A/N: I'm feeling better. Besides the fact that I'm exhausted for no apparent reason. And my arm is locking up. That's not good. But, I bring you the next chapter. And it's on time!!! And today, kiddies, ladies, and gentlemen, you meet Donut's mother, a new character (le gasp!), and you'll get an insight on Grif and Simmons' relationship. Also, many other entertaining things.
Genre: Some humor mixed in with teenage romance, and a hint of drama.
Pairings: So far there's Grif/Simmons, Donut/Caboose one-sided Caboose/Sheila, Church/Tex, Kerry/Doc. Also, a bit of one-sided Tucker/Church is starting to spring up. Not to mention Church is really starting to notice Donut.
Rating: T, though it might change. I'd say fourteen and up would be appropriate.
Summary: AU Donut's a cheerleader for the Red team, who just happens to fall in love with a Blue team football player, Caboose (who's badly crushing on Donut's rival, Sheila). Grif just wants sex with Simmons and for Sarge to stop trying to kill him. Kerry wants overprotective Grif to let her sex up Doc. Lopez is trying to get over his nervousness around the Blue cheerleader. Tex, who's haunted by a troublesome ghost named O'Malley, has a rocky relationship with her on-again off-again boyfriend Church, who can't help noticing the Red cheerleader. Tucker and Andy want to be in a relationship, too. But they have no one. And no one can find it in themselves to say those three magic words that make or break a relationship.
Warnings: Mothers, family members, awkward and hard conversations, airports, homophobia, cursing, rituals, cluelessness, talking, PDA, incest jokes, slash, het, nakedness, illusions to (make-up) sex, fluff, ghosts, crystals, freezer doors, cracks, hitting family jewels, kisses, calls, orders, sandwiches, more pictures, cheerleaders, ex-best friends forever, mentions of last summer, meatloaf, aprons, scars and sexiness (that's a funny word), chalk, floors, tables, reunions, falls, laughter, dreams, sleeping in class, New Year's Resolutions, tasting, wedding talk, skulls, Spanglish, strange doodles, and threats.

Chapter 10
A Mother's Visit
Or
Murphy Spoke the Truth
(And It Sucks to be Ignored)

Donut groaned and slammed his locker shut. He'd gotten a total of an hour of sleep the previous night and had constantly tossed and turned. Every time he had closed his eyes he remembered his mother. Baking cookies in the shape of his favorite animals, practically demanding that they take in Grif and Kerry, tucking them each in at night after reading them all a bedtime story…Yelling at him, hitting him, abandoning him when she found out… He was just thankful she had never told his father.

It was going to be a long day.

"Aww, if it isn't wittle Miss Donut. Don't all the boys just wanna eat him up?" a voice behind him sneered. The dirty blonde groaned again, banging his head against his locker.

"Not in the mood, Ashley," he grumbled, turning to face his ex-bff and two other cheerleaders, Jessica K. and Jessica G.

"Aww, poor baby," she mockingly cooed. The other girls laughed as if on cue. "What's the matter, no knight in shining armor coming to rescue you?"

"Actually," he snapped, "the mother who I haven't seen for six years is coming back for the holidays and I'm really just not in the mood for your attitude." Donut took grim, sadistic satisfaction at their startled faces. He turned and angrily stomped off, not seeing Ashley's guilt gaze at his retreating back.

It was going to be an extremely long day.

XXX

Where everyone else had at least one picture of their parents (in Simmons' case of Sarge) Grif had absolutely no photograph with them in it. There was one of Simmons and him climbing a tree in their Boy Scout uniforms, three of him and Kerry together, two of just him and Donut, and the rest were of the four together at various points. Not a single one held proof that he even had parents.

"Okay, congratulations on bringing ten pictures," Pillows said with little enthusiasm to the room where only a half of the students had remembered or even bothered. She brightened up when she explained what they were doing with them, however.

"You're supposed to write at least five complete sentences for each picture. This will give us-" she pointed at Simmons.

"Fifty sentences," he answered.

"Exactly."

From the corner of his mouth Grif whispered, "Teacher's know-it-all pet." In retaliation, Simmons hit him under the desk, right between his legs. Hard. With an "oomph," Grif's hands instantly went to where he'd been injured and he hunched over his desk.

"Great," he hissed. "Now I'm never gonna be able to have kids."

"Don't worry," the freckled boy told him with a grin. "I'll impregnate you." The brunet's only retort was to flip him off and lay his head down on the table in pain.

