Chapter 4

The boys took the little blue car and headed into town. As far as their fathers were concerned, they were taking Tyler to see a drive-in movie.

"They don't even have drive-ins in New York. Can you believe it?" Caden had said.

A late afternoon showing of The Terminator has gotten them the keys. Johnny drove until they got to the empty abandoned K-Mart parking lot. He turned to Tyler in the backseat.

"Okay, Ty. First things first." He pointed, "This is the gas, this is the break. Don't mix them up."

Tyler nodded, then he and Johnny switched places. Tyler settled into the driver's seat and put his hands on the steering wheel. A slow smile grew across his face. "Woah."

"Okay, don't get too excited, you haven't even started yet. Now, check your mirrors."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Ticks." Johnny deadpanned, rolling his eyes. "Just make sure you can see behind the car."

Tyler nodded and adjusted the rearview mirror slightly.

"Good. Now, put your foot on the brake and put the car in drive. Then carefully take your foot off the break and press gently on the gas pedal."

Tyler did as instructed and put the car in drive. As he moved his foot over to the gas pedal he pressed down hard, and the car lurched forward. He slammed his other foot onto the brake, jolting the car to a stop. Caden flew forward, slamming his head into the windshield.

"Ow! Shit." Caden leaned back, grabbing his head in his hands.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Tyler turned to check on Caden and let his foot come off the brake. The car started rolling forward, so he slammed his left foot onto the brake again, repeating the jerking motion and causing Caden to slam into the dashboard.

"Jesus Christ! Put it in park!" Caden yelped.

Johnny hopped over the seat and squeezed in next to his cousin. "Caden, let me see. Move your hand."

Johnny silently evaluated Caden's head for a moment, turning his face side to side and assessing for injuries. "Just a bruise, you'll be fine. Why weren't you wearing a seatbelt, moron?"

Caden shot him a look and shoved his hand away. "We're in a freaking parking lot, I didn't think I'd need one. I told you this was a bad idea."

"Stop being such a baby. Maybe you're right though, you don't need a seatbelt. Want me to get you a car seat?"

Caden responded with a punch to the arm. Johnny shoved back, knocking Caden's head into the passenger door window.

"Fuck! Seriously?"

Johnny gritted his teeth. "Shit, I'm sorry. Let's just get back to the driving lesson. Caden, buckle up." He crawled back into the backseat and buckled his own seatbelt. "Okay Tyler, lets try this again, except this time I need you push onto the gas slowly."

Tyler nodded. "Right, sorry. I got this." Tyler tried again and this time he was able to ease lightly onto the gas. It was still a bit bumpy, but nobody's face got bashed into a window, so Johnny considered it a win. He drove around the empty parking lot for about half an hour, practicing turns and driving in reverse. Caden had finally started to relax a bit, unclenching his fists from the seat where he had been holding on for dear life.

"Now you're getting it." Johnny praised. "See Cade, I knew he could do it. He just started off a little rough, we all do."

"Yeah okay, that's fair. Can we be done now?" Caden practically begged.

Tyler parked the car perfectly in an empty spot. Not that it mattered in the empty lot, but he was trying to prove he'd improved. "Wait, could I maybe… take it on the road?" He grinned.

Johnny seemed to think it over. "Well…"

"What?" Caden snapped. "No! Are you crazy?"

Johnny stretched his legs across the backseat, putting his hands up behind his head. "Come on C, let's take a nice leisurely drive. The kids pretty good, what's the problem?"

With a furrowed brow, Caden turned towards the rear of the car. "The problem is it's dangerous, and illegal, and if we get caught we're all dead. We taught him to drive, lets just quit while we're ahead."

"But I really wanna try one of those roundabout things!" Tyler had the facial expression of a dog who had put his face out of a moving car window.

Leaning forward, Johnny grabbed Caden's shoulders. "Come on man. Let's live a little! Give the kid a chance to do something he may never get to do again. We'll just take a quick drive down the block, we can swing by the custard stand, my treat," he grinned, "And come right back here. It'll be five minutes tops."

Tyler nodded encouragingly from the driver's seat. The kid was practically bouncing with excitement, and Caden had to admit, he had figured out the basics pretty well. He looked back and forth between his two cousins, he supposed he should be happy they were finally bonding and getting along, that is what he had wanted after all.

