A troubled morning turned into a day of even more physical activity. Huffing, you chased after Matti, who ran through the backyard.

His curls peaked out from under the small red rain hat that your mother had managed to force on him. In exchange he had ditched everything else.

Including rain boots and the yellow jacket.

It was humid and foggy, perfect weather to be a small child that had no worries in the world and was willing to loose both kidneys to an infection just to run feel the freedom of not listening to dad.

And both of his grandparents.

"For the love of fucking-!", you hissed with your teeth clenched and let out a groan of frustration.

With a soft huff, Kyle approached, followed by your parents who did their best to keep Elli from going as shoeless as his little brother.

But just like the other boy he was slick and had his own little mind. So he just slipped out of his jacket, and made a run for it.

"Seriously?", defeated, you let your hands fall to your sides and sighed.

"They'll be fine.", your mom said with a shrug. "You used to run around shirtless in winter."

"And where did that get me?", you asked over your shoulder, eyebrows raised sarcastically.

"The ER.", Kyle answered drily. "Twice."

"Bold words from a man who used to be their most loyal customer.", you handed your dad the jacket for Matti so that he could do his grandpa duties and chase after the kids.

"Mom said I was special.", Kyle shrugged. "And now look at me. Tall, dark and very handsome."

With a quick glance over to your mother you made sure that she was out of earshot and narrowed your eyes. A smirk danced around your lips. You tried your best to hide it.

"Are you very healthy, tho?", you asked and leaned closer, so close that the warmth of his breath tickled your cheek. "Can't use a nanny with a weak immune system. You wouldn't believe what the kids can pass on to you."

Sucking on the inside of his cheek, he clenched his jaw. Brown eyes wandered down to rest on your lips for a moment. He swallowed hard.

All of a sudden his fingers flinched, wanted to reach out and have a quick taste of the softness of your palm. But in that exact moment your mother appeared, phone in hand.

Struck by the sudden presence of her, the two of you flinched away from one another. His gaze left you, traveled along the landscape instead while you cleared your throat.

"My boys~!", your mother chirped with a huge smile. "Just how you used to be. C'mon, I need some pictures to show my friends. Stand closer."

Obediently you listened to her commands and stood next to each other. It was a bit of an awkward situation, neither you nor Kyle were really sure how to pose without making it seem obviously staged.

He put on his best photo smile. You tried to make it look more natural and instead gave a thin lipped smile, eyebrows raised.

"Oh dear...", your mother sighed. "How about making it look less like I forced you to do this?"

"You are forcing us to do this, mom.", you reminded her through clenched teeth.

She rolled her eyes.

"But Martha from next town over doesn't have to know that, does she?"

You sighed.

"Why does Martha from next town over even have to know we exist?", you asked back.

Kyle let out a low hum. His eyebrows lifted.

"God, this is like back in Highschool. Remember parent teacher conferences?", he pulled a face of sheer discomfort.

A groan escaped you at the memory.

"Don't remind me.", you snarled. "I swear to god, everyone had the best kid in the world."

He chuckled, did a gesture with his head and indicated that the two of you were still being photographed.

"Like Nate."

You straightened your back to make yourself seem taller in the picture. Or to hide your lazy posture. Either way, you wanted to look like a son to brag about.

"Lester?", you asked with a crooked smirk.

Your mother looked over the edge of her phone.

"Oh he was a little cunt.", she chipped in from the other side. "Bastard wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between an apple and a tomato. And his father was weird too. Could have sworn he was a Tori..."

You had to suck in a sharp breath to keep yourself from laughing out loud. The next second you had to frown, unable to fight down the annoyed smile that captured your lips.

"Jesus, mom, why do you have to be like that?", you asked. "Unhinged..."

With a shrug she indicated for the two of you to scoot even closer. Kyle did as was asked. His shoulder brushed against yours and without thinking about it you let a hand run along his back to find his waist.

He took a deep breath, stiffened a little under the touch as he nestled against your chest in a way that was too suspicious to not get any ideas from it.

"I don't know what you mean, darling.", she gifted you her most innocent smile. "Now be a dear and smile for the camera. I can't keep having the same argument with Martha about new generations being depressed all the time."

"Weird?", frowning, you tried to give your best smile.

She took a few photos, sighed and scrolled through to see which ones would be presentable enough to brag with. She skipped back and forth between a few before her eyebrows knitted together.

"What?", you asked, your hands still resting on Kyle's side. "Do you need more?"

She looked up but not to look at your face. Instead, she tilted her head to look past you into the distance. Confused, you turned around to see for yourself.

All of a sudden your heart skipped a beat.

There was a car at the edge of the property, standing at the side of the road. Someone stood leaned against the drivers door and had a smoke.

"Not a welcome sight, I take it.", Kyle glanced at you.

Your fingers tensed, dug into his flesh to hold onto him.

"We should get the boys.", you muttered, turned on your heel and ran off.