A/N: Hey all! Sorry about my horrendous updating schedule! Life has been insane for me and a lot of stupid stuff has happened since I last updated. I appreciate your patience with me, though. I'm trying to get my shit together so that I can get a more regular updating schedule going.

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Early November, 2014, Iowa City, Iowa

Emil hadn't really seen his friends outside of school since they got back from Keokuk. He kept having to tutor Peter and Erland after school, and Lukas and Mathias always had something they wanted to do "as a family" on the weekends. His heart ached over not being able to see Leon, yet in his mind, he wondered if Leon even missed him. They had hardly been able to text due to clashing schedules, which took a heavy toll on Emil's emotional state.

As he laid in bed one Friday night, his phone began to ring. He squinted his eyes at the blinding light of his phone screen after fumbling around in the dark for it. Leon Wang. Leon was calling! Emil nearly dropped his phone on his face as he struggled to answer it in time. "Hello?" he asked, panicked that he hadn't answered it in time.

"I feel like we haven't talked in forever," Leon's voice replied. His tone expressed fondness and familiarity. "How have you been, Emil? Is life treating you alright? I really miss you."

Emil was too shocked to speak for a moment. So Leon really did miss him. "I miss you too," he quietly replied, closing his eyes. He didn't want to see his bedroom and remember that he was actually alone in that moment. Instead, he chose to imagine that he was in some unknown place in the universe where only he and Leon existed. "I've been more tired than anything lately. Being busy is a lot of work." He chuckled to himself. Who knew something as simple as a phone call could lift his spirits so greatly? "How are things on your end?"

"Yao's just being a pest, as per usual," his boyfriend groaned on the other end. "I'm sorry for calling so late. I just had a weird feeling that you would still be awake, even though it's after midnight. Or did I wake you up?"

"No, I was awake," the Icelandic boy assured, smiling. "Do you have any big plans this weekend? Mat says he wants us to go ice skating at the Coral Ridge Mall tomorrow afternoon. I'm too clumsy, and I know I won't be any good at it."

"Now, how could you know that if you don't try?" Leon asked, smile apparent in his voice. "What time are you going there?"

"I think we're going to get lunch at Hu Hot and then make an afternoon of mall adventures," Emil answered. "Lukas is pretty excited about it. I'm just imagining them skating around the ice and holding hands while I struggle and fall on my ass." He sighed at the mental image of it and heard his boyfriend giggle to himself. "You imagined it, didn't you?"

"Could you blame me for imagining it?" the Asian boy replied, laughter in his voice. "You kinda just laid it out on a silver platter for my imagination. How could I not have taken full advantage of that opportunity? It would be quite the sin, don't you think?"

"Oh, shut up." Emil pulled his blanket up over his head. "Either way, I'm not excited to ice skate. I am the least coordinated person on this planet. If I were to die somehow, tell everyone I love them, okay?"

"Tell them yourself. You're so dramatic." Leon chuckled to himself. "Then again, that's one of my favorite things about you." He sighed happily. "Why is it that there is so much to love about you, Emil? You're funny, smart, original…" His voice trailed off for a moment, leaving the two in a comfortable silence until he spoke once more. "What does someone as amazing as you see in me? You could be with anyone you choose, yet you chose me from the very beginning. I just don't understand it."

The Icelandic boy's eyes snapped open in surprise. "It's not something to understand," he quickly defended. "There's nothing to understand. It had to be you. No one else would suffice, Leon. From the moment I met you, I knew that it had to be you." He surprised even himself with just how honest he was being about it all. "I don't want to be with anyone else. Also, I promise that I'm far from amazing. But you, Leon….You're incredible. Why waste your time with someone like me? You know that I'm not the most confident or happy person. Wouldn't you rather be with someone more peppy like you?"

"No way! For me, it has to be you, Em. It's as you said. No one else would suffice. If he's not you, he's no good."

Emil felt the corners of his lips pull into a smile. "You really mean it?" he asked, feeling slightly childish by asking such a question.

"How do you suggest I prove it?" Leon inquired, voice flirtatious and playful. "What can I do to get my feelings through to you?"

The other boy blushed as many things ran through his mind. His boyfriend's flirtatious tone seemed to bring out many emotions he hadn't felt since the last time they had made out in the hotel room in Keokuk. He was nearly intoxicated by it. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he thought back on it. It was almost as if he were craving Leon. What was this type of feeling? It sent tingling sensations throughout his entire body.

"Em? Are you still there?"

Emil shook his head to regain his senses, realizing that he hadn't said anything in nearly a minute. "Sorry about that," he quickly apologized.