"So, have fun, be creative, and all that," Pillows dismissed with a wave. She snorted amusedly as the teens instantly turned towards each other, talking as though they had never stopped their conversing.

Spotting Grif in what seemed a lot of suffering and his boyfriend smirking ruefully next to him, she went over to the couple. She raised an eyebrow at the brunet, then turned to Simmons.

"Did you break him?" She received two simultaneous answers.

"No."

"Yes."

Looking over at Grif, who had moaned out his reply, he shrugged unabashedly. "Maybe just a little." With a chuckled, she crouched down on the balls of her feet and shuffled through Grif's pictures.

"Not on good terms with your parents," she stated more than asked. The brunet lifted his head.

"Dad was an alcoholic, left us when I was ten. Year later, my mom did the same," he told her bitterly. She gave a small nod then pointed at the picture of Grif and Simmons climbing a tree.

"You guys were in the Boy Scouts?" she asked incredulously.

"Yup. He stabbed me with his Swiss army knife once," Grif replied, giving his boyfriend an accusing look.

"It was an accident," he defended exasperatedly as though he'd said it a million times before.

"Bullshit! I still have the scar. Scars like that don't exactly scream 'accident'."

"Scars make you look even sexier?"

"Yes. Yes, they do," Grif agreed, leaning back suggestively to show off his body. Simmons and Pillows shared a snicker, which turned to full-blown laughter. "Eh, screw you two." He crossed his arms and sulked. As the laughter dimmed down, the two shared a look, causing them to laugh again, even harder this time.

The bell rang and the other students in the room, who had been watching the three perplexedly, filed out of the classroom. Laughs dying down, Simmons and Grif said their goodbyes and followed suit.

"Try not to break him again," Pillows called out. "Too much trouble to fix him!" Simmons laughed, Grif scowled.

"Oh, my god. I hate you guys."

"You don't even really believe in God."

"Don't care."

They walked to their lunch table and sat down. Lopez was already there and, a beat later, Kerry and Donut joined them. As they sat their trays down, they continued their conversation.

"I could always seduce Brent, you know. To piss Ashley off," Kerry offered.

"Whoa, what?" Grif demanded. The younger teens turned to him.

"I was just telling Kerry how Ashley and me got into it this morning," Donut explained.

"Yeah, and I was just saying that I could get back at her," Kerry added.

"No seducing anyone. Ever," Grif told her, giving the girl a stern look.

"You're no fun," she whined, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey, you said earlier that the guys are gonna try to get things set up for another ritual, right?" Donut asked. Kerry nodded.

"Yup. I'm going over to Doc's after school. Apparently, they found this new ritual thing that can be done by two people if their wave lengths are close together," she told them.

"Is it just me or does that sound like-" Grif began.

"A bad pick up line you'd use on me," Simmons confirmed.

"That's why I wore this cute top," Kerry went on, ignoring the older boys. She made a sweep at mentioned top: yellow, short-sleeved, and a low neckline with pink, blue, and green stars trailing down her left side starting on her breast.

"Ooh, that's really cute," Donut complimented.

"I know," she beamed. "I'll get this annoying ghost out of me and I'll get to spend time with Doc! It's like a double win."

"Yeah, that makes me feel safe to leave you two alone,' Grif mumbled. He was, unsurprisingly, pointedly ignored.

XXX

"Ooh, when we get married, my bridesmaids will wear pink!" Tex exclaimed, clapping her hands together in faux excitement. Church sighed. "What should our wedding song be?" He could almost feel the sarcasm dripping form his girlfriend's voice.

"Tex, it was a hypothetical question. Hence why I said 'pretend we got married."

"Still, though, that's the stupidest fucking question you have ever asked me. And you've asked a lot," she sneered. Changing topic she ordered, "Now give me back my pencil so I can finish this equation." The boy was about to say something but she quickly added as an after though, "Or I'll rip out your skull and beat you with it."

"Ouch," he mumbled, handing her back the pencil. As she took it and went back to working on math problems, Church kept on speaking.

"I think it was a good question. Seriously, if we got married, where would you want to do it at?" Tex, ignoring him, put down her answer for a complicated problem. Church sighed and, defeated, looked down at his own paper. He knew it wouldn't do any good to say anything; she wouldn't answer questions like that.

Church, bored and unable to concentrate on his assignment, began to doodle on his page. A line here, a curve there, some random squiggle thrown in for the hell of it…and he ended up with a picture of an elaborate something-or-other (maybe a kite or a bird) flying away from an outstretched hand.

