Chapter 12

A/N: Changed one detail for Carter Stephens in this chapter; his current girlfriend is a new and different OC, not Jessica, whom Mark dated during his high school senior year. I will go back and revise that detail for Chapter 11 as well and make note of it in the A/N at the end of that chapter.

Lauren got out of the Range Rover with barely a word to Keith. After what had gone down this afternoon, neither one of them was too sure what to say.

A shower. She needed to take a shower.

The house was silent apart from the steady tick-tock of the grandfather clock. Lauren knew her parents would be back in a little while. Plenty of time.

Washing up was important. Lauren saw to it carefully in the shower. The boys had been eager and careless and they hadn't worn anything, so, making sure none of the mess was left was necessary.

One turn after another. Lauren hadn't taken a break for quite a while, and those two were almost desperate. Lauren had been with three guys before, and had been about to have a fourth with Keith. Now she was already at five. It'd been a more intense afternoon than she'd planned.

Auburn and Blond had kissed better than anybody Lauren had been with before. They'd even let her decide before they got in the Range Rover.

Yeah. He was kind of nice, actually, him and Blond, Lauren thought. She cleaned up thoroughly, basked in the warm water, the soap and the steam. Nothing bad had happened today. No, nothing. Everything was fine.

And because everything was fine, and she'd had a great time on the date after all, Lauren left her stash of birth control pills alone.

I'm okay. I liked it. I don't need those. Today was fun.

The mantra was going to take time to sink in. On some level Lauren knew that. But she knew it would, because there was nothing terrifying about sex with two handsome guys, each just enjoying what was probably their first time.

No. There was nothing bad about that at all. So Lauren made herself smile. Leaning her head back as she worked on rinsing her hair, she thought of what Auburn had told her when he got out of the Range Rover after his last turn with her.

Twisting her hair with one hand until Lauren cried out in pain, Auburn had held up his switchblade.

"We didn't do anything you didn't want." He'd kissed her again, then offered a mocking smile. "Thanks for giving it up, sweetheart."

Sweetheart. Auburn and Blond had both seemed a lot happier afterward, and the kiss Blond gave her said she wasn't mistaking it; they'd appreciated the chance to just relax for a while. Lauren thought about that, and finding it gave her some chance to calm down, worked on a story in her head.

By the end of the day, she found herself almost forgetting Keith had been there at all. She called two of her best friends and shared this exciting story about having sex with two attractive boys down at the beach. They'd both wanted her, so she'd taken turns with them. Easy solution she'd thought of.

It was so much better that way.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Keith made it upstairs to his room and practically collapsed when he got there. Far from being the relief and triumph he'd wanted, his latest date had been a disaster. Keith had taken the worst beating he could remember, and- they hadn't just done that.

The blond one had pulled his shorts down and come back up with a switchblade.

"Suck."

Even starting to shake his head and say "No" had gotten him punched in the eye again, and the command was simply repeated. Having already lost the fight, unable to protect his girl, Keith had wanted to at least save what was left of his dignity, but when Blond brought the switchblade up to Keith's right eye, calmly promising to "pop it like a fuckin' balloon," Keith had quickly agreed. And he'd stayed on his knees, giving head as the pair of probably-middle-schoolers took turns in his own Range Rover with his own girl. Lauren had looked so spaced out after it all ended.

Before the two superhuman little monsters had left, they'd spoken to Lauren, still naked in the backseat of the Range Rover, and then to Keith. He didn't know what they'd told Lauren, but what they'd said to him was more than bad enough.

"If you fuck with us," Auburn said in that clear, calm voice, "We're gonna come carve you up. We'll keep you alive for a long time, and it's gonna hurt more than you can imagine. You believe that?"

"Yes," Keith had answered simply, unable to raise his eyes from the ground by that point. They'd left then. Just gotten on their bikes and ridden away. A fun afternoon for them, probably, while this was going to haunt Keith and Lauren for the rest of their lives.

"I would've saved her," Keith promised himself in the shower, trying to ease the aches and pains the beating had gotten him, and again at the sink, obsessively trying to wash his mouth. "I would've. Those freaks. There was no other way."

