CROSSOVER EPISODES WITH "CAN'T STAY TRANQUIL" #1

Picture is Oliver Wilburn. ❤

BAD CUPID

Created By; Snow Marisvega

Chapter 117

It had been a great few weeks, Bruce had returned to school and Joshua was in jail. The recording had been played through the speakers in school and everyone had known the kind of people Joshua was. It wasn't easy for Bruce to adjust back in Eastwood high but the students didn't make it hard for him, it could be because I promised to have them suspended with the help of principal Evans. It was no secret that Principal Evans favored me and was ready to do what I saw fit because his school was filled with evil kids these days.

The stupid blog had been closed, everyone seemed a bit calmer now because they didn't have to be scared of their secrets being spilled. Bruce was smiling more and yes, he was going to therapy. The first week, Quinn and I went with him and now we just take turns if less busy.

My best friends were worried that Quinn and I had become this close but I assured them if was only for the good of everyone because that bitch helped me save someone's life. I didn't tell anyone about Bruce trying to kill himself, well except Jaxton and my mother because we lived together and yes, Trevor too.

Speaking about Trevor, we had been going out more now. I slept over at his place at some nights and he'd help me with some math equations in my homework that could make me spend close to fifteen minutes on it. He was pretty smart and a good cook and he knew how to make me smile.

We went on a couple of dates and yes, my mother has met him. I invited him over for dinner and she seemed to like him but deep down I knew she still wanted Henry because she asked me if I really really liked Trevor. If it was a yes from my mom she would say "I love that kid, or I love Trevor." and not "Do you really really like him." Like in the days of Henry, she looked for every opportunity to have him over and still pretended she didn't know I was gay.

Jaxton shipped us and gave us a shipname; Drevor. I kind of like it, it does have a nice ring to it. My friends liked him but some of them like Henry more, for example: Raven, Jaxton and Gwen wanted me to move on and be with Trevor but Jon, Zach and Jaxton wanted me with Henry and yes, Jaxton was torn, he didn't know who to ship me with like in the days of Christian.

It was a little hurtful that they didn't understand how much I needed to heal.

Now although, Zach tried to act like he didn't care about Trevor, he seemed to ask a lot of questions about him especially when I slept over at his last weekend.

The welcome back to school dance was a success and it made me smile. I was really good at this class president thing and I enjoyed it, sure people came to me with so many complaints but I found out that I loved providing solutions and figuring things out, made me feel like I worked in a police station or law firm.

Henry barely said words to me anymore, at first he would just ignore my existence like I had done something wrong but now, he just nods or smiles and walks away, that's just it, and I don't think I blame him for that, I just....wish he'd maybe talk to me.

But then, I don't know, do i really?

Trevor made me forget a lot of things whenever I was with him and I felt less stressed. We went out a lot of dates and there was always a story to tell. It was a cold night this one time and we had gone to a fancy restaurant. Trevor saw how I stared at my menu in irritation and just ordered pizza from Domino's instead and yes, we ate pizza at a fancy restaurant and didn't even buy it from them.

He had taken me to a children's playground and I had given him this "are you kidding me" look, only for me to be on the swing few minutes later giggling like a five year old and having ice cream later. He made me feel like a child every time.

Dad had been teaching me how to drive and was scared for his life every time I sat in the driver's seat. Despite him helping me out, dude was still panicking that I was gonna kill him and come out of this without a scratch.

My parents and I were sitting at the dinning, we'd been talking about Jaxton for a while now. He was eighteen, not twenty one and my mother was scared for him and Sofía, deep down she had been worried someone might report them to child services and she didn't want them in a foster home. Two days ago, my parents had told me about their plans for Jaxton and Sofía and I was on board with it, we needed to protect them at all cost.

"Hey." Jaxton walked over to us with a big smile on his face. "What's going on? You called me." He said and mom nodded.

"Jaxton, uh, please take a seat." She said and with a confused look on his face, Jax sat down. He looked at mom then dad, me, and back at mom. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, son, you're not." Dad said, shaking his head.

"Oh, okay. This is just weird." He nervously chuckled. "The tension, what's wrong?"

"Just relax." I told him.

He looked at me and nodded. "Okay, what are we talking about?"

"Well, Jaxton," Mom began. "We want to tell you something and Dylan's dad and I are not really good with words but, we have decided to tell you we want to adopt Sofía."

Jaxton's eyes widen in shock. "Wait, what?"

"It's just," mom walked over to where he was and sat on the chair beside him. "I don't look at Sofía as someone else's child, I love spending time with her and she's become a part of my life, of this family. Matthew enjoys reading to her at every chance he gets, Sofía adores Dylan and she's a piece this family needs. I know this is crazy but we're worried about her. I'm worried child services might come here one day and take her away because they think you're not capable of taking care of her."

"B-But I can take care of her."

"We know." Dad said and Jaxton looked at him. "But to them you can't. They'd wanna know if you have a stable job to take care of everything she needs, if you can be there for little Sofía and you can't always be there for her Jaxton, because you are going off to college soon." He explained. "You won't have time her Sofía, Jaxton. I know you love her but if they come around, I don't think they'd want her to be kept here. And we just wanna help, we want to be there for her." He said. "We want to protect her from the world."

Jaxton gulped, his eyes glued on the table and I bit my bottom lip nervously.

"None of your relatives have called to check on you both, to know if you are....even alive and that worries me." Mom said and Jaxton scoffed.

"They don't exactly care." He replied and mom took his hands in hers, he looked away from the table and at her.

"Then please, we want to take care of Sofía, give her everything she deserves; the love, the life of not having to go from one foster parent to the other because she deserves to have a normal life with the love of two parent, she deserves to have all her birthdays celebrated and someone she can call a family." She told him and Jaxton smiled, he nodded. "The two of you deserve that" She added and Jaxton frowned, bewildered.

"W-What?" He questioned.

"Yes," Mom chuckled. "We are not just adopting Sofía, Jaxton. There's no way we would try to separate you both." She shook her head. "We wanna make you both part of the Dexwells. Matthew and I would like to adopt you and Sofía." She smiled.

