I opened my eyes and looked up at my ceiling. I stretched and checked the time on my alarm clock, seeing that it was almost ten in the morning.

                I crawled out of bed and rubbed my eyes, leaving my bedroom. I made my way upstairs and into the kitchen, where Colin was sitting at the counter.

                Colin glanced at me and frowned deeply. “Collie, what happened to your hand?”

                I looked down at it and mentally cursed. It was disturbing shades of purple, blue, and black, and was swelling pretty badly from when I had hit my backboard.

                “I slammed it in the door on accident,” I lied, dropped it under the counter and out of sight as I sat down next to him.

                “That looks really bad, Collie. You should ice it,” he said in concern.

                I waved my good hand dismissively. “Where are mom and dad?” I asked, peeking around the kitchen.

                “They were outside talking to the neighbors. Why?” he asked.

                “I need your help Colin. They’re mad at me for sneaking out last night, and they don’t want me to see Misha. But I’m supposed to hang out with him today. Can you pretend that we’re hanging out together today? Then I can sneak off with Misha, and you can go to Ant’s house,” I said.

                Colin hesitated. “They were really, really mad when they found out you snuck out of the house. Collie, are they being mean to you?”

                “Nah, just upset that I’m gay,” I lied. “So will you help me?”

                “Yea, sure. I was supposed to meet up with Ant today anyways. Do you need me to drop you off at Misha’s house?” he asked casually.

                “Nice try, but no. Just drop me off at the ice cream place up the street from Emma’s house,” I said.

                The backdoor opened and our parents appeared. Mom forced a smile as she looked between the two of us.

                “Hello boys. I’ll make you some breakfast,” she said, moving towards the cupboards.

                Colin stretched and rested his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes. I rolled my eyes but let him keep his head there.

                Dad watched us with disapproval, but didn’t say anything. He left the kitchen and I heard his bedroom door shut a minute later.

                After a few minutes, mom set French toast town in front of us. She smiled softly as she looked at the position we were in. She lightly tapped Colin’s shoulder.

                “Come on Colin. You brother is not a pillow,” she said, laughing a little.

                That’s right Colin. Your brother is not a pillow. He’s daddy’s new punching bag, I thought bitterly.

                I shook that thought out of my head immediately. Slapping me wasn’t child abuse, and neither was pouring mouth wash down my throat. My dad had never abused me. And gay or not, he loved me too much to ever take his homophobia so far as to actually hurt me.

                At least I sure hoped he did.

                Colin pulled his head away from my shoulder and both started eating our French toast. Mom left the kitchen after cleaning up.

                “So, what time do you want to leave?” he asked me, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

                I shrugged. “I just have to run downstairs and throw some clothes on, then I’m ready to go,” I said.

                “Alright. Meet me in the living room when you’re ready,” he said, getting up and putting our plates in the sink.

                I went downstairs and brushed my teeth and hair. I threw on some clothes and checked my reflection. I tucked my iPod into my butt pocket, wrapping my earphones around my neck. I put my cell phone in my pocket and left my bedroom, heading up to the living room.

                Colin stood up, swinging the keys around his finger. “Ready to go?”

                I nodded and gestured to my neatly dressed self. “Obviously.”

                Colin rolled his eyes at me. “Shut up. Mom! Dad! Collie and I are going out together for a little!” he called.

                Dad came out of his bedroom and shook his head at us. “Absolutely not. Collie, you’re not going anywhere. You’re still in trouble for sneaking out,” he said sternly.

                “Dad, he’ll be with me all day. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Colin said.

                “I don’t care Colin. Collie’s not going anywhere and that’s final,” dad said, crossing his arms and glaring at us.

                “Dad, come on,” I said, frowning.

                “Come here Collie,” he said, gesturing me over.

                I followed him into his bedroom. He shut the door and spun to face me, glaring at me and forcing me to sit on his bed.

                “I told you to stay away from Colin. You’ve done enough damage to him, making the poor boy think he’s homosexual. You and that faggot Ant Andrews have screwed with Colin’s head enough. I don’t want him to start experimenting like you. So stay away from him until your mother and I make him see reason about this,” he said simply.

                I stared at him, my eyes going wide. “Are you seriously telling me to stay away from Colin? From my own twin brother? Hell, that’ll hurt him more than it’ll hurt me and you know it,” I said.

