Transaction

Break In

-3rd Person Perspective-
When Devon got home from work the next day, he got out of his car then stopped. Something was wrong. Something about the house was wrong, he could feel it. He slowly unlocked the front door and stepped in, closing it slowly behind him, leaving it unlocked. He heard scuffling inside, and he almost panicked. "Meera, is that you?"

No response. The scuffling got louder as he approached. Devon balled up his hands into fists and ran into the kitchen. It didn't look like a crime scene, it looked like someone was taking everything out of his fridge. And someone was. An older boy was moving things around, taking stuff out, and opening and closing takeout boxes. "Can I help you?" Devon asked.

No response. But the boy seemed to find a box he wanted, opening it and grabbing a fork from a drawer. He returned all the other items back into the fridge. Once he sat down and began eating, Devon could see his face. "Hey, I know you."

The boy looked up at him and narrowed his eyes. If Devon ever saw Aiden extremely angry, it would look like this. This kid had the same hair, the same facial structure, and the same build. "You're Charlie." Devon spoke it as a fact.

When the boy spoke, he even sounded like Aiden. "Congratulations, you got it right."

"How did you get in?"

"The screen door to the balcony was unlocked."

"The one on the second floor?"

"Is there a different one?"

He spoke with a lot of snark, and a lot of anger. Devon realized he needed this kid on his side if he ever had a chance of going farther with Aiden. Whatever happens today will be reported back to Charlie's older brother, and it would be awesome if that report was nice.

"Charlie, how can I help you?"

"How many times did you guys have sex?"

"What?"

"How. Many. Times. Did. You. Guys. Have. Sex?"

"Charlie, your brother wouldn't want me answering those kinds of questions."

"How old are you?"

Devon was confused at the change in conversation. "I'm 24."

"Sounds like you're old enough to make your own decisions."

Devon scoffed. He usually surrounds himself with adults, so he wasn't used to this kind of disrespect. Especially in the lifestyle, people treated each other with kindness and respect.

"Charlie, what do you need to know?"

He paused his eating and looked up at Devon, his eyes a darker shade of blue than Aiden's. "Are you a danger to him?"

"I would never hurt him."

Charlie stared into his eyes, digging into his soul. Devon was the first to look away. He looked at the phone in his own hand. "I should tell Aiden you're here."

"Don't. Please."

He weighed his options. Win the favor of Charlie, or win the favor of Aiden? "You get 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I call Aiden."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"Any more questions?"

"Do you think it's smart, doing what you're doing?"

"And what is it that I'm doing?"

"Playing with his heart. In the morning he cooks breakfast while waiting for you to call. Danielle says he waits for you to show up at work. And you probably just have sex with him, pay him, and tell him to get out. You're fucking with his head. And when he's out of the picture, I have to step up. Me. I take care of the kids, and I don't finish my homework. I cook dinner and try not to fail my classes. I walk home alone because our car broke and Aiden, who used to walk with me, is busy with you. And-"

"That's not how it goes. Just so you know. We haven't had sex."

He seemed capable of calming down from his rant enough to say "What?"

"We haven't had sex. He's not making a lot of money off of me right now. He would make more if he admitted he wanted to date me. We've mostly just been... spending time with each other."

"You're serious."

"Yes."

He stared at Devon furiously. There was a pounding on the front door, and Charlie knew it was his brother. Devon went to answer it, Charlie on his heels. When he swung the door open, Aiden was standing there, looking like he had been crying. Behind him were the other siblings; Ozzy, Luna, and Jasper.

"I need your help," Aiden pleaded to Devon, "I know we're angry at each other and I know we might not be on speaking terms but my brother is..."

He trailed off when he saw Charlie. "My brother is here. Here! Why... Oh no. Explain. Now. This better not be what I think it is because I could kill you, y'know."

Devon looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

He looked back at Charlie, then realized. "Oh. No! No no no! Not that. He broke into my house. I was gonna call you, but I... I don't know."

Aiden sighed in relief. Charlie pushed past Devon and picked Luna out of Ozzy's arms. He didn't look at Devon when he said "Thank you, Devon. Have a good night."

Devon nodded at him, and the family left.