Abruptly, Tex asked in a bored manner, "You know you're mine, right?"

"Huh?" he responded, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"You know you're coming over after school to get the crystals, right?" she asked, referring to the crystals needed for Kerry's exorcism. (It was amazing what you could pick up on short notice when you knew the right people.) Church nodded.

"Yeah, actually, change of plans. Doc's gonna drop by and get them while I just stay over there," he informed.

"Oh, joy," she replied with little, if any, elation. Really, however, she was glad. Though, she told herself, just slightly.

The bell rang and they gathered their things. Walking to their last class, they met up with Tucker. He gave a small wave to the couple, rubbing his eyes and walking with them.

"Just got up?" Church guessed.

"Up all night playing Half-Life. Forgot to sleep then," the other boy confirmed with a yawn. He left out how he started playing because his dreams had involved him and a naked body in a compromising situation. And both had been enjoying it. Yet the body was a male.

"Nice."

"Idiot."

The trio arrived at their classroom and, ignoring their remarks, Tucker went in first and sat down in the back. He promptly laid his head down while the other two went and took the seats next to him. The warning bell sounded and more students piled in. Then, when the ringing of the final bell was heard, their teacher walked in.

"Okay, guys. Today's a fun writing activity. Your homework is to write a list of New Years Resolutions for yourself," Mr. Younge told them.

Groaning, Tucker complained, "I hate homework. Couldn't he just give us an assignment instead?"

"Seriously, man, shut the hell up," Church said, taking out a sheet of paper. Tex did the same and, eventually, so did Tucker.

Church stared at his paper a long time. He was vaguely aware of how next to him on his right Tucker was breathing deeply in the beginnings of sleep and to his left Tex was staring out the window. All around him he could hear the familiar scratch of paper being assaulted by pencil and the voices of his classmates whispering back and forth. After a while, Church though of something to write down: be a better boyfriend.

Tex frowned, tearing her eyes from the snowy outside world and back to her blank page. Deciding that she needed something, she wrote: Kill everyone. Or enslave humanity. O'Malley would be proud. Slightly threatened, but proud.

Cringing a bit, the girl added a second thing to her list: Only cheat on Church when he really pisses me off. Thinking it over, she crossed out the last part and replaced it with only once a month. After that she put: And protect my property.

Tucker's eyes fluttered open groggily. He had started to have the oddest, familiar dream. He couldn't remember what it was about, but he was sure someone he knew was in it… And he was hard.

Tucker groaned and glared down at his crotch. Oh, you son of a bitch, he thought peeved. His cock seriously had the. Worst. Timing. Ever. At least he wasn't standing up.

Crossing his legs, the teen picked up his pencil and looked at his slightly-rumpled-from-sleeping-on-it piece of paper. Assuming that his teacher wouldn't accept a whole list of nothing and wrinkles (and some drool on the side), he wrote: play more video games. He yawned, causing him to realize his current state. Tucker scribbled out more and wrote less above it. That caused him pain.

Underneath that line, the black boy put down to try and stop having erections in class. His teacher would love that.

Tucker glanced over at Church. The smaller boy's goatee popped out at him, and a flash of the dream played in his head. Turning red and thanking the fact his skin was so dark, Tucker hurriedly looked down at his paper. And stop having dreams about my best friend, he added.

The thought that resolutions were meant to be broken like rules appeared in his mind and Tucker fought to push it down.

XXX

"Well, there's Doc. See you guys later!" Kerry called out, running to Doc's car. Grif watched her go in with a scowl on his face. Simmons chuckled while Donut waved at her.

"Seriously, I-" he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, however, as his phone started playing his ringtone. He looked quizzically at the caller ID a minute before answering.

"Hello?"

"Dexter," came the sound of his uncle's voice. "I'm swamped at the office here and I can't leave. Do you think you could pick up your aunt Helen? Her plane should be here in an hour."

"Sure…" Grif replied, unsurprised. After all, it wasn't his first time being tied up by work.

"Thanks. Drive safely." He hung up quickly and his nephew did the same.

"Guess what," he said, pocketing his phone.

"What?" Donut asked.

"We're picking up your mother."

"What!" the blonde exclaimed in horror. His cousin gave a small, apologetic shrug.

"We're picking her up. She gets here in like an hour."

"No," Donut said stubbornly, making his way to the car.

