"Please?" Freddy begged on the way home from school.

"No," His boyfriend Zack replied without turning to look at him.

"Come on,"

"No,"

"But, look at this face." Zack turned to look at Freddy sticking out his bottom lip and widening his eyes.

"Very adorable," He said, placing a kiss on the blond's cheek. "But I can't. My dad told me you can't stay the night for at least two weeks."

"But Zack," He whined.

"Look I know this can't be easy for you, but your mom thinks it's time and I think you should give him a chance."

"Zack, you haven't met Darren yet. He's a complete control freak. And his kids are evil I swear. I just know they're going to break something as soon as they touch it." Freddy complained as they walked up the driveway to Zack's house.

"I'm sorry, but you can survive a new place and a Christmas without me." Zack said, he said opening the front door.

"You don't know that."

"I'll take that risk. Bye sweetie." Zack blew a kiss to his boyfriend as he closed the door. Freddy let out a "hmph" before hopping on his skateboard and riding to his new house. Freddy's mother has recently been seeing a man named Darren and the two had grown close very fast and after Thanksgiving Eva decided it was time for her, Bart and Freddy to move in with Darren and his three kids. This meant a bigger house and he was still going to the same school, but it was further from most of his friends.


He walked through the door to his new house, leaving his skateboard at the bottom of the stairs, before realizing that it was strangely quiet. "Mom? Are you home?" He walked up the stairs and opened the door to his brother's room to find it was empty. He walked back downstairs and found a note on the fridge. "'Dear Freddy. Bart and I went with Darren and his kids to get the tree. We won't be out that long. See you soon, love Mom.'" Freddy felt a small stabbing in his chest. His dad used to take him, and later Bart as well, to pick the Christmas tree. Even after their dad passed away, their mom would find time in her schedule to take them to go find one. Now what? Since he's fifteen he doesn't get to participate? He went up the stairs to his new room which he shared with his new younger brother Seth. "Hey dad, did you hear? I got left out of getting the tree." He said the picture of his dad that he still kept next to his bed. "I don't want to say Darren's out to get me, but this is the third time they've done something 'as a family' before I get home from school." He collapsed onto his bed. "Zack's got a deep basement. Maybe I can get him to hide me there since Ashton moved out. Maybe Summer's got some place to hide me. I don't live that far from her now."

"Freddy, are you here? We're back." He heard his mom call from downstairs.

"That's my cue. Mom'll freak if she hears me talking to you." He got up from his bed and walked down the stairs. "Yeah, I'm upstairs." He called down.

"Well come on down, take a look at the tree we picked out." Freddy hopped off his bed and walked down far enough to see Darren setting it up. "What do you think?" It looked exactly like one he might've picked which made him feel a little better.

"It's ok." He said, not wanting to sound too excited, but also not upset about being left out.

"Freddy, could you go to the garage with Seth and get the ornaments?" Darren asked.

"Sure," He said walking the rest of the way down.

"And bring your skateboard too. We've talked about leaving it in the house."

"Yes sir."

"It either stays in your room or the garage." He continued.

"I know, sorry." He said picking it up on his way.

"You know, when he sent you in here with me, I thought you'd at least help." Freddy said, trying to drag the box along the floor.

"Hm?" Seth said without looking up from his phone.

"Never mind I guess." Freddy sighed. He continued to drag it across the floor.

"You're not supposed to drag it."

"Gee if only there was someone who could help lift it."

"Fine! God, you're such a slave driver." He said stuffing his phone in his pocket and attempting to lift his half of the box. "It's really heavy." He whined almost immediately.

"Suck it up." Freddy said as they re-entered the house.

"All right, calm down you two." Darran said without looking over at them.

"Seth was just-"

"I don't want to hear it, I just want to hear you both getting along." Freddy inhaled deeply.

"Boys, can you apologize to each other and we can move on?" Eva asked.

"I'm sorry Seth-" Freddy turned to his new "brother" was already gone. "I was just looking at him. How did he do that?"

"He valks like Dracula, each footstep silent like death." Darren's daughter Marleen said with a fake accent.

"Right,"

"Could you go get him back down?" Darren asked. Freddy nodded and made his way upstairs. He tried to open the door to their room to find it locked.

"What?" Seth asked, sounding annoyed from the other side.

"Your dad wants you downstairs."

