James was awoken by his phone ringing at an ungodly hour. Typically, he would have ignored it, but he knew Kalen had dinner with his family, and he hadn't heard from his boyfriend since, so he sat up in bed with a groan and turned on the lamp by his bed.

The ringing stopped just as James fingers touched the device, and he sighed heavily upon seeing his boyfriend's name, followed by one missed call. Immediately called Kalen back, tapping his fingers against his thigh as it rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Four.

And then, "oh good, you're still up," was said in his ear, and James breathed a long sigh. "Wanna come open your front door? It's really fucking cold out here and I've been out here for like ten minutes".

"You're here right now?" James asked, already swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Did it not go well?"

"Shh," Kalen said softly, and it sounded like there was a smile on his voice. "I'll explain everything. Just come let me in". The line dropped, and James made his way down the stairs, going at the fastest pace he could while keeping his movements completely silent. The only noise he made was at the end of his treck, when he had to undo the deadbolt on the door, which clicked loudly, but he payed it no mind. Standing on his porch was Kalen, wearing a thick fleece coat with buttons down the front. His face was tucked into his collar, but when James opened the door Kalen lifted his head to grin at him, cheeks very red.

"Hi," he greeted happily, the majority of his voice being taken by the wind. James smiled back at him before leaning out of the house and grabbing Kalen's wrist, pulling him inside.

"Hi," he replied, astounded by how cold Kalen's hand was when he brushed his fingers over it. "What are you doing out there? It's almost midnight, and it's freezing". Quickly, James pressed the door closed and redid the lock, which clicked again.

Kalen just hummed as if neither of these things affected him, and then slipped his cold fingers up the front of James's shirt to press into the warm skin of his abdomen. The sensencation had James jerking beneath his boyfriends figer tips, his eyes widening and his breath catching loudly, but a second later Kalen was pressing his lips against his gently.

While the rest of Kalen was cold, his mouth was still warm.

"What was that for?" James inquired once they parted, only a short moment later since he could no longer stand Kalen's cold fingers chasing the lines of his stomach. A low whine left Kalen as James gripped his wrists and forced his hands off of him, but then he smiled when James instead cupped Kalen's fingers between both of his and blew hot air across them.

"It was for everything working out," Kalen assured, and James's eyebrows raised. "I'll explain. Are your parents sleeping?"

"Of course". James looked over his shoulder down the dark hallway that his parents room was at the end of. "We should probably go upstairs and talk so we don't wake them. I don't think they'd mind that you were here, but I'm sure they'd tell us to go to sleep right away so we're not tired for school".

"Are you worried about being tired about school?" Kalen inquired, voice far softer now that he was cautious about waking James's parents.

"Not really," James responded, lacing his fingers through those on Kalen's left hand and quietly leading him to the staircase. "I don't mind staying up to talk to you".

"I'm sorry". Kalen apologized quickly, and James's eyebrows drew together. "I was planning on reaching out to you sooner. It'll make sense when I explain why I didn't text you".

"I'm not mad at you," James assured. "I figured you'd tell me what happened eventually." He smiled at Kalen then. "I'll be honest, though. I was just expecting a text rather than an in person meeting".

"Are you disappointed?" Kalen teased at a whisper, squeezing James hand as they came to a stop at the top of the stairs.

"Not even slightly," James admitted, pulling Kalen into his room and softly shutting the door behind him. He flicked the light on, his lamp not bright enough for him to really look at Kalen. "I love spending time with you".

With a content sigh, Kalen placed his hands on James chest. "Yeah, me too". With a smile, James brought his hands to Kalen's hips. "Hey," Kalen said softly, bringing one of his cold hands up to cup the back of James's neck. "Don't you want to know what happened with my family? Don't tell me I snuck out for nothing".

"You had to sneak out?" James inquired and Kalen nodded with a smile.

"I climbed out of my window and everything," he claimed, and James's eyebrows raised, but he didn't question. The look on Kalen's face told him he would understand in a moment. "So we had dinner, right, and it was super awkward and everything because my dad usually leads the conversation on the rare chance that we actually have dinner as a family, but he wasn't talking so it was mostly quiet. I didn't really mind, since it meant we weren't fighting, but then my mom decided to ask me questions like when did I know I was gay and if I was intrested in anyone and..." the last word was dragged out really long, and Kalen peered up at him through his eyelases bashfully.

That could only mean one thing. "You told them?!" James asked, voice raising louder than it should have and he was, not for the first time, glad his parents slept on the first floor and not in the available room next to his.

Kalen made an apologetic face. "I did, but I wasn't planing to. I was going to give you more warning before I told them, I swear, but the opportunity was right there and it just kind of came out and-" as Kalen rambled in defence, James detached himself from him and began pacing, wondering how much time he had before the triplets showed up at his door to kill him.

"My parents are going to have to live in this big house all alone," he mumbled, grabbing a fist full of his hair and pulling at it.

"What?" Kalen inquired before moving forward quicky. He manhandled James into facing him, and then gripped his face with both hands, forcing him to look down into his eyes. "No, James. No. You have it wrong. It's okay?"

"It-" James swallowed and dropped his hand from his hair. "It is?"

"Yes," Kalen confirmed with a little laugh. "For once, everything with this whole family situation of mine is okay". He looked so happy then, smile stretched wide, eyes molten gold. "The triplets were upset at first, but they calmed down eventually. Daniel even told our father that if I had to be with any guy they'd want it to be you, but me dad didn't even care. He said everything was fine and that he was happy for me".

"Daniel said that?" James inquired, stuck on that part because Daniel had stood up for him. "What did Mike say?" He thought about the older boy, and his eyes that always seemed to linger a second too long.

