Everything You've Done Wrong

by sloanne

Racetrack's father is in the mafia, and it colors his whole life. Slash, drugs and rock'n'roll. [Cowritten by Funkiechick and studentnumber24601. COMPLETE!]

18. Boys' Night

Everything You've Done Wrong

Well some people try to pick up girls
They get called assholes
This never happened to Pablo Picasso
Girls would turn the color of a juicy avocado
When he would drive down their street in his El Dorado
He could walk down the street
Girls could not resist his stare
So Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole,
Not like you!
-David Bowie, Pablo Picasso

Chapter 18: Boys' Night

Racetrack was once again faced with the eternal question: was showing off worth looking like a complete jackass? He ran his hand over the steering wheel of his new car, a silver Lexus convertible, and sighed happily. It was gorgeous, insanely so, and... Well, extravagant, he realized. It was expensive even by the standards set at his school, and while his family could afford it--it wasn't entirely covered by the insurance money, but not far off--it was a bit much.

As close as he could figure, his father felt so guilty about the kidnapping that this was bribery. His relapse was all but forgotten, and his father was being... Nice was too extreme of a word, but in his own, incredibly messed up way, that's what it was. No lectures where there usually would have been, he was officially ungrounded, and the car...

He turned the key in the ignition and grinned.

He was a spoiled rich kid, and he'd look like a total jackass, but there was no way he was not showing off his new toy.

As he drove down the highway, despite his now almost-firm stand in homosexuality, he couldn't help but grin nonchalantly at a pair of girls in an old mustang next to him. The grin set off some extremely hot tongue gestures, and by the time Race was getting pretty close to Blink's garage, he was feeling pretty damn hot. Like, more than usual.

He heard the sound of drums, and with horror, realized that Mush was probably clowning around on his set to bug him. Mush did that sometimes.

So, Race turned on the stereo to a very cool, subtle setting, and fixed his hair in the rear view mirror.

When he pulled up in front of Blink's house, the first thing he heard was Spot.

"Jesus FUCKING Christ!"

Why wasn't he surprised?

He just waited while people appeared at the garage door, and jaws dropped. Finally, he took the key out of the ignition and grinned.

"Oh my GOD, Tony. That's..." Itey shook his head. "I don't even know. That's just beyond words."

Jack glanced over, rolled his eyes, and walked back into the garage. Which didn't bother Race at all, because Jack hating his car was almost as satisfying as Spot loving it, which he clearly did because he walked over and ran his hand over the hood slowly, like he didn't believe it.

"That car costs more than my house," Dutchy noted.

"Your dad must have lost his mind. That's a bit much, even for your family," David said flatly, and Race actually felt a little guilty about that, because it was true. But then David shrugged a little and smiled. "But then, it's not like your dad was sane to begin with. Nice car."

"Thanks, Davey." David's approval meant more to him than he'd realized.

"Don't cream yourself, Spot," Blink said while inspecting the license plate, which, as cliche as it sounded, actually read 'Race'.

"I already did," Spot replied distractedly. "Twice." He looked up at Race. "Ride me somewhere. I mean, drive me." He grinned at their friends, who were all making disgusted faces. "My mistake."

Race glared at him again, obviously still cautious. And for good reason. "Maybe later, I have practice now."

"Give me the keys."

"No."

"Yes."

"Fuck off!"

"I won't crash it!"

Blink snorted. Spot punched his shoulder.

"Seriously, I trust you, but the insurance on this thing is insane and I actually think if anything happened my dad would be more upset about that than he was about the cocaine."

Dutchy just shook his head. "You are so fucking driving us... somewhere... after rehearsal. Don't care where. We are all being seen in public in that car."

"The baseball team has a practice this afternoon. Wanna go make the jocks jealous?" Blink suggested.

"And you wonder why you get beat up," Dutchy answered.

"I definitely don't wonder," Blink responded, as Mush put a protective arm around his shoulder.

"Are you still having trouble with...?" He trailed off, and Blink shrugged.

"Not really. Spot's an easier target than I am, anyway."

"Fucking am not. You punch like a girl. I don't."

"But you're tiny."

"And yet I'd still beat your ass in a fight."

Blink shoved him a little, and Spot shoved back, and Mush forcibly stepped between them, rolling his eyes. "Now now, kids..." he sighed, then added, "It is a sweet car, Tony."

Race shrugged a little, fake modesty, and finally swung the door open and stepped out. "So, we should rehearse, because we aren't all that far from our audition," he noted. "And I really want that gig."

"You think I don't?" Blink replied. "Guess what I learned to do! Guess guess."

"Don't guess..." Spot said, looking a little disgusted. "Please make him stop talking about it..."

Mush pinched him. Spot, who did not like to be pinched, started plotting various ways to hurt Mush.

"Guess, guess what I learned to do," Blink said as they all walked back into the garage (where Jack was drinking his Kokanee a little too quickly, so David rolled his eyes and sat next to him on the couch).

"What did you learn to do?" Race asked, in a sarcastic tone that Blink ignored or didn't notice.

"I learned how to Ozzy scream."

Race stared. "We don't play Ozzy. We play like--"

"No no, serious," Dutchy broke in. "It's awesome. Mush had four orgasms, I swear."

"No, that was last night," Blink answered cheerfully.

"Blink!" Mush yelped, ducking his head so people couldn't see how hard he was blushing. Or at least, that was his goal, but he was blushing hard enough that it failed miserably.

"Right, so we've got a lot of stuff to go through today," Blink said, and kissed Mush quickly. Mush sat on the couch and Spot leaned against the wall and it was time to rehearse, which meant Blink was doing his usual job of making people actually concentrate. "We've got to get Itey's song practiced because it's our only ballad, and we should have at least one, and Dutchy's got his rehab sucks song, and we were talking about working on a cover, so..."

Race sighed slightly, because mainly, when Blink was like this, no one listened. Except for Mush and Itey. So Dutchy and Race just got the information from Itey since Mush was more staring than listening, really...

Race's eyes wandered and he saw that Spot was making faces behind Blink's back. Good ones. Oddly hilarious ones. Race bit his lip, and he saw Dutchy and Jack snort.

"So what do we want to cover, then?" Itey asked.

"Billy Idol."

They all turned to stare at David.

"What? What, I'm not allowed to appreciate Billy Idol?"

"You're really not," Race agreed, and David rolled his eyes and grabbed the same copy of Rolling Stone that had been sitting around for the past week to flip through yet again.

"...But we could do a pretty kickass Rebel Yell," Blink mused.

"Do you know the words?"

"There are words?" he asked. "I know the chorus."

"Great, fabulous. So what can we cover that we actually know?" Dutchy asked. "Come on. Aerosmith, Beatles, Sloan, Stones, something."

"Oh oh!" Blink explained. "Queen. So totally perfect for us, 'cause I'm not fucking Freddy Mercury, but we are so gay as a group..."

"I'm not," Itey sulked.

"Yeah, but you're the only one."

"Hey, I like girls," Dutchy added.

"But you like boys more. And anyway, like... The song My Best Friend? We could so fucking rock that. Or Bicycle Race or--"

"Okay, someone was listening to Queen's Greatest Hits last night," Race interrupted.

"Yeah, but--oh! Body Language. The sex song. Fucking fabulous, we could so--"

"Blink. Pick a song and stick with it, Jesus. I'm all for Queen, but you need a tranquilizer or something," Dutchy broke in.

"Hey uh..." Itey coughed. "No offense to Queen or anything, but they're pretty guitar and singer oriented... Tony and I would be bored."

"Fine," Blink snapped. He looked kind of irritated, but hadn't had his heart set on Queen, and really couldn't argue Itey's point. Fair was far. "What do YOU wanna cover?"

Itey suddenly looked very shy, because everyone was looking at him. "Uh... well, we could do some Blur--"

"You like Blur?!" Race exclaimed. "God, FUCK ME."

There was another silence after that.

"No, see, he saves that for your sister." Dutchy grinned. Race threw his drumstick at him.

"And Spot would probably kick my ass," Itey added, which Race wasn't sure how to react to at all. He made a kind of strangled face, and Spot started laughing, and Itey smiled a little. "But I was thinking, like... Beetlebum is... I don't know; it's got everything in it and it's easier to hit Damon Albarn's range than Freddy Mercury's and... Well, it's not like the guys in Blur are straight, if that was your whole thing."

"They're not gay, though."

"But they're awfully damn ambiguous," Dutchy agreed. "And hot, and British." He thought for a second. "Well, that works for me, so if you guys are okay with it..."

Race nodded, and finally got up to retrieve his drumstick, and Blink only pouted for a second before nodding his agreement. Because as lead singers went, he was definitely closer to Damon from Blur than to Freddy Mercury, and could pull it off much better.

"The only problem is that he mumbles so I don't exactly know the words," Blink said after a second.

"We'll check them online later."

Blink shrugged. "Sounds good, then." He paused. "Man, we are gonna kick so much ass."

"I always kick ass." Race smirked, twirling his drumsticks. "Itey, baby, you and me? Totally hooking up for some Blur-age."

Itey grinned, still looking shy. "Sure, Tony."

Spot glared.

"Don't be a dumbass." Mush shoved him.

Spot licked his finger, and shoved it in Mush's ear. Mush yelped, and jumped off the couch. Spot smirked.

"ASS!" Mush shrieked.

"Don't pinch me."

"Would you all shut up?!" Blink snapped. Mush sent him a shocked look. "Except for you, baby."

Mush grinned at him and smirked at Spot, and sat back down, then as the attention shifted away from them nonchalantly reached over and shoved Spot, who went sprawling sideways and barely caught himself.

"Hey!" he yelped, and Mush grinned, and everyone was glaring again.

"Now kids, don't make me separate you," David said without looking up from the magazine, despite having read the article four times before.

Spot rolled his eyes, and Mush answered with a cheerful, "Yes, Davey," and Spot reached over and slapped the back of Mush's head.

"Sure, Dave," he agreed. "Now that we're even."

Mush shoved him again, but he was braced for it and shoved back and... Well, it wasn't as ineffective as other people had expected, given that Mush worked out on a regular basis and Spot could only be described as a lightweight, but Mush certainly didn't lose his balance.

He shoved back.

"Now we're even," he declared.

"Okay, you two..."

Spot smacked him again. "Now."

"OKAY, you two!" David said, tired of having Mush shoved into him. "Mush, you and Jack trade places."

"Davey, you should be worried; you actually sound exactly like your mother," Jack mused, as he stood up. David rolled his eyes, but went back to the magazine.

"Because Jack knows allll about how his mother in law sounds." Spot smiled. Mush let out a laugh, and they slapped hands as Mush walked by him to take Jack's old seat. Jack turned on his heel and smacked Mush on the head, which started a whole new slugging fest, which David tried to break up, and everyone felt sorry for him really...

Blink, having lost his steam, just turned to his band, shrugged, and they just started to play.

*

The practice had gone on for exactly an hour longer than intended, and David was rushing about finding out if everyone had rides, and who had to be where when, and finding out if they still had time to cruise around in Race's car. Jack tried to calm him down, but stopped when he realized just how much of a boyfriend he was actually acting like...

