fourteen ;

h a l e

HALE RUMMAGED THROUGH THE cupboards in search of something, anything, which he could eat without having to prepare it. He could cook if he needed to, was pretty damn good at it actually, but he was also pretty lazy and preferred to avoid any unnecessary effort. Of course, the one time his mum would be out late, he had to find a way to feed himself.

"Oh, hell," Hale grumbled, as he tossed an empty packet of crisps onto the counter. "Where are the Oreos? I bought the Oreos just so I could eat them after practise. I swear to God if TJ ate the fucking Oreos again - "

"Forget the Oreos," Brooks said, amused. "We're here to study, not stuff our faces."

Hale raised an eyebrow. "It offends me that you think I can't do both."

Brooks was sat the kitchen table, flicking through all the textbooks he'd unloaded. He'd recovered from the episode with Maxy, which Hale still felt like chuckling about when he thought about it, although he kept flicking cautious looks at the golden retriever curled up contentedly at the foot of the table. How anyone could be scared of such an adorable dog, Hale had no idea.

"So, which topics do you want to work on?" Brooks asked, looking up at Hale with an inquiring gaze. "Your weakest ones?"

"That would be all of them," Hale drawled.

"Right, okay." Brooks tapped the pencil against his forehead thoughtfully and nodded. "Not a problem. So we start from the beginning."

"Sounds like a plan," Hale said vaguely, frowning into the depths of his empty cupboards. This was his worst nightmare. It usually only looked like this after Will had been round, and cleared out their entire supply of food. "Which we'll get started on in just one minute, after I kill my brother. TJ! Get your butt in here!"

TJ poked his head around the door. "Hello, you called?" he said, with a devious grin in Brooks' direction. "Am I allowed to talk to your new Will now?"

"No," Hale said flatly. He wasn't going to bother wasting his breath on who Brooks was to his idiot brother. "Did you eat the Oreos?"

"Me? Eat the Oreos?" TJ widened his eyes in exaggerated innocence. "I would never. Not after you threatened to kill me last time I did that."

"Tonto," Hale muttered, and chucked a spoon at TJ's head. "Get lost, Oreo thief, before I make you go out and buy me some more."

TJ ducked out of the way at the last second as the spoon clattered against the floor, cackling evilly as he disappeared down the hallway. "Do you throw cutlery at your siblings often?" Brooks asked in amusement, picking up the fallen spoon and setting in on the table.

"Only at TJ and only when he's being a bellend, which is most of the time," Hale said with a shrug. "I'm nicer to Tessa, I only throw pillows at her. Being a gentleman and all that shit."

"And the youngest?"

"Izzy?" Hale pulled a face at him. "Jeez, what kind of monster do you think I am, Brooks? No one throws things at two-year-olds."

"Well, that's always a relief to hear."

Hale slid into the seat next to Brooks and looked at him curiously. "What about you? Have any idiots you have to share the house with?"

"Just one," Brooks said. "My older brother, Adam."

"What's he like?"

"An asshole. One who enjoys pretending I don't exist most of the time."

"And your parents?"

The question was out before he could stop it, and just like every time Hale brought up Brooks' parents, his blue-green eyes darkened slightly and his face closed off. Hale was sitting close enough to him that he felt when he tensed up. "What about them?" he asked, his voice betraying a defensive edge.

"Are they assholes too?"

Okay, maybe Hale should have just shut up right about now before he really pissed someone off.

"Maybe," Brooks said tightly. Maxy seemed to sense his discomfort and licked his hand comfortingly, to which Brooks nearly leapt out of his skin in surprise. He pulled his hand away and frowned at Hale. "Why are you asking so many questions, anyway?"

That was a good question. Why did he even care? He wanted to get to know Brooks better, to know more about him beyond the fact he was a nerd genius and scared of dogs. Maybe they wouldn't be anything more than friends, maybe Hale was gay and maybe he wasn't, but he liked talking to Brooks regardless of any of that.

"I'm too curious for my own good, remember?" Hale ran a hand through his hair, which was still a little damp from his shower earlier. "You learn things through questions. Knowledges is power, right? That sounds like something you'd say."

