Twelve

"The kids are waiting for you, Dean," Seth told him, stepping out from behind a tree. "I'm waiting for you."

"I can't," Dean replied. "That's not a path I choose."

"But it's the one you'll end up on eventually."

The auburn haired man stared him wordlessly.

"I always liked you, to be fair You have an element of unpredictability, of chaos… Dean, you're a lunatic fringe and that's a compliment. Be the bad boy you were always meant to be."

"There's being a bad boy and then there's being a bad boy and I'm not the second one."

"Of course you are! Wake up, Dean! Everyone in our family knew! Including Mum!"

"Mum?"

"Of course. Why do you think the man you called Dad took it out on you too? He knew, Dean! You have darkness lurking in you. There's darkness in your soul. You just don't know how to use it to your advantage. What? Did you think otherwise? If it wasn't for your blood, you wouldn't be able to survive those beatings from Dad or those crazy ass matches! Come home, Dean."

La la la la la la… Brother Dean, please come home...

Having heard the car out front, Roman knew Dean had reached home. But when his boyfriend had not open the door, the Samoan warrior went to check on him.

Those creepy kids were back with goat masks this time, hands outstretched to Dean… asking - no; singing - for him to come home.

And Seth.

Without wasting time, Roman grabbed Dean and pushed him behind. "O ia loʻu," he growled. "Nofo ese mai ia i tatou!"

"He's ours, Roman," Seth taunted.

"La la la la la la… he's ours," the kids all chorused in a sing song manner.

"O ia loʻu!" Roman snapped.

The singing stopped. The kids were merely staring at him.

"Tuua le taimi nei ma e le toe foi mai!" He took a threatening step forward.

Immediately they all ran back into the forest.

Dean was clearly bewildered. "You speak Samoan?"

Seth chuckled. "Comes out instinctively when it's you in danger. Roman, Roman, Roman. You won't be able to stop us. Just accept your fate; play time with Dean is over."

Roman almost grabbed him before he disappeared. "Fuck!" He reached for Dean's hand and led him towards the house. "Let's go."

Of course, when they stepped inside, his mother was naturally worried. "Is everything okay?" she asked. "Are you okay, Dean?"

"Yeah," the auburn haired man answered. "I saw those kids at the side of the road. Seth appeared only later."

"What did he want?"

"The same old stuff.".

Despite what happened earlier, Roman couldn't hide the smile on his face when his mother hugged Dean. "Don't listen to him. You belong to this family. Always remember that." When she let him go, she beamed. "Now, what are you both craving for besides pizza?"

The secrets just kept coming.

His mother had known. His dad had known. Seth...

Dean remembered when Mark - who he had known as just his MMA coach for almost his entire life - revealed months ago about that he was his biological father.

His mother had added on further to the lie too when he had confronted both of them about it.

"Dean, you said it yourself that you heard," Mark said. "You know why I had to keep it from you. Your mother didn't want to but had no choice. We parted ways and she married your father and well…"

Dean sucked his breath in. "Wait… what? Dad knew you were pregnant?"

"Yes he did," his mother confirmed. "He knew I was pregnant and to avoid me getting heat from my parents, he married me. Your father was actually my best friend in high school; he went out of his way for me. I went wayward for a bit. So did your father. But once we knew that your destiny with Roman was coming into play according to what was written before, we knew we had to get our act together. But he loved you, Dean. He was depressed that I never loved him the way I did with Mark. He was still to me David, my best friend."

So much for that.

If his father had known, why had he treated him kindly towards senior year? Why beat him up before that? Why was his family playing all these damn games with him?

Was there any justification in their actions? He doubt so but at this point, he was starting to think the root of the problem was him. Hell, this whole war started because of his half brother to begin with.

Maybe it ran in the family.

Dean needed answers but he wasn't sure where he was going to get them.

The house was starting to suffocate him. He needed to get out of here for a while.

Stepping out into the living room, he found Roman and his mother chatting. He called his boyfriend aside for a moment. "Roman, I need some time to myself," he mumbled. "If it's okay with you."

Roman looked worried immediately. "What's the matter?"

"I… I just need to think about stuff. I promise I won't take too long." When the raven haired man didn't reply, Dean implored, "Please. It'll only take a few hours. Maybe two tops."

