A/N: ...Hi. It's been long while, but I decided to update! Don't worry, there's plenty more chapters.

Chapter 9- Boys

or:

"Handsome Devil"

November 1986:

"World War II ended in 1945," Melvin said quietly to James. It was exam time, and this was the fifth time James had whispered next to him regarding what the answer was, and they were only on question seven out of fifteen on the multiple choice.

"And what was the targeted group during the Holocaust?"

Melvin visibly facepalmed.

"Jewish people," Melvin whispered back.

"Thanks."

Truthfully, Melvin didn't mind - sure, James wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was nice. He listened to Melvin talk about his love for history, and sure, Melvin had to pretend to listen to those rock bands James liked - but he found that he liked trying to like the things James liked.

James didn't ask anymore questions throughout the exam.

But he did stay to talk to Melvin after class.

"Thanks for helping me," James said. "Again."

Melvin smiled and nodded. "No problem."

"Do you maybe want to come over today?" James asked. "My parents aren't going to be home, and..." Melvin's heart was already racing. "You can help me study if you want - I need the help."

"Sure!" Melvin practically exclaimed. "I'll see you soon?"

James nodded at this. "No problem, man. I should be thanking you - you're a lot helpful than most people." That compliment from James made Melvin's heart swell. He ended the conversation with a fist bump, and: "I gotta pick up something in the main office. See you later!" Melvin watched eagerly as he walked away. He was going over to a friend's house, and it wasn't some prank! Most importantly, it would be with James. Nobody could bother them, they would be completely by themselves! No bullies, no teachers... they would see each other after school like he always wanted.

In-between classes, did Melvin run into Sheila and Chloe - and he couldn't have been more grateful to do so. "Shelly! I totally need you to... oh, hi Chloe... Shelly I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Someone's excited," Sheila remarked to Melvin, with a wry grin. Chloe said hello back to Melvin upon being acknowledged. Sheila ignored this, crossing her arms. "I told you that you should lay off the coffee, Henry doesn't like it when you drink it so much because you end up like this."

"I hardly had much coffee," Melvin insisted. "Only half a cup. I'm excited about something else... but! It would only happen if you could do me this favor."

"What's the favor?"

Melvin clasped his hands together. "...Only you pick up the twins today? Please, Shelly..." He could see her rolling her eyes. "James invited me over to his house for the first time today. I'm gonna help him study for the next history test and I really want to go."

Sheila frowned. "I was hoping that Chloe and I could hangout later..."

"I can help you pick up the twins," Chloe offered. "So you won't be alone. Then I can walk with you..."

Melvin could practically hug Chloe then and there. "You're amazing. You're a doll..." He turned back to Sheila, who still bore a disappointed expression. "Pretty please. I'd really owe you one, seriously."

Sheila let out a reluctant sigh. "Fine, I'll go - oh!" Melvin didn't waste any time, he hugged Sheila very tightly. "Ow! Okay, I don't get why you're so excited by this-"

"Because a guy friend wants me to come over," said Melvin. "And he doesn't want to beat me up."

"Okay, that's great and all, just... be careful," Sheila said seriously. "Who knows if it's a trap-"

"It's not," Melvin assured her. "I can just feel it. Something special." Melvin glanced over to see Chloe looking at him skeptically, and grew a little nervous under her stare. It was like she was trying to deduct something about him, and Melvin didn't like it. Nonetheless, he pushed that aside and smiled bigly. "Anyway, thank you so much. I'll be home before dark!" And he almost skipped away.

Just him and James.

Alone.

In his house.

The thought wouldn't leave his head for the rest of the day.

The bell rang, signaling that the day was over. Sheila didn't waste any time, rushing out of the classroom to met up with Chloe in front of the school gates so they could walk to pick up the twins. Felicity, Amber, and Lucy had tried to call her, but truthfully, Sheila didn't want anything to do with them at the moment. Chloe, though chipper, could be great company if she wanted to be. She guessed Melvin wasn't the only one with a new friend after all.

"Thanks again for doing this," Sheila said to Chloe. "Sorry it's so last minute. I'm sure you have to get home-"

"It's no big," Chloe said, waving it off. They proceeded to walk. "So Melvin's really excited today."

