Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:49:51 -0400
From: Odin <belsport09@gmail.com>
Subject: Second Shot Chapter 29: Brothers

Disclaimer: Story characters belong to the author, any resemblances to real
people are entirely coincidental.

Content Advisory: Adult situations, language, sexual references

Copyright, 2010, Quonus10

I hope you enjoy it. Please comment to: belsport09@gmail.com



29. Chapter 29: Brothers

Traffic delayed his father; not surprising for a Friday evening. They were
going to be having a late dinner, something Jason regularly did during
soccer season. He stopped at the Wawa and picked up some snacks he knew his
mother would like in case she was hungry. If she didn't want them, he would
take them for Dean to eat.

When he arrived at Peter's room, his mom was sitting talking to Amanda, Tom
and some woman he didn't know, but suspected was Betsy.

"Jason." His mother stood up to greet him. For the first time in months she
actually sounded happy he was there.

"Jason!" The other woman, blonde, maybe faux blonde, with the figure of an
aerobics instructor(which Peter said she was), smiled at him. A little too
much make up, but her smile seemed real.

"You mother has been telling us all sorts of embarrassing stories about
you." Her thick southern drawl surprised him.

Imagining what his mother might have told them, his face turned red.

"Oh how cute." Her voice was already starting to grate on him. "He's
blushing."

Jason walked over and gave his mom a kiss. Amanda stood up, so he hugged
her. When Betsy stood up, he knew he had to do the same with her.

"You must be Betsy." Pointing out that they never met and she didn't
introduce herself. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Amanda
suppress a snicker.

"Oh how rude of me," she said. "After listening to your mom, I felt like we
already knew each other."

Stepping back, she held out her hand formally. "Betsy Gregory."

Despite the absurdity, he smiled and shook her hand. "Jason Tellerman," he
deadpanned. "Please to meet you ma'am."

"Oh please don't call me ma'am." She slapped him lightly on the
shoulder. "Betsy, if you please."

"Yes ma'am," he said reflexively. "Sorry, Betsy."

Tom watched the interchange, slightly amused. When it ended, he grabbed
Jason's shoulder. "How was practice, Sport?"

Sport? Who called anyone "Sport" anymore. "Muddy. Took me three shampoos to
get all the caked-in dirt from my hair."

"I am glad you made sure to wash it out this time," his mother said. "When
you were younger, you would come home all muddy and make me all but throw
you in the bathtub."

"Mom, do we really need another embarrassing Jason story?"

"Sorry." She didn't sound sorry to him, but he knew she was just teasing.

"Well, Betsy," Tom said, "what say we go eat so Amanda can eat with Erin
when she gets off work."

Betsy nodded. "Barbara, lovely to meet you and your son. Amanda, thank you
for being so gracious letting me come by."

"I don't know what I did," Amanda said. "But you are welcome. It was good
to finally meet you."

When Peter's dad and step mom left, Amanda rolled her eyes. "He will never
grow up."

"What?" Jason walked around his mother to be closer to Peter's bed. Some of
the swelling had gone away, but it still hurt to look at his face.

"She is fifteen years younger than Tom," his mother explained.

"So?" Jason was only partially paying attention. He reached for Peter's
hand, rubbing it slowly.

"Men, you all . . ." Amanda never finished her sentence. When he turned
around, she gave him the barest of smiles.

Before he could say anything, his mom's phone rang. "Your father," she said
after looking at the screen.

As she spoke to his father, Jason's phone chirped. Dean sent a text saying
they were at the hotel.

When he looked up, he noticed his mom staring at him. Her expression was
hard for him to read. At first he thought she was uncomfortable seeing him
interact with Peter. Despite the steely expression, Jason didn't see the
anger he expected. No, she looked upset, or better said, unsettled. What
happened that she was bothered?

Her lips quivered for a moment and she gave him an attempt at a smile. She
failed, but he knew she felt his pain.

"They're at the hotel."