"Alright. Call me if you need anything. Do you want the car-"

"Nah. It's just a stroll."

Once out of the house, he felt a sense of disassociation from his surroundings. When this Saturday came, they were a week away from the red moon rising.

His soul drawn to the forest, he decided to follow this invisible pulling. Once reaching there, distraught, Dean made his way to where the kids had set the playground on fire. A welcome, they had said it was for. He sat near the remains of the merry go round.

Never in his life had he felt so alone.

Each day that passed, he was losing himself to this dark side. He felt hopeless; maybe he should just accept the inevitable.

It was hard putting on a positive front, taking courage when inside he could feel himself losing grip.

He had Roman for more than twenty years. There was no need for him to be greedy to expect more.

La la la la la la… Brother Dean is back here…

The kids were back with their goat masks again, heads cocked to a side, holding their hands together, as if they were curious about what he was thinking.

"Yeah," Dean whispered. "Brother Dean will be coming home."

La la la la la la… Brother Dean is coming home…

"No, he isn't." The auburn haired man found Chief Anoa'i standing beside him."Go away, you scoundrels!"

The kids ran to the burnt remains of the house upon that.

"Dean? What are you doing here?"

"To think. I… I didn't know where to go."

"Home. You should be at home."

"Where is that? I don't know anymore."

"It's with Roman. Your home has always been with him."

"I'm being punished for something I don't even understand. Everything in my life is a lie."

"Is everything a lie?" Chief Anoa'i asked with a kind smile. "Everything?"

If you forget everything else, always remember that I love you. "Well, maybe not everything," Dean slowly replied. "My love for Roman isn't a lie. Neither is his love for me."

"There's still hope then. Unless you think Roman's going to betray you and he won't. Why don't you share with him? Have you forgotten who he is to you, Dean? He's not just your boyfriend; he's your soulmate."

"He's not going to love me once I become whatever the fuck it is they're expecting me to be when the moon rises. Maybe I wouldn't care by then. But right now, the thought of having to spend a lifetime without him..."

"Roman's never turned you away before. He's not about to start now."

Dean stared at the children who were looking at him, hands clasped together.

Family…

"They're not your real family, Dean," Chief Anoa'i gently steered him. "The only real family you had all along was with our family. Most importantly, your boyfriend. Don't let these skeletons in the closet scare you away from him. You are safe with us. I promise you that."

Roman walked into the living room with a plate of nuts and a bottle of beer, his hair in loose waves wearing a tank top and boxers. He sat down on the black velvet couch, grabbing the remote to switch on the television to the Discovery Channel.

It had already been two hours. Where was Dean?

When he unlocked his cellphone, his grey eyes fell upon the calendar; his boyfriend had a week over left to fight this war within himself and then they were free from all this until the war. It was obvious that Seth was waiting for Dean to embrace the darkness so that he could fight against Roman during the battle.

Not bloody likely.

Roman had to stop the transition. Maybe a few drips wouldn't cut it… maybe something more.

Like the capacity of a teacup or something.

If what Chief Anoa'i said was true, then Roman's blood would be enough for Dean; the rest was up to his boyfriend… to fight for that darkness that was threatening to consume him.

What a long way they both had come from.

They both loved one another in secret before finally coming together towards the second half of senior year in high school.

They did nice things for another in secret that made the other person's day brighter before they even shared a first kiss; saw one another with heart and starry eyes.

Always had to be near one another, barely being able to spend days apart. In fact, half the time, they would be climbing the walls, counting down the days if they were not together for some reason like Dean's previous job of travelling from New York to Lakeview due to his MMA shows. Ever since then, they made a decision to not be apart for more than a day.

So it was a no brainer he didn't want to lose Dean forever especially to a weasel like Seth.

Glancing at the clock again, Roman exhaled. He hoped that Dean would come back soon.

No sooner than the elementary school teacher had thought that, the main door opened and his boyfriend walked in with flowers. "Hey."

"Hey," Roman greeted him back.

"Thank you for giving me some time to myself," Dean said, handing him the bouquet of flowers. "I got you these. The florist said that it's supposed to symbolise everlasting love or something."

Roman smiled fondly at the white roses. "These are lovely."