Sheila smiled and shook her head. "I don't really get it. I've never seen him that happy to see a boy. Like, the one guy who doesn't want to beat him up is making Melvin attach to him like a magnet. It's just... interesting."

"Ah..." Chloe mused. "Is that why you think Melvin is so drawn to him?"

Sheila merely shrugged. "I can't think of any other reason." She paused thoughtfully, then turned to Chloe: "Can you?" Chloe appeared a little hesitant, which Sheila didn't miss.

"...I don't know, honestly. You're telling me he never had other male friends?" Chloe questioned.

"Not really," Sheila answered. "I mean... most of the time he wanted to be friends with some guys, and would do anything to get to know them more, but then he'd get pushed by a locker and those feelings would immediately go away. You've never seen my brother picked on?"

"I've seen it a few times," Chloe admitted. "Did teachers try to stop it?

Sheila let out a callous laugh. "Never. They look the other way." Sheila was fascinated by the questions. "How come you're so curious about Melo?" Then, her face fell. "Oh, don't tell me you have a crush on my brother-"

Chloe looked shocked. "I-"

"I'm already dealing with one of my friends crushing on him, I don't need another-"

"Sheila, I don't have a crush on your brother," Chloe said earnestly. "Besides, I thought it was Felicity that wanted to get him. Even if I did like him, I'm sure Felicity would scratch my eyes out if she found out."

"You're so right," Sheila said, groaning.

"She just makes it really obvious," Chloe agreed. "Not to bad mouth her, or anything, I'm sure she's nice, but..."

"I won't be nice about it," Sheila cut in: "She is obsessed with him. I really don't want Melvin dating my best friend."

Chloe let out a little chuckle. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean..." Chloe started off, still as hesitant as before. "...He's probably not interested in her. If he were, he would be trying to talk to her a lot, which he isn't."

"That's a good point," Sheila agreed. "But even if he was interested in a girl, I don't think he'd tell me."

They arrived at the front of the daycare building.

"Shelly!" Wes and Wen cheered, running to practically tackle her with hugs. Sheila happily hugged them back. "We missed you!"

"I missed you guys too!" Sheila replied, smiling and breaking the hug. She noticed that the twins were looking up to see Chloe, their brows furrowing in confusion.

"Who's that?" Wes asked, pointing at Chloe.

"This is my friend Chloe," Sheila introduced.

"She looks like Mallory!" Wen exclaimed, also pointing at Chloe.

"Mallory?" Sheila asked, looking over at Chloe.

"My second youngest sister," Chloe supplied. "The youngest is a year younger than her, Penelope. Amazed on how they deducted that." They walked to Sheila's house.

"There's not many sandy blondes around here," Sheila explained. "At least naturally. I'm convinced that Lindsay is a brunette, but dyed her hair."

"Are the roots of her hair darker than the rest of her hair?" At this, Sheila nodded. "Then she's not a natural blonde."

"I don't think Henry could tell the difference," Sheila giggled, as did Chloe.

They stopped in front of Sheila's.

"Do you want to go up in the treehouse?" Sheila offered to the blonde. She glanced over to see that the twins were already climbing.

Chloe's eyes lit up. "Sure!" Sheila followed right behind the twins to climb up the treehouse, along with Chloe. Several seconds later did they reach the top. Chloe sat down in one of the chairs across from Sheila, while the twins were on the floor grabbing the chess pieces. "It's a bit cold out, but it's still cool that you guys can hangout up here."

"Yeah," Sheila agreed. "It's like an escape."

"Escape? Escape from what?"

Sheila's heart stopped; she hadn't realized she had uttered that. "You know what it's like," she tried to justify. "Having a bunch of siblings, barely getting enough time to yourself. Don't you want some alone time?"

At this, Chloe laughed. "Oh for sure. I totally get that. Especially since you have four brothers..."

Sheila hummed a little to herself. "It's not just my brothers; it's my parents too."

"Ah..." Chloe mused in interest. "Are they... are they not the best people?" Sheila didn't know how to go on answering this question. The topics of her family occasionally came up with Lucy, Amber, and Felicity - but neither of them came close to the truth, and Sheila didn't really want them to know the truth. But for Chloe? Sheila didn't know.