Jack declined the chance to go cruising in Race's car, which surprised exactly no one, and he dragged David with him. Itey gave the car a long, lingering look, but decided he wanted to go call Sophia instead. Which left Dutchy, Blink, Spot and Mush; Mush decided to go less because he was impressed by the car, and more because he never really objected to spending time with Blink.

"I so get shotgun," Spot declared.

"But you're skinny," Mush whined. "So it would make sense for you and Dutchy to both be in the back so there's breathing room."

"Fuck you, it's Tony's car so I get shotgun by default." And Spot let himself into the seat in question without further discussion; Mush rolled his eyes, but on the other hand, having Blink sitting bitch in the middle meant that they were shoved pretty close to each other, which he also didn't mind.

"So where to?" Race asked, as seatbelts were buckled. (Blink was obsessive compulsive about seatbelt safety, which made sense, given how he'd lost his eye.)

"I'm still all for irritating the baseball team," Blink answered immediately.

"Blink..." Mush sighed, and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, oh," Dutchy said suddenly. "Spot, speaking of the jocks, rumor is that Jessica is really pissed at Steve for something and she's breaking up with him this weekend."

"...Okay, how does the freaky drug addict get involved in the school gossip mills?" Spot demanded, ignoring the comment, despite the vaguely confused looks he was getting from Mush and Race (though Race was more watching the road, luckily.)

"I have my sources." Dutchy smirked. "So your girlfriend is so single by Monday."

"She is not my girlfriend."

"Okay, what?" Race demanded.

Spot sighed.

"What's this?" Dutchy sat up straight, sensing the scandal. Which he loved. "Did you neglect to tell Tony of your previous relations with Jessica?"

"I didn't--"

"No, who the fuck is Jessica?" Race asked, sounding a lot like a jealous idiot, which made him blush. Spot smirked at him.

"Look who's jealous."

"Shut up, who's Jessica?"

Spot shared a look with Blink, who looked torn between feeling sorry for Spot and blabbing. But he was saved, because Dutchy loved to blab.

"She and Spot fucked at my Valentine's party."

There was a very long silence. A calm before the storm, everyone realized.

"WHAT?"

"Eyes on the road, idiot!"

"Dude, I so told you," Spot answered. "About the girl I slept with to piss off her boyfriend."

"...You mean you were serious?"

"Yes, I was fucking serious. God." He shuddered. "She's totally stalked me since then, I swear she's as bad as Tracy Marshall."

"No one is as bad as Tracy. Back me up, Mushee."

"No one," Mush agreed.

"And Jessica is BEAUTIFUL," Dutchy pointed out. "You should consider yourself lucky, Spot. I would."

"You can have her."

"You joking? She wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole; I'm the local screwed up drug addict manslut, so I'm not just on coke, I'm also probably diseased." He laughed. "I'm so not, but the school seems to think I am, and goddamn, I need to get laid."

"That's lovely, Dutchy," Mush noted.

"I so do, though, I'm going insane."

"So jerk off."

Dutchy opened his mouth to answer, but Race anticipated it and snarled, "NOT in my CAR."

Dutchy shrugged. "So anyway, she so totally wants Spot, it's not even funny. The whole 'he's gay' thing never registered or something."

"But..." Race observed his boyfriend. "You're just so GAY."

"Yeah, well, I fucked her, so..." Spot shrugged. "She seems to think I'll start taking some straight pills or something."

"She sounds stupid," Race muttered.

"She's not, actually, just--"

"Are you defending her?"

"Are you whining much?"

"Awwww..." Mush wiped away a mock tear. "They're fighting. Look baby, they're fighting!" Mush put his hand on Blink's knee. Blink just gave his neck a kiss as a response.

"Anyway," Dutchy continued. "She was telling all her friends about you, Spotty. How she wuuuvs you."

Spot sneered. "You sound like a fucking woman, HANS."

Dutchy stopped smiling.

"Ouch, that's fighting dirty," Blink said. "Spot's looking to get his ass kicked."

"Like he could," Spot snorted disdainfully.

"Yeah; you talk a good deal, Sean, but all I've ever seen in Steve Olsen kicking your ass around."

"Yeah," Spot agreed. "Because if I fucking break his skull in, the state puts me in an institution."

"Uh huh."

Spot half-turned around in his seat. "That sounds like a challenge there, blondie."

"Bring it, shrimp."

"No blood on the new car, please," Race requested, sounding more amused than worried.

"...Besides, Dutch," Mush reasoned. "Spot's got Tony on his side; and Tony does break noses in fights. He's kind of scary when he gets going."

"Yeah?" Dutchy asked, and everyone was pretty grateful that Mush had managed to get the attention away from Spot's and Dutchy's sudden bickering. Everyone except Race, who really didn't feel like discussing the fight Mush was referring to.

"Seriously, it was insane, 'cause the guy--Scott--was a foot taller than he was, easy, but--"

"Mush," Race interrupted.

Mush shrugged and fell silent, until Blink poked him in the side. "You can't stop there, what happened?" he demanded.

"Well." Mush shrugged, and Race rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't a big deal," Race mumbled, and turned the radio on loudly to try and halt conversation.

Spot turned it down immediately. "So? Then it's no big deal to spill it. So, spill it. Besides, Mush will tell Blink later anyway, and Blink'll tell me in study hall anyway."

"Someone has to tell me," Dutchy whined.

"Only if you stop being a bitch," Spot answered smugly.

"'Only if you stop being a bitch'," Dutchy mimicked, and Spot reached back to smack him, but Mush pushed his arm away. "Telllll ussss."

Race didn't say anything, so Mush just shrugged. "Scott called me a faggot, see? He'd been calling me a faggot all year, but one day after school, I was on my own carrying stuff out to Tony's car while he was inside, and Scott just started screaming at me from his car in the parking lot. And then Tony came out, my big hero--" he glanced at Race. "Er...little hero..."

"Shut up!"

"And he was all like, 'You seem pretty brave in your car, pussy!' and Scott was all like, 'Fuck you, Al Pacino!' and then Tony was all like--"

"It's like watching a kid talk about Barney..." Spot mused. Race pinched his thigh.

"Yeah, ANYWAY. Basically, Scott swung at Tony, who proceeded to beat the living shit out of him, breaking his nose in the process." He grinned. "My hero," he added.

"Awwwww," Blink and Dutchy cooed on cue, and Race just stared at the road ahead of him.

"It really was pretty nice of him; he definitely won the fight but it wasn't like he got away totally untouched. But still, a black eye and some blood stains really isn't much, comparatively."

"Most of the blood was his," Race mumbled.

"Awwwww," Dutchy repeated. "You beat someone up for being mean to Mush. You're like the bestest big brother ever."

"Oh, God," Mush laughed. "I don't even want to think about what would happen if someone insulted one of his sisters..."

"Can we change the topic now?" Race muttered.

"Nope." Blink smiled. "That was real nice of you; you got suspended or what?"

"Only for a few days, the fuckhead had it coming and everyone knew it," Race answered flatly.

And Mush said quietly, "The problem was his dad. Who didn't like that he was fighting."

"Mush, drop it," Race said, in a voice which really didn't leave room for argument.

"What?" Spot demanded anyway.

"Nothing, okay? Nothing. Just more of me and my dad hating each other. So where are we going, anyway?"

"No, come on, what did--" Spot started, but Dutchy broke in.

"He said drop it, Spot, leave him alone."

Spot flipped Dutchy off.

"Thanks Dutch," Race said, and then Spot stared at him and flipped him off.

"Let's go drinking," Blink said. "If Dutchy and Spot are gonna--"

"Go drinking?" Race said, sarcasm dripping. "What a GREAT way to lose my orgasm-worthy car! Let's do it!"

"A 'no' would have been fine, Al Pacino." Blink grumbled.

"Let's just go cruisin'." Mush said, always the peacemaker. "And honk at hot guys."

"How about no?" Race replied. "Mushee, I love you, but I'm new to this gay thing."

Spot wasn't listening; he was making obscene tongue gestures at a group of pretty freshmen boys. Race stared at him.

"What?"

"Whore!"

"I know."

"You should pick; you can either be confused about being gay, or you can be a jealous boyfriend. Seriously, for all of our sanity's sake. One or the other," Dutchy muttered. He ignored the sympathetic look Mush gave him, because he didn't need to bond with Mush over how pathetic having a crush on Racetrack was; he'd figured it out all by himself. And he wasn't sure if Itey had shared that information, or if he was being obvious; he hoped it was the first, so he could blame Itey and Race wouldn't know.

But then, judging by Mush's experience, Race wouldn't know anyway. He wondered what it was like to be that oblivious. He also wondered what Race was like in bed, but he was trying to avoid thinking about it.

"Oh!" Blink yelped suddenly, staring at a car almost a block up from them. "I swear to god, we're about to run into Steve Olsen."

"Seriously. You've only got one eye, how is your vision so--"

"You have to say something to him, Spot," Blink interrupted. "I will give you money if you remind him that Jessica wants you more than him."

"No," Spot said, shrugging, fiddling with the frays on his jeans.

"Ten bucks."

"Where is he?" Race laughed as Spot searched outside the window.

"Slow down, Midgito, he's over there..." Spot grinned back at Blink. "Show me the ten."

Blink fished around in his pocket, producing two five dollar bills.

"Awesome." Spot nodded, and cleared his throat, hanging out the window. "HEY! OLSEN!" Steve Olsen glanced up, and Race was suddenly slightly in awe with just how hot the guy actually was; Spot had had a point. "Slow down, Tony," Spot mumbled to him. Race slowed down as they drove next to Steve.

"What do you want, faggot?" Steve snapped.

"Funny you should mention faggot..." Spot nodded. "Since I'M the most man Jessica ever had anyway. No worries though, while she's busy frigging herself and yelling my name, I heard your mom is available. I just left her at your place, so she's all naked and ready to go."

Race stared in awe at Spot and Blink burst out laughing as Steve reached forward and tried to grab at Spot.

"You FUCKING--"

But Race stepped on the gas and they drove off down the street.

"That was worth at least fifteen dollars," Mush said, putting a five in with Blink's ten as they passed the money forward. Dutchy was laughing too hard to speak, but eventually inhaled sharply.

"Oh my GOD he is gonna kick your ass AGAIN on Monday."

"Let him try it." Spot was smirking, so if he was nervous about facing Steve again, it was impossible to tell.

"Spot, man, you're my fucking hero," Blink cackled. "Okay, let's go get pizza and hide, because the asshole is trying to catch up with us."

"Ha," Race answered. "Let him try." And he abruptly turned the next corner, and a few minutes later they were on the highway and lost in the traffic; easily the nicest car in sight, but not really noticeable from a distance. "You guys want pizza? I can cook, restaurants are too greasy."

"Seriously, eating at your house is like eating at a gourmet place," Mush noted. "But cheaper. So I vote for that."

"Yeah, you gonna cook some more?" Spot grinned. "Is it gonna have the same result as last time?"

Race raised his eyebrows at him. "There are people in the car with us, you know."

"YEAH, Spot!"

Mush and Blink gave monotone looks to Dutchy, who cleared his throat and busied himself looking out the window.

