In This Together

Chapter One

"Okay, hurry back. I'm starving!"

The three others in the room laughed. "Yeah yeah, you boys and your appetites," remarked the only woman, Cara, rolling her eyes at her two sons sitting adjacent each other on the bar stools at the island in the kitchen. Wisps of ashy brown hair, greying in some areas, fell in her face as she shook her head at her boys.

They smiled sheepishly back at her, feeling a bit guilty for rushing their parents out to pick up the pizza they ordered, but in their defense, they had offered to go and their parents had refused the pitch. Their parents insisted. After all, it hadn't been long that Delaney had been back in town, and he deserved to relax after his long tour overseas. He could stay put and catch up with Luke while they went to grab dinner.

Before following the woman from the kitchen, Tucker caught his older son's eye and couldn't help grinning back at the smile he saw within the young man's, his own eyes crinkling at the corners. He couldn't help but think on how much the boy looked like Cara. The same color hair, the same intensity in their blue eyes. Luke on the other hand had gained more traits that were distinctively Tucker's own, between the honey colored hair and soft, chocolate eyes. Though no one was really sure where the light dusting of freckles on his fair skin came from.

It was good to have both of his boys back. Tucker waved his goodbye and shortly after, the boys heard the front door click shut and the engine on the car in the driveway start.

"So..." Delaney began, breaking the silence that had formed. "Mom and Dad in the same room as each other..." He gave an inelegant laugh trying to diffuse the tension the subject brought. "Now that's a sight to see."

Luke tried to give his brother a smile, but it came out strained. He knew the guy was trying. They all were. Before Luke's sophomore and Delaney's senior years of high school, their mother and father went through a messy divorce. It was hard to keep a marriage going when your husband was sleeping with one of his coworkers, and then before the divorce is finalized, he does the same thing with a different one. Tucker and Cara tried to hide the details from their children; it was nobody's business but theirs, but the two boys were old enough to understand. It wasn't as easy to hide the gritty details of a divorce when your kids were already grown.

So Tucker moved out. For a time it was with the second woman, until he found his own place and the fling he was having inevitably fell apart. Cara got the kids and the house that her two sons grew up in. And now she lived in it alone for the most part. This weekend was one of the exceptions. Delaney had finally come back from being stationed overseas, Luke had come home from school for a weekend, Cara and Tucker tolerated each other as much as possible, if only for their boys' sake. They were all trying.

Then the silence settled in, thick and heavy, around the two remaining in the house. Delaney stared down at his laced fingers and Luke pretended to be especially interested in a new knick-knack that sat on the shelf above the kitchen sink. With the two boys sitting next to each other, it was easy to see the physical differences between them. The older one was a few inches taller, all muscle and strong features. Luke, in contrast, was overall softer, sweeter. That is, if he could manage to wipe the seemingly permanent scowl off his face. He was the type of guy that girls would perpetually describe as "cute."

"New tattoo?" Luke questioned his brother, who sat with his hands folded behind his head. Another feature that set them apart. Delaney had ink up and down his body. He was trying to perpetuate small talk to keep Delaney from changing the subject to anything else, anything more serious. So instead he focused on the black stars on the backs of his brother's arms.

"Not particularly," Delaney shrugged. He folded his arms in front of him, no time for any of Luke's avoidance. He had a look on his face that said he was trying to piece together exactly what he wanted to say to his younger brother, but couldn't quite find the words.