WILLIAM (bxb)

2

               Jamie collapses onto the couch beside his little brother, who's engrossed in texting on his phone. "Hey," Jamie says, and Leeroy puts up a finger, signaling for him to wait.

He does so, tapping his heel anxiously against the couch. The two of them haven't been talking very much of late, not like they used to when Leeroy was younger. He had come out to his entire school, fully expecting his boyfriend to do the same, but at the last moment Finnigan had backed out. Now Leeroy has been dealing with the blowback – which could be considerably more than it is – and he hasn't been sleeping very much. He hasn't been eating very much. He hasn't been doing very much at all, and Jamie's beginning to get worried.

"Sorry," Leeroy apologizes, and shoves his phone under the couch cushions, "Finnigan's being stupid again." The younger boy lets out a long sigh, and hugs the pillow that's sitting in his lap to his chest.

"Still refusing to come over?" Jamie asks softly, and Leeroy nods.

"I miss him," Leeroy admits, tucking his chin into his collar.

"He'll come around." Jamie reaches out and squeezes his little brother's knee, and Leeroy flashes him a tired smile. Jamie can't imagine what he's going through – he himself kept his sexuality deep, deep, deep down inside of himself until the day that Leeroy found gay porn on his laptop, and even since then he hasn't really been open about it. Only Leeroy and his mother know, and even telling them was shit-his-pants terrifying, so he doesn't even want to think about what going to school must be like for his brother. He can't even blame Finnigan for backing out, but he doesn't think that Leeroy does either. Leeroy just wants to be able to hold his hand again.

"I know, it's just getting him there, you know? I don't think we've ever went this long without seeing each other."

Jamie frowns, and nods. He can't remember an absence of Finnigan for this long, either – they've been "together" since they were ten. They've been dating since they were thirteen. They go together so perfectly that Jamie doesn't think there's any way they'll ever not be together, hardships or not.

Leeroy shifts and hits Jamie's shoulder with his pillow. "What's up in your life, huh?" he asks, grinning, "I've seen you looking all love-struck at your phone. Who's the lucky man?"

An immediate blush breaks out all over Jamie's face. He and William have been texting a lot. A lot, a lot. "His name is William," Jamie chokes out, and Leeroy wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, making Jamie burn brighter.

"Jamie and William, huh?"

"I don't know if anything is going to happen. Maybe he's all talk, maybe he doesn't want anything and is just playing. I don't know."

"You like him a lot, don't you?"

Jamie doesn't trust his voice so he nods, and pulls on his fingers in his lap.

"Awe!" Leeroy gushes.

"Shut up!"

"No! Awe! My big brother likes a boy! I never thought the day would come!"

Jamie leans over and shoves his brother back into the arm of the couch, but instead of being menacing, it just sets Leeroy off to laughing again, and Jamie sits back, defeated. "I don't know what to do about it, though," he admits.

"Ask him out on a date."

"It's not that easy."

"Ask him out for coffee, then, and let him take it how he takes it. If he says date, don't deny it, but if he doesn't don't bring it up."

Jamie rolls his eyes. "You've only ever had one boyfriend, what makes you such a genius?"

"I read a lot of smutty fanfiction online," Leeroy grins.

Jamie gets up off of the couch, laughing. "Of course you do," he says, and takes his phone out of his pocket. Do you want to go for coffee tomorrow morning? He types and sends before he can even think about it.

Sure :) comes the immediate reply, and Jamie has to hold onto the stair banister to keep himself from falling. He's so fucking done with his own feelings.