Episode 5 ^4/4: There’s a reason and a fallout.

The phone buzzing woke him up from an uneasy sleep. He’d blame his biological brother for snoring, and not the problems their in-law, as he liked to call himself, had brought. His legs fell off the side of the bed. From the nightstand, he picked up his cell and saw ‘mom’ on the screen.

He couldn’t pick up fast enough, “you okay, mom?”

“Everything’s alright,” she was quick to assure.

“Then why are you calling so late?”

“Dude, she’s your mom, not the other way around,” Court mumbled from the other side of the bed.

As Court rolled over, Geo put his mom on speaker. It went against his inclination, which was to protect both his mom and brother. But it was too late now.

“Mom, Court’s here too,” he let her know.

“Hi baby,” her sweet voice cooed as it only did with Court.

“Hi mom,” his sleepy smile could be heard in his voice.

“What’s going on, mom?”

“I got a letter from the doctor,” there was hesitation. Why?

“What does it say?” Court rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Geo tried to brace himself.

“It uh,” she paused, “it says that my counts are up.”

Now they paused, looking at each other.

Court questioned, “mom, that’s good news, isn’t it?”

“Yah,” he was still trying to process it. “Mom?”

“I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.” Her hesitation was easy to hear.

But it wasn’t easy for Court to understand, “why not? This is good news!”

“But it doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods,” he set a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “It does mean that we’re doing the right things, mom. So let yourself feel good about that. Thank you for telling us.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” relief poured.

Court was struggling with his emotions as he tried to process things. Maybe Geo should have told him more, instead of trying to protect him from it. Not knowing would bother Geo a hell of a lot more than knowing.

“Mom, we got classes tomorrow, but when we’re done, how would you like a house full of people?”

“Everyone?” She seemed excited.

“Plus a few you haven’t met yet, but they’re family.”

“Ty’s boyfriend!”

“Yah,” he gave a silent laugh. “And his friend, Peyton. I’m thinking we could all use a break, and ours is the best home.”

“If you really think you want to, I’d love to have all of you here.”

He knew his mom, “don’t you lift a finger. The house is spotless, and we will bring supper to you.”

“I can handle a little cleaning,” she argued with light amusement.

“Don’t argue with Geo, mom. Besides, he’s right. We’ll bring everything for the best supper and the house will be so loud you’ll be begging us to leave.”

“Won’t happen, baby,” she laughed. “I should let you two go. It’s late.”

“We’re glad you called,” he assured. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Love you boys,” her sweet voice reached them.

“Love you too,” they both replied.

The phone went quiet, and that’s when Court’s hand hit his shoulder. When he looked, Court let him know, “I’ve been letting you handle things for a long time now.”

“I can handle it,” he had to cut his brother off.

“Maybe, but why should you have to?”

“Court.”

“No,” Court’s hand squeezed reassuringly. “We never really talk about it, and we need to.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I need to.”

Those words stopped Geo from interrupting again. He watched his brother.

Court sat up properly, folding his legs. A deep breath preceded his words, “I changed schools because I didn’t want you to see how badly I was freaking out about mom’s diagnosis.”

“What do you mean?”

Court stared blankly at his foot, “I knew that you’d take care of mom. Nothing I could say or do would change that. I knew you’d also take care of me, even though I don’t need it. So I made a space for me to act out where you weren’t. That way I could get it out and when I was home, I wasn’t a burden to you.”

“You’re my brother,” he had a hold of the back of Court’s head. He leaned forward, “you have never been a burden. I can handle anything you’re going through.”

“Will you stop,” Court gripped his arm. “Just because you’re strong enough, doesn’t mean that I want to let you. I’m supposed to be your brother. Your twin. I should be helping you. We should be carrying mom’s burden together. Instead, I’m just trying not to give you one more thing to deal with. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Don’t be stupid,” it killed him to see Court break apart. “You’re already doing it. Do you know how happy you make mom? Every time she hears your laughter, she smiles. That’s something I can’t do.”

