Two Birds On A Wire

ch 24

"E--vie?" Mia cocked her head to a side as she eyed her big brother suspiciously.

"Hey Mia. Where's mom?" Ivan's voice hitched as he tried to keep himself from panting, holding on to the door frame as he took off his shoes.

Mia looked Ivan up and down one last time and in a rush, she ran into the kitchen. Probably to fetch her mom. "Mama, Evie brought a new backpack!!" She squealed, her voice dripping with excitement.

With a confused face, Ivan's mom came out of the kitchen to see her son walking up the stairs with another human clinging on his back. "Ivan!?" She couldn't help herself being loud.

"Yes, mom?" Ivan turned his head, trying to face his mom.

"Who is that?!"

"The friend I told you I was bringing over" he said in a cool tone and continued ascending the stairs. If his shoulder wasn't being weighed down on, he would have said that with a shrug.

"Why is he--"

"He's sick, mom. And no, he doesn't need any medications. And yes, we already ate, so I guess we are going to bed. See you in the morning!" And just like that, Ivan got into his room and locked the door behind him. He went over and tossed Julian on to the bed.

He felt the blood rush back into his muscles and the sensation of flight came to him. He eyed Julian and clicked his tongue, plopping down beside him. "Dousche".

Ivan was in the middle of stretching his arms when he heard Julian murmuring in his sleep.
He pursed his lips as he saw the other boy's eyebrows twitch.

"Yo, hey, Jules" He tapped on Julian's cheek, trying to wake him. "Wash yourself and go to bed, dude" he shook him by the jaw and Ivan thought he heard Julian say something-- Something more than  a murmur.

"Huh?"

"Alex--" Julian grabbed at Ivan's hand and held it tight.

"Who?"

Who the fudge was Alex?

"Alex, don't go" Ivan saw the other boy shrinking into himself.

"Dude, It's me, Ivan. Who the hell ar--"

"Please"

Ivan's eyes softened when he saw Julian's face getting filled with something like hurt, something he had never seen on that face. He wondered what was going on in that head. He reluctantly placed a hand over the other boy's forehead and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere" he said, in hopes that it would calm the other boy down. Eventually, it did help and Julian's face once again went back to as relaxed as it used to be.

Ivan reluctantly freed his hand from the other boy's, careful not to wake him up and watched him with a frown.

Who the hell was he just talking about?

May be a long lost friend? Or would it be someone else? What if they were lovers?

The thought came like a lightning bolt and Ivan found himself gaping.

Well, does that mean he is... Gay?

The more he thought about it, the more messier his mind got.