twenty one ;
h a l e

HALE HAD SAT THROUGH his fair share of awkward dinners, the majority of them in this house, but this one had to take the icing off the cake.

Sat opposite from him, Bellamy stabbed her chicken breast with such vicious intensity you'd have thought she was trying to kill the damn thing all over again. Occasionally, she'd glance up and shoot daggers so deadly at Hale that he would have been dead if they weren't entirely metaphorical. This had been the routine ever since dinner began; Bellamy would repeatedly attack her piece of meat with deadly looks in Hale's direction when she got bored of glaring at her chicken.

Brooks managed to avoid being the recipient of such delightful looks, but he still managed to look like the guiltiest person at the table. He kept shooting furtive glances in Bellamy's direction, as if waiting for her to blurt the truth out, and Hale had even watched him put nothing in his mouth. Literally, he was too busy zoning out to realise his fork had missed actually spearing any food, and yet he continued to move the fork mechanically towards his mouth without realising.

Even Lisa and William seemed to realise something strange was going on at that table between the three teenagers, although neither were tactful enough to bring it up. They were the only reason this table hadn't drowned in awkward silence. They kept up a meaningless and pointless chatter if only to fill the silence, and gave up on involving Bellamy when it became apparent her poisonous mood wasn't about to fade any time soon.

Things had been awkward after Bellamy walked in on them, to say the least. Hale couldn't believe he'd been stupid enough to do that in the living room, where anyone could have walked in. And anyone did walk in. In fact, Hale couldn't believe Brooks had been that stupid. Hale was the reckless one. He was supposed to be the smart one, for gods sake. And now he was acting like he'd just robbed a bloody bank with how edgy he was acting, fidgeting with his cutlery like it was about to do a runner.

It had taken a good ten minutes to calm Bellamy down, who could screech like a banshee when she put her mind to it, and then another ten to convince her to keep her mouth until after dinner when they would explain everything. Well, Brooks had promised to explain everything. Hale figured it was all pretty self-explanatory. All there was to do now was to make sure she permanently kept her mouth shut about what she'd seen.

"So, Brooks," Lisa said pleasantly, once she'd completely exhausted the topic of the weather.

Brooks dropped his knife. "Y-yes?"

"How's school going?"

Hale kicked him under the table as a way of telling him to get his shit together, or at least he had meant to kick Brooks. Judging from the positively murderous look Bellamy shot him, he'd missed. "Oops," he whispered under his breath. Riling her up further was probably a bad idea, but it was just too tempting. "My bad."

She leaned across the table to hiss, "If you fucking touch me again, I swear to god - "

"You'll what?" Hale smirked. "Scream some more?"

"Hale, Bellamy," William chided, with a stern look. "We have a guest. Can you stop the squabbling and behave for one meal?"

Hale rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dad."

The only reason he spent these sporadic weekends at William's house - his biological father, but he sure as hell wasn't calling him that - was because his mum insisted on them. She seemed to think bonding time with him was key to his growth as a healthy individual, and didn't listen to him when he pointed out spending time around Bellamy was anything but healthy.

It was probably the reason he'd never seen Brooks here before. He was here as rarely as he could get away with, and his "room" was little more than a spare room with a couple of clothes stuffed in the drawers.

"Sorry, Brooks, I didn't catch that," Lisa said apologetically, even though he had never actually said anything. There was nothing wrong with Lisa beyond the fact she was a complete idiot. Like mother, like daughter, it seemed. "Bellamy tells us you're one of the top students in the year. That's a great achievement."

"Oh, not really," Brooks shrugged, poking at his food. "I'm just average, I guess."

"Liar," Hale said accusingly. "You always get above ninety in chemistry. If that's average, I'm in the minus numbers."

"Because you're stupid," Bellamy said savagely.

Lisa gasped. "Bellamy! That's an awful thing to say. Apologise to Hale."

"It's okay, I can handle it. I'm a big boy now," Hale said, raising an eyebrow at Bellamy. She responded by impaling her piece of chicken already riddled with holes, scowling at Hale while doing so in a clear declaration of a challenge. Okay, she wanted war? He could give her that. "Maybe I'm stupid, but you're not so smart yourself, are you?"

