--
VEGAS
--
Alexi sat at the table beside Riley. Lorenzo sat beside Riley with Joseph who was looking around the room bored. Hayden walked in and sat across from them shooting his brother a nasty glare before four people were brought in and sat beside him.
"Riley, lovely seeing you again." Hayden said before looking over at Alexi. He stared at him for a moment before turning back to Riley. "So you want to write up a contract? Our two families have no alliance; writing a contract would technically form one." Hayden informed them, causing Riley to tense up.
"Not with the clause I'm putting in, if I ever catch your brother in my sight again I'm gonna shoot him on the spot." Riley said through clenched teeth. He couldn't even believe he was sitting in the same room as Joseph and the man was still breathing. He was ready to get the meeting over with.
"Fine." Hayden said, snapping his fingers for someone to bring him a knife. He made a cut down his palm and held his hand and the knife out for Riley. Riley followed suit making an incision down his palm before connecting it with Hayden's.
"Take him to the basement and keep him there." Hayden said to his guards. The men pulled Joseph out of his seat and dragged him along. Riley had his guards collect the two men and women to take them to his vehicles.
"For your brother's sake and yours I hope we never meet again." Riley said as he stood to leave. Lorenzo followed him nodding at Hayden as he left the room. Alexi stayed behind looking at Hayden.
Hayden stared back at him before signaling for all of his guards to leave the room. "Alexander." Hayden called out as they stared at each other. "Don't call me that." Alexi said as he stood up. Hayden grabbed his arm before the man could leave. "I know what he did, but you'll always be my best and only friend Alexi." Hayden said as he stared up at Alexi.
Alexi shook his grip from Hayden's hand. "We were so much more than friends Hayden, I loved you like a brother, and you let him take me." Alexi said before he left the room. Hayden watched him leave and it felt like they were both fourteen again.
"It was the biggest mistake I ever made." Hayden called out after Alexi as the man left his sight.
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OREGON
--
Elias stared at the tree with a frown. Something was off about it. He gasped and then searched through the bags for the tree topper. Jestion came down holding June who was listening to some video on Jestion's phone.
"The tree topper, should we let June put it on?" Elias asked as he saw June completely immersed in the sounds of the video. "Yeah we'll let Riley help him, he's tall enough to get him up there and guide him." Jestion said, sitting June down on the couch. They smiled at June who was trying to copy the words he was hearing, he was also signing them slowly.
"His teacher is doing a great job!" Elias said as they watched him sign a couple of words. "I know they haven't even been working together for that long but he's so good at putting words together." Jestion said, patting June's head.
"Okay what else needs to be done?" Jestion asked as he looked around the fully decorated house. "Not much we need to decorate the outside, and Caleb is in the dining room writing his letter to Santa. If you wanna help, I'll look after June." Elias said as he looked at his list then back at Jestion.
Jestion smiled and left the room to check on Caleb. He walked in and saw the boy concentrating. He went to sit beside the boy to see what he had written. "Can I help you with anything?" Jestion asked as he tried to read the list. Caleb's handwriting was messy and some of the words were misspelled but he mostly got everything right.
"How do you spell happier?" Caleb asked as he was writing the last request on his list. Jestion helped him before he looked at the whole sentence. His heart ached as he read what Caleb had written.
5. Can you made sure my mama is happier
Jestion felt tears threatening to leave his eyes as he smiled at Caleb and gave him a hug. "You know I knew your mama?" Jestion said with a sad smile. Caleb looked at him wanting to know more about his mom.
"When we met we both were just trying to survive the cold winter night. She was so feisty she saved me more times than I can count." Jestion said as he thought about all the times he spent with Violet. "One night I came home so sad and she baked me brownies but they were burnt and hard. I remember laughing at them until she made me eat them." Jestion said as he began to cry. Caleb looked at him and gave him a hug.