He nodded, not letting go of Peter's hand. "Yeah, I know. Dean sent me a
text."

"Darn kids," she jokingly complained to Amanda. "Always one step ahead of
us."

"Are they coming here?" Jason asked.

"No, I'm going to meet them at the hotel. Once your father checks in, we
can go for dinner."

"Do you mind if I stay for a bit before heading over?" With his back
turned, she couldn't see him stare at Peter's face, willing him to wake
up. "I want to sit with Pete for a little bit before we go."

"Take your time, sweetie." She kissed him on the cheek. "Come by when
you're ready."

Grabbing her purse and coat, she gave them both a smile before she left.

"Do you mind sitting here alone for a few minutes?" Amanda asked. "I need
to step out to get something to drink."

Rather than answer, he gave her a hug. "Thank you Mrs. G."

"For leaving you here alone?"

"No," he kissed her cheek. "For what you said to my mother. I'll spend my
life trying, but never be able to repay what you did."

"Yes, you can." She grabbed both his hands. "Peter never shared much about
his personal life until he met you. He loves you very much, and I know you
love him too. Don't let anyone or anything come between you again. Do that
and I will be in your debt."

Jason smiled. "That's an easy one to promise, Mrs. G. I was going to do
that already."

"I know, Jason." She gave him a hug and a kiss. "Take care of him and he
will take care of you back."

Jason helped her put her coat on. "Would it be weird if I said I loved you?
Like a second mom, that is."

She paused causing Jason to fear what he said was inappropriate given where
they were. "No, Jason, it wouldn't be weird. It's quite touching."

He noticed she was tearing up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. I
probably shouldn't have said that."

"No, no, it's really very sweet." She accepted the tissue he handed
her. "I'm just rather emotional right now."

"I know this won't mean much coming from me, not being a doctor or nothing,
but he's going to fine." If she heard in his voice how fervently he felt
what he was saying, she would believe it too. "If my mom can be here for
Peter and me, nothing is impossible. I'm not the most religious kid, but
somehow I just know he's going to be okay. You getting my mom to see what
was important can't go unrewarded. Can't give any reasons why I know this,
but I just do. Maybe it's wishful thinking, I can't say for sure, but I
feel this as sure as I know the sun is coming up tomorrow."

At first he wondered if he said too much, but when she smiled, he knew he
reached her. This was the first hopeful smile he had seen from him in two
days.

"Jason," she squeezed his hand again. "That was beautiful. Keep telling him
that and he'll be awake in no time. Be back soon."

"Bye." He watched her leave then sat down, glad to be alone with
Peter. "Pete, I keep saying I know you can hear me, but I know you can. I'm
here Pete and I'm not going anywhere. I love you. I probably don't tell you
often enough, but I do. Everything is going to be fine, I just need you to
come back."

Jason kissed his hand before putting his head back on the pillow next to
Peter's. "I just miss you so much."


*


Amanda gave him twenty minutes alone, not nearly enough, but more than he
expected. Jason made it to the hotel without hitting traffic. Riding the
elevator to the sixth floor, he realized he had not seen his brother since
the day after their grandfather bought the Austin Healey at the
auction. This was one of the longest periods of time they'd been
apart. Avoiding his mother had other unintended consequences.

Hopefully things were better. So long as his mother didn't regress, Jason
wouldn't spend as much time away from home. He almost ran over an older
couple waiting to get on the elevator when it reached the sixth
floor. Calling out his apologizes, he searched for their room.

Dean answered the door with a smile as big as Jason's.

"Hey, Jase!" He wrapped Jason in a bear hug, pulling him off the ground.

"Damn, Dean, what have you been eating? You look like you've gain ten
pounds."

"Jealous?" Dean laughed. "Just been working out more. Tired of being so
skinny."

"Whatever you're doing, you look great." Jason put his arm around his
brother. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, Jase." Dean smiled. "Mom said you're going to save me from
staying with them."

Jason nodded. "You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the couch. Where's dad?"

