On Sunday, when there was a knock at his door, James called down to his parents from the balcony that he would get it and happily jumped down the stairs. Kalen was supposed to be spending the night again, which meant lots of movies, popcorn, and eventually, once his parents went to bed, kissing on the couch. They had spent a lot of nights like this so far, but James had to admit his favorite part of their time together was what came after all of that, the part when then ended up curled up together in James bed at night with Kalen lightly snoring against his neck.

How could he not be excited to answer the door when the boy on the other side of it made his heart beat faster and his face ache from smiling so much?

He was more than a little disappointed when he pulled open the door and was faced with three pairs of blue eyes. For a full minute it was quiet as they just looked at one another, and James pointed out, "you're not Kalen".

Joe, who was the front of their little triangle as usual, sighed and dropped his head to look down. Behind him, Michael chewed his lip, and Daniel frowned. Something was wrong.

"What happened?" James demanded and Joe raised his head to smile at him. It was forced, and fell quickly.

"Wanna invite us in?" Joe asked, looking behind James into the house.

James hesitated, thinking of his mother in the kitchen, close enough to hear whatever conversation the Bradford's wanted to have with him. "Uh, Yeah," he agreed eventually, moving out of the doorway and gesturing them inside. After all, it technically was their father's house, and they had just about as much of a right to be in it as he did— probably more, actually. "Let me just go speak with my parents really quickly to let them know you're here. Make yourself comfortable".

The three of them moved into the house and James carefully closed the door behind them. He wanted to know what was going on, wanted to know where Kalen was, but first he had to speak with his mother. He moved through the living room and dining room quickly, leaning into the kitchen to address her. "Hey mom-"

"Who's here?" She inquired, standing by the stove holding a bowl of popcorn.

"Bradford triplets," he answered, and her eyebrows drew together. "We're going to talk about something private".

"Everything alright?" A concerned frown pulled at her lips.

"I-" James cut off, thinking about the question. "I honestly don't know".

"Well do they need anything?" She began to move forward, towards the entryway, but James moved to block the way with his body.

"They're fine mom, they just want to talk with me, so I was wondering if-"

"If you could kick me out of my own house?" She finished dryly, seeming less than pleased with the idea.

"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, pressing his hands against his eyes and rubbing. It was something he did when he was losing patience, thought it had always been directed at his brother and Tyler, never his mother. "They just want to talk to me real quick. I will do anything to make it up to you, seriously".

When he dropped his hands, she just looked at him silently for a moment, blue eyes narrowed. Then, with a long sigh, she asked, "So this is really important?"

He wasn't really sure that it was, but still he answered, "yes".

She didn't look exactly pleased when she said, "well all right then," but James didn't need her to be pleased. "Let us know when they're gone, alright?"

"Yes. Thank you mom".

"And," she added, looking as stern as she could manage, "If this is something that involves you, I'm expecting you share it with your father and I soon. Deal?"

Well he had to tell them about his relationship with Kalen sometime. "Deal".

This wasn't actually something he was afraid of. When he had started seeing Taylor, all that time ago, James recalled being terrified to tell his parents, but that was because he already knew that neither of them liked the other boy. They both loved Kalen, and James had no doubt that they would be happy for the two of them.

Their sleeping arrangement for sleepovers would undoubtedly change, but James was assuming it would be worth it to be able to cuddle Kalen on the couch even when his parents were home.

His mother went to join his father out on the back porch, and he waited for the sound of the door closing to move back into the living room, where the Bradford triplets were seated on his couch. "So?" James encouraged, standing between them and the television, too anxious to sit. "Is your brother alright? He was supposed to be coming over".

"We know," Mike said with a small frown, looking slightly off to the side instead of meeting James eyes. "Kalen is currently having a... somewhat heated conversation with our father at the moment".

"Oh," James voices, eyebrows raising. A second later, it occurred to him what was being implied. "Oh".

All three of them nodded together, which would have been amusing if they weren't confirming one of James's more recent fears.

"A heated discussion?" He repeated slowly. "Does that mean..."

"Dad didn't take it well," Daniel answered and James let out a long breath of air. Finally, he moved to take a seat in the chair.

"How's Kalen?"