"Anyway..." Race lowered his voice. "Cut it out, I'm not ready to go any farther than we already have."

Spot let out an annoyed snort as he thumped his head against the back of his seat. "You're in such a bitchy mood."

"Then go screw Jessica."

"Ooooohh..." Blink whistled.

"Seriously, Spot. My house means my family which means that as soon as we get there, I'm straight as far as anyone knows. So watch it."

"Bitch," Spot muttered.

"My parents should be out, though, thank God," Race continued, ignoring Spot because it seemed like the best response. "And I think Maria is spending the night at a friend's, so it's just Sophia."

"Itey's gonna be jealous," Dutchy noted.

"Actually," Blink commented, as they turned on to Race's road, "I think Itey'll be annoyed, 'cause isn't that his car?" He pointed in the direction of Race's house.

"Yeah, I think," Dutchy agreed. "Ooooh, and they're home alone."

"I'll kill him," was Race's only answer.

Mush started to respond, but Race parked and got out of the car with amazing agility, and was way ahead of them as he made his way to the front door while Mush and the others were stumbling up the steps, all thinking of separate ways they could try and save Itey.

"Who knew the little Mexican had it in him?" Dutchy mused to Spot. "Did you know he's only kissed someone, like, once?"

"Was that when YOU kissed him in a sexually frustrated rage?" Spot said blankly.

"That never happened, you grumpy old fag." Dutchy smacked his head.

Race was opening the door and shushing them. "Quiet, I need to see if he's trying to take advantage of my sister."

Spot coughed. "Knowing Sophie, it seems more like she'd take advantage of him..." Race gave Spot a glare. Spot just shrugged.

Race made his way inside, motioning at all of them to be quiet, and he listened very quietly.

"This is ridiculous..." Blink whispered to Mush.

"Get used to it," was Mush's response.

Sure enough, there were voices in the kitchen. It sounded like Sophia and Itey were laughing, and from the evil look on Race's face, they all hoped Itey would enjoy it while he could. But they took the laughing as a good sign--better to be joking around than fooling around.

Race walked quietly towards the kitchen, and Dutchy, Mush and Blink all shrugged and followed. Spot, who seemed to be growing grumpier, followed in a fashion very much like a four year old.

Race slowly opened the kitchen door, and saw that there wasn't anything indecent going on--just Itey with his arms slightly around Sophia's waist, and her arms around his neck, and it seemed she had something in the oven. Really, it was all very innocent, but he still had his arms around her. He was still smiling at her much too fondly.

"A-HEM."

Itey jumped and immediately let go of Sophia before even LOOKING to see who it was that had caught them. When he saw it was Race, he made a very odd squeaky noise.

"TONY." Sophia glared.

"How many times have you come to molest my sister when no one else was home?" Race ignored Sophia and just cut right to the chase. Itey coughed.

"Tony, I promise, we weren't doing anything."

"And if we HAD been, we wouldn't be in the kitchen." Sophia threw a cracker at Race and then popped another one in her mouth. "Idiot."

"BUT we don't-I mean, we never--"

"Ooohh, alone with the saucy Italian lay-dayyy..." Dutchy grinned at him as he opened the fridge and helped himself to leftovers from the night before. "Nice one, Itey."

Everyone else made their way into the kitchen, all making themselves at home.

"Looks like you got more company than you bargained for, Sophie," Spot said, taking the crackers from her.

Itey whimpered.

"Sophia Angelina Higgins--"

"Not ONE word, Anthony," she snapped.

"I have much more than one word." He glowered.

"And I don't really care." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "So go to hell, Fratello."

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, young lady."

"And don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do."

"This one isn't up to me; you know you're not allowed to have him over," he jerked his thumb towards Itey, "when no one else is home."

She narrowed her eyes. "You breathe one word to Dad and I will make your life hell."

"I'm terrified." His voice was flat and sarcastic.

"You should be." Her voice, however, was very vehement, as though she already had a strategy to cause his misery worked out. "Try me," she added.

Mush casually leaned over and put an arm around Blink, then commented quietly, "Ten dollars on Tony getting his ass kicked."

"I'm not taking that. She's scaring me," he answered.

Race turned away from her, to face Itey, who actually winced. "And as for YOU, Gabriel--"

"Tony!" Sophia yelled.

"As for you," Race repeated.

Itey held his hands up defensively. "I didn't know there was a rule and I'd never have broken it if I did, and we weren't doing anything except she was trying to teach me to cook, and I swear to god that's all."

"Yeah. Right."

"That IS right, Racetrack."

"Shut up."

"Listen, I have been nothing but a total, complete GENTLEMAN to her, you can't still be acting like a jerk off to me about it!" Itey blurted out. Race stared, and before he could respond, Sophia broke in again.

"He hasn't even KISSED me yet, you have no idea how annoying it's getting." She looked at Itey. "What is wrong with you?"

"What?" Itey asked incredulously. "But you never said you--"

"Well you never asked! Let alone tried!"

"I didn't know you wanted me to!"

"Duh! Are you as stupid as my brother?"

"Hey, don't take your frustration out on me..." Race was too busy observing with interest to be mad anymore, really.

"Gabriel, the dress I wore last night actually screamed 'please look down my cleavage and take advantage of me!' are you stupid?"

"Woah, what dress was this?" Race demanded.

"Shut up," both of them snapped at him.

"I was being a gentleman, which I thought you wanted--"

"Okay," Mush interrupted, "we're gonna go back to the living room and wait for you two to work this out on your own." He actually grabbed the back of Race's collar. "Aren't we?"

Race pulled his shirt free and glared. "...Fine," he said finally. "But Rosetta, we are having a very, very long talk later."

"Get out," she snapped, and Blink lead the way back to the living room, with Spot and Dutchy following, then Mush dragging Race along. Race sat on one of the couches and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed.

"Jesus, they haven't kissed yet," Dutchy said, shaking his head a little. "Itey's the least hormonal boy I've ever met."

"Thank GOD."

"Tony, seriously--" Mush started, and Race cut him off.

"I know, I know; she's sixteen, he's a nice guy, it could be worse, but I don't have to LIKE it. And them not being home alone together is DAD'S rule, not MINE."

"You make rules?" Dutchy sounded amused.

"No. But when it comes to Sophia dating, I sure as hell enforce them."

"You don't have to be an ass to her when she has a guy she actually likes," Spot snapped. Race glared at him.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing Mr. I'm-Not-Ready-McGee."

"Jesus Christ!"

Mush turned to Blink and smiled. "We're the only couple in the world that doesn't argue like a couple of whores. I love it."

Blink kissed him lightly. "I know--pathetic losers."

Dutchy cleared his throat. "So, Blink, how about that Yankees game? We talking Murderer's Row this season or what?"

Mush's face fell. "I don't think so."

Blink stared at him. "Come on, Mush, don't be blind. Just look at their line up--they're playing great."

"Well FINE, but the Sox--"

"Suck."

"They do not, you asshole!"

"Oh right, sorry, I guess it was ANOTHER team that keeps losing." Blink smiled. "My mistake."

"Blink--"

"Seriously, it's been since 1918. Don't blame ME because YOUR team sucks."

"Shut UP." Mush shoved Blink away from him. "I swear to God, you say one more word about the Red Sox and I'll castrate you in your sleep."

Spot shot a look at Dutchy, who smirked. "Wow, way to be manipulative," he said.

"Well, you know. As long as I'm surrounded by obnoxious couples but not getting any, I have to get my kicks somehow."

"We are NOT obnoxious," Mush snapped, then turned to Blink. "Take it back."

"I so don't think so."

"Take it back."

"And we're gonna kick their asses like we do every year."

"I like how Blink is suddenly on the team," Dutchy added.

"Yeah, we'll fucking SEE about that. My man Nomar--"

"--is a pussy."

"TAKE THAT BACK."

"Okay, you two!" Race snapped. "I need you to shut up so I can overhear Itey and Sophia. And besides, you love each other too much to break up over baseball."

"But he's a Yankees fan."

"Yeah? So am I."

"But, like the Yankees, you're spoiled and rich, and an asshole." Mush grinned. "So I'm not surprised by that."

Race made an offended noise, and Mush just went back to poking at Blink muttering 'take it back' over and over. Race turned to Dutchy.

Dutchy made a sympathetic face. "Aw, Tony, don't you worry, Mush is just psycho with baseball. I don't think you're a spoiled, rich, asshole."

Spot snorted. Race kicked him.

Mush and Blink gave Dutchy their millionth odd looks of the day while Race shushed them and crept over to the kitchen door and tried to listen in on Itey and Sophia.

"They making any noise?" Dutchy asked.

"I can't hear," Race grumbled.

*

"I am not a mindreader, Sophia!"

"And I haven't been subtle, Gabriel!"

"Yes. You have."

"That dress--"

"Was stunning, but I didn't want to get slapped for kissing you when you didn't want me to."

"But I did--"

"But you didn't tell me that!"

"I shouldn't have to!"

"Why not?" he demanded. "Seriously, Rosetta, I've never dated anyone before, EVER, and you're the most amazing girl I've ever met and I didn't want to screw things up, which apparently I did anyway, but I don't know what I'm doing so when you want something from me you have to tell me!"

"I hinted--"

"Hinting is not the same as saying."

"Are all boys so stupid and oblivious?" she muttered.

"Yes."

There was a long moment of silence, and finally she snapped, "Well, Jesus, fine. I wanted you to kiss me ALL night and I was pretty pissed that you DIDN'T."

"Well, I WANTED to kiss you all night, but was scared that you'd SLAP me."

"When were you BORN? 1824?"

"For some reason, I feel like bringing up a scary Italian brother, and a huge, monster-like Italian father!"

"Don't talk about my daddy that way!"

"My POINT is..." Itey sighed, looking at anything but Sophia. "I don't know what to do, okay? You're...funny and smart and...and I don't have any problem talking to you. But you're..." Itey sighed again. "God, you are so incredibly beautiful that I don't know what to DO when it comes to...kissing and that sort of thing because I'm scared I'll do it wrong."

A long silence followed. The look Sophia was giving Itey made him feel incredibly stupid.

"I'm just being honest, okay?"

"You are such a dope." Sophia shook her head.

"I know. Which is why I can't believe that you wanted me to kiss you."

"Want."

"What?"

"I want you to kiss me, you dope."

"Oh." He gave her a sheepish smile. She cleared her throat meaningfully. "What?" he asked.

"That means DO it!"

"Oh! Right." He paused. "Uh, how should I... Uh..."

She rolled her eyes and reached forward towards him, put an arm around his neck and her other hand at the back of his head, leaned in and kissed him. Just a quick, closed mouth kiss, but his eyes went wide and when he started to say "Wow," she took advantage of his open mouth and kissed him again, this time a little more passionately. And he looked just as startled, but after a second got the hang of it and met her embrace with his own, and really, it was the best first kiss Sophia had ever had. And the first real kiss he had, so they were both quite pleased.

*

On the other side of the door, Race's face had gone white. "There's no noise."

"They must be having hot, wild, jungle sex." Mush smiled. Spot snorted and grinned at him.

"Nice one, super-fag."

"Thanks, Spoterella."

"No, no, serious, there's no noise!" Race's voice cracked. "W-what if they're DOING something?"

