Here's chapter 12 guys. This was one of my favorites to write!

o*o*o*o*o
…For every atom
belonging to me as good
as belongs to you.
-Walt Whitman
o*o*o*o*o

13 Years Old

It's the four friends' annual end of the summer sleep over and they're currently all spread out across James' living room floor, snacks and sodas surrounding them. James and Kendall are locked head to head in a rather intense game of Mario Kart. Carlos and Hortense had quickly grown tired of their two taller friends' competitive streak and, after nearly an hour of shouting and having controllers thrown around, the two smaller boys had left the game for other activities. Carlos is currently engrossed in one of Kendall's many Spider-Man comics and Hortense is nose deep in Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse.

It stays that way for another hour and a half before James and Kendall finally get bored with their inability to beat the other by the required two races. They shut off the video game and drag their other two friends away from their comic/book and they all dig into the chips and popcorn as they talk excitedly about the upcoming hockey season.

"And now that all of us are on the team," James tosses popcorn at Hortense who actually manages to catch it in his mouth, "we're going to be unstoppable.

"Definitely!" Carlos shoves his helmet onto his head. "No one's going to be able to take us down! Especially after all the practicing we did at the rink yesterday. It's too bad you weren't there, Hortense. We would have done even better if you'd been there too!"

The smaller brunette smiles apologetically. "Sorry guys, but my mom really wanted me to go to this company picnic with her."

"Did you have any fun?" Kendall asks.

Hortense shrugs. "Um well," He bites his lip, suddenly looking nervous. "This girl Rae kissed me."

The three other boys' jaws all hit the floor as they gap at their smart best friend. They're all (not so) secretly impressed because even James (easily the best looking of the group according to the girls) hasn't had his first kiss yet.

"Really?" Carlos asks, eyes wide as he stares at his friend.

The bookworm nods. "Yeah. She told me she liked me and then leaned in and kissed me."

Kendall's chest feels odd at the words and even though he doesn't know this girl, he instantly dislikes her. He's got no particular reason too, except for the fact that there's a pull in his chest that feels like it's making him dislike her. "Did you like it?" He asks and as soon as the words leave his lips he realizes that he's not actually sure if he wants to know.

Hortense thinks about it for a moment before shrugging. "It was okay."

"Are you going to be her boyfriend now?" The pretty boy asks.

The brunette shrugs again. "I don't know. She seems nice, I guess. But I'm not sure I want to be her boyfriend."

"Why not?" His three friends question simultaneously.

"Because I don't even know her. She seems nice. But why would I want to belong to someone that I don't even know. Besides, I still think girls are kind of weird."

James seems personally offended by this last statement. He launches into a speech, informing the smaller boy exactly how not weird girls are. Judging by the vacant look on the other boy's face, he's clearly tuning him out though. Kendall does the same as a strange sense of relief floods through him at Hortense's words. The same pull that made him immediately dislike the girl disappears and he now feels bad for judging her without even knowing her.

She just, well she needs Kendall's permission before she can kiss Hortense again. Although he's not quite sure why.

-0-

"Hortense is asleep!" Carlos whispers excitedly! "James, get the markers!"

It has been a tradition for as long as the boys can remember that the first person that fell asleep at their sleepovers was at the mercy of the other boys. Generally whatever they do is perfectly harmless. Minus the one time James was unlucky enough to fall asleep first and they cut his hair.

Hortense, because his mother doesn't generally let him eat a lot of sweets or drink a lot of soda, usually falls victim to both the sugar rush and the ensuing crash quicker than the other three boys, leaving him, more often than not, the first to fall asleep.

James runs out of the room, returning moments later with a large coffee can of markers, crayons, and sharpies. He sets it and himself down next to their sleeping friend and Kendall and Carlos both scramble to join him. Carlos immediately begins to draw a large corndog on Hortense's right arm. James is busy practicing his signature for when he becomes famous on the small boy's stomach. Kendall busies himself, drawing a hockey stick in Magic Marker on his left arm.

By the time Carlos and James have also fallen asleep, Hortense is not only sporting a hockey stick, corn dog, and James' John Hancock, but he's also got a pink nose and kitten whiskers, the Minnesota Wilds emblem, and that weird S that starts with six lines on his cheeks.

After the blonde makes sure his other two friends are fast asleep, he reaches into the coffee can and pulls out a green Sharpie. He scoots back over to where Hortense is still sound asleep, completely oblivious to the makeover he's just received. Uncapping the pen, Kendall waits with baited breath to see if anyone has noticed him. When his friends sleep on he grins and scrawls something messily across the shorter boy's forehead.

Property of Kendall Knight.

Because if there's one thing that Kendall knows with every fiber of his being, it's that Hortense belongs to him.

To be fair, he's more than aware that he belongs to Hortense too.

-0-

"KENDALL!" The blonde's head whips around in shock at the sound of his best friend's voice from half way down the hallway.

It's two days after the sleep over, the first day of school, and Kendall, James, and Carlos are all at Kendall's locker, waiting for their fourth friend to join them. Except…said fourth best friend doesn't sound exactly thrilled to see them.

Or, rather, he doesn't sound exactly thrilled to see Kendall.

As the brunette storms closer to his three friends they, and everyone else in the hallway, can see, in large green letters, Property of Kendall Knight on his forehead. Except, Kendall had written "property of" relatively small. So, from the distance, most people can only see Kendall Knight written in large letters.

"Sharpie doesn't come off, Kendall!" The younger boy yells once he finally reaches them.

James and Carlos immediately start laughing. Hortense glares at them, but chooses to ignore them in favor of telling off the blonde.

"What were you thinking?"

Kendall shrugs, trying to act casual and to not burst into laughter because that will definitely make the situation worse. "That you feel asleep first. Besides," he grins and laughter escapes him, "you said you wouldn't mind belonging to someone you knew."

Hortense blinks in shock for a few seconds before his whole face turns red. "That is not what I said!"

And then he drops his backpack and lunges at Kendall. The blonde gives a yelp of surprise and takes off down the hallway, laughing the entire way.