"So we're going to a ranch in the middle of nowhere.... for ten whole weeks?" Louis asks his mum in disbelief.

"James has kindly asked us to come out for the summer, it will be great Lou"

Louis is 16, it's been him and his mum Joanna  for the last 16 years, his dad leaving when he was born. Joanna works as a midwife and works so hard to keep food on the table and the heat and electricity in their one bedroom apartment on.

Louis is smart, he's top of his class, he doesn't have many friends and prefers to keep to himself, he's gay and his mum supports Louis to the end of the world. Louis is small and always has been, he's gorgeous with feathery brown hair and big blue eyes, his skin tanned. He definitely gets attention from both sexes but Louis hasn't had a boyfriend or done anything with anyone, it's not that he isn't interested, he just hasn't had the opportunity arise with anyone he really likes.

Joanna and James have been seeing each other for over a year. It's mostly been long distance but they are really serious about each other. Louis has met him a few times and James is a great guy, so wonderful and perfect for his mum. He lives five hours away on a ranch though, and Louis doesn't see how it's going to work, unless his mum moves out there, which Louis is dead set against.

"I don't know a single thing about being on a ranch mum, what am I supposed to do for the summer? It's not like you and James will want me around" Louis huffs.

They are eating dinner on the couch in the living room, the TV on low like always.

"James' boys are only a few years older than you hun. They are looking forward to having you, and of course we want you around Lou" Joanna tells him.

Louis loves his mum with everything he has and he wants to see her happy, she deserves all the happiness in the world.

Louis sighs, he looks his mum in the eyes and sees how much this means to her.

"Fine, but they won't like me and don't be mad when I spend all my time in my room" Louis huffs.

Jay smiles so wide.

"They will love you hun, and maybe you will actually like it. I thought I'd hate it after being in the city so long, but it's beautiful and the stars are magical. I'm just asking you to give it a chance" Joanna says as she kisses Louis head

Louis goes back to eating his dinner and just hopes he can get through the holidays.

A week later and Louis and his mum set out on their five hour road trip to 'Oak-Fire Ranch' Joanna is excited and Louis tries to be open to the entire experience but he's just not sure and he's a bit nervous if he's honest. Wondering if James's sons will even give him the time of day, what if they don't like that's he's gay. Although his mum has met them a bunch of times and she surely wouldn't be pushing Louis to go if they weren't nice.

Apparently James has four sons, Harry, Drew, Edward and Scott. Edward is the oldest at 24 Scott is 23 Drew 22 while Harry is 21, They all work on the ranch, Louis isn't really sure what it is they do exactly but he guesses he will find out.

He sighs as the day gets a little warmer and the sun beats down on their old car. The scenery going from city streets to practically the dessert, dirt tracks and trees. As hour four turns into hour five, they pass a small city town. A few big department stores, a bank, a grocery shop, small cinema, cafe and a bar but that's it. It's cute Louis will admit, but it doesn't look like there's much to do.

After the town they eventually come to a turn off and a huge sign directing them to the ranch.

"Is this ranch like famous or something?" Louis asks as he looks from the sign to his mum who smiles

"It is, especially around here. James owns one of the biggest and best ranches, they sometimes do tours for the locals and tourists that come out. James is running for Mayor of Oak-Fire in the next election" Joanna tells him proudly.

Louis looks at her gobsmacked

"So they are like rich and famous and stuff?" Louis asks uncomfortably.

"Well......yes....kind of" Joanna says

"Mum, seriously, I'm not going to fit in, they are going to hate me" Louis says upset.

"Lou, sweetheart, no one is going to hate you. Why would you think that. The boys are wonderful and kind and so is James. I promise if you're uncomfortable or someone is mean in any way. We can leave" Joanna says seriously.

Louis looks at his mum

"K" he says and he knows she means it.

Louis then looks out the window of the car to see huge rolling green hills and a massive gravel driveway with big beautiful oak trees lining the drive.

At the top of the long sweeping drive is a massive ranch, Louis is absolutely speechless, it's gorgeous and insanely huge, he can see a big farm house to the side with a horse paddock out the front. To say James is loaded is a complete understatement.

Louis looks to his mum.

"It's beautiful isn't it" she smiles.