Brooks shook his head frantically at him. Hale ignored him.

Bellamy's nostrils flared. "Excuse me?"

"Everyone knows you're as dumb as brick," Hale shrugged, ignoring horrified looks from Lisa, who clearly didn't feel comfortable chastising him when she wasn't even his child. William looked as helplessly confused as always. "Although, that's fairly offensive to bricks everywhere. At least they have a purpose. Is it true you met Brooks through a tutoring scheme, Bellamy?"

"This is very nice chicken, Mrs Moore," Brooks said lamely, in a pitiful attempt to divert the conversation. "Very...moist."

"There was no tutoring scheme," Bellamy said through gritted teeth, still stabbing his chicken methodically. Everyone at the table was watching her do it, the same way you did a trainwreck; it was painful to watch, but you couldn't look away. "Brooks tutored me because he's nice. Or, at least, I thought so," she said, subjecting Brooks to his first death glare. "Maybe there was an ulterior motive? To hide something else?"

Brooks went pale. "I..."

"Oh, low blow," Hale interjected, stabbing his own chicken to direct the attention back to himself. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt that Brooks would crumble under the slightest bit of questioning and Hale wasn't about to let that happen. "You had to use him to keep your grades afloat, having him do your homework, and you're accusing him of hiding something?"

"Actually, maybe you're right!" Bellamy laughed, a little hysterically, and seemed to realise her chicken had been reduced to shreds from the abuse she had subjected it to. She moved onto the jabbing her broccoli next. "Maybe he isn't the one hiding anything. Maybe it's you, Hale."

"Bellamy, dear," Lisa interjected, looking a little concerned for her daughter's sanity as she watched the broccoli receive the same fate as the chicken. "Don't play with your food."

"Me?" Hale narrowed his eyes at her and couldn't bring himself to care about her threat. She wouldn't call the bluff. He knew she wouldn't. "What am I hiding?"

"Hale," Brooks hissed. "Shut up."

Bellamy jabbed her fork in Hale's direction. "You act like a cool guy, popular with all the ladies and friends with everyone," she said, shaking her head. "What if they knew the truth? The dark secret Hale Ryves has been hiding?"

"Dark secret?" William set his knife and fork down with a frown. "Hale, what is this?"

Hale felt the first thread of unease unfurling in his chest. Had he overestimated how much Bellamy cared about Brooks? He'd thought she would have kept her mouth shut for his sake, but maybe the need to hurt Hale was stronger than that. In hindsight, taunting her probably wasn't the brightest idea. Jesus, he really wasn't very smart.

"That's right," Bellamy said, with a hint of triumph. "I caught Hale - "

"Bellamy, please don't," Brooks begged.

" - stealing from the school cafeteria," she concluded, folding her arms across her chest.

A brief silence reigned over the table after her supposed confession. Even Hale was rendered speechless, but for all the wrong reasons. He'd been preparing himself to worm out of the predicament she was about to place them in, while dragging Brooks into it as little as possible, but that was honestly the last thing he'd expected her to say. Brooks looked just as stunned as he did.

"Stealing?" William's frown deepened. "What is this about?"

"He stole a bottle of water from the school cafeteria," Bellamy elaborated, shooting Hale a smug look. Whatever she saw on his face, she seemed to think this was a victory. "In year eight. Aren't you going to deny it, Hale? Try and lie your way out of it?"

"No, you got me, Bellamy," Hale sighed, with mock solemnity. Brooks was trying to hide his smile with a napkin, but he wasn't doing a very good job of masking his silent laughter. "I have a problem. I stole that water bottle all those years ago because, would you believe it, thirst got the best of me. It's a crime I've been carrying with me for too long now. I'll take whatever punishment you give me, father."

Brooks badly disguised a snort of laughter as a cough, his shoulders shaking with the effort of containing his amusement. Lisa patted him on the shoulder with a concerned expression and offered him a glass of water.

"Ah, well...yes," William said, looking a little confused himself. "That was a bad thing to do, Hale. Although I don't see the need for punishment if it was so long ago..."

Bellamy looked indignant. "You have to punish him!"