"What do you mean by that?" Grif asked, both other boys following after him.

"Do you want to just leave her at the airport?" Simmons asked. Donut gave a grim chuckle, leaning up against the red-orange vehicle.

"I mean that I want you guys to drop me off at home. Please," he added, voice a tiny whisper.

"Okay," Grif agreed, unlocking the car.

As they got in, Donut in back and the other two in front, the blonde mumbled, "Thanks." If he was heard, the brunet gave no sign. He just turned the key in the ignition, trying to get it to start. Once it did, he pulled out of the parking space and off of school grounds.

The drive to Donut's house was quiet; the blonde looked out the window with his forehead to the glass not really seeing anything, Simmons opened a book and stared at it yet never turned the page, and Grif simply gripped the wheel and drove. No one felt like turning on the radio. No one felt like listening to anything other than the noise of Grif's car sounding as though it might start spitting out its lifeblood.

XXX

"So then I just poured bleach on it and she never knew the difference. And it wasn't technically lying since she got it back and it wasn't ruined," Kerry mused. Doc was fascinated by her extravagant hand gestures. He still had no earthly idea what she was talking about, however.

"Right," he said with a nod. "I'm, uh, going to go see of the crystals are frozen enough yet. Do you want anything?" he asked getting up.

"No thanks, I'm fine," she replied, finishing up drawing a symbol in white chalk on the hardwood floor of Doc's living room.

Doc went into the kitchen and quietly pulled out his cellphone, going to the freezer. He opened both, then dialed Church's cell number while he delicately touched the crystals they had picked up an hour ago; they still weren't completely frozen.

"Doc?" Church mumbled into the phone.

"Hello, Church. Did I wake you?" On his end, the other teen looked down at a naked Tex sprawled on top of him, glaring because he'd had the audacity to answer the phone.

"Er, sort of. Whatcha need?"

"Well, Kerry's been talking for the past…" he glanced at his watch. "…hour. But I haven't understood a thing she's said," the teen admitted in a panic.

"Calm down, Doc. It's fine; all women just like to babble. Just nod when appropriate," Church advised. Tex growled, a hand reaching up and twisting his left nipple painfully. He let out a screech, almost dropping the phone.

"Ouch! What the hell?" he exclaimed as Tex got up and started to leave the room. Then it occurred to him. "Wait! I meant, um, other women. Not you. Tex! Tex?" She held up a middle finger behind her as she left the room. "Goddamn it."

"Is everything alright?" Doc asked. Letting out a long breath of air, Church plopped back against the headboard with a non-assuring thud.

"Yeah, fine. Just remember what I said and don't screw up. Bye."

"Bye, Church." They hung up and Doc pocketed his cellphone. He took a deep, soothing breath before going back into his living room.

Kerry was leaning against the loveseat, the odd-yet-familiar symbol drawn. Careful not to trip on the overturned rug, he made his way to the younger girl. Sitting down besides her, Doc smiled, and she returned it.

"Crystals ready yet?" she asked him. Doc shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied. "Just a little longer, though, I think."

XXX

Church-figuring he should get up, swallow his pride, and go apologize to Tex-did just that. He went to the kitchen where his girlfriend was sitting with a mug of hot chocolate. The boy admired the way the light hit her and how it made her look…clear, translucent. Then, he went over and sat adjacent to her.

"So, um…" he began, unsure of what to say. She took a sip of her drink. "For the record, I do listen to you. All the time, in fact," he assured. "You'll kick my ass if I don't." She seemed to consider that for a moment before responding.

"True."

In a single, swift movement Tex sat down her mug and had Church pinned under her on the table.

"Make-up sex?"

"Make-up sex."

Two matching smirks.

XXX

Caboose concentrated on the stuffed rabbits before him. Silently, he evaluated them; three were different shades of brown, one was black, the last white. They were the five most adorable bunny rabbits in the store, and the boy was dead-set on getting the absolute perfect one.

He took a brown rabbit, the one with brown and gray in its fur, and hugged it to his chest. Then he tossed it over his shoulder, deeming the brown-and-gray rabbit not fluffy enough. He picked up another, fully brown, rabbit and repeated the process. This one met the same fate.

"Damn it, Caboose," Tucker moaned. "Hurry up." Another stuffed rabbit landed at his feet.

"I need to find the bestest bunny," the younger boy whined.

"Whatever," Tucker grumbled.

