Always in My Heart {BoyXBoy}

Chapter 4 - Growing up, and departing with family.

        It's been a few years now since the accident Joe thought to himself, a proud and saddening grimace storming over his face. He had come so far, the terrors and nightmares about his parents had all but stopped, he had been fully accepted by the family as if it was his from the start, even Logan the irritable older brother of Ty had begun to see Joe and his little brother. Ty and Joe were both coming to the age where changes would start to happen. Tyler on the other hand had not matured much at all. Both boys still clung to the comfort of their intertwined embraces. They had an unspoken, unrefined and undefined love for each other, a pleasing level of platonic friendship.

"It's been a long time hey Joe?" Tyler remarked as the boys threw the old uniforms onto hangers only to be lost in the back of their closets. It was summer once again and the boys were now both 13, meaning that when the autumn approached the boys would be starting upper school in year nine.

"Haha yeah, feels like an eternity" Joe retorted squishing his shirt on to the hanger. The boys had begun to develop body wise, they were both showing height, Tyler's somewhat expected from his father's six foot figure, Joe too was showing signs of decent height. Both the boys stood even at five foot five inches. Tyler's black hair was still messy and irregular length, his body shape taking a turn for the worse in the eyes of the school athletes, so what if he was a little chubby?, he was not obese in the slightest on an up note. Tyler made up for his lack of athleticism with the soft heavenly gaze of his eyes, dark brown and hard to avoid if you fell into his gaze, a mistake Joe often made. Tyler had mastered the art of manipulating his friend with the puppy dog eye technique. Joe on the other hand had maintained a well kept shape not skinny, not fat, but lacking in the muscle department he was like a jolly tall ball or flesh. 

"I'm glad school is over" sighed Joe, " I don't think I can handle any more of your cynicism. 

"Me cynical?" Tyler laughed. "I wonder who taught me that?" he continued.

"Oh and there's the sarcasm and modesty " Joe gawked as his friend continued to pull flexing positions in nothing but his boxer briefs. 

"Like what you see" Tyler winked at Joe causing him to blush and push Tyler to his bed in a fit of angst. "Ew" was all Joe had responded with. While the boys had certainly gown more comfortable around each other, especially in summer where global warming had cause temperatures to rise a few degrees. They were always striding around the house in their underwear as if they owned the place. how ever the two had receded more in the social aspects of their life clinging to the company of each other and not leaving the house much, Alice and Charlie had dismissed this behaviour as a pre-teen/teen phase that they would soon grow out of, but only time would tell. The boys had managed to maintain two friends as well as their ever growing bond with each other, Abbie and Gabriel. Also in the same year group as Tyler and Joe, the group had become friends when they elected themselves as the social rejects of middle school. Abbie had light blonde hair down to her shoulders, and a beautiful face, although still developing in the chest area, Gabriel was thinly built and quite the athlete, though he never boasted his athletic ability, doubly so in front of Tyler and Joe. They didn't hang out much over the summer as all four could never decide on a reasonable common ground to meet. 

"Hey boy's dinners here" The echoing call for food had come, yet it's origin was unfamiliar when suddenly Tyler remembered Logan his older bother. Logan was 18 now and preparing his belongings for university, he had been accepted on a mathematics degree, but for the time being he had been working at the local fish and chip shop to earn a bit of extra cash. 

"Where's mum and dad" Tyler asked happily taking a plate filled with freshly fried chips and a cheeseburger. "At work, they aren't going to be home until it's late" Logan continued to explain. He had certainly matured over the years his rude demeanour and hate for his brother and Joe had all but vanished. "Hey Joe take your pick!" Logan barked in a concerned manner, he had been there for closing and had managed to get a large variety of food for free so the boys certainty weren't going hungry tonight. Charlie and Alice have been working more often and for longer now that the boys are capable of looking after themselves, and that Logan was mature enough now to babysit - As long as he wasn't womanising some girl on a date. "Right you two can play Xbox tonight if you want, I've got some work I really gotta do" Logan had managed to insist the boys play Xbox, it was a sure fire method of keeping them occupied for a few hours at least.