Brotherly Bonding [BoyxBoy]

Brotherly Bonding- 7

Slide-click. "Check mate."

Wordlessly, my eyes stare at the board sitting between me and Ash. I shake my head as it sinks in; yet again I've lost.

For years we've played, for as long as I could figure out what the rules were and actually make a strategy. Not that it ever helped. I've pretty much never won. At least he doesn't let me win, I'd take that as a new low.

"Really?" I say in disbelief. He smiles lightly, reassuringly. "Wow..."

"Again?" he asks. "You could win this time."

"I'm thinking my king has some sort of disability..."

"Some of those things are hereditary though," he laughs warmly, bringing a smile to my face.

"Very true. Again!"

First pawn up two, his pawn one. Move my knight, he moves a pawn two. Slide, slide. I narrowly escape losing a piece within the first minute, but suddenly- click. Using my bishop, he loses his knight.

I can tell by his eyes that it was a surprise to him too. As we both hesitate for a second, the sound of loud footsteps running up the stairs booms through the walls. Seeing as that is a normal interuption here, we play on. We even ignore the slamming doors.

I'm just about to take another piece, having lost two already, when Tyler barges in. "Found him Ben."

Ben's face appears over his shoulder, they wear matching grins. Tyler clears his throat, "So Ash, we've got th..."

His eyes fall on me.

"We've got the stuff, we're on for tonight? Tanner and Jesse said it's good!" Ben says happily. There's excitement in his voice, so much so I have to wonder why he's so much happier than usual.

"Oh! Um..." Ash's eyes travel from them to me, "What about Jordan?"

"He'll have to miss out..." Ben jumps on Tyler's back, arms wrapped around his cousin's neck. Tyler takes his weight surprisingly well, holding Ben's legs around himself. "Obviously!"

"Okay. Yeah, we're good for tonight."

"For what?" I ask, confused. Ash's head snaps back to me.

"It's nothing-"

"Actually, Lucas said to ask if we could be on for like... Now," Ben tells him.

"Ask?" he raises an eyebrow.

"Fine he said now." Tyler drops Ben, elbowing him backwards. "Let's go Ash."

"Wait, what?" I ask as he gets up from my bed. I follow, trying to catch his eye. "I thought we were..."

I trail off when he doesn't even glance at me. I wave uselessly behind his back.

"Put the game away, talk to you later midget." he closes the door with finality.

"Okay," I say flatly.

I set the board in the bottom drawer of my dresser, collecting the pieces and putting the bag on top. All the while the short exchange is running through my head. I put on some music, then pull out a picture I haven't added to my mural yet.

Once the clothes are pushed back, I scan the wall. There's a little space between two, one of Jesse, Tyler and Ben, the other Jordan and Ash. Rearranging them, I slip a solitary Ash in. He's making the face of a lion, eyes and mouth wide, hand turned into a claw. We both had a laugh when I took it. I put a hand on my hip, looking over the countless photographs.

I smile at the faces of the ones I care for, the faces that I couldn't live without.

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