"Fine." Caden finally said. Johnny and Tyler both cheered like drunken frat boys. "Just to the custard stand and back, and then Johnny takes over and we go back home. Deal?"

"Deal." Johnny agreed. He nodded the OK to Tyler and they took off. The drive there was easy, they only passed maybe three cars on the road, and Tyler took the roundabout with ease (and a little too much excitement if you asked Caden) but they made it to the custard stand in no time and Caden began to feel better about the whole thing.

"So, what is custard anyway?" Tyler asked as they exited the car.

Wide eyed Johnny gaped. "You've never had frozen custard?"

Tyler shrugged. "I guess not. Is it just like ice cream?"

"Dude, it is so much better than ice cream."

"You know custard originated in New York, right?" Caden piped in.

"Thanks, Encyclopedia Brown." Johnny quipped.

As they climbed back into the car with their cones Tyler exclaimed. "Wow, you were right Johnny. WAY better than ice cream."

Johnny shrugged from the back seat. "Told you, you'll never feel the same way about plain ice cream again after getting a taste of this."

"Okay, okay. Can we just get back now?" Caden asked.

Tyler carefully put the car in reverse and began backing out of the parking spot. He realized after pulling onto the road that driving with one hand was much more of a challenge. He took a few licks of his custard to keep it from dripping and swerved into the curb.

"Shit, sorry!" He pulled the wheel back trying to straighten up but over corrected and veered into the oncoming lane. Caden leapt over and pulled the wheel toward himself, narrowly missing an oncoming car that blasted their horn at them.

"Two hands on the wheel!" Caden yelled.

"I can't I have the custard." Tyler stated, beginning to panic.

"Here, give it to me." Caden took the cone from him and as Tyler got his hands back at 10 and 2, they heard the sirens behind them.

"Oh fuck." Johnny said.

Tylers eyes grew wide, and he started hyperventilating. "Shit! What do I do? What do I do?"

Caden turned to Johnny, clearly expecting him to come up with a solution.

Johnny sat up. "Uhm. Okay pull over. Quick switch places with Caden."

"What?" Caden asked, appalled.

"Come on hurry! They'll see me jump from the back seat, but you can make it, and better to have you get caught driving than a 13-year-old!"

"Shit." Caden didn't like this idea, but he knew Johnny had a point. "Come on, Ty, quick slide over here. Take the damn custard."

They did their best to switch places without drawing attention to themselves. Caden rolled the window down as the officer came up to the window.

"Hello boys." She took off her sunglasses and squinted in the bright afternoon sun. "Caden Winchester, I thought that was you. I didn't realize you'd gotten your license."

"Hi Officer Wilson." Caden started to sweat, and not from the heat. "Actually, I take my test next week, Johnny was just helping me practice."

Officer Wilson leaned in to see Johnny in the backseat. "Afternoon, ma'am."

She nodded to Johnny and then noticed Tyler in the passenger seat. "And who is this?"

"This is my cousin Tyler; he's visiting from New York."

"Nice to meet you, Tyler."

Tyler nodded back, too nervous to speak.

Caden, you have your permit, do you know the rules for driving on the road with your permit?

Caden began to squirm in his seat but tried to hide it. "Yes ma'am. I can only drive with a licensed driver in the car. Johnny has his license."

She nods. "I know. Pulled him over for speeding a while back. Isn't that right, Johnny?"

Johnny blushed. "Yes, ma'am. Haven't sped since, I promise."

"That's good." Officer Wilson leaned on the window. "The rules for driving with a permit are a bit more complicated than that I'm afraid, Caden. You can drive with a licensed driver, but they have to be in the passenger seat, and they have to be over the age of 21. I know you're not 21 Johnny."

Johnny offered a nervous smile. "No ma'am."

"You remember that being part of the rules, Caden?"

Caden nervously looked over at Tyler, custard melting in his lap as he sat there looking like he saw a ghost.

"I guess I just forgot that part."

Officer Wilson nodded again. "Well, that happens but unfortunately it doesn't change the rules. I can't let you drive home without a licensed driver over 21."

"I can drive home, officer!" Johnny piped up from the back.

"That's a good idea." She said. Relief washed over Johnny as he moved to trade places with his cousin. "I'll follow you boys home. I'll need to talk to your daddies and remind them of the rules of driving with a permit."

"Uhh that won't be necessary, we can tell them." Caden offered.