"...Not really, no..." Sheila answered, somewhat honestly. "They aren't." She gave Chloe a glare. "Don't tell anyone that, no one else knows. That's all I want to say." Under her glare, Sheila could tell that Chloe was taking in this information and did not falter under the glare. She knew that it was crucial, important information that nobody knew. Depending on the type of person Chloe was, would dictate on how she would handle it.

After a few seconds of silence, Chloe replied with yet another question: "Do you know what my mother always says?" It was rhetorical this time, Sheila could tell. Chloe looked directly in Sheila's eyes, and added: "Every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child."

That line struck a chord in Sheila.

"I never thought about it that way," Sheila admitted. "But you're right."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise," Chloe said, and Sheila knew it was genuine. "I won't ask anymore. I just... I'm not going to say that I knew, because I don't know you that well, but... the way you acted reminded me of someone I knew. I'll try to understand whatever you try to tell me. I knew a friend that... that had issues with her parents, and... I tried to get it. I'll try."

"So," Sheila started off, unsurely. "You don't have anymore questions?"

"Oh I do," Chloe said honestly. "I have a lot, but..." She paused considerably: "I'm not going to press on the matter. That's up to you." Sheila's eyes had gone away from Chloe just for a few seconds, to watch the twins almost put the chess pieces in their mouths, but stopped under Sheila's stare.

Sheila looked back at Chloe with earnest in her eyes. "Thank you."

"So..." James started off, taking out his keys to unlock the door to his house. "...This is where I live. It's not much, but it's a new home." Melvin gazed in wonder. Though James claimed it wasn't much, it was still one of the biggest houses he had been in. "It's definitely different from Wisconsin, that's for sure."

"I could only imagine," was Melvin's reply.

"I'll show up my room, it's upstairs," James offered, and was already going up.

"There's an upstairs?" Melvin asked incredulously, nonetheless following him. In his room there was a singular bed, which Melvin could not relate to. He distinctly remembered James saying that he was an only child. There was a small television, a boombox that was directly on a small desk.

"Wanna play some music?" James offered.

"Sure... what are you playing?" Melvin asked. James looked through his cassettes to find a song. After finding one suitable, he inserted it and played it. Melvin listened intently; this sounded like one of the songs Henry would like. "Uh..."

"You've never heard of AC/DC man?" James wondered, with a chuckle. It wasn't a judgmental one, though. "This is from their Highway to Hell album, It's kind of old music, but it's so sick."

"If you want blood, you got it..." Melvin said, repeating the lyrics to himself. "Pretty sick, alright."

"I've always wanted to go to one of their concerts," James went on absentmindedly; Melvin was hanging onto every word: "They're just awesome. I think they're better than the Beatles, you've heard of them, right?"

"Of course I've heard of the Beatles," Melvin told him, with an amused scoff. "Who hasn't? I like them. I've only listened to their earlier stuff though. Pre-1965, I think."

James looked mortified. "Oh man, you really need to get into the Beatles' newer stuff. Hold on, when this song ends..." Melvin waited until the heavy (or what he considered to be heavy) song ended. James took out a tape and put a new one in. The song started off with what seemed like a plane or jet landing.

"Sounds very Beach Boys-ish," Melvin commented.

"I like the Beach Boys too," James said. "This song is called Back in the USSR. For some reason they got in a lot of trouble for writing this."

Melvin listened a little more to the lyrics: "Probably because some people would think the Beatles' like communism or something." James gave him a weird look. Thus, Melvin and sighed and proceeded to explain: "USSR is the Soviet Union, which is under a communist regime. Communism is when all property is publicly owned, not private. The USSR is the one that 'helped' us during World War II, but when that ended the Cold War started - and we're... still in that by the way."

"But we haven't shot missiles at each other or something," James pointed out.

"That's why it's called a 'cold' war," Melvin replied. "We're just cold to each other, because we started another war it would probably be the end of the world. So we're sort of just spying on each other at the moment."

"You think it'll eventually end?" James asked.

Melvin shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe in a few years from now, or something. It's gotta end sometime."

"Dude, you're so smart," James complimented, making Melvin blush a little. "No really, man. I don't get it. You're so smart, I'm jealous."