His boyfriend sat down beside him. "I… it's… it's not a good life for me without you, you know? I'd run into hell and back for you over and over. I don't care what happens to me, Roman. My life isn't worth anything. I care what happens to you. I've said it many times before: you're a good man... the best one I know. And it's a struggle for me to fight this… this thing inside me. I don't want you to hate me when the time comes."

Tilting his boyfriend's chin up, he looked at him in the eye. "It won't. This thing is not going to beat you."

"You can't know that for sure."

"If what was said about your blood is true, then yes, I know for sure. I'm prepared to give you more of mine but I need you to fight it. I know you can. You've always been the fighter between the two of us. What's so different about this?" Roman placed his hand over his heart. "You have me here. You'll never be alone, Dean. I won't let you be."

Dean shifted to his lap and cuddled him. "Fuck, Roman."

Roman pressed a kiss to his temple. "Now, tell me what happened. What's bothering you?"

"Well, it has to do with what Seth said…"

By the time Dean finished filling him in, Roman was furious; furious with his boyfriend's family for putting him through all this.

"I want to go to Sandalwood," Dean admitted. "I know you have work so you don't have to follow me. I really want to go see him though; I need to know why, Roman. I'm not about to start with my mother because she's probably on Mark's side."

"I can get Joe to follow you. I just don't want you out there alone."

"Let's see what Joe has to say. If he's free, then I'm okay with it."

Roman squeezed his boyfriend's waist. "You never told me that your father beat you up. You always said that older boys roughed you up."

"I was ashamed."

"Ashamed?"

"Yeah that I couldn't defend myself against him."

"Dean, you were a kid. No matter what you had known about fighting, how could you ever have defended yourself against an adult? Did you think I would have thought of you any lesser? I wouldn't have; I would have tried to protect you anyway I could."

"Doesn't matter, Roman. It's over."

That incident may have been over but this red moon business wasn't. Roman hadn't been able to protect Dean then from those beatings but he could protect him from this.

He'd see to that personally. "Dean?"

"Yeah?" His boyfriend sounded like he was about to doze off.

"Your life does mean something; it's worth everything to me."

Dean was about five years old when his parents brought Seth back home.

"This is your brother," his mother had said, ushering Seth into the living room where Dean had been sitting with his grandfather who had been sitting him. "His name is Seth."

Of course it took a while for his parents to explain to him how Seth could possibly be his brother but Dean was happy that he had a new friend who was living with him for that matter.

They got along from the get go: played together, ate together, went to school together… they were as close as brothers could be in every sense of the word. As they grew older, their interests changed.

Seth was interested in theatre and arts. When Dean thought about it now, he realised he shouldn't have been surprised.

Dean was always interested in fighting and he learnt most of his skills from Mark.

They were always near him… everyone from the underworld or those who were in loop with this secret.

He just never realised it until today.

Joe stopped the Jeep he had borrowed from Finn near the address Dean had given him. "Here we are," the sorcerer announced. "Do you want me to follow you in?"

"No," Dean declined. "I'll be fine. Should take me an hour. Thanks, Joe."

"No problem. I'll be outside here."

His father was standing outside the gates of his new home, a two level house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms with a huge backyard. "Hi, son."

After all the things he had found out recently, hearing those words from the man felt wrong. "Hi. Sorry for calling you at the last-"

"No, it's okay. Come on in."

Dean followed him into the huge living room with plush couches, a fireplace and full length windows. "Guess business is doing good."

"My stocks are actually," his father revealed. "I've invested in a few stuff. And business is as usual. Who knew owning a restaurant would be so thriving in this town? Speaking of which, can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks."

The two men sat across one another on the couch. "So uh you said you had questions."

Dean nodded. "Lots. I've learnt a lot these few days including one a couple of months ago. It's about Seth… Seth's not-"

"I know, son. I know what he is."

So the man he used to call his brother had been right. Plus one for you, Seth. "And yet you've said nothing? Couldn't you have given me a head's up?"

"I was under oath."

"Oath to what?"

"Oath to the…" his father trailed away, looking to the other side.

Dean could feel his heart pounding. This was not good. "Oath to what, Dad?"

"Oath to the brotherhood."

A/N Thank you for giving this story a chance. I apologise for the delay. I'd like thank those who have left kind comments. I appreciate it. :-)