Jaxton stared at her, I knew he was expecting her to say it was some sort of prank or so he hoped. The look on his face showed how shocked he was, his lips slightly parted as a tear fell from his left eye.

"We never regretted taking you in that very day after the attack, Jaxton." Mom said and cupped his cheek. "We have come to love you unconditionally, Jaxton. People already think you are my son whenever we go grocery shopping or go for pedicures." she said with a chuckle and I frowned.

They went for pedicures without me?

"You are not just Dylan's friend, Jaxton, you're also my son. I have always seen you as my own child too, you and Dylan both need each other and I am thankful that you approached him." She smiled, holding back her tears. "And, I know you're eighteen and old enough to make your own decisions, to take care of yourself but we want to be part of your life. You deserve all the love in the world, kid." She said and I looked at Jaxton, his eyes teary as he stared at ma.

"You deserve a mother's love, you deserve a family that cares about you and that is what we want to fulfill for you. We want to be here for you throughout college, we want to be there whenever you need us. You and your sister are the missing pieces of our family's puzzle, Jaxjax." She chuckled and the tears fell from her eyes.

"Listen, kid." Dad walked over to them and stood behind mom, smiling at him while mom wiped her tears. "You've been here and this is your home, you're not a guest here and every time I worry I might come home and Bonnie's gonna tell me they took you both away from us. I've watched you go through a lot of shit and for teenagers, you and Dylan have gone through way worse than any other adult out there, it's kinda crazy." He said and we both chuckled, it was then I realized I myself had tears.

"We want you to keep living here, we want to spend every Christmas with you and Sofía. Last Christmas, we realized this was what we have always wanted, you make us happy and you're not as useless as our other son." Dad said and my jaw dropped.

"Hey! Stop." I said as I wiped off my tears.

"I also wanna walk you down the aisle on your wedding, hopefully it's gonna be with Dominic." He said and Jaxton laughed as the tears fell, he wiped them off the same time as mom.

"I don't-"

"You can think about it," mom squeezed his hands. "We won't be mad if you don't want to, Jaxton. We just want you to know we have your best interest at heart and want you both to be part of our family legally. You are always going to be our son no matter what." Mom assured him with a big smile.

"Did you know?" Jaxton asked me and I nodded.

"Yeah. You have no idea how excited I was when they told me." I said with a sniff. "I've always called you my brother, Jaxjax, because that's who you are to me. You're proven to me that you are not just my best friend, you're the brother I wish I still had. I lost Isaac and I got you and I don't regret knowing you at all, you've always been there for me, we stand up for each other at the chance we get because that's what brothers do. And sure we've head our fights but so has every other sibling out there." I said and he smiled.

"This may come off rude but your mother deprived you of the love you deserved," I told him. "You shouldn't have had to go through that, no one deserves to not have a mother's love when she's still there. She choose....other things over the son who had been there for her and that is really shitty so yeah, we love you and we want you to be part of us." I said. "And yes, I did just say horrible things about her so you would consider saying yes." I said and he laughed shortly before wiping off his tears again.

"We go almost everywhere together and people who've known you longer than me still think we're siblings or un-indentical twins because we're literally the same height, skinny and hot as fuck." I told him and he nodded, smiling widely.

"That is true."

"So, what do you say?" Dad asked him.

Jaxton sniffed, looking at Dad and then mom. "I wasn't expecting this at all, I didn't think you would ever ask me to legally....legally be your son." He said, his voice breaking. "I've always thought what it would be like to be a Dexwell because you all stand up for each other and you've stood up for me more times than I can count even when Dylan and I were just getting to know each other." He wiped his tears with his arm like a child.

"And I want nothing, nothing more than......to be your son, to be permanently part of this family." He said and mom covered her mouth with both hands as she sobbed happily. "I want Sofía to have you both always and to have Dylan as a brother because he'll always protect her and I want her to have a sister too," he shrugged. "She deserves that and I want a family too." He said and I watched dad smile and hold back his tears.

"Fuck, my heart was pounding." Dad said, clutching his chest and we all laughed.

"Fuck, yes!." I grinned.

"Fuck yeah." Jaxton looked at me and nodded.

"Can you boys not swear at such an emotional time." Mom said, sniffing afterwards.

"Sorry mom." I said.

Jaxton hugged mom tight instantly. "Thank you so much," he sobbed.

I watched them exchange hugs where I sat and I just cried, I was happy, too happy that he and Sofía were gonna be part of our family forever. They were so happy it made me happy.

"Dylan," mom called and I looked up at her. "You okay?"

I nodded, unable to speak at the moment. "I-I'm wonderful." I chuckled softly. "I just....I'm happy."

"Come here." Mom said and I stood up, I walked over to them and we all had a group hug.

A family hug.

"I want a hug too." A tiny voice said.

We turned to see Sofía with her teddy bear and a smile on her face. "Oh, come here princess." Dad said and squatted, she ran to him excitedly and jumped in his arms. "Ugh, she's growing so big." He said and stood up with her in his arms.

"Why's everyone crying?" Sofía asked, sounding concerned.

"Nothing, sweetie. These are tears of joy." Mom told her but she looked confused.

"Can I cry too?" She asked and we all laughed.

***

HENRY'S P.O.V

"Heyyyyy, good fucking morning to you all." Zach greeted as he walked into the house with a big smile.

"Ugh, I've told you to stop swearing in my house, Zach." Mom said from the kitchen, she was making peanut butter jam.

"Ooof, I came at the right time." Zach rushed over to her and kissed her cheek. "Good morning, Mrs. Ashcroft."

"Good morning, sweetie."

"Can I have one?"

"Stop bugging my mom, Zach." I told him from the living room, my eyes glued on the television.

"Your mom isn't complaining so shut up, you cumbag." He retorted.

"Mom, Zach swore." I said in a dry voice and I heard a faint slap.

