Across the pond

The first night

Sam jumped out of the car and shut the door, the sun was just about to go down and the birds were joyfully singing their last song. He looked over at his new house, it was massive! It had a large dark blue roof with mutch lighter blue wood siding and a bright red door. The group home he had lived in was smaller than this.

Judd climbed out of the back and tossed him his bag with a grunt, Sam caught it awkwardly almost dropping it, making Judd chuckle.

They made their way into the house "ok Nicky why don't you show your brother around, give him the grand tour" Elliot chirped, taking off his jacket.

Nick looked over "uh yeah sure". He looked up at Sam, who was a good six inches taller than him "follow me" he walked to the left, followed by Sam. They were in a large blue living room "this is the living room, don't put your feet on the table unless you want mom to make you clean the whole room" Sam nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

They walk through and into the kitchen "this is the kitchen, snacks are in the pantry. If it has Judd written on it don't eat it he'll kill you"

Sam nodded "noted".

Nick pointed into the other room "that's the dining room, where we eat" Sam nodded

They walked upstairs, Sam almost knocked Nick over by walking up them too fast. Nick pointed to a door covered in police tape and street signs "That's Judds room. He skins trespassers" Nick added casually

"He seems like the sort" Sam follows nick down the hall

Nick pointed to four other doors "that's Leas room, that's the bathroom, that's mom and dad's room, this one's mine andd" he stopped in front of the second from last door "this is yours I guess" he opened the door "oh and the door over there is to the attic"

Sam nodded and walked into his room "I've never had a room to myself before, this place is massive" he walked around his new room. There was a bed in the right hand corner with a big window next to it, a closet stood against the far wall and there was a desk beside it

"really, you haven't?" Nick asked, leaning in the doorway.

"No, I shared a room with my parents and then with a girl called Grace in the group home"

"Wait, they let you room with a girl? Nice"

Teto buzzed in Samuels ear, making him swat her away "yeah.. not really-" he opened the other door in his room"whoa I get my own bathroom??"

"Yeah, I have one too. Sometimes Judd flushes the toilet while you're in the shower and you get hit with cold water so- be careful"

"I keep the door locked"

"Yeah that won't help, he learned how to pick locks in third grade"

Sam put his bag down"so.. he's always been like that"

"Yeah, he's an agent of chaos"

Sam sat on his bed and stretched "yeah, I've dealt with people like him before-" he winced slightly and held his side in pain

Nick took out his phone "Im gonna go, mom and dad are downstairs so.. bother them if you need them" he closed Sam's door and wandered down the hall to his room.

Samuel closed his curtains and picked up his bag. He he sat it on his bed and started to unpack, he took out his ds and games and put them on hie bedside table. He took off his hoodie and winced, changing out of his binder, he had worn it for too long again. Teto buzzed loudly "careful he almost found out your secret!" She screamed Sam sighed

"It's not a secret, Mr and Mrs Birch know.. he probably already knows" he puts his hoodie back on, covering himself again "you can't really hide being trans from someone you live with''

***

They were all sat around the dinning room table, Mr Birch had served spaghetti and meatballs with salad. Elliott stood up "before we eat, a toast. To family, and our new son, Sam" he placed his hand on Sam's shoulder who was sat to the right of him."Our beautiful family's love nourishes me far more than this meal ever did, now lets eat." He smiled widely and took his seat.

Sam gently moved his food around his plate. He loved spaghetti but his stomach felt a little unsettled, more than usual anyway. He slowly ate and looked around the table, Judd slashed at his spaghetti with his knife with a chuckle. For a second he caught Nick side eyeing his chest with his peripheral vision, he quickly slouched more.

"Are you settling well Sammy?" Diane asked from across the table, placing her knife and fork down so Sam could see he had her full attention.

Sam smiled at the nickname "um, yea this house is amazing. I've never lived in a place like it.. I'm just a little jetlagged that's all" he pushed his food around

"I'm glad you like it here sweetie because this is your home" Elliott sipped at his glass of wine "did you know that Duke Ellington, a famous jazz musician lived and died in this house!"

"Wow, that's cool" Sam drinks his water "is that who we're listening too?"

"Yes, one of the last albums before he died" Diane "I love this early work though" sam nods "Nicky," Diane looks over at Nick "will Andrew be coming over this week?"

Nick looked up from his dinner "I dunno, he's pretty embarrassed about what happened on valentine's day-"

"And he's still a bald fuck." Judd chuckled darkly

"Nicky are you even sure you want to be friends with someone who pulled a kid out of his wheelchair?" Leah poured herself more water

Sam cocked his head slightly "who did what?"

"His friend Andrew pulled a kid out a wheelchair then a girl ripped his hair out. Heard it was hilarious" Judd smirked

"Wow.. why did he do that?...'' Sam looked at Nick

"He liked this girl and she was close with the kid. He got pissed off when she rejected him he smashed a TV, pulled Larse out his wheelchair and tried to fight a mailbox" Nick said casually, eating.

"Bit of an overreaction" Sam wiped his mouth, he had finished his food. He pushed away his plate

Diane got up and picked up everyone who had finished their foods plates "Andrew can be a bit of an odd ball"

***

Sam sighed, squirting some toothpaste on his toothbrush. He put the tube on his sink and turned to face the wall, watching himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth always felt weird. "You drank a lot of water at dinner" Teto hummed "what if you wet the bed?? Diane and Elliot will yell at you and kick you out!!!!" She screamed

"I haven't wet the bed in years, and I'll go before bed. It wasn't that much water.." he swatted at Teto, but was still worried about what she said. He spat out his toothpaste and washed off the brush "it's ok... Everything will be ok" he said, only half to Teto, half to himself.

He used the bathroom and walked out into his room. He took some time to look around his room some more, Elliot said they could decorate his room however he wanted. He smiled widely when he saw a lamp next to his bed, he was afraid of the dark. The group home didn't care and bedtime was absolute hell for years but now he has some light.

Samuel turned on the lamp and then turned the light off, he speed walked to the bed. He smiled and climbed under his comforter, he layed down and relaxed looking at the ceiling.

A deep voice grumbled from under the bed "Finally, we're out of that shitthole".