"That's exactly what I would say as I point out that we're getting extremely off-track," Brooks said pointedly, poking Hale in the shoulder with his pencil when he just smirked. "Stop distracting me! We're going to focus now and go over atomic structure."

And so they went over atomic structure, which clearly took longer than Brooks expected from how clueless Hale really was. Brooks was patient and kind as he explained everything to Hale, no matter how obvious it was, but he was also surprisingly firm when it came to Hale's wandering attention span. He confiscated his phone when it kept distracting him and shot down Hale's proposal to go out for ice cream, which really sucked.

What kind of psychopath said no to ice cream?

He was a better teacher than Mrs Mulligan, who just sighed and gave up on Hale straight away. Brooks ignored his smart remarks and quips in favour of the actual work, and Hale didn't really mind, because Brooks did this cute thing where his nose crinkled and the tip of his tongue poked out of his mouth when he was concentrating. His toffee brown hair fell in his eyes when he bent his head over the paper, too focused in his task to brush it aside.

"What?" Brooks suddenly said, glancing up at him with red cheeks. "Is there something on my face?"

Just cute, Hale thought automatically, and quickly banished that thought. That didn't mean he was gay. It just meant his mind was too good at thinking up flirtatious pick up lines, clearly from too much practise. "No," Hale said, with something of a sigh. "No, it's nothing."

They managed a whole hour before Hale really couldn't force himself to do anymore. He didn't mind the part where Brooks talked it through with him, in his calm and soft voice that Hale would have gladly listened to for hours, but the shitty bit came when he had to actually do the questions. His eyes ached from having to carefully unscramble every sentence, and it meant he went so slowly Brooks kept asking if he needed help.

"This is making me want to kill myself," Hale groaned, slumping in his seat as he rubbed his eyes. Maxy sprang up and quickly licked his arm, as if to say hey, don't forget about me! "I can't fucking do it. Seriously. I can't." 

"Hey," Brooks said, touching his arm. The contact didn't last for longer than a couple of seconds but it still sent a warm tingle through his skin. "You can do it, okay? Which bit don't you get?"

"That's the problem. It's not that I don't get it."

"I don't understand," Brooks said in confusion. "That's a problem?"

"Not that specifically," Hale said slowly, knowing they were coming closer to the truth that he didn't want to have to voice. He didn't usually care what people thought about him, but Brooks was different. His opinion actually meant something. "The problem is more that I can't even read the question in the first place."

Brooks blinked. "Huh?"

"Yeah, it sucks," he said lightly, too lightly, as he forced a smile. "Dyslexia has a tendency to do that."

There. He'd said it. Wasn't that supposed to feel like a weight being lifted off his chest? Hale felt more like someone had piled fifty more on, as he watched from the corner of his eye for Brooks' reaction. Realisation passed across his face and he tilted his head in thought. Brooks didn't look disgusted or appalled, but could have just been good at hiding it. Hale knew he himself was good at it.

"Okay, let's try a new approach," Brooks said, pulling the textbook full of questions closer to himself. "I'll read the questions out loud and you can work from that."

"Wait, you're not going to ask about it?"

"About what?" Brooks looked genuinely mystified. "The dyslexia? There isn't really anything to ask. So you have it. Nothing changes, does it?"

Hale couldn't help but smile at his innocently serious expression. "So you don't think I'm a freak?" he joked, feeling that weight lift now, feeling stupid for ever worrying about this.

"You, a freak?" Brooks laughed in disbelief. "Hale, I'm the kid who had to sit out of almost every single PE lesson because I kept having asthma attacks. They used to call me Breathless Brooks."

Hale snorted with laughter, but he quickly broke off at Brooks' expression. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have laughed," he said sheepishly, unable to wipe away his amused smile completely. "But you have to admit, that's a pretty creative name, with the alliteration and everything."

"I'm sure you would think so." Brooks voice was even, but it didn't quite mask the bitterness creeping into it. "It was your good friend Elliot who came up with it."

