A/N All I can say before putting this out there is that this chapter makes me very sad. (It's also written like shit- sorry. I didn't have time to rewrite the whole thing like I did chapter three, so I apologize for shotty work. Maybe one day it'll get fixed when I go edit all the books I've already written like I've been saying I was gonna do for years).
Tyler-Sophomore
Pierce- College Freshman
**SEX SCENE REMOVED***
They were in the middle of it when Tyler began to sob.
If it was anyone else crying uncontrollably before him, he would have frozen, but it was Tyler, who Pierce cared for more deeply than he should have allowed himself to, so he moved quickly, wrapping his arms around Tyler's body, pulling him against his chest and hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry," Tyler cried into his shoulder, hands curled into fists in his shirt.
"Hey," Pierce said softly, threading a hand through the hair at the back of Tyler's head, holding him gently. "It's okay".
"No," Tyler protested. "Nothing's okay". Pierce didn't know what to say in response to that, so he brushed a hand soothingly down the other boy's back. "I- I just can't believe he's gone". His gasps began to come out in quick pants then, as if he couldn't catch his breath, and Pierce didn't know what to do except to whisper in his ear.
"It's okay. Breathe. Just focus on breathing. You need to calm down, babe. Deep breath in, deep breath out".
Pierce didn't know if his words helped, but Tyler eventually calmed down, his breaths slowing and coming out in steady gasps. Gently, Pierce shifted Tyler away from his chest enough to glance down at his face, and then sighed in relief at the sight of him sleeping. Thank god.
Him and Tyler had known one another for many years at this point, and they had been through quite a bit if you asked Pierce. Sex, fights, Pierce getting arrested for assault, but never had he seen Tyler cry. It was terrifying to him that there was something in Tyler's life that was able to upset him that much, but he reminded himself that he wasn't supposed to care, that he shouldn't have.
What was going on in Tyler's life shouldn't have concerned him, but it did. He cared too much for it to not.
It must have been happening for years, but he hadn't noticed it until about four months before, when he had called Brad a clever but crude name in response to Tyler's question, "why are you so worked up?" And the boy had paused, hand still wrapped loosely around Pierce's cock, and threw his head back to laugh. At the time, Pierce had just looked at him and thought, oh shit, because suddenly everything clicked into place. Why he spent so much time watching Tyler, why he spent so much time thinking about him. He liked him.
As gently as he could, because Pierce wasn't a very gentle person, he lowered Tyler back down onto the table . Then, he took to straightening Tyler's clothes. He paused then with his hands on the waistband of Tyler's pants, gaze shifting up to look at his knees.
They looked like they hurt. Pierce had his fair share of injuries throughout the years— he had gotten in a lot of fights— but he had never had anything that needed stitches before. He couldn't even imagine what it felt like, especially in a place used as much as the knees. Carefully, he brushed his thumbs over the wounds.
"I just can't believe he's gone," Tyler had cried. Who? Pierce wanted to know. And why? Why was he gone? What had happened?
"What are you going through?" Pierce whispered, his hands moving from Tyler's legs to brush the tears off of his cheeks. Beneath his fingers, Tyler stirred, a small noise of distress leaving his lips before he settled again.
Pierce dropped his hands from Tyler's face, afraid that the boy would wake to find him touching him so tenderly. He couldn't even imagine trying to explain to Tyler what he was doing, wasn't even sure he'd be able to lie directly to those green eyes. He couldn't tell him though. Under no circumstances could Tyler learn of his feelings for him. It would change things– not for the better, Pierce was sure– and he didn't want to go back to the time before he got to hold Tyler against him, even if it wa just for an hour every couple of months.
"Dear god," Pierce groaned, looking away from the sleeping boy. It was just getting pathetic now. He hated being so vulnerable.
Sighing, Pierce focused and began to dress Tyler again, pulling his pants up his ridiculously long legs.
Over the past year, Pierce's fears regarding Tyler's height had come true. Tyler now stood over six feet tall, which was something Pierce had never accomplished. It wasn't as horrible as he thought it would be, though Tyler's smug face the first time they saw each other after the boy's freshman summer, when Pierce had to tilt his head slightly upwards to look at him, had been majorly annoying.
When he had finished dressing Tyler, Pierce allowed himself a moment to think, looking down at Tyler as he did so. He couldn't just leave him there, sleeping on a dinner table with a soiled napkin discarded on the floor beside him. That would be bad. Another option would be to take Tyler back to his parents, but it also didn't seem like it would be a good idea to just walk into his father's ballroom with Tyler in his arms. Mrs. Amore already didn't like him very much, and he was pretty sure that his own father would be less than thrilled with that sight.
It took him a minute longer to decide that he would take Tyler to the bathroom and leave him on one of the couches in the waiting room. That way, Tyler wouldn't be caught somewhere incriminating, and he could just tell Mrs. Amore that he knew where her son was because he had seen him while going to the bathroom.