"Sorry boys, I've got to let them know what happened."

The boys stepped out of the car to swap seats. Officer Wilson stopped Caden and took hold of his chin. "Caden, what happened to your face?"

"Oh, nothing," Caden replied with a nervous chuckle. "Just bumped it in the car earlier.

"Was that when you were swerving back there?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"Uhm," Caden wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. "Yes, I'm sorry ma'am."

"Caden, I get the idea I'm not getting the whole truth here. Is there something you want to tell me?"

Caden was looking her in the eye. He had known Officer Wilson pretty much his entire life. Living in a small town, you get to know people like the local law enforcement. Her daughter Sarah was in Caden's grade and had been since kindergarten, he had played at her house as a little kid. Even as an officer he had busted him and Johnny on a few occasions in the past for little things here and there, but she had always been kind and friendly and had always done what she could to cut them some slack or give them the benefit of the doubt. Lying to her didn't feel right, not that it felt right lying to anyone, he had been raised to be honest and to take responsibility for his actions. But he forced himself to go along with the story, there was still a chance they could get out of this mess, or at least seriously reduce the amount of trouble they were going to be in.

"No, ma'am. There's nothing."

She looked at him for a beat, then back at the other two who were waiting in the car. "Okay, Caden. Hop in, I'll follow you boys to the house."

As soon as Officer Wilson was back in her patrol car Tyler found his voice. "We're dead. We're dead. We are dead!"

"Dude just relax," Johnny said as he pulled onto the road. "We'll be okay. Caden and I might get in a little trouble for him driving but if we all keep our cool it won't go any farther than that. But you need to stop freaking out," he glanced over at Tyler. "And for god sakes, eat that fricken custard before it makes soup all over my car."

Soon they pulled up to the little ranch house. Dean was outside cleaning the grill and noticed their police escort. He quickly made his way over to the cars while calling for Sam to come out. He got to the little blue car first. "Boys, you okay?" he asked as they piled out onto the driveway.

"Yes, sir." Johnny answered.

"Tricia, hi." He greeted the officer. "Something wrong here?"

Sam walked up in time to hear her reply.

"Hello Dean, Sam. Nothing wrong per se. I was just driving down Lincoln and pulled the boys over after seeing the car swerving. Caden was behind the wheel, said he forgot that he isn't allowed to drive without a licensed driver over 21 in the passenger seat, so I thought it important to follow them home and remind everyone of the rules surrounding learners permits."

Caden's face was burning red, he was staring at the gravel driveway but could feel his father's eyes staring at him.

"Caden." Sam said. Caden lifted his eyes to look at his dad. "Forgot the rules, huh? I thought those conditions were pretty clear to you."

"Sorry, dad." He slightly shrugged. "Momentary lapse, I guess."

Sam bent down and turned Caden's face by his chin. "Caden what happened to your face?" Concern took over his voice.

"It's fine, dad. Just hit it on the car window."

Sam looked it over for another minute and let go of his son. "Well, I'm gonna check it over once we're in the house."

Dean turned to his own son. "When you boys left you were behind the wheel, Johnny. How did you end up riding shotgun?"

Johnny opened his mouth to speak but Officer Wilson interjected. "Actually, when I pulled them over Johnny was in the back, Tyler here was in the passenger seat."

Sam and Dean quizzically raised their eyebrows at their respective sons. "Is that so?" Dean asked. "I'm very curious to learn how that happened."

None of the boys had much to say to that. "Why don't we go inside and talk about this." Sam said. "Anything more you need from us, Tricia?"

She gave a soft smile. "No, they're good to go. Just wanted to make sure they got home safe and that you both knew what was going on."

"We appreciate it." Dean answered. "Boys, what do you say to Officer Wilson?"

"Thank you, Officer Wilson." Johnny said.

"Sorry about the trouble, ma'am." Caden added.

"Yeah, thanks." Tyler nervously spluttered.

Sam and Dean led the boys inside and into the living room. After assessing Caden's injury and deciding it wasn't critical they sat the three boys on the couch to get to the bottom of the days events.

"Okay boys, walk me through it. How did Caden end up behind the wheel?" Dean asked.

Johnny spoke up. "He just wanted to practice, dad. Like he said, we forgot about the permit rules." His voice sounded breezy and confident; Tyler was blown away at how good Johnny was at this.

