Ways Of Reality - The Untouched Scenes

Sleepovers Gone Wrong

Little ficlet because why not. I thought it was funny.

Sydney grumbled awake, and was already coming to the assumption that something was wrong. Turning his head, he didn't see James sleeping on the ground near the bed- or even on the bed next to him.

No, instead he found James at the window, sticking his upper body out of it and looking left to right. It reminded Sydney of a dog on a road trip.

"What're you doing?" Sydney asked him as he sat up fully, rubbing his eyes.

Looking back, James saw the redhead sit up and quickly moved back inside and shut the window, soon joining him on the bed. With a smile, James shook the other boy's shoulders. "Ha! You have a bedhead. You look like a hedgehog!" he exclaimed innocently after he made the resemblance.

Sydney grumbled and tried to push James off- especially when the boy tried to mess his hair up further, but it was no use. He laid down again and let James' attacks go on til he got bored, where he sat back and complained til Sydney was up again.

"Why were you looking out the window?"

"I was trying to find Francis' window and maybe throw something at it. His door is locked so I couldn't go in and wake Jack. We have to go home soon or else they'll all know we snuck out." James reasoned casually.

Ah yes, how could Sydney forget? None of this was 'allowed,' by the De León household standards but it still happened. There were no real repercussions for those actions anyway.

"C'mon Jem," Sydney mumbled as he pulled on James' coat sleeve. He hadn't realized till now, but the other boy had put on his day clothes already; he must have been ready to go for a while now. "I can open his door."

Slipping off the bed, Syd opened the top drawer of his nightstand and shuffled around a notebook till he was able to pick up a single silver key. Francis had given it to him for 'just in case' situations. He appreciated it, but never really had to use it. Nothing bad happened to them.

The hallway when they entered was already slightly lit up, the large windows from downstairs were already taking in the early morning sunlight. It was really pretty, when he thought about it, and he might've gone back to look for a camera to take a picture of it if he didn't have a task at hand to do.

Knocking on his brother's door, he waited to see if there was any answer. When there wasn't, Sydney slipped the key into the lock and turned it gently, hearing the soft click when it opened up with satisfaction. He didn't know why he liked that sound, he just did.

James was the first one to push into the room, looking around first to adjust to the darkness of the room. Not before tripping over things scattered on the floor, he moved and opened the curtains on the other side of the room, letting the light stream in. There was a groan in response, he couldn't tell from who, but it was good to know that someone was awake.

He was waiting for one of them to get up, but no one seemed to move. Not even Sydney, who was rubbing his eyes by the door.

"Jack. Jack get up, we gotta go." He began as he crossed the room, soon shaking his brother's bare shoulder on the bed.

"James?" He had gotten in response. It sounded like an angry grumble, but James knew he wasn't actually mad at him. However, when his older brother turned and looked at him, confirming that it was actually James and not anyone else, he was confused to see him sit up quickly and pull the blanket up more.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Jack asked him, turning to the door and soon finding his answer with Sydney pulling the key back out of the lock. He watched as the boy crossed the room and looked at Francis sleeping next to him.

"Francis," Sydney asked suddenly, shaking his brother. "Are you sick?"

Francis had to be shaken a couple more times before he woke up. And when he did wake, his only answer was a 'mm?' noise after turning his head. 

"You got bruises on you. I think you're sick." Sydney insisted, poking the side of his neck a few times after seeing the multiple bruises there.

That seemed to make John uncomfortable. "Could you two leave please? I'll take you home James, just leave for a minute, okay?"

"What's so wrong about waiting here, Jacky? You hidin' something from me?" 

"Like I could hide something from you, you snoop around too much. Now go."

"Oh." Came a new voice, Francis' suddenly after realizing his younger brother's words. He sat up now too. "I'm not sick, Syd. You need to go."

"They look bad, Fran-"

"Syd," He repeated in a warning tone, now covering the side of his neck with his hand. He shot a glare at John.

As Syd started crossing the room, he paused to pick up one of the items scattered across the room- one James almost tripped on. It was Francis' shirt. Confused, he looked back up at his brother before looking around the room again. It was all clothing items. "Wait."

The pieces seemed to click in James' brain like never before. "Ew! Were you guys having s-"

"James! I said leave, and I'll be out in a minute!" John's voice rose, but James could tell by the expression that he had been right. It wasn't just defensiveness.

Snickering, James went and grabbed his friend's arm before pulling him out of the room. Sydney started to laugh at the realization too, though it was in between coughs, as he had caught a cold a day or two ago.

"Eww that's gross," James remarked, a wrinkled nose of disgust but his mouth turned upwards at the thought of how embarrassed their brothers looked.

"Yeah, that's for grown-ups anyway." He knew that wasn't exactly true, Sydney was ten years-old and not dull for his age, but he found that his opinion on the matter seemed more mature. 

A few minutes passed, those two giggling and moving onto other topics until there was a knock on the door. And when the door opened, Francis stood there with his arms crossed. He looked embarrassed, but Jack was there too, looking much more angry at the situation.

"C'mon James, let's go."

James didn't have to think twice, and grabbed his backpack and gave Sydney a hug before slipping past Francis in the doorway. He didn't pass before giving him an exaggerated wink though, which caused John to yank him by the back of his shirt collar and drag him downstairs with a huff.

"Don't do that," He said. "Bye," He called back.

Francis gave a passing wave in response, for his head was elsewhere. He had decided to have a little chat with his brother, and stayed where he was to talk. Sydney didn't find it nearly as awkward as he thought he might have, but perhaps he was still thriving off of some of James' confidence. Francis couldn't seem to do the same.

God, this was going to be really, really weird for everyone after this...