It sounded true. Keith hoped he could find a way to even believe it.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Alex Evans bounded down the stairs to greet his father as he and Gwen returned home, arms tensing up as he got closer, fists ready to strike. Richard was right behind him and together, they almost knocked Mark on his ass.

"Holy shit!" Mark and Gwen exclaimed together. Julie didn't approve of the way Henry, Mark and Gwen all readily swore, and she only fussed more if Alex or Rich did it. But Alex was in a fantastic mood this afternoon. Better than he'd been in ages.

Trying to bring Dad down to the hardwood floor of the entrance hall, Alex felt a surge of pride at the considerable strength he already wielded; fitness was one of his reasons for living. It made him look better, it made him faster, stronger and deadlier. The rape had shown just what Alex and Rich could take now that they'd grown enough.

Dad was strong. Real strong. So much so that even all of Alex and Richard's power was only enough to bring him down near the floor for maybe a minute of grappling or so. Then he stood up, shrugging Rich off and lifting Alex by the armpits.

"Someone's been having a good day," Mark observed with a smile.

"Alex and Richard went out riding their bikes," Julie added with a knowing smile of her own, "I hear they saw something they liked."

"Lots that we liked," Alex added with an enthusiastic grin. For once he didn't feel the need to pretend with the man who'd conceived him by accident as a teenager. Some strong genes had lent Alex the speed, strength and good looks he was swiftly developing, and he'd made perfect use of that all today.

"Well," Mark said with a glance at Julie, then another at Henry. "I think we men better talk about a few things."

"Babe," Henry said gently, gently kissing Gwen, "Can you and Julie get dinner started while the men do some talking?"

"We could," Gwen agreed, drawing a laugh from Julie. The blond woman reached down and ruffled Richard's hair. He reached up with arms that were rapidly growing more toned, swatting at her hand.

"Getoff," Richard said, his handsome features marred by a frown. "I'm grown up now."

"Not until you can fight me," Gwen answered eagerly. "Dad's not the only one who's up for it."

"My Dad's better," Alex remarked matter-of-factly. Thanks to his careless idiocy at 17, Alex was almost a full year older and thus that much stronger (and better) than Richard.

"Hear that? I'm better, Henry," Mark said with a look at his brother. "I told you I always was."

"All the men, outside," Henry said, gesturing.

"Not you, dork!" Alex sharply added, jerking an arm out to swipe at Marcus, who had made like he was going to follow.

"Our turn soon," Marcus told his brother resentfully. Annoyingly close to Alex in looks- both boys took almost completely after their father- Marcus seemed permanently trying to mock Alex just by existing. He'd also lived inside Julie for 9 full months, conceived purposefully, no less.

Yet the seven-year-old was little more than a runt to Alex, an irritating little kid. Why Mark had even bothered with him Alex had no idea.

"Not today, it isn't," Alex shot back.

"Get back upstairs!" Richard added, taking a swing at Brandon. The blond twerp ducked and fled with his brother.

Fuck you, Alex thought fiercely, locking eyes with Marcus.

Fuck off, Marcus answered defiantly.

"Alright, you boys behave," Julie told all of them, interceding as Marcus and Brandon moved up several steps for safety.

Fury came easily to Alex and this woman was trying his patience. She always had been, thinking she was his "Mom" and thus had any right to tell him what to do. Mark was one thing. Alex at least called him "Dad." Julie was a receptacle for Mark's lusts and a caretaker, one Alex was much closer to never needing again.

But the fun this afternoon had made Alex much more serene than he usually was. He blinked, and his features shifted to adopt a smile.

"Okay, Mom," Alex said. "I just really wanna go have this talk with Dad and Uncle Henry. It seems important."

"Yeah. We just wanna go and talk," Richard added.

"We'll see you when we get back," Alex added agreeably. You could tell Dad and Uncle Henry didn't believe the nice-and-sweet tone for a second, but Julie did. She always did. Even Gwen was surprisingly easy to fool.

