Look After You

Chapter 1

Xander groans loudly and chucks the pillow at his brother's head. "It's our turn asshead!" He says angrily. It was cold outside, but not cold enough yet for it to snow so the rain that was falling from the sky turned into sleet and left a slushy mess out on the front lawn. Inside the Valentine's house it was freezing. The heat hadn't been turned on yet and Xander was convinced it never would be. He'd turn it on himself if he wasn't so afraid he'd get yelled at for doing so.

Nolan laughs at his friend's frustration and grabs his elbow. "Let's just go to your room instead," he offers.

"No, I told you we were gonna play xbox and that's exactly what we're gonna do." He says and yanks his arm back out of his grasp.

The two boys had returned home from school and had been excited to play xbox all day. Xander's brother Jeremy, who was now the annoying shit who wouldn't stop playing, had stolen the new Call of Duty from the store and Xander had promised Nolan they could play. One of the many things that Xander hated about having five of them in the house, not even including his parents, is that they tended to hog things. Whether it be the xbox or tv or the shower or the toilet, it was all annoying.

Xander had forced himself to stay in class all day in preparation of going home to play xbox. Nolan had told Xander that if he promised to stay all day for once that he'd play xbox with him for as long as he wanted, but even if Xander hadn't, Nolan still would have played. He had been excited to play and he was a little disappointed they couldn't now but he was okay with that.

"Come on we're going to your room." This time Nolan gripped tightly onto his elbow and dragged him to his room.

"Don't be surprised if I roofie your damn drink tonight and you wake up at the bottom of the lake," Xander calls to his brother over his shoulder.

Nolan laughs softly and leads him to his room before kicking the door shut behind them. Xander lets out a big sigh before flopping down on his bed. He lays on his back with his legs dangling off the edge of the bed. "Just wanted to play xbox," he mumbles. Nolan grins and climbs onto the bed. He lays down on his stomach next to him. He rests his head in his hands and looks down at Xander.

"I know it's horrible isn't it? So bad that you might die, right?" He teases.

Xander glares over at him and raises his hand as if he was going to hit him. "Oh, screw off," he says, stifling a laugh. He rolls his eyes and rests his hand on his stomach. "You know what I mean though... Been wanting to play it all day since Jeremy stayed home to play while I was in school." Xander was lucky to even have cable and electricity at the moment. Just last week no one had remembered to pay the bills and the cable had gone out. It took Beckett, Xander's older brother, a lot of long nights of dealing in back alleys to get the rest of the money to turn it back one. But once it was back, it was like heaven. Xander had spent the whole next day watching tv until it was four am and his eyes burned so bad he couldn't keep them open. Nolan had been there too since the both of them were near inseparable, but he had fallen asleep around one. Xander had made sure to turn the tv down a bit so it wouldn't wake him and had even pulled the blanket over him since it was damn near freezing. Xander was almost convinced that he had icicles dangling off his nose at this point.

"Wanna just head over to my place for a bit?" Nolan offered.

Xander shrugs and sits up. "Yeah, why not. Think my dad is gonna be home soon and I'm not in the mood to deal with him tonight," he admits. He climbs off his bed and grabs his plain black hoodie, tugging it over his head. "I swear though if your brother is hogging yours too though I'm going to lose it."

Nolan laughs and stands off the bed, shaking his head. "Doubt it. Meathead is probably working out in the basement like usual. He started this new protein shake thing and it's so gross. It has kale and eggs and I don't even know what else in it cause I'm too scared to ask. Pretty sure he's only doing this to get the attention of Ashley Wiser."