That was enough to get rid of the lingering smile on his lips. Hale had known Elliot for a long time, even if they hadn't been friends for the entire duration, and he knew his teasing and mockery of other kids verged on bullying. It was always a joke, just poking fun and meant to make others laugh, but the targets probably didn't find it quite so funny. It had never occurred to Hale that Brooks might have been one of those targets.

"Are you sure?" Hale said. "He acted like he didn't really know you, when you last spoke."

"I'm sure he doesn't remember." Brooks didn't look annoyed or irritated, but rather resigned, as if it was something he'd accepted a long time ago. "It was years ago and we were kids. Time moves on and besides, I've finally managed to ditch PE so it doesn't matter."

"Still, I'm sorry," Hale frowned, and his apology was entirely genuine now. "I know what Elliot can be like."

"Why're you apologising? It's not your fault."

But it kind of was his fault, because while he felt bad about it now, he knew if he'd been part of that class all those years back he would have been right alongside Elliot taking the piss out of Brooks for something he couldn't help. He'd never really thought about the jokes beyond being the reason everyone else was laughing, because he wasn't going to lie, he liked the attention. Even at the expense of others.

"Alright!" Hale stood up and snatched the textbook from Brooks, who looked up at him in surprise. "Studying is boring enough without all this extra stuff to bum me out. We're stopping now."

"Isn't the tutor supposed to decide that?" Brooks asked dryly.

"I've been tortured enough, wouldn't you agree? No," Hale said, as if scolding a child, when Brooks went to pick up his pen. "None of that. Put that stupid thing down." He batted the pen from his hand and ignored Brooks' indignant look. "You got a ninety-six, remember? You don't need to even think about studying ever again."

"Actually, I got a ninety-six because I'm always studying - "

Hale wasn't interested in listening to him finishing that sentence, seeing as it as such a nerdy thing to say, and he was saved from having to interrupt him when the kitchen door creaked open. A pair of big brown eyes peered around the door, looking shyly at Brooks. "Hey, Iz," Hale smiled, setting down his textbook. "Wanna come in?"

Izzy wandered in with Mr Snuggles clutched in her arms, and made a beeline for Hale, hiding behind his legs as she looked around at Brooks. Much to Hale's amusement, he looked just as uncertain as Izzy, as if a little toddler who still chewed her teddy bear's head was even remotely intimidating. "She won't bite," Hale told Brooks. "Don't tell me you're scared of babies, too."

"I'm not scared," Brooks protested, watching as Izzy began nibbling on Mr Snuggles ear. "I just never know what to do around children. Am I supposed to wave at them? Pat them on the head? Do they play fetch?"

"Play fetch?" Hale burst out laughing when he saw Brooks was entirely serious. "Okay, you may be a brainiac but you are lacking some serious real life experiences. Only one way to fix that."

Hale scooped Izzy up into his arms, who squealed with delight and rested her face against his chest. Brooks was smiling until Hale approached him, and then it slipped off to be replaced by alarm. "What are you doing?" he said frantically, his eyes widening. "Don't even think about - "

With a mischievous smirk, Hale placed Izzy on his lap. "There we go. Stop looking so freaked out, Brooks. It's not so bad, is it?"

Izzy wriggled about on Brooks' lap and twisted around to stare up at him, with the unabashed intensity of little kids who didn't know it was strange or creepy to look at someone for so long. Brooks looked back at her and his lips curled up into a small smile when Izzy settled against him. "Maybe not," he admitted, as Izzy reached up and tugged at one of his brown curls. "She's actually kind of cute. She looks like you."

"That's generally the consensus when it comes to siblings," Hale agreed, leaning against the kitchen counter as he watched Izzy happily warming up to Brooks.

Hale did look like all his siblings to some extent, but far more similar to Izzy than the twins. They had the same black hair and dark eyes, with caramel brown skin from Mexican heritage that was a few shades darker than TJ or Tessa's. Hale had a different father from all three of them, but he and Izzy looked far more like his mum, whereas the twins looked far more like Daniel Ryves, Hale's stepdad, with a lighter complexion in general.