It would require him to talk to the woman, but maybe she would like him a little more if he helped her locate her son. Ugh. He couldn't believe he even cared if Tyler's mother liked him or not, but he did.
With a small grunt of effort, because Tyler was about as heavy as you'd expect a six foot tall man to be, Pierce lifted him from the table, one arm supporting beneath the boy's knees, and the other behind him back. Thankfully, the only sign that Tyler recognized the shift was a soft groan, but his head came to rest on Pierce's shoulder, still asleep.
And then, because he was an incredibly weak man who hadn't ever needed to deal with feelings like this before, he stood there with his eyes closed, feeling Tyler's breath on his neck and wondering how long they could stay there like that before his arms got too tired from supporting the idiot.
The answer turned out to be not long, and Pierce made his way over to the door, kicking it open with his foot before peering out into the hall to assure it was empty. He could still hear the noise from his father's party a few rooms down, but no one was in sight.
The walk to the bathroom was short, but Pierce still felt the muscles in his arms straining under the weight. Maybe he'd talk to Garett about adding an extra hour on at the gym every week. At this point, he was probably unable to pin Tyler up agaisnt walls and fuck him like he used to.
As he came to a stop in front of the men's bathroom, Pierce felt a moment of relief before it occurred to him that he had absolutely know way to open the door. For a moment, he just stood their glaring and the small golden letters that said Pull right above the doors handle, but his arms were getting far too tired for that, so he began to think of a way to support Tyler's weight with one arm for a short period of time so he was able to open the door.
He was just about to try something that most definitely would not work when the door opened on its own, pushing out towards him. Surprised, he took a quick step backwards to avoid being hit, and then immediately fixated his face into something cold, eyes glaring forward. His father usually hosted parties on nights that no one else would be on the same floor, so chances were whoever had opened the door for them was apart of their party, and would surely recognize him. He needed to be prepared to scare whoever it was into being quiet.
The second he saw who it was, he realized that scaring them wouldn't work.
The first thing he thought when his eyes met Garett's exceptionally blue ones was fuck. The second thing was that out of all his brothers, Garett was probably the best one to find out.
"Hey," Garett greeted, smiling pleasantly as he did so. "I was looking..." He trailed off, eyes dropping down to the boy in Pierce's arms. Recognition showed on his face then, and his gaze lifted to look at Pierce again. Neither of them knew what to say, so they ended up just staring wordlessly at one another for a long moment. Garrett's mouth opened quickly, and then closed again.
"Don't," Pierce finally managed, too aware of the intense quivering in his arms to just stand there any longer. "You were the only one in there, right?"
"Uh, Yeah," Garett confirmed, holding the door open when Pierce moved forward into the bathroom. When he passed him, Garett followed him inside. "Pierce".
"I'm kinda busy," Pierce pointed out, moving down the short carpeted hallway towards the bathrooms waiting room. As Garett said, it was empty, and he gently lowered Tyler down onto the couch there, arms aching.
"I... I was looking for you, and Joe said that he was pretty sure you had gone to smoke".
"Yeah," Pierce acknowledged dryly, straightening and looking down at Tyler as he curled into himself on the couch, sighing a little in his sleep.
"But you weren't smoking". Pierce turned his face to look at Garett, but his brother was staring at Tyler, expression troubled. "Pierce, why-"
"We're not talking about this," Pierce said lowly, shooting Tyler one last glance to make sure he wasn't in danger of rolling off the couch or anything before moving to leave the room.
"What- where are you going?" Garett inquired, following quickly after him. Pierce pushed opened the door and let it swing shut heavily behind him, but Garett caught it before it was able to hit him and slipped out after him. "You're just going to leave him in there?"
"Be quiet," Pierce instructed, shooting his older brother a look over his shoulder as they made their way down the hall. "It's taken care of".
"But Pierce-"
"Garett," he responded, pausing with his hand braced on the door to his father's ballroom to look back at his brother. "I can't do this with you right now".
"But-"
He didn't wait to hear what Garett had to say before pushing the door open and slipping inside. Immediately, his eyes began to roam the large room for Tyler's parents, gaze lingering on the large group of people standing and talking since he knew they often were a part of it.
He spotted them sitting at the table they had eaten at, with Mr. Amore talking to his wife about something she clearly didn't care about. This was for the best, he thought as he began to make his way along the edge of the room to avoid being pulled into a conversation with someone along the way. If the Amores' has been talking to other guests, Pierce would have to worry about being scolded by his father for cutting into their conversation. This wasn't something he had gotten in trouble for in the past— he very rarely talked with his father's guests beyond the initial hello— but Joe often did, and everyone knew his father liked Joe far more than him so he feared his consequences would be worse. For the time being, Pierce was trying to stay on his father's goodside.
While he didn't rely on the man as heavily as he had in high school, his father did pay for his and Garett's rent at their apartment, and he still let Pierce drive his car, which was under his father's name. He wanted these things to last as long as possible, since he knew the man would be less than pleased when Pierce announced he would be dropping out of college and attending technical school in the fall to become an electrician.