"Right, right," William said, glancing at Lisa. "What do you say? Grounded for a week?"

"Sure," Hale agreed before Lisa could reply. He'd be back home by tomorrow, and he'd probably manage to avoid this house for at least another month before he was sent back for a compulsory weekend. "Boy, talk about a weight off my chest. But now that all that's out of the way - pass us the salt?"

Brooks handed it over, his eyes glittering with amusement. Hale saw why a moment later; Brooks had passed him the pepper rather than the salt. Hale grinned at him across the table and wished that they weren't stuck at this stupid dinner, but rather alone so he could remind himself of the taste of his lips. Not that he'd be forgetting anytime soon.

After dinner, Brooks volunteered to clear away the table and looked pointedly at Hale. "Right," Hale said, jumping to his feet and snatching Lisa's plate from her hands as she began to insist he didn't have to do that. "I'll do it too. You'll help, won't you, Bellamy?"

"Dishes?" Bellamy wrinkled her nose. "Hello, I just got my nails done. I'm not touching any of that."

"Well, you can just keep us company." Hale rolled his eyes and dropped a stack of dirty plates into Bellamy's hands before she could protest. She gaped at them like they were a foreign species and Hale knew he wouldn't like whatever was going to come out of her mouth, so he beat her to it. "Shut up and get in the kitchen. We have a lot to catch up on, right?"

Hale didn't think he could possibly be anymore obvious about it without outright stating the facts. Bellamy looked between Brooks and Hale with a frown. "Whatever," she huffed, stalking into the kitchen with her nose stuck in the air.

"Wow, this is probably the first time either of them have offered to do the washing up," William said, with a chuckle. "You should come round more often, Brooks. You have a good influence on my kids."

"Bellamy isn't technically your kid," Hale reminded him, heading to the kitchen and tugging Brooks along behind him.

Hale ushered Brooks inside and poked his head around the kitchen door to peer into the rest of the house. Neither William or Lisa were in sight, and he could hear the muted chatter of the TV that suggested they'd retreated to the living room. Satisfied they couldn't eavesdrop, Hale closed the door and leaned back against it, stopping anyone from interrupting.

"Okay," Bellamy said, dumping the plates into the sink by the tips of her fingers. Her disgusted expression said she clearly had no intentions of touching any of them. "I kept my mouth shut, but I want an explanation. Right now. No," she interjected, when Hale opened his mouth. "Not from you. I've heard more than enough from you, thank you very much."

Brooks looked helplessly at Hale and he returned it with an exaggerated shrug, as if to say, you're on your own. There wasn't a doubt that he would just make the situation worse if he said anything. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Bellamy," Brooks said cautiously, as if trying to calm a cornered animal. "I really wasn't trying to lead you on, I swear, and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I just didn't know how to tell you I wasn't, you know..."

"Into girls," Hale supplied helpfully.

Bellamy shot him a scathing look. "So it's true?" she said, her voice climbing up an octave. "You're really gay?"

Brooks looked sheepish. "Um, yeah."

"How long?"

"How long what?" Brooks asked, confused.

"How long have you been gay?" she demanded impatiently. "Because I swear to god, if I converted you, I will flip my shit."

"You really are dense," Hale informed her. "It's not something that happens one day, dumbass. Although, if anyone could turn someone off being straight, I can guarantee you'd be the most likely candidate."

Bellamy's jaw dropped open. "You're such a prick! And if that's the case, how are you even gay? What's with all the girls you've been fondling in your free time?"

"None of your business," Hale said shortly. "Look, I'm not here to waste time educating you on homosexuality. I just need to make sure you keep your mouth shut about what you saw. Pretend you didn't see anything and don't tell anyone about it. Okay?"

Bellamy narrowed her eyes at him. "And why the hell should I do anything for you?"

"Please, Bellamy?" Brooks looked at her with pleading blue-green eyes. Hale wondered if he knew just convincing he could be and used that to his advantage, or he really didn't have a clue of the effect he had. "I'm sorry I dated you as a cover, I shouldn't have done that. But you know how people are at our schools, if they find out about this. And my parents," he added, after a long moment of hesitation.