These people were going to be easy to get rid of.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Mark hugged Alex tightly the moment Henry paired off with Richard, all four of them away from the house in the vast expanse of the backyard, under the shade of several trees. They were proud and would praise their sons together, but Mark needed to just say some things to his son. Henry felt the same way.

"Getoffme," Alex grouched, his upper body working impressively, flexing and twisting. His spectacular looks weren't just for show.

"Alex," Mark said sincerely, "I love you."

Left side of his head pinned against Mark's broad chest, Alex sighed. "I don't love you, Dad." It didn't sound angry or annoyed like he did every other time, though. This one was calm, matter-of-fact.

"How'd it feel, Alex?"

"It felt fucking great, Dad. Now let me go! I wanna talk but not like I'm five."

"You didn't take any shit back then, either," Mark laughed, letting Alex go, taking in the superhuman level of fitness Alex was visibly striving for, the take-no-shit look he always had in his eyes.

"I'm a man now, Dad," Alex said, grinning, unable to help it. "I'm a man and you're gonna have to treat me different. Or me and Rich'll just kill you and Uncle Henry sooner."

"You're growing up fast. You're learning a lot from me, you cocky little fuck."

"No, that's what I did to her."

"Did you share with Richard?" Mark pressed. "Men have needs but you know what Uncle Henry and I told you."

"Yeah, Dad," Alex said with a slight roll of his eyes, shrugging his muscular shoulders. "We took turns."

"What'd you guys tell the lucky girl?"

"She could give it up or we could take it." Alex grinned. "She just- she took off her shirt right after I kissed her and told her that. We took turns fucking her, and her boyfriend- Dad, he gave us head!" Alex closed his eyes and sucked in a breath through his teeth, blissfully savoring the memory.

"And?"

"Dad, when you and Uncle Henry, like, take turns with somebody…" Alex paused, trailing off as he thought. "Did you- can you ever feel what Henry does? When you guys would take turns?"

Mark frowned. "You mean- can we feel pleasure the other one of us is feeling?"

"Yeah."

"No, we just have fun with it. I can't actually feel what he's feeling."

"I felt everything. That dumbass we beat up, while- I went first, okay? And I'm in there fucking her. I could feel that dude sucking Richard's dick, Dad. I could feel it like it was happening to me."

"That's fuckin'-" Mark laughed. "That's fuckin' wild. That sounds like fun."

"Yeah, Dad, it was. But now my balls hurt. I wanna go sit on a bag of ice."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"I'm proud of you, Rich," Henry said again, hugging him. "I'm fuckin' proud."

"Alright, Dad!" Richard fussed, all that buff muscle flexing impressively as he got loose and set his hair right. He was a teenager in spirit, all right, even if he still had another year to go chronologically.

Mark steered a handsome-but-sullen Alex over and the two were sat down on a bench Julie had wanted installed a few years back. Henry and Mark took seats on the bench a few feet across from them.

"Okay, so, now that you're old enough, we're gonna talk about a few things," Henry began. "You know how sex works-"

"-Obviously-" Mark added, perfectly on cue.

"-But we still want you to know you ought to be careful. Mark became a dad by accident when he was a high school senior. Did you two make this girl take some pills today?"

Richard frowned. "What? Dad, no. We needed this. We didn't have time for that shit."

"You guys are gonna have a lot of girls around Portland looking like they swallowed a fuckin' bowling ball in about nine months if you don't take some time to be smart."

Mark snickered. "Nice, Henry."

"Thanks, Mark. It's good to feel appreciated."

"Think nothing of it, my good man," Mark answered in a deliberately pompous voice.

"Dad," Alex began dangerously.

"Alex," Henry countered in a similar tone. "You both think you're king of the world now that you had your first, but you're still gonna talk to us with respect."

"Okay," Richard huffed. "But I'm still gonna pound Brandon the next time he gets in my way."

"And I'm gonna punch Marcus in the face if he talks back to me again," Alex promised.

"You two need to keep that under control," Henry cautioned his nephew. "You better not make it something Julie and Gwen bring to us. If they start really going on about it, we'll have to make you stop, because you can't go disrupting things for Mark and me like that."