"Maybe she killed him!" Dutchy exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "Oh my god, she killed Itey!"

"She so did!" Race agreed, and Dutchy hurried over next to him to the door. Mush, Blink and Spot all continued sitting and staring, because really, Dutchy and Race could be very stupid.

"Well, open it," Race snapped at Dutchy.

Dutchy, who happened to think Race ordering him around was hot, cleared his throat and opened the door...

"GET AWAY FROM HER."

"Tony!" Itey yelped, but to his credit didn't actually get away from Sophia, who also didn't move away from him.

"You get away from HIM."

"I don't think so. Now go back to the living room, we're busy." And she kissed Itey, an act of defiance towards her brother more than passion towards her boyfriend.

"Sophia!" he yelped. "I do not need to see--"

She broke away from Itey long enough to snap, "Then GO AWAY!"

"Come on," Dutchy said, as if he suddenly came to his senses, and he grabbed Race's wrist and pulled him away, shutting the door behind them.

"I'll kill them both, and then bring them back to life and kill them AGAIN."

"They were just kissing." Spot rolled his eyes. "Which is not a big deal. It's not like they were fooling around. Which also isn't such a big deal, to anyone but YOU."

"I do not need you on top of them right now, Spot."

"Now there's a mental image," Mush whispered to Blink, who grinned in response.

"What?" Spot snapped. "I said I'd fucking go at your pace; you can't expect me to like it!"

"I can expect you to keep your fucking voice down, though!" Race half-shouted, then realized how loud he was and glowered and sank into an arm chair.

They glared at each other, and finally Race looked away, and Spot noted smugly that he'd still never lost a staring contest.

Mush was observing Race through all this, and finally Race, who was now also in a terrible mood (much Spot's glee), turned to glare at Mush.

"What are you staring at?" He snapped.

"Your sister has great fashion sense--better than you." Mush nodded. "Did you see, Blinkee? She was wearing sweatpants, but they fit her perfectly and the shirt--"

"Stop talking," Spot said.

"Was so well--"

"Stop talking."

"I'm gonna--"

"PLEASE stop talking."

"Go shopping with her--"

"FUCK all," Spot growled, back in a horrible mood. "Tonnnyyyyy..."

"No."

"But--"

"No."

He grumbled. "I hate you."

"You two need a functional relationship." Blink nodded.

Dutchy smiled. "Hey, Blink, so the Sox had a pretty good postseason last year, huh?"

"NO."

"Yes!" Mush whapped him.

Dutchy smiled. Yes. Scandals were fun.

The door opened again, and Itey and Sophia walked in, hand in hand. "So we made up," Sophia declared.

"Fucking spiffy for you," Spot answered.

"Shut up, Sean," she responded cheerfully, leading Itey over to the loveseat and putting an arm around him as soon as they sat down. Racetrack positively glowered at them, and Itey gave him an apologetic look, but didn't actually apologize, and certainly didn't plan to move.

"My family goes to Yankees games sometimes," Race said finally, deciding to ignore his sister. "But usually one of us at least is busy so we've got an extra seat, if you ever want to come, Blink. Our seats are pretty good."

"Are you KIDDING me?" Blink answered. "Are you fucking--oh my GOD, yes."

"I hate you all," Mush whined.

"Blame Babe Ruth," Race answered him, then turned back to his sister. "Okay, you two. Never, ever do I want to catch you home alone together again. But I'll keep my mouth shut this time. I'm gonna go get some fucking Skittles and then cook us dinner." He stood and stomped out of the room.

Spot hesitated for a second, then sighed. "Someone's having a craving," he muttered. "I'm gonna go make sure he's not as stupid as... Well, he usually is." And he left to go check on Race, or at least, that was what he was going to do as far as Sophia knew.

Spot trudged up the stairs, feeling oddly light headed and suddenly back in a good mood, and found Race in his room, digging through his desk looking for Skittles. Spot came up behind him after shutting the door with his foot, which made Race jump. He turned to face him, and gave his shoulder a light punch.

"Don't scare me, ass, I'm paranoid right now. Duh."

Spot ignored him, giving him a steady stare that was pretty damn suggestive.

"Spot, stop it. People could have my room bugged."

"No one has your room bugged." Spot rolled his eyes, slipping his arms around Race's waist.

"How do you know?"

"You're a teenager, why the fuck would they risk putting a bug in here considering all the disgusting stuff you do?" Spot leaned down. "Jerking off thinking about me, that sort of thing."

Race pushed him again but Spot laughed and kept a tight hold.

"You're in a bad mood," Spot muttered, when Race finally pulled away from him and went back to finding his Skittles.

"Yeah? Well, you had sex with a girl."

"Don't remind me." He leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Where the FUCK are they, I know I had another bag..." Race muttered to himself, and finally found a bag of Tropical Skittles shoved in the back of his drawer. He didn't like the Tropical ones; he'd grabbed them by mistake, which is why they were still there. But sugar was sugar, so he poured four of them into his mouth anyway and turned back to Spot. "Fucking craving," he muttered.

"I bet I can get your mind off it better than those Skittles..." Spot mused.

"No," Race answered. Spot snorted, and rolled his eyes. "Go to Jessica if you--"

"Would you shut up?!" Spot snapped. "Jesus Christ, Tony, you sound like a fucking woman."

"I bet you love that."

"If I did, I WOULD be fucking a woman. But I'm not, am I? I'm going with Mr. 'I'm-Not-Ready'."

Race just grumbled as he popped more skittles into his mouth. "Go away."

"What's with you?"

"Itey kissing my sister is what's with me!" Race snapped. "You having sex with Jessica is what's with me! My freaking mafia father and freaking fuck GOD." He poured the bag in his mouth, attempted to talk, which didn't work, and he tried chewing with all of those skittles in his mouth.

Which didn't work out too well either.

"Ugh." Spot shuddered. "Why do I want you?"

Race answered something, but it was lost in the Skittles and a string of colored spittle escaped his lips. He reached up to wipe it off and Spot grabbed his wrist before he could, and actually leaned forward and kissed it off.

Race pulled away and spat most of the mushed up Skittles into the trash can by his desk, then turned back to Spot. "That's disgusting."

"It's not like we don't swap spit when we make out."

Race rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but--"

"And it was fruit flavored. And also, you're a moron."

"Yeah, yeah." Race sat down on his desk and faced Spot. "Seriously, we can't. And I know you're horny or whatever, but my sister is home..."

"And occupied. Her boyfriend is here, too."

"Don't remind me." Race snorted in disgust. "Ugh, they weren't supposed to actually do anything."

"Don't be such a grandma." Spot was smirking again. "You know, you're gonna be one of those fucking old men who throws things at kids who ride by your ass on their bikes."

"Oh, what a romantic thing to say to me."

"Look who's talking." Spot picked up Race's drumsticks off of his music stand and smashed the cymbal. "Look look, I'm Spazzy McGee!"

"Who?"

"Never mind." Spot fiddled with the drumsticks. "What's wrong? You're acting like such an asshole."

Race shrugged.

Spot raised an eyebrow. "Come on, talk to me. I'm your boyfriend, Chrissake."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed a little. "Spot, I want to tell my family."

"...Uh, that's probably not a good idea, Midgito."

"No kidding. But Jesus, I just feel like I'm waiting to get caught, I hate it. I want to be with you. I want to make out with you whenever I damn well please. I don't want to come up with excuses to go places with you or to have to run to the fucking bathroom, I just want to be with you. And just--seeing those two just doesn't HELP."

Spot cocked his head. "That's sweet, in a really fucked up way."

"Well, whatever."

"Hey. I want to be with you too. Which is why I'm up here and why I locked the door behind me."

Race bit his lip slightly, and glanced at the closed door behind Spot, then glanced over his own shoulder to his window, where the blinds were down. "Well, I dunno, Spot, I just..."

"No one's watching, no one can hear." Spot was standing close to him again. And he smelled so freaking good Race could hardly believe it; kind of like hot spices. He was kissing Race's neck slightly, leaving hot patches on his skin after his mouth trailed to a different part of his neck.

Race moaned slightly. "Spoo-oott, do-"

But Spot kissed him and Race could not resist Spot kissing him because it was fucking Spot.

Still, he had to keep his head because...

He couldn't come up with a single decent reason, but that was probably because he was quickly becoming preoccupied. So Race kissed back and Spot nudged him to towards the bed and they collapsed down onto it, the comforter billowing around Race and Spot on top of him, grinding his pelvis into Race's slightly, and Race moaned a little.

"Shh," Spot said, separating for a moment. "You get loud there, sexy." And then they went back to kissing, Spot with one hand tangled in Race's hair and Race gripping Spot's shoulders tightly, nails digging slightly into his back.

Spot began to trail kisses down Race's neck, to suck at the space where his jawline met his neck and Race groaned and tried to pull away. "No--no hickeys--" he managed. "Sister downstairs..."

Spot made an annoyed noise, but went back to kissing and grinding and groping and Race realized that Spot was right; this was way better than Skittles. He started to pull away to tell him so, but there was a knock on his door.

"Tony?" It was Sophia. The doorknob rattled. "Tony?!" she said again.

Race looked panicked and shoved Spot off of him; for a change Spot didn't object. "Yeah, what's... Up?" he called awkwardly.

"Your friends were wondering where you disappeared to," she said, and tried the door again. "It's locked, what's going on?"

"Nothing!" he snapped.

"Anthony Paulo Higgins, open your goddamned door!" she yelled.

"Rosetta, what are you freaking out about?" he demanded, walking over and unlocking it.

"Cocaine, dumbass," she snarled, pulling the door open and stepping in--and seeing Spot lounging on Race's bed innocently. She gave him a weird look.

"No cocaine, see? Just me and Sean... Talking."

"Yea-ah," she said. "Talking." She gave him an odd look. "What's going on, Tony?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"Then why was the door locked?" She gave a strange look at Spot, then back at Race, and suddenly she sounded very serious. "Tony..."

"What?" He tried to feign innocence.

"You've been acting really weird lately." She hesitated. "And you and Sean have... Been hanging out a... An awful lot."

"Yeah? We get along." He shrugged.

"How well?"

"Sophia..." He trailed off. "It's nothing. Anyway, I was just about to go start dinner."

She shook her head a little. "Tony, don't lie to me; you're not very good at it." Again, she threw an odd look at Spot.

Spot sat up. "Hey, Sophie; your brother's gay. Get over it."

And Race turned around and stared at him, then turned back to her. "Sophia, I--Jesus CHRIST, Spot, that wasn't--it wasn't fucking FUNNY."

"Well, you said you wanted to tell your family, and we got caught. Sophia's not gonna tell on us anyway."

"Spot..." Race trailed off and shook his head, then looked back at Sophia, who looked... Amused, sort of, but like she was trying to cover desperately for something else.

"Well. Fratello." She shrugged. "You never, ever, ever get to lecture me and Gabe again. Go cook your friends dinner."

Race wasn't talking, just opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. He nodded, but before he left the room, gave Spot a swift punch in the shoulder. Then he stormed out of the room.

Spot swore under his breath, rubbing his shoulder, and started to walk out, but Sophia stood in front of him, hands on her hips. Spot raised an eyebrow. Sophia glared.