Hale frowned, but Bellamy seemed to understand what he meant by that. "For gods sake," she muttered, her expression softening as she looked at Brooks. "I really hate you right now, or at least, I should. Fine. I won't say anything."

Brooks breathed a sigh of relief. "Really?"

Hale was relieved too, although he wasn't quite as surprised. Saying no to Brooks was like kicking a puppy - it was impossible to do. And as much as it irritated Hale, Bellamy seemed to be pretty fond of him.

"Only for you," she added, slanting a contemptuous look at Hale. "That's the only reason I outed Hale for the thievery incident, and not what I walked in on earlier. I couldn't care less if he gets in trouble but I guess still care about you, Brooks."

Hale rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you really got me with that one."

"Thank you, Bellamy," Brooks smiled, looking expectantly at Hale. He gazed back at him with an impassive expression. Hale knew exactly what he wanted him to do say, and that wasn't happening, not in this universe. "Don't you have something you want to say, Hale?"

"Hmm, no," Hale said in a bored tone, pretending to inspect his nails. "Don't think so."

"Just say it."

"Nope."

Brooks was looking at him with a dismayed frown, speaking worlds of judgement that words couldn't, and Hale tried to ignore it even when it began burning holes into his head. It was even worse than a glare or a scowl, which would have been far easier to ignore.

Finally Hale threw his hands into the air in exasperation and huffed, "Thank you, Bellamy! For being so considerate and kind!"  It was loaded with sarcasm, but it was the best he could manage. He glared at Brooks. "Happy?"

Brooks looked amused. "Very."

"Well, your thank you isn't accepted," Bellamy said snobbishly, as if a thank you could be rejected. She placed her hands on her hips and pinned them both with a curious look. "Anyway, I have more important questions. How long has this," she flicked a hand between Brooks and Hale, "been a thing? Are you guys secretly dating or something?"

"None of your business," Hale said, before Brooks had a chance to say anything. The truth was, he didn't have a clue what this thing was between them, and he was a little nervous to hear what Brooks had to say on the matter. It was a discussion he definitely wasn't having with Bellamy present. "Have we finished here? This conversation with you is giving me cancer."

"You are so insufferably rude, Hale Ryves," Bellamy huffed, and without another word, she stormed out of the kitchen. She even made a point of slamming the door behind her.

"She kind of has a point, you know," Brooks said, looking as if he was suppressing a smile at Bellamy's hysterics. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you enjoy riling people up."

"Oh, only certain ones," Hale assured him. "Specifically, the ones that irritate me. Is it so surprising she tops the list?"

Brooks shook his head with a chuckle. "You and Hassan would get along brilliantly."

Hale was suddenly aware of the fact that it was just the two of them again, alone in the relatively small kitchen. Brooks seemed to have the same realisation as his eyes widened slightly, and he went still as he stared back at Hale. "So," Hale said in a low voice, a wicked grin curling at his mouth, "wanna have desert?"

Brooks turned red, but Hale didn't give him a chance to reply. He caught Brooks' face between his hands and backed him up until he was pressed up against the counter, their mouths moving in sync. Hale lost track of time as he lost himself in Brooks' lips, and it was far too soon before Brooks pushed him back with evident reluctance. "We can't do this here," he murmured, a little breathlessly. "Your family is in the room next door."

Hale buried his face in the crook of his neck and felt the shiver that went through Brooks' body in response. "So?" he grinned, against his skin.

"So...so, you're distracting me," Brooks said, any semblance of accusation lost when his breath hitched. "I can't think straight."

Hale laughed, warm breath ghosting across Brooks' collarbone. "But you can think gay, right?"

"Oh my god." Hale felt the laughter reverberate through his chest. "Tell me you didn't go there."

Hale quickly lost interest in the conversation, trailing soft barely there kisses up along his jaw and recapturing his mouth before he could voice any more protests. Hale knew Brooks was right, that kissing in plain sight would lead to another Bellamy incident neither of them wanted to deal with, but it was difficult to care when his fingers were tangled up in Brooks' curls and Hale's lips were caught up in his.

