Oli's POV:
Silas waltzed back into the room during an episode of Say Yes To The Dress. He laughed lightly when he saw the TV screen and took the remote from my hand. Vince and I both looked up at his brother suspiciously.
"Did you take your tablets bro?" Vince asked. It was sweet how much he cares for his younger brother.
"Yup" Silas popped the 'P' and sat next to Vince on the bed. It was silent for a few minutes while Silas chose a programme. He settled on a Mr Bean cartoon and put the remote down.
Silas glanced over at me nervously, "Sorry Oli." He whispered, offering a small smile. I smiled back brightly.
"No worries, Silas. Are you alright?" I asked. He nodded and turned back to the TV, signalling the end of our conversation. Vince gave me a gentle reassuring leg squeeze. I looked over at him to see him mouth 'thank you'. Thank you for what? I just nodded, then turned back to the TV.
We sat in silence for the next half an hour until we heard a knock at the door. The three of us watched as the door opened and Terry popped her head round.
"Dinner's here. We ordered Chinese." She grinned, gesturing for us to follow her. Silas turned off the TV and the three of us followed Terry into the living room. The hotel room was fairly large with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living area. The living area was decent sized also, with a TV, two sofas and a coffee table.
The five of us crowded around the coffee table as we dished ourselves a plate of rice, noodles and chicken balls. I poured a dollop of sweet and sour sauce onto my rice and stirred it in using my fork. Terry started a conversation about her sons' schooling arrangements back home, which caused Silas to groan loudly.
"Mum, I don't care that we're missing school to come here. School's shit." Silas moaned.
"Language." His mother warned. Silas just rolled his eyes.
"Oli, you're in college, aren't you?" Rick asked, changing the subject.
"Yes," I nodded, "I'm starting my second year in September."
"Oh, next month then." Terry nodded in approval, "What are you studying?"
"Mainly Psychology, but I'm also studying Law and English Lit." I told her, feeling proud when her eyes lit up.
"Wow, that's ambitious." Terry praised. Rick was grinning proudly too, "Vincent's also studying Law."
"Yeah, I want to be a lawyer." Vince said, shoveling a forkful of rice into his mouth. Silas was staring at his plate, his expression distant. Rick saw me watching Silas and nudged him to attention. Silas looked around confused then returned to his plate, gingerly twirling noodles into his fork.
I looked around the room to see everyone sitting awkwardly. Terry cleared her throat, glancing helplessly at Rick.
"So - Uhm - Oli, what do you want to do when you grow up?" Rick asked lightly.
"I was thinking about maybe going into the criminal psychology field. I've always found it interesting." I smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but I saw Rick stiffen slightly. Vince drew my attention when he snorted loudly.
"You'll probably see Silas there. I swear he's going to murder someone one day." Vincent joked. Silas' head snapped up and his deadly eyes drilled into Vincent. His hands started shaking and his eye twitched. He stood up, throwing his plate to the floor, and marched towards the bedroom. The door closed with a slam.
"Thanks for that, Vince." Rick groaned sarcastically as he picked up pieces of the smashed plate.
"I was only joking." Vincent frowned, holding his head in his hands.
"Vinny, you know he's sensitive," Terry added, scolding her son, "Apologise to him please."
Vince nodded solemnly and traipsed towards the bedroom. Terry put an arm around me and muttered an apology for her sons' behaviours.
"Silas can be quite unpredictable; he's scared he'll really hurt somebody one day. Vince struck a nerve." Terry explained in a whisper. Rick nodded dismally, agreeing with his fiancée. I pitied Silas; he was a really sweet kid, he didn't want to hurt anybody.
"Rick, can you please drop me home?" I asked politely. Sure I could walk home but it took over twenty minutes and it was raining outside. Rick peered around the blinds on the window and saw it was, in fact, raining.
"You don't need to leave, Oli. The boys will be alright." Just as Rick said that, a loud thump shook the bedroom wall, then a crash rang out across the room. The three of us gazed warily in the direction we heard the noise. It sounded like somebody was being beaten up in there.
"Rick, check on the boys." Terry instructed. Rick nodded and walked towards the bedroom. When he reached the bedroom door, he entered and closed it behind him.
