All characters belong to Archie/Sega except my OCs.

Ch. 10 Half of You

Ray knocked softly on Jace's apartment door. His lip was still a little swollen and he looked upset. A part of me couldn't believe my dad could ever hit one of us like that but after what I'd witnessed the other night then anything could be possible with that man. In an attempt to get my mind off of the bad of what had happened earlier, I examined my surroundings. Turns out Jace lived in a giant complex building. It was so luxurious that it looked more like a hotel than an actual apartment building. I know Ray had mentioned before that Jace's family was wealthy but I didn't think that they were so rich that they could afford for their son to live in a penthouse suit in this fancy place.

Jace opened the door wearing only a pair of black sweatpants that hung low on his hips. My eyes almost bulged out of my head at the sight of his sculpted figure. Ray sure did have some game. Not that he was ugly though. Ray was one of those quiet hot guys who could get anyone they wanted but still I hadn't thought would bring home someone as hot as Jace. I looked at my brother to see that he was analyzing his boyfriend's muscular body, soft blush coming across his cheeks. Although Jace was frowning at his boyfriend's busted lip, he did catch sight of the blush and smirked. "You like," he purred, leaning in closer to Ray. Ray blushed even harder, looking away from Jace. The other boy laughed and motioned for us to come in. Ray let me go in first but when he tried to pass Jace, his boyfriend grabbed him and started to playfully nip at his neck. My brother laughed as he tried to push out of Jace's grasp. I couldn't help but smile at the two. They were just too cute. If only my parents could see how happy Jace made Ray. Then maybe, just maybe they'd reconsider their beliefs. I mean, love is all about happiness isn't it? And they should want their children to be happy. I know I would want mine to be.

Ray finally pushed Jace off causing his boyfriend to raise an eyebrow. "I got you later," he said, shooting him a devious smirk. Ray smirked as well.

"You wanna go?"

"Bring it on." I looked back and forth between the two boys, highly confused. They were not about to get down and dirty in my face were they? If they were then I was definitely going to try to stay at Scourge's house for the rest of the day and try to forget what I had seen. Suddenly, Ray jumped out and tackled Jace to the ground. The two started to roll around on the floor, trying to pin the other down or get him into a hold. I shook my head at them, letting out a small laugh. Even when boys are dating, they're still such boys. I took a seat on the couch as they moved their little match to the living room. Jace told me to judge it and tell them who won. I nodded and once again they started to go at it. As I watched them, I came to the conclusion that it looked pretty fun. My siblings and I used to wrestle all the time when we were younger. Once we got older then we just stopped because we all got too busy to really have time for fun. Though when we did have our little tournaments, I'd win half the time. I may have been the smallest but I was the strongest. Maybe I would try to play around with Scourge like this when I went over his house later. My only hope with that was that he wouldn't get too caught up with it.

We all then heard a small noise. We looked to see a small girl that looked a lot like Jace. She had the elegantly angled face, deep dark blue eyes, long waves of jet black hair, and pale yet glowing skin. She was dressed in a white nightgown and bunny slippers. Her striking eyes stared at us all with curiosity. If I hadn't known any better than I would have thought that she was a life sized porcelain doll. She was such a pretty little girl. Jace smiled at her as he got off Ray who he had pinned to the ground. "Hey there, Cece," he told her. The girl, Cece, looked between me and Ray – an obvious question in her eyes. Jace helped Ray up. "This is Ray, my boyfriend." He then pointed to me. "And that's Rosy, his little sister." Jace looked to us, still smiling. "Guys, this is my little sister Ciera. She's a special needs child. She can understand things really well and everything but she doesn't really have the hang of talking just yet." He smacked Ray's ass making Ray glare at him before he hurried over to pick up Ciera.

"So she lives with you," Ray asked. Jace nodded.

"My parents don't have time for her so I've been taking care of her for the past few years."

"Aw that's so sweet," I piped in, shooting a soft smile at Jace. He laughed as he softly bounced Ciera in his arms.

"Yea but it's not easy." He nodded to the hallway. "Come on. I'll show you your rooms." Ray and I got up to follow the two siblings down the hallway. The first room that Jace showed us was his. He grabbed Ray's bags in one hand and threw them near one of the dressers. Ray opens his mouth to protest but Jace puts Ciera down and pulls his boyfriend close to him. "You are sleeping with me, hot stuff," he said seductively.