"Ow!" Zach cried and I smirked. "Jesus, you and my other friend's mom are the same, but I love you." He said.

I knew whom he was referring to and my smirk disappeared at the thought of him. I still missed him like crazy , sometimes I would think I'd wake up to him laying beside me only to find my bed empty and it hurt. I missed making him Henry's special mistake and taking him out on dates, I missed hearing him complain about how people breathed too loud and condemn people's acting in series. It's been two months and a half but my feelings for him had not died the way his had for me.

"Hey!" Zach slumped down on the couch I was on. "What's up?"

"I didn't know you were coming."

His jaw dropped. "Do I have to take permission from my best friend before coming to his place?"

"Shut up." I smiled and took a sip from the bottle coke in my hand. "I didn't mean that."

"You better not." He said and turned to the TV, once he saw what I was watching he groaned loudly. "What the fuck? Not you too!"

I frowned, confused. "Huh?"

"You're seriously watching the amazing world of gumball right now?"

"Yeah? It's pretty funny and has good sarcasm."

"I swear to the heavens, you and Dylan really deserve each other and should fucking get married." He said and I arched a brow at him.

"Huh?"

"This is what the bitch watches in my house every time it comes up even at twelve am! And when I asked what he sees in this, he said and I quote 'it's pretty damn funny and has crazy good sarcasm'. Does that sound familiar?" He asked and looked at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Shut up." I told him and smacked the back of his head a second later. "That's for calling him a bitch."

"Ow! I'll call the cops and tell them you're assaulting me" He dramatically said and I chuckled.

"Dylan's rubbing off on you."

"Hmph, maybe."

"How uh...how is he?"

"He's....happy, I guess."

"That's good."

"Is it? You can still win him back you know?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, that is not possible. He already uh....he moved on and maybe that's what's best for him."

"And what about you? You're still hurting."

I faked a smile. "It was all my fault anyways."

"I think he still loves you like crazy." Zach said and I turned to him.

"What makes you think so?"

"Because when I tell him our childhood stories, he laughs and doesn't feel awkward and also, he tries not to bring you up in his conversations, like he's being careful. Why would he do that if he isn't thinking about you? Bro, you can still win him back." Zach told me and I just looked at him.

I couldn't.

"You said he looks happy, I'm not gonna destroy that even though I still love him." I told him.

Zach just stared at me, he nodded and looked back at the television. "Trevor is all shades of cool but, I'd always root for you and Dylan."

"Please don't ever stop taking care of Dylan for me." I said and he scoffed.

"Like I could ever, you'd kill me. And besides, we've bonded and I enjoy his company. I would never, I didn't when you called me that night he broke up with you and asked me to come take him home and I've done everything you asked, I've watched over him. He wouldn't have healed this fast if it wasn't because of you, Henry." He said and I just faked a smile. "You can't keep hurting yourself, Henry."

"The things we do for the people we love, right?" I said.

"Having to pretend you've moved on?" He questioned. "I don't think Dylan would appreciate you not fighting for you both."

I frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means it'd look like you never had faith in your relationship." Mom said as she walked into the living room. "I've been telling you this, hijo. Get him back. He hasn't even....come to see me and I'm hurt but I know he's hurting too."

"And I am also hurting too, ma! I'm hurting a lot but what can I do? I love him and I hurt him, he loved me and all he wanted in return was my love and loyalty and some stupid drink fucked me up! I ruined everything because that's all I do, I fuck shit up!! He's done so much for me, he...he was there when I needed someone, he loved me regardless of the scum bag I was! Because of him, you're here, ma! I owe him my life!" I yelled, my throat closing up. "I love him but I fucked things up and now he's with another fucking boy!!" I screamed and threw the bottle of coke in my hand at the wall. It shattered and mom flinched.

"Henry, control yourself." Mom scolded.

I looked down, swallowing hard. My chest was hurting and I needed to be alone at the moment. Ma reached for me but I shrugged her off. "I uh, I'm gonna go upstairs, I have a headache." I said and walked past her and up to my room.

***

"Dylan!!!" Sofía called as she ran into Jaxton and my room, I looked away from my laptop and at her with a big smile.

"Hey, cutie."

She ran towards the bed and climbed on it with a smile. "Can I watch frozen?"

"You've seen it like five times already, Sofía."

"I know, and I like Elsa, she's pretty and it's my favorite princess movie."

"Okay, uh, how about later when I'm done with homework?" I asked and she pouted.

"But, I'm bored." She sang and dramatically fell on the bed. "And I read that bored people die after an hour."

I arched my brow at her. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Because you told daddy when Jaxton wasn't home." She said as she rolled on my bed.

"Oh, so you've been listening." I narrowed my eyes at her and she giggled. "Wait, did you just call him daddy?"

Sofía nodded and sat up. "Yes, cause he do really nice things like other kids....other kids daddy do for them in their house." She said as she pushed her hair backwards like Raven used to. "And...and, sometimes he pick me up from school, he read me books and take me to go get ice cream and gummy bears and we eat it in the car but he said, I shouldn't tell or he'll be in big trouble so shush." She said, a finger on her lips. "It's a secret."

"Sofía, a secret means I shouldn't know."

She nodded. "But you my best friend, Jaxton is also my best friend but you my new best friend and I like you more than I like Jaxton cause Jaxton would say 'Sofía, don't....don't eat this, it's bad for you' but you just give me everything I ask and you don't even care." She said as she shook her head and I blinked, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Sofía, you just described me as a jackass."

She tilted her head to the side. "What's a jackass?"

"Never mind, frozen it is." I said and she clapped her hands. "You don't have any homework, do you?" I asked as I searched for frozen on my laptop.

She shook her head. "All done." She smiled.

"Good girl." I said and clicked on the movie, once she heard the soundtrack she ran to my side with a big smile. "Now, don't touch anything, I'll be right back." I told her.

"Okay," she grinned. "Thank you."

I smiled at her. "You're welcome, now if you're done with frozen let me know, I have a zombie movie I wanna show you."

She nodded excitedly. "Okay."

