(c) Peppermint Pez (M)

Joe and Nick had always been close, but a drunken kiss had lead to something that brought them even closer. Nick hasn't seen Joe in four months. He took off after that night, afraid of what would come of it. When he comes back, his whole family is angry at him, including the boy he loves.

Rated for incest, and language.








Part 01

I haven't seen him in months. I'd moved out of the house a long time ago, and I'd hardly said goodbye to him. But I couldn't. Not with what was going through my mind the day I chose to leave. The only reason we are within a mile of each other right now is for my cousin's wedding. Which I don't particularly care about.

I've only come to see him again.

I'm scared to see the rest of the family. They'll be upset, they'll be falling all over me, asking questions and saying how much they had missed me, and I really don't want to deal with that right now. So I purposely get to the church late, just as the service is starting.

Pressing my lips together nervously, I sit down next to him on the pew. A quick flash of his brown eyes is all I get as a greeting. The service is beyong boring. I hate myself for leaving, I can imagine how I must have made him feel. He had written me, but I rarely replied. If his ringtone played on my phone, I would often ignore it. Then the communication with Nick stopped totally. Only because I couldn't face him. But now I know I have to.

I look at Nick's face, his lips in a slight smile. Natalie and her fiance' are kissing, and everyone's clapping. They all seem to be happy at the moment except me. My own lips tingle with the feeling of the kiss we shared before I left. Nick and I had kissed, and more than once. And we had both liked it. The first one was accidental - we had been to drunk at the time to know what we were doing, and had wound up with our tongues in each other's mouths for almost a minute. And I had liked his tongue in my mouth. And then I'd left, as quick as I could. I'd taken the first oppourtunity because I was scared. Even if he wasn't my brother, it would be frowned upon. Not because it's against my religion or anything like that, but because society is just so damn homophobic. So I had left.

I practically jump out of the seat when the service is over, brushing the confetti out of my hair that had been thrown around. I have a small hope of getting out of here, going to my car, and just leaving before anyone can talk to me. But I'm caught in the current of people to the back of the church, where there's a huge buffet and a dance floor. I guess I can't leave now.

"Joe!"

I turn around to face my little brother. He stares at me awkwardly. "You left without saying goodbye."

"I don't want to explain it," I say softly, pushing away from the buffet table and turning my back quickly.

"Was it because of me?" he asks quietly, trotting beside me. I stop, sigh and turn to face him.

"Not entirely." It's not a lie.

"Then what was it?" he asks again, and I sigh. I hate having to explain myself to people.

"I don't know. I mean, when you kissed me, I liked it. And I was just... scared."

Music starts playing through huge speakers. I sit on one of the chairs against the wall, and Nick takes a place next to me. "I missed you so much, though," I say, resting my forehead on his shoulder for a second. "And I was just too scared to say goodbye to you guys when I moved."

"I'm sorry," Nick says. "I shouldn't have kissed you."

"We were both drunk, we didn't know-"

"Stop saying that." He cuts me off quickly, putting one of his hands up to tell me to stop talking. "I wasn't too drunk to know what I was doing, Joe. I was well aware at the moment that I was making out with you." he gives me a huffy look, resting his elbows on his hands in his lap.

We had both been drunk at the time, just drunk enough to be hardly concious of what was going on. Everyone was making out with their current girlfriend or boyfriend, but neither Nicholas or myself was in a relationship. And suddenly, I felt lips against mine. The person held my hand, and I knew who it was. One of should have stopped it, but I had liked it. I liked it when he kissed me, even when I was totally aware that it was my little brother who's tongue was in my mouth at the moment. So I didn't stop it. I kissed him back. Then we’d gone ack home alone, still drunk. And well… more happened.

I sigh in confusion, and my head is starting to hurt with all the thoughts going through my head. “Everyone really missed you. Mom was a mess with you being gone. You really fucked everyone up.” he says grudgingly.

I ball my hand into a fist, digging my nails into my palm. I want to go back home, but I'm scared to go back home. I don't want to see the family after I deserted them, as selfish as that sounds. The first thought that's going through my head is how much I want to kiss Nick again, and the second thought is how wrong and totally illegal that would be.

"I'll come back," I say quietly.

Part 02


The day was going to suck, I knew that from the time I got to the church. Family gatherings always suck.

"Joeseph! I can't beleive you're here!" My mother is practically in
tears, hugging me when she finds me at the buffet table. "Oh Lord,
we've missed you so much. Where do you live now?"

"I missed you too," I lie. My parents were the people I had been
wanting to move away from my whole life. But I hug her back warmly, and
she pulls away and takes a good look at me, and she's practically
crying. Now I feel awful for just getting up and leaving. As much as I
can't stand my family, they deserved at least a goodbye.

"You've gotten so tall," she says, with a sniffle at the end. "Where are you living now? It's been so long."

"Four months.." I mumble, and Mom nods tearfully. I hear a familiar
voice call my name, and I look around and see my dad. I wait for him to
yell at me, telling me how much greif I brought on the family. I had
been waiting for that all day. But instead he just smiles like I was
never gone.