"But-" Ray started but Jace cut him off with a soft kiss. My brother's cheeks turned a bright red causing me to mentally giggle. It was so funny to see how flustered he got when he was around Jace. Ciera walked over to me and grabbed my hand. I smiled down at her. She smiled back, showing her small white teeth. She then began to tug at my hand, trying to pull me into the hallway. I looked at Jace, confused. What exactly was she trying to do? I know she wanted to leave but where to?

"She wants to show you your room," Jace explained before going back to teasing my brother by kissing at his neck. I nodded, turning away to let Ciera guide me out the room. I shut the door behind us, letting the boys have their privacy. Ciera led me down the long hallway to a pale pink room. The sight was almost out of one from those royalty movies. Everything was set up so nicely. From the nicely designed bedspread to the huge but elegant dressers to the soft white rug.

"Thank you for being such a good tour guide," I told Ciera as I put my bags down. Ciera stared at me, her lips moving slightly as she struggled for words.

"Me decorate," she murmured softly but loud enough for me to hear. I bent down to her height as I smiled at her.

"You decorated this for me?" She nodded before pointing to the wall on the right.

"My room next."

"Oh so we're neighbor's huh? Seems like we're gonna party all night and sleep all day." Ciera giggled. "Do you wanna play?" She nodded.

"Dolls," she murmured before grabbing my hand tugging me out of the room. We then went to her room which was set up similar to mine except it was a baby blue colored wall. We played dolls for a while. I actually found Ciera quite interesting with the way she played with her dolls. She made up such complex and dramatic scenarios for them as well as realistic personalities. As we played, I got the hang of understand Ciera's small ways of communication. I could tell that she was a very intelligent girl with some difficulties that she was coming over with great progress. Once Ciera was knocked out in her bed for her nap, I went out to the living room where the boys were watching TV. Jace was sprawled out on the couch, his head in Ray's lap. They both looked at me when I walked in. Jace smiled brightly.

"You know, she's been waiting for a friend and it seems she finally got one," he said. I smiled softly, letting a soft bashful blush come upon my cheeks. I edged towards the door, causing Ray to raise an eyebrow.

"Where are you going," he asked.

"Scourge's house. We were gonna just hang out."

"Alright. Be careful."

"Will do." I walked out the door and made my way down to the elevator. Jace's apartment building was far from our house at all so I easily walked to Scourge's since he did live right next door. When he opened the door, he was shirtless and had a toothpick in his mouth. Why does every guy not want to wear a shirt today? "Do you own a shirt," I teased Scourge, landing a light punch at his arm. He moved aside to let me in, smacking my ass as I passed. I turned around and tried to hit him but he grabbed my wrist. A smirk grazed his lips.

"I could but they're no fun when you're around," he purred, flinging my body against his. I giggled as he tickled me softly. He kissed my cheek before leading me upstairs to his bedroom. There waiting was one hell of a surprise. Scourge had set up a candlelit picnic scene for me. All the lights were off and the blinds were shut so the only light came from the candles. There was a big blanket in the middle of his floor that had tons of little plates and fruits on there along with wine glasses filled with apple cider.

"You did this for me," I asked, my voice soft as he pulled me tight against him from behind. He kissed my neck before letting his lips travel to my ear.

"Yea. An amazing girl like you deserves a candle lit date every once in a while." I giggled as he nibbled on my ear. I thought it was so cute how he put in this effort to make up such a comfy but romantic date. Any other guy I knew would've just paid for a scene like this but not him. He created it himself. "I cooked for you," he murmured in my ear. His hot breath tickled my ear so I had to stifle my giggle.

"Oh really," I asked, turning my head slightly to raise an eyebrow at him. He smirked and pecked my lips. I let him lead me to sit down on the blanket. He sat down next to me, putting an arm over my shoulders. He uncovered one of the plates to reveal a huge slice of gooey homemade lasagna. "So you really can cook huh," I said, letting out a small laugh. He chuckled as well.

"Gotta eat don't I?" He grabbed a fork and took a small piece from the slice. He held it up to me. "Open wide, baby girl." I blushed but opened my mouth so that he could feed me. The pasta was really hot but it tasted so good. This boy sure was full of surprises. We went back and forth between feeding the pasta to each other until it was all gone. We also picked over the fruits but he mostly just used them as an excuse to kiss me since he would take it from me and put it in his mouth and make me get it back. Then he whipped out some cookie dough ice cream that we ate peacefully while we watched a random scary movie that he picked. I was starting to fall asleep on him when the movie ended. His soft chuckle ran through my ears. I looked up at him but he had moved his down to my neck. Slowly, he started to peck small kisses there. I tensed up at first, the action taking me by surprise. Sure, he does it once in a while but not multiple kisses. Just one and then he backs off. But now, he kept going. Scourge noticed my tension and rubbed my arm. I let out my breath. I had to relax. He wasn't going to hurt me. Once I actually settled myself, I found pleasure in the little kisses that blossomed all over my neck.

