Alan's POV
I had just finished another tutoring session with Kellin and was heading on home. I was really tired since I'd been up since 6am because I had to finishing doing a few things for college. I was working on getting in as early as I possibly could.
I really wanted to get into Harvard to study law.
"Hey," I heard Kellin say, driving up next to me as I walked down the street. "You want a ride?"
I looked over and smiled, "Sure, thank you." I said and got in his car.
"You should have told me earlier that you needed a ride," he said, driving one more.
"I didn't want to be a bother."
"You're never a bother," he told me.
I shrugged and looked out the window.
"I'm serious."
"Serious about what?"
"You're not a bother to me," he said sweetly.
"Oh, thank you. You don't bother me either, sorry if you ever thought that or thought I didn't like you. I didn't mean to mean when I have been."
"It's fine. I don't think anyone's really my fan to be honest."
"I am and I know Austin is."
Kellin shrugged and didn't say anything.
"Sorry, did I do something wrong?" I asked.
"No, you didn't do anything," he said.
"Okay."
"How's your day been?"
"I'm really tired."
"Oh, I'm sorry. We're almost to your place," he said.
"It's okay. I just had to get up earlier today."
"I understand, I have to get up at like four every morning to get shit done," he laughed.
"Why that early?"
"Because I have to make sure I'm ready for the day and then I've to get all of my siblings up and, if they're home, help my parents get their shit together."
"How many siblings do you have?"
"Four, two little sisters and two little brothers."
"That's a lot of kids."
"Well, Kailey is sixteen and Hudson's thirteen. It's mainly Harper and Dev who are a mess in the morning. But like, I have to get Kailey up early so she can get her shit done without making us late."
"At least they're all not too young."
He nodded. "Yeah, if they were all six like Dev I'd probably kill myself."
"That would be a lot to handle."
"Oh yeah, what about you?" He asked. "Do you have any siblings?"
"No, just me."
"Lucky," I laughed. "I wish my parents stopped after me."
"I kinda wish I could have a sibling. It's kinda lonely."
"Why don't you tell your parents that?"
"They can't."
"Oh," he said and stopped for a second. "Oh! Al, are you adopted? So like, your parents can't have kids? If you want, you can totally have one of mine."
I laughed, "No I'm not adopted, my dad's in prison. I mean they were planning to have another one but things got complicated."
"Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn't have pushed."
"It's okay, better than lying or something stupid."
"Sorry," he said again.
"Really it's fine."
"Okay," he said.
I smiled and looked out the window.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," Kellin said as he pulled in front of the apartments.
"See you, thank you again for the ride."
"It's no problem. If you ever need one just let me know."
"I will." I said with a smile and got out.
I headed upstairs and went inside, "Mom?"
"In here, sweetie."
"What are you doing?"
"Grading some papers. How was tutoring?"
"Fine."
"That's good."
"Yeah and I finished the college stuff from today. Did you find it on the table?"
"Yeah, I saw it. Everything looked in order."
"Think they'll take everything?"
"I think so."
"I can't wait to visit next month."
"Look about the visit." She said softly.
"What about it?"
"We can't go."
"Why not?"
"It's not in the budget."
"What? We've been waiting to leave for three months."
"I know we have."
"We saved up, what happened to all the money?"
"We were behind on a lot of bills honey."
"Oh."
"I'm so sorry," she said softly.
"It's okay." I said quietly. "I didn't even wanna go that bad."
"I swear, we'll go before the year's over."
"We don't have the money, it's okay."
"I'm still so sorry," she said.
I shrugged, "It's okay."
"Okay," she murmured.
"Can I have a sleepover tonight?" I asked.
"With whom?"
"Austin, he'll sleep on the floor."
"I don't know, isn't he your boyfriend?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah he is."
"So do you think that'd be a good idea? I don't know about that, Al."
"We won't do anything. We'll leave the door open and he won't sleep with me or something."
"I don't know if I want you two to be in the room alone together."
"We won't do anything bad."
"I don't know," she sighed.
"Please mom?"
"Alright."
"Really!?" I squealed.
"Door stays open nothing more than kissing."
"Deal."
"Deal," she said.
"Thank you.'
I ran off to my room and quickly called Austin to actually invite him to sleepover.
"Hey, can you spend the night tonight?"
"Just us? Like you and I, alone?" He asked, nervously.
"Yeah, just us."
"Oh uh-uh okay."
"You don't have to if you don't, um want to."
"No, no I want to!"