Caboose picked up the black rabbit and hugged it. He "hmmed," rubbing the stuffed animal's fur. Gently, he fingered each ear. He smiled, then threw the rabbit behind him; this one hit Tucker in the eyes.

"Oh, you son of a mother fu-" the angry boy was interrupted mid-curse by Caboose shoving the remaining, white, rabbit in his face.

"Say hello to Muffin's new bun-bun!" he exclaimed.

"Caboose, get that thing the fuck out of my face," Tucker said in response. He was really regretting bringing Caboose Christmas shopping.

"Let's go to the jewelry department now," the smaller boy suggested, giving Tucker no choice but to follow him as he turned and stated walking, rabbit, held tightly as if it were his lifelong companion.

"Goddamn it," Tucker grumbled as they went to the jewelry counter.

Caboose and the stuffed animal peered like judges at the selections. They started with necklaces; nothing seen was quite right. Then the two went on to rings; nothing seemed to pop out (plus, he really didn't know Donut's finger size and neither did the bunny). After that they looked at bracelets and earrings; there were some pretty ones, but no perfect ones. Also, he didn't think Donut's ears were even pierced. Finally, as Caboose and the stuffed rabbit got to the end of the counter, they spotted a pair of expensive designer hairclips.

They were thin with a pink base. Sparkling magenta gemstones glimmered along their tops. If one were to look closely at Caboose or the rabbit's eyes, they would have seen the reflections of the clips, bringing awe to said eyes.

"Ooh, perfect," Caboose mumbled to the rabbit, picking them up and simultaneously taking out his father's credit card.

XXX

Without examining the two crystals beyond temperature, Doc took them out and went back to Kerry waiting in the living room. He placed one on either side of the chalk symbol and both he and the girl kneeled down in front of their respective crystal. Kerry picked up a thin, black book and read form it.

"'When the crystals are in place, the partners must join hands and close their eyes. Then, with great concentration, the partners must chant as they search for the ghost's aura amongst the host's.'"

"What do we need to chant?" Doc asked as he shyly joined hands with the younger girl.

"'Ot u, Spt iri. Og fm ro hist soth.'" Kerry replied, her mouth trying to get used to the strange words.

Putting the book down, both teens closed their eyes as instructed. Hands interlocked, they began to chant. After only a few minutes, the crystals began to glow brilliantly while their voices synced up. The crystals shook and a sweat broke out across Kerry's brow. She kept on chanting, though, even as she started to feel O'Malley manifest himself.

It started with a tingling sensation in her core, then the feeling spread throughout her body. She could almost see the ghost's aura on her eyelids like a projection as he started to form in the archaic symbol between the teens. She sensed he was trying to tell her something, but his scratchy voice was fading from her range of hearing.

Suddenly, with a loud shrieking and a powerful gust of wind that enveloped the room with frightening arms, the crystals blazed with a searing light. Then, when everything had settled, returning back to normal, the teenagers opened their eyes.

"Did it…did it work?" Doc asked. He looked at their still-locked hands and quickly let go.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Doc," she replied, giving him a smile.

XXX

"I hate waiting," Grif griped, drumming his fingers on the airport chair armrest.

"As you've stated for the past hour," Simmons told him with a sigh. "When was her plane supposed to come in? About forty-five minutes ago?"

"Yeah," he replied. "God, I'm so bored."

"No. we're not starting this again," Simmons said.

"What?"

"This cycle. You say you're bored, I tell you 'I know.' You suggest we do something and I refuse. Then you beg me until I yell out 'I'm not fucking you until after finals,' causing everyone near to stare at us," Simmons explained, crossing his arms with a huff.

"I'm sure I can crack yo-" Grif was cut off suddenly as Simmons captured his lips with a burst of speed and teenage passion.

Grif let out a low, wonton moan, eyes instantly closing, as his boyfriend slipped his warm tongue into his mouth. Simmons reached up with a hand and grasped the brunet's hair, pulling him closer as his other one was placed on his inner thigh. Grif's own hands were going up and down the smaller boy's back; to the passerby it seemed as if they couldn't get enough of each other.

There was a cough in front of them. Breaking apart, they saw a mousy brown haired woman who looked disgustingly at them.

"Hey, Helen," Grif greeted, both teens panting slightly.

"In public?" she asked disapprovingly. "Why do you insist on shoving your sexuality in others' faces?" She conveniently failed to notice the male-female couple doing exactly what they had been doing right across from them.

"Nice to see you, too," Simmons said dryly.