"Behind you," his father said coming out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Dad."

"Good to see you, Son. You look well." Royce rubbed his hair. "How are you
doing?"

Fixing his hair he said, "I'm a bit tired, but doing okay under the
circumstances."

The room went suddenly quiet.

"How is he?" Royce's voice broke the silence.

"No change." They all stared at him as he spoke. "Doctor said the swelling
in his head is going down, so they are hopeful he will wake up soon. One
positive is the bone in his back is getting time to heal without damaging
his spinal cord. They noticed some reaction to stimulus in his legs so they
don't expect any paralysis."

"That's wonderful news." His mother said. "I was afraid to ask Amanda in
case the news wasn't good."

"I have this feeling everything is going to be okay. I can't explain it,
but I just know." He left out the part about him mother coming around. Why
bring up how she treated him now?

No one spoke until his dad broke the silence, "That's the spirit. Think
positive."

"Exactly. Hey Dean, grab your stuff and put it in my car. That way we won't
need to come back to the hotel after dinner."

He tossed his brother the keys to his car.

Dean looked blankly at them. "I have no idea where you're parked, Jase."

Rolling his eyes, Jason held out his hand. "Duh, yeah right. I'll show
you."

"Why don't you two meet us at the restaurant?" Barbara said. "We'll be
there in a few minutes."

"Works for me." Jason turned to Dean. "C'mon, we've obviously been
dismissed."

Laughing, the brothers left the room.

"I missed seeing that," Barbara said.

"I think they missed doing it." Royce gave his wife a hug. "How are you
holding up?"

"Better seeing my boys together again. That alone tells me you were right."

"Not me, dear, you. You made your own decision, I merely agreed with it."



*****



"Man, dinner seemed endless." Dean shut the car door. Snapping the seat
belt, he turned toward Jason. "I mean two hours for dinner?"

"When has dinner out ever been quick?" Jason slowly pulled out of the
parking space, shifting into first gear.

Dean laughed. "Too bad mom won't eat at Taco Bell."

Jason tried not to laugh, but the image of his mom ordering a chalupa,
broke his control. "Good luck making that happen."

"What's the deal with Betsy?"

Dean's question took Jason by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was in the bathroom, Mom told Dad she was, 'Interesting.' I
couldn't hear the rest of the conversation."

"Um . . . well she is interesting." Jason didn't want to say too much bad
about her, he only met her for a minute. "She's fifteen years younger than
Pete's dad, and she is a bit . . ."

"Slutty?"

Jason shook his head. "No, not that. I was thinking more of a blonde
bimbo."

"Oh." Dean sounded disappointed.

"At one point, however, I thought Pete's mom and Mom were gonna bust out
laughing at her ridiculous comments." Jason rolled his eyes, but kept his
focus on the road. "Oh, and she has this horrible southern twang when she
speaks."

He did his best to imitate her voice making Dean laugh.

"You know what they say, Jase, 'You can take the girl out of the trailer
. . ."

"But you can't take the trailer out of the girl," they both said together,
laughing.

"What does Peter think of her?"

"I don't think he's met her, to be honest. He never said much about her
really." He trailed off, wondering if he should go back and sit with
Peter. With Dean staying with him, he realized that wasn't going to
happen. A deep breath to keep his emotions under control and he turned
quickly toward his brother.

"So little bro, what do you want to do with the rest of our night away from
the watchful eye of Mom and Dad?"

"Got any booze?"

"Sorry, no drinking." Jason suddenly felt old.

"Why not?" Dean looked as disappointed as he sounded. "I mean, what's the
point in not staying with the `rents if I have to be good?"

"A - I don't have any booze; B - I have a game tomorrow; and C - you're
underage."

"When did you become a cub scout?"

"Seriously, Dean, cut me some slack here, okay?" That came out harsher than
Jason meant. Dean was just being seventeen and away from his parents.

"What did I do?"

