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Chapter Twenty-One

  "I'm done! I can't do this anymore!" Sebastien threw himself down onto the couch, the smell of new fabric filling his nose.
  "I thought you were a gym bro now. Can't do a little physical labor to make this house a home?" Alek chuckled, tossing a box onto the floor next to the couch.
  Sebastien flopped over. "Says you, only carrying in pillows and blankets."
  "It's what we need right now for the living room. Come on, we're nearly done." Alek placed his hands on his hips.
  "Why didn't we hire a crew to do this?"
  "Because I want to put in the work."
  "Ugh. Why can't you just be a little spoiled sometimes?" Sebastien huffed, sitting up and keeping his eyes on Alek. "You look really hot right now. Wanna fuck me on our new couch?"
  Alek chuckled. "I thought you were tired?"
  "Tired of unpacking. Not tired of you." Sebastien smirked.
  "Let's get back to work so we can have everyone over tonight like we promised. If we work fast enough, we might have time before they get here."
  "Fine." Sebastien stood up. "But don't blame me if I end up fucking you against a dresser."
  Alek raised his eyebrows. "I thought you wanted me to fuck you?"
  "Depends on how this goes." Sebastien shrugged.
  The two of them got all of their things into the house, finishing sometime after 5pm. A few days previously, they had the house painted. The kitchen was navy blue, their bedroom was Alek's favorite shade of green, and their ensuite bathroom was still up in the air (Alek wants it pink, but "That is gonna make for some terrible mirror selfie lighting, Leks."). The living room was rather open to the rest of the house, so the walls were a gentle shade between brown and grey. Alek was very excited to decorate with colors and he had insisted that Sebastien paint a mural somewhere, so a neutral tone was necessary in his opinion.
  "Is that it? Are we done?" Sebastien asked, after placing the last throw pillow onto their bed.
  "We're done." Alek smiled, stepping back and looking at the room.
  The first painting Sebastien did for Alek was hanging above the bed, the green and gold perfectly matching the walls and throw pillows. The second painting Sebastien did was hanging in their living room, along with some other artwork. At first, Sebastien didn't like the thought of putting up a painting of them in their living room, but Alek convinced him. In hindsight, he couldn't imagine it anywhere else.
  "Finally." Sebastien walked over and grabbed Alek's hips, pulling him closer. "Shall we christen this new bed of ours?"
  "Christen?" Alek raised his eyebrows, laughing gently.
  Sebastien shrugged. "Word of the day, I guess."
  Alek shook his head, then slowly ran his hands through Sebastien's hair. He exhaled softly and traced Sebastien's jawline with his thumbs. He stepped forward and leaned down, resting his forehead against Sebastien's.
  "I love how tender this moment is, but can we have sex now?"
  Alek chuckled and leaned down to kiss Sebastien. "Yes, we can."
  The second Alek grabbed his sides and deepened the kiss, their doorbell rang repeatedly.
  Sebastien groaned as Alek pulled away.
  "That's gotta be Malcolm." Alek said, stepping back and turning towards the door.
  "If it is, he's getting punched."
  Alek rolled his eyes. "This is the time we told everyone to show up. It's on us, not them."
  "More you than me, Mr. Perfectionist." Sebastien rolled his eyes and followed Alek downstairs. "A little to the right, no to the left. No, Bash, that goes over there. Move that plant like two centimeters over."
  "Mock me all you want. Our house looks beautiful." Alek said, then swung the front door open. He looked down at the short blond-haired boy. "You're early."
  "It's a sleepover. You should've known I'd be early." Malcolm gasped as he walked into the house. "It's so nice! You guys live here?"
  Alek chuckled and nodded. "As of today."
  The doorbell rang again, making Malcolm turn and point to it. "Aha! I'm not early."
  Sebastien rolled his eyes and answered the door this time. "Ky! AJ!"
  The two boys brought Sebastien into bro hugs, then walked into the house.
  "How's college been?" Sebastien asked.
  "I hated going to class my first year, I just wanted to do basketball, but this first semester was really great. I enjoyed it." Kylo said with a gentle smile.
  "I loved it. I thought I would be discouraged by all the big college basketball guys, but I fit right in." AJ said, tossing his backpack onto the floor of the living room. "We the first ones here?"
  "Am I invisible or something?" Malcolm asked, holding his arms out.
  AJ gasped and ran over, hugging Malcolm and picking him up off of the ground. "Baby!"
  "Ariiii!" Malcolm laughed.
  "Oh I missed the sound of that." AJ smiled, setting him down and then ruffling Malcolm's hair. The two boys quickly jumped into an energetic conversation, while the other three calmly conversed by the front door.
  In just under 20 minutes, everyone else had filed into the Rochester-Castillo house and painted the picture Sebastien had seen when they first took a tour of the place; the people he loves all over the living room, laying on top of their jackets and each other.
  Sebastien was on the floor, leaning back against Alek's legs. There was a movie playing on the TV, but no one was paying it any attention. The ten humans were a mess of legs, blankets, and snacks.
  Sebastien couldn't help but to smile at the sound of talking and laughter; the sound of home.
  The doorbell rang suddenly, making Sebastien turn around to give Alek a confused look. Alek looked from the door to Sebastien and leaned up with a smile. "I invited Adam. I hope that's okay."
  "Of course it's okay. He deserves a redemption arc." Sebastien smiled, placing his hand on Alek's knee and standing up. He walked through the aesthetic mess and swung the door open, keeping a gentle, welcoming smile on his face.
  "Hey." Adam said, adjusting the strap on his backpack.
  "Welcome to our casa." Sebastien stepped back and motioned towards the living room, where a few heads had turned to look at them.
  Adam followed him to the living room. He slowly took his backpack off and sat it next to everyone's else's. He gave an awkward wave and then pushed his hands into his jacket pockets.
  "Guys..and Sev, you know Adam." Sebastien said, motioning to the visibly awkward boy.
  "Hi."
  "This isn't AA, you don't have to introduce yourself and get a greeting back. Take a seat." Ben said, nodding to the empty space on the floor. He then leaned up and grabbed a bag of chips off of the coffee table.
  Sebastien resumed his place in front of Alek, getting a kiss on top of the head as Alek leaned forward and reached around him for his drink.
  "Adam, please sit, you're making everyone uncomfortable." Alek chuckled.
  "Sorry." Adam said, then slowly sat criss-cross next to Kylo, who was across from Sebastien on the other side of the coffee table, with his back to the front door.
  "Did we miss something while we were at college? Last I knew, Adam was kind of a bitch and Alek hated him." AJ said.
  Kylo smacked his brother on the arm. "AJ, you can't say shit like that."
  "It's fine." Adam laughed gently, looking over to Alek. "We worked things out."
  Alek smiled. "We did. And for the record, I never hated him. It was a typical sibling rivalry."
  Everyone started talking at once, sentences and laughter overlapping one another.
  "Right...sure."
  "Oh I have a lot of stories that disprove that."
  "I've literally heard you say you hate him before."
  "Yeah, you definitely hated me, but I hated you too, so it's fine." Adam chuckled, waving it off.