Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:45:55 -0700
From: andy dearth <andyistiredoftimeandspace@gmail.com>
Subject: Rings and Promises #13 by Kane

Chapter Thirteen: I can't believe this!

Seth P.O.V

New found feelings? Really Vulcan? They aren't exactly new when you've
been experiencing them for a while now! "Hey Seth, have you seen
Vulcan?" Aiden asked as he sat next to me. I haven't left Vulcan's
house since yesterday. "I think he's in his room." I replied. Aiden
shook his head. "No he isn't, I checked." Well that was strange. Maia
came into the room then holding a sandwich and a glass of milk. "Have
you seen Vulcan?" I asked. She nodded. "He went out. He said he needed
to do something." "When was this?" Aiden asked. "Early this morning."
She replied. How in the hell can he leave and not tell anybody? I
sighed. "Well now I'm bored." Suddenly I heard a knock on the door.
Aiden stood up and went to answer it. A few seconds later, Aiden came
back with my mom behind him. "I brought you some fresh clothes Seth."
She said as she tossed me my backpack. I smiled my thanks at her. She
turned to Aiden and looked him up and down. "I don't believe we've
met." "I'm Aiden..." He said looking down. My mom smiled at his
shyness. "Don't be so shy hon, I don't bite." My mom's personality is
only good in small doses. Too much could throw you for a loop.
"Anyway, what I really came here for is to check on Maia." Maia looked
up. "How are you doing sweetheart?" My mom asked. Maia smiled a little
in embarrassment. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I caused so much trouble." Mom
waved her off. "Nonsense...every girl has a little difficulty her
first time." Maia nodded in understanding and ate the last bite of her
sandwich.

My mom looked around the house and then back at us. "Where's Vulcan?"
Aiden shook his head. "He went out this morning." He suddenly flinched
and looked up at my mom. "Oh, where are my manners? Have a seat. Do
you want something to drink?" He pulled my mom over to the couch and
gently nudged her to sit. My mom smiled up at him. "My what manners.
Seth you could learn a thing or two!" "Yeah I could but then...why
bother?" I really shouldn't have said that. Next thing I know, there's
a perfectly aimed pillow heading towards my gut. I didn't dodge it.
Somehow I think dodging it would upset mom even more. "Well Maia, do
you want to have a girl's day out?" My mom asked. Maia looked up.
"Really?" Mom nodded and smiled. "Sure, we can do everything. We can
get our hair done, get a mani-pedi, go shopping, and then stuff
ourselves silly with ice cream. What do you say?" Maia lit up. I
realized that every girl needed a mother for certain things, whether
it's your first period or just spending some quality girl time. "Can I
go?" She looked at me and Aiden. "Um...yeah?" I replied, kinda
confused as to why she'd ask us. "I say go and have fun." Aiden said
as he opened his arms out for her. She plunged herself into his hug
and squeezed him. She jumped on me next and before I knew it she
disappeared out the door with my mom.

"Is it me or has her personality changed?" I asked, glancing at Aiden.
"Well hitting puberty does that to a person." He replied. I nodded.
"So it's just us. Dude time!" Aiden laughed. "Whattaya wanna do?" I
suddenly had a thought. "Can we just sit? Like how we did before?"
Aiden's face turned gentle as he nodded. I grinned. I sat down on the
couch, patting the space next to me. Aiden sat down beside me and
snuggled up to me like a little cat. I put my arm around him and got
comfortable. "You know, since I've met you things have gotten so much
better." I said. Aiden sighed. "It's gotten better for me too. I mean,
I'm so happy and scared at the same time. But the happiness outweighs
the fear. I trust you guys." I squeezed him closer to me. "You and I
should have talks like these more often." He nodded. "Can I ask you
something?" I nodded and started playing with his hair. "What?" He
sighed out again and then grabbed my free hand. "Is it bad that I like
Vulcan?" I had to stop myself from laughing. If only he knew. "No it
isn't. Your feelings are special." I replied. "You're okay with it?"
He asked, and I noticed the concern in his voice. I rested my head on
his and nodded. "I'm completely fine with it. Because I know that you
two would never hurt each other. If you got involved with someone I
was sure was gonna hurt you then I'd have a problem." He chuckled.
"Hey Seth?" I hummed in response. "Tell me about when you lost your
virginity." Okay, why did he want to know that? "Um...why?" He
shrugged. "I'm just curious." I thought about it. "Well I was
fourteen. It's pretty typical. We were on a field trip and I had a
girlfriend at the time. We snuck off and found an empty room. We were
just gonna make out but next thing I know she's pulling at my belt.
I'm pretty sure you can go on from there." Aiden snickered. "On a
field trip huh?" "What about you?" He went still. "It was that man I
was seeing in middle school." "Oh..." That was all I could say. "Ever
try it with a girl?" I asked, trying to move the topic to a different
course. He nodded. "It wasn't bad. It just wasn't my thing." "Um...not
to bring up bad memories but...Vulcan showed me that video of him and
Ross." Aiden stilled. "He did?" I moved my hand from his hair to
running my fingers over his arm. He seemed to relax at that. "I
understand, you know." I was silent, hoping he'd get what I meant. It
took a while but I heard a small gasp as he pulled away from me to
look me in the eye. I smiled nervously. "Surprised?" He suddenly
trembled. "I'm sorry..." He whispered as if Mr. Ross molesting me was
his fault. I grabbed him and hugged him, leaning back on the couch as
I turned this into a cuddle session.

