Look After You

Chapter 23

After they had filled up on fries and burgers, they ended up going back to Nolan's house. Since they had been too nervous to study at McDonald's they decided they would try again at his house. The only thing they were both worried about was Jackson. Neither of them were sure if he had heard the news yet or not. And if he had they weren't sure if he would take too lightly to it.

"Well... lets hope Jackson hadn't heard yet," Nolan sighs. He opens the front door and leads Xander inside. On the couch was Jackson. He was sprawled out while watching some reruns of The Office. He glances over at them and grins.

"Hey, what's up?" He says.

Nolan smiles timidly and looks down at his shoes. "Hey, Jack," he mumbles quietly.

Xander nods. "Sup," he mumbles, his voice also quiet.

Jackson sighs. "Don't go acting all weird on me now. Listen... yeah I heard, Okay? I know about the two of you but I don't care. If I hear anyone talking crap tomorrow I'm sure as hell going to stick up for the both of you," he grins. Jackson couldn't care less if his brother was gay, straight or even trans. All he wanted was for him to be happy and if he was happy dating Xander then he was all for it.

Nolan looks up and stares at him for a moment before a small smile breaks out on his face. "Y-Yeah? You don't care?"

Jackson grins and shakes his head. "Of course not, kiddo," he says softly.

Nolan let's out a shaky breath and runs a hand over his face. He felt his eyes prickle with tears and he wasn't even exactly sure why. Xander seemed to notice as he draped his arm over his best friend's shoulders. "I'm so nervous for school tomorrow," he mumbles.

Jackson nods. Sure he had never been in his younger brother's shoes and he didn't know what it was like to be bullied. He was a popular kid at school and was also excellent in basketball along with football. But no matter what he wanted to try to understand what Nolan was going through so that he could better help him. He never wanted to see his brother in this much pain because it also pained him.

And the same thing went to Xander. Though there was no blood relation, he thought of Xander as a younger brother because he was over so often and he was a good kid. Though he had his rough edges and he made it hard to get to know him, Jackson would do anything to protect the both of them.

"Listen..." he says. Jackson stands up and walks over to the other side of the couch so he could lean against the edge and be closer to them. "Tomorrow, it is gonna be hard. There's gonna be asshole kids who say asshole things, but guess what? It doesn't matter. None of it should matter because you two are happy right?" They both nod. "Then that's it. That's all that matters. And I know that's easier said than done, but you two gotta trust me when I say that there's just mean kids in high school. High school isn't the real world though. It's just an infested pool of popularity and hierarchy and sure it sucks, but it doesn't last forever. After high school people won't be on your ass all the time judging your every move. After high school you get to breathe."

Xander smiles a bit and glances over at Nolan. "Your brother is such a sap," he fake whispers.

Jackson laughs and shakes his head. "I'm just trying to help you guys out. My bad I guess," he jokes.

Xander chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm just messing with you... thanks, Jackson. I really mean it too. But you know how I am... use sarcasm to hide my crippling anxiety and depression," he jokes.

Jackson smiles softly and nods, patting his shoulder. "Well you two dorks know I'm always here for you," he says as he walks toward the kitchen. "Even you, Xander even though you're constantly messing with me," he jokes.

Xander stayed at Nolan's for a while longer. They eventually got to their homework and Xander was able to finish most of his before he decided to head home. A part of him didn't want to go home because even though Beckett took it well, he didn't know what would happen when the rest of his siblings found out he was gay.

He tried to push the thought to the side as he opened the front door and walked inside. On the couch was Jeremy, Rae and Theo. "Hey," he greets.

Theo grins widely. "Hi, Xander!" He says excitedly.

Xander grins as he takes a seat next to Jeremy on the couch. "Where's Beckett at?" He asks them.

"He's our in the garage working on a car," Jeremy says. "Hey Xander... is there something you have to tell us?"

Xander couldn't help the small sigh they escaped his lips. He wa hoping that by some miracle they hadn't found out by now. He had stayed off social media because he knew it would be on there, but of course he knew his siblings would be on it.

"Listen you guys I... I know what you're referring to and it's just... I don't know," he rambles.

Jeremy sighs and shakes his head. "I just want to apologize, Okay? The times that I called you a faggot or a queer or whatever I never meant it. I never knew you were gay, but that's not an excuse. I'm really sorry, man."

Rae nods. "Yeah, and Xander known of us care that you're gay. We already decided known of us are going to talk to dad about it and we explained it all to Theo too to make sure he doesn't have a slip up around him."

Xander was taken back by how understanding they all were being. "You... you guys don't care at all?"

Jeremy shakes his head. "Of course not. You're our annoying... hot headed brother we could never hate you."

Xander laughs softly and shakes his head. "I really... I'm actually kinda surprised," he admits. "I didn't think you would care, Rae but Jeremy... I was kind of nervous about you."

He nods understandably. "I get it. I really do, Xander. I know I come off as an asshole a lot of the times and it's my own fault. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or anything. I never meant to."

Xander nods "I know you didn't mean to. You don't have to apologize. I don't want you getting all sappy on me know. It's not what I want."

Jeremy laughs and nods in agreement. "You're right, enough of this sappy bullshit. You wanna watch a movie or something?"

He shrugs. "That's fine I don't care." As he says this, Theo climbs up onto the couch and leans against Xander.

"Sissy said you have a boyfriend," he grins. "Do you really?"

Xander blushes softly and nods. "Yeah, I do have one."

"And she says it's Nolan. I really like Nolan. Whenever he comes over he always plays legos with me when I ask him to. Maybe if you don't want him anymore he can be my boyfriend," he grins.

Xander laughs. "Yeah, well I still want him, you stinker," he teases, pinching the tip of his brother's nose.

Theo giggles and swats at his hand. "I'm just saying! If you don't then tell me, okay?"

Xander laughs and nods. "Okay. I promise if Nolan and I ever break up you'll be the first to know, buddy."

Theo laughs and nods. "But I won't tell dada about it. I promise." He grins.

Xander nods. "Thanks Theo. I love you, bud. I love all you guys," he says.

Rae smiles. "We love you too, Xander."

so i've been working on two wips. one has a little bit of a simplistic plot so that i can post as i write. the other's plot is a bit more complicated but i'm excited to write it as well. so keep your eyes open for new works on my profile coming soon.