"They'll be okay. Si gets a little out of hand sometimes," Terry smiled with a shrug. She looked sad, almost ashamed of her boys, "I regret taking him to those karate lessons." She joked. I smiled but it felt empty. I just wanted to leave.
"It's been really nice, thank you for having me, but I should be getting home." I was genuinely grateful for their hospitality, and it had been nice to get to know my stepfamily.
"You said you were going to stay the night. Rick and I have already booked the room next door." Terry frowned. I thought over my options then sighed audibly. I had little choice but to stay the night.
"I just thought Silas would prefer if-" I began.
"No, don't worry about him. He'll get over it. He's almost fifteen, he can handle himself." I could see Terry was angry at Silas and I didn't want to make it any worse.
"Okay, I'll stay. But I should ring my friend to let him know."
"Sure, you go call him." Terry smiled pleasantly.
I left the hotel room and meandered down two flights of stairs until I reached the lobby; the phone reception was bad in the hotel, and I also didn't want anyone overhearing my conversation. I dialled Leo's number and waited until he picked up.
"Hey Oli," Leo greeted, "Hold on one sec."
I waited for a few minutes. I heard Leo pounding up his stairs, whispering to someone. His bedroom door slammed loudly and he was giggling along with whoever was round his house. I assume they both sat on his bed.
"Okay, you're on speaker. Kara's here. Tell us everything!" Leo squealed. I'd like to say it was a manly squeal but I'd be lying.
"Hi Oli!" Kara yelled down the phone. I could practically see her waving.
"Stop waving, I can't see you!" I laughed. I heard both Kara and Leo gasp.
"Witch!" Kara shouted, letting me know I was right. We laughed for a minute before any of us spoke.
"Tell us about your dad." Leo ordered.
"Yeah, tell us everything!" Kara agreed.
"You're never going to believe this-" I started.
"It's Rick! I knew it! Didn't I tell you, Leo. It's Rick." Kara's excitement was oozing through the phone.
"Is she right?" Leo asked.
"Yes! I'm so excited!" I answered. Kara started giggling madly, "Is she on drugs?" I asked Leo.
"My mum let her have sugar." Leo explained. Kara protested but we all knew how she gets when she has too much sugar.
"And I have two stepbrothers." I added suggestively, only to tease them.
"Damn, you're so lucky!" Kara whined.
"You can have-!"
"No, Leo!" I squealed, my mouth falling open at his suggestion, "No, that can not happen."
"Why not?" Leo asked.
"Are they cute?" Kara pressed.
"Yes, but-"
"Ohmigod, you have to!" Kara insisted, her excitement overwhelming her.
"Nice try K," I chuckled, "But Vincent - who's our age - already has a boyfriend, and his brother Silas - who's fourteen - is... Fourteen!"
"You can take the boyfriend! Go find him right now and fuck him up Oli." Leo encouraged.
"You want me to go to Australia right now to punch a guy who's dating my stepbrother?" I questioned, arching an amused eyebrow.
"Yes." Kara answered plainly.
"Rick asked me to move to Australia with him." I mentioned as casually as I could. Leo and Kara both gasped loudly, and it sounded like one of them fell off the bed.
"Ohmigod Leo, get off the floor!" Kara yelled. I'm guessing it was Kara who fell off the bed.
"Stop trying to blame Leo, Kara. I know it was you." I grinned, rolling my eyes. Kara huffed and Leo teased her.
"So, are you moving to Australia?" Leo asked, fearful of my answer.
I thought it over. "I don't know," I answered truthfully, "It's an appealing offer."
"Yes... How about we talk about this later?" Kara said, noticing that Leo was really upset by the news.
"Yeah, we can talk about it properly when I see you tomorrow." I agreed.
"Tomorrow?" Leo asked.
"Oh sorry, I forgot to mention. I'm staying with Rick and his family tonight at the hotel. Is that alright?"
"Sure, that's fine. I'll see you tomorrow." Leo responded.
"Bring the boys!" Kara demanded, giggling insanely again. I chuckled at her eagerness to meet the boys.
"Okay, I'll ask them." I promised.
We continued chatting for a while before we said our goodbyes and hung up. I practically skipped up the stairs back to the hotel room. I stopped at the door, realising I didn't have a key. I'd been on the phone for a while, hopefully the boys weren't asleep already. That would be embarrassing...