Mom practically crushes me in a hug when I tell them that I'll come
home for a little while. Eventually I get away from them, and I'm
finally alone for a little while. I walk aimlessly around the edge of
the dance floor, just pacing around the room over and over again. I
spot my older brother at the buffet table, standing around with his
friends. He glances at me, giving me a hard look. I turn away, but he
starts walking towards me.

"I can't believe you actually came," he says, and his voice sounds more
angry than happy. I just shrug. "You know, you screwed this family up."
Yeah, more than he knows.

"I came to see the family again. I'm coming back home for a little while..." I mutter.

"For how long? Two days, and then you'll leave again without saying
goodbye? Do you know how much you’ve fucked Nick and Frankie up?" Kevin
asks harshly. He'd been home for the summer at the time I left.

"Kevin, I'm sorry? You don't know why I left. And I don't plan on
telling you," I spit. I knew Kevin was going to be the one that gave me
the most crap about leaving. He was always the most moral,
family-loving one.

"Fine, but don't expect to be a part of the family again," he says
sharply, and with that, turns away and goes back to his group of
friends. I growl and dig my nails into my palms. He doesn't know why I
left, and he can't blame me for leaving either. He left when he was my
age.

---------------------------


"You're actually coming home?" Nick asks me in disbelief, when I meet the rest of the family outside the church.

I shrug. "Yeah."

"You said you were never coming back," Kevin snaps at me, and glare at him.

"I changed my mind," I hiss, and Kevin just rolls his eyes.

"Alright, fine. I just want to know why you left. You owe us that much, to just tell us."

I glance over at Nick, who gives me a wary look. "I can't tell you yet."

Kevin scoffs. "Whatever. Get in the car," he says harshly, opening the
door for me and then walking around the side of the car. He’s riding
home with us so we can drop him off on the way home.

The car ride is silent. Kevin completely ignores me, glaring out the
window. I rest my head on the window and Nick rests on my shoulder.
Eventually falling asleep. I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until I
wake up when we stop at Kevin’s dorm. He says goodbye to Mom, Dad and
Nick, but not me. I fall asleep again, not bothering to scoot to the
other window now that it’s unoccupied. Neither of us mind much.

And when we get home, my dad says we’ll talk in the morning before he
leaves me alone in my old room. All my stuff is still thee They hadn’t
even gotten rid of it. I sit on my old bed. It’s been washed and
re-made, like they had been waiting for me to come back. I lie on the
bed on my back, putting my hand over my face and sighing. I look around
at all my old stuff and start to look back on the day I left.


I shoved one of the last few
suitcases into my car. I was leaving, I knew where I was going, in the
literal sense. I sighed as I slammed the trunk closed, ready to leave
home. I’d bought an apartment online. No one knew I was leaving at the
moment. I had left a note for mom and dad and Nick on the kitchen
counter, telling them I was moving out for reasons I couldn’t explain.
It hurt me to leave it at that, but I couldn’t face anyone.

I had to leave, I couldn’t stay at home after what happened last night. People would find out.

Which is why this was the perfect time for Kevin’s car to pull into the
driveway. I freeze, with y hands still on the trunk handle as Kevin
rolls his window down and raises his eyebrows at me.

“Going somewhere?”

“I’m leaving, Kevin,” is all I say. Kevin raises his eyebrows at me again.

“Leaving?”

“I’m moving out.”

Kevin looks over at Nick, his eyes narrowed. “Stay in the car.” He
steps out of his Toyota, slamming the door. “What do you mean, you’re
moving out? I didn’t hear about this.”

“I just decided on it. I’m leaving,” I say flatly. I tell him the
straight truth, so I don’t start getting emotional. I look at Nick in
the passenger seat, just staring at me with a frown.

“And you weren’t planning on saying goodbye to me or Nicholas? What
about Mom and Dad?” Kevin growls, his tone accusing and cold. I don’t
change my facial expression.

“I left a note in the kitchen.”

“Ohhh. Alright, Joe, you left a note. It’s okay then!” he cries
sarcastically, throwing his hands in the air. Then he snaps back to a
stiff scowl. “So that’s all the goodbye they get from their son of
twenty-two years. A note.” I’d been living at the college dorm, but now
that it was over, I had been at home and looking for a house. But now
that it had become urgent that I leave, I picked the first decent
apartment I found

“Kevin, I have to leave.”

The door opens and Nick steps out. He only stares at me, he doesn’t
move from the side of the car. I can’t make out his expression, it’s
pretty much blank. I give him a face that tells him I’m sorry and I’ll
explain later. Nick shakes his head, looks down and shuffles up to the
garage door.

“Bye, Nick,” I call, but he ignores me and walks into the house. Kevin
watches him go, then snaps his head back in my direction and glares at
me.

“Congratulations. Have a nice life, Joe. Maybe we will see you around.”
his voice doesn’t let any emotion show, and he follows Nick’s path into
the house. I only let myself cry when I’m in the car and out of the
neighborhood. They’re tears for Nick.