"Okay cool." I said smiling, "See you when you get here."
"See you."
He hung up and I nibbled on my bottom lip. I looked at my outfit. I could probably look better for him. I headed to my closet and started sifting through my clothes. I don't know how many outfits I went through before ending up in the same thing as before. He was probably going to think I looked like a slob.
I pulled at my hair before I started cleaning up my room. It was a mess in here.
"Alan? Austin's here, honey."
"Sorry it's a mess." I said when he appeared in the doorway of my room.
He laughed, "it's fine."
"It's a mess."
"It's okay."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize."
I smiled, "Make yourself comfortable. I'll finish cleaning this stuff up."
"I'll help."
"You're a guest, you don't have too."
"I want to."
"I-"
He stopped me with a kiss, "Relax, okay?"
"I don't wanna look like a slob."
"You don't."
"Sorry."
"Quit apologizing," he said and gave me another kiss.
"I'll stop."
"Good boy."
I smiled and kissed him again. "You have soft lips."
"I use a lot of chapstick."
"Well it really pays off."
"Good, I'm glad."
"What do you wanna do?"
"I don't care."
"We can watch a movie or do a puzzle. I have a lot of puzzles we coul- that's totally lame."
"That's not lame, let's just do a puzzle. I love puzzles."
"You do?" I asked with a small smile, "I thought you'd think it was lame."
"Nothing you want to do is lame."
"That's a lie."
"No it's really not."
"I'm kind of a loser."
"No you aren't."
"I am. I don't do anything fun.'
"Yeah you do," he said and gave me a kiss.
"I really don't."
"No you do, you're fun to me," he said.
"I'm fun?"
"Yeah, you are."
"Well I'm happy I'm fun to somebody besides Oliver."
"I wanna meet Oliver."
"He's my best friend."
"I know, I want to meet him."
"We could go meet him now if you want."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he only lives a few blocks away."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
I smiled and took his hand then walked out to the living room.
"Mom, is it okay if we go to Oliver's?" I asked.
"Of course, just don't go crazy you two," she said with a laugh.
"We won't." I said before we left heading to Olivers. "I think he'll like you."
"You think?"
"Yeah, he will."
"I hope so."
I just smiled and kissed his cheek. Austin blushed and took my hand.
When we got to Oliver's I didn't even bother knocking.
"Oli!" I shouted.
"What do you need Alan!? I'm eating."
"I brought a special guest!"
"Oh? Really?" He asked as I walked into the kitchen with Austin
"Oli, this is my boyfriend Austin, Austin this is my best friend Oliver."
Austin held out his hand, "Nice to meet you."
Oliver gave him a look and shook Austin's hand. "You're the boy Alan doesn't shut up about?"
Austin blushed. "I uh, I guess so."
"I don't talk about you that much!" I rushed, feeling embarrassed.
"He does all the time." Oliver said, chuckling.
"I do not!" I whined, covering my face.
"He does and like comic books you like and things. He really likes you."
"Oliver, shush," I whined.
"What? He deserves to know."
"You're embarrassing me!"
"With the truth."
"Still! Some things need to be kept secret!"
"But the truth is good."
"I don't care," I whined, sitting down next to him, my face still beet red.
He patted my back, "Austin, take a seat."
"Alright," Austin murmured and sat next to me.
"You're gonna take care of Alan after I die, right?"
"You're not dying!" I shouted.
He ignored me and waited for Austin's reply.
"Uh yeah." He said nervously.
"Good."
"You're not dying." I said again. "You promised."
"Alan, I'm eighty two."
"So?"
"I'm not getting any younger."
"So? You've got another forty years in you."
"Not really."
"Yes."
"I'm not living for much longer."
"You're living till you're one hundred."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I can't."
"You can."
"You know I can't. My time is ticking."
"I think you have another good twenty years at the very least."
"Sorry, but where is your bathroom?" Austin asked.
"Down that hall and on your second right."
Austin nodded and got up leaving the room.
"Alan." Oliver said taking my hand in both of his. "I have cancer."
My eyes watered and I shook my head. "No. No. You don't, y-you can't."
"I do and it's not looking very good either."
"W-what's the diagnosis?"
"A lot of big words I can't pronounce to save my life, but from the looks it's stage four and it's liver cancer."
I bit my lip and shook my head.
"I'm sorry, but I'll always be with you in spirit."
"It's not the same."
"Here, take this." He said taking off the thin gold chain from around his neck. "You gave this to me, remember?"