Sam slowly paced the floor in front of them, arms crossed over his chest. "Ya know, I'm just not buying it."

Johnny shrugged. "Well, buy it cause it's the truth."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You watch that tone, son. That's one."

Johnny faltered a little. If his dad was already counting this early in the conversation it definitely was not looking good for him. "Yes, sir."

Sam stopped pacing and faced the couch. "I have a question. You boys left here an hour and a half ago to go see a drive-in movie. Based on the story about driving practice and the melted ice cream on your clothes, I'm thinking you never made it to the drive-in."

Johnny leaned back on the couch, arms behind his head, one leg propped up on the opposite knee. "That's not a question, Uncle Sam."

Dean cleared his throat and almost smiled at the carbon copy of his teenage self sitting across from him. Almost. "That's two, Johnny."

Johnny pursed his lips but kept his mouth shut.

Caden interjected. "We decided to get custard instead of the movie. Tyler had never had it. Can you believe that? Crazy considering it originated in New York but really, he had never had it and he wanted to try it and it's so hot today so we just got custard instead and," Caden realized he was rambling and forced himself to pump the brakes. "And yeah, so that's what happened."

Sam absentmindedly ran a hand across his thin stubble. "So, it took you almost two hours to drive a mile and a half down the road to get custard? And that still doesn't explain how you ended up behind the wheel."

Caden could feel the pressure building in his chest. He wasn't as good as Johnny was at lying, or as Johnny calls it, bending the truth. He looked to Johnny for assistance. Help, I'm drowning here! He said with his eyes.

Before Johnny could speak up, Dean interjected. "Here's another question. If Caden was in the driver's seat, why are the injuries from hitting the window on the right side of his face?"

For a moment it was just silent, but the look on Caden's face pretty much answered the question for them. Dean turned to Tyler for the first time. "Tyler, you've been very quiet. Maybe you can fill in the missing pieces here."

"Dad, I can fill them in!"

Dean turned to his son. "Quiet."

"Dad, really, it's simple-"

Dean cut him off. "That's three. Corner."

"Dad-"

"You're already at three Johnny, don't push me." Dean warned with a growl.

Johnny closed his eyes with a sigh, then obeyed the order and stuck his nose in the nearest corner.

"Caden, you join him." Sam said.

"What did I do?" Caden protested.

"I'm not sure yet but I intend to find out. Now move." Caden followed suit and went to a corner near Johnny's.

Dean turned back to Tyler. "Listen Tyler, Sam and I know we're not getting the whole truth here, it would be in everyone's best interest if you told us what happened today."

Tylers eyes flashed from Dean to Sam to Johnny and Caden in the corner, then to his lap. "I don't know." He managed to squeak out.

"Tyler, look at me please." Dean asked gently. He knelt down in front of the couch, so his face was only a foot away from Tyler's and asked again. "Look at me."

Dean was patient and after a few seconds Tyler slowly gifted his gaze to meet Dean's. "Who drove the car today when Officer Wilson pulled you guys over? Was it Johnny?"

Tyler shifted his eyes to the boys in the corner but neither of them moved an inch. He looked back at Dean and slowly shook his head.

"Was it Caden?" Dean asked.

Tyler could hardly stand this pressure. Dean was being so calm and gentle, but Tyler felt like he was being interrogated in an NYPD precinct with the DA on the other side of the double-sided mirror just waiting to indict and send him to Sing Sing for 25 to life. His palms were sweaty, his heart was racing a mile a minute, he'd say anything to end it now.

"It was me." He whispered so only Dean could hear.

Dean put a soothing hand on the back of the boy's neck. "Thank you, Tyler. You did good."

Dean stood and faced the corners on the other side of the room. "Boys turn around."

Caden and Johnny silently obeyed.

"I'm going to ask this once and I want the truth and nothing else. Who was driving when the officer pulled you over?"

Both boys looked at each other and then at the ground.

"Johnny, speak. Now."

Johnny scrunched up his face and sighed. "It was Tyler, okay? It was Tyler."

"Caden, that true?" Sam asked.

Caden looked at his dad. "Yes, sir."

"How did this happen?" Dean asked.

Johnny cleared his throat. He straightened up, shoulders back and looked his dad in the eye. "We were just shootin the shit about the hunting life and it came up that we learned to drive around Ty's age. He said how big city kids don't usually learn to drive because they all take the trains and stuff, so we thought it would be like a once in a lifetime chance for him. Figured since we learned at his age it'd be ok."