Hale didn't mind standing back to watch Brooks playing with Izzy. Actually, it was quite nice to see. Brooks' eyes were warm as he asked Izzy about her teddy, the soft smile on his face leaving a warm pleasant feeling in Hale's chest. As if sensing his gaze, Brooks looked up with that smile at Hale, holding eye contact long enough for the warmth to spread to a blaze of heat.

Hale's phone started ringing, and he quickly looked away as he dug it out of his pocket. The caller ID told him it was his mum calling. "Hey," he answered, ignoring Brooks' curious look when he switched to Spanish. "What's up, mum?"

"I'm just checking up on you," she replied. "You know I don't like leaving you alone. Is everything okay? Have the kids had anything to eat yet? Did Tessa finish her science project? Make sure you change Izzy and no cookies before dinner."

"Everything's fine, I promise. I'm nearly seventeen, remember? I can handle it." He glanced at Brooks, who was bouncing a giggling Izzy on his lap. "Everyone will be fed and happy and in one piece when you guys return."

"Of course you can handle it, Hale," she said, with a smile in her voice. "You know I can't help but worry. Especially when TJ's involved."

Hale chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I'll deal with him, don't worry about that. How's the meal? Anywhere near as good as your food?"

Maria and Daniel Ryves had been married for twelve years as of today, and were out celebrating the event at the fancy new sushi bar that had opened up in town. His mum had been hesitant to leave them alone, even if it was just for one evening, but Hale had been adamant they get out of the house. Their next door neighbour Tracy was willing to watch over them until Hale had returned from practise, before heading back home. His mum deserved a night out to relax where she didn't have to break up the twins arguments or worry about changing Izzy or cooking dinner.

"The Japanese really know how to cook, but Daniel isn't such a fan, so what can you do," she said. "We'll be home quite late, around eleven, so feel free to order a pizza with money I left in the cookie jar. Just call me if you have any problems, okay?"

"I will. Not that there'll be any problems. You forget you're talking to your incredibly competent and mature teenage son."

"Whatever you say," she said, amused. "And don't even think about inviting those friends of yours around while the kids are there and you're unsupervised. I haven't forgotten about what happened last time."

Hale pulled a face that she couldn't see. His mum adored Will, who she thought was a "charmingly polite young man", but that was the extent of her affections. She wasn't a fan of the others he hung out with and she was even less impressed by them after Hale made the mistake of throwing a party here, and Dylan accidentally smashed the glass coffee table. Man, did he get in shit for that one, and it wasn't even his fault.

"I won't," Hale assured her, which wasn't technically a lie. He hadn't invited any of the people she was thinking about round and he doubted she'd have a problem with Brooks, playing peek-a-boo with Izzy, who was about as rebellious as a confused kitten. "No parties, I get it, I learnt my lesson."

That house party was more traumatic than anything, and he definitely wasn't planning on doing that again anytime soon. At least his mum never learnt about the puke-stained rug and smashed vase which he managed to hide, with Will's help.

"Good. Call me if you have any problems, honey, okay?"

"Sure thing," Hale said. "Have a nice meal, mum, and don't forget Daniel has to pay or it's not a proper date. And that wouldn't be romantic at all."

"Of course, sweetie. I love you."

"Love you too, mum."

He hung up and dropped his phone on the counter. Brooks was still bobbing Izzy on his knee, who had Mr Snuggles' whole head stuffed in her mouth as she munched on it as if she was genuinely trying to eat him, but he was still looking at Hale with curious blue-green eyes. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Just my mum," Hale said. "Making sure I wasn't burning the house down or anything like that. For some bizarre reason, she doesn't completely trust me to look after her children."

"Imagine that," Brooks said with a grin. "Was that Spanish? I'm no expert, but I did take it for five years at GCSE."

"Oh, really?" Hale smirked at Brooks' blank expression. "Do you have any clue what I'm saying or do you always have such a dumbstruck expression on your face?"

Brooks blinked and shook his head. "I'm not even going to pretend to understand whatever you just said. My knowledge doesn't extend beyond the basic hola, como te llamas, and all that jazz. Oh, I can also say dog."

"Perro!" Izzy chirped. "Dog!" She stuffed Mr Snuggles back into her mouth after saying her piece.

