You Can't Choose (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Twenty Six

Toothbrush, socks, jeans, shorts, shirts, paint, paint brushes, easel, shoes-

"Don't think so hard, dear," his mother commended, breaking the silence the six of them had been maintaining for some time. "You'll break a blood vessel.

Collier rolled his eyes and Sarah laughed.

It was weird, he thought as he looked around, having all of them in his bedroom going through his stuff.

Emerson was working with his art supplies, trying to fit as many jars of paint he could in one box. Sarah was right next to him, at Collier's closet, folding his clothes and boxing them using a system that would make them easier to unpack, or so she said.

Next to her, was his mother, sorting through his night stand with a garbage bag in one hand and an open box sitting on Cole's bed. On the other side of the room, Collier's father sorting through the bookshelves, collecting the books that looked most worn, and the ones he had seen Cole reading on multiple occasions.

And then there was Henry, seated at his deck chair leaning over one of the many notebooks Collier had thrown there, reading. With a sigh, Cole, who had just finished sorting through the shoes he would be bringing approached the other boy and peered over his shoulder.

"You're not supposed to be going through my stuff, you're supposed to be packing my stuff," Cole demanded and then his eyes got wide when he realized what Henry had discovered.

"I'm taking a break," Henry commented, not looking up from the pages and Cole tried to take the notebook away from him. "Hey, no-"

"Sarah and I started that in fourth grade. There's no point in reading in," Cole demanded, still trying to take the notebook. Henry stood, clutching it with his right hand and using his left hand to prevent Cole from reaching it.

Throughout their first three years in elementary school, all of Collier and Sarah teacher's got annoyed with how much they spoke to one another in class and separated them. By fourth grade, they had a plan to pass a notebook back and forth between the two of them to talk instead of using their words, and they had done this for many years before they could control themselves.

"You talk about me," Henry said, holding the notebook high above his head and looking up at it while Collier pathetically jumped to reach it.

"Why are you so tall?!"

"You think I'm hot," Henry exclaimed and Collier began to weakly punch him.

"I thought you were hot when you were in fifth grade, now you're just ugly," Collier snapped and Henry laughed, still reading the words.

"'This isn't about me in fifth grade. We're all the way to eighth grade now, Collie. That wasn't even that long ago," Henry claimed and Cole stopped trying to reach the book and instead stood with his arms crossed.

"If you don't give it back I'm going to punch you in the dick so hard you'll never be able to make babies," Collier claimed and Henry looked down at him, clearly amused.

"I'll never be able to make babies," he pointed out quietly. "Men can't have babies with other men".

"Then I'll cut it off and you won't be able to even try," Cole said and Henry grinned at him.

"I'm almost to the end".

"I don't care".

"I'm going to finish this," Henry claimed and Cole raised his eyebrows before situating himself to punch Henry in the groin.

"You brought it on yourself," Collier warned, but before he could even move Henry's left hand dropped to his side and began to tickle him as a distraction. "No! What are you doing? Stop that".