I got off the bed and left my room with a smile on my face.

"Hey," I sat on the couch close to Dad and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Okay, sure, I'll uh, I'll see you tomorrow then, thank you." He said and then I saw a phone in his hand. I hadn't even realized he was making call.

He sighed and turned to me with a smile. "That's Andrew, he's helping us with the adoption, it shouldn't take so much time getting it done since Jaxton is Sofía's legal guardian and so there's no need for a relative to be present cause he's her family and can make the decision for her. Jaxton could choose to not be adopted but it makes your mother and I happy to know he wants to be part of our family, legally." Dad smiled.

"When we lost Isaac, I could never forgive myself, God I hated myself so much for taking my family for granted and listening to shitbags who couldn't even take care of their family. Your mother could have left me cause I know she could, she could have said she was fed up and left me but she didn't, she didn't leave me and I hate myself for what I did. She still decided to give fight for us and when I....after the Isaac incident, God seeing her sad hurt me so much. I realized I was an asshole, as you know, your mother had decided to leave me for good but I wasn't ready to just...let her go, this time it was my turn to fight for us, all of us. Isaac was a huge part in our life and I took him away from us cause I was some stupid asshole that took what he had for granted." He scoffed and I looked down and held his hand.

"When we had Jaxton here, he was like the piece we had been looking for. I kept wondering, this is how my son would have grown up to be. Jaxton was like the son we lost, your mother loved him and so did I, he was family and don't get me wrong, we're not trying to replace him with Isaac. Jaxton is his own human and that is what we love about him, the fact that he is Jaxton, the fact that he is a different person, he's funny, he's talented and he makes you happy and us happy." He shrugged.

"He deserves to be happy, he deserves a family like ours and I want to do that for him. We want to. Then Sofía came into the picture and she's just an Angel, so innocent and really funny, they deserve to be happy and it wouldn't hurt to have four kids." He smiled and looked at me.

I smiled back at him. "I am so lucky to have the best parents in the world, you and mom are the best and I am glad Jaxton gets to have that too."

"Me too." A familiar voice said and we turned to see a smiling Jaxton. "I couldn't be more happier."

"Come here, kid." Dad said and patted the couch, Jaxton sat at the other side and dad had each arm thrown over our shoulders. "I love you both and I an thankful for our family. This year will be different, we'll have Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, everything as a real family."

I smiled. "You're the best, pa." I told him and he scoffed.

"I'm not that old." He said and we both laughed.

"Oh, and Sofía told me a certain person gets her cotton candy and lots of gummy bears every time he picks her up from school." I said and gave Dad a look.

He looked surprised. "Your mother mustn't hear that or she'll kill me for giving her too much candy." Dad said and Jaxton chuckled.

I nodded. "Sure, I won't tell her."

"Thank you."

"For hundred bucks."

His eyes widen. "What? For what?"

"Fifty for me and fifty for Jaxton."

"It's true." Jaxton nodded. "You gotta settle us both or one of us will talk."

Dad turned to Jaxton. "You mean after all that nice things I said about you, you're still blackmailing me?"

"Oh come on, Dad." I rolled my eyes. "It's what the Dexwells do." I said and Jaxton smiled at me.

The door opened and we heard mom say. "I'm home! Not that any of you care anyways but I'm home."

Jaxton and I looked back at Dad and he sighed. "Fine." He quickly took out his wallet, he handed fifty bucks to me and fifty to Jaxton. "Happy?"

"Very." Jaxton and I chorused and then mom walked into the living room and took off her coat.

"Hey, boys."

"Hey, sweetie." Dad cleared his throat. "How did it go?"

"Signed the papers today with Astrid and we'll finally be opening next week." Mom said with a big smile.

"Congratulations, mom." I got up and hugged her.

"Thanks, baby. Ugh, I'm finally gonna start up my own restaurant. It's so big and beautiful and I'm changing all the colors to white so I'm gonna need all you boys to help me with that, I've called a few backups so in two days we'll be heading to clean up." Mom said and I groaned, she gave me a look and I faked a smile.

"That sounds amazing, mother." I said and Jaxton snickered at my reply.

"So Dominic will work for me and I'll make him like the boss of all the other workers cause I love that kid and yes, I'm not being fair but who cares?" She asked and sat down.

"You mean the manager?" I asked, arching a brow at her.

"That's what i said." She frowned at me.

"Mmhmm, sure. It is called 'manager'."

"Hey! We paid your fees, don't come acting like you can school us!" She snapped her fingers at me.

Jaxton chuckled. "Dominic will be thrilled."

"Oh, he is. I spoke to him about it earlier and he can't wait to start, Astrid too and if you boys wanna earn some extra cash, you could take on some shifts when you can." Mom shrugged.

"Count me in." Jaxton said with a smile. "Besides, it'd be nice to work alongside Dominic and Astrid." He shrugged.

"I guess since I don't have anything doing with my life, I could use a job." I shrugged.

"Awesome." Mom smiled. "I could use trustworthy people around me." She said and took off her kitten heels.

"How many staffs are you considering hiring?" Dad asked and mom shrugged.

"Uh, five waiters and waitresses, a kitchen assistant too, for now at least. I believe the restaurant would grow so well and then I'd get more employees." She answered and Dad smiled at her.

"I'm proud of you, babe."

"I'm proud of me too."

"You're supposed to say thank you." Jaxton told her.

"That's what I said!" Mom replied and Jaxton chuckled.

"Oh, well, you've got three now, I think Jon would need a job, maybe? I could ask him." I suggested.

"Oh, that cute sweetheart. Yes, do ask him. See," she smiled. "Everything's working out already."

"As it should." Dad stood up and pulled mom up, he wrapped his arms around her, a smile plastered on their faces. "You are so amazing and I know you'll do great, this is one of your biggest dreams and everyone who has tasted your food can testify that it is delicious as fuck and has a home soothing feeling. I know and believe you'll become one of the greatest here. "

Mom smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You are the best most supportive husband in the world."