"What?"

"You..." Sophia started, but stopped. "That's...I...just GO." She pushed him. "Eat something for chrissake!"

"You're the boss," Spot said, trudging down the stairs in a careless fashion. Sophia bit her lip. "Sean?"

"What?" She hurried to catch up with him on the stairwell.

"Does Gabe know?"

"Duh."

Sophia growled and raced ahead of him on the stairs. A few minutes later, as he walked into the kitchen to follow Race, he heard a loud smack and Itey yelping.

"IDIOT!"

"What did I DO?"

"You are supposed TELL me things. Like, I don't know, semi-important details like MY BROTHER BEING GAY."

Race walked past Spot, ignoring him, and stuck his head into the living room. "Rosetta, not his fault. Come help me cook."

"HAH. No."

"We should talk, Sophia."

"Later. Gabe and I are going to go into my room and lock the door and call us when dinner's ready, you jackass."

Race winced and nodded, and retreated to the kitchen, where Spot had made himself at home leaning on a counter.

"So, you're pretty pissed at me, huh?"

"YES."

"Okay. Well, I'm just gonna stand here and wait while you cook and calm down and realize that it's not such a big deal."

"You're a total ass. I can not BELIEVE you did this to me!"

"Tony, you'd just said..." He trailed off. "It's not like she's gonna tell anyone. I bet you once she's done being shocked, she's totally cool."

"Yeah, besides being a fucking Catholic!" Race angrily grabbed ingredients. "Fine, so she won't tell, but she probably thinks a hell of a lot less of me than she did before!"

"Then she's not much of a sister."

SLAM. Race's hands banged down on the counter and Spot jumped slightly. "What. Did. You. Say?"

"I wasn't saying that--"

"You don't have any RIGHT--"

"For chrissake! What, is it your period--"

"You don't even have any idea--"

"How would YOU know what I--"

"Oh shut UP," Mush snapped, walking in and past Race, opening the cupboard and grabbing a box of crackers. "Tony, stop bitching; Spot, stop being... Spot."

"Blink, get a muzzle for your fairy," Spot said as Blink came into the kitchen.

"Spot, go fuck Jessica Craig," Blink answered. "Seriously; we can hear you guys in the living room, and I bet Sophia can hear you upstairs."

"Yeah, so?" Spot demanded.

Mush continued, "And honestly? I don't think she and Itey are making out, I think she's just freaking out. And," he added emphatically, "she's doing it to him so she doesn't do it to you, because she doesn't want you two to think less of her for being startled." He shrugged. "But what do I know?"

"Mush..." Race started, then trailed off. "I don't want Sophia to be freaked out by me."

"She'll get over it," Mush answered. "I think it's good that she knows, Tony."

"But..."

"Yeah, I know. You're nervous and it sucks and your family doesn't make things easy. Been there, done that, have the overpriced, designer T-shirt. Sophia is so much cooler than my family; you'll be fine." He gave Spot a pointed look. "So both of you, behave yourselves."

Spot glared, but didn't say anything; Blink took the box of crackers and headed back to the living room. Mush hesitated another moment, patted Race's back encouragingly, smacked Spot upside the head (albeit gently) and followed him.

"HEY!" Spot yelled after him. "What was THAT for?"

"For making out with the guy I was in love with for three years!" Mush yelled back, but he was laughing as he said it. Spot grumbled and Race turned a little red, and was very glad that Blink wasn't in punching distance.

"Anyway." Spot grabbed the front of Race's shirt and dragged him close. "So she knows, big whoop. Now let's fuck."

"No!" Race poked his stomach, but didn't pull away. "Not--"

"Ready, wah wah."

"I'm not."

Spot snorted and stomped his foot slightly. "I knoooow." He saw Race was hanging his head slightly, and bit on his lip as he trailed his hand down to Race's waist. "Hey, you know, if your dad acts like a shit, you still have me, you know. It won't change that."

Race smiled up at him, brightly, and laughed a little. "You're such a bitch and you so love me."

Spot rolled his eyes, and kissed him, lightly. Whenever Spot didn't start a game of tonsil hockey when they kissed, it threw Race off. In a good way.

Spot pulled away. "You know what sucks?" he murmured.

"What?"

"You're gonna cook, and watching you cook is gonna make me all horny, and you're not ready to let me go down on you again. Let alone the other way around."

Race half-smiled. "Your life must be so difficult."

"You've got no idea." Spot finally stepped away from him, then said in a normal voice, "So, cook for me already."

"I'm cooking for everyone."

"Yeah, so what's your point?"

"...You can set the table."

"Fuck you."

"Do it."

"People will see."

"I know!" Race kissed him again. "Best part."

"Make me."

"Spot..."

"Or grab my crotch."

"GO." Race shoved him out of the kitchen, and Spot resumed grumbling. He'd been doing a lot of that lately--the sexual frustration was almost too much to take. Race was lucky because...no, wait, he was frustrated too.

Damn.

So Spot angrily began to actually set the table, and when Dutchy wandered in, and started laughing, all he had to do was glare and Dutchy sobered up immediately. "Something funny?" he demanded.

"Nope. Nothing at all."

"I thought so."

And Dutchy retreated quickly, and Spot was glad that he could at least scare someone into doing what he wanted, since Race insisted on being uncooperative. And on some level he really did understand, and he didn't want to pressure Race into doing something he wouldn't be able to handle. No, he wasn't used to being gay yet; the thought of being with a boy was utterly against everything he'd ever considered normal and even though he clearly was attracted to Spot, he couldn't act on it yet.

Sure. Spot understood.

He really didn't like it, though.

Really, Spot didn't like a lot.

"Dude!" Dutchy rushed back into the room. "There's no noise coming from upstairs, but Mush SWORE he heard crying! What if Sophie's CRYING?"

"Keep it the fuck down!" Spot snapped. "You want Tony to hear?"

"No, I just--"

"Yeah yeah," Spot stared menacingly at the table. "God, she'll be fine. Leave her alone."

Dutchy rolled his eyes. "You are such a bitch lately, you know. You bite my fucking head off every time I talk to you."

"I act the same as I always did, you're just testier."

"I wonder why."

"Not my fault you're a cokehead."

"Yeah? So's your boyfriend."

"Recovered."

"Ha." Dutchy scoffed visibly. "No such thing, dickweed. Only recovering."

"Whatever."

"Yeah, whatever." Dutchy glared at him. "You should seriously back off him on the sex thing, Spot. You're being a dick."

"So's he."

"Yeah, but only because YOU are because he's just NOT ready, and if you fucking wait he'll let you know when he IS. But if you keep being a dick about it, he's just going to freak out MORE."

"What the hell do you know about it?"

"More than you think." Dutchy glared at him for a second, then shrugged. "Whatever. Just don't fuck up your chances with him."

"What the hell do you care?"

"I don't. No skin off my back if he dumps you."

"Well, he won't."

"If you stop being a dick he won't."

"Would you mind your own fucking business!?" Spot snapped. "What the hell do YOU know about being with anyone? All you ever do are one night stands, and well, gee, that hasn't been going to well lately either, has it?" Spot shook his head. "Bitch."

"YOU'RE the bitch!"

"Fucking blond."

"Twig-ass woman."

"Mind your own business." Spot ducked his head and continued setting the table. "Fuck off."

Dutchy bit his lip. "You don't deserve him."

"What?" Spot demanded, looking up dangerously.

"You heard me, Spot."

"I don't believe my fucking EARS."

Dutchy shrugged. "Look. All I'm saying is, he's a good guy. And he likes you. But he's also really fucking SCARED, and you're making it worse, and telling Sophia didn't help at ALL. Don't pressure him. Don't freak him out. Just be NICE and try to be supportive for once in your damned life." He glared a little. "Or don't; see if I fucking care."

Spot started to answer, but Dutchy cut him off.

"I don't care anyway. I'm gonna go make Mush and Blink fight about baseball some more."

"Good, fuck off, and don't fucking talk to me."

Dutchy rolled his eyes. "I--"

"FUCK OFF."

Dutchy recoiled slightly, then left without saying anything more. Spot just went back to grumbling.

Race entered the room, putting a water pitcher on the table, and did a double take when he saw Spot's face.

"You okay?"

"No," Spot spat.

Race bit his lip. "Wanna talk?"

"N-" Spot glanced up, and then bit the inside of his cheek, a habit Race noted that Spot did whenever he was on the verge of getting really emotional. "I love you."

Race jumped a bit, and Spot wasn't looking at him anymore. "Yeah, I...I love you too."

"Good." Spot pulled away from the table. "I feel sick, I'll be right back."

Then Spot walked off.

*

Dutchy sat down on one of the chairs in the living room, and noticed that Mush and Blink, apparently, were done fighting because they were making out, and groping, and if Dutchy was anyone else he'd have felt very awkward. But he wasn't, so he just cleared his throat loudly, and waited while Mush hesitantly disentangled himself from Blink and they looked over at him.

"I hate everything. Just so you know," Dutchy said.

"Great. So you're sharing the hate. We were having fun."

"Because I care? I could use some support here."

"Oh?" Mush raised an eyebrow.

Dutchy sank back against the chair. "Yeah. Figures the only reason Tony would stop being in denial is so he can date Spot."

"Dutchy," Blink sighed. "You have a crush on every--"

"Not usually this bad. It sucks."

Mush nodded. "I know how it is."

Blink pouted. "Shut up. Dutch, come on, I love Tony, he's great and Italian and all that jazz, but the fact of the matter is, he and Spot are like the couple in the movies that isn't the main focus but you like them best anyways."

"YOU shut up," Mush snapped. "You don't know a thing. Dutchy, just ignore him and try and think about anything not-Tony. My favorites were vacuums and Cher."

Blink stared.

"What?"

"No, thanks, I prefer not to think about Cher, and vacuum just makes me think of sucks and that just makes me think of--"

"OH GOD."

"Shut up, Blinkee."

"Just don't bug Spot, okay?" Blink made a disgusted face at Dutchy once more. "Because he likes Tony a lot and Spot hides things and so if his feelings are hurt or whatever he just sits and stews and gets worse. So don't do anything stupid to him or he'll be all depressed or something." Blink slapped his back. "'Kay?"

Dutchy made an odd squeaking noise.

Blink sighed. "You already did that, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it'll give me something to talk to him about in study hall on Monday."

"Sorry, Blink."

"Just get over the crush, 'cause it's not gonna happen. And it's the first time Spot's actually having a good experience with dating, so please don't screw that up."

"I won't." Dutchy shrugged. "I wouldn't have anyway. I don't go for friend's boys or girls or whatever. Just... It sucks for me to see them and, you know, all of my friends are in relationships now."

"...David?" Mush suggested.

"Ha. Jack."

Mush laughed and Blink chuckled, and Dutchy sighed. "Look, you'll be fine. Just give it time," Mush said.

"Yeah..." Dutchy sighed. "Yeah."

*

"Gabe?"

"Mm?"

"Am I hard to talk to?"

