Cody learns to love

The one chapter where Fox reveals something

  Thanks to everyone who left comments of their guesses in the end of the last chapter. Were you right? Read and find out.

  "Explain."

  Fox looked at Cody, then at the small box in Cody's hands, then at the floor. He looked guilty? Why did he look guilty? Did Cody say it too harshly?

  "Fox," Cody said in a softer tone. "Why do you have this?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" Fox asked in the tone Cody knew Fox used when he wanted to sound like he was alright. He wanted to pull Fox closer, place a kiss into his longer than usual hair, forget the whole thing and never speak of it again. Only he needed to ask Fox why first.

  "No, Fox, it isn't obvious. You are gonna have to explain."

  "I don't have to explain anything!"

  "Fox-"

  "No, I don't have to explain!" Fox yelled. "I don't have to tell you anything!"

  "You-"

  "I'm not telling you anything! I don't have to tell you anything! It's not like you found drugs or alcohol in my room!"

  "You are right, Fox," Cody managed to say before Fox cut him off again.

  "I won't te- what?!"

  "You are right, Fox. You did nothing wrong," Cody soothed. "Everything is fine, we just need to talk, okay? I'm sorry if I spoke too harsh, I'm not angry with you. I'm just confused."

  "Y-you are not mad?"

  "Of course I'm not mad, Fox. You did nothing wrong, nothing illegal. I'm just a little confused. We will both calm down and we will talk, okay?" Cody proposed. Fox nodded and Cody dared to bring their foreheads together in a keldabe kiss. He was pleasantly surprised when the teenager didn't pull back. He gently pushed Fox to sit on the bed before closing the door. Privacy was important to Fox.

  "Can we talk?" Fox asked. Cody hated how unsure the teen looked. As if he expected Cody to deny him the talk. If there weren't the past bad experiences with mind healers, he would take Fox to one. It worried him how unsure about his position in the family and insecure about everything Fox was.

  "Sure," he sat down next to Fox, leaving enough space between them that they weren't touching but still close enough that Fox could lean into him if he wanted to. He took a deep breath and started the seemingly harmless yet so weird conversation. "Why do you have this, Fox?"

  "I think that's pretty obvious," Fox shrugged. He was avoiding Cody's eyes.

  "Fox, I just found a black hair dye hidden in your room. So forgive me if I'm being an idiot but it doesn't seem obvious to me."

  "Maybe I want to dye my hair."

  "Your hair is black."

  Cody let Fox nervously stare at his hands and waited for the boy to speak. Fox didn't start talking but he eventually moved. He disheveled his carefully styled curls with the fingers of his right hand. And unless Cody was seeing things, those were strands of white in Fox's hair.

  "Is that- how did that happen?"

  "I don't know. It just... sort of happened?" Fox offered. He was still avoiding Cody's gaze. "I just- I first noticed one white hair a few months ago but it was one hair so I just- I just pulled it out. Then there were more and there was too much of them so I just hid it but it's hard and then you wanted to cut my hair and-"