"Mom only started talking to me again today." With an effort he managed to
hide his frustration. "Are you trying to prevent me from getting to day
two?"

"Hey, so long as no one finds out, what's the harm?"

Either Dean didn't understand or he really wanted to get drunk. "Campus
narc squads are everywhere on weekends. Last thing I need is for you to get
busted. Christ, can you image what kind of shit I would be in if that
happened? Mom would blow a blood vessel or ten in her head."

"If she never finds out, it's all good."

"Dean, with all that is going on right now, do you really need to get drunk
tonight? I'm just not up for babysitting and that is what would happen
`cause I'll be so stressed out something will happen to you. Can't it wait
until next time?" Jason suddenly felt all the stress of the last few
days. The constricted feeling griped his chest making it hard to breathe.

"Okay, Jase, sorry to bug you about this," Dean apologized. "But you know,
Mom is gonna freak no matter when, if I get caught."

Jason could feel his brother's smile. "Yeah, but in a month or two, I can
deal with her being mad about something other than my being gay."

Jason pulled into a spot near the steps to his building and popped the
trunk. When they got inside, the lights were on.

"Maybe Darryl's back," Dean said hopefully.

Jason almost rolled his eyes. There was no way Darryl was going to side
with Dean on getting alcohol, but he let it go. "More likely he left the
light on."

As they moved toward Jason's room they confirmed Darryl wasn't home.

"Drop your stuff there," Jason pointed to a clean spot on the floor. "You
can use the bed, I'll use the couch."

"Hey, I can use the couch. I don't need to kick you out of your own bed."

"It's cool. I may not get too much sleep anyway. Since the attack, it's
been hard to sleep." He quickly turned his back to his brother.

"Bothers you that much?"

Jason nodded. In a soft voice he said, "You should have seen his face
Dean. They beat him so bad . . . it was all fat and puffy."

"Jordan was always a bully." Dean's voice was angry. "He used to pick on
the freshman players when he was a senior."

"Did he pick on you too?" Jason's finally turned back.

"No," Dean shook his head. "Other guys figured it was because he was afraid
you might get mad. He knew we are close."

"Good." Jason had another reason to feel stupid for staying friends with
Jordan as long as he did. Not that he needed anymore after what he did to
Peter.

"It was so stupid. There was no reason to do what he did." He hadn't meant
to say that out loud. When he saw his brother's confused look, he said,
"Peter wasn't violent, he never attacked anyone, least of all Jordan. We
went out of our way to avoid him whenever we saw him or his 'new' friends."

"I'm sorry, Jase." Dean looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry Dean, I didn't mean to dump that on you."

"No, I asked, I wanted to know." After a long pause he added. "You must
really love him."

Jason snorted. "Damn, I never thought I would be having this conversation
with you." He smiled and sat on the bed. "I do, Dean, I really do. But it's
so weird. I never imagined anything like this when we were kids. I always
saw myself with a super model wife, in a nice house with little Jasons
running around."

Dean laughed. "Super model, eh? Aren't you full of yourself."

"Hey, a boy needs a dream." Jason shrugged. "Until I met Peter, I had no
idea what it felt like to really be in love. Took me by surprise, I
guess. In a good way, of course."

"What's he like?"

"Who? Peter?" His brother's interest in his boyfriend shocked Jason.

"Yeah."

Jason couldn't tell if Dean really wanted to know or was just trying to be
there for him. "Wow, how do I describe him without sounded stupid and
giddy. He's romantic, sweet, funny, killer smile, smart as can be, thinks
about stuff a lot, tough as nail, you should see him at martial arts
practice, he's crazy. He has big dreams, but likes the little things more
than material stuff. Oh and he's totally hot."

Jason raised both eyebrows wondering how his brother would react to his
description.

"Sounds like you got a good one bro."

"Okay, why the interest?" Much as he didn't want to offend Dean, his
curiosity forced him to ask.