"Imagining things?" the other boy teased. "You must have the dirtiest imagination of all of us." He laughed loudly. "God, I fucking miss you," he sighed once he calmed down. His voice now held a melancholy tone. "I swear, you really must be the better half of me."

"Yeah?" Emil asked, still embarrassed over spacing out. He was so glad that he was physically alone at that moment, certain that his face was flushed a deep crimson. How could he have allowed Leon to misunderstand so directly? "The better half, you say? That has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Glad you think so. Do you accept your title?"

"With pride." The Icelandic boy yawned, eyes watering from exhaustion. "But I only accept it on the condition that you accept the same title from me."

"It's a done deal, Emil. Heh, that rhymed." Leon took a moment to laugh to himself over his wit.

And before the two realized it, the next two hours flew by as they chattered away on the phone in a much-needed conversation.

.

Emil yawned as he laced up his ice skates. Though he had been up past two in the morning, he had no regrets about it, even when Lukas and Mathias woke him up at ten to get ready. Any time he got to speak alone with Leon was precious to him. There was no way he wouldn't gratefully accept it.

"Damn, kid, how late were you up last night anyway?" Mathias laughed, standing up in his tightly-laced skates. "You are so out of it. Are you sure you're sleeping properly?"

"Ask me that again when you don't have my schedule so packed that I can barely breathe," the younger sighed, tightening his laces.

"Touche," his brother-in-law replied, grinning widely. "You any good at ice skating? I mean, I know that Lukas is, but I can't say I've ever seen you do it."

Emil shooed Mathias away with a flick of his hand. "I'm sure I'll manage," he assured. "You kids go have fun, okay?'

"You don't have to tell me twice!" With a smirk, Mathias bolted off on his skates to catch up with Lukas, who had already begun his rounds around the rink.

With a sigh, Emil grabbed the rail next to him and hoisted himself to his feet. He wobbled dangerously, unsure of how to properly balance on the blades. His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to calm his rapidly-beating heart. Happy place, Emil! Find your happy place!

"Need help?" a familiar voice asked. Emil's eyes flew open to see Leon peering at him from the other side of the wall to the rink. A kind smile rested on the Asian boy's face. "If you were to ask nicely, I would be more than happy to assist."

"Leon!" the Icelandic boy gasped. "Where did you come from?"

"Come on, Emil," the other boy groaned. "I'm sure you've received sex education from someone, right?" He jokingly rolled his eyes and grinned at his boyfriend. "Oh, I just happen to be on an outing with our friends. We decided to go ice skating today." Leon winked at Emil. "If you can't come to see your friends, your friends will come to see you, right?"

Emil was dumbfounded. No one had ever planned something like this before. Had Leon and the others missed him that much? Now that he could see the rink, he noticed that the rest of their friend group was scattered throughout it, skating away and laughing.

"Wait, you organized this?" the silvery-haired boy asked, still recovering from the shock of everyone being there.

"Nonsense," Leon replied, waving away such an absurd idea with a flick of his wrist. "I may or may not have texted Natalia after hanging up last night." He smiled at his boyfriend. "What can I say? We really miss having you around. Any way to convince your brothers to not let you be a stranger anymore?" He opened the gate of the rink and carefully stepped over to Emil. His hands reached out and grabbed Emil's. "Here, let me help you. I won't let you fall. And if you go, we go." Leon winked. "Don't worry, I've got you."

After about a minute of careful stepping, Emil was finally one the ice. Leon hadn't let go even once. His heart pounded as he gulped, trying to maintain his balance. He could feel himself moving on the ice, Leon's ever-patient grip pulling him along. With time, he began attempting to make strides with his feet, his boyfriend's kind words of encouragement keeping him going.

"Hey, you're getting the hang of it!" Lukas enthused, skating up next to his younger brother. "Look at you go!" He turned excited eyes toward his husband, who was coming up behind them. "Mat, look at our boy! He's skating!"

Mathias clapped an excited hand on each of Emil's shoulders from behind. "Is this what it's like to feel like a proud father, Luke?" he teased. "Our baby is growing up! What do we do?!"

"Buzz off," Emil grumbled, narrowing his eyes at his brothers. "You're too loud. Go away."

"He's so mean to us!" the Dane loudly complained from behind him.

"Yeah!" Lukas agreed, whining along with his husband. "How could our child be so cruel to us at such an important moment in his life? Such an ungrateful little boy! What did we ever do to deserve this?!" He plucked his husband's hands from his little brother's shoulders. "Come along, Mat! We don't need to bother ourselves with him! I'll race you on a lap around!" Without giving Mathias a chance to reply, he darted off, his husband hot on his heels.