"Mark and I, Dad," Richard said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Dad, Uncle Henry," Alex spoke up, "I'm serious. Rich and I need to sit on some ice. Sharing all that was fuckin' intense and our balls really hurt. We're gonna fuck you up if you make us stay out here."

It was as respectful and genuine a tone as Alex had ever taken toward his father and uncle.

"Go to your rooms at Mark's place," Henry said. "Just grab some of the reusable freeze bags."

"You guys better not get caught beating the shit out of any high school jocks around here," Mark warned. "And be more careful when you're fucking some chick. You might've gotten that girl pregnant today."

"So what if I did?" Alex asked, regarding his father and uncle coldly. "Or if Richard did?"

"Then it better not end up being our problem," Henry said, pointing between himself and Mark. "You two have your fun, but be smart."

"Okay, fine, Dad," Richard sighed, getting up. "Hug me again and I'll snap your fucking neck. I need some ice."

"Threats," Henry laughed. "Rich, you're getting better at those."

Richard grumbled irritably but made no other reply.

"Fuck, I can hardly walk straight now," Alex griped, ignoring his uncle. "That was fucking great."

Henry and Mark sat in companionable silence as their eldest boys walked off. They had no love for their fathers, their younger siblings, or even each other, but they supported each other and got along all the same.

"I can't believe I found time to make him in senior year," Mark marveled.

"I got to shit all over my stupid kid brother when I had him," Henry countered, pointing.

"Yeah, and you used the class whore to do it."

"Lisa was a fucking great lay."

"So's Julie."

"If she's as good as Gwen, I'll be amazed," Henry sighed. He waved as Gwen appeared at the back door of his house, blowing a kiss to him. "Speaking of, Mark. I think I need to go get some."

"Yeah, me, too," Mark said agreeably. "Let's just make sure Marcus and Brandon live to the end of another summer."

"Of course," Henry laughed. "We'll give 'em a hand while they need it, won't we, Mark?"

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Brandon Evans and his brother Marcus had escaped from their elder brothers for the night. As was often the case, the pairs of siblings had been split up to keep the peace. They rotated between the two vast, adjacent houses, having rooms assigned to each of them in both.

Tonight, the two seven-year-olds were over at Henry and Gwen's house. Sitting on the carpeted living room floor by the fireplace, Brandon thought to his sibling.

Marc. Brandon instinctively used the first name he'd had for his sibling.

What, Bran?

My Mom and Dad are gonna fuck pretty soon. They're gonna put us upstairs.

You wanna watch them again?

That's what Alex and Richard do.

They get to do more than that.

We'll be old enough. Just wait.

They're gonna kill us if they ever find those tapes Dad and Uncle Henry made.

I don't think they're real.

Then we're dead if they ever find that out.

No, we're not, Brandon answered with a confidence he couldn't explain. We're not as helpless as they think. We just need a little time.

And something to make this easier.

Brandon just sent agreement to that. He didn't know how to explain that he could do that. There didn't seem to be a word for it, and none of the other kids at school could do it. But he could just sense it if Marcus simply agreed with him, or had some other sentiment that didn't need to be put into words. Mostly 'yes' or 'no' type stuff, since affection of any kind was alien to them.

It ultimately didn't matter that Brandon and his brother had no real opinion of each other. They were linked and dependent on one another for survival- and they were going to survive. Liking one another (or not) had nothing to do with it.

"Babe," Henry was saying from the kitchen, "I think Drew Cadiz has a point with that big yacht he has. We could swing something, easy."

"Babe, you want a boat?"

That's it. That's it. Right there. Brandon sprang up, shouting excitedly. "Yes! A boat! A boat, a boat, a boat!"

"Brandon!" Gwen cheered, kneeling and opening her arms as her second son and his brother ran eagerly into the kitchen, scooping them up and holding them close to her. She was strong for a grownup girl. She and Henry liked wrestling and stuff whenever they fucked.

That and when that Carter guy joins them. Then they do all kinds of weird things, Marcus offered.

"Were you secretly hoping we'd get a big boat sometime?" Gwen asked the two boys.

