We're All Crazy Here, Darling

Jeremy Lance: The Brooder

           *Ryan's POV*

Once the shrill sound of the bell pierced the air signaling we were free to go to our next period, I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out to find my brother conversing with a well-dressed, tall Asian boy across the hall.

 He was wearing black jeans, combat boots similar to mine, and an olive green shirt covered up by a loose fitting denim jacket. He leaned up against the wall, while James stood next to him. They looked very deep in their conversation because when I walked out, James didn't even look up from staring at the floor.

Wait, why was he looking at the floor?

Was.....was he....?

I saw a slight pink tint to his cheeks.

I laughed out loud, looking like a crazy person in the middle of the hallway, which was accurate because I was.

My brother, the ever so smooth talker, was blushing like a girl in middle school.

My laugh drew the attention of the two boys. The other guy looked confused but my brother knew what my laugh meant. I could feel his glare on me from where I was, but that wasn't stopping me from grinning at his awkwardness. The other boy just looked between the two of us with a bewildered expression. Then a look of realization came across his face. "Are you James' brother?" he asked me.

"Yes, I am. However did you guess? I mean it isn't as if we look anything alike at all. I'm so much better-looking than he could ever hope to be." That earned me an elbow in the ribs from my brother, but it was so worth it to see the mortified look on his face. 

The other boy looked unamused, simply quirked an eyebrow in my direction. "I, personally, find James to be extremely attractive." This caused James' head to snap up from the ground, and the pink blush on his cheeks to deepen to a scarlet.

I reached my hand out to him, "I have a deep respect for anyone who is able to render my brother speechless. I'm Ryan and you are?"

"My name's Jeremy." The connection soon hit me that this was Nicole's brother she wanted to set up with James.

I cleared my throat. "So, you're Nicole's brother?" I asked trying to be nonchalant about the whole scenario. 

"Yes, he is," James said, "Now, please don't say anything stupid, Ryan," he gave me a look, letting me know that this was not negotiable.

I rolled my eyes.

He takes the fun out of everything.

I took a closer look at Jeremy. He was extremely tall, taller than James actually. He had calculating brown eyes that seemed to soften every time he looked at James. He was also pretty buff from what I can see from under his jacket.

James cleared his throat, "Well I think we should be heading to class now, don't you Ryan?" he shifted nervously under Jeremy's gaze.

I leaned against a locker, "Nope I'm good here,"

Ryan looked at me frustrated than turned serious, "Remember what Scott said, Ryan. We can't mess up here and that includes skipping class,"

I sighed, "Okay, let's go then"

Jeremy finally spoke up, looking a bit confused, "Why do you guys refer to your father by his first name?"

"How do you know he's our father?", I asked although it was just so I didn't have to answer his question.

He smirked, "They announced it in class that we have Mayor McCoy's twins attending here and as I recall," he looked around at the passing students, "you're both McCoys and there are no other twins that go here,"

"Touché," I muttered.

I looked over at James to make sure he was okay with telling and he nodded slightly. James took a deep breath. He hated telling this story. I gave him a sympathetic look.

"W-w-well, when I came out as gay to my family Ryan," he gestured towards me, "was the only one who accepted me," I saw Jeremy's jaw tighten as James paused, "my parents threatened to disown me until Ryan said he would come clean about.....incidents that are parents have brushed off." he paused again, imagining the assortment of scars we've had on our bodies since we were seven, "They finally calmed down but didn't let go of it. They constantly call me a-," he grimaced. He hated saying that word and I knew he couldn't finish.

"They constantly call him a fag or say it's just a phase. We never cared for our parents but we lost all our respect in them after that day. So we refer to them as Scott and Mary. And they hate it," I finished for him. I watched Jeremy throughout the story. At first, it was only his jaw tightening, but as James kept talking, his face grew darker and darker and his fists clenched so hard his knuckles were bone white.

*singsong voice* Somebody's got anger issues.

"No offense, but your parents are assholes," he growled.

"None taken. The day they tried to disown us was the day we disowned them. They're not our family anymore. They just gave birth to us," James responded, the sadness evident on his face.

Jeremy looked fondly at James while I watched on confused. I mean yeah, I shipped them but Jeremy didn't seem like the kind of guy who got along with a lot of people but James seemed to have managed to get close to him in the span of our forty-five-minute class period. I smiled when I saw the dopey look James gave him when he thought he wasn't looking. He caught my smile and leveled me with a death glare while I laughed. Jeremy looked startled as to why I was laughing but then I think he just chalked it up to me being mentally unstable as he shook his head.

The warning bell ring, signaling that there were five minutes until the third period started. "Well, I need to get to class," James stated, then shot a pointed look at me. "And so do you."

"Nice meeting you, Jeremy," I called as James dragged me away and waved to Jeremy. "Since when are you Mr. Responsibility?" I asked my twin.

"One of us should be," he stated plainly. 

I smirked. "That wouldn't have anything to do with the tall dark and brooding guy you were just talking to would it?" I asked suggestively.

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know. All I know is, so far, we have already made two acquaintances on our first day, which is a record for us. Plus, one of the people we met, I think I might like. Like, really like, Ryan. I really don't want to mess this up, okay?" By the look on his face, I could tell he meant it. 

"Okay, I can do that."

He sighed in relief. "Thank you." James wandered away to his next class and I walked to mine. I looked down at the schedule, AP chemistry. Here we go.