"Even the youngest Ryves speaks Spanish," Brooks mused, toying with a strand of her soft dark curls. "Does that mean you're Hispanic?"

"Now who's asking all the questions?" Hale grinned at his sheepish look. "I'm just messing. Actually, I'm Mexican, but only half. My dad's English and the only reason my mum moved here from Mexico, when I was born."

Brooks nodded thoughtfully. "And you speak Spanish at home?"

"Sí. So, pepperoni or Hawaiian?" Hale asked, fishing the cookie jar down from the top of the cupboards. They had to keep it up there so TJ couldn't reach it and steal the money stashed there. "Also, I should let you know that I'll kick you out of this house if you say Hawaiian. People who like pineapple on pizza aren't human and it really says a lot about Will."

Brooks looked confused. "Wait, what?"

"Well, which one do you want?" Hale elaborated, with a raised eyebrow as if he was being particularly dense. For such a smart guy, Brooks could be pretty slow. "Okay, I'll make it easy for you by ordering us pepperoni. I was going to do that regardless of what you wanted. No way am I wasting my money on Hawaiian pizza."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Brooks said hastily, looking embarrassed. "That's okay. I wasn't expecting you to buy dinner for me or anything."

"Don't worry, I won't count this one as a date," Hale smirked, succeeding in bringing a flush to Brooks' cheeks. It was far too easy to make him blush and Hale idly wondered if his cheeks were as warm as they looked. "I have to buy dinner for my family, and you just happen to be here to eat it. Take advantage of it. Trust me, Will has no problem with it."

Brooks chewed his thumbnail. "I don't know, I feel kind of bad..."

"Seriously? Okay, think of it as a thank you for tutoring me," Hale suggested. "That doesn't go against your morals or ethics, right?"

"Alright, I suppose so," Brooks finally relented. "But I'll pay for half of it."

Hale wasn't interested in taking his money, but Brooks could be surprisingly stubborn when he wanted to be. He somehow won that argument and made Hale take his tenner. TJ and Tessa barged into the kitchen at that point, which was beginning to feel cramped from all the people stuffed inside. "We're hungry!" TJ yelled.

"What's for food, Hale?" Tessa asked.

"I've ordered Dominoes," Hale said, rolling his eyes when TJ cheered loudly and tried to sneakily check the empty cookie jar for money. He was about as subtle as a gun. "Tessa, mum wants to know if you finished your science report."

"Yep," Tessa replied, more fascinated by Brooks as she slid into the chair Hale had been seated at. "So, you're Hale's new friend? Hi, Brooks. You have nice eyes."

Brooks blinked. "Um...thanks?"

"And you're cute," she said matter-of-factly.

"Jesus, Tessa," Hale groaned, and decided for everyone's sake to switch to Spanish. "Will you stop flirting with my friends? You're eleven, and that's so not happening." Tessa had hit that weird hormonal teenage girl stage, and much to his horror, she seemed to think that meant she could make passes at guys way older than her. Hale just hoped Izzy never reached that age. Or at least not for a long, long time.

Tessa pouted. "Why not?"

"For starters? That would be very illegal," Hale said flatly, grabbing her by the collar and hauling her away from Brooks. There were so many more reasons he couldn't even begin to get into them, and certainly not in front of Brooks. "Now scram, both of you, before I give you back to the orphanage."

TJ stuck his tongue out at him. "Just 'cause you think you're mum's favourite!"

"I'll throw the spoon at you again," Hale warned him.

He skidded out of the kitchen, waving madly at Brooks, and dragged Tessa with him. "They seem...interesting," Brooks said, with an amused smile.

"I think you mean crazy," Hale corrected, not without affection. The pair of them really were idiots, but he'd learnt to live with them for eleven years now and it would be strange without their loud chatter around him. "And I'm warning you in advance, don't listen to a word either of them say to you. Especially Tessa. Never listen to anything she says."

"Uh, Hale?" Brooks had a conflicted expression on his face as he gingerly picked Izzy up, and held her out at arms length like she was some kind of bomb that was seconds from detonating. "Izzy's potty trained, right?"

"Nope."

"Ah...then I think we have a problem."