Everything Tyler had ever said about Pierce Bradford came back to him, and James saw everything in a new light.

Tyler's distaste for the older Bradford, all of his complains about the other boy, his nervousness around the triplets, his irritation with James after he had been caught noticing the elders attractiveness, and his suspicious implication that he had been in love.

He was angry with his friend, hurt that he had neglected to tell him about Pierce, or his sexuality in general. It was also bothersome to him that Tyler had spent all of this time warning him off of Kalen because he was a Bradford when that was a risk he had secretly been taking himself.

"James?"

He turned his face away from the window and instead looked to the front of the car, where his mother was turned in her seat to look back at him. "Yeah?" He asked, his voice small. She smiled at him.

"Do you want to talk about anything? It seems like something is troubling you". Of course she had realized. He wasn't exactly being subtle about his bad mood— he hadn't said a word since leaving the dinner. "What's on your mind?"

"It's just..." James thought of the best way to phrase it without specifically explaining what he had seen. He was guessing if Tyler hadn't wanted him to know, he certainly wouldn't want James's mother to know. "Hypothetically, if I found something out about Tyler that he wasn't telling me on purpose, do I talk to him about it, or do I wait for him to talk to me about it, not knowing if he ever will?" James inquired, and she blinked at him through the darkness, processing the vague information he had given her. Thankfully, she didn't ask for clarification.

"Well, I don't think you have to wait for him to tell you, especially if it's bothering you so much. You also should consider the fact that we're talking about Tyler, your best friend. If it's really that big of a secret, he's probably dying to tell you but something is holding him back," him mother advised, and James nodded in agreement, turning to look out the window again. He hadn't been thinking about it like that— he had been thinking how could Tyler not tell him, not why had Tyler not told him. There certainly needed to be a reason.

"But-" she continued, and his eyes snapped back to hers. "I think you should take some time and think about how you're going to bring it up. You need to remember to consider Tyler's feelings, even if you're upset with him right now".

With a long sigh, James let his head fall back against the seat. She was right about all of it. "Thank you," he grumbled, and she smiled once more before turning back in her seat.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and was slow to remove it, suspecting who it was from.

From: Ty

Sorry man. I was hanging out in my parents car. See you Monday?

He put it back in his pocket without responding, and turned his head to count the street lights they drove past.

***

By the time Tyler picked James up on Monday morning, he had done a lot of thinking and decided two things.

The first was that he was not going to let Tyler's secrecy upset him. He knew his best friend well, and trusted him more than anything. Something was preventing Tyler from telling him, and James was going to try his best to figure it out while he— and this was the second thing he had decided— waited until the time was right to tell Ty he knew.

It had, however, taken him all weekend to decide these things, so communication with his best friend had been nonexistent. This meant that the second he opened his front door, Tyler apologized to him loudly. "If I had known not saying goodbye would piss you off so much then I wouldn't have left you to talk to Kalen alone".

James threw a glance over his shoulder towards the kitchen, where his mother was still packing her lunch for work. When it was clear she hadn't heard the other boy, James turned back to Ty. "I'm not pissed at you".

Green eyes widened. "No?" He voiced, and James shook his head. "Then why haven't you talked to me at all?" Tyler's mouth turned down in a frown along with the question, and James thought of Pierce pushing his fingers into that mouth a few short days ago. The memory had his eyes wandering away, not so he could dwell in peace, but because he didn't ever want to think of his best friend in that situation.

"Sorry," James began, cursing himself as he had to pause and decide on a lie, which was something else he should have done that weekend. "I didn't feel great so I spent most of my time in bed".

"Ah," Tyler acknowledged with a nod of his head. "You're feeling better though, right?"

"Oh, for sure". James crouched down to pull his shoes on his feet. They were tied lose enough that he could do it easily.

"That's good". It was silent as James finished putting on his shoes, but by the time he was rising back up Tyler was asking him another question. "So how did everything go with Kalen?"

The question reminded James of what he had wanted to talk to Ty about the night of the party. "It was great," he answered honestly. "He's amazing". As he spoke, he went and retrieved his backpack from the couch, and then gestured to Tyler that they could leave. "I mean, he's really amazing. Every time I talk to him makes me want to know even more about him".