"You alright," Scourge asked after a while, his ice blue eyes gentle. I nodded. "Is what I'm doing okay?" I nodded again, letting a shy smile come upon my lips. He smirked and got up. I looked up at him in confusion in which he held out his hands to me. I grabbed them and he helped me up off the floor. He walked to lay down on his bed. I stared at him, tugging nervously on my sweater. "Come here," he said softly, patting the space beside him. I sighed but walked over to perch down on the edge of the bed. Scourge wasn't having that though. He wrapped his arms around me to pull me up and lay me down next to him. I blushed as he scooted closer to me, his ice blue eyes staring down at me. One of his hands reached out and started playing with one of my curls.

"What," I murmured after a while, his stare becoming a bit weird. "What are you staring at?"

"Un angel," he replied simply, his accent basically taking over his whole voice. It sounded so…sexy. The butterflies in my stomach were foreign to me. They weren't like the ones I had when I was beginning to like Scourge. These were more forceful and a bit scary if you ask me.

"I'm no angel," I said with a slight shake of my head.

"Stop lying to yourself," he murmured to me before starting to lean down towards me. I met his lips halfway, letting our lips move in complete harmony. Damn they were soft and smooth. Even his tongue which eventually made its way into my mouth was so warm and inviting. I couldn't help but to push myself up against him, wanting more of his warmth. My hands crept up his neck into his hair where my fingers weaved through his soft curls. His hands, after a while, started to creep up under my shirt. A shiver of pleasure went through my body at the feel of his warm, soft hands on my skin but so did a red flag go up in my head. Reluctantly, I pulled away from the kiss. Scourge looked at me with confusion before I looked down at his hands. Immediately, he moved his hands. "Sorry babe," he said.

"It's okay," I replied, moving closer so that I could curl up on his chest. He chuckled at me and held me tight against him. We sat in silence for a little while, weariness almost taking me back over if Scourge hadn't spoken.

"Can I ask you a question," he asked, his voice low.

"You just did," I teased, smiling up at him. He let out a short laugh before shifting from under me so that he could sit up against the headboard of his bed. I crinkled my eyebrows in concern as a serious expression came upon his face. "What's wrong, Scourge," I asked. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he looked down at me.

"Before I ask, you have to promise not to get mad."

"Um okay?"

"Okay. So, have you ever considered having sex before marriage – if it was with the right person I mean?" I raised an eyebrow at him. Where was this suddenly coming from?

"What are you getting at here?"

"Well, have you ever considered or wondered that we'd make love someday?" I tilted my head, going over it in my head. Honestly, I hadn't really thought about it. I never thought it mattered.

"Maybe. I mean, I hope we do – after we're married that is." Scourge's full lips turned into a deep frown.

"I'm not interested in marriage." As soon as the words left his mouth, I felt a sharp stab in my heart. I had not been expecting that answer to come out of his mouth. Then again, he was still just a boy and at this age they weren't really trying to think about settling down. That part I understood but that doesn't mean that it didn't feel like a slap in the face.

"Oh," I murmured, looking down at his comforter.

"Look, it's not that I don't want to marry you one day – I just don't see the point of it in general."

"I understand," I murmured before starting to get up. "I should go, I'm getting kind of tired." Scourge's hand shot out, grabbing my wrist tightly.

"Wait, you don't have to leave."

"I should though."

"Hey, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to."

"It's fine, Scourge. Really." I made a move to leave again but his grip stayed on my wrist. I started to try to wiggle my arm from his grasp but that wasn't seeming to work.

"You promised that you wouldn't get mad." I looked at him, letting him see the hurt and somewhat anger that laid in my eyes.

"How can't I be mad when it now seems like all my boyfriend wants is sex?" Scourge's face hardened.

"Rosy, you know damn well that I'm not with you just to try to have sex. You know I truly care about you."

"Then why do you keep bringing up the whole sex thing?"