“Because I’m leaving all the work for you,” tears were in his brother’s eyes. “Of course you can’t laugh.”

“Don’t,” he begged softly. “I just need you to be my brother. That’s all you need to do.”

Court brushed the tears away, “yah well, we’re changing our rules.”

“What?”

“Like in our game; you, me, and Ty. We change the rules when we think of something that works better. So, we’re changing the rules here. I’m no longer going to hide what I’m feeling. You’ll just need to deal with that.”

A breath of a laugh escaped, “and what do I get out of this deal?”

“You get a brother who’s actively involved with mom’s medical stuff. It’s no longer just on you. But it’s gonna confuse and scare the hell out of me, so learn to deal fast with that.”

“You got a girlfriend for that, remember?”

“So do you, but brother-talk first. What do you need me to do with mom?”

He shook his head, at a loss for what to say to that, “I just…”

“Got it,” Court kicked his feet out as he laid back against the headboard.

“What the hell have you got?”

“Brains that make you look like an idiot,” Court was smug.

“Is that so, dipshit?”

“Totally,” he smirked. “You keep looking after mom, only change is that you start including me.”

He mimicked his brother’s pose and leaned next to him, “and you’ll do what?”

“I’ll do what I’m awesome at.”

“Not sure sports helps us,” he taunted.

“Thanks,” that had Court’s arrogant side coming out. “But not what I’m thinking. Nah, what I’m gonna do is make sure that you have so much help, you’ll be begging us to leave you the hell alone.”

“Do I want to know?”

Court picked up his phone. It was at his ear in a moment and he was talking, “you two still up? Wanna come over?”

“Who are you calling?”

There was knock at the door. Jaz and Crys walked in. Crys responded to Court’s question, “already here!”

“You called your girlfriend from the other room? Do you know how lazy that is?”

“Efficient,” was the carefree reply.

“What’s going on?” Jaz took a seat next to him. Her fingers touched his hair at the temple.

Crys was pulled into Court’s side. He filled them in, “Geo’s going to keep handling mom’s care, but now he’s going to be keeping us in the loop and ask for help.”

“It’s us now?”

“It’s us now.” With the support of Crys and Jaz, Court had him outnumbered. “So, we’re gonna make sure Geo doesn’t have too much on him. Share the work, and make sure he has something to laugh about cuz his sense of humor is absolute shit.”

“Yours is absolute shit. I just don’t have one,” he clarified with a grin.

“Oh, I like this plan,” the wheels in Crys’ mind were turning. “Family takes care of each other.”

“It’s about time you figured that out,” Jaz tweaked his cheek.

He gave her a look.

“You going to be mad at me?” She was teasing.

But he saw the worry hidden behind the mask. And he responded with soft fingers at her jawline. The kiss they shared was softer than his fingers.

“Not in my room,” Court whined.

And Crys giggled, “let’s go upstairs. Pey and Tanner are still awake.”

Court let Crys get up, and he allowed her to pull him up.

“Come on,” Jaz encouraged him.

They got up and followed the other two up the stairs. The living room lights were on revealing that Tanner was busy on his laptop while Peyton was on his phone. Feet slung over the back of the loveseat didn’t look comfortable, but Peyton made no effort to move when he saw the four of them.

“What’re you doing up?” He looked over, and slowly his legs began to slide down.

Geo responded with a question, “do you not sleep?”

“You know,” Peyton was back in his phone, “you get on Sam’s case about him and Ty being alike, but really he’s not. They’re just a good match. It’s you and him that are alike. If I don’t look, it’s impossible to know who I’m talking to.”

Court claimed the chair and pulled Crys onto his lap. She laughed, but shifted to a comfortable spot. Her arms were around his neck.

He and Jaz claimed seats next to Tanner. He looked at the work on Tanner’s laptop, “you going to work till you drop?”