"We don't really know," Joe responded. "I mean, clearly, he's not good, but he's been in our father's office for the last few hours, ever since he told him. Mike said he was pretty sure that Kalen was going to be coming here tonight and we wanted to let you know what was going on so you didn't worry".

"Oh". James's eyes met Mike's for a moment. "Thank you".

"Yeah," Michael agreed softly. "I know you would worry". For a moment, they just looked at one another, the question: does he know? Repeating itself over and over in James's mind.

"Alright," Joe interrupted, pushing the thought from James's head for the time being. "We should go home and make sure everything is alright. I'm not sure when you'll be hearing from Kalen next. Dad took away his phone".

"Won't he be at school tomorrow?" James asked. The three boys on the couch shared a look. "What?"

"Well..." Mike trailed off with a sigh. "Our father is a... a work on a problem until you solve it kind of guy. People say it's why he's such a successful businessman".

"From what I can recall, our father has only had a fight like this with Pierce, and he didn't go to school for multiple days until they had it sorted out. Dad even took off work," Joe explained, making a face. James wanted to ask what Pierce did, but it seemed off topic.

"So basically," Daniel cut in, "this is going to be a process, so don't worry if you don't hear from Kalen for a while. We'll try to keep you updated".

At this, James chewed his lip. Not worrying about his boyfriend would be impossible, especially if he was going to be out of contact with him for however long. Still, he couldn't show this in front of the triplets, so he kept himself composed for long enough to usher them out of his house at a polite speed with a smile on his face.

Only when they left did he allow himself to swear, pressing his forehead into the door and breathing out the word fuck over and over again.

He didn't go and tell his parents that the Bradford were gone. Instead, he climbed the stairs to his bedroom, where his cellphone was still on his bed, and tried his boyfriend's phone number.

***

Like clockwork, there was a knock at the front door almost exactly a day after the Bradford triplets had made their visit. As they had warned, Kalen hadn't been at school that day, making James's anxiety skyrocket.

There were three people who could be knocking on his door— well five, but the triplets came as one— and James found himself rising from the couch quickly, moving to approach with large steps, needing to find out as soon as possible if it was Kalen.

He was cut off halfway there by his mother, who stopped him with a hand to his chest before she moved forward to answer the door herself.

Sure enough, four out of the five of James's typical visitors were on James's front porch, though his eyes only fixated on Kalen, who smiled wearily at his mother. James noticed the redness of his boyfriend's eyes and his heart squeezed in his chest. More than anything, he wanted to go and hug him, to comfort him, but his brothers were in the porch behind him, watching.

"Hi Mrs. Anders," Kalen greeted, his voice cracking a little at the end. Behind him, James heard his father pause the television. "Can I come in?"

"Oh," his mother began softly, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on Kalen's shoulder as she looked back at James for a quick moment. "Of course sweetie".

Without pause, Kalen moved past the threshold, passing his mother and moving directly towards James. Initially, James thought Kalen was going to stop in front of him, but when the other boy walked directly into his chest, hands reaching out to grip his shirt, James didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Kalen's waist, his eyes very wide.

Thankfully, when he looked at the triplets, none of them seemed alarmed by the display of affection. This knowledge made James pull Kalen tighter against him, considering how bad Kalen's day had been in order for them to not be bothered.

"Hello Mrs. Anders," Mike greeted from outside. "Kalen and our father are currently not getting along, and we were wondering if he could possibly stay with you guys again. He's..." Mike's eyes moved over to them then again, but his expression didn't change, "clearly very comfortable here".

"Oh, of course," James's mother agreed without pause. Joe said something in response, but at the same time Kalen's hands pulled lightly at James shirt, bringing his attention down to the boy in his arms.

"Hey," James said softly. "How're you doing?" A word was spoken into his shirt, muffled. "What was that?"

Kalen repeated himself but James still only managed to pick up one word. "Sucks".

If they had been alone, James wound have soothed his hands down the other boy's back, but there were three pairs of Bradford eyes watching him, so all he managed was an awkward pat.

"Kalen," this was Joe, approaching them with careful steps, as if his younger brother was some kind of wild animal he was trying not to spook. The older boy stopped next to James, off to the side that Kalen's face was turned. "We're going to figure this out".

There was a pause, and then Kalen said, "okay".