Itey didn't say anything for a moment. He was sitting in Sophia's revolving chair and she was laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She'd ranted about Spot and Race for about fifteen minutes and then just went silent, staring up into space. Itey had let her be because Sophia gave off a very serious 'let me be' vibe... But he had sat on the foot of the bed for a moment before she barked at him to sit in the desk chair.

"No." Itey sighed. "Sophie, he didn't keep it from you because of any of that. He was just scared how you'd react because it's not exactly a simple thing."

"I know!" She let out a frustrated noise. "But he's my BROTHER, and we're CLOSE."

"Yeah, but..." Itey trailed off.

"There's no 'but.' Doesn't he trust me?"

"It's not like that, Rosetta. I don't even think it's that he was afraid you'd tell your dad or anything. He was just afraid you'd be upset or disappointed in him, and he didn't want to risk that."

"How do you know?" she demanded.

"It's... a guess. But I think it's right because after the night with... that night, what he was most upset about was... telling his family. Because he knew everyone would be so upset and he hated knowing that he'd let everyone down yet again, and just... I think he thinks he's a disappointment to all of you and that this will just make him worse." Itey shrugged a little.

"God, he's stupid," Sophia said, after thinking it over for a minute. "He really is."

"Yeah, but..." Itey pushed himself around in the chair. "He already thinks you'll never forgive him for the... problem he had back then, so I guess he's just super sensitive to you being remotely disappointed in him."

Sophia was silent, and then she sat up. "Gabe, do you tell me everything?"

Itey turned a little red. He glanced at her, stared at her. "The stuff I don't tell is just because I'm too shy to tell you. I didn't tell you the thing with Tony because it was his to tell, you wouldn't have wanted to find out from me. And... The rest isn't important."

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "'Rest'? What 'rest'?"

"Just small stuff, don't worry about it. The point is, you didn't do anything wrong, okay? Tony loves you and you two will talk and everything will be fine and you'll be back to punching each other in the face in no time."

Sophia laughed and Itey smiled fondly at her.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, and she tugged him down to the bed so they were sitting next to each other, and then wrapped her arms around his shoulder and leaned in, and the next moment they were kissing again.

*

"Don't sit on the counter," Race said distractedly, up to his elbows in flower while he flattened the pizza crust.

Spot hadn't realized that when Race said he was going to make pizza, he meant from scratch. He should have figured, but the concept of someone who genuinely loved cooking was a little foreign to him still.

"But there are no chairs in the room."

"Whine whine whine." Race turned around and flicked some flour at him. Spot wrinkled his nose, which Race found impossibly cute, but he was too busy cooking to pursue that line of thought.

"Uh... Tony?" Spot said after a long quiet, while Race slid the crust onto a baking pan.

"Yeah?"

Spot shrugged. "Just... I know I was being a bitch earlier and I'm sorry, and I really... Okay, I really am not thrilled with waiting but hey, it's waiting for you. So I'll try and tone it down a bit."

Race grinned and then impulsively set down the baking tray and leaned over and kissed Spot, just a quick thing, and then went back to cooking.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"But, uh, you will let me know when you're ready, right?"

"Yes. Ass." But Race was smiling, so it was okay.

Spot grinned, and then Race had to laugh. "What?" Spot asked.

"You're going to kill me, can't say."

"No, fucker, tell me."

"Nothing."

Spot kicked at him from the counter; he still hadn't budged. "Tell me."

"You look cute."

Spot's smile faded. "What?"

"You have flour on your nose!" Race put up his hands in defense. "Not my fault! Look at yourself! Cute!"

"I'm not fucking cute."

"You are now."

"Screw YOU."

"We just talked about that."

Spot growled, and went to rub his nose, but Race grabbed his wrist so he couldn't. "Not fucking cute..." Spot mumbled.

"MUSH!" Race called. "He'll settle this."

A muffled "What!" was his response.

"Come here!"

"But--"

"Come the fuck here, Fairy McGee!" Spot joined in.

Grumbling was heard as Mush stomped his way into the kitchen. "What? Spot, you have flour on your nose."

"I know," Spot snapped.

"So, is Spot cute?" Race asked. Spot kicked him a tad too hard this time.

Mush laughed. Loudly.

"Pardon?" Spot demanded.

"Sorry, Spot." But Mush couldn't stop laughing so the words were hard to understand, and then he yelled, "BLINK, DUTCHY you HAVE to see this!" and about three seconds later the two blondes appeared in the kitchen.

"What do we--oh wow, Spot's cute," Blink said.

"Blink!" Spot snapped.

"Hey. Cute in an 'I'd never be attracted to you ever' kind of way. You have flour on your nose."

"I am NOT cute." He pulled his hand away from Race and wiped the flour off his nose, only to have Race flick some more at him and grin.

"Dinner in... Half an hour," Race declared. "And you are so cute."

"Shut. Up."

"Awwwwww."

"And now he's got flour in his hair, too," Dutchy noted.

"Fuck off and DIE."

"Awwwwwwwwwwwww."

"I will kick your ass, Mardoslavic, swear to God."

Dutchy grinned at him, slapped his shoulder in a brotherly fashion, and said, "Don't worry, I'm just kidding, ya cutie." And then he fled the room as quickly as he could.

Spot stared at the floor for a few seconds (Blink and Mush still going 'aawww' and 'kissy kissy' over and over), finally got off the counter, grabbed the flour from Race and flung two little handfuls into Blink and Mush's faces. Then he smiled and smacked his flour covered hand on Race's ass and chest before handing the bowl back.

"I'll get your sister and that guy she's fucking. Oh sorry, Itey." And Spot was humming when he left the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, still featuring the flour handprints, Race wandered into the living room. "It's in the oven," he declared, while he noted that Mush and Blink were sitting on the couch together, holding hands and looking comfortable, Itey and Sophia were looking equally comfortable on the loveseat (he tried to tell himself that Itey was the safe and he didn't have to freak out), while Dutchy and Spot were still glaring at each other.

Sophia jumped a little when he walked in, then forced a smile onto her face, and he winced. "Rosetta?" he asked. "Are you... okay?"

"Fine."

"...Okay."

"I am. Are... Are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine so long as you're fine."

"Wow, you two are stupid," Spot said. Race smacked the back of his head. Sophia smiled a little.

"Shut up, Sean," she said. "Tony, just... Jesus, it startled me. But... You know, I want you to be happy."

He smiled. "Good."

"...But seriously, never ever pester me and Gabe again. I've got blackmail now."

"Sophiiiiia!" Race whined.

"I love you." Spot grinned at her. "Use it. Use it all."

"You're PART of the blackmail, stupid!" Race snapped.

"It's worth it." Spot fluttered his eyelashes at him, and Race swung to smack his head again, but Spot dodged.

"That isn't a healthy relationship..." Dutchy muttered, and got angry looks from everyone. He responded by batting his eyelashes innocently, which set off another round of bickering between him and Spot, and Race still didn't know why (which Mush and Blink found hilarious) and Sophia and Itey were still making loving faces at each other, until finally the buzzer went off in the kitchen and dinner was ready.

So they all sat, ate dinner, and for some reason, Race felt more light headed and happy about things than he had in awhile.

Sophia volunteered to cook dessert, because that was her specialty, and Race settled into the living room with his friends. They'd rotated seats, though, because Mush and Blink claimed the loveseat, and Spot and Race were now sort of draped over each other, taking up more of the couch than should have been physically possible, forcing Itey to sit on the arm, because Dutchy still had the chair.

"So two sisters know," Dutchy mused. "Three people left to tell."

"Not happening," Race answered.

"Come on, your family will still love you." Itey sounded convinced of the fact.

"Maria... would. Mom, maybe, if I'm lucky. Dad would... Uh..." He trailed off.

"Throw a shit fit?" Spot suggested.

"Yeah, that's it."

"He's such an asshole."

"Come on, you don't know that," Itey pressed. "And once it's over, you two could actually... be together. You know?"

"Except that he'd probably be dead," Mush said. "Itey... Sophia is great, which is why she has no problems. But Mr. Higgins is very different. He hates me; I can't imagine how he'd react to Tony..."

"He shook your hand, like, five times at the concert, though," Blink pointed out to Mush.

"Yeah." Mush sighed. "Right, well. You remember I mentioned earlier about Tony beating the crap out of the guy who was making my life hell?" He got nods in response, except from Itey, but he continued anyway. Race looked distinctly uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. "Right, well, his dad... Uh, got really pissed at him. Not for getting into a fight, but because he did it to help me. Like... really pissed... He, uh..."

Race sighed a little and looked down at the floor, feeling everyone's eyes on him. Sometimes, he thought this was the worst part about his relationship with his father. The pity somehow felt worse than the bruises.

"Tony?" Blink prompted finally, quietly.

"Dad got angry at me and he did... what he always does when he's angry at me." He shrugged, and tried to pretend it wasn't an awkward, awful moment, if only because Sophia was in the room and he didn't want her upset. "So yeah. Telling my dad is not an option."

There was a long silence, and Spot slung his arm around Race and kind of hugged him; as much as Spot could hug a person anyhow.

"Stop fucking pestering," Spot snapped, and everyone knew it was just Spot's way of telling them to leave the subject alone. "Anyway, the secret thing is hot. We're cooler than all of you combined."

"Yeah, but Sophia could pull off the secret spy hot suit," Dutchy said.

Silence.

"This is true," Mush concluded, sounding very gay.

Itey and Race were not amused.

"I could be a spy too," Mush added. "I'm stylish."

"Yeah, but you couldn't sneak your way out of a bag." Blink gave his cheek a peck. "You big klutz, you."

"Shut up, Blink," Mush said easily. "At least I don't look like I was a pirate in my last life and couldn't quite reincarnate."

"Hey, you said the eyepatch was hot."

"It is. It's also ridiculous."

"Is not." Blink said it softly and Mush grabbed his hand and held it tight.

"So what is with the eyepatch?" Spot demanded. "I mean, I know about the accident and your eye and all, but why the patch?"

"Because he was a severely misguided nine year old," Itey replied.

"Shut up, Gabriel."

Itey shrugged, and Blink sighed.

"I somehow figured that people would make less fun of me for that than for the glass eye. So... I started wearing it and... Well, I was wrong, and my life was kind of hellish for awhile, but it just became sort of my thing and no one notices anymore anyway."

Race and Spot both nodded a little; Race was just grateful that the subject no longer focused on what a bastard his dad was.

But there was still kind of a somber, depressed tone to the room, so Spot finally spoke up to break it. "David and Jack had a sleepover, Blink."

Blink snorted. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, they rented movies and have matching sleeping bags."

Blink and Spot laughed.

"You two are the gayest best friends ever," Itey noted. "It's very bizarre."

"You two ever hook up?" Race asked curiously.

"Ew," Blink said, and Spot kicked him.

"Hooking up with you is gross. Not me. I'm hot." He grinned. "Right, Dutchy?"

"Shut up, Spot."

"Wait, what?"

"Well, I couldn't have my nickname if I hadn't hooked up with someone we knew," Spot said.

"Shut up, Spot," Dutchy repeated.

"Oooooh." Race nodded. "Right, well... You're totally taken now."

"Not him I want anyway." Dutchy sounded vaguely bitter, and Race had no idea why; Blink found that vaguely amusing, while Mush was entirely empathetic and gave Dutchy a sad smile. Because really, there was no one on the entire planet more clueless than Racetrack Higgins.