"...I like getting books from the library," Melvin told him. "I begged Henry for a library card. So I check out books there every now and then, and I always keep up with what's going on in the world - things then, and things now. I think it's important."

"You had to ask your brother? You couldn't ask your mom or something?" The innocent-sounding question made Melvin's stomach drop.

"Erm, well... her too," Melvin added awkwardly. "But Henry was the one that helped me get it. Mom's always busy, so is dad."

"Ah, I get it." When James said that, Melvin couldn't help but frown a little. It wasn't James' fault, but he would probably never get it. Though he felt very connected to James, and that he really liked him, there were some things he just couldn't talk about.

"So you like The Beach Boys too, huh?" Melvin asked, changing the topic entirely.

"Yeah, they're alright. My dad really likes them," James answered. "I have a question for you though."

Melvin sat up straighter. "Yes?"

"How come you don't make friends with the other guys?" James questioned. Melvin's face fell significantly. "Yeah, they can be dicks, but once you get to know them..."

"James, they've pushed me into lockers and call me names," Melvin deadpanned. "I don't think I'm going to make friends with them anytime soon."

"Well..." There was determination in James' eyes: "...Maybe I'll talk to them for you."

"Please don't," Melvin softly begged. "I think you'll just make things worse."

"That's possible, but... I don't know, man. You're cool. I don't get why they don't see why you're cool."

"Because they have pea-sized brains," Melvin retorted, without thinking twice. "They think Chicago is a state."

"...It's not?"

Melvin face-palmed.

"It's... a city," Melvin breathed out, exasperated. "In Illinois."

"Ah, that's cool. Didn't know that. But hey!" James suddenly had an idea, "Maybe if you help them with school like you help me, maybe you can get more friends." Melvin frowned at this for two reasons. The first reason being that James had so much hope that the bullies who tormented him for years would suddenly switch up on him. The second reason, the one that bothered him most, was that it seemed like James wanted to pawn him off to other people; like he didn't want to hangout with him.

Melvin hoped that wasn't true; because he liked James a lot. James was the new kid who didn't know about his reputation for being picked on. Melvin wasn't so sure if James would be nice to him if he hadn't moved from another state, completely oblivious to the schools' drama. James listened to Melvin, talked to Melvin, and had nice eyes and pretty hair and a great smile and all the things Sheila talked about when it came to boys - and he had a great personality.

Oh.

...Oh.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Sheila said to Chloe from the treehouse. Chloe had climbed down after saying she had to be home before dark. Sheila eventually came down five minutes later, with her little brothers, then let them into the house. There was Henry, waiting patiently on the sofa while watching television.

"Hey Shelly," Henry greeted, still keeping his eyes on the screen. "Did you have fun with Chloe?"

Sheila sat down on the chair beside him. "Yeah, I did actually."

"Were the twins behaving?"

"They almost ate the chess pieces," Sheila said, with a chuckle. "All I had to do was stare at them and they put it down."

"That's funny."

Awkward silence followed.

"Chloe asked about our parents," Sheila put bluntly.

That got a reaction out of Henry. "Oh?" He immediately whipped his head around to face his sister. "What happened?"

Sheila shrugged. "She asked me if they were the best people."

"And what did you tell her?"

"I told her that they weren't," Sheila said honestly. "But I didn't go further than that. I know about our rule."

Henry's expression was unreadable. "Did she press on it?"

"No," Sheila said instantly. "She said that she has a lot of questions, but she won't ask them because she respects my privacy or something." She stared down at her hands, now pondering over the conversation prior. "I wasn't expecting that from her."

"That's good," said Henry. "She seems like a good influence. Keep hanging out with her."

"Not all the Harris sisters are goody-two-shoes. Like, that Jessica girl. I heard from Chloe that Jessica likes going on alcohol binges, and occasionally sparks up cigarettes."

"You better not get into that stuff," Henry warned.

Sheila let out a wry smirk. "And you don't?" Henry scowled at her. "Oh come on, I smell the cigarettes off your clothes - you do a terrible job of hiding it."

Henry snorted. "You start working at Bueno Nacho and tell me you don't want to pick up smoking."

Sheila made a face. "I would never smoke cigarettes." She opted to change the topic. "Where's mom and dad?"

"Out," was Henry's vague answer.