"Can't a guy just be curious? Sorry for trying to express my thoughts." He let me go, throwing his hands up in frustration. He looked away from me, his jaw tightening up. I saw that he was starting to get irritated and I felt a little bad about it. I didn't have to react the way I did. I mean, it was just an innocent question and I did promise him that I wouldn't get mad.

"Maybe we just shouldn't talk about sex for a while." He nodded, looking back over to me.

"Just to let you know, I'm waiting until you're ready." I smiled as he pulled me close against him. He leaned down to kiss me softly.

"Thanks," I murmured between our kisses.

"Do you still have to go?" He kissed me again, sticking his tongue in my mouth.

"Mmm, I think I have a couple minutes." He chuckled before leaning down onto me so that we would lay down.

X

"What," I asked when I heard someone knocking at my door. After Rosy had left after a good half hour or an hour or two – I don't remember – of making out, I had went to my computer to work on some of my college essays and take a couple of those online practice SAT tests. I hated being interrupted when I was actually doing something beneficial to myself. I turned in my chair to see my dad standing in the doorway. I motioned for him to come in. He does and shuts the door behind him. I raised an eyebrow at him as he took a seat on my bed. "¿Qué pasa," I asked him. My dad preferred to talk in Spanish rather than English most of the time so I usually talked to him in our native language to make it easier on him.

"We need to talk," he replied, also in Spanish.

"Okay." He stared at me for a minute before nodding his head, looking down to my carpet.

"I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here?" I nodded. "Well I'm trying to get you under my custody again."

"Why? I'm going to be 18 in a couple months anyway. I was planning to move out the day after my birthday."

"I know but I just want to get you out of here sooner. Your foster siblings might have to go away for a little while too."

"Why? What's going on?" He sighed, looking up at me.

"Your mother. She's still unstable."

"And how the hell do you know that?"

"Bonnie has been tracking her progress and sadly ever since you moved back in with her, things haven't been looking good. She heard about how Sky slapped you a while ago."

"It was no big deal."

"Scourge, you do know what that little slap could have been don't you? Look, I know your mother is trying but it's not good enough. She keeps getting reminded of whatever makes her go mad when she's around you. Sooner or later she's going to have another episode and I want you out of this house before that happens. If you don't then I don't know what could happen."

"So she's going to try to kill me again," I asked lowly, not being able to hide the hurt that rang in my heart. I understood that I hated my mother for what she did so many years ago but she was still my mom and I wanted her to love me.

"Or you could do something drastic as well. How much do you remember of that night?"

"After seeing Ren die, it's all black. The last thing I remember is seeing you unconscious and bloody. Mom was rocking me in her arms, singing the lullaby that she used to sing to us at bedtime. I had a gun in my hand but I think she was coercing it out of my hand with the song." My dad nodded.

"Yea, you tried to defend yourself but you didn't know how to use a weapon like that yet. Now you do and I don't want you doing something you'll regret either – even if it's for self-defense." I looked away. He got up and walked over to me. One of his hands ruffled my hair. "Don't worry though. I'm gonna get you out of here. Now clean up, we're going out." I looked up at my dad, raising an eyebrow.

"Where are we going?"

"I want you to meet your other family."

"Oh. Okay." After I changed in a fitted button up black shirt and a pair of jeans with some high tops, we headed out the house. The car ride was surprisingly relaxing and silent. I watched some of the familiar streets fly by until we turned onto a street where all of the more suburban like houses were. I looked around, trying to take a wild guess on which one was his. My assumption proved correct. The house at the end of the street with the black shutters and sea green paint. I knew my dad way too well. The first person I saw was Juan. He was sitting on the front porch steps with his phone in his hand. I think he was texting or something. I knew Rosy and him were supposed to have a date but I'm pretty sure she cancelled it since she was my girl now. He didn't seem mad or anything when he saw me though. In fact he seemed a bit surprised.

"Juan, this is my son, Scourge. Scourge this is Juan, my wife's son," my dad introduced us, smiling between the two of us. Juan smirked mischieviously.

"We've met at school. He's with that bonita chica. Or at least he better be," he replied. I glared down at him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well you did make it official last night didn't you? I mean, you can't be that dumb as to pass up on a great girl like Rosy."

"And what do you know about girls? You look like you got hit by a train."

"More than you do, shit face."

"Hey, hey, you two are brothers now so that means you two have to get along," my dad said, seeming annoyed at the way we were arguing over a girl. He had taught me that sometimes girls weren't worth it but me and Juan were just arguing. I knew it would never go as far as that.

