Family Is More Than Blood.

(15)

I get my things from my locker and go to the front doors. I don't even know why I'm waiting here, he's gonna ditch me.

"Hey" Tanner says. Or not.

"Hey, Tanner. You ready?" I ask.

"Yeah" he says.

"Em!" Tyler calls. I turn around and see Jackson, Kevin, Tyler, and Nicole walking over to us.

"Hey guys. This is Tanner, he's coming over to study for a bit" I explain.

"Study?" Tyler teases, nudging me.

"Yes, Ty. Study. You know the thing you should be doing before exams?"

"Whatever"

"Tanner, these are my brothers, Jackson and Tyler, my best friend, Nicole, and Jacksons best friend, Kevin" I say.

"Nice to meet you guys" Tanner says with a smile.

"My room is right across the hall so I can hear everything. Everything" Jackson warns.

"So can I, Jackie" I say.

"Ugh, let's just go home" he sighs.

"Fine with me"

"Good"

"Great"

"Fabulous"

"Incredible"

"Amazing"

"Fantastic"

"Terrific"

"Do they do this a lot?" Tanner asks while Jackson and I continue going back and forth.

"Yeah...." Nic sighs.

"Will it end soon?"

"Not unless someone stops them"

"Oh"

"Yeah. Jax, Em. Can we go home now?" Nic asks us.

"Yeah, I guess. Let's go" I say. We walk home. When we get home Kevin and Jackson go up to Jackie's room, Nic and Ty go to the living room, and Tanner and I go to my room.

"So do you wanna start on math?" I ask.

"Sure" Tanner agrees. We study in silence for about 10 minutes until Tanner speaks up.

"So...are you and brothers triplets?" he asks.

"What? Oh, no. We're 3 days apart and we have different biological moms. My mom adopted my brothers after their mom moved to Japan" I explain.

"Oh. When did their mom move?"

"I was born in August so.....yeah almost 15 years ago"

"So she left like right after you guys were born? Why?"

"Her mom was really sick. After grandma died she stayed in Japan"

"Oh. She sounds like a bitch"

"Yeah, none of us really like her. She visited a couple months ago. We didn't talk to her at all. She tried but if she wants to live in Japan rather then see us then she can just get out of our lives forever"

"Do your brothers still consider her their mom?"

"Not really. Tyler kinda does but Jackson won't even call her mom. My mom raised them so she's their mom"

"That's really cool that your mom took them in"

"I'm really happy she did. My brothers are a couple of my best friends. Growing up I didn't have many friends so Jackie and Ty always let me hang out with them"

"I can't see people not wanting to be friends with you. You seem really cool"

"Thanks, Tanner" I smile.

"Anytime, Em" he smiles back.

"Are you fucking serious, Kevin?!" Jackson asks. It's kinda muffled since both of our doors are closed but I can tell he's yelling.

"Should we go check on them?" Tanner asks.

"Not yet" I say.

Jackson's POV

We get home and Kevin and I go up to my room. We do some of our homework for about 15 minutes until Kevin speaks.

"I need to talk to you about something" he says. I turn off the music we were listening to.

"What's up?" I ask putting my pencil down.

"Why won't you come out to anybody but your friends?"

"What?"

"Are you ashamed of us or something?"

"No! Where did this even come from, Kev?"

"We've been together for more than a year and nobody but your friends know. Why won't you tell anyone?"

"I...I don't know"

"Jackson"

"I don't know, Kevin! It's none of their business" I say. He stands up and hesitates for a second before speaking.

"Really? That's your answer? You do remember that we were friends for a year before we started dating right? Before you realized you were gay, you told me that once you got a girlfriend you would show her off to everyone. You would make it known to everyone that she was your girl and that you loved her"

"You remember that?"

"Yeah. I understand why you wouldn't tell anyone when we just started dating. I was understanding we had been together for 6 months. It's been more than a year, Jackson! You have said that you love me countless times......did you even mean it?"

"Do I mean it?"

"Yeah...did you mean it?"

"Are you fucking serious, Kevin?!"

"Answer me, Jackson"

"Yes, I mean it! I mean it every time I say it. I love you more than you will ever know" I say. I can feel tears forming but not enough to spill.

"Then why don't you want anyone to know?" he asks. He looks so sad...I don't understand why.

"I.....don't worry about it, ok? Just, come sit down with me. We can watch whatever you want"

"No! You always try to ignore this conversation. You never want to talk about it......just tell me why you don't want people to know about us, Jackson!"

"Kevin! It's nothing!"

"Then, come on. Let's go tell your parents then"

"No"

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow"

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to talk to you right now" he says and goes to the door.

"Don't go, Kevin. Don't go while you're mad....please. Come sit down, we'll talk about it later"

"Just leave me be, Jackson! I'm leaving!" he yells. I go over to him and grab his hand.

"If you leave now, don't come back.....ever" I say, begging with my eyes for him to stay. If he loves me he'll stay....right?

"Fine......it looks like I'm not coming back. Goodbye, Jackson" he says and rips his hand out of mine.

"Y...you're actually leaving....."

"Yeah" he says and leaves. I stand in my door way as he leaves. I feel tears spilling down my cheeks. I hear the front door slam. I turn around and close my door. I lean against the door and slide down. I pull my knees up to my chest, put my forehead on my knees, and cry.

"Jackson? Jackie, open the door" Emma says, trying to open the door. I get up and open the door. I see her and Tanner.

"What happened, Jackie?" she asks. I don't say anything, I just start crying again. She hugs me and leads me to my bed. We sit down and I continue crying on her shoulder. He actually left....Kevin actually left me....I only said that because I thought it would make him stay.......I told him to never come back.....he hates me now.