"But I just-ugh fine." Freddy walked back down with Seth coming down about a minute later.

"Which side should the tree be facing?" Darren asked.

"That's what I came down for?"

"Seth please, not now. Come on, what do you all think?"

"The other side seems more full." Freddy said.

"You think so?" Darren asked.

"I mean, I'm just looking at it now, but the other side had more open spaces."

"What's wrong with open spaces Freddy?"

"You can't do as much, so you should have it facing the wall."

"So anything not 'as good' should just be turned to the wall then?"

"And there they go," Bart said to Nic, Darren's son who's the same age. By now, everyone had grown used to Freddy and Darren's back and forth arguing.

"We can decorate the full side more, so it should be facing out."

"I think Freddy's right." Eva said before either Darren or Freddy could get another word in.

"Alright, we'll turn it." Darren said, feigning a smile.

"Can I go now?" Seth asked.


"You gotta get me out of this house." Freddy said into his phone. Seth had locked the door to their room again, so he was sitting on their back patio.

"Freddy-" Zack started.

"Just let me stay in your basement, it's huge. I can head over during the day so your dad can't get mad and then I'll go into the basement after. Ashton's gone for college so it's not like he'll be filming down there."

"You don't think he's home for Christmas?"

"...right."

"Freddy, you know I love you,"

"I love you too."

"But we don't need to spend every waking minute together."

"Ok, you're right."

"We're about to head out to dinner. I'll call you later."

"Alright, bye Babe." Freddy said, blowing a kiss into his phone before hanging up.

He got up and walked back inside to see if he could go into his own room again. Of course it was still locked. He tried banging on the door. "Hey Seth, would it be terribly inconvenient if I came into our room now?" He asked with no response. "Fine, it's fine. Mom or Darren has to have a key." He said to himself before walking downstairs. He headed down and found Darren, Bart, and Nic decorating the tree. "Hey, where's mom?"

"Your mother got in to work, did you need something?" Darren asked.

"Seth's locked me out of our room and hour ago" Darren let out a sigh and pulled a key out of his back pocket. "Thanks,"

Freddy walked back upstairs, unlocked the door to his room and was shocked by what he saw. There on Seth's computer screen was a video of two men making out wearing almost nothing. "Um, hi?" Freddy managed to say. Seth snapped his head around and looked at Freddy with a mix of shock and fear.

"Shut the door!" He eventually yelled. Freddy closed it quickly, but didn't slam it as to not alert anyone downstairs. "Yeah, when I said 'shut the door,' I wanted you on the outside."

"Well, I want to be in my room." Freddy told him.

"It's our room," Seth responded, sounding about as "happy" as Freddy was about sharing. They both fell into an awkward silence for a moment with the only sounds coming from Seth's computer.

"Can you turn that off now?" Freddy eventually asked. Seth shut the browser window in an instant. "And pull your pants up? I'm getting tired of having to look at it." Seth's face lit up like a fire truck as he pulled his jeans and boxers back up from around his ankles. "So we're never going to talk about this again right?"

"Absolutely."

"Ok, let's get everything we need to say out now."

"Please don't tell my dad." Seth said quietly.

"That kind of goes without saying-"

"No I'm serious, please Freddy. Promise you'll never tell my dad what you saw just now." He said, placing his hands on Freddy's shoulders.

"Ok, I won't." Freddy said, holding up his hands in defense. Seth took a step back and looked down at the floor. "So you're-"

"I don't know. I think maybe?" He was clearly struggling to find how to phrase it. "Look, I thought I had a crush on a girl last year, but now whenever I'm in the locker rooms with other guys I just...really think some of them are...cute? Hot even? I don't know."

"It's alright, you don't have to know."

"I don't?"

"You're right in the middle of puberty. You got time." Freddy said falling onto his bed. Seth took a seat on his own.

"You're gay right?" Seth asked.

"Mhm,"

"When did you know?"

"When I was about your age. Maybe a year younger. My boyfriend, Zack, I've had a crush on since Kindergarten. Didn't really realize until I was twelve and found myself wanting to 'do stuff' with him." He said putting air quotes around "do stuff."

"Like what I was just watching?"

"Exactly that,"

"Do you?"

"That's too personal a question. Anybody you like at school?" Freddy asked, changing the topic.