"Yeah, y-you're supposed to keep it."
"I want you to have it, okay? It'll be like I'm with you all the time."
"I-I gave you this for your birthday," I said, trying not to start crying.
He nodded and wiped a tear that fell, "I know Alan and I want you to wear it in my memory."
I nodded. "O-Okay."
"I love you Kiddo."
"I love you too, Oli."
"Now wipe away your tears and give me a smile."
I rubbed my eyes and gave him a weak smile.
"You can do better than that."
"I can't," I mumbled.
"Yes you can. I want a huge smile."
I looked at him and burst into tears once more, pulling him into a hug. He rubbed my back and hugged me tightly.
"It's going to be alright," he murmured.
"I don't want you to die."
"I know but it's inevitable. We both knew it was coming."
"It's too real."
"I know."
"What am I gonna do? I-I won't h-have my best f-friend."
"You'll have Austin."
"But not you."
"You'll always have me."
"Don't leave me."
"I'll try my best but I'm not always going to be here."
I nodded and buried my face in his shoulder.
"It's okay," he murmured. "How about you head home and have fun with your boyfriend? You can come over tomorrow and we'll talk okay?"
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." I said putting the small gold chain around my neck.
Austin soon came out and I gave him a kiss.
"It was nice meeting you Austin." Oliver said.
"You too," Austin said, flashing Oli a smile.
"Don't be too rough with him and take good care of him."
I laughed, "Bye Oli, love you."
"Love you, too kiddo."
I smiled at him once more before we left his house going back to mine where we had our cute sleepover.
Kellin's POV
"Kellin!" Harper shrieked, running into the room as I tried to wrestle a shirt over Devereaux's head.
"Hold still," I hissed, trying to get it on my six year old, shrieking brother. I looked up at Harper. "What?"
"Kailey threatened to burn me with her curling iron," she whined, stomping her foot. God I hated nine year olds.
"Tell her to screw off."
"Okay," she said, running out of the room. "Hey Kailey! Kellin said screw off!" She shouted.
"I'm free." Devereaux shouted and ran off from me.
"Damnit!"
"Dev! Get over here! You need to wear a shirt!" I shouted, chasing him down the hall.
"No!"
"Dev!" I yelled and looked at Hudson who was quietly eating cereal. "Can you help me here?"
"But I'm eating."
"Well help me," I said, running through the kitchen.
"But, my cereal will get all soggy and that's gross."
"Hudson!"
"Oh my god fine!" He groaned and slammed his spoon down. "Devereaux I swear if you don't get dressed I'm going to tell that girl in your kindergarten class that you like her."
"You won't do that to me!" Devereaux shouted.
"Oh yeah, I would."
"She has cooties!"
"I'm gonna tell her!"
"No!" He shouted and ran to me. "I need my shirt. I can put it on myself though."
"Are you going to put it on right?" I asked, holding it up.
"Yes I am."
"Good," I said, handing it to him. "Kailey, are you and Harper almost done? I need to get them to school."
"In a few!" Kailey shouted.
"Come on! It doesn't take that long! We're going to be late."
"Give me like two minutes!"
"You said that thirty minutes ago!" I argued. "Kailey Anne!"
"Okay! I'm done."
"Thank you!" I exclaimed as she and Harper came out of the bathroom. "Now let's go before we wake Mom up again. She's already pissy this morning."
"Let's go then."
I nodded and grabbed Dev's hand and started out of the house.
"But my cereal!" Hudson whined.
"Too late." I said I looked at Harper. "Dude, are you wearing makeup?" I asked.
"Kailey did it."
"Kailey! She's nine! She doesn't need to be wearing makeup!"
"I think she looks fine."
"She's too young for makeup!" I said, exasperated.
"She looks better with it."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Harper whined.
"Oh my god, just get in the car," I groaned.
"Well you know-"
"Car! Now!"
"You're so annoying," Kailey huffed. "You're not mom, you know that, right?"
"Well, do you see Mom or Dad acting like a parent any time soon?"
"Well no-"
"Exactly."
"Shut up," she muttered.
"Now car."
"Fine, I"m going," she said.
"Dev come on," I said, struggling to pick him up as I tried to get him in his booster seat.
"Why?" He whined.
"You have to get in the booster seat so I can take you to school."
"I don't wanna go."
"I don't care."
"I don't wanna."
"I know but you gotta."
"I don't wanna."
"You gotta," I said, finally getting him strapped in and got in the driver's seat.
