Dozza, Italy
---
Soft panting filled the space as the male crouched behind the bar. He felt confined by the mask on his face but he knew removing it could be deadly for him. He slowly crouched and walked towards the end of the bar to take a peak when a gunshot went off whisking past his face. He jumped back, settling against the bar and grabbed the gun from his side.
"Come on out pretty boy." The voice taunted him as he tried to figure out what to do. He knew this was the biggest job he'd ever taken on and all his training had never prepared him to fight his own group. Jestion eventually went to peek around again and shot the guy in the leg bringing him down when the doors to the bar bursted open.
Jestion caught a glimpse of the men that just entered the room and let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding in. He stood up walking over to the wounded man and kicking the gun away from him before walking over to the group. The leader of the group grabbed him by the waist pulling him close to him before removing the mask from his face.
"I told you to wait for me." Riley smiled at the smaller male as he leaned in to kiss him. After the short kiss Jestion turned back towards the man on the ground and shrugged. "You also knew I wouldn't listen." He trailed off teasing his fiance. He separated from the man to walk over to the guy he'd shot a kneeled down removing the mask from his face. His face shifted into anger as he saw an entirely different man than the one he wanted to see.
"That mother fucker!" He yelled as he stood up kicking the man. He turned to his fiance and sighed, taking his hand up to pull his own hair. "It's not him." Jestion said bitterly before storming out of the building. Riley stared at the back of his retreating fiance and sighed.
"Get him up and take him to the basement." He told his men before following Jestion to their car.
---
Jacksonville, Oregon
---
I sighed as I walked home from school. I was bundled up as much as my mother could get me to. I had always been one to get sick easily so she never let me leave the house in the winter without at least two layers of clothes. I'd been living in the small town with my foster family for five years now and as I slowly approached my senior year I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I didn't have friends, but my mother and father made it worth living as they took care of me and gave me the love I'd searched for. As soon as I got home I was welcomed with the scent of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I smiled knowing my mom must've closed the bakery early that day and kicked off my shoes before walking into the kitchen.
"Welcome home honey!" My mom said happily as I walked over to her looking at the cookies. She was covered in flour and it was all over the counter as she rolled out pie crust. I gave her a peck on the cheek and went to sit my things down so I could help her.
"How was school today?" She said as she grabbed my apron from the wall to hand to me. I sighed and smiled putting on the same facade I had for years. School wasn't bad, school wasn't anything. I went, I learned and I went home. "It was great, I'm glad it's winter break though." I told her as I tied the apron on and went to wash my hands.
"Do you want to go to the cabin for Christmas or stay home?" She asked as she went back to rolling out the dough. I thought for a second, we hadn't been to the cabin in three years. I loved being there because I felt so free and I always seemed to paint more when we're there.
"How long is dad's winter vacation?" I asked as I went over the stove to stir the apple pie filling. She paused for a second thinking before she let out a small sound and turned around. "Oh guess what! He got promoted so he gets two weeks off this Christmas." She said happily. I turned from the stove and smiled. My dad had been waiting for the promotion for months.
"So that's why you're baking an apple pie." I laughed as she nodded happily. They were so in love, it made me excited to fall in love one day. I looked down at my hand at the ring they'd gotten for me. We all wore matching ones. "We can leave tomorrow if we all pack tonight!" She added turning around to roll out more dough.
-
I woke up happily from the memory/dream. That was my last Christmas with my parents. One the way up to the cabin we were run off the road by a truck. I only survived because my parents had helped me out of the sinking cars before helping themselves. I stood watching my parents car fall deeper into the icy rivers as I crawled to the snow to get off the breaking ice.
It was always around this time of year when I had these dreams. I clutched the necklace around my neck that held our family rings as I crawled out of bed. My parents had left their bakery, house, and other car to me. It took me a while to get into a routine without them but eventually I went on to keep them alive by keeping the bakery alive.
I got out of bed walking to the kitchen passing by my parents room. People told me to move out of the house because of the memories but I couldn't. This house had been the first place I ever felt like I belonged. I couldn't let that go. I went into the kitchen to make some breakfast for myself and get ready for the Christmas request I had to finish today.
--
Dozza Italy
--
Jestion laid in bed thinking. How could that bastard have escaped them, he knew their feud was far from over. Joseph had vowed to make his life a living hell the day Jestion decided to leave the Phantoms and be with Riley. After two years of back and forth fighting and his engagement Joseph couldn't have just disappeared. Jestion then sat up abruptly pulling Riley from his sleep.
"Elias." Jestion whispered to himself as he held onto the necklace with his little brother's picture in it. Riley sat up wrapping his arms around his husband. He was still half asleep and wanted to go straight back to sleep.
"Riley we have to go to America, I have to go get my brother now." Jestion said frantically as he jumped up from the bed. He and Riley had planned out how they were going to put Jestion back in his brother's life. He was going to write a letter and wait for Elias to decide if wanted to call him or not, but he knew Joseph wouldn't give them a choice anymore.