"You're right, Alejandro." Juan stood up and held out his hand to me. "How about we call a truce?" I raised an eyebrow. What the fuck kind of shit was this and why? "You take care of Rosy or I kick your ass, okay," he said with a smile.

"Oh I will." I reluctantly shook his hand. My dad seemed satisfied by this and went into the house. When he was out of hearing range, I ripped my hand out of Juan's. "I know you're up to something."

"Calm down, shit face, I'm not planning anything. I wish you and Rosy the best. Besides, I'm not exactly interested in girls like her."

"What? Then why did you flirt with her?"

"One because she is beautiful. Two because I've always had a slight thing for her. And three because you needed some motivation to take your relationship with her seriously. Dude, she really likes you. Just do your job right and you'll have her where you want her before you know it."

"Really? So you actually don't not like me?" He shrugged.

"No hard feelings at the moment. Do something to piss me off and maybe. So we cool, bro?"

"Yea. We're cool."

"Alright." We did the signature boy handshake before he started to walk away.

"Where are you going," I asked him. He looked back at me, his caramel eyes sparkling mischievously.

"I have to go take care of something. Tell my mom I'll be back soon. Thanks." He then took off in a sprint up the street. I shook my head after him. Fucking weirdo. I went into the house myself to see a small boy running down the steps. He looked to be about 4 or 5 and looked like a miniature version of my dad except with caramel eyes. I raised an eyebrow in which he raised one back, practically mirroring the look.

"The fuck are you looking at," I asked him.

"You," he said, his squeaky voice strong and fearless.

"Whoa. Who the hell are you talking to like that?"

"You."

"Do I need to hand your little ass to you on a silver platter?"

"I'd love to see you catch me first, shit face." Yup, Juan has definitely been around this boy. I liked him though. He had attitude and wasn't afraid of me. He must not be afraid of anyone. A good trait to have.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Jay. What's yours?"

"Scourge. Your name is just Jay?"

"No. It's actually Jeremy but I don't like Jeremy. I like Jay so that's what everyone except my grandparents call me."

"Well Jay, seems like we're half-brothers." His eyes widened in realization and amazement.

"You're my brother? Wow! You're much cooler than Juan!"

"I know." I then resumed my way to the kitchen in which Jay followed me along like a little puppy dog. In the kitchen was my dad and a beautiful woman who had long wavy chestnut colored hair, tanned caramel skin, a curvy body and bright caramel eyes. She looked just like Juan if you ask me but just in girl version.

"Hola," she exclaimed when she saw me. Her Hispanic accent was a lot thicker than my dad's but it fit with her high pitched voice. "It's so nice to finally meet you! Why don't you look just like your father! You are so handsome! And alto! Much alto!"

"Yea," I muttered before getting grabbed into a hug. Damn this lady was strong. But she was nice though. I would give her that.

"I hope you're hungry, I've made a nice big meal for us! Oh wait, silly me, you probably don't even know my name. I'm Isobella, your father's wife. It's so nice to meet you, Miguel."

"Nice to meet you too." Even though I wanted to correct her on my name, I let it be. She was new and my new name was a bit strange. I'd let her keep Miguel for the time being. Dinner with them went by very nice. Isobella was a nice woman and I could see that she really did care for my dad as he cared deeply for her as well. Turns out Jay was my dad's son – not that it wasn't obvious – and he immediately became my number one fan. The little motherfucker would not leave me alone. I smacked him out his chair a couple times. Surprisingly, his parents didn't care. Not that they would've anyway. The hits weren't that hard and the boy bounced right back up anyway. Eventually Juan did come back to the house but he wasn't alone. Isobella exclaimed that she almost forgot to introduce the last member of the family who had been at practice. I turned and immediately my eyes bulged out my head. Even through the dirty clothes and the maturity in looks, I recognized him. How could I not? He stared back at me too, his lips turning into a smile at the sight of me. "Miguel," he yelled in happiness as he started to run towards me. I stood up to catch him in my arms, holding him close against me.

"Ren," I murmured faintly into his hair.

Just a long filler chap for you guys. I'm gonna start working on a short xmas story for you guys which might be cool, i'm gonna try to publish it on xmas eve so yea there's that. and I am still faithfully working on this. The Black Wings is still working on being updated so more is coming on that and I guess that's all. Bye Bye Bye!

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