"Where's your uncle, Dexter?"

"Work. Where else?" he told her with a shrug as he stood up. He started going to the front of the airport, the other two following. "Got all your stuff?" he questioned, eyeing her two bags of luggage.

"Yes, I do. Richard, could you carry this?" she asked, voice almost pleasant.

"Sure," he replied, taking the tote bag she handed him.

"Oh, good. For a second there, I thought you would fear it breaking your delicate nails." The thing that really pissed Simmons off about her comment was the fact that it wasn't a scathing remark but rather, a simple misconception.

When they reached his red-orange car, Grif took out his keys and unlocked it. Then he opened up the trunk and helped Helen put her bags up. That done, the woman got in the back seat, allowing Simmons to crawl into the front next to Grif.

Secretly, Grif whispered to him, "That was a low thing to do. I'm rubbin' off on you." Simmons grinned at him brazenly. As they drove out of the airport, Helen gazed out the window.

"My, it sure is snowing out here," she commented wistfully, more to herself rather than the other occupants of the car. "It always was so beautiful during the winter." Neither boy could find anything to say to that.

"So," the woman said abruptly, all trace of nostalgia gone, as she turned to the teenagers in the front. "Robert says you two are football players now."

"Yeah. And Donut's the head cheerleader," Grif confirmed with a grin. "Doesn't look half bad in a skirt, either." Simmons mouthed the word "incest" and Grif put out his middle finger, both hands still on the wheel. The woman in the back only frowned.

XXX

"Thanks again for getting O'Malley outta me. He was really annoying," Kerry said, opening the car door. Before she got out, however, she turned to Doc and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she left and went inside, hips purposefully swaying, although it was just slightly.

Doc sat there, stunned. A finger gently and disbelievingly went up to his cheek. Then, suddenly bursting with excitement, he took out his cellphone and dialed Church's number with great haste.

"What is it?" came the irritated voice form the other end.

"Church, Kerry kissed me!"

"…Wow. That's great. Never before has that happened in history; a guy gets kissed by the girl he wants. That's fuckin' headline news right there. During your interview, I bet someone will ask what she tasted like," Church mocked dryly.

"I didn't actually, um…The kiss was on the cheek," Doc told him meekly.

"Oh. My. Fuckin'. God. You called to tell me that? Doc, until you can tell me what she tastes like, don't call me." With that, Church hung up.

The teen laid his head on the table, setting his cellphone down. He heard a chuckle from the doorway and Church turned.

"What she tastes like?" she questioned, hands on hips as she sauntered over to the smaller teen.

"Doc got kissed on the cheek," he informed her.

"Good," Tex mumbled, sitting down next to him.

"What was that?" the boy asked, not understanding the words too low for him to catch.

"Go make me something to eat," she ordered. "A sandwich sounds good."

"But it's your house," he complained.

"Point?" Grumbling, Church got up and went to the refrigerator.

XXX

"Hey, Donut," Kerry greeted, sitting down next to her brooding cousin on the couch. "Where's Grif?"

"Picking up Helen," he responded sulking. Turning to her he curiously asked, "How'd it go with Doc?"

"We got O'Malley out of me with no problems. And I kissed his cheek!" she told him giddily.

"Really?" he asked, sharing in her joy. "That's great."

Before they could converse more, the front door opened and a ruckus was started up. There was a loud thud, a curse, and the words "Be careful with that, Dexter!" Then, Grif Simmons, and the mother-he-hadn't-seen-for-six-years walked into the living room.

"Franklin, Kerry. Hello. My, how you two have…grown," she greeted, eyes sweeping over the two, her son in particular. She observed their choice in clothing with some disdain; the boy was wearing a tight pink shirt with the word 'Cutie' in white print on the front that she did not like on him at all.

"Oh, great, your plane didn't crash," Donut said, lacking enthusiasm. His cousin dropped all of the woman's luggage unceremoniously on the floor. She glared at him.

"Be careful with that!" she shrieked again.

"I'm not getting paid for this and even if I was I still would care enough," Grif said as Donut got up and went into the kitchen. Grif sat down at where he had been, Simmons sitting next to him.

"Don't walk away, young man," the woman commanded, sternly, following after him.

Donut, ignoring her, challenging her to do something, opened up a low-fat diet shake and took a sip. Helen pressed a hand to her forehead and took a seat at the table. After a minute, the boy sat down next to her. He placed his drink on the table, refusing to even glance at her.

