What we've always been.

15. Madness is Awesome...

CHAPTER SONG: Beautiful People- Ed Sheeran ft Khalid

.............

Corey

I grab my suitcase and pull up the handle with Alec beside me his mouth open and his eyes looking around like a child. I smile at the sight if him. He looks better now, before the fear of flying seemed to be eating him alive. I grab his bag next and hand it to him.

"Come on." I say reaching for his hand on instinct.

Alec doesn't protest as we walk through people. He only lets go when we start descending the escalator. The airports glass and white aesthetic makes me feel like I'm waking through a spaceship. At the bottom of the escalator I catch the sight of a person I never thought I'd see again.

I look my dad, more than I do my mom, a fact that has haunted me for years. I got my blonde hair and green eyes from him, our chins and nose are similar too. As a kid I would always want my hair cut because I hated how it looked, but recently I realise it was because it made me look too much like him.

My brothers are there too. There's two of them, Conner and Caleb. Conner is as old as me and Calebs a year younger. We all have blonde hair but theirs is lighter while mine is dirty blonde. Their features favour their mothers, fair and round with speckled grey eyes. They're holding a sign with my name on it.

My mouth goes dry and for a split second I want to turn around and abandon the whole trip. Alec senses my fear and smiles at me.

"Come on." He says when we reach the bottom.

With his support I summon enough confidence to walk towards my estranged family. It takes my dad a second to recognise me, but my brothers see me almost immediately. Conner runs over and for a second I tense up not sure if he is eager to hug me or smack me. Turns out it was the first one. He holds me tightly his arms going around my back. Instinct makes me hug him back and all at once the negative emotions melt into nothing.

It feels good to hug him and I won't deny it. He smells like pine and freshness.

"I think he grew up a bit." Conner jokes as Caleb joins us.

"I don't see it. Looks just as little as the last time we saw him." Caleb says adding on to the joke.

He hugs me and I pretend to examine him.

"Yep." I say holding my chin. "Still as stupid as ever." I joke and Connef laughs.

"Don't be a smart ass." Caleb laughs.

His eyes find a very quiet Alec and light up like crazy. Puberty was kind to Conner, he grew into his tall body and filled himself up with some muscle. His eyes shine with mischief and lust as he steps towards Alec.

"Hello, and you are?" He asks slyly.

Alec fixes him with an amused expression.

"Alexander." He says. "Charmed I'm sure."

Conner smiles at Alec and looks at me.

"I like him." He says before hugging him.

Caleb is nicer about it, he hugs Alec as lovingly as he did me. Calebs hair is so long it almost goes over his eyes completely. I'm so distracted by the hugs and greetings that I space and forget about my dad. He walks over and goes in to hug me. My body tenses up but I force myself to hug him back as best I can.