With a hum, Tyler moved out of the front door, and then swung it shut behind them once James called a goodbye to his mother over his shoulder. "Well, I think he wants to talk to you more too, so that's a good thing".

"Is it?" James grumbled, following his friend down his front steps. Surprised, Tyler shot him a look out of the corner of his eye. "I mean, as I said, he's amazing, but he's Kalen Bradford, and that just sounds more complex than I want a relationship to be".

"I understand man, I really do," Tyler said, climbing into the drivers side of his car as James got in the other side. He thought about just how much Ty understood his situation. "But if you like him more every time you talk to him, and you have to talk to him in Chemistry every day, then you're kind of in a difficult situation, aren't you?"

"Ugh," James groaned, leaning forward to press his face into the dashboard. "I don't want to think about this anymore. Let's talk about something else, please".

"Alright," Tyler agreed after a pause. "You probably don't care about this, but I slept wonderfully the last couple of nights".

***

As usual, they waited in the car before school to avoid Bradford triplet drama, so they were both surprised when said triplets approached Tyler's car about twenty minutes before first hour began.

Daniel stopped outside of Tyler's door, while the other two stood by the passenger side, blocking both of their exits. With wide eyes, the two boys in the car turned to look at one another, and then Tyler said, "you just had to flirt with their younger brother".

"You're the one who left us alone!" James snapped back, leaning forward to be able to peer up at Daniel on the other side of the car. He looked the most threatening, so James was most worried about him. "I'm sorry! Kalen said I would be fine".

"You've been careless, James-"

"You're the one who left me-" their argument was cut short when Joe reached down and tapped on James's window, getting both of their attentions. "Oh fuck". Michael gestured for him to roll the window down.

"Don't you fucking dare, Anders," Ty grumbled, though he didn't lock James's window, so he rolled it down without a problem. "I knew you'd be the cause of my death".

James ignored his friend and leaned out of the window to address the two boys. "Uh... hey guys. What's up?"

Michael smiled at him. Joe did not. "Hey man," Michael greeted. "We know this looks kind of..."

"Threatening?" Tyler said from behind him, making Joe scowl.

"Our business isn't with you, Amore," Joe grumbled, and when James looked at his friend, he found him grinning, relieved.

"Okay, so I'll just be going then..." Tyler turned to look out of his window again, and then frowned when he realized Daniel didn't seem to be willing to move from his place outside of his door, preventing Ty from leaving. "Or... or not".

"James... well, you've probably guessed this already, but this is about Kalen," Mike explained, his voice soft. It was confusing to James, since Michael didn't sound threatening, though he was assuming they were there to threaten him away from Kalen like they usually did.

"What about him?" James asked, trying to sound interested, but not too interested.

"He trusts you," Joe claimed, not sounded pleased about this. "He's comfortable around you".

"He is?" James inquired, a smile pulling at his lips. A hand smacked into the back of his head and he reached up to rub at it, turning to look at his best friend. "Why?"

"You're not making the situation any better," Ty whispered for only him to hear.

"How am I supposed to do that?" he hissed back, and Tyler's mouth opened, probably to suggest something stupid, but one of the two boys outside of James's window cleared their throat, and he turned back quickly. "Um, okay. So you came out here to let me know that Kalen trusts me?"

"We kinda assumed that you knew that already," Joe claimed, his tense expression softening for the first time. "That's not what we're here to talk about, actually. You see... Kalen doesn't trust many people, but he trusts you, so we... well, we're guessing... ugh".

With a surprised look at his brother, Michael cut in. "James, we think that you're a good guy". This was most definitely not what James had been expecting, and he was aware of the fact his eyes must be comically wide. "The truth is, we're going to need your help. You see, our family is taking a trip this week, we leave tomorrow, but Kalen doesn't want to go. He can get away with that, because he's the youngest and our mother always makes sure he gets what he wants from our father, but we can't get out of it, and there's gonna be no one here to keep an eye on him, and since Kalen likes you so much, and you seem like a good guy so, well, we were kind of hoping that you'd be willing to, well..."

The words left Mike then, and James just looked up at them with wide eyes, unable to believe he was hearing. "Could you take care of Kalen for us?" This came from Daniel, who finally abandoned Tyler's side of the car and came to stand next to his brothers. "Please? We'd really appreciate it".

It took James a minute to respond as he processed the shock. "I... I'll try. What does looking after him entail, exactly?"