Dean's look caused Jason to hold his breath. 'Don't tell me you're gay,
bro. Don't do it,' was all he could think. Dean swallowed then said,
"Before you met him, we were tight. Not many of my friend's older brothers
treated them as good as you treat me. Then you met Peter and we stopped
being so close. I miss us; how we used to be. So I wanted to know who this
guy was that has you so interested. That's all."

"Dean, it wasn't that Pete didn't want to meet you, Mom and Dad told me not
to bring him around you."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Jason wondered if he was smart to tell his brother. Too late,
already done. "Why do you think he never came to visit last summer? When
he's better we can all hang out."

"But will he like me?"

"What's not to like?" Jason laughed, hoping to quell his brother's
insecurity. Why would Dean even worry about this? "Seriously, don't sweat
that. Peter knows how close we are, he's always asking when he's going to
meet you the way I talk you up."

"Really?" Dean jerked his head slightly, then smirked. "Can he teach me to
be a bad ass too?"

Jason laughed. "So that's what you're really interested in knowing?"

Dean threw of a couple lame punches. "Hey, a dude needs to know how to
defend himself."

The smile drained from Jason's face. Staring at a point on the carpet in
front of him, he said, "Sometimes knowing when to run away is better. As
good as Peter is, he was no match for one against six plus a bat."

When his brother didn't say anything, Jason looked up and saw Dean staring
at him.

"Sorry, Jason, I really am." Dean sat on the bed and put his arm around his
brother. "I've never seen you like this. You must really hurt."

"When I think about it too much I can't stop the tears. Even though I
wasn't there, I can see them beating him." Tears started running down his
cheeks as he sniff, drawing short quick breathes. "Darryl said I screamed
so loud last night, he thought I was being attacked. In my dream, I was
standing there, watching as Jordan laughed, while he and the others kicked
Peter after he was unconscious. I was screaming at them to stop, but he
just laughed at me and kicked him harder. Told me there was nothing I could
do but watch."

Unable to continue, he waited for Dean to say something. When his brother
kept silent he added, "All I want is for him to wake up and be okay. I want
to hear him laugh again, call me a dork, tell me I make him happy, surprise
me with dinner. I want to hold him like we used to do, just be happy
together. Sounds dumb, but that's what hurts; and I can't do a damn thing
to fix things."

Dean pulled him closer, letting Jason cry on his shoulder. "It's gonna be
okay, Jase, you said so yourself. Just keep believing it."

Jason dried his eyes as best he could. "When did you become the big
brother?"

"I didn't, but you needed a shoulder and mine was here." Dean's voice was
soft and serious.

Jason heard the front door unlock. "Thanks, Dean, I'm really glad you're
here."

He gave his brother a hug. Before he let go he heard Darryl's voice, "Yo
yo, Dean Tellerman is in da house. How's it going, little bro?"

Dean smiled broadly and stood up. "Hey, Darryl."

"Damn, Jason, what are they feeding little Tellerman these days?" Darryl
grabbed Dean's arm and shoulder. "Dude is gonna put a hurtin on you if you
mess with him now."

Jason laughed. "He didn't need ten pounds of muscle to do that already."

"What say we go shoot some stick?" Darryl's suggestion made Jason eye him
suspiciously. It sounded a bit too planned. When he looked from Dean to
Darryl, he got nothing from their expressions. "It's the least we can do to
try to get Dean lucky tonight."

Dean suddenly turned away, confirming the two had been planning something.

"Dean already has a girlfriend that he would be nuts to risk losing." Jason
decided not to press them to find out what they were doing. Instead he
played along. "Besides, unless you're letting him use your bed, he has
nowhere to take her even if he did score. Ain't a chance in hell anyone
brings a woman to sleep in my bed."

Dean blushed furiously while Darryl laughed, shaking his head.

"Let's go." Dean's obvious attempt to shift the topic from him to anything
else was not lost on Jason. "But unless you've gotten better recently, bro,
I'm going to kick your ass as usual."

"You're on, little brother." Jason held up his hand and the two shook on
it.