"And you are the perfect wife." Dad replied and they kissed.

"This is cute and all but I think this is our cue to leave." I said and stood up.

"Yeah, I think so too." Jaxton got up.

I grimaced disgustedly. "I can't have any husband fucks wife in the living room couch with their kids around the house."

"Inserts pornhub music intro." Jaxton said and we both laughed.

Mom and Dad were looking at us like we had both grown two heads. "Honey, I think we should cut the WiFi, what is wrong with you both?" She asked and looked at Jaxton. "Dylan's tainted you."

"Relax, mom. We're gay, we don't watch straight porn." I told her and Jaxton nodded. "But we know what gets down with these hetero porns."

"I remember the first time I saw straight porn, I don't think it's bad but....I just...I was scared." Jaxton said, staring at nothing as if relieving it and then he trembled in disgust.

"Same," I sighed. "God save us all. Come on, Jaxton, before they corrupt us." I said and we both left the living room but before we could head for the stairs, there was a knock on the door.

"Ugggh, are we expecting anybody?" I asked but they all just shrugged.

"I don't think we are." Mom replied.

I walked over to the door and opened it and standing in front of me was a very familiar face with a big smile. I was shocked to see her standing right in front of our door, my eyes widen and my brows knitted.

"Oh my God! Aunt, Gillian?!!" I exclaimed.

She chuckled. "Dylan! Oh my God, look how grown you are!!". she quickly pulled me into a hug which I returned happily. "oh my God, look at you!"

Aunt Gillian is my mom's older sister, she's the nice one in the family and one of my favorites. She's average height and has a pretty smile, she's one of the 2% in the family without silver hair or did she always dye it? I don't know. After she got married, she moved to London with her husband, I haven't seen her or my cousin in like....five and a half years? Her accent had changed, now she sounds like a forty year old Hermione.

"You're so tall now and look how handsome you are."

"You look good too!! You don't look a day over forty nine." I said and she smacked my shoulder.

"Shut up." She said and I giggled.

"Dylan, who is it?" Mom asked and walked out of the living room, once she saw her sister, she squealed. "Gillian!!!"

"Bonnie!!!"

The sisters ran to each other like little kids and hugged while laughing. It was exciting to see and that made me smile, my mom couldn't stop laughing despite being shocked to see her sister.

"Oh my fucking gad, Gill!! I...how did you....I wasn't....you get what I'm trying to say!!"

Aunt Gillian laughed. "Yes, it's a surprise and I had to come see you and everyone cause I've fucking missed you and I asked mom for your address."

"But we face timed like five days ago, you didn't tell me you were coming."

"Because, it was a. surprise, you need to try and catch up." Aunt Gillian said and mom scoffed.

"Oh shut up!!"

"Hey, Gillian." Dad smiled and approached her.

"Matthew, hey! Oh my God, you all look so good." She said and hugged him. "Hi!"

I was about to close the door when a hand from outside stopped me from doing so and I frowned, I opened the door and a boy I was taller than sighed and looked up at me, a duffel bag in one hand and a luggage in another. "Oh, don't mind me, I thought I was loved."

My jaw dropped and I stared at him for the longest of time. "Oliver?!!"

He grinned. "Oh my God, Dylan, how the fuck did you get so tall?!!"

I screamed in joy and quickly pulled him in, he dropped his bags and we both hugged. "Oh my God! Look at you, how the fuck do you even look like Troye sivan?!"

Oliver laughed. "My God, Dylan you're fucking taller than I am, what the fuck?!"

"Well look at you!" I stared at him from head to toe with a proud smile. "Your attractive side finally bloomed."

"Fuck you, Dylan."

I giggled.

"I have so much to tell you." He said in his British accent.

"Boy, same!! Oh my God, I need you to tell me everything about the boys in London."

"Hey, Oliver, um, Dylan's mother and father are here too, just in case." Mom said and Oliver turned, only just noticing them.

He gasped. "Oh fuck, Aunt Bonnie!!" He rushed over to her and gave her a hug.

She laughed. "Hey, Olly. My God, look how you've grown."

"Aunt Bonnie," Oliver pulled away. "What. Is. Your. Skincare routine? Your face is fucking gorgeous, you're not aging!." Oliver said and mother laughed.

"Aw, thank you." She flipped her hair backwards. "It's all natural." She said and Jaxton and I laughed

"Hello, Mr. Dexwell." Oliver smiled at Dad and he returned it.

"Oh, you can see me? Oh, thank God. I thought I was invisible like two seconds ago." He dramatically said and Oliver chuckled.

"I'm sorry, it's just every member of your family is so good looking and I just get distracted, I'm actually jealous." He said and Dad chuckled.

Dad chuckled. "Nice to see you again, kid." He said and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh! I need to finally see Davina. She looked so beautiful in those photos you sent me, I need to see her!" Aunt Gillian said excitedly

"She's upstairs, come with me." Mom held Aunt Gillian's hand and led her upstairs.

"Well, boys, I'll be back in ten minutes, your mom's gonna wanna make a feast, so before she panics, I'll head to the grocery store and get her what she needs." Dad said and walked to the living room, he returned with his car keys and a smile on his face. "Nice to have you here, Oliver."

Olly smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Dexwell." He replied as Dad left.

"Okay, okay." I rushed over to Jaxton and stood beside him. "Oliver, I'd like to introduce you to my best friend and my brother. Yes, brother."

Jaxton chuckled. "His parents are adopting me. Hi, I'm Jaxton." Jax said and stretched his hand.

Oliver didn't take his hand. "Your parents are adopting him?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Oliver looked at Jaxton then at me and back at Jaxton which made me frown. Oliver let out a sigh and shook his head. "What is it with our family and skinny kids? Welcome to the family, Jaxton." Oliver grinned and pulled him into a long hug instead. "Hi," he finally pulled away. "I'm your new cousin Oliver Wilburn, and I must say you are absolutely stunning."

Jaxton let out a sigh of relief and chuckled. "Thank you and it is nice to meet you, your eyes are....wow. Is your entire family born with blue eyes?"