"Yes, Mom," Brandon answered, playing it up for her and for Dad. They loved it anytime you so much as smiled at them. It was so easy.

"We love boats," Marcus added.

"Boats and Ferraris," Brandon agreed.

"Man, what a wild coincidence," Henry responded in mock astonishment. "There's this red '85 Testarossa in the garage and I can hear some yacht calling my name-"

"Yes, yes, a boat!" Brandon and Marcus cheered together.

"If that's what you two wanna talk about," Gwen said, "I'm here for it all day. Dad, me, Uncle Mark, Aunt Julie, we'd love to hear all about it, anytime."

"But don't you two need time to talk about grownup stuff?" Marcus asked with perfectly-imitated childhood innocence.

"Uh- yes, yes, we do," Henry agreed, "But we still want to hear you two talk about boats." He looked and sounded genuinely astonished, and you could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure out where this nautical interest had come from.

Let's yawn, Brandon suggested. We don't need anything else from them tonight.

One adorable simultaneous yawn later, the two were upstairs in their shared room. Brandon fought through a hundred pushups beside Marcus, shared a grin with him. Then they silently crept back to get a good view of Henry and Gwen downstairs.

They'd be starting anytime.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Oh, fuck, that's a relief," Gwen sighed once they were safely back downstairs in the living room.

"What is? That we finally have the place to ourselves?" Henry joked.

"Brandon and Marcus," Gwen corrected, giving him a playful shove as they sat down on one of the living room sofas. "They're seven and neither of them seem to talk much. I'll see them just staring at each other sometimes, or, like, they're doing stuff together but they don't say a word."

"Almost like they have telepathy," Henry suggested.

"Someone's in a playful mood tonight," Gwen responded with a smile. Turning serious again, she went on, "I think- I was getting worried they might be autistic. Like, really, really autistic."

"Having intense, specific interests can be part of that."

"Yeah." Gwen sighed. "Well, nothing else has- they just always seem busy. You know? Like their minds are somewhere else."

"They're fine, babe," Henry answered confidently. "I don't think they're autistic or anything, they just don't feel the need to talk as much as some people do."

"Richard and Alex talk all the time, though. They laugh and joke around, too, and Brandon hardly ever smiles."

"Babe." Henry gently brushed a hand against Gwen's cheek, then leaned in and kissed her. "The boys are all right."

"I just-I worry about them," Gwen admitted. "At least we got Brandon and Marcus to really talk for once. Progress, I guess." She paused. "What do you think interests them so much about boats?"

"No idea," Henry answered with a shrug. "But since the boys are all out of our hair for a while, you feel like doing anything?"

Gwen shared a grin with her husband. "I can think of some things."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Kelly Edwards was near the end of her six-mile run along the beach by Montauk Point, the summer breeze keeping her pleasantly cool thanks to the revealing running clothes she favored. Even if she'd been dating fellow Premiere model and 'actor' Carter Stephens for a year, it was still fun to turn heads. Her flaming-red hair, tied back in a ponytail for the runs, also drew attention; the sun shone brilliantly off it in the late afternoons.

The place that Carter and Kelly had kinda-sorta bought together here in Montauk was perfect for raising some kids. If Carter didn't suddenly remember something or simply change the subject whenever Kelly wanted to conceive or even just get married.

It didn't even matter to Kelly if they combined the two. What did was not losing out on the blond, muscular hunk she was dating. He was big, amazing in bed, smart, romantic, always caring, always remembering their special moments and anniversaries.

Carter was a catch, one so great you just didn't let him go unless things truly weren't going anywhere. Kelly didn't want to give up on things with him, but… if ultimately she wanted commitment and he didn't, that'd settle it soon enough.

As if in response to her thoughts about him, though, Carter was sitting on the front porch watching the tide roll in. He'd said he might be able to make it, that he needed to tell her something. Kelly worried it was a breakup. She might not be able to go to work tomorrow if that's what it was.