"Don't cry please." Caleb said as he hugged Jestion. Jestion looked at him and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Your mother was very strong Caleb and you and your brother are just as strong as she was." Jestion spoke as he stared into Caleb's eyes. The boy's eyes were shining with happiness at being compared to his mother.
Jestion then noticed how Caleb had the same big blue eyes as his mother. Her eyes always seemed to shine with hope and happiness even when the both of them were in the worst situations imaginable.
"Your mom is so proud of both of you. I want you to know that Caleb." Jestion said as he held Caleb's face and gave him a kiss on his head. "Her name was Violet and I don't want you to ever forget her okay?" Jestion said as he let go of Caleb. The boy nodded and looked back at his list. He read over it making sure it was perfect for his first list.
"Do you think you're ready to send it?" Jestion questioned as he watched Caleb look over the list. Caleb nodded and grabbed the envelope that Elias had given him. "Will you help me put it in?" Caleb asked Jestion, making the male smile. Jestion grabbed the paper and showed Caleb how to fold it so it fit perfectly.
--
VEGAS
--
Alexi stood silently next to the group as they talked. Riley kept glancing at him as he chatted with his friend about what they were going to do and invited them to Christmas in Oregon. Alexi boarded the plane after saying a short goodbye to everyone while Riley continued to chat.
"Jestion would love it if you all came." Riley said as he looked at Alexi walking up the steps. "Only Jestion, Riley you hurt us." Marco teased his friend by throwing an arm around him. Riley slapped his arm away and rolled his eyes.
Bradley and his boyfriend arrived a few minutes later with their suitcases. "Are mom and dad coming?" Bradley asked as he hugged his brother and brother in law. "I don't know, unless Jestion or Heather called them probably not." Riley said as he watched his sister and nephews walk up.
Lorenzo leaned down and picked up his boys as they ran to him. "Honey, did you call your parents?" Lorenzo asked as he kissed his wife when she walked over to him. "No, I thought Jess would." Heather said, making Riley groan and pull out his phone.
"Mom is going to kill me." Riley said as he called his mother to tell them to fly in for Christmas. Heather hugged Bradley as she stared at Riley with amusement in her eyes. Her mom would never blame her, she was her parents princess and Bradley was their precious baby so Riley would be at fault for this.
"Let's get on the plane, let me know if you all are coming we'll get rooms set up for you." Riley said as he walked up the stairs yelling clearly coming from his phone.
Bradley, Heather, Lorenzo and Carl waved goodbye to the group as theyboarded.
--
OREGON
--
Elias panted as he ran down the stairs with sheets and blankets. Riley and Jestion had forgotten to inform him that Riley's brother, sister, and parents would be coming to stay with them. So now Elias was sharing a room with Alexi, Heather and Lorenzo would take one room. The twins would share a room with Caleb, Jestion and Riley would stay in one room and Bradley and Carl would sleep outside in the small cabin in the back and his parents would be staying in the basement.
"Elias, his parents won't be here for another week, calm down." Jestion said as he followed his brother downstairs. "Yes but Bradley and Carl are staying here until I make sure their cabin out back has everything fixed. My parents were fixing it up for me but I didn't finish it after they passed." Elias said as he hurriedly fixed the bed.
"You don't talk much about them." Jestion said as he fixed the bed with Elias. Elias paused and looked at Jestion thinking about his parents. "Mom taught me how to bake." Elias said as he held the rings on his necklace.
"I was so sad when I came to stay with them and baking calmed me so much, it brought us closer together." Elias said remembering all the times he baked with his mom. He shook his head and continued with fixing the bed.
"They died three years ago next week." Elias said as he finished making the bed. Jestion walked closer to him and hugged him. "They sound like they were lovely people." Jestion said, trying to comfort his brother. Elias nodded and smiled. "They were the best." He said quietly before thinking.
"I don't remember mom." Elias told Jestion as he felt tears slowly fall down his face. Jestion looked at his brother. He looked just like their mother just as Jestion did. "Well, you have her eyes and her hair and her bubbly personality." Jestion said as he played with Elias' unruly curls. They went in almost every direction much like his own.