Dean took a step closer to his son and crossed his arms. "You thought we'd be okay with this because he's 13 and that's when we taught you?"

Johnny blinked. "No, sir. We knew you wouldn't be okay with it. I meant we thought it'd be ok, like we thought he'd be able to do it and nothing bad would happen."

"You mean you thought you wouldn't get caught?"

Johnny dropped his eyes for a brief moment. "I guess so, sir."

Dean quirked an eyebrow. "You guess so?"

After a deep breath Johnny amended. "I mean, yes, sir. We figured we'd get away with it."

"And when did this little discussion go down?" Sam asked.

"At the…" Johnny paused. "At the pond." He finished quietly.

"So, the movie, that was a cover story. You never planned to go, did you? Caden?" Sam punctuated his son's name.

Caden straightened up, trying to portray the same confidence as his cousin. "No, sir. It was a cover."

Sam nodded. "Boys, turn back around. Tyler, stay put. We'll be back, and I don't want to hear a word out of this room."

All three boys did as they were told. Nobody seemed to move a muscle while the adults were out of the room. It was as if they had turned into statues and were frozen in time, a phenomenon that impressed Dean most of all, given that his son probably hadn't gone that long without moving or talking since the day he was born. It may have felt like an eternity to the boys, but it was only about fifteen minutes until Dean and Sam reentered the room.

"Okay boys. Caden, join your cousin on the couch. Johnny, over here."

Dean was standing next to the big armchair and by the time Johnny turned around his belt was already off and in his hand. Johnny blanched. He knew better than to stall but he couldn't help the momentary hesitation. It had been a bit since he'd felt the lick of the leather, and it looked like he was about to get it with an audience just to make matters worse.

He finally kicked his brain into gear and went to stand next to his father.

"Do we need to talk about what you did wrong today?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Then tell me why you are about to receive this whipping."

Johnny couldn't help his gaze dropping to the floor. "For lying about our plans, letting Tyler drive the car, letting Caden take the blame, for not coming clean right away, and for not living up to my responsibility as the oldest."

Dean looked tenderly at his son, he hadn't expected that last answer, but he sure could understand it. "That about covers it. Jeans down, over the arm."

Johnny pushed his jeans down and said a silent prayer that his dad let him keep his boxers up. Getting his ass handed to him in front of Caden and his cousin was bad enough, but if he'd had to do it on the bare, it would have been that much more mortifying. He leaned over the arm of the chair and rested his forearms on the plush cushion. He let his head fall between his shoulders and waited for the licking to begin.

Dean didn't start with any sort of warm up, he rarely did. He preferred to go in hard and fast, figured get it started and get it over with as quickly as possible, no need to drag out the unpleasantness longer than necessary. At the first couple lashes Johnny could hear gasps coming from the couch, he knew it had to be Tyler. Johnny wasn't sure what type of discipline Ty was used to, but this was nothing new for Caden. Based off his reaction, Johnny could guess that Ty's dad didn't administer a good what for very often, if at all.

Johnny could feel from the force of the lashes that this was on the harsher side of the punishments he received. Dean didn't take kindly to compromising car safety, so it was pretty much what he was expecting. Johnny squeezed his eyes shut and bit his cheeks, he was going to do everything he could not to cry, though he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out. He gasped sharply as the belt hit his sit spots, and a groan finally escaped his lips as his dad moved down to his upper thighs. Tears were fighting to break free from behind his eyes. Three quick and sharp lashes hit his under curve and he bit his wrist to try to muffle the moans that he couldn't hold back. After that, every lick elicited some sort of sound from Johnny. Finally, the first sob left his lips, and Dean decided he'd had enough.

After Johnny collected himself and pulled his jeans back into place, Dean sent him back to the corner and then it was Caden's turn.

Caden understood the severity of the whipping Johnny had just gotten and it made him feel like he had a pit in his stomach full of rocks. Even though they pretty regularly got in trouble together, they weren't punished together all that often and seeing the whipping you're going to get before you get it was absolutely horrible.

Sam met Caden at the same chair and, like Johnny, he lowered his jeans and bent over the arm. Caden pretty much got the same as his cousin, though something could be said about Sam's extra height and the velocity of the swing. Caden might argue he got it worse, but who could know for sure. Tyler gasped and winced at Caden's lashes the same he did at Johnny's. Caden wasn't able to remain stoic as long as his cousin was, each lich elicited a yell from him pretty early on. But, like Johnny, he tried to muffle the noise by shoving his arm in his mouth.