"I knew he was perving on me...being overly nice, asking me to do
little tasks so I would stay after class, but he never did anything
beyond that. I felt uncomfortable but I could bear it, and just like
you he asked me to stay after class and everything got weird really
fast. I was lucky that I was able to overpower him but he got a few
feels in before I could do so. I ran out of that classroom with my
pants almost to my knees. I was glad no one was around but I hid. I
was angry and I wanted to kill him. I didn't tell Vulcan until I saw
the video. It made me regret not telling him. Maybe if I did Mr. Ross
would've been taken care of sooner and you would never have fallen
into his trap." "No, it's okay. How could you want to tell anyone? You
were scared, it's understandable." Aiden was understanding. I guess I
half expected him to be mad at me. Because if I had told someone
sooner, he wouldn't have been a victim too. But he wasn't mad, he was
concerned about me. "Nothing beyond that happened? I mean..." He
trailed off. "No little dude, nothing beyond him feeling me up
happened." I squeezed him. "Well I'm hungry. Want a peanut butter
sandwich?" Aiden laughed. "I've noticed your love of peanut butter." I
grinned. "I'd like a sandwich...with chocolate milk." He said as he
got up. Then his face turned serious. "How are you able to hold me
like that and not cringe?" "Uh...because I'm not homophobic or an
asshole?" I replied, a little confused as to why he would ask that. He
laughed. "No you're not!" Then he tackled me in a hug before running
to the kitchen. I shook my head and followed, laughing to myself. I
actually liked having these talks with him. It just made sense.

An hour went by and Vulcan came home. He opened the door and shrugged
off his jacket. "Hey guys!?" He yelled. "In the kitchen!" I yelled
back. Vulcan came in and found me and Aiden eating out of the peanut
butter jar. "That makes three jars..." He said as he grabbed a spoon
and sat down. "Where'd you go?" Aiden asked. Vulcan's face was turning
pink and I had to keep eating in order not to laugh. "I went to the
cemetery...to see my parents. I talked to them...about everything." He
looked at me so I'd understand what he meant by everything. I nodded,
completely getting it. "Did it help?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah...it
did." He smiled before looking up to meet Aiden's eyes. "So what did
you guys do while I was gone?" "Well Maia is out with Seth's mom
having a so-called `girl's day out' so me and Seth have just been here
talking, cuddling, and eating peanut butter." He replied. "Cuddled
huh? Sheesh you guys get along better more and more these days." I
think he was starting to feel left out. "I think if I had a big
brother it would be Seth." Aiden said as he scooped some peanut butter
out of the jar and ate it. "Brother huh? Then what am I?" Vulcan
asked. I'm pretty sure he meant it in an innocent way, but the look on
Aiden's face was too adorable. He was bright red.

