Family Isn't Always Blood

Quill's Realization

Tanya poured herself a glass of root beer, the others refilled their glasses and Quill brewed more coffee. Kids went to the bathroom, talked, joked, and no one, except for Quill and Matteusz, noticed Charlie buttoned up the majority of his shirt before moving from his position on the floor. It was nearly eleven when everybody had settled back into their seats and, in some cases, cuddled and snuggled up with their boyfriend or nearest available couch armrest, so April held out the remote and pressed play. The six were at once sucked into the story of Jess, Jules, and Joe.

Quill got bored after Jess and Jules made up, rolling her eyes at the friendship. She went back to watching her students.

Ram looked on the verge of falling asleep, his head was in April's lap and she was smoothing the hair on his head. Tanya looked sleepy herself. Weren't humans this age known for staying up late? She rolled her eyes. It must be like 11.15 at night, and two of them are almost asleep? Meanwhile, the boys on the carpet were at it again.

She watched as the shorter one nuzzled into Matteusz' neck; watched as Matteusz went back to unbuttoning Charlie's shirt; watched as, this time, the prince didn't fight it. Quill realized she was wrong. All Matteusz was doing was drawing something on Charlie's abdomen. Tracing something with his finger. She allowed herself a smile in the dark. It wasn't anything sexual, or suggestive. It was some weird human thing. Actually, it could be suggestive. She wouldn't know. She sighed and then cursed herself. You better hope nobody heard that, Andra'ath. No one really moved from what they were doing, so she figured she was safe.

Charlie's eyes darted to the side. He held his head perfectly still. The soldier in Quill would've noticed the movement immediately. Matteusz whispered in his ear, "Quill?" Charlie nuzzled his head further into Matteusz' neck and nodded slightly.

Those in the living room watched the movie, but as the movie reached its climax, Ram and Tanya had fallen asleep. April was yawning, but managed to keep her eyes open. Quill watched the three on the couch over her not-so-hot coffee. She rolled her eyes and noticed the two boys on the ground. They showed signs of being tired, but neither had succumbed to sleep. After everything those two had been through today, not one of them seemed on the verge of what these stupid human bodies required each night.

As the movie wrapped up, more yawns followed. When the credits finally started rolling, Quill stood up. She walked over to the light-switch and went to turn it on.

"No!" Charlie hissed.

When she looked over at him questioningly, in the light of the screen, she watched Matteusz stand up and walk over to her. She looked him square in the eye as he explained, "Let's get Tanya and Ram upstairs and not make them see the harsh light."

His concern is touching. Kind of. She waved her arm at the sleeping friends. "Take them upstairs." She muttered.

"I'll go set up some makeshift beds." Charlie offered, and headed upstairs, quickly followed by Matteusz, bringing the majority of the blankets as well. The two set up some of the blankets as 'mattresses' and got spare pillows. They made a large bed for Ram and April and a smaller one for Tanya. Only the lamp by their bed was on, shedding dim light over the upper floor, and the boyfriends headed back down. April started shaking Ram slightly, whispering that he had to get up. When Ram finally blinked his eyes open, April guided him up the stairs, and into the dim light. The two blonde boys and Quill looked at Tanya, and didn't know what to do.

"I can carry," Matteusz suggested. "She's light." When no one objected, the tall Pole walked over to the couch, slid his arms under her, and, blanket and all, carried her up the stairs, leaving the aliens alone. He laid her down and tucked her in comfortably. With that, and checking in quickly on Ram and April, who had already fallen asleep, Matteusz lay down on his bed. Because that's what it was. His and Charlie's. Just like this house. It's his, Charlie, and Quill's. He stared at the ceiling, and lost track of time, listening to the muffled sounds of Quill and Charlie cleaning and talking.

Finally, he heard the noises stop and felt the bed sink beside him. He turned over and saw Charlie unbuttoning his shirt. "I can do that." He offered.

Charlie shook his head. "You've done it multiple times already in the past few hours."

"Please?" Matteusz asked again, batting his lashes while his blue eyes gave their best puppy-dog innocent look.

Charlie sighed and let the other boy unbutton his blue shirt. He crawled under the blankets in his jeans and Matteusz shook his head in disapproval. The shorter boy reached over and pulled the chain on the lamp and the room was plunged into darkness.

Quill noticed the change in light and hummed to herself as she continued cleaning up the teen's mess. She rolled her eyes as she picked up glasses and brought them to the sink, picked up candy boxes and stray snacks and threw them out, and tidied up the room. Finally, she sighed and headed to her room.

"Those boys will be the death of me." She muttered as flopped down on her bed. But they're the closest thing I have to a family.

The next morning, Matteusz was the first one awake, and he went into the kitchen. There was a stack of pancakes on a plate with some mugs by it. Three of coffee and two of tea, with cream, milk, sugar, honey, and vanilla that Matteusz likes. He went back upstairs. Charlie turned in his sleep and Matteusz watched his arm reach out for where he would normally be. Charlie sat up straight when he realized nothing was there. He made eye contact with his boyfriend and they woke up the other three. Ram and April went downstairs, followed by Tanya, with the blondes in the back. The four discovered the pancakes and drinks. Charlie thanked Matteusz before the Pole shook his head. "Was Quill. Not me." The teenagers all looked over at the door to Quill's bedroom. Matteusz went over to the door and knocked politely.

Quill, dressed for the day of babysitting god-awful teenagers, opened it with a, "Well you're up early. I didn't even hear the alarm go off."

Matteusz shrugged. "Did you make pancakes?" He asked. "Again?"

"Again?" Ram echoed.

"She made blueberry pancakes yesterday," Charlie explained quickly.

Quill nodded. "I did, in fact. I figured April would want tea and Ram and Tanya would pick coffee, and if I was wrong, you can make some yourself. Now, I've got to go to that hellhole we call a school, I have a meeting with Dorothea Ames, which was supposed to start," She looked at her tablet, "now." She pushed past Matteusz and the rest of the group and headed out the door. They heard a car start and leave.

"She's very... abrupt in the morning." Charlie said, by way of explanation.

Five teenagers made their tea and coffee and ate their pancakes. They heard the beeping of an alarm and so Charlie and Matteusz headed upstairs to turn it off and get ready for the day. Ram had driven himself and the two girls the night before, so the group piled into the car and drove to Tanya's.

"I'll catch a ride with Jarvis and Damon." She called out as she hopped out of the car. She ran up the stairs, hair bouncing, and knocked on the door until a groggy twin opened the door. Tanya turned and waved before heading inside.

Ram drove to his house, and to the confused looks from Charlie, somewhat hostilely explained, "April has clothes at my place. It's not weird."

"I did not hear him say it was," Matteusz said protectively.

"Alright, back off, I just thought maybe you were judging us," Ram said as he unlocked the door.

"We moved in about a week into our relationship. There is no reason for us to be judging you two."

Ram and April went upstairs, while Charlie and Matteusz hung out in the living room. When the two couples finally left for school, they arrived five minutes before the bell. While rushing to get their books, they met up with Tanya and all headed to Quill's classroom.

Ram and Charlie took their seats, followed by Matteusz, and the two girls took their seats in the front row. Quill was her usual prickly self, but later in class, when she was flipping through cat pictures, her Quill senses were tingling and she looked up to see five particular teenagers looking at her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes before smiling and looking down at her cats.