"Franklin," she began.

"It's been six years," he mumbled. The woman sighed. The three in the living room tried, and failed, not to listen in.

"I know, Franklin, I know…It's just that…I love you, honey," she said, looking fondly at him.

"You left. You abandoned me," he reminded, still not looking at her.

"I…I can't accept the choices you've made-"

"I didn't choose to be gay. Just like I didn't choose to be blonde. But if I could change, I wouldn't," he told her.

"But I still love you," she continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"How can you say you love someone when you don't accept them?" He sounded truly curious; no malice or blame present in his tone. He looked at her like a small, lost and confused child. She looked away.

"It…It's complicated. It's too hard to explain right now, Franklin," she murmured weakly.

Before either child or parent had a chance to talk further, the front door opened and closed again. This time, it was Donut's father. He walked into the kitchen, stopping dead in his tracks when he laid eyes on his ex-wife.

"H-hello, Helen. I see the last six years have been good to you," he said, eyeing her up and down; his eyes couldn't seem to drink their fill.

"You flatter me, Robbie," the woman said with a small pinkish blush, using the old nickname she had given him when they had first met.

Sickened at how easily they seemed to fall back into their old, loving routine, Donut went up stairs, not even caring if his father saw the feminine clothes he was wearing.

XXX

Lopez gulped and willed himself to stop pacing around his room. With determination, he looked at his phone. Then, he looked away and started to pace again.

Well, that was a pathetic showing.

For the past few hours he had been trying to gather up the nerve to call Sheila and ask her out. And for the same amount of time he'd been pacing his room, thus leading his feet to, at first hurt, but then grow numb.

"Pendejo, you can do this. Pick up the telefono," he mumbled to himself.

The teen did as he had self-ordered, going over to his desk and flipping his cellphone open. He dialed the girl's number, which he had committed to memory when Donut had slipped it to him, and put the phone to his ear. He mentally cursed as he began to truly sweat. He was just glad she couldn't see him.

"Hello?" came the adorable, melodic voice of his amour.

"H-hola, Sheila…" he mumbled nervously.

"Oh! Hello, Lopez. How is everything?" she asked sweetly. Her voice almost made him melt wholly.

"Bien. I was, uh, wondering if you would like to, um, go out this Saturday…" Oh, Madre de Dios, his voice just cracked.

"Oh, um, I, I'd love to," the girl stumbled over her words, shocked that he would ask her out. On a date. Never mind that almost weekly she had someone or other doing the same. With him, though, it was different.

"Really? Um, how is eight?" he asked, amazed she had agreed. He didn't realize that he was practically grinning from ear-to-ear.

"That's fine," she replied, blushing furiously as a shy smile played upon her lips. They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Before Lopez had a chance to celebrate, though, there was a knock at his door and Sarge said, "Lopez, I need ya ta come down fer a minute. There's, uh, ah surprise visitor."

XXX

With a plop, the blonde fell onto the couch. He picked p a pillow and hugged it to his chest, laying his head in Simmons' lap. The older teen patted his head softly, reassuringly as Grif and Kerry walked in, the former removing oven mitts. While the girl wore a black and white checkered apron with a sunflower on the left breast, her brother's apron was burnt orange with the words "The FCC can kiss my A.S.S." in a bold red.

"Well, the meatloaf's in the oven. Donut, make sure Kerry doesn't screw things up; you know she sucks at cooking," he told them, taking off his apron.

"Hey!"

"Mm-hm…" the boy mumbled in reply as his cousin handed the girl his oven mitts and apron.

"I'm gonna take Simmons home. Try not to burn the meatloaf. Or the house," he added as an after thought.

"They're upstairs right now. Wouldn't it be funny if they got back together? After all, they say love for an ex is stronger than hate for a son," the small boy mumbled in mild hysteria. There was a brief silence, none sure of what to say.

"You know, all I want is a relationship like your guys'," Donut said suddenly, sitting up and turning to the couple, grip on the pillow tightening with one hand, the other dropping it altogether. "A relationship where I can always tell the person I love how much they mean to me and not care what others think. Because others don't matter. I just want to tell Caboose I love him, like you guys tell each other." There was another silence between the four friends for a minute. Then, surprisingly, Simons broke it.

"Donut, you know we don't have that kind of relationship, right?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Yeah," Grif jumped in. "We don't say all that lovey-dovey, mushy crap."

"I don't think we've ever said we loved each other." The younger teens looked at them in shocked confusion.