                I felt myself starting to panic a little on the inside. Colin relied heavily on me. And if mom and dad kept me away from him and tried to convince him that homosexuality was wrong, god only knows what it would do to his mental and emotional state.

                “It’s just for a little bit Collie,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We’re trying to watch out for both of you. We’re trying to protect you. Homosexuality is wrong. It’s disgusting. And we don’t want you two to start experimenting with it, or lose yourselves to the thought that you are faggots. You two aren’t faggots. Anthony Andrews is a faggot. My sons aren’t.”

                “No. Anthony Andrews is a good guy who would take a bullet for the people he loves. He would never say a bad word about anyone. He accepts people for who they are. So if you think that someone like that is disgusting, then I hope to god you rethink your opinions,” I snarled, standing up and storming out of his bedroom.

                I went out to the living room and grabbed Colin’s hand. I pulled him out of the house, ignoring dad as he screamed for me to come back.

                I snatched the keys from Colin and shoved him into the passenger seat. I jumped into the driver’s seat as dad came hurrying out of the front door, yelling at me to get the hell out of the car.

                I pulled out of the driveway and took off down the street without looking back. He wouldn’t control my life, and he sure as hell wouldn’t keep me away from Colin or Misha.

                “Collie, you shouldn’t make dad angry like that,” Colin said nervously. “You’re going to get yourself in a lot of trouble.”

                “If he asks, I was with you the whole day,” I said, pulling into the parking lot of the ice cream place.

                I got out of the car and waited until Colin had got into the driver’s side. He rolled the window down and poked his head out.

                “Call me when you’re ready to head home,” he said, waving to me and pulling out of the parking lot.

                I waited until his car was out of sight before turning and beginning to walk in the direction of Misha’s house. I put my earphones in and turned the music up.

                “I’m sick of all this waiting and people telling me what I should be. What if I’m not so crazy? What if you’re the one who’s wrong, not me?” my music shouted in my ear.

                After a few minutes of walking, I glanced over. A car pulled over next to me and the driver rolled their window down.

                “Need a ride?” Misha asked, leaning out of the window and raising an eyebrow at me.

                I went around the side of the car and got in the passenger’s seat. Misha started driving again and turned his head towards me. He was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn’t see the expression in his eyes.

                “What were you doing walking there? Did you walk all the way from your house?” he asked with a frown.

                I shook my head at him. “Nah, Colin was with me so I got out of the car at the ice cream place. I didn’t want him to know I was going to Emma’s house. He can be slow with things like this, but even he could figure it out if I made it obvious enough,” I said.

                Misha pulled into his driveway and turned the car off. Neither of us moved to get out of the car, and he eyed me silently.

                “Maybe you should tell him. Face it Collie: We’re not friends anymore,” he said, reaching over and gently running his thumb along my bottom lip.

                I pushed his hand away and shook my head. “I’m not ready to date you, and I’m not ready to tell my brother about us.” It was mean, but true.

                His eyebrows raised, and at first I thought he was surprised. But then he grabbed my wrist and pulled my bad hand closer to his face so that he could inspect it.

                “What happened?” he demanded.

                “I accidentally slammed it in the door,” I said, sticking to my earlier lie.

                He turned my hand over and shook his head. “I’m not stupid Collie. You didn’t slam your hand in a door. If you had, both sides of your hand would be bruised. It looks like you punched something.”

                I pulled my hand away from him. “Quite frankly, it’s none of your business,” I said with a shrug.

                Misha frowned. “Collie, you don’t have to tell me what happened. But I hate you lying to me. I want you to be honest with me. So if you don’t want to tell me, just say so. Don’t lie,” he said.

                “I’m sorry,” I said with a sigh. “I won’t lie to you Misha.”

                “Good,” he said, getting out of the car.

                I copied him and we went into the house together. Misha led us into the kitchen and Emma waved at me. She was sitting the kitchen table snacking on an apple.

                “Hey Collie. Misha, take the sunglasses off. You look like an idiot with them on inside,” she said.

                “Emma! Leave your brother alone,” Mrs. Redner said, rolling her eyes.

                “Yea Emma! Leave Misha alone! You might hurt his feelings,” I said, patting Misha on the head.

                “I hate you guys,” he grumbled, pulling his sunglasses off and hooking them onto his T-shirt.

                “You’re looking especially typical homosexual male today,” I said, gesturing at him.