"This is gonna sound really screwed up, but..." Sheila couldn't help herself. "Do you want to bet on whether they'll come home fighting or not?"

"Sheila, what the fu-" Henry cut himself off from swearing, much to Sheila's amusement. "Really?"

"I told you it was gonna be screwed up."

"Now you jinxed it," said Henry, with a sigh. "Why is your sense of humor so morbid?"

"Aren't you the one that's always saying to find humor in the sad things?" Sheila pointed out, still grinning. All Henry could do was sigh at that as she went on: "I think it's better to do that than mope all the freaking time about our situation."

They spent the next ten minutes watching television, and then Melvin arrived, lightly shutting the door behind him.

"Melo, you're home," Sheila remarked, her eyes still on the television screen. "How was hanging out with James?" She didn't get an immediate response back. Therefore, she turned around to see that Melvin bore a mixed expression. "Melvin?"

"It... was... good," Melvin settled with saying. This time, Henry turned around, baffled. Melvin, however, didn't understand. "What? What's with the looks?"

"Did anything happen?" Sheila asked skeptically.

"No," Melvin said immediately. "That's the thing... it was really, really nice." He crashed on the sofa beside Henry. "I think I'm going through an existential crisis."

"You're thirteen."

"Thirteen is too young to go through an existential crisis?" Melvin asked, replying to Sheila.

"...I have no idea what the hell he's talking about," Henry admitted sheepishly.

"I just felt really good with him, and I'm wondering..." Melvin started off nervously: "Why did I feel so good? Is it because I haven't had an actual guy friend or..." He let it trail off from there. Sheila glanced over at Henry, and to her surprise, he didn't seem all that concerned anymore.

Did he know something that Sheila didn't?

"If you felt so good," Sheila began calmly, puzzled by her older brother's behavior. "then why does it have you feeling so... I don't know, conflicted?"

"It's more complicated than that," Melvin said uneasily, running a hand through his hair stressfully. "I don't think either of you could get it, no offense."

"I'm sure," Henry said politely, which earned a glare from Melvin. Henry immediately backtracked: "No, it's not sarcastic. I agree with you for once."

Melvin's face fell. "Really?"

"I mean, after I spend time with a close friend, I never feel conflicted about feeling good, I just feel good. And I don't question why I feel good," Henry explained. Sheila watched this exchange closely; it was like Henry seemed to know something, Sheila was sure of it. "That's something you need to figure out on your own."

Melvin took this message in. Yawning, he stretched and got up from the sofa. "I'm gonna head in our room." Without saying goodbye, he left. And the moment he did so, Sheila couldn't help but fire a question.

"Did Melo tell you something that he wouldn't tell me?" Henry didn't give an instant answer. This only infuriated and worried Sheila all at once. "I don't get it. We tell each other everything. What would he tell you first that he wouldn't tell me-"

"He didn't tell me anything," Henry replied evenly. "He doesn't have to. I just... I think I have an idea of what this could be about."

Sheila grew impatient. "Are you going to tell me? Damn it, Henry. Just tell me!" The thought of Henry knowing something about Melvin that Sheila herself didn't know only made her more intrigued, as well as more angry.

But Henry merely shook his head. "No, it's not my place. I could be wrong, but... I think I'm mostly right."

Sheila huffed and crossed her arms. Then, she bit her lip nervously. "Is it bad?"

"Depends on who you ask," Henry said vaguely. "...especially in this climate. I don't think it's bad at all."

"...in this... in this climate?" Sheila couldn't believe her ears. "I... how-"

"Remember how you said that Chloe wasn't going to press on our situation because she wanted to respect your privacy?" Henry interrupted. At this, Sheila nodded reluctantly, because she knew where Henry was going with this. "I need you to do that regarding Melvin."

"But-"

"No more questions, I mean it Shelly." Sheila rubbed her forehead in frustration, but Henry went on: "But if it helps... if it is what I think it is, he is probably going to tell you about it. You'll probably be the first to know - no, I know you'll be the first to know."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Henry said firmly.

It grew quiet.

"...Should we get dinner ready?" Sheila asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Henry agreed, sitting up from the sofa: "Get the Hamburger Helper."

Thus, Sheila groaned.