"There's this girl named Kayla. I met her last year and she's like the prettiest girl I know." Seth said, with his voice softer than Freddy's ever heard it. "But there's also this guy, Carson, who caught me trying to sneak a peek while we were at the urinals. He gave me his address and told me to come over during the winter break."

"I wouldn't do that." Freddy told him.

"Hold on, let me look for where I asked."

"You don't know what he could want. I remember being in middle school, y'all are evil."

"Look, we're not really brothers. You don't have to look out for me like you do with Bart."

"My mom and your dad want us to be a family. Might as well act like it right? Besides if we're not really brothers, why'd you just completely open up to me?" Seth opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't find the words. "You've wanted to tell someone all that for awhile haven't you?"

"I'm scared of what Dad would say, I don't want to tell Nic because it might confuse him. Marleen would tell everyone, and I guess I'm afraid of what my friends would say just like I am with my dad." Freddy nodded, completely understanding. He wish he could've told his dad that he was gay before he died, but at the same time he was afraid of how he'd react. Zack reassured him last year that his dad would still love him, but not knowing for sure would always haunt him. "And I'm going to Carson's tonight, so don't try to stop me."

"Fine, but you're not going alone."

"What?"

"Is this the first time you've snuck out?"

"Yeah so?"

"You'll get caught, trust me. Sneaking out is a special skill of mine."


It was slightly past midnight. Darren and everyone else had gone to bed. All except for Freddy and Seth, who were gearing up to sneak out.

"You ready?" Freddy asked.

"Just about. Don't turn around yet."

"I got a full show earlier and learned my lesson."

"Ok, I'm ready." Freddy turned around and took a look at Seth's clothing. He was wearing what he should be for the most part, a black shirt with a matching black jacket and dark jeans. Only one thing stuck out to the older teen.

"What's with the bandana around your mouth?"

"We're supposed to be sneaky right?"

"We're not supposed to look like we're going to spray paint public property. That's Bart's thing. Ditch it."

"Can I keep the beanie?"

"That's fine. Now remember, don't walk super slow on your tip-toes like in a cartoon or when you were eight. You walked calmly and quietly. Don't use your phone for a light, just let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Breath through your nose and don't slam the door. In fact, let me deal with the door." (A/N: don't do this younger readers of mine, your parents WILL find out)

"Ok, I've made my bed to look like I'm in it."

"That's a bit excessive since I'm locking the door, but whatever. Hit the lights." Seth turned the lights off in their room and Freddy opened the door quietly and ushered Seth out. He followed him out and turned the knob before closing the door to decrease the sound. He made sure to lock the door so neither his mom nor Seth's dad could look in before following Seth down the stairs. He repeated the process on the front door and then Seth led the way to where Carson said he lived.


Carson lived about a fifteen minute walk from their house and the both noticed the single light on in the house. "Alright, if things seem like they're about to go bad, get out of there immediately." Freddy told him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine dude." Seth tried to reassure the older boy.

"Just say you'll bounce if it goes south."

"Ok, I'll bounce if it goes south. Now just wait out here. I'm gonna let him know I'm here." Seth walked into the backyard as Freddy hung back on the sidewalk. After a few minutes his phone started to buzz and he saw that it was from Zack.

"Hey Babe, what are you doing up so late?"

"Where are you?" Zack asked, sounding as tired as Freddy's mom with his constant sneaking out.

"Um, I'm at my new house missing you?"

"Is that why your mom called asking if I could send you back home?" Freddy knew now that it was over.

"Did you tell her I wasn't there?"

"For her sake, no. As far as she knows you left to see me."

"Thank you so much Babe-"

"Freddy, where are you?" Zack asked, interrupting.

"Seth, Darren's oldest, is going through some stuff and I promised to help, so the two of us snuck out together so I could keep an eye on him. Is that ok?" Zack was silent on the other end for what felt like hours to the Jones boy.

"Fine, just promise you'll stop sneaking out as much."

"I promise. I love you Zack."

"I love you too Freddy." Freddy felt a tapping on his shoulder and looked to see Seth.

"Time to go, bye Zack." He said blowing a kiss into his phone like before. "So how'd it go?" He asked as they began their trip back home.

"Fine," was all Seth had to say.

"Just fine? What happened?"

"We just talked about...stuff."

"Did you-"

"We made out and there was a little touching, but nothing else. Scout's honor."