"First, thanks mate. Secondly, not all of us have blue eyes, some are unlucky. " Oliver replied and turned to me. "Oh God, your town looks amazing."

"Ha! Don't be too sure about that." I chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Oliver asked with a small frown.

"You know how most poisonous flowers look beautiful?" Jaxton asked and Oliver nodded.

"Yeah?"

"Well this is one of those deadly flowers, Oliver."

"Oh." He pouted. "That just dreams teenage drama, doesn't it?" He asked and we both nodded. "Ugh. Anyways, help me with this. We have a lot to talk about, I haven't seen you in like....six years?"

"But we Skype and chat."

"It's not the same thing!!" He cried. "And oh my God," he turned to Jaxton. "I'm happy you're hot cause we don't do ugly." He said and shook his head making Jaxton arch his brow.

"He's joking." I let out a small laugh.

"No, I mean if he were ugly it'd be-" I pulled his hair forcefully and his scream filled the house. "Dylan! Ow! Ow! Please! I was only joking!!" He cried and I left him.

He looked at me with a scowl and gave me the finger with one hand while the other rested on his head. "Asshole." He muttered.

"Anyways, I'd like to introduce you to someone upstairs. Two actually." I said and he frowned.

"Who?" He asked and I smiled.

"One is my baby sister that can't talk, Davina, and the other is my baby sister that can talk, Sofía." I said and he just looked at me with a blank stare.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost."

"Sofía's my sister," Jaxton replied and I cleared my throat.

"Our sister now, she's part of the family." I said as I walked over to Jaxton and threw a hand over his shoulder, he smiled back at me.

"Oh!" It dawned on him. "Four kids!! Oh my God! Take me to them!!" He said and began walking ahead with the duffel bag.

"Is the entire family this dramatic and energetic?" Jaxton asked as he helped with Oliver's suitcase and we followed from behind.

I chuckled. "You have no idea."

***

"Oh, and when Stephen came home he was so glad that I made his favorites cause he missed home cooking." Aunt Gillian said with a chuckle.

"Aw, your husband is a softie for you." Mom said with a smile and she nodded.

"He is. Oh, and I'm so proud of you, you're opening a restaurant!!"

Mom grinned. "I know!!!"

It was something past seven, Mom and Aunt Gillian were in the kitchen, my parents had decided to to make a lot of food for everyone but Aunt Gillian wasn't having it and wanted to help out, so she asked Dad out of the kitchen and decided to help mom instead.

My father doesn't believe in "a woman's place is in the kitchen." Although mom loves to cook and she loves the kitchen, whenever Dad was home and mom was out on a business, he did the cooking so she didn't have to come home and begin cooking for the entire family cause I was some lazy piece of shit.

Not that I am anymore, I've sort of changed, I mean I can cook some certain things now. I learned how to make a steak cause of Henry, I learned how to make Nigerian jollof rice, I learnt a couple of other dishes, so I'm good.

"I'm sure if you open a restaurant too, it would be flooded with customers cause you also got that magic touch." Mom said to Aunt Gillian.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "Stephen suggested too but nah, he's crazy supportive but possessive, you should hear him telling me to open a restaurant and then not open." Aunt Gillian said as she chopped the vegetables while mom laughed.

I was sitting on the counter and listening to them talk, I stared at Aunt Gillian as she spoke. Every time she brought up Stephen which was quite a lot, she would smile widely and shake her head, she would laugh and tuck her hair behind her ear and look at mom for just a few seconds.

It was enough for me to know she was lying. I just watched her lie about him and about how happy they were and when she would look at me I would fake a smile as if looking happy and mother couldn't tell she was faking it.

"Hey, Dylan!!" Oliver called and I turned to see him carrying Sofía who held him tight and had a smile on her face. Sofia now had braided hair which made me smile yet knit my brows in surprise.

"Did you do that?" I asked as I got down from the kitchen counter and made my way to him.

"Pretty cool, right? Plus, her hair is so long I couldn't resist." He said and I chuckled.

"I look beautiful." Sofia grinned.

"You always do." I said and took her from him, kissing her cheek.

"Your house is so....homey." Oliver said with a smile. "I love it."

"Thanks." I smiled sincerely at him and I just knew something was a little off with his.

"Hey, where's Jax Jax?" I asked Sofía and she smiled.

"He talking to his boyfriend."

"Oh." I chuckled.

"Wait, Jaxton's gay?" Oliver asked, sounding surprised.

"Dude, isn't your gaydar working?" I questioned and he shrugged.

"Not everyone has a gaydar, Dylan."

I scoffed.

"How come everyone have boyfriend, I want one." Sofía pouted.

"Uh, sure." I flashed her a smile. "You can date Mr. Curtis, your tiger doll till you're eighteen."

"That's not fair, he not alive." She folded her arms.

"He isn't? But you talk to him." I gasped.

"I'm going to meet daddy." She said and I put her down with a laugh. She began running to the living room probably to ask Dad for a boyfriend.

"She really is cute." Oliver said with a smile.

"Hey." Jaxton called and approached us. "Dom is pretty much excited about working for your mom." Jaxton said with a chuckle.

"Of course, he'll get to see you and kiss you all the time." I teased.

"Shut up." He blushed.

"Wait, your boyfriend's name is Dom?" Oliver asked and Jaxton nodded.

"Awesome! Damn, he hot?"

"Duh." Jaxton and I said at the same time.

"Don't gang up against me." Olly said and walked over to the dinning, he sat on one of the chairs with a sigh. "You boys are so lucky to be free."

"You're not out?" Jaxton asked and Oliver's eyes widen.

"You told him?" He asked me and I snorted.

"He didn't need to, I can literally see an invisible rainbow tattoo on your forehead and damn is it glowing." Jaxton said and I chuckled.

"Ugh, fuck you guys." He pouted.

"Olly isn't out yet, and it's okay, when you're ready, you can tell them." I told him and Jaxton nodded.