He let out a loud whine.
"I'm ignoring you," I sang as I pulled out of the driveway and started to the elementary school.
"God Dev, shut up!" Hudson shouted.
"You guys are mean!" He whined.
"Just shut up."
"You shut up!"
"Oh my god Dev!" Harper yelled.
"Leave me alone!"
"Then stop being annoying!"
I let out an annoyed groan as they all started arguing.
"Will all of you shut up!" I shouted.
"Quit being rude!" Harper yelled.
"Shut up then!"
I rolled my eyes as they all started shouting again, this time at me. I just wanted this ride to be over already. Soon we were at the elementary school and Harper climbed out and ran to her friends. I jumped out and got Dev out of his booster seat and took him to his teacher.
"I love you Dev, see you later okay?"
"I love you too," he said, hugging my leg tight. "Don't leave me Kelly, please!"
"You gotta go to school and so do I."
"Can't I stay with you?" He whined.
"No, but we'll have tons of fun later."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"We'll play hide and seek?" He asked, hopeful. "And can Vic come over and play too?"
"If he's not busy, sure."
"Really!?" He squealed and gave me one more hug. "I love you Kells, I'll see you later!" He said and ran off.
I smiled before I left his classroom.
Next stop, middle school.
I hated dropping Hudson off at middle school.
"You know Kells," Hudson said as I got back in the car. "I don't have to go to school."
"You're going."
"Does middle school really matter?"
"Yeah it does."
"No, I don't think so," he said and I rolled my eyes and started driving.
"It does, now shut up because you're going whether you like it or not."
"I don't want to!" he complained.
"Does it look like I care?" I asked.
He groaned.
I rolled my eyes and soon pulled in front of the middle school.
"See you later buddy."
"Later," he muttered.
I sighed, "Love you!"
"Love you too," he said and got out of the car.
He shut his door and I sighed.
"You're so moody," Kailey remarked.
"I'm not moody."
"You are, ever since Vic got a girlfriend you've been weird."
"Don't care."
"Seriously?" She asked. "You're not at all mad that he's dating Emily? Emily's like, the most annoying sophomore."
"Do you know anything about her?" I demanded.
"A few things."
"Like what?"
"Uh, she tried to act like she's perfect but honestly she's not. She's a total bitch and she tries way too hard to look seductive. And oh my god, I swear to you, everyone thinks she's perfect."
"Anything else?'
"She's a total slut. Like even sluttier than you, and that's saying something."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah."
"I'm not a slut, by the way."
"You kinda are."
"How would you even know?" I demanded, glaring at her.
"Seriously? You're like, the school hoe."
"It is not that bad."
"It's bad."
"It's not."
"It is, Kellin."
"You make it sound like I'm super easy or something."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"Whatever you say," she sang.
"Whatever."
"You're annoying," I muttered, pulling into the school parking lot. "So, you say that there's a chance that Emily could be an even bigger hoe than me?"
"A big chance."
"Kailey, have I ever told you that I love you?" I said with a grin.
"Only when I give you something."
"Oh hush," I said and shut the car off. "Let's go or else we're going to be late."
"I'll see you later Kells!"
"Later," I hummed and looked around until I found who I was looking for. "Rowan!"
Rowan turned and smiled. "Hey, I've been wondering where you've been."
"Around, how've you been?"
"Fine, but it's perfect now that I'm seeing your sexy face again," he said, wrapping his arm around my waist.
"So sweet of you."
"I know. So," he murmured, running his hand over my ass. "How about we have some fan later on today?"
"How later is later?"
"Third hour?"
"Deal."
He smiled and gave me a quick kiss before he went back to talking to his friends, his hand on my ass all the while. I sighed and looked around the parking lot, wanting something, anything to entertain me before school started. But there wasn't really anything. I could see Vic from across the parking lot and it looked like he was doing everything he could to ignore me. I guess I'd have to deal with him not wanting to be around me anymore. It was like now that he had Emily he didn't want to be around me whatsoever.
He didn't need me anymore.
"You okay there?" Rowan asked me.
"What? Yeah I'm fine, sorry."
"Alright, how about I walk you to class?" He suggested.
I smiled, "How sweet of you."
"Yeah, well, I'm a gentleman."
I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Only when you wanna fuck," I giggled.
"You're right on that."
"Come on your horny bastard," I muttered, walking to the school.
"We won't be cuming till later."
I snorted and took his hand, pulling him along after me.