Soon enough, it was over and Caden once again joined Johnny in the corner. It was then that Sam turned to Tyler, he sat next to him on the couch and put a hand on his knee.

"Hey, Ty, you okay?"

Tyler had tears in his eyes, but he mutely nodded at Sam's question.

"I take it your dad doesn't have quite the same discipline style we do around here."

Tyler shook his head. "No."

"I know it can seem scary when you're not used to it. But our boys understand the consequences of their actions, and we do what we do to keep them safe. Can you understand that?"

"I guess so.' Tyler whispered.

"You know, when I went into the kitchen earlier, I called your dad and I told him what happened."

Tyler's eyes widened. "Was he mad?"

Sam offered a lopsided grin. "Well, he certainly wasn't happy. He wasn't happy about the driving, but I think more than that he was unhappy about you're breaking the rules in a house where you're a guest."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect you or your rules."

Sam smiled. "Thank you, I appreciate that. Your dad wants you to call him in the morning to talk about everything, but tonight," Sam hesitated. "Well, I told him how we were going to punish the boys, and he said you should be punished the same."

It took a few seconds for the weight of that statement to register in Tyler's brain, but when it did his eyes grew wide as spoons and he began to frantically shake his head. "No, you can't do that to me. No."

"Dad, come on." Caden piped in from the corner.

Sam turned. "You wanna go another round, son?"

"No, sir." Caden squeaked.

"Then be quiet."

Sam turned back to Tyler. "Look Ty, what you boys did today was dangerous. You could've seriously hurt yourselves, or someone else. A car is nothing to mess with and if you don't know what you're doing they can be incredibly hazardous. Now, I'm not gonna give you the same that I gave Caden. I'm not gonna use the belt, just my hand. But this is gonna happen because we need to know that you understand how serious this is and that you will never do anything like this again."

"I- I get it. I do. I- I w-won't do it again. Ever again!"

Sam took a breath and rubbed a hand up Tyler's back. "I really am glad to hear that, Ty. But it doesn't change what happened today and it won't get you out of your punishment. Now, we could sit here all night and talk about this, knowing it is going to happen eventually. Or we could get it over with, then enjoy some dinner and maybe a movie before bed. The choice is yours."

Tyler just sat there with tear filled eyes, mouth gaping. When he finally spoke his voice was quiet, "I-I-I don't even know what to do… I'm scared." He whispered.

"I know, and that's okay," Sam assured him. "I'll help you. Just lay over my lap, I've got you."

Sam helped guide Tyler over his lap, Tyler was already trembling and sobbing. Sam pulled Tylers body close and held him with his left hand, then he put his right leg over both of Tyler's, locking them in. "Okay, Ty, I'm gonna start now."

Tyler slowly shook his head. "No, please." He whispered.

Tyler was yelling from the first smack. His jeans were up, and Sam was barely hitting at half force, but having never been disciplined like this before, the shock of the situation was just as harrowing as the pain itself. As his backside started to warm up, Tyler reached his hand back to try to block the spanks, but Sam simply guided the hand to his lower back and held it in place. It didn't take long for Tyler to start begging and crying. Sam didn't even touch his thighs or sit spots, truthfully the boy probably wouldn't even feel it anymore within 24 hours, but Sam began to wrap it up anyway. He finished with a flurry of smacks to the meatiest part of Tyler's bottom, to which Tyler let out a few choking sobs, and then it was over.

Tyler lay over Sam's lap, panting and coughing, trying to calm himself down. Sam rubbed circles on his back before helping him sit up. Sam wiped a few tears away from the boys' eyes before asking, "do you want a hug?" Without answering Tyler launched himself into Sam's chest and squeezed his shirt tight. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Tyler was ready to stand up. Sam called the other boys out from the corner.

"I hope we've all learned a lesson in honesty and safety tonight boys. I don't want to have to repeat this with any of you."

"Yes, sir." Johnny and Caden replied automatically.

"Yes…. Sir" Tyler followed up, a little more slowly.

"Great." Sam smiled. "Then let's go get some dinner, smells like pizza."

Tyler smiled back and followed Sam and his cousins into the kitchen.