Somebody like you (boyxboy)

10. Welcome Home, Son

Trevor

Charlie was deathly pale when he leaned in towards me and steadied himself on my shoulder in the entrance hall of my house.

"Could you get me a glass of milk with sugar? Lots of sugar." His whisper was distant, like he barely knew what he was saying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and grabbed him to make sure he didn't fall.

"Just get me the milk, please." His eyes were drooping and I felt I couldn't leave him like that, but he pushed me towards the kitchen.

I hurriedly got what he asked and found him sitting on the floor when I returned. It looked like he was barely able to keep himself conscious.

"Here," I said, handing him the cup that was half milk, half sugar.

He grabbed it with weak fingers, that shook so violently I had to help him put the glass to his lips.

He drank hungrily, and only a moment after he'd finished, colour returned to his cheeks and his eyes cleared of the haze that had covered them.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes, much better. I should get something to eat though, do you know when we'll have dinner?"

"Perry should be coming home about now; she'll probably start making it straight away." Not five minutes later, the harpy entered the house, and I instantly tensed angrily.

"Hello, boys!" she said and stretched her arms out for us. Before I could duck away she had both me and Charlie in a hug. I freed myself as soon as I could.

"Hello, Mrs Williams," Charlie said and smiled.

"You must be Charlie! Such a handsome friend you've got yourself, Trevor!" she said and looked at Charlie like they shared a secret.

"Really?" I sneered, hoping the contempt for her was clear in my voice. I glanced at Charlie and caught a slightly surprised and hurt look on his face.

"Don't you agree?" Perry asked, looking genuinely perplexed, her gaze flickered between the two of us.

"I just don't think it's a stepmother's job to notice if the stepson's friends are handsome or not," I replied coldly and turned my back.

"Really, Trevor, this again? When are you going to grow up?" she asked sternly, and put a hand on her hip.

"Me? You are asking me to grow up?" I snapped.

"I know you don't like me, Trevor, but I don't think we should fight when your friend is here!" She sighed exasperatedly. "I'm sorry about that. Do you like pizza? I was planning on making home-made pizza," she told Charlie.

"Yes, very much."

"I'm sorry," I muttered to Charlie when Perry bustled off into the kitchen.

"Don't think about it." I led Charlie to my room, where the two of us would be sleeping for the weekend, even sharing my bed, as two of my cousins would be staying in the guest room.

* * *

Charlie

It didn't take long before Mrs Williams had finished the dinner, and I followed Trevor towards the meal with unusual enthusiasm.

Mr Williams had come home from work, and was waiting for us by the table. He was a tall, broad man, though not particularly handsome even though he looked pleasant enough. He shook both our hands with a firm grip, and smiled in a business-like way, as expected from a man who lived in a house that was practically a mansion, with a pretty wife that was some ten years younger than himself.

"Could you be nice and set the table, boys?" Mrs Williams called from the kitchen. Trevor sighed, but I went to the task with energy, appreciating the distraction.

Mr Williams started the meal by asking how Trevor had been the last weeks, and Trevor answered with some formality, like he was trying to impress but not used to succeeding. After a while, though, the conversation drifted towards me.

"So, what does your father do?" Mr Williams asked, while eyeing my shirt appreciatively.

"I'm afraid he is not around," was all I said, trying to keep my face passive, like I had done the last six years. Trevor's jaw dropped onto his plate, and he tried vigorously to make eye contact with me. I pointedly ignored him.

"Oh," he replied awkwardly. "So, why did you decide to go to Fall Boarding school?" he asked, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. I was quick to help him with that.

The rest of dinner was mostly me and Mrs Williams talking about this and that, while father and son both had the same, pensive expression on their faces. The only time we manged to get a reaction from Trevor was when we laughed at something his stepmother said, and Trevor directed an angry expression at everyone.

It was a surprisingly pleasant dinner despite all that, and I couldn't fathom why Trevor hated his stepmother so much.

Even though I had to force it down, and felt positively sick as I did, I managed to eat two slices of pizza, and was very proud of myself. I usually skipped lunch, but this last week, after my fight with Raymond, I had barely managed to eat a thing. It made me sick and I couldn't keep it down. On top of that Trevor had got himself a new companion and was spending more and more time with her.

"Come on," Trevor said once we had put the dishes in the washer, and led me towards a room I had yet to see. It turned out to be a home theatre. "I'll let you chose the movie," he said, "just this once."

Out of annoyance I chose a film that I knew would bore him, because he obviously hadn't even considered the fact that I might not want to watch anything in the first place. And true enough, he soon stopped making exasperated noises, and fell asleep instead.

He started awake at the end, and said, "did I miss anything?!" and apologised when I said he'd slept through three quarters of it.

We got ready for bed and sat down beside each other awkwardly.

"Do you..." I cleared my throat. "Do you really like that girl?" Trevor looked at me, and I couldn't help but meet his dark brown gaze, and lose track of time if only for a few seconds.

"I don't know," he answered. "I'm starting to though. She's nice and all."

"She doesn't seem very interesting to me," I said honestly.

"Nobody seems interested to you!" I wanted to tell him that I found him interesting, but thought better of it, and knew that if he asked why I would have no proper answer.

"Something like that."

"Charlie... about your father," Trevor started.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What did you mean when you said 'not around'? Is he... is he dead?" he asked softly.

"I said I don't want to talk about it, Trevor."

"You can tell me, Charlie, I'm your friend and I want to know, if you would tell. Friends tell each other things like this."

"Well I don't want to talk about it, and I don't have friends!"

"Then what are you even doing here?" Trevor sneered, suddenly angry. He turned away from me and laid down.

I laid down too, in the bed that was just small enough for our hands or feet to brush every time either of us changed position. I fell asleep almost straight away, feeling for some reason, more at ease than I had for a long while.

***

A/N

Look at that, two chapters in a day!

I hope you enjoyed :)