Tanner ran a hand through his hair, “it’s that or stress about us not talking about what we’re doing next.”

“Then let’s talk,” was Court’s flippant solution.

“Should we get Ty and Sam?” Crys looked about with that question.

But Court dismissed the suggestion with an insinuation, “Ty’s already busy with…”

“Finish that and I’ll let them think it’s you interrupting them,” he warned. “Being your twin, you know I can make that happen.”

Court seemed unconcerned, but he wisely didn’t say more concerning that.

“We all can’t sleep because of what’s happening to Sam.” Jaz quickly tacked on, “concerning his brother.”

Court had a salacious grin even though his joke had been interrupted before it could be said.

Jaz continued, “so, we should talk about it. Try to figure out a plan.”

“I really think we should get Sam and Ty,” Crys tried again.

“Hmm,” Sam voice from the stairwell got their attention. He was looking over his shoulder at Ty, “they’re starting to put me first.”

Ty had his hand on Sam’s lower back, “only I get to do that.”

“Then do something about it,” though he wasn’t smiling, Sam seemed to be teasing.

“Right after we deal with whatever this is,” Ty nodded towards them.

“Figured you two’d be busy right now,” Court taunted.

Sam shrugged, “we’ll be again soon enough.”

“But we could hear you talking down here, so came to see what’s up.”

Ty and Sam moved to the loveseat where only Peyton sat. A slap on his legs by Sam encouraged Peyton to move over. Before Sam could sit, Ty had a hold of his shoulders to shift his boyfriend to the far end so that Ty was between Sam and Peyton. Sam enjoyed the moment.

Court brought up his earlier suggestion, “Geo thinks it’ll be a good idea for all of us to stay at mom’s tomorrow.”

Sam glared darkly and didn’t share his thoughts.

Tanner quickly agreed, but with a strong point, “people do know you two are together. This house isn’t a secret. He’ll find you here soon.”

Finding it a point he couldn’t argue, Sam closed his eyes.

Ty had fingers in his hair, “we’ll go. But first we pull together a plan.”

“I wish we had more time to research him,” Crys stared intensely at the floor. Quickly, she amended, “I’m not blaming you Sam. Sorry!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Sam waved the concern off.

Peyton was grumbling though, “more time would have been helpful.”

“If you were as good as you claim, you wouldn’t need it,” Sam pointed out flatly.

“Even a great artist needs time,” Peyton retorted with something meaningful between the two of them.

Sam, already at his limit, gave a sigh as he leaned into Ty’s body. He gave his curt viewpoint, “he wants to settle things with me, but he’ll walk over anyone who gets in the way. He’s not like Kurt. Robert knows how to get what he wants. And he knows how to play the law.”

“I’d say he knows how to play those who think they can get something out of him,” Peyton thought it out.

“Those who think they can get something out of him,” Crys was lost to her rapidly moving thoughts. “How is that unlike Kurt?”

Sam opened his mouth to argue, but gave a thoughtful pause.

Geo chimed in, “that’s exactly like Kurt. He used his dad, who used the law to their advantage.”

Sam was looking at Ty, “he’s so used to it that he wouldn’t even question it.”

“Kurt’s dad isn’t going to help us,” Ty was shaking his head.

“Not intentionally. And not within the law,” Sam pointed out.

“I’ll set up a meet,” Peyton grinned.

“I like it,” Ty was giving a slow nod.

“Me too,” Tanner was in agreement.

So was Geo, “it’s a good start.”

Court raised his hand, “question.”

Crys laughed softly at that and pulled his hand down, “I’ll explain it later.”

“What else you got?” Geo’s question was for Sam.

But he was shaking his head, “I’m sure he’s behind our parents being killed, but it’s never been proven.”

“You never asked me,” Peyton pointed out.

“Waste of time,” Sam stated firmly.

“Murder charges don’t go away.”