"Dessert!"

Sophia's voice cut through the slightly awkward quiet from the kitchen, and given that she was speaking to a group of teenage boys, they all dashed for the kitchen and she was surrounded a moment later.

"It's nothing complicated, but..." She gestured to the counter, which featured strawberries, home made whipped cream, and melted chocolate for the strawberries to be dipped in.

"Itey," Dutchy said, reaching for one of the berries, "you are a lucky, lucky guy."

"And Sophia, you and I have to go shopping together," Mush declared.

Sophia gave him a strange look, then considered, then nodded. "Okay." She paused, then poked Spot in the ribs. "You, eat." She turned back to Mush. "We should get Sean a new wardrobe. 'Cause really, Tony is pretty hopeless at dressing himself, but even he has better fashion than that."

"Fuck you," Spot answered, and Race smacked him.

"Watch your mouth around my sister!"

"She insulted me!"

"No, but she's right," Mush declared. "I've seen you wear flannel, Spot. Flannel."

"Oh, god." Sophia rolled her eyes. "We're shopping for him. There is no way I'm letting my brother date someone with that little style."

"HEY!" Spot yelled, at the same time as Race muttered, "You don't have a say in who I date, Sophia!"

And she smirked at him, then looked at Mush, who grinned.

"Next Saturday?"

"I am so there."

"Great!"

"Aw, look." Blink patted Sophia's head. "You're a fag hag, how does it feel?"

"Oddly nice." Sophia considered, and Mush smiled.

"Blinkee, I have my very own wife, I'm so glad!"

So then Sophia and Mush started being married and Itey inched away and Race looked like he wanted to shoot himself. Blink thought it was sweet, but he thought everything his boy did was sweet.

"Hey." Spot looked down at himself. "I look good. My clothes rock."

"You kind of look like one of those skinny rock addicts from the 70's." Race considered. "It's the shirts with the weird logos. Where the hell did you get a tee that says..." Race stared at the labeling. "Voulez Vous Fuck Me?"

Spot smiled. "For me to know and you to find out."

"You have worn flannel, Spot."

"You slicked back your hair for a band concert."

"I looked good."

"Good as in womanly."

"Well, you wanted to jump me, so there."

"Hey, you look good in a tux. I was ignoring the hair." He smirked. "Why do you think I made you put on that hat?"

"Shut up!" Race glanced around as he reached for another strawberry and saw that Sophia looked a little uncomfortable, but was clearly trying not to. He also wondered why they were crowded around the kitchen counter when everything was on a tray, which he then picked up and carried to a table.

"Chocolate strawberries," Dutchy announced to no one in particularly, "are better than cocaine."

There was an odd pause. Then Blink smacked him for good measure, and he grinned and ate another strawberry, and Race coughed a little.

"Oh, right," Sophia said. "That was you. Idiot."

"Sophia," Race said darkly.

"Well, he is. For the exact same reason you are, Fratello. And I know you're not gonna argue with me."

He sighed. "Whatever."

"She's right," Mush noted, and Sophia smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Get a room, you two," Spot muttered.

"Why have we never hung out, Michael?" she asked, ignoring Spot. "We've known each other for...ever."

"Yeah." He shrugged. "You should come to rehearsals too. That would be fun. Because Spot and I get bored waiting for our boys to be done playing."

"And you could paint each other's nails and have ticklefights," Spot said in a high pitched, girly voice, then rolled his eyes at them.

"You're just jealous." Mush tugged at his hair. Spot yelped and swatted at him. "It's okay--I'll share her. She's special.

"I'm special," Sophia agreed.

"Special needs," Spot snorted. Race, Dutchy and Blink laughed. Itey looked a little odded out.

"What?" Sophia asked.

"You married Mush," Itey said. "I'm such a failure because I'm not gay."

"You're her fuck buddy."

"Shut up, Spot!"

Sophia seemed to get Itey's poutiness, and held his hand and snuggled against him; all the while still planning out the makeover of Spot with Mush.

Spot was planning their demise, and really, even Race couldn't distract him. Dutchy was trying to distract Race, but that wasn't working out quite like he planned. Blink was eating substantial amounts of strawberries and most were fairly disgusted when they saw that if he dipped his finger in melted chocolate, Mush would lick it--or suck it rather suggestively--until it was cleaned off.

They were married that way.

"So I have official permission to come to band practices?" Sophia asked, still looking a little uncomfortable

"We need a chick to show off for."

"Shut it, Dutch," Itey snapped. "Of course you can come. After all, Davey and Jack and Mush and Spot hang around all the time. And you're way more bearable than Spot and Jack are."

"Jack is worse," Spot said.

"Agreed," Race snorted.

"Yeah, his 'sleepover' with Davey will really pay off, huh, Spotty?"

"Eh eh, Blinkee!"

They laughed again and everyone thought it was pretty stupid.

The night wore on, the strawberries were finished, and everyone kept hanging out because it was just fun, and somewhere during the middle of it, Race came up next to his sister and gave her hand a squeeze. She simply pecked his cheek and that had been the end of it.

He wondered why he'd been so afraid to tell her. A person always underestimated his loved ones, he supposed, and the extent of how much they'd understand for him.

Spot was also acting different tonight, and Race was very happy and really kind of giddy to realize that they were in love; he hadn't been imagining things, and he was under Spot's skin.

Also, Dutchy was acting funny, so Race figured he was having cravings. Oddly enough, though, when Race tried to cheer him up by telling stupid jokes, Dutchy had seemed more jittery. But Dutchy was fine once he got Mush and Blink griping to each other about baseball again, finally, because really he'd been trying to do that all evening.

It took Race a moment to realize how late it was and where the hell was everyone?

And finally, the door opened; Race winced a little, expecting his parents, but it was only Marco.

"Marco, why do you have a key to our house?" Sophia demanded.

"Because your parents love me." He grinned. "Any good leftovers?"

"Fettuccini in the fridge."

"Cool, thanks." He started to walk away, then paused. "Hey, Sean! What's up?"

Spot gave him a vaguely annoyed look--the presence of family members meant Race was back in the closet. But he shrugged. "Hanging out. You know."

"Right, well, I'll leave you guys to it." And he walked off into the kitchen.

Dutchy gaped after him. "Jesus H. Christ, who was the sex god who just walked by?"

Which caused Sophia and Race to spit out their sodas in unison, which made everyone else cackle.

"It's about fucking time someone else saw him." Spot nodded his head. "Because they're all family so I couldn't say a freaking thing."

"Oh GOD ew." Sophia covered her eyes. "God, Anthonyyyyyyy..."

"Now look what you did!" Race went over to his sister and slung an arm around her shoulder. "God, just no."

Itey and Blink, who also looked curious, turned to Spot for information, though Itey let Sophia grimace into his arm. Dutchy looked far too enthralled, and Mush looked amused, but then, he'd met Marco a few times before.

"Cousin," Spot explained. "He can't do anything but eat."

Race laughed.

"He really can't," Sophia mused. "He's like... Almost thirty, and never grew out of the college lifestyle. He trips over his own feet and he'd die of malnutrition if he wasn't constantly eating over here."

"But he's hot," Dutchy objected.

"EW."

"...He kinda was," Blink noted, and Mush nodded.

Itey sighed. "Seriously? Why don't I have any straight friends?"

Sophia grabbed his hand. "I'm straight."

"Ahem," Race muttered at the two of them, then, "Oooooh, we should introduce Marco to Itey."

"No." Sophia gave him a dark look. "No, I swear to god if you say one word--"

"MARCO," Race yelled, "c'mere, you wanna meet Sophie's boyfriend?"

"Sophia is not allowed to date, Anthony, that's not funny!" Marco yelled back from the kitchen, and Race grinned.

"You are so dead," Sophia hissed, then, "Marco, you jackass, I'm never baking for you again!"

Marco appeared at the entrance of the living room, holding a plate of fettuccini and what looked like a ridiculously expensive, imported beer. "That seems a little harsh, Rosetta." He pouted at her.

Dutchy looked like he was about to start drooling.

"So--" Race started, but Marco swatted him on the head.

"I'm guessing, genius at work." Marco glanced around, eyes landing on Mush, then he seemed to remember Mush was Tony's very gay best friend, and since he was wrapped around Blink still, that let Blink out, too.

He looked to Dutchy. "You, eh? You better not--"

"NO, stupid!" Sophia kicked his leg. "Gabriel!"

Marco turned and looked at Itey, who gave a shy smile. "Hi," Itey said shyly.

Marco snorted. "Bit small, isn't he?"

Spot and Dutchy found that incredibly funny. Or maybe Dutchy was laughing because he was acting kind of like a doofus now that Marco was in the room again.

Itey blushed and ducked his head, and had no real idea how else to respond. Marco went to slap his shoulder playfully, but given the extent to which Itey winced, it clearly was a bit harder than necessary. "Well, look here then, Gabriel." He nodded towards Sophia. "She is rich and beautiful and well mannered and smart, and she has a very large, over protective extended family that very much does not want to see her hurt. So watch your back and behave, and there'll be no problem. Capice?"

Itey kind of stared at him, and Race tried to bite down a smirk, but failed miserably. And finally Itey nodded, and said in a vaguely frightened voice, "But I was being nice anyway! Because I like her!"

"Well, that's good, too. Just, you know." Marco grinned wildly, and Dutchy looked fascinated. "We're a very large family." Then he straightened up and stole the last strawberry as Blink reached for it. "I'm guessing I'm too old to hang out with the kids these days, so have fun. I'm gonna go see what else is in the fridge."

"Seriously, you eat five times your weight a day!" Sophia yelled after him. "Jackass!"

He popped back into the room, amused. "I do not. I eat nothing for three or four days, then come here and pig out. Your family's cooking rules."

And then he was gone again. Dutchy sighed a little.

"Oh, screw you," Sophia snapped. Dutchy turned to grin at her.

"Gladly."

And really, who knew Itey could punch so hard? Dutchy sat holding his arm and whimpering for about half an hour afterward.

Blink checked his watch. "It's like, after eleven. We better get going."

"Nah." Race shrugged it off. "We can all sleep in the basement. Serious. Granted, it won't be like Davey's slumber parties..."

"If I'm sleeping here, the rules are NO making out during the night, and if you are, I get Marco," Dutchy said.

"Shut UP."

"And you too, Sophie."

Itey punched him again.

"I'll have to call my parents..." Mush trailed off, and Sophia clicked her tongue at Race.

"I'm not sure we're allowed, dumbass." She shrugged. "You'll have to call Daddy on the cellphone during a dinner party." She yawned and slumped against Itey. "And you know how much Daddy hates that."

Mush shuddered.

No one asked.

Race groaned. "Okaaay. Well... I can call him if you guys want me to, or--"

"Wait." Sophia smirked suddenly. "Marco?" she called.

"Whaaaa?" he yelled from the kitchen, his mouth obviously full of something.

She smiled and stood up. "Five minutes and he'll do it for us." She walked off to the kitchen.

Four minutes and forty-nine seconds later, she walked back in. "Marco's on the phone. I rule."