"Although she'll probably be made, we both turned out super pale for latinos." Jestion chuckled looking down at their skin colors. Jestion was tan but still super pale compared to their mother and Elias was basically just white.
"Mom was latina?" Elias asked as he looked up at his brother. Jestion nodded with a smile as he brushed Elias' hair back. "Okay let's get back upstairs to the boys before Caleb tries to send that letter off by himself." Jestion said as he pulled his brother back upstairs.
They were met with a lively group as Riley and his siblings, their partners and his nephew walked through the door. Jestion felt two kids run into his legs and he looked down at the boys. "Cass, Cal you two get stronger every time I see you." Jestion laughed as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Where's Caleb?" The boys asked at the same time looking around for the older boy.
"In the dining room, be careful his leg is still hurt." Jestion warned them before sending them off. He then turned to the group and gave his fiance a quick kiss before going to hug Heather. The woman wrapped her arms around him with a smile. "I'm gonna go after them, they'll never let him rest." Heather said following her kids into the dinning room.
Lorenzo gave Jestion a hug and the male smiled at him. "It's good to see you looking good again." Lorenzo said before following his wife to tame their children. Bradley came up and gave Jestion a big hug. The male was about the same height as Elias which was considerably short compared to Jestion and almost every other male in the room besides the kids.
"I feel like it's been forever Jess!" Bradley said as he hugged Jestion tighter tears threatened to pour from his eyes until he caught sight of Elias. He let out a gasp looking at him and instantly threw himself from Jestion. "Oh my goodness you look just like your brother but with more twink." Bradley said, making his boyfriend grab him before he threw himself onto Elias.
"Sorry he gets excited when he sees people the same height as him." Carl apologized as he steadied his boyfriend. Alexi walked in after them carrying luggage and frowning. He dropped the luggage before stomping upstairs.
Elias stared at him before excusing himself. He followed after Alexi called his name, making Bradley gasp. "Are they?" He asked looking at Jestion who frowned and nodded. Bradley smiled and started to gush about how cute they were while Jestion showed him and Carl where they'd be sleeping.
----
Alexi laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling. He heard the door open and watched Elias walk in before turning his head back to the roof. Elias came in and sat on the bed. "I don't know what's making you so quiet, but I thought we talked to each other, Alexi." Elias said as he sat on the edge staring at the wall. He didn't know how to comfort Alexi when the male didn't talk to him.
"When I was a kid, I was taken in by a family to become a bodyguard for their youngest son." Alexi started as he sat up looking at Elias. "I grew a bond with that boy. We were closer than brothers, we did everything together." Alexi sighed before he fully sat up to scoot towards Elias. "His brother was a sicko, everyone knew he would take over... but one day his sicko brother told him that the only way he would fully let go is if he let him have me." Alexi said quietly remembering the look in Joseph's eyes as he bargained with his brother for him.
"That day I remembered what I was to that family, something they could just throw away, that's when I met Jestion he took me in and showed me how to stay out of trouble." Alexi said as he stared into Elias' eyes as the boy looked at him. Elias scooted closer to Alexi and raised his hand to his cheek. "You are so much more than something someone can just throw away Alexi and even if it takes the rest of my life I will show you that." Elias promised as he stared into Alexi's eyes.
Alexi hugged him, moving his face always so Elias couldn't see him cry. Elias could feel the tears wet his shoulder as he hugged the male back. After all the little dates, and revealing parts of themselves they wouldn't show anyone Elias felt this was the biggest moment in their progressing relationship.
"I-I love you." Elias said quietly he knew it was too soon, but there was no other way to describe the way Alexi made him feel. Alexi felt himself pause before he hugged Elias tighter. "I love you." Alexi repeated burying his face into Elias' neck. They felt like they could stay there for hours with each other.
All they needed at that moment was one another. The word disappeared and it left nothing but them and their growing love.