"Kill me now," Emil groaned, face flushed from embarrassment. "They are the worst."

Leon was still chuckling to himself. "They remind me of Yao and Ivan in a weird sort of way. Like, maybe a younger version." He grinned at his boyfriend. "Your life seems pretty fun with them. Maybe that's just me speaking as an outsider, but it must be nice to have your family actually want to spend time together like this." His expression seemed to fall for a moment before he resumed smiling as if it hadn't. "Yao's always working, and Ivan kinda just does his own thing. I think he just feels weird around me and has no idea how to try to connect with me." He shrugged. "Maybe one day the three of us can hang out like you and your brothers."

The Icelandic boy felt a small stab of guilt at his boyfriend's words. It's true that Lukas and Mathias genuinely enjoyed spending time with him, but he never realized how much he took that for granted until that moment. There were some people, like Leon, who would probably give anything to hang out with their family the way Emil did with Lukas and Mathias, and here he was, complaining about it. He felt like such an ass for complaining. Just thinking about how Leon's expression fell before speaking about his home life with his brother was enough to make Emil want to crawl under a rock in shame. He had no idea what to say.

Picking up on the sudden mood change in his boyfriend, the Asian boy grinned. "Hey, what's with that face, Emil? It's fine. I kinda like that Yao and Ivan give me my space, you know? At least I don't have to worry about them becoming overbearing or something, right?" He laughed. "You should have seen what it was like when I first moved here! Yao had the biggest brother complex I had ever seen! I was honestly surprised that he even let me go to school or make friends or anything! If he had been able to, I bet he would've tried to homeschool me or some shit." Leon smiled fondly to himself. "That's why I'm glad that Ivan came into our lives. I was finally able to breathe and be a normal kid because of him. It was like he reminded my brother that there are more people to care about in this world than just me, you know?"

Emil's smile cracked into a smirk. "So you mean with time and Mathias's help, Lukas will get rid of his obsession with me?" he joked. "I swear, ever since I met him this past summer, he has been trying to attach himself to my hip. He's ridiculous."

"Yeah?" the Asian boy laughed. "Older brothers, I swear…"

The two boys continued on ranting and joking about their brothers for the next hour, eventually skating side-by-side. By the end of the afternoon, Emil's heart felt more full than it had in weeks. How was it that just by being around Leon he could feel so calm and at ease? Whenever Leon was around, everything just seemed to make sense. It just felt like as long as they were together, everything was going to be just fine.

.

Lilli ended up coming home with Lukas, Mathias, and Emil that night. Her brother was out of town again, and the people she usually stayed with were all busy with work. She would have stayed with Natalia had it not been for her girlfriend's grandmother staying there for the weekend. Then again, the small Scandinavian family was happy to have her there. They did their best to help her feel at home.

"Did you enjoy skating today, Emmy?" she asked her friend as they sat on the couch to watch movies that night. "We all decided to leave you and Leon to your own devices. He was so excited to see you today." Lilli smiled to herself, a mischievous sparkle in her green eyes. "We've all really missed hanging out with you, Em. Please don't be as much of a stranger anymore."

Emil laughed to himself. "Well being a stranger isn't that much of a choice for me," he sighed. "I'm kinda at the mercy of my brothers, you know? It really sucks at times. I hope you know that I've missed all of you too."

"Of course we do!" Lilli chirped, grinning widely. "You are always so sincere, so we know that when you said you missed us, you really did!" She took one of Emil's hands in both of hers, the size difference between them almost laughable. "We all just worry about you when you don't explain your absence properly. None of us ever thought you were mad at us or anything like that, but we always tend to worry when one of our own doesn't come around as often as they used to. I'm just glad you still seem to be doing well." Her hands squeezed his tightly. "We all just really love you a lot, especially Leon!"

Emil's heartbeat picked up in speed at the mention of Leon loving him. He could feel the blush rising in his cheeks. "I'll try to explain my absences better," he assured. "I'm sorry that I made you worry. I've just had to deal with Peter and Erland a lot lately, and then Lukas and Mathias keep wanting to do a bunch of stupid shit on weekends when Mathias has work off. I heard he's going to start working weekends again soon, though." His mouth stretched into a smile. "Once Mathias is back to working weekends again, I should be free to start doing stuff again. I mean, it's either that or we make plans before my brothers can snatch up my free time."

The blonde girl giggled. "You're so funny, Emil. They just really like spending time with you is all. I promise that we all understand. Family is important."