"Don't let anyone rush you to come out."

Oliver sighed. "It's not that simple acting like you straight."

"That was me until last year."

"But it's different."

"How? I'm older than you." I arched my brow at him and he rolled his.

"You are so full of shit, Dylan."

"Thanks, it probably runs in the blood cause you're shittier, maybe because you suck." I retorted and Oliver's jaw dropped.

"This is why you should have been hit by that bus when you were ten, so we can save the world from an abomination."

"You mean what your mother wanted to get rid of when she found out she was pregnant?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Nah, that would be your mother. White hair? Tall? Blue eyes, yup, definitely your mother."

"O-Okay, is this....is this gonna lead to a fight? Let me know when to stop this cause....I....this is wrong." Jaxton said nervously.

Oliver and I looked at him and laughed. "Relax, we do this almost all the time." Oliver said with a smile.

"Oh." Jaxton let out a sigh of relief. "Well, fuck you both, you're so fucked up, I got worried." He chuckled.

"You should see us on Christmas when everyone's together or during Thanksgiving." Oliver snorted.

"Wow, I guess I'd love to meet everyone someday." Jaxton chuckled.

"Oh, you will." Oliver nodded. "Our family is different but they are loving, a few feuds since some hate the others but welcoming, like every other family." Oliver told him.

"That is cool." Jaxton said with a smile. "So, where exactly do you live?"

"Jega." He answered and took an apple from the bowl on the dinning, biting into it.

"Ooh, I've heard nice stories about Jega."

Oliver smiled. "You all come there sometime."

I chuckled. "Sure, uh, I'll just die and maybe my ghost would appear on your front door."

Oliver placed a hand on his chest and pouted. "You are so sweet."

"What about your Dad?" Jaxton asked him and I felt Oliver's mood change.

"Work." Oliver smiled. "He's uh, really busy and couldn't come down with us, so we took ourselves on a little vacation." He shrugged.

I just stared at him. "Don't you have school?"

"Oh, I do, but it's nothing so serious. I mean, I take my studies seriously but we already wrote every exam and I'll probably get into one of the schools in the state, about three hours drive away from home or so." He shrugged. "Our system is quite different from yours, besides I could use a break." He sighed.

"Ah, that makes sense." Jaxton nodded. "You'll be here for a week, right?"

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Jaxton grinned. "Well, Romeo and Romeo."

Oliver smiled and nodded. "Oh, okay." He grinned, then looked at me and back at Jaxton. "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is. Is that a gay club or...a gay dating site?" He asked and I huffed.

"No, it's our school play where I'm one of the Romeos."

"A gay school play?"

Jaxton nodded.

"Oh, I'm so in. When is it?" Oliver inquired while I looked at Aunt Gillian and mom talk about God knows what. "Yes, yes, I'm coming."

"Oliver." I called and looked back at him, both smiling boys looked at me.

"Yeah?"

"I want to ask you a question."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why is your mom lying about your Dad being a good dad when he's shitty?" I asked and Oliver froze in his seat.

"Dylan." Jaxton scolded.

"He gave me permission to ask and besides, he's my cousin and I need to know."

Oliver chuckled. "What are you talking about? My Dad is-"

"Olly, I know it's been like four decades since we last saw each other but you should know now that I have another ability, I can tell when someone's lying. Your mother keeps going on about how amazing your Dad is but he's not and she gets nervous she'll get caught in her lie, and you don't even like your Dad so much."

Oliver swallowed. "I...I don't think I-" his voice cracked and he looked down. "I'm t-tired now and I uh-"

"Oliver, that's okay." Jaxton placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to say.".

I rolled my eyes. "Cut that shit, Oliver, I know that stupid move."

Oliver groaned, rolling his eyes. "I can't even pretend to be sad around you, asshole. Okay, fine, mutant."

Jaxton pulled his hand back, looking confused. "Wait, what?"

"He does this emotional manipulating thing that makes you not want him to answer your questions anymore." I explained.

"Dang, you all have superpowers?" Jaxton asked, shaking his head at us. "You did that a lot to your parents!" He said to me and I shrugged.

"You should see our cousin, Delilah, bitch is crazy. She just stands and the waterfalls just do their thing." Oliver said and I nodded.

"It's true."

"Well, damn, I can't wait to meet them all."

"You will. Anyways, I should go upstairs, I have-"

"Sit your ass down and answer my damn question, Oliver. You know you can tell me anything, I'm always here for you." I told him and this time the sad look on his face was real.

"He's.....never around." Olly said and although he tried to sound like it didn't bother him, he failed at that.  "He's always all over the country, moving from state to state, then just recently he got transferred to a whole new country. The last time he came back he still didn't spend much time with us, giving excuses about his company wanting him at a hotel in the city. He didn't even bother to spend time with us even after mum had prepared his favourites." He scoffed, shaking his head.

"It's always Mum and Jessica my best friend, and I. Everything is just.....I don't know, he's only there when it's about school stuff. Education. Education. Education." He chuckled bitterly. "And she doesn't want anyone to think her marriage is failing because she still loves and adore him so yeah, there she is lying about the man who is like a ghost."

I looked back at Aunt Gillian laughing about something and back at Oliver. "I'm sorry your father is such a huge asshole."

"Me too." Jaxton replied. "He really is an ass."

"It's okay, I've sort of gotten used to it." He shrugged. "What about you, Jaxton, what's your story?"

Jaxton sighed. "Well, dead dad, ungrateful mother who disappeared and uh, yeah, that's it." He said and I suddenly felt a little bit of guilt eating me for no telling him about his other brother.

"Dylan, Jaxton." Mom called from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mrs. Dexwell." We both answered.

"Set the table, kids." She ordered.

"What about Oliver?" I asked with a frown.

"He's a guest." Mom said and Oliver smiled victoriously.

"Guest my butt. Oliver join your cousins and set the table." His mother ordered and I smiled this time while he scowled.

***

"I can't believe you're famous here for not minding your business." Oliver said with a smile and I gave him in the middle finger.