"Someone....important." Aiden said after a bout of silence. I swear I
could see steam coming off his face, he was so red. I had to suppress
my laughter as I watched Vulcan take that in. His face wasn't any
better. He was as red as Aiden but he smiled shyly. "Well that's a
first." I mumbled as I ate another spoonful of peanut butter. I
suddenly felt like the third wheel. There was a long period of silence
after that statement and I was beginning to get restless so I decided
to change the subject. "So anything interesting happen while you were
out?" I asked Vulcan. He jolted as if snapping back to reality. I had
to keep from rolling my eyes. I was pretty sure I knew where his head
was, in Aiden La-La Land. "Oh right...I ran into Lee. He said there
would be a more permanent Biology teacher on Monday." Aiden looked
confused. "Permanent? So the one I had till now was a sub?" Vulcan
nodded. "Apparently..." Then Vulcan's eyes widened. "Holy shit I
almost forgot!" I jumped, that shit startled me. "I invited Brett and
Eli over for dinner. You know, just to hang out. "You ran into Brett?"
Aiden asked, as if the guy hadn't tormented him way back when. "Why?"
I asked. "The guy is a douche, and who the hell is Eli?" "Well on my
way back I saw Brett and we got to talking and then I invited him over
for dinner." Vulcan replied. I just looked at him, eating peanut
butter and waiting for my answer. "Oh, Eli is Brett's boyfriend." He
added. I chocked on my peanut butter. "Brett's gay!?" Aiden and Vulcan
shrugged. "Holy shit Brett's gay." I was shocked. I nodded slowly,
letting the news sink in. "Okay he's gay...yeah, I can deal." I can
totally deal.

So Brett's gay. Well there's a shocker. No wonder the dude is so
angry. I mean, keeping all that to himself...poor guy. "So like, what
are we cooking?" Aiden asked. We spent the rest of the time planning
out meals and getting the ingredients to make the food. Now that I
think about it, with Brett and Eli and Vulcan and Aiden, I was like
the fifth wheel. That was depressing! "I can't believe this." I
mumbled. Nobody heard me which was fine by me. Who wants to talk to a
dateless loser anyway!? "Uh dude...are you okay? Your face kinda
looks...well, pathetic." I turned to Vulcan and glared at him. "What
did I do?" He asked. I just shook my head. "I'm a dateless loser." I
mumbled. He heard me and started laughing. He playfully pushed me and
grinned. "Dude, this is not a date. At least...wait, it's not a date
right?" Don't tell me he was just now thinking about it. "It's
not...yeah it's not...right? Wait that means me and Aiden..." That's
when I noticed the little wires in his head short circuiting from his
thought process. "Okay dude, calm the fuck down." I said. I shouldn't
have opened my mouth. "I'm sorry I was just pouting. It's not a date.
It's just dinner." I said slowly. Vulcan absorbed my words and calmed
down. "That's right...it's just dinner...right, dinner." I forgot how
sensitive he is now. Does admitting your feelings turn you into a
crazy person? "Now why don't you come with me into the kitchen and we
can get started on cooking." Vulcan nodded and slowly moved passed me,
heading towards the kitchen. "I think I'm the only sane one." I
muttered as I followed after him.

We got everything together. Not to brag, but I think Vulcan and I are
pretty bad ass cooks. I mean seriously, do you know any other teenager
that can cook a five star worthy meal? Yeah, I didn't think so. "Dude
why do you look so smug?" I gotta learn to control my facial
expressions. "Oh nothing just admiring the food." I replied as I
turned to Aiden. He had showered and was now drying his hair. "I'm
gonna take a shower." I said, taking a cue from him. He nodded and
looked over the food. "Looks pretty good." He said, nodding in
appreciation. I grinned. I ruffled his wet hair as I ran towards the
stairs and made my way to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, trying
not to be rude in case Brett and his little boyfriend showed up early.
I dried off and wrapped the towel around myself, not really caring
whose it was. "I'll replace it." I grabbed my clothes and made my way
to Vulcan's room and grabbed a pair of boxers and pulled them on. I
tossed the towel and my clothes in the hamper and pulled on a pair of
jeans and a t-shirt. I ran my hands through my hair, ruffling it and
then smoothing it out. "SETH GET DOWN HERE!" Well so much for being
polite. "BE RIGHT THERE!"

When I got downstairs I found Vulcan and Aiden at the door with Brett
and who I guessed to be Eli. Brett didn't look like himself. I mean,
I'm so used to the angry looking jock that I wasn't expecting to see
him so calm. Then I looked at the boy. He must be shorter if not the
same height as Aiden. He was a cute kid, kinda like a puppy. "Whoa,
sorry rude much...come into the dining room." I said. "You make it
sound like it's your house." Vulcan noted. I grinned. "Aw c'mon I
practically live here." Vulcan chuckled. "That is true." I looked at
Brett and he seemed confused. "What? Something up?" I asked. "Um...I'm
kinda just waiting...you now, for you to beat me up." He replied. I
laughed. "Nah dude, it's all good." He sighed out in relief. Sheesh
did I scare him that much?