"You're okay staying here with James?"

"Yes".

"If you need absolutely anything, don't hesitate to call, Alright? We can be here in a second if you need us, you know that, right?" Joe asked, and Kalen nodded against James's chest, his grip on his shirt unrelenting. Joe sighed, his blue eyes flicking up to James then. "Are you okay with taking care of him for a while?"

James was expecting Kalen to speak then, to snap at his brother that he didn't need to be taken care of, but he was silent.

"Of course," James agreed softly. "It's no problem".

***

Kalen didn't speak for a long time. They sat up at the kitchen table, mugs of hot chocolate in front of them, provided by James's mother. For a while, his parents had sat with them as well, but as the hand of the clock on the wall climbed towards midnight, they both excused themselves to sleep.

It was when they were alone that Kalen spoke, his voice low, golden eyes trained down on his mug. It was half empty, and the liquid had long since cooled, but Kalen was still clutching at it.

"So I decided to tell him yesterday, as I'm sure you know," Kalen began, gaze unfocused. "He was not pleased and tried to reason with me for hours, tired to offer compromises to get me to change me sexuality, as if that was something I could just do".

"He had me stay home from school to sit in my room and think about the choice I had made". At this, Kalen grimaced. "After dinner he had me talk to him about what I realized in my time alone, and I told him that I realized he didn't really love any of us, which made him mad. He yelled at me about how he was trying to fix me because he loved me. I told him that I couldn't be fixed because there was nothing wrong with me".

With that, Kalen fell silent, pressing his lips together tightly as he thought. James remained silent, fighting his instinct to comfort the other boy. That was something Kalen would need later. Right now, he needed to think about what had happened and process it.

James took the time to think about his brother, and what advice Ace might give him if he was still alive, and he could talk to him about his most recent dilemmas. He came up with nothing new, but he could recall something Ace had said to him long ago, during the brief period of time that James had been upset about his breakup with Taylor. "You've just lost a toxic person from your life, James. You're moving forward right now, growing. When you learn to live without him, and without other people like him, you'll realize how much happy you are".

"He told me he had made arrangements with one of his employees over the phone, for me to date this man's daughter, and I just..." Kalen cut off, his jaw clenched in frustration. For the first time since his story began, Kalen's eyes met James's. He looked fierce, gaze molten gold and James felt his breath catch in his throat. It wasn't that he forgot that Kalen was beautiful sometimes, it was that sometimes he forgot just how beautiful he actually was.

"You just?" James inquired and Kalen sighed.

"I was so angry. I asked him if he would rather me be miserable with a woman than happy with another man, and he- ugh- he said yes. Because it was what was best for the family and I... I'm not proud of this, but I just lost it. I told him that he wasn't my father and that—" Kalen cut off and dropped his head into his hands. "I said things. He told me to leave and come back when I was ready to be a real Bradford".

And then Kalen was crying again, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and James didn't hesitate to push his chair back and round the table to pull Kalen into his arms.

"Hey," he breathed into his boyfriend's dark hair, "you know everything is going to work out, right?" James doubted that Kalen's relationship with his father would ever be the same, but he knew that the boy would grow to realize that he was better without someone who was planning on marrying him of to a woman and forcing him to be someone he wasn't for the rest of his life. "Hey". James pulled back then, "sweetheart, look at me".

Kalen raised his head just enough to meet James's eyes.

James recalled his brothers words again. "You're moving forward Kalen. That's not a bad thing," James assured. In response, Kalen breathed out a long sigh and leaned forward to kiss him.

When James raised his hands to cup his face, his cheeks were cold, but his lips were warm and pliant against his. It had only been a day, but James realized how much he missed kissing Kalen.

When they parted, Kalen grasped James's shirt by his shoulders. "I never imagined this happening. I know... I know you and my brothers did, but I just couldn't imagine it". James looked down at Kalen for a moment longer, at a loss for what to say. Kalen seemed to realize this, because he sighed again and lightly kissed James lips. "Can we go to bed please? I feel like I could sleep for ages".

That, James could do. With a small huff of effort, James crouched down to lift Kalen, pulling the boy's legs around his waist. "Okay Kal," James said into his ear before kissing the shell of it. "Lets get you to bed".