- Chapter 5 - Cause and Affect; Cute Boys -
Warnings: Slight injuries, confusion
Third Person POV
Spot walks inside with Knobs after being nominated to grab ice.
Race had fallen and his knee, though he wouldn't admit it hurt, was swelling up quickly.
Spot was talking with Albert, when he heard a yell.
They turn to see what had happened and saw Race laying on the ground.
Jack drops what he was doing and runs over to him, Specs already next to Race.
Spot and Albert share a look, before they go over to them as well.
"What happened?" Specs asks hurriedly.
Race takes deep breaths. "I just fell." He explains. "I'm fine." He pushes Specs' hands away from him.
Jack pulls up his pant leg, finding Race's knee already bright red and yellow.
He cringes. "That's not fine. That's going to get worse quickly." He states.
Race sighs deeply. "Course it is." He mutters.
Knobs ran to the basement to get ice, snapping Spot out of his flashback and leaving him in the living room, alone and awkward.
Hannah and Medda came into the room.
Hannah smiles when she sees him. "You must be-" she stops for a moment. "Spot? Right?"
Spot nods.
"Antonio told me you were our neighbor." She informs him. "Welcome to the neighborhood. Most of his friends live within three blocks of our house." She informs him.
Spot nods. "They're nice." He informs her.
Hannah chuckles. "I'm glad. If they weren't, I'd probably have to talk to him about that." She responds.
Spot nods.
"Oh, right." Hannah lightly chuckles. "You probably don't know me."
"I'm afraid not, Miss." Spot responds with a polite smile.
"I'm Hannah, Antonio's foster mom." Hannah introduces herself. "This is Medda Larkin, Jack and Crutchie's foster mom."
Medda waves, her smile warm and her movements had a sense of grace to them.
Spot nods. "It's very nice to meet you both."
The two older women smile.
Knobs comes running up with the ice.
Hannah gets concerned quickly when she sees it. "Is everything okay?" She asks.
Knobs turns to face her. "Race tripped."
Hannah frowns a bit.
"His leg is swelling quickly, but he keeps saying it doesn't hurt." Knobs explains.
Hannah nods. "If the ice doesn't help, I want to see it." She tells him. "And I want him to stop playing for a bit to rest it."
She'd helped Race with a lot of injuries and she knew how much he could handle.
Knobs nods.
He and Spot head back outside.
Race was laying on the ground, his leg pant rolled up while Specs looked at it.
He was using Romeo's shirt (of which he volunteered to let them use) that they had gotten wet to clean Race's knee.
Specs face was a nice shade of red as he tried to avoid looking at his boyfriend.
Race was wincing in pain, but only slightly.
Knobs hands the ice to Davey, who was bent down next to Specs, who sat on the ground.
Ike stares down at Race. "Guess you forgot my directions." He jokes.
Race rolls his eyes. "I didn't." He mutters. "My body just decided it wanted it to be a bad injury day." He defends himself quietly.
The boys chuckle.
"No." Specs responds, getting Romeo's shirt wet again. "You've only tripped twice today. We're nowhere close to our record," he states.
Race purses his lips, considering this. "Yeah. You're probably right." He responds.
"Weird how that usually happens." Specs chuckles softly, twisting Race's knee slightly to the side.
Race rolls his eyes before wincing in pain.
Albert stares at them. "I'm going to regret this," he mumbles. "But what's the record?" He asks.
"Eleven times in four hours." Multiple boys answer in unison.
(And that's totally not inspired by (Author).
Shut it, Race.
Look who's saying that after she tells us to be nice and not fight.
You're all children.)
Spot and Albert stare at Race, eyes wide.
"Maybe that's why I'm still single," Race jokes. "No one wants to take care of someone who's this clumsy."
Crutchie shoots him a stern look.
He opens his mouth to speak, but Race cuts him off before he could.
"I know, I know." He mutters, rolling his eyes. "Self love is important and I am wonderful." He sounded sarcastic.
"Talk." Crutchie tells him. "Later." He points from Race to himself.
Race rolls his eyes, looking up at the sky.
He winces a bit in pain. "Why couldn't we have done this when there were stars out?" He mumbles. "Then, I'd have something to look at."
"Look at Spot." Albert states, deadly serious.
Spot smirks.
Race turns bright red, causing some of the boys to snicker.
"Tell some star facts then." Elmer tells Race, tracing the freckles on his face and holding his hand from where he sat to the left of him on the ground.
Jack stands next to Albert and Spot. "Race loves stars and space. He knows so much about it," he informs them quietly, his eyes fixated on his younger brother.
Albert and Spot share a look, before they both look back at Jack.
"He'll rant about star facts for hours and still have more to tell you." Jack continues. "It's seriously impressive and some of them are pretty cool." He states.
Albert and Spot nod.
Their attention was brought back to Race when he started speaking.
"There's something called a 'Cold Wedding' in Space." Race starts, staring at the sky. "It's when two pieces of metal touch, they will bond and be stuck together forever." He explains.
The boys look at him, silently telling him to continue.
"It happens because the atoms of individual pieces of metal in space have no way of knowing that they're different pieces of metal, so they lump together." Race explains with a soft chuckle. "Kinda like Blink and Mush." He jokes.