I knocked on the door and waited nervously. Finally, I heard shuffling on the other side of the door then it clicked open. Vince stood topless in the doorway, a smile on his plush lips. I almost drooled as I tried not to stare at his body: his abs were defined and his skin was a stunning bronze. I winked at him in approval, grinning when he blushed a deep red.
"I thought you'd ran away." Vince joked, moving out of the way so I could enter. I walked into the room, rolling my eyes as he smirked at me.
"Nah, I was just on the phone to my friends," I explained, walking towards the bedroom, "How's Silas?"
"Better. He punched me but I hit him back harder. No harm done really." Vince smiled. I stopped and turned, noticing he did, in fact, have a grey bruise on below his right eye.
"Silas is a southpaw." I observed, marvelling over the bruise on Vince's cheek. I reached out to brush my finger against it and he winced. It was sore.
Opening the bedroom door, I saw Silas was already curled up in bed. He wasn't asleep but he was close to it.
"Hey Silas. Are you alright?" I was genuinely concerned about the boy. I had a feeling his mother had never shown him much compassion. Silas only nodded in response to my question.
"I'm sorry Oli, for saying mean things. And I'm sorry for hitting you Vince." The apologies were genuine and his eyes were hopeless. Pleading. It made me sad to see him hurting so much.
"Don't worry about it, bro. It's what we do." Vince smiled, knowing just as I did that the young boy needed reassurance. I climbed into bed next to Silas and nodded.
"Yeah, you don't need to apologise. It's hard meeting your stepbrother for the first time. It hasn't been easy for me either." I was unsure where the boundaries were but I wrapped my arms around Silas in a warm hug. He started to cry as I held him. Vince sat beside Silas and rubbed his back affectionately. I let Silas cry into my shoulder until he hiccuped, signalling he had finished crying.
"Shall I put on a movie, Si?" Vince asked gently, "We brought your favourite."
Silas nodded, wiping his eyes as he collected himself. This vulnerable side of Silas was a side I was certain not many people had ever seen, and it was so different from the tough, troublemaker Silas that I'd met this afternoon. At least he seemed somewhat more comfortable around me now.
Vince stood up and opened the draw of the bedside table, revealing a selection of maybe five DVD's they'd brought from home. Vince picked one out of the draw and put it into the player. He turned the TV on, turning the volume down slightly.
"The Outsiders?" Silas asked, his voice scratchy from crying.
"Of course." Vince smiled, climbing back into bed with the remote. He nestled in next to me on the bed, pulling the covers over the three of us. I was sandwiched in between Vince and Silas, both boys resting their heads on my shoulders. I leaned back against the headboard and watched the movie as it started. We watched in a comfortable silence until I was completely lost.
"So his name is Ponyboy? That's his real name?" I asked.
"Yup." Silas answered.
"And that guy... He's called Johnny?"
"Yes Oli." Silas said, starting to get irritated.
"Ponyboy's cute." I observed, smiling contently.
I remained silent for the rest of the movie, which I found extremely difficult. I would always give a running commentary of a film as I watched, giving my opinions and predictions. Even if I were watching a movie alone, I couldn't help it. I enjoyed the movie but, by the end, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Vince clicked the TV off as the film finished.
"That was such a good film." I grinned sleepily.
"I'm glad you liked it." Silas mumbled. He was also struggling to stay awake.
We all laid down in bed and it wasn't long before Silas started snoring. I chuckled to myself, since I was sure Vince was also asleep.
"Oli?" Vince wasn't asleep.
"Yes Vince?" I asked, turning on my side to face him. Our faces were inches apart; the bed was barely big enough for the three of us.
"I'm glad you're not a creep."
"I wouldn't be too sure." I laughed quietly, trying not to wake Silas.
"Seriously though. I hope you decide to live with us." I could make out his smile in the dark room.
"Thank, Vince." I responded, smiling back at him.
During the movie, we had both taken off our jeans and shirts to sleep. Silas had put on a pair of pyjamas. Vince brushed his leg against mine as he shifted position. I shivered at the contact. Then he surprised me by brushing the back of his hand against my cheek.
"You're really pretty," Vince whispered, more like he was thinking aloud rather than speaking to me. He moved closer to me slowly and I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead, Vince close his eyes and yawned.
"Goodnight Oli." He mumbled sleepily.
"Goodnight Vince."