"You could've just said 'no.'" Freddy told him, trying to get that image out of his head.

"Would you have believed me?" Seth asked.

"Probably not. Can you climb?"

"Why?"

"Well, my mom found out I snuck out, and I think it'd be pretty bad if you came in through the front door with me." Freddy said with a small laugh.

"We have a ladder in the tool shed out back. Keep them distracted and I'll go in through our window." Seth told him.

"You just had that ready. I'm impressed." Freddy told him.

"I'm a fast learner." Seth said with a grin.


They arrived at their house and Seth headed out back like he planned and Freddy went inside where he found not only his mom, but Darren waiting for him too. "Great," he thought.

"Freddy, what did I say? You can't keep sneaking out now that we live here. Zack's house isn't as close as before. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to Darren who's not used to you doing this." His mom said, keeping her voice stern, but soft.

"I'm sorry Mom, I just really miss him, and I guess I've been having a harder time adjusting than I thought. I promise I'll let you know if I plan to leave that late again." He told her. That line was basically burned into Freddy's mind whenever his mom got on him for sneaking out, but he did truly mean it.

"Alright, just go up to bed." She said with a wave of her hand. Freddy was about to leave when Darren spoke up.

"That's all, just go to bed?" Darren asked bewildered at Eva's lax attitude.

"I don't have the energy to have the same talk with him every time." She explained.

"Well good thing I do. Freddy, stop right there. I have a few words myself." He said with his usual stern tone.

"Well, my mom already let me go, so I guess I'll have to hear them in the morning." He said as he began climbing the stairs.

"We're not done here." Darren said, getting annoyed.

"Goodnight~" Freddy waved, ignoring the man telling him to stop.

"Fredrick Jones Jr., come back down here this instant." Hearing his full name, Freddy stopped dead in his tracks.

"Don't call me that." He said, his voice turning cold and harsh.

"Excuse me?" Darren asked.

"Don't call me Junior. No one calls me Junior. The only person who gets to call me that is my dad, and you're not my dad so stop acting like it!" Freddy yelled, getting emotional as usual when his dad came up. He noticed the shocked looks on both Darren's and his mom's faces before he realized and sat down on the stairs and placed a hand over his eyes, trying not to cry. "I'm sorry," he got out after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. I didn't mean. I just got so mad and I-"

"No, no, it's alright." Darren told him. "And you're right. I'm not your father and I don't want you to think I'm trying to replace him. I've been forcing myself into your life when I should've let you come around to me when you were ready." He walked around that stairs and sat down next to Freddy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I lost my father at a young age as well, and I should've been more aware of what you're going through with all this."

"It's not like I gave you much of a chance. I was just so mad about Mom moving on, and it all seemed to happen so fast. I'm sorry I yelled at you, I shouldn't have done that."

"It's ok Freddy, it's ok." He said rubbing Freddy's back as the teen leaned onto the older man for comfort. Eva couldn't help but smile a little seeing them finally getting along. They both took a deep breath and stood up. "Now don't think you're off the hook for sneaking out."

"So close," Freddy said, snapping his fingers.

"We'll talk about it more in the morning."

"Dad don't," Seth said from the top of the stairs.

"Seth?"

"It was my fault. I sneaked out and Freddy was just going to look out for me."

"But you were still in your bed, weren't you?" Eva asked from the bottom of the stairs.

"Told you it wasn't a bad idea." Seth said to Freddy.

"Yeah, yeah, you were right." Freddy said, rolling his eyes.

"What did you have to sneak out for Son?" Darren asked.

"Well...it's because-"

"He can't tell you." Freddy interrupted.

"What?" Darren and Seth asked at the same time.

"Brother secret." He said with a wink to Seth before climbing back up and heading back into their room. Darren looked at Seth confused and amused at the same time.

"What he said." Seth told his dad before walking into his room for the night."


Let me tell you it had been a hot minute since I updated anything. 2020 happened and what not. I plan to get back into a more regular update schedule so you guys don't lose interest or think I'm dead. I got more stuff in the works. Sadly this story may be ending sooner rather than later as ideas are draining and it feels weird to drag out my least popular story. This was always a passion project as I knew going it, not everyone would be drawn into a slice of life series when I have more *ahem* eye catching stories. This story will have a proper ending however and I will be wrapping up everyone's character arcs. I hope to see you all soon wherever and whenever that may be.