"Keeping people away from him," Joe began.

"Being around him as often as possible," Michael added.

"Making sure anyone who does go near him pays for it," Daniel finished. Three sets of cornflower blue eyes stared down at him then, waiting for an answer.

"Um, sure," James offered after a pause. "I think I could do that for you". He could most definitely do the second thing, could probably do the first thing, and wouldn't even attempt the third thing, but he wasn't going to tell the three of them that. It felt like they were giving him something important, and he didn't want them to already regret or question their decision.

"Alright man, great," Michael said, smiling at him. "Thanks a lot. It'll be easier to relax on vacation knowing you're here looking after him". A hand was outstretched towards him then, and James reached out of his window to shake it.

"Yeah... I'll do my best".

The other two shook his hand as well, with Daniel grumbling, "your best better be good enough," and Joe happily informing him that they were counting on him.

They left then, the three of them walking back towards the school as if they hadn't just surrounded Tyler's car and terrified them.

"Oh my god," James said, watching them walk away.

"Yeah man, that was really fucking strange". They were quiet for a moment, still processing the last couple of minutes. "I don't think they would have said that if they knew you were gay," Tyler claimed. James's eyebrows raised. "It kind of made it sound like they were giving you their blessing, right? Please take care of Kalen. They're gonna be kicking themselves in a few months for that one".

James rolled his eyes and looked forward. "I wonder how Kalen's going to feel about this". As he asked, he suspected he knew the answer.

***

James sat down in his seat next to Kalen, and then sunk his teeth into his lower lip at the uncomfortable silence that immediately engulfed him. His conversation with the triplets had been the morning before, and he had yet to speak to Kalen about it– they had spent the day before talking about how the dinner had gone overall– but James feared it was something he was unable to avoid this time around, since there was a whole other thing they now needed to discuss.

The night before, James's parents had come in his room and sat on the end of his bed. At first, he had panicked. They had come into his room that same way after Ace's appointment when they learned he had a brain tumor, and James associated similar situations with bad news. But instead, they had shyly asked him if he would be comfortable with Kalen Bradford staying with them for a few days. They explained a similar situation to the one that the Bradford triplets had told him– the Bradford's were going on vacation and the youngest didn't want to go along, only they included the fact that Mr. Bradford had specifically asked them first if they could watch Kalen, since apparently two out of the three triplets— Michael and Joe, James was assuming— had recommended them.

And so Kalen would be dropped off at James's house later in the day, after dinner, and he'd be staying until he was picked up Saturday night when his family returned. For four days, and four nights, James would be sharing a house with the other boy.

It was clearly on Kalen's mind as well, because instead of the greeting he usually gave James at the beginning of class, he stared down at his clasped hands on his desk. James found this development disappointing, since they had been building up to that greeting over the last two weeks, and he happened to enjoy the conversations it lead them to throughout class.

It stayed silent until Mrs. Rodger's handed the next set of instructions out for their weekly lab and directed them to get into their pairings and work for the day.

"Are you upset?" Kalen asked, finally speaking as they moved from their desks to their lab table. Surprised, James shot him a quick look out of the corner of his eye.

"Why would I be upset?"

"Because I'm staying at your house and... invading your privacy," Kalen claimed, his expression mostly blank as he studied the lab sheet. James knew well enough that he wasn't actually processing any of the information on the page, but instead giving his eyes something to look at so they didn't roam to James's face. It was something Kalen did when he was nervous, and James had noticed it the week before when they had been discussing the Bradford dinner and Kalen had stared intently at an empty test tube throughout the majority of the conversation.

"Why would I be upset about that?" James asked, before almost immediately including, "you're not invading my privacy".

"Well, I am coming into your home and living there for four days," Kalen pointed out. Not seeing the big deal, James shrugged. "I tried to convince my dad that I could stay home alone by myself, but after he left Pierce and Garet home alone for a weekend and returned to find the house trashed, he won't let any of us do that anymore. Both of my parents are from Boston so their families aren't in the area, so while they were talking about where to send me Michael suggest your house for some reason and my dad thought it was a good idea".

"Ah". James looked around and noticed everyone around them already beginning their lab. It didn't concern him that they were going to be a bit behind, because they typically finished before everyone anyways. "Why don't you want to go on vacation?"

