** Prepare yourself **

*********

"There's something I need to talk to you about after breakfast." Chris announces as they all take a seat at the table.

"Is something wrong?" Adam asks as he passes the plate of bacon to Tim.

"No, nothing is wrong." Chris says as he shakes his head.

"Is this just between you and Adam or does it include all of us?" Tim asks as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"I guess it would include all of you. I just have an announcement to make." Chris replies.

"You're getting married?" Austin asks with a mouth full of eggs.

"No." Chris chuckles as Nate almost chokes on his breakfast. "We're not getting married. Not yet anyway."

"So why can't you tell us now?" Tim asks as he takes a bite of a slice of bacon.

"You sure you two aren't getting married?" Austin asks after he sees Chris and Nate share a glance.

"I'm positive, Austin." Nate smiles. "Okay. Here's the thing. You know I work for National Geographics and they send me all over the world to do stories and take pictures."

"Are you fixing to leave?" Adam asks.

"I got a call from my boss a couple of days ago. They're sending me to Costa Rica." Nate answers.

"Costa Rica, huh. I've heard it's beautiful down there." Rob smiles.

"I've never been there so I'm excited about going." Nate smiles.

"So, is that the big announcement?" Tim asks with a puzzled look. How did that affect them? 

"Well, they're allowing me to bring one guest." Nate says as he glances around at Chris.

"I'm going to Costa Rica with him." Chris says as he looks at his brother.

"Really? That should be fun." Adam smiles. "How long are you staying?"

"The project should take about three months." Nate says as he bites his bottom lip.

"Three months? Three whole months?" Adam asks as he eyes his older brother.

"Then there's a possibility that while I'm there I could get another job to go somewhere else after that job is done." Nate adds.

"Seriously? What about Helping Hands, Chris? We're supposed to be running this place together. You can't very well help when you're halfway around the world." Adam asks in an angry tone.

"You'll be fine, Adam. You have Kelsey to help and then there's mom." Chris says as he stands and begins to collect the dirty dishes.

"I know Kelsey will help but it's not her responsibility. She has her bar to run. And mom? Seriously? How many times has she came and checked to see if everything was okay? Huh?" Adam asks, his voice getting louder with anger.

"You can argue all you want, Adam. But I'm going. Besides, it's time for you to grow up and take on some responsibilities. Stop being a d*mn baby!" Chris says as he glares at his brother.

"WHAT!!?? Oh, hell no!!!" Adam shouts as he jumps up from the table. "You know what? You just go! I don't give a d*mn if you never come back to Helping Hands! We'll be just fine without you!"

Adam turns on his heels and leaves the kitchen, heading back upstairs to his and Tim's bedroom.

"I don't have a problem with you going with Nate. But I do have a problem with what you just said to Adam. That was all uncalled for, Chris." Tim says softly, breaking the silence as he stands slowly from the table. "Adam does just as much work around here as you do."

"Oh, yeah? I don't see how. It's hard to get him to do any work when he's piled up in bed with you all the time." Chris says as he folds his arms over his chest.

"Chris." Nate calls softly, trying to calm his boyfriend down.

"F*ck you, mother f*cker!" Tim growls as he too heads for the door of the kitchen.

"Tim? Wait. I'm sorry, man!" Chris calls out.

"GO TO HELL!!" Tim yells as he leaves the kitchen.

Silence once again falls over the kitchen.

"Well. That didn't go as well as I had hoped." Nate says as he begins to clean up the kitchen.

"Yeah, it could have been handled a lot better." Rob nods.

"He just needs to grow the f*ck up." Chris says as he sits back down at the table.

"Really? Maybe I should rephrase my statement." Rob says as he straightens his glasses. "YOU could have handled it a lot better."

"What you said was wrong in so many ways." Chance signs.

"Oh, yeah? And how was that?" Chris asks with anger still in his tone.

"Adam works in his own way. Have you not notice the change in Tim since Adam has arrived? You didn't know him before." Austin says, shaking his head. "Tim was pretty much in a shell. He didn't talk much and you rarely saw him smile. When he did smile, it never reached his eyes. He had a lot of hidden secrets and demons that haunted him. He felt comfortable enough around Adam to talk to him. He's a completely different person now and it's all because of Adam."

"Chris, don't think for one minute that we are turning on you. We're happy that you're getting to take this adventure with Nate. Maybe Adam did overreact a bit, but, you should have never said what you did." Chance signs. "And then what you said to Tim was like, wow, unbelievable."

"Well, I only spoke the truth, Chance." Chris states.

"I'm done with this conversation." Austin says as he stands from the table and glares at Chris. "Come on, Chance. The air in here is becoming very stagnate."

Austin takes his boyfriend by the hand and walks out of the kitchen.

"And what about you?" Chris says as he turns his attention to the man in the wheelchair. "I'm sure you're wanting to put your two-cents worth in."

"Maybe, but I don't think you would like it." Rob says before turning his attention to Nate. "Nate, it's been a pleasure meeting you. (holding his hand out to shake the blonde's hand) Good luck."

"Thank you, Rob." Nate replies before the bearded man left the kitchen.

~~

"Adam?" Tim calls softly to his lover as he walks into their bedroom. "You in here?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Adam answers in a down sounding voice.

Tim walks over and sits down beside the blonde on the bed.

"Did I overreact?" Adam asks quietly.

"To which part?" Tim says with a soft chuckle.

"All of it." Adam answers as he takes Tim's hand and begins to play with his fingers.

"Maybe and no." Tim replies. "There's no doubt in my mind that we'll be fine without Chris. We are not immature or totally disabled. We can pretty much take care of ourselves. I mean, we may need help with a few things but we are not totally helpless. So, you might have overreacted just a tad about him leaving."

Adam opens his mouth to speak but Tim continues.

"But, you did not overreact to his statement about you needing to grow up and take on responsibility." Tim says.

"That was like a slap in the face." Adam says, looking down at Tim's fingers. "So, what happened after I left?"

"Besides me telling him to f*ck off, calling him a mother f*cker and to go to hell?" Tim says with a smirk.

"What??" Adam asks, his eyes widening but a smile was on his face.

"He said something that pissed me off but I won't repeat what he said. It'll only make things worse." Tim says. "I just told him what I thought about it."

"I don't think I want to know what he said." Adam says as he shakes his head.

"Good." Tim says as he leans over and kisses his lover on the cheek.

"Adam." Austin says as he suddenly opens the bedroom door. "I love you like a brother but your brother is a complete asshole."

With that being said, he walks out and slams the door behind him.

********

First, I want to apologize to any Chris fans out there. I was once a fan but not so much now. If I could figure out a way, I would probably write him out of any story of mine that he is in. That's just the way I feel. Sorry.

So, what did y'all think about what went on in this chapter?

Thank you for reading.

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