raul's girlfriends before, it was quite odd.

"She likes you, she told me she thinks you're sweet," Alwynn nodded briefly, turning his attention to the fridge instead, "and she told me you had a few sips of wine last night," Raul tutted playfully, "mom and dad wouldn't be pleased," Alwynn rolled his eyes, used to his brother's teasing from years of living together. Raul was never cruel, but he was relentless.

"When are you going back to Harvard?" Alwynn tried not to show too much eagerness in his tone, not wanting to sound rude to his brother, no more than usual anyway.

"Tonight," Raul said with a brief chuckle, "there's not really much point me staying here if mom and dad are just gonna work, I know you like your own space too. I'll be out of your hair by like nine," Alwynn nodded, shaking the smoothie he had collected from the fridge, frowning when he heard someone knock at the front door, "that'll be Meyer," Raul left the room before Alwynn had chance to react, other than an awful nervous feeling stirring in the pit of his stomach. Alwynn hadn't seen Meyer since he had kissed him in the store in front of Vant, he had cut basically all contact from him after then. Hopefully, there would be no bitterness between the two.

"Al, say hi to Meyer, don't be so rude," Alwynn stilled, halfway up the stairs, spinning around slowly and forcing a stiff smile. Meyer wore a half-smile of his own, although it did look rather anxious.

"Hi, Meyer," Alwynn uttered through gritted teeth, getting a curt nod from the man as response.

"Alwynn, what's up with you? You used to practically jump for joy when Meyer came around, am I missing something?" Raul was getting suspicious, glancing from Meyer to Alwynn and back again.

"You're probably busy, aren't you, Wynn? Don't wanna hang out with us old folks when you've got something better to do," Meyer teased, giving Alwynn time to dart up the rest of the stairs without another word. He would likely get questioned about it later in more detail by Raul but he didn't care. He just couldn't be around Meyer, it stirred up all sorts of odd feelings within him.

Alwynn had only been sat in his room for ten minutes before he noticed an odd aroma drifting up from downstairs. Frowning, he rose from his bed and walked to his door, finding the smell stronger as he ventured down to the living room. A smirk wove its way onto Alwynn's face as he leant in the doorway to the living room, neither his brother nor Meyer having noticed him yet.

"Raul, are you smoking pot?" Raul visibly jumped, his expression similar to a deer caught in headlights, "oh, mom and dad wouldn't be pleased," Raul's jaw moved up and down a little, the words clearly finding themselves in his mind but not quite able to make it over his lips, "how about I make you a deal? I won't tell mom and dad about your little weed problem, if you tell them I was here all day and don't ask questions about where I'm going," Raul's shocked expression melted into defeat and he nodded weakly, "I'll be back by five, if not, cover for me," Alwynn slipped on his boots and jacket, making it halfway to the door before Raul spoke up.

"Are you going to see your boyfriend?" Alwynn blanched, thankful he was facing away from his brother so he couldn't the colour drain from the boy's face, "that's who you were texting all day, wasn't it? And who you snuck out to see, you should really count to two hundred, not one," Alwynn couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't even think, "Al, I've known you were gay for years. Your crush on Meyer was pretty obvious and gran slipped up years ago but she made me promise not to say anything."