Chapter 13: Chapter Twelve

We were soon seated at the dining room table and started on breakfast. It was quiet for about ten minutes before Castiel opened the subject to Miles’ comment about big girls.

“You’ve got plenty of experience, Alexander, so who’s better, skinny girls or big girls?” Castiel asked him.

“It’s not really about skinny or big, Castiel,” Alexander said with an amused look in his eyes.

“How so? I mean a big girl can hurt you,” he said, and Alexander started to laugh.

“How big are you talking, Castiel?”

“I don’t know, Miles is the one all over the big girls,” he said as his cheeks reddened.

“I’d rather concentrate on the inside. A girl’s personality can make her beautiful or not. A skinny girl can be a bitch and that makes her ugly. Taste differs and if you like bigger girls then there’s nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn’t recommend going around saying big girls give good head,” Alexander said.

“You’re right. She might not give me any head after she hears that,” Miles said.

“She’ll probably break your nose if she hears you say that,” I said, and Sloan chuckled.

“Is there a ‘she’ already? Because I’d pay to see that,” Sloan said.

“There is no ‘she’. Miles plays too many games and he’s fantasizing about one those cartoon girls with the big assess and big boobs. Where would he even have met a girl willing to look at his scrawny dick?” Endri asked.

Miles stood up from the table and started unbuttoning his jeans. “I’ll show you scrawny!”

“No!” Sloan and I yelled simultaneously.

Alexander was laughing loudly by this time, and he shook his head. “I forgot about all the hormones and that five boys in one house is bound to set off some kind of sexual hurricane but I’m telling you boys now, if a pregnant girl knocks on this front door there will be hell to pay.”

“You don’t have to worry about Miles impregnating anyone,” Endri said and started to laugh again.

“You should put a sign on Kage though,” Castiel said.

“Why me?” I asked him with an incredulous look on my face.

“You’ve got that bad boy look about you. You’re tall and you are kind of pretty, girls like pretty boys,” Castiel said.

“I’m not pretty!” I said feeling offended.

“You’re still tall and muscled like a jock, girls like that too,” Sloan said.

I shook my head and looked at them. “I’m not interested in girls. I’m focusing on hockey and school now.”

“So, you’re interested in boys?” Miles piped up.

“Shit …” I said and started to chuckle. “I’m definitely not interested in boys.”

“That’s good. It would’ve made our skinny dipping the other day a bit awkward,” Miles said with a serious expression on his face.

We finished breakfast and cleaned the kitchen as the conversation turned to other things. Endri was worried about our first day in a new school. He’d been bullied a lot and he called himself a bully magnet.

“Don’t stress about it too much, Endri. If we don’t share our classes, we’ll change our schedules and if anything happens, we just call Kage. He’ll beat the shit out of anyone that messes with you,” Castiel said.

“Nobody’s beating the shit out of anyone,” Alexander said with a serious expression on his face.

“There will be no unnecessary fights,” I said.

“That’s not really making me feel any better,” Alexander said and chuckled. “Your new car is in the garage but now I’m not so sure I want to give it to you.”

“A car?”

“A Tahoe, big enough to fit you all for when it snows and rains,” Alexander said.

Sunday was spent examining the Tahoe and taking it for a drive since Alexander put us in charge of grocery shopping for the next week and we only returned to the farm five hours later, laughing and unpacking the food.

We spent the rest of the day watching movies, playing Miles’s pc games and at one point I found myself in the library on the couch with a book about reaching for goals through the fear of trauma keeping you back.

Alexander found me there at ten pm and took the book from my hand and closed it. He sat down on the coffee table in front of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. “I know you’re reluctant to talk about your past, but I need you to know that no matter what happens, I’ll always be here for you. I’ll always take your side and I’ll always be one step behind you to make sure you don’t fall.”

I looked down and took a deep breath. Alexander had these moments where it felt like he could see right through me. “I …”

“You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to know that you are loved, you matter, and you’ve brought such a significant change to all our lives. They needed a brother to lead them, and you are that brother. They’ve all changed since you arrived and for that I want to thank you, Kage. You’re a special young man and you have greatness in you.”

Tears welled up in my eyes and I got to my feet at the same time as Alexander and I wrapped myself around him. His arms tightened around me. “Thank you for giving me a home.”

“I love you, Kage.”

A few tears spilled over the lids of my eyes, and I chuckled as I let go of him. “I love you too, Alexander.”

“Go to bed, tomorrow’s going to be a long day,” Alexander said and smiled at me.

As I lay in bed that night, I thought about how Alexander had changed my life, how he never yelled and only motivated us. He built us up and he never broke us down. He’d changed me from a boy not giving a shit to a young man with a purpose.

I was excited, it was a new beginning for all of us and I wanted a clean slate, well I had one, but I looked forward to it, team hockey, senior year and this time I had brothers to share it all with. It was a good way to fall asleep.