                He was wearing brown shorts that hung to his knees, and a thin, light green V-neck T-shirt, now with his sunglasses clipped onto it. He was also wearing flip-flops and a rainbow bracelet on his wrist.

                “I was feeling extra fabulous today,” he said, dramatically flicking his bangs out of his face.

                “And lazy,” I said, reaching out and touching the stubble on his face.

                “Sometimes I just don’t like to shave,” he said defensively.

                “Misha, when you don’t shave, you look like a hobo,” Mrs. Redner said, glancing at her son.

                “Thank you mother,” Misha said with a pout.

                “Look at Collie. He’s clean-shaven and he’s a very attractive young man,” Mrs. Redner said.

                “Jeez mom, is he going to be my boyfriend or yours?” Misha asked, shaking his head at her.

                The phone rang and Mrs. Redner went over to it and answered it. Misha slung an arm around my shoulders and sighed.

                “Hello?” Mrs. Redner glanced at me as whoever was on the other end talked, and I felt my stomach sinking a little. Mrs. Redner put her hand over the phone. “Your dad,” she mouthed.

                My eyes widened a little and I shook my head at her. “Don’t tell him I’m here,” I whispered nervously.

                “No, I’m sorry Jake. I haven’t seen Colin or Collie today.” She looked over at Emma now. “Emma, have you seen the twins?” she asked, rolling her eyes as she spoke loud enough for my dad to hear. Before Emma could even make a sarcastic remark, Mrs. Redner had turned her attention back to the phone. “Emma hasn’t them either. I’ll call you if we do see them, or if Emma hears anything.”

                She hung up the phone and faced me. “Why is your father looking for you, Collie? He sounded very upset,” she said.

                “You promised me you were going to tell me if they gave you trouble,” Misha said, frowning and taking my hand in his.

                “They didn’t give me any trouble. My dad and I had a little disagreement, and he didn’t want me to leave the house with Colin,” I said.

                “But you’re Collier Archer, so you did what you wanted and now you’re in trouble,” Emma said with a sigh.

                “Oh dear. My son has gotten mixed up with a rebel,” Mrs. Redner said with a sigh. “Collie, don’t you dare put any ideas in Misha’s head. I like having a dork for a son. He’s the only 20 year old virgin I know.”

                Misha face-palmed himself. “And with that, we’re going up to my room,” he said, pulling me out of the kitchen and upstairs.

                “You know, she’s wrong,” I said as we sat on his bed.

                “Wrong? What do you mean wrong?” He blushed. “I am still a virgin.”

                “But you’re not 20 just yet. You’re, what, 3 weeks shy of it? Who knows what could happen in the next 3 weeks.” I winked at him.

                Misha blushed even harder, twirling a piece of hair around his finger.” I, uh, I guess anything could h-happen.”

                I laughed at his expression and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking my head at him. “You’re so dorky and uncomfortably. It’s adorable. I was just kidding Misha. I’m not going to try to have sex with you,” I assured him.

                Misha glanced at me curiously. “What if we did date, Collie? Would you want to have sex with me?”

                I thought about it for a second before shrugging. “I guess it would all depend on how comfortable we were with each other.”

                Misha pulled me into his arms and we laid down together. “I’m pretty comfortable with you now,” he said.

                “Are you saying you want to have sex with me? Won’t your poster of L from Death Note get jealous? I mean, don’t you usually talk dirty to that when you have alone time with your hand?”

                He playfully smacked my arm. “Shut up! Leave me anime posters alone!” he whined.

                (A.N.- As I was writing that part, I remembered that I have a Death Note poster on my closet door. Well…fuck my life ._.)

                I winced as I hit my bad hand against his hip. Misha frowned and took my wrist, examining my hand again.

                “That looks really, really bad Collie. Are you sure you didn’t break your knuckles?” he asked nervously.

                “I doubt it,” I said, pulling my hand away. “Just a little bruised.”

                “Collie, my old roommate is having a party at his house tomorrow. You don’t have to, but if you want to come, you’re more than welcome,” he said.

                “Sure. What time?” I asked.

                “It starts at seven. We can leave whenever you want,” he said.

                “Alright. It should be a fun time,” I said, shifting and resting my head on Misha’s chest. My parents were starting to flash through my mind again.

                Misha ran his hand through my hair. I could tell he was desperately resisting the urge to kiss me right now.