"I don't want to miss school," Kalen explained quickly, and James looked at the other boy again, curious about eagerness of his answer. "Why did Michael recommended that I be sent to your house?"

Hastily, James looked away, bringing his attention to their lab drawer rather than the boy staring at him with very intense gold eyes. "What are you talking about? Why would I know?"

"Are you telling me you haven't gotten any idea?" Kalen inquired.

James didn't want to lie to the other boy, so all he gave in response was a soft, "what?" before sighing heavily at his unconvincing tone.

"It's a yes or no question, James".

"I don't want to answer".

There was a smack as Kalen slapped his hand down against the lab table, getting the attention of the people across from them. "Look at me," Kalen demanded, and James did. "What did my brothers talk to you about in the parking lot yesterday?"

James may have been distracted by mind panic, but he was positive that Kalen hadn't been there. "They told you they were coming to talk to me?"

"No," Kalen denied. "I saw them leaving the building instead of coming to my locker, and I know you don't come into school right away, so I thought they were going to threaten you".

"And you were coming to protect me?" James teased, and Kalen shot him an unamused look. "Alright, fine. They didn't threaten me... kinda". He was thinking about Daniel's last words to him.

"Well I figured," Kalen responded. There was a pause in which he actually looked at the lab sheet and began pulling the materials they would need out of there drawer. "I mean, I'm guessing they wouldn't threaten you away from me and then tell my father it would be a great idea for me to stay with you... that is, unless they were looking for a reason to kill you". James's eyes widened, and Kalen rolled his eyes. "They're not going to kill you, could you just tell me what they said to you?"

"They just asked me to keep an eye on you while they're gone," James explained, and Kalen paused, halfway to setting their final beaker on the lab table. "Um, Kalen?" The boy finally set the beaker down, but he did it a bit too harshly for the glass object.

"Did you agree?" Kalen asked, and James shrugged. "You did, didn't you?"

"Well they were surrounding the car I was in. What else was I supposed to do?"

"That just tells me that you don't think I can take care of myself," Kalen grumbled.

"That's not true," James protested immediately. "I most definitely think you can take care of yourself. You're one of the most capable people I've ever met". Kalen didn't look appeased. "Look, they asked me to make anyone who goes near you pay for it, and I said I would, but I'm totally not going to".

"But what if someone touches me?" Kalen asked, leaning towards him slightly, looking incredibly eager. The mood shift was incredibly alarming to James, and he narrowed his eyes at the other boy.

"Well, as I said, you seem capable, so I'm going to assume you're strong enough to tell someone to back off if they do something to you that you don't like," James explained, and Kalen pressed his lips together and hummed.

"Well, what if someone harasses me in the hall, and I need to stand up for myself in front of everyone, and then my brothers come back and hear about your lack of involvement and they'll be angry with you?"

"Has anyone actually harassed you before?" James asked. "I mean, from what I've seen so far, it seems that every time your brothers intimidate people it's because they talked to you, not because they've actually touched you. Also, I don't think you're considering the fact that everyone in the school knows that going as far as harassing you means that they will literally be murdered, so no one is going to do it".

"Why are you analyzing this so much?" Kalen huffed, looking down at the table with a frown.

"Why are you?" James shot back. "I thought you were upset that I agreed, but now it seems like you want me to take care of you".

"I-" Kalen cut off, and then huffed. "No. I don't want, or need that. That's not my point".

"Then what is your point then?"

"There is no point," Kalen claimed. "I'm just curious to see how far you'd go". James's nodded, and finally began reading the instructions, figuring they had wasted enough time having that stupid conversation. "So, what else did you agree to do for my brother's?"

"Huh?" James inquired, not raising his head as he took note of the chemicals they still needed to gather from the front of the room.

"I mean, did they only ask you to harm those who interact with me, or were there other requirements of taking care of me?" Kalen clarified.

"Oh". James frowned, wondering if there was a way to divert the conversation so he didn't have to talk about this. One look at Kalen told him this wouldn't work. "Well, I'm supposed to keep people away from you, and spend as much time with you as possible".

"Ahh," Kalen looked ahead, his eyes seeming distant. "Well I guess that's not so bad".

Before James could ask him what the hell that meant, Mrs. Rodgers was stopping at the end of their lab table and scolding them for not beginning their work.