The two boys blush, causing some others to laugh.
Elmer grabs JoJo's arm. "Oh no! JoJo! We are stuck together forever!" He dramatizes.
JoJo giggles. "Help us, Michael!" He exclaims, reaching out for his boyfriend.
Mike starts to help up him, when JoJo pulls him in the middle of him and Elmer.
"Oh no!" JoJo exclaims. "We've stuck Mike with us too!" He dramatizes.
Elmer and JoJo giggle together, Mike giggling a bit as well.
The other boys chuckle.
Les falls on Lucky. "Oh no! Lucky Charms! We've become one!" He exclaims, clinging to Lucky.
"Les!" Lucky whines, trying to get up.
Les laid over him, his back against Lucky's back.
Les keeps him on the ground, clinging to him. "I guess we'll have to stay here, together, forever." He dramatizes, his hands over his eyes.
Lucky gives in, just flopping on his stomach on the ground, Les still on top of him.
"You guys are a very unique group of individuals." Spot tells Jack.
Jack chuckles.
"Welp, we've wrapped my knee and cleaned it." Race shrugs, sitting up. "I can get back to playing now." He states, trying to get back up.
Specs forces him to stay seated.
"That's not a good idea." Albert mumbles.
Jack points to him. "Listen to the redhead," he tells the younger boy, who rolls his eyes. "We'll see how you are in twenty minutes. For now, we'll all take a break." He decides.
Race nods, leaning his back against the fence.
After twenty minutes
Hannah cleared Race and said that as long as he took breaks and didn't strain it, he could play again.
Race was literally begging her to allow him to play again, so that did have some say in it.
Currently, there are ten seconds left on the clock.
Albert catches the ball.
He makes eye contact with Race, who was closer to come plate than he was.
He throws the ball to Race.
Race catches it, running to home base, where Spot was also running.
Spot narrows his eyes at Race.
It was either Spot or Race.
Whoever got there first won the game.
All of the boys stared at them in suspense, each cheering for their teammate.
Race smirks, touching the ball to the plate a millisecond before Spot's foot hit it.
He winces in pain a bit.
Jack blows the whistle, letting it fall out of his mouth. "Blue team wins!" He announces.
The boys from the blue team cheer.
Race grins.
He and Spot spit-shake.
"That's was good," Spot tells him. "Close."
Race nods in agreement.
Specs walks over to Race, a stern look on his face. "That was definitely straining it." He states, his arms crossed.
Race rolls his eyes. "I won't use it much for the rest of the night," he mutters.
Specs nods. "I better not find you climbing a tree again." He tells him, before walking off.
Race rolls his eyes. "Daily." He mutters.
Spot chuckles.
"Quick question," Spot starts.
Race looks up at him.
"Do you happen to know what Polyamory is?" Spot asks cautiously.
Race looked confused. "I'm sorry. What?" He asks.
Spot shakes his head. "Nothing. Never mind."
He walked off before Race could speak.
Race starts limping to the kitchen.
Jack stops him, forcing him to climb onto his back, carrying him into the kitchen (of which Race hated).
They sat in the kitchen in silence for a few minutes.
"Hey, Jack." Race starts, his eyes fixated on his water bottle lid that he kept popping open and closed.
Jack looks at him. "Yeah?"
"What's Polyamory?" Race asks, looking up at him.
"More than two people in a relationship." Jack answers, filling his cup of water again. "Why?" He asks.
Race's eyes widen.
It didn't take long for him to connect the dots.
His face goes bright red. "Spot asked me if I knew what it was..." he mutters.
Jack chuckles softly.
"Come on," Jack leans on the island, across from Race. "Let's head outside."
Race shakes his head, pulling his hand away from the water bottle as to stop popping the lid. "I'll come out in a few. I need a bit of silence." He tells the older boy.
Jack shoots him a wary look. "I'm not sure I want you walking right now." He responds slowly.
"I'll text you." Race tells him, looking him in the eyes. "Just make sure to have your phone."
Jack nods.
He squeezes Race's hand gently, before turning to leave the room.
"Jack," Race's voice stops him.
Jack turns to face him.
"Do you have a fidget toy in your pocket by any chance?" Race questions. "And if so, can I borrow one?" He asks softly.
"You nervous, Toni?" Jack asks softly, pulling a blue and white fidget cube out of his pocket.
He kept different kinds of fidget toys in his pockets for if his brothers (or boyfriend or himself) needed them for many different reasons.
Race nods softly. "My nerves tend to spike when I'm tired and confused." He responds, catching the fidget cube that Jack threw him.
Jack nods. "If you need anything, tell me." He reminds him.
Race nods.
"Wait..." he starts. "I just admitted that I'm tired, didn't I?" He asks.
Jack chuckles. "Yup."
Race shoots him a wide-eyed look. "These boys are affecting me more than I realize." He mutters, laying his head on the island/table.
Jack chuckles, leaving the room.
Race fidgets with the fidget cube in his hand.
Couldn't love be less confusing?
Race sighs softly.
When all was said and done, Race was glad he met Albert and Spot.
1920 Words