                “You seem so stressed out Collie. I know you’re the type of guy that likes to handle everything on his own. But if you ever need to talk, or just want to stay here for a few days…you’re always welcome,” he said.

                “I just like being with you Misha. It makes me feel better,” I said honestly.

                He wrapped an arm around my waist, using the other to continue playing with my hair. I let my bad hand rest carefully on his stomach.

                Misha’s bedroom door opened a little while later, waking us up from the light sleep we had fallen into together. Emma stepped into the room and smiled at us, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture before we had the chance to shift.

                “You guys are adorable,” she said, sitting on the edge of Misha’s bed.

                “Emma, learn how to knock,” Misha groaned.

                “I say that to Colin all the time,” I said with a sigh.

                “Eh, that would be no fun. Anyways Collie, you might want to get up. Colin is downstairs waiting for you,” Emma said.

                “What?” I sat up, wincing as I hit my bad hand again.

                Emma nodded. “Yep. I told him you were up in my room and I would come get you,” she said.

                “Damn, what the hell?” Misha asked with a frown.

                “You guys must have fallen asleep or something. You’ve been up here for three hours,” Emma said.

                “How did Colin know I was here?” I asked, feeling panicked.

                “Calm down. I texted him off of your phone and told him you were heading over here because your date had to go to work,” she said.

                “You are a life saver Emma,” I said, hugging her.

                Misha sighed and hugged me tightly, kissing my cheek. “Alright, bye Collie. I’ll pick you up for that party tomorrow,” he said.

                “I’m probably going to have to sneak out, so be ready to drive a getaway car,” I warned.

                Misha chuckled but then the smile slipped off his face. “What? You’re going to sneak out of your house? You’re not going to ask your parents if you can go to the party?” he asked.

                “Oh Misha. You really are a dork,” I said with a sigh, patting his head sympathetically. Emma giggled.

                I waved to him and followed Emma out of his bedroom. We went downstairs and I glanced at Colin. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, talking to Mrs. Redner.

                “Hey Collie,” Colin said, turning to me with a small smile.

                “Hey Colin,” I said, going over to him. “Bye Emma. Thanks for everything.”

                We waved and left the house, getting in the car. Colin and I talked casually until we had reached the house. We went inside together.

                “Collier Memphis Archer! Colin Matthew Archer!” mom snapped, coming down the stairs.

                “Don’t get mad at Colin. I pulled him out of the house,” I said, glaring at her.

                Mom grabbed my arm and dragged me down to the basement. She shut my bedroom door as I sat down on my bed. She turned to face me and crossed her arms.

                “You are in so much trouble Collier. What has gotten into you lately? Sneaking out, disobeying me and your father, experimenting…Honestly, it’s making me sick. You’ve always been a little rebellious, but it is getting far too out of hand,” she said.

                “You’re trying to keep me away from my twin brother and my social life. Did you really think that was going to end well?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. My parents could be so freaking stupid.

                “Collie, we just want to help you. Something is very, very wrong with you and it’s scaring us!” she cried.

                I moved my bad hand so that it was behind my back. I didn’t want my mom to see it and freak out over it. Misha was right, it did look pretty bad. And it hurt like a bitch.

                “Yelling at me, slapping me, and banning me from having a life isn’t going to fix anything,” I pointed out.

                Mom sat next to me and put an arm around me. “Collie, I’m scared. The way you’re acting is terrifying. We just want to help you,” she said, her eyes shining with concern.

                “If you want to help me, then stop trying to change my sexuality,” I said quietly, tired of fighting with them over it.

                Mom bit her lip. She stood up and kissed my forehead, brushing her fingers on my cheek and eyeing me sadly.

                “I’m going to go make dinner. I’ll talk to your father about your punishment,” she said and left my bedroom.

                I laid down and rolled over, gently cradling my bad hand. I would have to ice it before it got much worse. It was really hurting now.

                But tomorrow, I would sneak out again and go to the party with Misha. Huh, maybe he would get drunk. I had a feeling that Misha would be a lightweight and a fun drunk.

                Still, I had so many problems to deal with right now. Between my bad hand, my parents, and my brother nearly catching me with Misha, things were starting to get stressful. And little did I know that tomorrow, everything was only going to get worse.

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A.N.- Ohhh nooo D; What do you guys think is going to happen to poor Collie now?!