We entered the dining room and sat down, passing food around and
filling our plates. "Dude where's your mom with my sister man?" Vulcan
asked. Brett arched a brow. "You have a sister?" "Yeah, she's eleven."
Vulcan replied, smiling with affection at the thought of Maia.
Suddenly we heard the sound of the door opening and the laughter that
followed. "Sorry we're late!" Maia yelled. She came into the dining
room and saw Brett and Eli. "Vee has guests?" I nodded. "Yup!" Brett
turned to her and held out his hand. "I'm Brett." He said. Maia
grinned and took his hand. "Vee has a lot of pretty friends!" Brett's
face lit up bright red. I had to stifle my laughter. "I'm Maia." She
saw Eli and let go of Brett's hand. "Hi I'm Eli." He said in a gentle
voice. Maia held out her hand and Eli shook it. My mother came into
the dining room then, looking exhausted. "We had fun didn't we?" Maia
nodded. "Sorry we're so late. We lost track of time." My mother
chuckled as she looked at Maia, so full of energy while she was all
tired out. "Well I made sure she ate so she's good to go. There are
some shopping bags in the living room." She then turned to me. "Are
you staying here tonight?" I looked at Vulcan who shrugged. "Guess
so..." I said. She nodded and then hugged me. "You boys have a good
night. Maia go upstairs and brush your teeth and take a bath." Maia
nodded and did as she was told. My mom left as soon as she saw Maia
disappear up the stairs.

We sat and ate after that. There was silence but it wasn't awkward. I
never thought I'd be at a dinner table with Brett of all people. Brett
and Eli wouldn't stop glancing at me though. "Is something up?" I
asked. Brett just looked at Eli and back at me. "Um...well me and
Eli..." I just waved him off. "Yeah I know, it's pretty obvious."
Brett just eyed me. "Dude, it's all good." I said as I cut in to my
steak. Vulcan makes some pretty good steaks. Eli sighed. "This is
delicious." Vulcan and I grinned. "So Aiden, what's new?" Eli asked.
Aiden shrugged. "Other than me living here nothing really." "Oh so you
and Vulcan are--" Vulcan sputtered and choked on his food. Aiden shook
his head vigorously. "No, I mean I left home and Vulcan took me in!"
Brett looked at Eli wide eyed. "Eli!" Eli looked panicked and then
laughed nervously. "Oh I'm sorry...I thought...well never mind." I
laughed a little and looked down, hoping they wouldn't notice. Looks
like I'm not the only one who knows. "So you left home?" Brett asked,
trying to divert the subject. Aiden nodded. "Yeah long story...not
very interesting." Eli still looked awkward. Brett decided to just
stay quiet and keep eating. Soon everyone finished their food. Vulcan
and Aiden took care of the leftovers while I did the dishes.

We went into the living room and sat down. "Hey Brett...why don't you
just...um tell people?" I asked, trying to word it carefully. Brett
smiled, it was a sad smile. "Because of the way I treated people." He
then grabbed Eli's hand. "I didn't want to admit it...but then this
guy stumbled my way and all of a sudden everything made sense." Eli
chuckled. "I did not stumble." "You're right, you tripped, fell over,
and landed on top of me." Brett said. Eli playfully pushed him. "Shut
up..." They seemed so right together. "You never thought this would
happen huh?" I leaned back and smirked. "I was so awful to you." Brett
said as he looked at Aiden. Aiden just waved him off. "Dude don't
worry about it." He smiled and Brett seemed to calm down. Eli leaned
against him and it turned into a cuddle. "Eli what's your story?" I
asked. He looked at me. "I'm a junior. I met Brett exactly as he said.
I tripped over my shoe laces, fell down a flight of stairs, and landed
on top of Brett at the bottom. My parents know I'm gay and are totally
cool with it. That's about it as far as interesting goes." I smirked.
I like this kid. "Does this mean we're friends?" Aiden asked, looking
down. He was shy and it was adorable. Vulcan pulled Aiden beside him
and put his arm over his shoulder. "Yes or no Brett and don't start
this pity shit I don't give a crap that you were a jerk. That was
then." Eli looked up at Brett and smiled. "I'd like for us to be
friends." Brett said. "Oh and...um...I'm sorry I kicked your ass."
Vulcan said. Brett chuckled. "I think my ass totally deserved it." We
laughed and hung out. We were getting along so well. I was happy that
Vulcan and Aiden were expanding their circles. This was perfect. Even
when they left we were still talking about how the unlikely just
became likely. Brett and Eli were our friends, and just like with
Aiden I was sure Vulcan would be watching their backs...and so will I.