Riley fully woke up as he saw his fiance frantically looking around for their suitcases and packing clothes. Riley stared at him for a moment before getting out of bed. "Go to sleep I'll pack for us and we'll leave at four in the morning, let me make some calls." Riley coxed Jestion as he grabbed the clothes in his hands leading his fiance back to bed.
Jestion reluctantly laid down knowing Riley wouldn't allow him to argue. He drifted off to sleep.
Jestion woke up with Riley shaking him softly. "It's time to go." Riley said as he sat on the bed moving Jestion's hair from his face. Jestion yawned and sat up seeing his husband fully dressed in his normal suit. Usually this would be the time Jestion would pull him back in bed and Riley would then have to find another suit to wear while the one he was wearing would be sent for repairs, BUT this was not the time for that. Jestion crawled out of bed and went to shower.
Riley had laid out his outfit. Jestion didn't like wearing full suits so he just usually wore a black button up with cargo pants for all his weapons and combat boots for his knives. Riley thought his husband had a horrible fashion sense but Jestion only dressed for combat when he was stressed. On less stressful days Jestion would wear one of Riley's shirts and on those days Riley learned to not complain about Jestion's fashion sense.
Once they were all ready to go Riley said goodbye to his parents before they left with their driver. "So your parents' house was condemned. We contacted your aunt who said they'd died about a year after you left." Riley started looking up at his husband from the email on his phone. Jestion nodded for him to continue.
"Your brother was put in an orphanage where he lived until he was thirteen until he was adopted by the Freemans. They passed away two years ago in a car accident with your brother being the only survivor." Riley finished tossing his phone to the side to hold his brother.
"He's been alone all these years..." Jestion whispered to himself as he fell into his husband's arms. Jestion's life was no piece of cake but he felt mad at himself for not going after his brother sooner. Elias was only five when he left home at fourteen. Taking his brother with him was something he had wanted to do but he couldn't let the boy struggle like he had so he decided it would be better to leave him. After all the only reason Jestions step-father hated him so much was because he wasn't the man's son.
When they made it to the private airport Jestion got out of the car with a heavy heart. He only hoped his brother would be okay and would forgive him for leaving.
--
Jacksonville, Oregon
--
Elias was working on closing the bakery for the night when the bell sounded signaling someone had come inside. Elias walked out from the back to tell them they were closed when he saw the handsome man.
The male was tall and gave Elias a dazzling smile as he walked up to the counter. "I see your closing but I was just wondering if you had one cupcake left?" The man asked, leaning down to look in the display cabinet. Elias blushed before going to the back to pack up a box of four cupcakes.
"You can have them! They would've just come home with me and I eat enough of them!" He said flustered as he handed the male the box. The man nodded, grabbing the cupcake, his hand brushing against Elias' hand.
"When do you open back up after the holidays, beautiful?" He questioned Elias not breaking eye contact with him. Elias turned bright red from the pet name. He wasn't used to this type of attention from anyone and hearing the handsome guy call him beautiful almost shut his brain down. "Tuesday.." He whispered out, pulling his hand back slowly from the man.
"I'll see you then." The man said, turning around and walking out of the bakery. When he left Elias walked up to the door locking it. He let out a sigh and walked to the back to finish closing. "I gotta get out more." He told himself as he shook off the flustered feelings.
The man's face turned sour as he walked away from the bakery throwing the cupcakes away in a nearby dumpster. "It's his brother they're practically fucking twins." He said on the phone as he lit a cigarette watching the bakery from his car. "I'm gonna follow him home, once I get him you guys go in and do what I told you." He said over the phone before hanging up.
Elias left the bakery in his car. He smiled looking at the apple pie he placed in the passenger seat. It was the anniversary of his parents death. He took off from the bakery heading home for the night to celebrate his parents' lives by himself. He had made plans to go to the cemetery in the morning to visit them.
As soon as he made it inside he closed the door locking it and sat the pie on the kitchen table while he went upstairs to shower. He undressed and got into the shower feeling a little weird. It felt like someone was watching him but he shook off the weird feeling knowing he was alone. He showered peacefully thinking everything was okay.
The man thought breaking into the boy's house was way too easy. "This town thinks they're way too safe." He said to himself as he walked through the backdoor he pried open. He stood around the kitchen looking around for a place to hide. As he was looking he heard soft footsteps entering the room and gave up looking, pointing his gun at the door.
Elias walked in staring at the masked male in his kitchen holding a gun. He felt like he could pass out as they stared at each other and despite all of his better judgment he did. He felt the world around him go dark as his body went limp.
The male stared at the boy on the ground and pulled his mask off putting his gun away. "You made this way too easy, kid, you're nothing like your brother." The man said to the unconscious boy as he picked him up walking out of the back door with him. He made quick work dialing his partners on his phone. "It's time." He said before hanging up quickly and walking to his car throwing the unconscious boy in the trunk he made quick work of tying the small male's arms and legs before shutting the trunk and leaving the neighborhood.