"It's insane" Louis says.  

They finally pull up and Joanna gets straight out of the car when she sees James, he's sitting on the porch and rushes to greet her smiling. He's wearing jeans, a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat and boots.

Louis looks down at his black skinny jeans and adidas hoodie, vans on his feet. He really doesn't think he'll fit in here.

He then sees four boys saunter out of the house to hug and greet his mum lovingly, all wearing pretty much the same thing as James. James is a muscly mid 40 year old who's rugged and handsome and his boys are no different. Louis feels like he's entered a television show for hot cowboys or something.

He sees his mum look back at the car smiling and he takes a big deep breath before he gets out of the car slowly.

....

Louis walks shyly over to the group, as he gets closer he notices how insanely gorgeous and muscly these boys actually are. They are all beautiful and Louis feels extremely insecure already.

"Hiya Lou, how are you kiddo?" James says as he moves forward to hug Louis, he responds and hugs back instantly. James has always been so kind and affectionate with him, has always made Louis feel welcome.

"I'm good" Louis says shyly as they pull back.

"Let me introduce you to my boys hey! Louis this is Harry, Scott, Drew and Edward" James says as he puts his arm around Louis in comfort and points out the boys.

Louis didn't expect them to be so welcoming, they all smile back at Louis widely

"How was your drive, hope it wasn't to long for you" Drew says to both Louis and his mum

"Oh no, it was fine, we enjoyed it, didn't we Lou" Jay says as she smiles towards Louis.

"Yeah" Louis says with a half smile.

All of James boys have green eyes apart from Scott, his are a beautiful grey colour. They are all about 6 foot 3, muscly, tanned, tattooed. Harry is the only one with slightly curly hair though, Louis can see it peaking out from behind his cowboy hat.

"Well let's get you both inside, we will show you your room Louis" Scott says.

"We will grab the bags" Harry says as he and Edward move forward towards the car for the bags.

They are led up to the porch and inside the house, it's absolutely exquisite, it's modern yet farmhouse and the finishes are beautiful. It's a mixture of wooden beams and brick which Louis loves.

The house is massive and Louis just stands there in awe. Harry and Edward walk in behind them with the bags.

"I'll show Jay to our end of the house" James says as he grabs Joanna's bags.

"Great, come on Lou, we will show you where you will be staying and then we can have some lunch" Edward says smiling.

The boys grab all of Louis things and lead him in the opposite direction of his mum and James. They walk through a massive sunken lounge room, and an outdoor area before there's a set of stairs at the back of the house, grey carpet throughout the home makes it so cosy.

The boys lead Louis up the stairs and it's like a whole other house when they reach the top. There's a massive lounge area with a TV and games everywhere, it's messy but homey,

"Sorry we didn't get a chance to clean" Harry tells him as he sees Louis looking around.

"Oh, I don't.....I didn't...." Louis starts.

Harry just smirks at him

"This way Lou" Edward says

"This is our wing of the house, there's a small kitchen, a lounge room and all of our rooms up here" Scott says.

"Okay" Louis says for lack of anything coming to his mind, he's so overwhelmed.

"This one is Edwards room" Drew says as they enter a wide carpeted hallway.

"And this one is Drew's" Edward says pointing to the room opposite his own

"This one at the end is Scott and Harry's is next to his" Drew says pointing to the double doors at the end

"And this one is yours" Scott says as they stop at the door before Harry and Scott's at the ens.

Scott opens it and Louis is in absolute awe, the room is huge. A king size bed, grey carpet, a fire place and a huge window overlooking the hills.

"Holy crap" Louis says and the boys chuckle

"You like it?" Harry asks

"It's amazing" Louis says

The boys watch Louis in awe, they think he is absolutely adorable and so beautiful. They've seen photos of Louis and Jay talks about him all the time but this is the first time they've managed to meet and the boys are smitten already.

Scott puts Louis suitcase down and Harry his backpack.

"Well lunch is in about 15 minutes, in the dining room. We will leave you to it and see you downstairs" Drew says happily.

Louis just nods smiling slightly.

The boys smile and Louis doesn't miss the wink from Harry before they leave Louis alone.