Finally, Brooks flattened his hands against his chest and Hale obediently pulled away this time, needing a chance to catch his breath back. Brooks was still leaning back against the the counter and absently ran his tongue over his swollen red lips. "That was a bad idea," Brooks said, his cheeks flushed for an entirely different reason this time.

"Really?" Hale smiled mischievously. "That's probably the first time anyone's ever said that to me."

Brooks rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. What if your parents had walked in?"

"They're not my parents," Hale corrected. "And you know what your problem is, Brooks? You worry too much. Live a little."

"Sure, sure. Words to live and die by."

Hale watched as Brooks turned towards the sink filled to the brim with dirty dishes that Bellamy had abandoned there, and flicked the tap on. "What exactly are you doing?" Hale questioned, as Brooks squirted some washing up liquid onto the plates.

"Uh, washing the dishes?"

"I figured as much," Hale said, hopping up onto the counter. "I meant, why are you doing that? No one's going to expect you to seeing as you don't even live here."

Brooks shrugged. "I don't mind. It's the least I can do for the meal."

Hale shook his head in disbelief. Brooks really was something else, and too nice for his own good, for that matter. He was the kind of person others would take advantage of by walking all over his strange do-good nature. Looking at him with his head ducked, and nose scrunched up in concentration as he scrubbed at the plates, Hale felt an inexplicable surge of protectiveness.

No one was going to hurt him, not as long as Hale was around. That was for sure.

"Brooks."

"Hm?"

"What's the deal with your parents?"

Brooks paused on the plate he was scrubbing. His expression didn't chance, but Hale was watching him closely enough that he saw the way his shoulders tightened. "What do you mean?"

"When you were trying to convince Bellamy to keep her mouth shut," Hale said. "You mentioned your parents. And every time the topic comes up, you get all closed off. Why?"

Brooks was silence for so long Hale didn't think he was going to reply, and he wondered if maybe he'd pried too far. He knew it wasn't really his business, but that didn't lessen his curiosity in the slightest.

"My family isn't like yours," Brooks finally said, his voice so quiet it was almost inaudible. "Not like this one, or your other one. My parents aren't...I mean, they're not really the kind of people you want to talk about. And Bellamy's met them before, so she knows they'd be less than pleased if they learnt the truth about me."

"Oh." Hale ran a hand through his hair with a frown. "They sound like assholes. No offence," he added belatedly.

"None taken," Brooks shrugged. "And they kind of are. So yeah. Not a big deal."

Hale figured it was probably a bigger deal than he was letting on. He hadn't considered it, but he was pretty sure his mum and Daniel would be more or less accepting when he came out to them. He didn't think his siblings would be particularly bothered by it. After all, Izzy was two. She definitely would be bothered. And William? Well, Hale's dad acted like a wet piece of lettuce most of the time, but at least he wasn't a dick.

"Alright, my turn," Brooks said, wiping his hands on a tea towel as he turned to face Hale. "I have a question."

Hale raised an eyebrow. "Shoot."

"Since when did you wear glasses?"

"Huh?" Hale reached up and touched the frames perched on his nose, which he'd completely forgotten about. "Oh, yeah. Technically, since forever, but I always wear contacts. I just took them out before you came because I had a shower and I hadn't known we were having company."

"Wow, really?" Brooks said with a teasing smile. "Doesn't that ruin your reputation, risking anything where you might look too nerdy?"

"Hey, there's a reason I only bother with the glasses when I'm at home," Hale pointed out. "Can't have anyone doubting the whole too-cool-for-school thing I've got going on. In fact, you're probably one of the few people who's actually seen me without contacts."

Hale used to wear glasses all the time, but he switched to contacts when he started high school for conveniency's sake. Joining the football and lacrosse team meant it was just easier to play without glasses, and besides, he'd always felt more comfortable wearing contacts. Besides his family, Will was probably the only one at school who'd seen him wearing glasses.

"Well, I'm honoured." Brooks smiled warmly and Hale's heart skipped a beat at the sight of it. "And I like them."

Hale thought that maybe he should start wearing his glasses more often, if it meant Brooks would smile at him like that.

*

meh not sure how i feel about this chapter but seriously don't have any time at all to consider editing it now that i'm so busy with school - so hope you enjoy what there is :)