Oxytocin

Chapter One

"Thank you so much for letting me stay," Wes said as they pulled up to the house.

"Anytime. You know I'm here for you," Jeff assured him, stopping the car.

Wes smiled. "Is it normal to be nervous? I've never met your siblings before or been in your house before. Well, I have, but..."

But it was midnight and I had been hit by a car and was hardly conscious.

"It's totally normal to be nervous. They'll love you, don't worry."

They got out of the car, getting their suitcases and heading up to the back door. Jeff unlocked it, letting Wes go in first.

He did, entering into the kitchen, where Mrs. Sterling was, making pancakes. He'd met her before, and she smiled at him. "Hi, boys."

"Hello," he said. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Oh, anytime," she dismissed. "You know we're here for you."

Feeling something hit his feet, he looked down, seeing a toy car. He looked back up, seeing a little girl staring at him, controller in hands.

"You're not my brother!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

Jeff laughed from beside him. "Annie, this is Wes, my friend. He's staying here for the break."

A kitten came peeling into the room, pouncing on the car and chewing on the fin on top of it. Annie looked back down, giggling, and steered the car away, the kitten bounding after it.

Wes blinked as she left. He thought remote-control toys were like... a TV thing, like kids having stuffed animals or cutesy pajamas. He didn't know it was real.

"Let's get our suitcases put away," Jeff said, and Wes nodded, both of them heading upstairs. There was some bright yellow spring at the top of the staircase, and he paused.

"What?" Jeff asked.

"Just, isn't it kind of dangerous to have a spring lying around? With kids and a cat?"

Jeff followed his gaze. "Oh, the Slinky?"

"The what?"

"It's just plastic, it's a kid's toy."

Seeing Wes's look of bewilderment, Jeff positioned it at the edge of the first step, pushing the top off. It slinked down each step rapidly, landing in a neat coil at the bottom.

Wes's eyes were wide. "Wh- that's really cool."

Jeff chuckled. "Invented in the 40s and all that's really changed is colors and material. Nobody messed with the flawless design. C'mon."

Wes followed him to the room they were staying in, shaking his awe from his mind.

They were mostly done unpacking when Mrs. Sterling called everyone for breakfast.

When they headed downstairs, it was a lot more lively than when they'd left it. Jeff's sisters were sitting themselves at the table, most still in their pajamas.

Naomi, Jeff's one-year-old and youngest sister, was in her high chair. Her eyes were wide as she saw Wes, bottom lip quivering.

"Oh! Hey, please- please don't cry," Wes said quickly, putting his hands up, trying to show he wasn't a threat. His voice went up an octave due to his panic.

"Ah!" She smiled at him, suddenly happy.

He sighed, relieved. "Oh, thank goodness. She's not crying."

One of the younger girls scrunched her nose at him. "You sound weird."

"Sophie, that's not a nice thing to say," Mrs. Sterling chided, sitting down and gesturing for Jeff and Wes to sit down as well.

"But he sounds like a cartoon."

Wes forced a chuckle. "Honestly, you aren't the first person to tell me that. I've never really understood it, though."

The four-year-old blinked at him, not understanding what he was saying.

"He's saying people tell him that a lot," Jeff told her. "But he doesn't know why."

She nodded, getting it. "Oh."

"You aren't used to being around kids, are you?" Lily, Jeff's 13-year-old sister, asked him.

"Am I that obvious?" Wes asked, rather sheepish.

"Kinda. Just try to remember being a kid, how you didn't understand complex words," she advised.

Wes frowned, trying to remember when he didn't understand complex words. He didn't think his memory went back that far.

"You know in Matilda, how she reads the entire library in the beginning because she's so smart?" Jeff asked, Lily nodding. "Yeah, that's Wes, so that advice won't do much good for him."

"Is it good?" Wes asked Jeff.

"Hm?"

"Matilda, is it a good book?"

"You haven't read Matilda?" Maddy exclaimed. "I love that book! And all the writer's books!"

Wes shook his head. "No, my parents didn't let me read anything written by Roald Dahl."

"What? Why?" Lily asked, confused.

"I don't know. I never asked them."

"You never wondered?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Of course I did."

"But... You said you never asked them," Lily pointed out.

"I didn't."

"So...?"

They looked at each other, each seeming confused.

"So... I wondered why my parents didn't let me read books by him," Wes explained.

"Right."

"And I never asked why they didn't let me read books by him."

"I don't get that. I mean, you wanted to know, right?"

"Of course."

"Then why didn't you ask them?"

Wes blinked, seeming taken aback, but Jeff cleared his throat, interrupting. "You two can discuss it after breakfast. Let's just eat right now, m'kay?"

Wes knew that meant that Jeff didn't want him to bring up his abusive family right then, and nodded. That memory he knew was bad.

Lily agreed, Jeff's look telling her that they should not talk about it in front of their younger siblings.