But Sam stopped them, “too complicated, and the lawyers are very good. If there was a way to go after him with that, they would have done it back then. But he’s never been afraid of that.”

“Then what would someone like Robert be afraid of enough to make him forever get out of your life?” Crys asked the important question.

At a loss, Sam shrugged.

“This kind of guy thrives in fear because he thinks no one is as smart as him. We need help.” Ty had his phone out. He looked across at Peyton, “send the file.”

Seeing Ty nod his direction with a glance at the phone in his hands, Peyton’s fingers quickly got to work.

Ty was dialing.

Geo felt his brows knit in question, “who are you calling?”

“Reinforcements,” was the reply.

“Ty?” Jaz seemed surprised, like she just realized who he’d been texting.

He set his phone down on the coffee table with the speaker enabled, “I want you all to meet my brother and sister; Christian and Mags.”

“What are we doing Ty?” Came the irritated question from a smooth, male voice.

“Will you at least shut-up if you don’t have manners?” Came the rebuke from Ty’s sister.

Ty was grinning. Before it could escalate further, he responded to the question, “my boyfriend has a serious problem and I’m asking for your help.”

“TY DEREK DARLING,” a forceful female voice bit angrily!

There were snickers all about the room. Ty’s gaze moved to his boyfriend. Sam was poorly hiding a grin by chewing on his thumbnail.

The scolding wasn’t over as she continued, “I want details right now! Is he there with you?”

“We all are, Mags,” Court spoke up with glee. “Including my girlfriend, Crys.”

“There’s a girlfriend?” Excitement sparked over the phone.

“Not just me. Geo’s got one too, but he’s finally dating Jaz. She’s here too.”

“That’s about damned time! Tanner?”

“Holding true,” he assured with a smile.

“Can we get back to the crisis?” Christian snarled.

“It’s always work with you,” she complained.

“Because it’s how we pay for luxuries like food.”

“This is family, money isn’t required,” she seemed smug in her argument for some reason.

Peyton spoke up, “name the price. I’ll make it happen.”

“That’s a new voice,” Mags was suddenly serious.

Ty jumped back into the conversation, “his name is Peyton; a friend of Sam’s. Yes, Sam is my boyfriend. Let’s move forward now. I’ll introduce you properly later.”

“What’s going on?” Christian was happy to talk business. Well, happy seemed like a strong word.

“Peyton sent you a file on Robert Carada. This is Sam’s brother. And I’d like to see him dead,” Ty didn’t mince words.

“I’ve begun reading while you all wasted time,” Christian sounded distracted, as though he were still reading. “Would you get into your own space!”

“But you got the laptop open already, and I want to read too,” Mags gave a verbal shrug.

Peyton seemed amused by their antics, “at the bottom, there’s a transcript of the interaction Geo had with him just this afternoon. The audio file is attached.”

Sam glanced sharply over at Peyton, then he shot Ty a questioning look. There was a silent, one-shoulder shrug in response. Sam’s lips moved into a pout, which drew Ty’s enticed gaze. Sam placed a hand on Ty’s cheek to try and move that gaze somewhere else.

“What do you need from us?” Mags was the one to ask.

“Sam comes from our kind of money,” Ty was back to the conversation. “Robert’s taken it all for himself. We need someone on our side that knows how to fight money without money.”

“What have we got to work with?” Christian asked this time.

“A hacker; Peyton. Sam, who’s got inside knowledge on him. Us,” he began to list things off.

Crys spoke up, “and a budding reporter who wrote up the report you’re reading. I’m Crys…Court’s girlfriend.”

She trailed off shyly with a blush at the last comment. Court was eating the moment up!

“Ooh, I like her,” Mags gave her approval.

Christian added a notation, “it’s a good report.”

“Wow, a compliment from Christian,” Court beamed!

“That’s good?” Crys was shyly pleased.

“Don’t think it’s ever happened before,” Geo chuckled.