"James," Kalen breathed, clearly not listening. "My father said he was happy for me. For us!" At that, Kalen threw his arms around his neck, hugging him with his still shivering body.

"Oh," James breathed, frowning as he hugged his boyfriend back. It was great news, if you really believed that Mr. Bradford had suddenly stopped bing homophobic in the course of two days, which James, sadly, didn't. When he had come out to his parents, it had even taken them a small period of adjustment, and they had never been homophobic to begin with. Something about this seemed wrong, but he didn't want to say that to Kalen, not when he was so happy about how the night had gone, so he gave a hesitant smile and said, "That's really great, Kal".

"Isn't it?" Kalen breathed, pulling back from the hug and resting his hands on James's chest once more. "This is finally happening. We can hold hands in public, James. We can kiss in public".

James smiled at Kalen's enthusiasm, but his eyebrows also raised. "I didn't realize you were big on PDA".

He received a sweet laugh in response. "I'm not, I swear, it's just... don't you want to do those things now that we can?"

Wistfully, James thought about what this would be like, thought about how quickly he could show people at school Kalen was his, with a firm arm around the boy's waist and a kiss to his neck. It would be nice to show all of those girls, the ones who whispered in hallways or in the corners of classrooms about how they could be the one to make Kalen happy if they could just get past his brothers, that James had already taken that position out from under them. A quick kiss in the hallway could silence them, a hand pressing into the small of his back.

"What are you thinking about?" Kalen asked softly, drawing James attention back to him.

"I'm deciding how I should show everyone that you're mine," James admitted with a smile and Kalen breathed out a laugh.

"I didn't realize you be so possessive," Kalen breathed, teasing.

"I'm not... but not that I can be-" James began, only to be cut off when Kalen cut him off with an eager kiss pressed to his lips.

It was a quick kiss, one that made James lips tingle with the desire for more. The look on Kalen's face when he pulled back— only just slightly so their breath still mingled— to him he wouldn't need to wait long before that desire was filled.

Four things happened in succession that made James insides burn with want.

The first was the way Kalen bit his lower lip, the skin he was biting flushing red. The second was a soft sigh that left his boyfriend's throat, though the sound could be easily classified as a moan. Third, one of Kalen's hands came up to slowly begin unbuttoning his own coat, the fabric sliding down his shoulders after the third button. The forth, and final thing that did him in was Kalen asking him, "help warm me up?" In the sultriest voice James had ever heard in his entire life.

He didn't bother to respond to the question, didn't have time to because his body was moving on it's own, lips attacking Kalen's as his fingers aided the boy in riding his coat, and then, immediately after, his shirt. A second after the cloth hit the ground James felt insistent hands pushing up the hem of his own shirt, cold fingers brushing over his skin as the clothing was pull up and over his head.

With a little smile, Kalen placed his hands on James bare chest and began pushing him back until he fell against his mattress with a sharp gasp. Immediately, Kalen clambered up onto his lap, legs straddling his hips and hands on either side of his head to lean over him. Neither of them moved then, both taking a moment to appreciate one another, and what they had together.

After a long, charged moment, James broke into a smile, which Kalen returned, and then they were surging to kiss one another again, mouths devouring, swallowing one another's breaths in desperate gasps.

They didn't allow themselves to kiss like this often. Kiss so messily and animalistically since it drove both of them to a point of desperation that they until this moment hadn't had a good time to address.

Nothing was stopping them now.

***Sex Scene Removed***

***

At four in the morning, James was shaken awake. He was far too tired to start, so he simply blinked his eyes open slowly, accepting the fact that if he was being awoken by a serial killer, he would be a goner.

Thankfully, it was just Kalen, smiling softly down at his, thumb brushing over his jaw softly. "Hey," the younger boy whispered, and James groaned, but forced his eyes to stay open. "Sorry to wake you but I need to go, and I didn't want you to freak out when you woke up and I was gone".

This got James attention and he pushed himself up onto his elbows before sitting up completely, rubbing at his eyes. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah," Kalen said softly. "I snuck out, remember, and now that my brothers know we're together, I'm guessing they'll know where to find me if I don't come home.''

"Ugh," James groaned, leaning over and laying his head against Kalen's shoulder. It was then that James realized Kalen had already dressed, his face pressing into the fabric of Kalen's coat.

With a soft laugh, Kalen dragged a hand soothingly down his back. "I know," he whispered, pressing a kiss into James's temple. "I should go".

"Alright," James whispered, leaving his head and pressing a kiss to Kalen's lips. "Let me walk you down".

"You're naked," Kalen pointed out with a little laugh. "I think I'll be okay". The smallest boy moved to climb off of the bed, and then paused, looking back at James. "Hey..."

"Yeah?" James inquired, eyebrows raising.

"I-" Kalen cut off, smiling very wide. "I love you, James".

It was silent as James processed this, shocked by the sudden confession, but then he surged forward to when Kalen was kneeling on his bed to kiss him. Neither of them minded things such as morning breath, or the subtle taste of James's cum still on Kalen's tongue as they kissed for a long moment, parting when Kalen pulled back to laugh. "I really need to go".

"I love you too," James admitted without pause, meaning the words with every inch of his heart.

Kalen smiled again and kissed him once more, though he cut it with another, "I actually need to leave like right now".

"Fine," James groaned, kissing Kalen's lips quickly one last time before dropping back into his bed.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Kalen said, moving towards the door to his bedroom. Before he slipped out of it, he took one last long look at James's exposed body, mumbling, "looking good," with a wink.

Groaning, James pulled his covers back over himself, but he smiled at the sound of Kalen's chuckle as the door closed between them.