Loving Mr Hudson (Part One) (MM Romance)

ten.

The afternoon autumn air hit the three of them as they stepped out of their front door. Oliver loved that kind of weather. He could layer up and be cosy as the golden brown leaves fell from the trees, crunching under his trainers as they walked. They had to get the bus to Kai's house but it was only a 10-minute journey. Apparently, Kai's family had a tradition in which they have an autumn barbeque every year and invite everyone they want. One year it was actually snowing, but barbeque they did.

Isabella's hair was in a bun on the top of her head with a scarf around her neck and she wore a knitted long-sleeved maroon-coloured dress with black tights and leather boots. Indy had their hair in a half up/half down style and sported a purple sweatshirt and grey leggings with white trainers. The twins had such cute individual styles and despite the fact that they look pretty different, now they both had long hair, sometimes it was harder to tell them apart, especially on days when Indy felt more feminine. Oliver wore one of his trusty hoodies and black skinny jeans with black trainers. Maybe one day he would change his style, but today wasn't that day.

They got off the bus which stopped almost right outside Kai's house. The air felt slightly warmer there, but perhaps that was just nerves jolting around in Oliver's stomach and heating up his body.

"You okay?" Isabella asked, reaching out and giving Oliver's hand a squeeze.

"Yep. I'll have to get used to meeting new people so may as well put in some practice now." With a deep breath, the three siblings walked up the path towards Kai's house and Indy pressed the doorbell. After a few seconds, a man answered.

"Indy! Welcome, come on in guys. You must be Indy's twin sister, Isa," he reached out and shook her hand, then turned to Oliver, extending his hand and he took it, giving it a shake, "and you must be the brother, Oliver. I'm Robert King, Kai's Dad. Very nice to meet you both. Make yourselves at home!"

Kai's dad was obviously older, due to them having him later on in life, but he had a young spirit within him. It sort of radiated from him, causing anyone around him to smile and have instant happiness.

"You're here!" Kai exclaimed as he ran down the stairs and held Indy in his arms, "When I left this morning you were still fast asleep. How are you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. Let's go see the rest of your family," Indy said before giving Kai a peck on his cheek.

Oliver awkwardly followed the twins and Kai through the house and out to the back garden where many, many people were. As they walked past, they stopped to say a quick hello to Kai and then continued their conversations. They all stood in groups, chatting away about who knows what, but despite not knowing what they were talking about, Oliver saw that whatever it was, it was interesting just by looking at everyone's faces. They'd stare intently at the person who was talking, allowing them to say their piece before someone replied and the stares began again. It all seemed so formal and Oliver truly felt out of place.

He stuck with the others, hoping he wouldn't lose them in the sea of people who were laughing and shouting at one another from across the huge garden. Oliver didn't realise just how big Kai's family's house was. He felt his stomach turning but controlled his breathing as best he could until they finally stopped at the top corner of the garden where Kai had set up a place for them. There were a couple of long garden sofas and chunky chairs around a low glass table. Blankets hung over the seats, ready for later on when the temperature dropped and snuggling was necessary.

"Here we go guys, I'll go grab us some drinks and snacks. Be right back," Kai said, smiling at them and as he walked past Oliver he whispered, "I hope this is okay for you, I tried to get an area away from where everyone else was. Let me know if you get anxious and I'll sort something out for you no problem," he didn't wait for an answer and left to get the drinks, but Oliver couldn't say anything anyway; he was just so overwhelmed with a sense of happiness and gratitude that Indy had such a caring person in their life.