"If by 'you rule,' you mean, 'you're frighteningly manipulative,' then yes," Race agreed.

"Hey, it works." She kicked her feet up on the coffee table smugly.

"Pooooooor Itey," Blink commented.

"Poor Itey nothing," Dutchy sulked.

Mush sighed. "Tony, can we chip in to get Dutchy a prostitute or something tomorrow? Because he really, really, really needs to get laid."

"Feel free," Dutchy muttered.

Marco called from the kitchen, "It's all cool, kids. Have a good time. And BEHAVE YOURSELVES."

"That wasn't very subtle," Itey sighed. "Your family is nuts. I mean, no offense."

"None taken," Sophia said cheerfully. "So people should call home, then. I'll go find some spare blankets." She kissed Itey's cheek. "Back in a few."

Race coughed. "You're sleeping upstairs!"

"I never said I wasn't," was her answer, and really, she left it so open-ended that Itey turned a very, very, ridiculously bright shade of red.

He looked at Race.

Race punched him.

Itey, who suddenly had had enough of being punched and called small, punched Race back. "I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it." Race glanced at Dutchy, and punched him too. "So were you."

"I was." Dutchy nodded.

"Hey!" Then Itey punched him too.

"I'm gonna go help Sophie," Mush announced, and he hurried out of the room just as Marco re-entered the room with a huge sandwich.

"He's so gay..." Marco mused, then looked at Race. "Is he?"

"Faggy McFag," Spot answered, and Blink let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'coughCALLING-KETTLE-BLACKcough'. Marco, being Marco, didn't catch it.

"So, Tony, introduce me to friends."

Race shrugged, and gestured vaguely at Blink. "That's Ryan; Michael's boyfriend."

Blink waved, and grinned. "My boy is pretty," he said. "And yes. Very gay."

Marco gave him an odd look, and shrugged. "If you say so." He turned back to Race.

"And you met Gabe, and really--I can't believe I'm saying this--there's no need to threaten his life; he's nice. Izzy approves of him."

"Wow." Marco looked over Itey again. "Well, I guess if Izzy isn't actively planning his death, he's probably okay."

"Right. And Sean you know, and that's Dutchy."

"Ohhhhh." Marco nodded a little. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Uh?" Dutchy said.

"There are no secrets in this family, kid," Marco said sincerely, which caused people to shoot odd looks at Race; luckily, Marco was more oblivious than even Race usually was, and just kept talking. "So yeah, you ever think of doing that shit near my cousin again, and I'll kill you."

"Uh--"

"No, literally. In the 'end your life violently' sense."

Dutchy just gaped.

"Marco," Race muttered. "Unnecessary."

"He went to rehab," Blink added defensively.

"So did Tony." Marco shrugged. "But I'm certain it won't be a problem, right, Dutchy?"

Dutchy nodded.

"Good, then." And Marco grinned, and Dutchy was frightened and embarrassed and annoyed all in one, and at the same time still remarkably attracted to Marco. Which was really irritating him, because he was more than certain that Marco had no interest in boys. At all. Even a little bit.

Sometimes, his life sucked.

"You're a horny dork," Itey said brightly. Dutchy glared.

"What did I ever do to you?"

"You hit on Sophie. Excessively."

"I was joking."

"So was I."

Marco turned to Race. "Cuz, do you have any straight male friends?"

"Gabe is straight." He shrugged. "Otherwise... Really, I don't think so."

Marco gave him a strange look, then shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm off. The boyfriend is sleeping in a closet."

Blink and Spot laughed again. "See, Itey? In the closet, there you go."

"Shut uuuppp..."

Mush and Sophia re-appeared then, laughing about something, hysterically, and they didn't notice that everyone was staring at them. They composed themselves a moment.

"What's funny?" Race asked.

Sophia and Mush burst out laughing again.

"...Okaaaay," Marco said. "Right, well. Yeah. That one gets locked in a closet, and you sleep upstairs in your room. 'Cause otherwise your parents will throw a royal fit and no one wants that to happen. 'Specially not 'cause they always blame Tony."

"Don't remind me."

"Oh, wow," Blink said. "I kind of want to know what would happen if they blamed you for those two sleeping together."

"Which they never, ever, will," Marco said. "Right, Gabriel?"

Itey shot a look at Sophia, who was glaring at Marco, and then answered, "Not unless we get married. Promise."

"Okay, then."

"Gabriel," Sophia snapped.

"What?" he squeaked.

"You're stupid." She sighed. "Only Mushee understands me."

Mush put an arm around her, and Blink looked kind of at a loss for words, and eventually settled on just pouting slightly. "It's a good thing I know you're attracted to boys, Michael Meyers," he whined.

"Awww. He's jealous. That's cute," Sophia noted.

"I know; gotta love him, huh?" Mush shot a smile at Blink, who smiled back.

Marco gave them an odd look. "Okay. Well, that's... lovely."

"Marco, don't be homophobic and stupid," Sophia snapped.

"I'm not homophobic, I'm sheltered." He grinned, and Dutchy's heart practically skipped a beat. He had a nice grin. "There's a difference."

"You're an ass," Race said.

"And you're a cokehead. I'm gonna go crash for the night. It might seem early to you kids, but for those of us with jobs..."

"Working at your daddy's company?" Sophia mocked.

Marco glared at her, then shrugged a little. "Shut up," he said cheerfully. "Well, it was nice meeting you all. I'm crashing in my usual room." And he left; Marco spent the night often enough that Race and Sophia knew which guest room was his usual, and weren't surprised that he didn't bother to ask if anyone minded.

Dutchy made the same sighing noise. "I... don't suppose he sleeps naked with his door unlocked?"

"EW."

Sophia yawned. "We ought to all head to bed, actually," she sighed. "Tony and I have church in the morning, which pretty much means we have to kick you out earlyish."

"Which sucks," Blink said. "Sundays are for sleeping in."

"Not when your parents are strictly religious," Race muttered, slightly bitter.

Sophia gave him a strange look. "Tony, do you confess?"

"Not about what you're wondering about, no."

"Okay."

"Sophia, it's not a sin."

"I didn't say it was, fratello. Hey, I'm getting ready for bed; I call the upstairs bathroom. So I'll come say goodnight in a bit. Tony, go make up beds for everyone downstairs."

He nodded and led the way down to the rec room, the same one where Spot had spent the night. The couch opened out into a bed for two (immediately claimed by Mush and Blink) and there was a futon folded in a huge closet which was also downstairs; Dutchy and Itey volunteered to use it.

"The closet's big enough for you to sleep in, though, Itey," Race pointed out.

Itey smacked him upside the head, though not hard. "I'll take my chances with Dutchy, thanks."

"I dunno, the way he's acting tonight he'll probably molest you."

"Oh, definitely." Dutchy lipped his licks suggestively.

Itey raised an eyebrow. "You know, I think my girlfriend would be a bit upset about that. And I wouldn't want to risk her wrath if I was you. She's scary."

"So we know who wears the pants in that relationship," Blink laughed.

"Hush, sweetie," Mush murmured, and kissed Blink's cheek. Blink nodded a little and fell silent.

Everyone else in the room sniggered.

There weren't any other convenient mattresses, but there were certainly enough comforters to fold up and sleep on top of that Spot and Race wouldn't be lacking in the comfort area, as Race had decided to crash with his friends instead of in his room.

He really just wanted to set up one place for himself and Spot. Really wanted to. But his parents would almost definitely at least check on them, which kind of was a problem, so, reluctantly, he left a few feet between the makeshift beds.

About the time he was finishing handing out pillows, Sophia walked downstairs. She was wearing her hoodie and ducky pajamas, and Itey sighed softly. "G'night," she said, suddenly feeling a little shy. "It was... Fun."

Everyone waved or mumbled goodnight to her, except Itey, who stood and walked over to her. "You... Want a goodnight kiss?" he murmured soft enough so that no one but her could really hear it.

She nodded.

So he kissed her. Her breath tasted like toothpaste, and she wrapped her arms around him and stepped back so she was against the wall and he just kept kissing her, because with her pajamas on and her usual slight attitude missing, she was no longer quite so intimidating.

"AHEM."

Itey made an obscene gesture at Race, and a few seconds later broke off the kiss. "...Wow," she said.

He smiled. "Sleep well. Sweet dreams."

She nodded, a little starry-eyed. "Goodnight, Gabe," she sighed happily, and practically floated up the stairs.

Itey turned around, sat on his mattress, and grinned at Dutchy. "Well, I'm going to bed. You can have the extra pillow, it'll be the only thing you sleep with until you're about forty."

Dutchy took the pillow and belted Itey over the head with it.

"You're a sex machine, Itey," Spot said in a monotone voice while reading through some random George Orwell book he'd found in one of the bookshelves in the main room.

"You know how to read?" Mush asked sleepily.

Spot mumbled something about muzzles.

Blink was already asleep, and Itey and Dutchy really seemed kind of hyper. Spot was acting oddly silent, and Race prodded his stomach. Spot glanced up at him.

"What?"

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"Because if I get a hard on now, when I have to sleep next to you for the rest of the night, it won't be pretty." Spot reconsidered. "Well, no, I'm always pretty, but it'd make Blink and Mush and Itey all twitchy."

"Dutchy'd like it."

"Fucker."

"I'd like it."

Spot grinned, and Race leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the mouth. Spot pulled away just as Race started slipping in some tongue.

"Hard on."

"You have no restraint."

"I'm healthy."

"So am I, then!" Dutchy piped up, eavesdropping.

"No." Spot shook his head. "You're not."

"HAH," Itey snorted.

Maybe it was something the little Mexican ate.

Race sighed. "Well, then, I'm going to sleep. Because when I fall asleep in church, I get grounded. And I just got a new car and I'd hate to lose my driving privilege."

"Don't lose that," Spot agreed. "'Cause we're so having sex in your car."

"Spot..."

"What? When you're ready. Your car is hot. Now go to bed; I'm reading."

"Turn out the light when you're done."

"Yeah, yeah." Spot paused, then kissed Race once more, then went back to his book. Race smiled and watched him read for a minute, a little surprised because Spot didn't seem like the reading type (but not totally shocked because Spot didn't seem like the WRITING type either, and yet he was remarkably good at it). And Race drifted off with Spot in his mind, and the taste of Spot in his mouth, and the only way it could have been more pleasant would have been if Spot was actually in his arms.

*

F: WOOWWW, a big emotional part. Sophia and Itey are cute. I squeal at the thought of them.

B: You do that anyway.

F:...yeah. I do. ::holds up Itey flag::

B: Funny, the rest of us thought Race coming out to his sister was the important bit... ah, well. Whatever floats your boat, dear.

F: ::floats away on a cloud thinking of Itey::

B: ANYway, we hope you enjoyed the super long chapter (to make up for the lack of updates). The next one isn't quite so long, but it is... important.... ::cackles madly::

F: Ooooohh, boy. To think... TONY DIES.

B: AHAHAHAHAHAHA... well... not really. But SO CLOSE.

F: And there's a...when suddenly he...and then a...

B: Ohhhhh, it'll be awesome.

Celebrated with hot chocolate, to commemorate closing night of Funkie's show of awesomeness.