"But, then how did you guys become boyfriends?" Kerry asked.

"We had sex and it just kind of came together," Grif explained nonchalantly.

"Wait, so you guys never told each other…"

"Right," Simmons said.

"But, don't you guys want to tell the other how much they mean to you?" Donut questioned.

"Uh, no. Not really," Grif replied.

"Last summer, you-"

"Wow, look at the time," Grif interrupted hurriedly. "I've got to get Simmons home. Wouldn't want daddy dearest worrying, now would we?"

"No, wait. Last summer-" Donut tired again.

"Spider."

"What! Where? Get it away from me!" the blonde shrieked in fright, scrambling up fully on the couch.

"Okay, let's go," the brunet said, trying to usher out his boyfriend. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work.

"Hold on, Grif. I want to hear this thing about last summer," Simmons said with unwavering determination. Kerry smiled knowingly.

"Snake," Grif said simply, using a similar tactic.

"Where?" the dark-haired teen asked, looking around wildly.

"False alarm. Well, okay, let's go," he replied quickly, going out the front door. The other boy had no choice but to follow.

They got into Grif's car and it started up with no problems. He breathed a sigh of relief then noticed Simmons looking expectedly at him.

"What?" he asked, backing out of the driveway.

"I want to know about whatever the hell happened last summer. The way you're avoiding it as if it was the plague means it has to be good," he reasoned with a smirk.

"Well too bad; I'm not telling you," Grif retorted, pertinacious.

"Ah, come on, Dex," he tried to cajole.

"N-no." Grif was glad it was so dark; the other teen couldn't see the blush creeping onto his face.

They drove the rest of the way to their destination much the same; Simmons tried dragging last summer out of him yet Grif held strong and revealed nothing. When they arrived, the brunet dropped the other boy of gratefully. Save for the fact that Simmons wouldn't give him a goodnight kiss.

"Aw, come on," he whined. "You were willing at the airport."

"That's only because we had an audience," he replied unyielding, smirk on his face.

"Exhibitionist!" Grif accused, grinning back at him.

"Shut up," Simmons laughed, getting out of the car and watching his boyfriend drive off.

When he went inside and entered the kitchen, he was greeted with an odd sight: Sarge, Lopez, and Sarge's sister-in-law sitting at the table. Lopez was being drilled by the woman, and he looked positively on edge. Sarge, on the other hand, seemed as if he wanted to either be hit with a bag of bricks or hit her with a bag of bricks. Most likely he'd prefer the latter.

"Oh, um, hi, Aunt Susan…" he greeted awkwardly and startled at her presence. He shifted from foot-to-toot as she took him under scrutinizing gaze.

"And th' gay boy decides to show up," she announced. Sarge sighed heavily.

"Simmons, Susan here's dropped by fer a visit," he told his son, rubbing his temples as if it would make the whole situation untrue.

"Oh, that's…great…I see you recovered from your fall," he noted, trying to be pleasant and polite.

"You told them I had a fall?" the woman asked her brother-in-law incredulously.

"Yeah. Ya know, that fall off yer rocker," Sarge explained maliciously. As those two began to argue, Lopez stood and went over to Simmons.

"I blame you," he said.

"Why?"

"She's here because you're gay."

"Oh, joy," he said dryly. "Donut's mother is in town and now this one's here. It's a convention of homophobes." Both brothers looked at the squabbling adults.

"Maricones beware," Lopez mumbled. Simmons nodded grimly.

Finally, the two stopped arguing long enough for Susan to address her younger nephew. "You're a football player, Richard?" she asked.

"Uh, yes ma'am."

"A gay football player, how does that work?"

Simmons clenched his eyes shut. He could already tell it was going to be an extremely long visit.

XXX

Doc, humming jovially to himself, opened up his freezer. Doing as the book instructed, he put them on ice, making a mental note to check back in forty-eight hours to make sure they were completely frozen to insure that O'Malley couldn't break free. (Not that his brain could process any thought beyond "She kissed me! Kerry kissed me!") Then, he would burn the crystals until they were heaps of sticky, melted goo.

Doc went to the bathroom, brushed and flossed his teeth, changed, and went to bed; he fell asleep instantly with a smile on his face.

In their dark, cold prison, the crystals shook. Like mist, an essence poured out of twin cracks in the crystals and mingled together. With a cackle, the mist-essence slipped through the slits of its box-like cell, going to the nearest available host.