And here's chapter 8. (:

o*o*o*o*o
The part always has tendency to
reunite with its whole in order
to escape from its imperfections.
-Leonardo Da Vinci
o*o*o*o*o

11 Years Old

Hortense sighs, turning off the TV and shuffling out of the living room. TV rarely catches his interest anymore anyways; it's just not as fun when he's not watching it with his friends. Somehow, the three boys that Hortense is closest to make things that wouldn't normally interest him, like cartoons, into something he can do for hours. James and Carlos are both with their respective families today, however, and Kendall is out of state, visiting his grandparents. It's Spring Break for the boys and Kendall has been absent for all of it.

He's due back tomorrow, though, for which Hortense is extremely grateful.

It's not that he doesn't enjoy hanging out with James and Carlos, because he does. The taller brunette and the Latino are quickly becoming like brothers to the youngest Mitchell and he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. But Kendall is his best friend, hands down, no questions asked. And everything the small boy does is better if the blonde is doing it with him.

He wanders into his mother's office, finding the real estate agent hard at work at her desk. She looks up as he walks in, smiling at her only son. "Yes?"

Hortense shrugs. "I'm bored."

"Why don't you read a book?"

The brunette frowns. "I've read them all already." His mother knows that when he says this he's not just talking about having read them once. He's actually referring to having read pretty much all of them over Spring Break. The power of her child's brain never fails to amaze her.

"TV?" She suggests.

He shakes his head. "It's really not entertaining without my friends." He admits. "Sorry."

Joanna smiles at the sheepish expression on her son's face. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm not a big fan of TV myself." She puts down the paper work she is working on. "So what would you like to do?"

He shrugs, looking thoughtful. "I don't know…" And then suddenly, without being able to explain why, he has the strangest craving for the grilled cheese at the little diner downtown. "Can we go out for dinner?"

Joanna glances at the clock. It's barely four o'clock. "It's a little early for dinner, don't you think sweetie?"

Hortense shrugs again because, usually, his body is on a pretty regular schedule. He doesn't generally even get hungry for dinner until close to five thirty. But he can't shake he strange craving for grilled cheese and french fries. Or, more specifically, the grilled cheese and fries from the diner that Mama Knight had taken all four boys on occasion, usually after hockey practices that ran particularly late (hockey practices where Hortense was still just a spectator, he hadn't quite gotten good enough to make the team just yet).

"Please?" He begs. "I really want to go Shelby's."

This surprises them both. Joanna doesn't get take out food often, preferring to cook healthy meals at home for herself and Hortense. When he gets to go out, it's rarely with her. She'd much rather stay home and cook, she's always loved cooking, and Hortense, most likely as a result of that, has never shown much of a desire to eat out either. But she sees no harm in taking him out this once. Spring Break ends the day after tomorrow and she knows he's been lonely without his blonde best friend. And it would be nice to not have to worry about cooking, just for night.

"Well, okay." She finally agrees, smiling as her son's face literally seems to light up at her word of approval. "Let me just finish this up real quick, okay?"

He nods and turns to race out of the room. He turns back when he reaches the door. "Thanks mom!"

-0-

"Here you go, guys." Their waitress returns to their table, a basket of mozzarella sticks in her hand. "Enjoy!" She flashes them a bright smile before heading back to the kitchen.

Joanna eyes the deep friend cheese sticks, always wary of food that is less than healthy. But Hortense looks so excited about them that she can't even really begin to care. Besides, it's been far too long since she let herself indulge in something unhealthy. Before either of them can even begin to enjoy their appetizer, they hear a shout from across the dinner.

"Hortense!"

The younger boy turns his head, his eyes growing wide with excitement at the sight of his best friend. "Kendall!"

The blonde races towards the table, nearly knocking over the waitress who is carrying a tray of drinks to a table. Mama Knight, who was just behind her son with Katie, tries to apologize, but the waitress brushes it off with a smile.

"Don't worry about it." Her eyes twinkle. "I remember when I got that excited to see my best friend. It's cute."

Kendall and Hortense hear none of this though. They're too busy chatting excitedly about anything and everything. The blonde slides into the empty seat beside the brunette and his mother smiles and shrugs at Joanna before taking a seat next to her, settling Katie in between the two of them. "I guess we're sitting with you." She says breathlessly, half laughing at the excited way her son is bouncing in his seat.

"Hortense! I got to go to the zoo and they had llamas! You could pet them!"

The brunette's eyes go wide (llamas are his favorite animal). "Really?"

"Yeah!" The blonde nods enthusiastically. "I even got a picture with them so you could see!"

The smaller boy's grin threatens to split his face in two. "Thanks Kendall!" Suddenly he frowns in confusion. "Wait…why are you home? I thought you came back tomorrow?"

"I was supposed to." Kendall grabs a mozzarella stick and pops it into his mouth as his mother scolds him for taking what isn't his. He smiles sheepishly, but what both mothers don't seem to understand (no matter how many times the boys try to tell them), they'd long ago realized that when it came to the two of them, their was no "mine" or "yours," there was only "ours."

"But Kendall's grandpa got the days mixed up." Jennifer laughs lightly. "He bought the ticket for today, but told us all that it was for tomorrow. And Katie got hungry on the way back from the airport, so here we are."

Katie pouts, crossing her arms over her chest. This draws everyone's attention to the four year old and how uncharacteristically silent she's been this whole time. "What's wrong, Katie? Aren't you glad Kendall's home?"

"Yeah…" the little girl answers, but she sounds anything but.

"Katie and I were supposed to have a girl's day today before we picked Kendall up from the airport tomorrow." Mama Knight explains. "She's just a little disappointed that we didn't get to have it."

Katie nods her head in agreement. Joanna eyes Katie for a moment before smiling. "I have an idea." She says, turning to look at the two boys across the table. "If Kendall doesn't mind being away from his bed for one more night, he could spend tonight at our house and spend tomorrow with Hortense." She turns back to face Jennifer and Katie. "That way you two can still have your girls day."

Katie's face brightens considerably at the suggestion, but it's no match for the looks that Kendall and Hortense are sporting. "YES!" They cry out in unison.

"Please mom?" Kendall turns to face his mother, lower lip stuck out in the infamous Knight pout. "Oh please mom, please!"

Jennifer shrugs. "That's fine with me. All Kendall could talk about the whole ride home was getting to see Hortense again."

Kendall flushes a bit but it fades quickly. Hortense reaches for his friend's hand under the table, gripping it in a gesture that is both familiar and comfortable. "I missed you." He tells the blonde, giving his hand a quick squeeze.

The slightly taller boy grins, returning the gesture. "Missed you too, 'Tense."

The food arrives and both boys let go of each other's hands in favor of eating their food. They sit close, thighs touching and enjoying being in one another's presence again. This past week as been the longest they've ever been apart before and neither boy had been able to fight the feeling that something was missing the entire time.

They don't totally understand it, but they do know they wouldn't change it for the world.

There's chapter eight!