"Pierce, what are you doing?" Garett asked as he followed close behind him, his voice hushed. When Pierce didn't respond, Garett didn't pester, smart enough to sense the delicate situation and their surroundings.
Pierce slowed to a stop in front of the Amores, standing on the other side of the table from them and clearing his throat to get their attention. He addressed Mrs. Amore, since she seemed to be the one with the most authority in the relationship.
"Mrs. Amore? I'm sorry to interrupt but I just want to let you know that your son is asleep on the couch in the bathrooms waiting room," Pierce explained quickly. Her sour expression changed to one of surprise.
"Oh," she said. "We've been looking for him. Thank you for letting us know". This surprised him a little bit, since him and Tyler usually took far longer than they had that evening, and when they returned his parents had never been looking for him, but then he thought about Tyler's cries, and the way his mother had lingered beside him after dinner. She probably knew what was going on.
For a split second, he thought about asking her, but it didn't take him long to realize that was a terrible idea, and instead he said "no problem ma'am". Politely, he lowered his head. "Please excuse me".
He walked away, Garett hot on his heels. "Pierce-"
"Not right now," Pierce growled under his breath, moving towards the front table with his family. Brad watched him approach, eyes narrowed, but Pierce couldn't find it in him to get annoyed. He was too worried about the brother behind him.
He had never gotten around to telling Garett about Tyler, worried that his older brother would scold him for being with someone three— nearly four— years younger than himself. Garett was always looking at the risks, and Pierce had no doubt that his brother was considering the fact that Tyler was sixteen, when Pierce wasn't far from reaching twenty. It was a real concern— of course it was a real concern. It was one of Pierce's biggest concerns— but Pierce was afraid he'd be unable to stay away from Tyler even if he tried.
There was just something about Tyler that Pierce couldn't get over. He was just so different from everyone else around him, so unafraid of him and comfortable standing up for himself. Tyler must have thought these qualities drove Pierce insane— and to some extent, they did— but they had also turned Tyler into Pierce's biggest weakness, his biggest soft spot.
But Pierce had always been Garett's biggest concern, and he would stop at nothing to protect him. It was the reason that Garett, who knew all of Pierce's other secrets, didn't know about his biggest one— until now.
Pierce just really hoped that Garett didn't see this thing with Tyler as something he needed to be protected from, because Pierce didn't know how to tell him he was already in too deep to back out.
***
"What were you two doing?" Garett asked persistently. They had finished up the party without Garett pestering him, but the second they were alone, trailing behind Mike and Kalen on their way to the cluster of Bradford cars, he was assaulted with a plethora of questions, none of which he wanted to answer.
"That's none of your business," Pierce responded evenly, shoving his hands into his pockets. He kept thinking of Tyler's sobs against his shoulder and it was putting him in a bad mood.
"Ugh. I know what that means, man. But Tyler? Really? He's too young for you".
Pierce shot his brother an annoyed look. "You think I don't realize that".
Seeming surprised that this was something Pierce had already considered, Garret continued. "Why then? I mean, maybe he's a good lay and all, but he can't be worth it, right? Why are you risking something like this for someone who is constantly a dick to you. I mean... Tyler Amore? Really? What did you even see in him in the first place that made you want to sleep with him. He's rude, he's constantly in a bad mood, he never talks to anyone... Like, honestly Pierce, the kid has no redeeming qualities. Maybe you should-"
Pierce was yelling before he even realized it. "Shut your fucking mouth". It came out loud and angry, and the sound echoed through the parking lot as every single Bradford stopped walking and turned to look back at them in shock. Pierce raised his voice a lot, but it was never directed towards Garett. He snapped at him often, sure, and was rude to him, of course, but yelled? Never.
They looked at one another then, and Pierce could see in his brothers eyes that he wasn't subtle. He wore his feelings for Tyler on his sleeve, right where Garett could see it.
"You don't know him, okay?" Pierce said, voice much lower then.
"And you do?" Garett responded, eyebrows raising. Pierce's expression must have answered his question, because he began to nod his head. "Okay". He understood. There were no other words needed. "I'm sorry".
"It's fine," Pierce responded softly, turning his face to glare at his family members until they turned away from them. Only Brad continued to look back, golden eyes bright in the darkness. "It's just... sore subject for me".
"Alright," Garett said with a nod, gaze shifting away. "I got it".
Pierce was surprised by the immediate feeling of relief that washed over him. He hasn't realized how badly he had wanted someone else to know, how badly he had wanted Garett to know. It had been exhausting over the last four months, pretending he was just fine when in reality he was coming to terms with the fact that he had feelings for someone he shouldn't have feelings for.
How terrible and lonely it was to love someone you knew would never love you back.
A/N Pierce is really really whipped. Once again, sorry for my bad writing throughout this.
I hope you still enjoyed it.
<3 Ivy