"I think what he's been doing is wonderful." Aunt Gillian said as she ate. "I mean, he's been saving lives and catching criminals, talk about a superhero."

"And they don't all wear capes but my Dylan wears the devil's face. I'd have preferred him wearing capes" Dad said and Jaxton laughed.

"Just like Bonnie in highschool." Aunt Gillian said with a laugh. "She was younger then Dylan and already causing chaos and fear."

"In my defense." Mom pointed her fork at her. "I was only protecting myself."

"No one was coming after you!!" Aunt Gillian said while we all laughed. "You were crazy, still are."

"Thank you." Mom threw her hair backwards.

"I think Dylan has been doing an amazing job here." Aunt Gillian smiled at me.

"Well, thank you, auntie. Unlike the dummy you gave birth to, you're so amazing and smart." I replied her.

"That is rude." Oliver said and turned to me. "I'm fucking smarter than you, I'm graduating at seventeen and you eighteen."

"Bitch, I will slap you so hard, your eyes will move to the back of your head."

"Aunt Bonnie, Dylan swore." Oliver reported.

"Dylan, stop! Sofía's sitting here." Mom glared at me.

"Oliver stop attacking your cousin, he will kill you and I won't look for your body." Aunt Gillian said and I giggled.

"I'd listen if I were you."

Oliver flipped me the bird.

"So tell me, what university are you planning on going to?" Aunt Gill asked me.

"Well, Harvard for me." I answered.

"Oh wow," her eyes popped. "That's pretty big, I'm certain you'd get in."

"Thanks, auntie."

"What about you Jaxton?"

Jaxton put his fork down. "Uh, The Academy Of Arts or New York School Of Arts, they're both good."

"Wow, new York, that's amazing."

"I'm sure Jaxton will get in," mom said. "He's crazy talented and they'd be stupid not to have him in plus he did mention scouts will be there at the play, right?"

Jaxton nodded. "Mmhmm, and God, I'm nervous but hopefully it works out."

"Of course it will, we believe in you boys." Dad said and Jaxton smiled. "And then Broadway, right?"

Jaxton nodded. "Yeah, get signed into some record company, maybe?" He chuckled.

"And my baby will be a star." I said and ruffled his hair making Sofía laugh.

"Stop." He whined.

"Why can't we have the steak?!" I asked mom with a frown and she shot me a glare.

"It's not for you." She replied and turned to Olly. "What about you Oliver?" Mom asked. "What college you planning on going to?"

"Denberg, my father picked." He answered.

"Nervous about getting in?" Dad asked before shoving a meatball into his mouth.

"Me? Nervous? No." He chuckled. "I'll get in, I know that. Plus my best friend's coming too and we'll start together so, I'm not worried."

"You should see Jessica, she's beautiful and something else." Aunt Gillian said with a chuckle. "I wonder why Oliver won't ask her out."

I looked up from my food and at her then at Olivier who looked at both Jaxton and I, I looked away from them and at mom who was staring at us and Dad at her then at Oliver.

Everybody on this table knew he was gay, didn't they? Except his mother of course.

The table had been washed with an awkward silence

"Well, I'm sure whenever Oliver's ready, he'll come on out and ask her." Mother said with a smirk and I swear when she said 'come on out' we all almost pissed in our pants.

Oliver looked at mom and she winked at him. "I will never ask Jessica out, that's gross as fuck and plus we're just friends, mom. You don't force relationship especially when the other parties don't want it."

"Okay, okay, if you say so." Aunt Gillian snickered. "But I just think, I mean, you've never had a girlfriend. I'm not pressuring you but come on, you're old enough to have one."

"I'm sixteen, mum. How many sixteen year olds have married the love of their lives?" Oliver retorted and I almost laughed but I didn't know if this was supposed to be funny.

"He's right." Mom chuckled and I smiled. "Don't force the kid."

"Mum, I love you but you are embarrassing me." Oliver said with a blank face and Sofía pouted.

"At least I'm not the only one with no boyfriend." She said with her mouth full.

"Sweetie, no talking with your mouth full." Mom said with a laugh. "But yes, you and oliver are single."

"What do you think about gay people, Mrs. Wilburn?" Jaxton asked, shocking us all.

"Please, call me Auntie, you're part of our family now, Jaxton." She corrected him and he nodded. "Well, gay people are....humans as well who deserve love and happiness like all straight people." She answered and I smiled. "But then imagine having one child and he turns out gay." She sighed. "That can be a little scary." She said and I swallowed hard.

Mom and I looked at Oliver who suddenly looked uneasy but tried to act cool. "I have two sons, Gillian, and they are both dick lovers like their mother and I love them more than I did before." Mom said and we all looked at her.

"It doesn't matter if you have just one child and he's gay. You said it yourself, all they deserve is love and happiness so why force them to live a life that doesn't define who they really are. Live a lie."

"No, no, I'm not saying that." Aunt Gillian spoke. "You are right about that but when you think about...wait," she blinked. "Dylan's gay?"

I nodded. "I am as gay as the General from Mulan."

"Well, I still fucking love you." She said and I smiled.

"Well this was crazy fun." Oliver finally spoke and the atmosphere became tense.

"Who wants more mashed potatoes?" Dad asked, changing the topic.

"Me." Sofía cried.

"Same." Jaxton rose his hand.

"I'll go get it." Dad said and stood up, heading straight to the kitchen.

"And I'll get Oliver some rice." Mom said and got up as well, leaving the dinning.

A knock came on the door and Jaxton was about to stand up and go get it but I beat him to it and stood up quickly. "I'll get it, you stay here." I said and he scowled at me. I rushed to the door and opened it with a smile and standing in front of me was someone I had least expected to see.

My smile slowly faded while his remained. He was dressed in black pants and a black top with blue denim jean jacket, his hands in his pocket.

"Henry?" I swallowed.

"I hope I'm not late." He said, still smiling at me.

I blinked, confused. "What do you mean you hope you're not late?"

"Um, your mom invited me."