Louis looks around the room, this place is just beautiful and Louis feels something inside him settle for some reason. Maybe this summer won't be so bad after all.

"He's gorgeous" Harry says as the boys make their way back downstairs

"Alright lover boys, we get it, you like him" Drew chuckles And Harry blushes

"He's so small, I think he's cute" Scott says

"He is, I think he will fit in" Edward says

"I'm looking forward to teaching him things" Drew says.

They banter back and forth as they make their way downstairs to the dining table and help their cook set the table and serve up lunch, gourmet chicken sandwiches.

A few minutes later and James and Joanna enter the room, they all sit down, taking their cowboy hats off and getting settled. James sits at the head, Joanna to his right, then Edward and Drew next to Joanna. Scott and Harry opposite with a spare seat between them for Louis.

Chef serves lunch and everyone serves their plates up. When they are all done, no one makes a move to eat, wanting to wait for Louis who hasn't come down yet.

"I can go see if he's okay" Edward says.

Jay is about to reply when Louis comes into the room, he sighs in relief.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, this place is really big and I got...I got lost" Louis says cutely.

Everyone smiles at him in response

"No harm done Lou, you will get used to the place, the boys will show you around after lunch" James says kindly.

"Come sit down hun" Jay tells him. 

Louis shyly makes his way between Scott and Harry.

Everyone digs into lunch and Louis grabs one sandwich which he eats slowly.

"So Louis, your mum has told us a few things about you, you're in your last year of school?" Edward asks wanting to get to know Louis a bit more and make him comfortable with everyone.

"Um yeah, I skipped a grade so I finish this year" Louis says.

"That's awesome Lou, do you know what you want to do next year?" Harry then asks.

"Well, it just depends where I get accepted into uni but I really want to do architecture and drafting. I love to draw and design" Louis says smiling, the most he's spoken this whole time.

"Wow that sounds awesome, we'd love to see some of your drawings" Scott tells him.

"Oh....they aren't that good but sure" Louis says shyly as he blushes, the boys think he's adorable.

"So like do you guys work on the ranch and stuff?" Louis asks, obviously he has no idea about ranch life or how it works and the boys can't wait to show him around and into their world a little.

"We do, we have cowboys who work for us and stay in the barn house but we oversee everything" James says.

"Scott is a vet and also did his duel degree as a doctor. He works here at the ranch and in town at the private hospital as well...Harry works with the police in town and mostly on the ranches to make sure everything's above board and things" Drew starts

Louis looks from Harry to Scott in awe.

"Drew is our horse trainer, he gets them ready to sell and breeds them as well. He's extremely talented and has a way with horses" Scott says.

"And Edward takes care of the finances and legal side of things, he's a lawyer" Harry finishes.

Louis looks at them all in awe and swallows hard.

"Wow" he says and the boys chuckle

"Have you ever ridden a horse Lou?" Drew then asks

"Oh, I'm no...like....no" Louis says looking down

"That's okay, we can teach you, we have just the horse for you!" Harry says.

"You'd teach me to ride" Louis asks in disbelief.

"Of course Louis, we will teach you the way of the ranch and by the end of the summer we will have you in real cowboy boots" Scott says smiling and everyone laughs in fondness.

"What if I can't ride?" Louis asks.

"Don't worry Lou, with the boys teaching you, you'll be a pro in no time" James says

"K but don't be mad at me or upset at me if I suck, I can stay out of the way and you don't need to feel bad if you like want me to stay in my room I know I can be annoying" Louis rambles and the boys look from Louis to Jay and back to Louis.

"Hun, no one thinks you're annoying. The boys have been looking forward to having you and teaching you things" Jay reassures.

Louis just plays with his food.

"It's true Lou, look, after lunch go upstairs and in your wardrobe is a surprise. Meet us in the horse field and we will get started" Edward says

Louis looks to Edward, he can see how sincere he is but Louis still has his guard up. He looks to his mum who's smiling encouragingly and she nods her head, letting Louis know it's okay.

"Okay" Louis nods and the boys all smile.

They go back to talking and chatting with each other and eating. Louis doesn't eat much he's still a little nervous but he watches the boys, they are so manly and confident and Louis finds them all so attractive and kind. He wants to believe that they really like him but he guesses he will just have to see.