Dark as the Night

44

A/N: The tone of the song might not fit this chapter very well, but I love "My Best Friend" by Weezer for James and Tai.  They have a total bromance going on, though heavy on the bro.  Listen to it and tell me what you think. 

What songs do you think suit James, Tai, and their relationship?

-Evie

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Tai tapped on his tablet, clicking through a list of supplies the Woodshop needed to restock. He heard the click of the downstairs door opening and shutting, then a familiar tread on the steps. The visitor opened the door without knocking. "Aren't you supposed to be on homework duty?" he asked without looking up from his screen.

James snorted wryly. "Nice to see you, too. Am I not allowed to visit my best friend?" He paused to wait for a response that didn't come so he continued, "Besides, Odessa's at work right now. I'm going over at 10 to help her study for her test tomorrow, but I saw the light on and thought I'd stop in and kill some time until then."

Tai still didn't look up, so he leaned over the other boy's shoulder to look at the screen. "So what are you up to so late? Watching porn?"

Tai glanced up long enough to give him a deadpan look. "Yes, because my dad's living room is the best place to watch porn." He rolled his eyes at James's goofy grin, then looked back down and continued what he was doing.

"I have to do some materials ordering. I put it off as long as I could for my dad to get home, since I didn't think he would be gone so long."

James looked around the apartment. His eyes roamed over the worn couch, the hand-crafted book case and coffee table, the old TV screen. He took in the photos that displayed two boys, one dark, one light, growing up together. "You know, it's weird..." he said.

Tai didn't respond, but James could tell he was listening and knew it was his way of allowing him to continue. "Being here, for one. I get the strangest feeling I'm standing in my own home as a guest."

At this, Tai looked up. "Even though it's been four years since you lived here?"

James awkwardly looked away and studied the book shelf next to him while he replied. "Well the five years I did live here were the hardest of my life. Besides, Liam's house hasn't felt like home ever since my parents died, even after I moved back in. Even then I still spent just as much time here as I did there. Often more."

He picked up a book, glanced at it, put it back, then said quietly, "Plus, until a few months ago, you lived here. And you're more my brother than Liam ever was."

Tai set his tablet on the table and stared at James. Standing in a casual pose with one hand in his jeans pocket and the other running a finger over the spines of the books in front of him, his disheveled red hair pulled in a messy bun on top of his head, he would look relaxed to almost anyone else. But Tai saw the tense set to his shoulders and jaw.

"Well, yeah," he finally replied, slowly. "We've been together through the worst moments of our lives, when no one else was. We understand each other better than anyone else. Your parents were so kind to me; it crushed me to lose them, too – almost as much as it crushed me to see your world so devastated." His voice cracked embarrassingly, and he stopped to swallow the hard lump taking up residence in his throat. "Nothing will ever change what we've been through together."

"You can always say such intense things so easily." James's voice was gruff, belying his blithe words. He still didn't meet his friend's eyes.

"I don't hide my emotions like you do," Tai pointed out, amusement tingeing his still-quiet voice. He cleared his throat. "So, what else?"

James finally looked over at him, furrowing his brow in confusion. "'What else?'"

"You said 'for one.' What else is weird?"

"Oh," James rubbed his hand over his scruffy chin as he thought back to what he'd said. "The fact that it's not just us anymore, I guess. For as long as I can remember, we've been inseparable. For several years, we spent nearly every waking moment together. Over the years, we've become a team, but now suddenly there's this third person. And yet, I almost can't remember what it's like without Odessa's presence in our lives. How did she mesh with us so completely?" He didn't need to question if Tai felt the same way – he already knew the answer.

The other boy leaned back and thought about it. "I think it's because we both know what it's like to completely lose everything. When I was little, my dad and I weren't close – he was little more than the man with whom I had to share my mom. Then suddenly, his personality changed drastically and he became more like an actual father to me.

"Then my mom died and we moved here, and I was terrified that I was surrounded by strangers, and that my dad would go back to being a stranger too. And when you lost your parents, Liam was gone-"

"Not that we were ever close to begin with," James interrupted, a bitter note to his voice.

"Well, yeah. So you see my point. Now we've met someone else who is in the same situation. Her mother is dead and she was alone in the world. We found another one like us. We couldn't really help but see ourselves in her."

James gave him a patronizing smirk. "Don't say such crude things about our little girl." Tai answered by throwing a book at his head. He caught it easily and looked at the cover. "The Odyssey, huh? Fitting."

"It's my dad's," Tai replied, scowling at James's dig at his desire to shelter Odessa. "It's almost 10, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. See you tomorrow."