"See you at third period." He said when we got to my class.
"See you then," I said and caught Vic's eye as he walked past. I rolled my eyes and pulled Rowan down to me, giving him a long, heated kiss.
"Why hello there." He said as he pulled away.
"Just a little something to hold you over till third hour," I murmured and headed to class.
"See you."
I nodded and walked in and sat at my usual desk next to Vic and stayed quiet.
"Been a while." Vic said.
"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'. "You've been ignoring my texts."
"I haven't been getting them."
"I've sent you a shit ton. And I really needed you last night and you wouldn't even answer the phone," I said, remembering how neither of my parents came home last night and how Kailey was a mess.
"I really haven't been getting any of your texts."
"I called you last night and I got sent straight to voicemail," I mumbled.
"I didn't get any calls."
"Whatever," I said and started doodling on my paper.
"I'm sorry, what happened?"
"My dad hasn't been home in a week," I said softly, hoping no one else would hear. "Kailey's a mess, mom brought some other guy home last night and Dev doesn't understand what's going on at all."
"Shit, I'm sorry Kellin. You want me to come over and help out tonight or something?"
"If you're not busy. But, you have to promise not to bring her over there. You know how I feel about this when it comes to my family," I told him seriously.
"I know, I won't bring her."
"It has nothing to do with whether I like her or not. This is something I don't want getting out," I told him. "And Kailey would probably kill you."
"I won't bring her."
"Good boy."
"So what's with you and Rowan?" He asked, arching a brow. "I thought you had a strict no kiss policy."
I stuck out my tongue. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I'm just curious."
"It's just a little fun, gotta change it up a bit. Besides, I kinda like him," I lied.
"What about Austin?"
"I need to move on, he's dating Alan," I said with a sigh.
"He is?"
"Yeah, if you hadn't been ditching us so much lately you'd have known."
"Maybe we could all get together again soon."
"Yeah, maybe," I mused.
He smiled, "Awesome."
"But, no girls allowed."
"Oh, so you're not coming, Bostwick?" He asked, arching a brow.
I laughed, "You know what I mean."
"Do I? I'm still not convinced that you're actually a guy."
"Want me to prove it?"
"And how are you going to do that?" He counted as the teacher started taking roll.
"I can show you my big dick."
"I've seen your dick. It was pretty small and having a dick doesn't make you a guy," he said with an eyeroll.
"Well I'm a guy anyway."
"I don't think so."
"I am."
"Whatever you say," he hummed.
"I am".
"Shush, I'm trying to learn," he said, reaching over and flicking my nose.
"Learn my ass."
"Hush," he said, covering my mouth with his hand.
I licked his hand. He laughed quietly.
"You're not going to gross me out with that."
I glared at him. Vic gave me a cheeky smile and went back to paying attention to class. I pushed his hand off my and looked up at my teacher. God, I missed messing around with him like that. It's been forever since we've gotten to hang out and I really wanted to again. It wasn't even about being jealous of Emily or anything. I just missed my best friend.
And I wanted him back.
...
"Oh my god," I gasped, my back arching as I let go in the back of Rowan's car.
"That was great, same time tomorrow?" He asked.
"I have a test during third hour," I said breathlessly. "Lunch?"
"Lunch is good too."
"Great and maybe you can even invite your little friend to join in," I said, grabbing a napkin to clean myself off.
"Maybe."
I winked and got my clothes back on before we got out of his car. I let out a breath then went back into the building.
"Wow," I heard someone scoff.
I looked over and rolled my eyes, "What do you want?"
"I want you to stay away from Vic. I know you've got some weird fucking crush on him but back off."
"I don't have a crush on him, he's my best friend."
"Yeah, whatever. I think we all know you're in love with him. It's obvious and honestly, it's pretty pathetic."
I rolled my eyes at her, "Whatever makes you sleep at night."
"He even knows about it," she said and my heart stopped. "He was telling me last night that it was why he didn't like talking to you as much. It's weird."
"He doesn't know that." I denied.
"Oh he knows alright. Why do you think he's been ignoring you so much? He thinks you're just pathetic.Which is honestly, kinda true."
I shook my head, "Screw off."
"Only if you do the same," she said. "Stay away from my boyfriend."
I rolled my eyes and watched her walk away, swaying her hips.
I wanted to bash her face in right that second. God what did Vic see in her? But as I watched her walk away I realized it was time. I had to do this. I had to break her and Vic up and I couldn't do it alone.