Jaz lightly slapped him, “don’t pick a fight.”

“He’d lose anyway,” Christian remarked absently.

“And don’t you start either,” Jaz scolded. “Don’t think that just because you’re halfway across the country, that you’re safe from me.”

“Jaz has my full support, and I can make your life a living hell,” Mags cautioned.

“You already do,” was the retort.

There was a slap of flesh that came over clearly on the phone. It was followed by, “cheater!”

That had been Mags. The snicker that was barely audible was from Christian.

Ty interrupted, “I know you didn’t miss the fact that Robert is here in our city.”

“Alright, give us a few. We’ll call you back with what help we’re able to muster up on short notice,” this promise was from Mags.

Sam’s hands were clenched tight, “case file 01289453.”

“Who is this?” Christian had made the demand.

“My name used to be Taevan. I don’t go by that anymore.”

“That helps.” Then Christian added on, “next time Ty, don’t wait for it to escalate to this point before you call us. You’re not the oldest in our family, so stop trying to act like it.”

“You can stop trying to act tough. Just say that you’re worried about him.”

“I’ll say it when I actually am,” came the snap-back and then the call dropped off.

With a smile, Ty picked up his phone. There were several covered yawns around the room. Geo sent Ty a nod; it was time to wrap up for the moment.

But first he had a question for Peyton, “do you have the contract Robert would have signed with the company?”

“Contract?”

Ty looked thoughtfully at Geo, “you don’t get to be on a board without one.”

“Knowing the family background, I’m curious how intelligent the board was.” Geo and Ty shared the same thoughts.

“Send us the financials of the company too.” Before anyone could ask, Ty was coaxing Sam off the couch, “come on.”

As they began to walk towards the stairs, Court was grumbling, “why does Ty get to sleep with his boyfriend, but I don’t get to have Crys in my room?”

“Because Ty’s not the only one that doesn’t share well with others,” Sam provided the answer. Then he added on, “don’t forget to set the alarms, sidepiece.”

“Seriously?” Ty’s hand upon Sam’s waist pulled the bodies closer.

There was an amused grin Sam wasn’t going to bother hiding, “I’m keeping my main piece busy.”

“Yah you are!” Ty being smug was something Sam enjoyed.

Alone again, Ty moved them to the bed where he pushed Sam down. As his back hit the bed Ty’s knees closed in on either side of him. Ty lightly brushed the curls off his forehead, “what’s going on in there?”

Getting those thoughts to come out took time where he just felt the tension slowly release because of those fingers. Worry had him when he finally confessed, “I told you before that you’re everything to Don that he wasn’t to me. But did you ever…get mad at Don for how things turned out for you? Even if you never told him you did?”

“I could resent Don. He took my spot as the baby, he’s dad’s favorite, I’m pretty sure he’s the only one left in the will, he never had to fight with dad the way that I do.” Ty pulled off his shirt. “But I’m not mad at Don for any of that. He didn’t ask to be the favorite, and it’s definitely not a good thing in our family. I choose to protect Don, and to keep him in my life as family.”

Sam let his eyes fall to Ty’s abs. Doubt was a hard shadow to lose, “will you come to hate me like he does?”

Ty leaned in, taking away his view. Cheeks touching, he said, “no, I’m completely whipped.”

It made Sam laugh! He had his hands on Ty’s neck when he sat back enough for them to be looking at each other. With a small smile, Sam gave a shrug with his facial expression.

“What does that mean?” Ty teased him with his lips, “are you saying you accept that I’m whipped? Are you saying that you like it? Or is that your way of saying that you are too?”

Trying to temper his pleased expression, Sam replied, “pry it out of me.”

Delighted with that, Ty pushed Sam’s arms up to pin them to the bed. Leaning closer, “challenge accepted!”

Though he tried to hide his pleasure by biting his lip, he wasn’t successful. And that lip had to be released when Ty claimed a kiss.