"Kelly, babe," Carter called out to her as she ran up the steps and embraced him. He said her name like it was the sweetest sound in the world. He was just wearing a pair of khaki shorts, and with abs, arms and pecs like his, Kelly liked to remark that even shorts were too much.

"You made it!" Kelly exclaimed, hugging him tight. When they separated, Carter took off his reflective shades and smiled. "C'mon. Did you expect anything less?"

I was afraid of something less.

"Well," Kelly said carefully, "I-you said you wanted to talk about something."

Carter nodded, placed a hand on the back of her neck, drew her in for another kiss. "I've been fucking lying to myself," Carter murmured. "I need you, Kelly. I'm tired of just messing around. That's been fun, but, look- I'm here. For as long as you want me."

Maybe I saved him at last. You were always too good to go to waste, Carter. We weren't gonna spend our whole lives partying.

"Someone's been doing some growing up," Kelly observed with a wry smile.

Carter laughed. "Yeah, well. At least I got there, right?"

"Right." Kelly regarded him thoughtfully. "So… did you wanna go inside and… talk?"

That won a grin from Carter. "You read my mind, babe."

It wasn't until they finished Round Two that Carter actually proposed, but Kelly didn't care. Carter Stephens had grown up. He'd come to his senses at last.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Alex Evans stood out at the edge of the cliffs, side-by-side with Richard. It had once been a favorite place for their grandmother Susan to go visit when she needed to think, but she hadn't come out here much in years.

"I fucking hate those people," Alex said, pulling out his latest pack and taking a cigarette for himself. Wallace, Susan, Mark, Henry, Gwen, Julie, Marcus and Brandon- all of them were back there at Wallace and Susan's house today. Even Aunt Connie was supposed to be coming up to visit this weekend. Like another June being forbidden from strangling Marcus and Brandon wasn't bad enough.

"At least you're not named for one of 'em," Richard laughed.

"Yeah." Alex lit up his cigarette, holding out the lighter for Richard. He took a long drag, exhaled. "Now, you see that? That's exactly why those two dinosaurs don't make any fucking sense. Your dad killed the old Richard because he was being fucking annoying. And now, we're not allowed to do exactly the same thing."

"We should throw them down there," Richard observed, pointing down to the jagged rocks below just as a wave crashed over them.

"It'd be fun that way," Alex agreed. "But we're not that far from Wallace and Susan's place. And those little twerps know all they'd have to do is yell, and we'll be out here fighting our dumb fucking relatives all at once."

"At least we got that girl to give it up for us," Richard sighed blissfully. Even over a week later, it still brought them both peace and sanity when they needed it most.

"Oh, yeah. We should pay her another visit sometime." Alex snickered.

"We know where to find her. We know where to find anyone we could want. Easy."

"I just wanna beat up some more high school dudes. I'm fucking doing that again."

"Best part's seeing them realize they're losing." Richard laughed. "Even as much as we work out they still don't see us coming."

Alex nodded. They smoked a little while longer, then threw the cigarettes over the side of the cliffs.

"C'mon," Richard said finally. "We better get back before someone sees us out here."

"I'd like to push Dad over the side," Alex said reflectively, not taking his eyes off the rocks below. "I'd like to stand right here and watch him and Uncle Henry try and hold on. Then I'd raise my foot, and stomp on one hand, then the other. Then I watch them fall. Then I'd bring them back up here… so I could do it again… and again… and again."

The thought, and the images that came with it, was enough to bring a smile.

Relax, Richard told him silently. We'll get rid of all of them soon enough.

Henry, Mark, Marcus, Brandon… They were all going to suffer before the end. Alex's only regret was that it couldn't happen as many times as he wanted it to.

A/N: 27 May 2024. Completed a 12th chapter for this latest installation on Henry and Mark's alternate story. Over 4,700 words for the main body of the chapter, and then a bit more for the author's notes segments.

Most likely the next one will see a return from Wallace and Susan, who by this point have been grandparents for over a decade, and Connie may make an appearance as well. Julie also has a featured POV for the story coming up.

Reviews are always welcome. If there are any corrections that I need to make to a chapter, or if you would like to simply discuss one of my stories more, please let me know in a PM.