"Yeah, but aren't friends just as important?" the boy asked his companion. "Isn't there a saying that friends are the family that you choose?" He laughed to himself. "Then again, Lukas and I had no idea that each other existed until this past summer. Deep down, I wonder if I even consider him my actual brother. It's true that we look similar, but he seems more like a kind stranger who wanted to help my mom out. I honestly wonder why he suddenly popped back up in my life now, of all times."

"Life works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?" Lilli mused. "I think that you're lucky to have a big brother like Lukas. Even though he hadn't met you previously, he still invited you on the adventure of a lifetime with him. If you ask me, that's awfully kind of him. Technically speaking, you have him to thank for Leon and the rest of us. If you hadn't moved here with him, none of us would have ever met you."

Emil shrugged. "I guess you're right," he agreed. "I just wish he wasn't such a pain all the time. Then again, I'm sure you understand the whole doting older brother thing. Vash seemed quite protective of you when we were with him."

She giggled. "My big brother may seem all big and bad, but I think his bark is worse than his bite. He's really just a big softie." Something in her eyes held a form of sadness as she said, "Our home life is just as normal as anyone else's after all. It's usually just me and Irunya there. Vash comes home every four days and stays for three. And when he comes home, it's usually a lot of fun." Her gaze looked lost. "So much fun," she quietly stated. Lilli vigorously shook her head as if to rid her mind of what she had been thinking about. "I don't know if it's just me, but I enjoy living with my brother because it grants me more freedom than if I was living with my parents. I know that Leon feels the same."

The Icelandic boy thought back to his conversation with his boyfriend earlier that day. He knew that Leon had a lot of freedom after his brother had met Ivan. Perhaps she was talking about that. "Well, back in Reykjavik, my mom was barely ever home. She was always working to support the both of us. Sometimes, I would wonder if she would be better off if I was no longer in the picture, you know? Maybe that's why she pawned me off on Lukas so easily when he offered to bring me here with him."

"I don't think that's the case, Emmy," she softly interjected. "Maybe she let Lukas bring you here as a way of giving you a better life. Perhaps I am ignorant in suggesting that, but I think your mother would have truly wanted what was best for you. A life where you wouldn't have to struggle anymore was probably ideal for her, and they do call America the Land of Opportunity."

Emil sighed and hugged his knees to his chest. "Maybe you're right about that. I just miss her sometimes. I'm always wondering how she's doing, you know? I'm not there anymore to make sure she eats and sleeps properly. Sometimes I wonder if moving here was the right choice for me or not. What if something happens to her since I'm not there to look after her anymore? For so long, it was Emil and Ingrid Steilsson versus the world. I wonder how my mother is coping with being all alone for the first time in seventeen years. I can't help but worry about her, considering that for most of my life we were all each other had."

Lilli responded with a sagely nod. "I can understand where you're coming from with that," she stated. "Do you ever call her or anything?"

"When I first got here, we would call each other twice a week," he said. "With how busy my schedule has been, we've been missing each other's calls. I haven't been able to talk to her in a few weeks." Emil thought back on it. "Let's see, the last time we spoke was before the trip we all took to Keokuk."

"Don't you think you should call her soon to check in?" Lilli asked, cocking her head to the side with curiosity. "I'm sure she misses you and worries about you just as much as you worry about her."

"I just don't want to bother her, so I normally just wait for her to call me. It's just that I've missed her more recent calls. I get that it's on me, but still…"

"Maybe she's thinking the same thing about you. The phone works two ways, Emmy. I know that it's none of my business, really, but I think you should try calling her sometime. She might be a bit lonely without you."

Emil shrugged. "I suppose you're right." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, opening his WhatsApp and pulling up his mother. "What if she's busy?" he asked his friend, looking over at her. "I really don't want to bother her."

"It'll be fine," she insisted. "The worst she would do is not answer, right? What do you really have to lose here? I'm sure she would be so happy to hear from her precious son," she added, a hint of teasing in her voice. "Go ahead, Emmy. Call her."

His hands trembled slightly as he pressed the call button. He hadn't talked to his mother in so long that as he waited for the call to connect, he couldn't help but let his nerves get to him. What if she was busy and he inconvenienced her? What if she was sleeping and he woke her up? The possibilities ran rampant until he heard the click of someone answering the call.

"Halló?" a man's voice answered, causing Emil's blood to run cold. Who was this man? There was no way he had gotten the wrong number. "Ingrid!" he called.

"Emil?" his mother's voice asked. "Darling, is that you? Hello?"

The boy let his phone drop from his hand, frozen in horror. His mother's voice calling for him on the other end seemed so distant to him. His ears were buzzing. Never in his life had his mother had a man around her. She had always claimed that Emil was all she would ever need. If that were so, then why had a random man answered her phone?