3 things John did with his younger brother to make him happier over the weekend.

1. John woke up early on Saturday and quietly went to James' room, opening the door. James was sitting up, watching tv and eating a pop tart. It took him a moment to notice John and when he did, he only glanced over and went, "Hey."

"Hey."

"What do you need?"

John shifted his weight. He shared a lot of interests with James, so picking something they could do together was easy. James had always looked up to John, and with that, he wanted to be able to do everything John could do. Naturally, over that time, James obsessed over sports, loved animals, thought bugs were the coolest things ever and said Jordan's and Nike's were where it's at and Vans were trash. He learned that directly from John, and repeated it at school.

"Wanna go outside? We could play catch before it gets too hot."

James perked up, looking at John now. "Baseball or football?"

"Football."

James grinned.

2. After they played catch, James had said, "You wanna see somethin' cool?"

John shrugged and nodded. "Why not."

James took him to the side of the house where there weren't any windows and nearly out into their estate. He kneeled down and put a hand down into a hole in the dirt. John kneeled. James smiled and mumbled, "Found it."

He pulled out a jar, holding a hard-shelled beetle and worm. "I've been putting this thing down by where the yard guys put the sprinklers so that when the bugs try and leave the water, they go into the jar."

John raised his eyebrows. "Nice, kid. What do you do with them?"

James shrugged. "Let them go." He said, carefully letting the bugs out and directing them back to the hole.

3. John helped James with his homework. They sat at John's desk and John helped James study for the next spelling test, feeling like it was justified after he had been a dick about that in particular.

7 Things John felt like saying to Francis on Monday.

1. Fuck you. I don't even care.

2. You're such a manipulative dick. I don't have to do anything you want me to. I don't want to and I don't feel comfortable. Dipshit. And guess what? Your hair looks shitty.

3. You suck, you suck, you suck, you suck, you suck, you suck, you suck!

4. I'm going to beat the shit out of you.

5. Why are you such a pansy?

7. Leave me alone. Seriously.

3 Things John felt like saying to Francis on Friday.

1. I miss you. Talk to me.

2. I'll do what you want, just don't leave me alone anymore, okay? I can't take it.

3. I think I love you. Probably. Maybe. Or something like that.

6 Texts John got from Francis on Sunday.

1. F.Kinloch>: Hey, punk. What are you doing today?

John was instantly nervous. Since when did Francis use proper grammar in texts? That never happened. Well maybe when they were younger and had just got their phones but this wasn't something Francis did normally now.

J.Laurens>: I don't know. Probably just sleep. Do extra credit for math. Why, do you want to hang out?

2. F.Kinloch>: Yeah. Do you want to come over? You know my parents work 9 to 5 on Sundays.

J.Laurens>: I thought your mom didn't work?

3. F.Kinloch>: She does now, I guess. The BOM for some company or school, I honestly forget. She's trying to fix the place. Still though. Want to come over?

J.Laurens>: Yeah. I'll be there in an hour.

4. F.Kinloch>: k, good. thx. miss u xoxo

J.Laurens>: Lmao fuck off

5. F.Kinloch>: nah u love me v much. cutie

J.Laurens>: Jesus Frank

6. F.Kinloch>: I'll be waitin!

3 Things John thought about on the drive over.

1. Was Francis inviting him over to yell at him? Or was the fighting over? It wasn't that big of a deal anyway. At least John thought it wasn't.

2. What did Francis even want to do? Talk? John didn't want to talk. At least not about their 'fight'. We're they just going to chill? Or have sex? Or what? What did Francis want? It wasn't a big deal. Of course John could kiss him in public, he wasn't scared of himself. He wasn't a pussy.

3. He was a pussy.

7 Things Francis seemed nervous saying to John.

1. "Hey. You told your parents you were coming here, right? I don't want you to get in trouble or anything cuz of me. That would suck, or like..yeah."

2. "You want to watch TV in my room? Just TV."

3. "You're not upset or anything right?" Francis laughed breathily, and glanced at John. "Not that irs a big deal or anything. Cuz it's not. I'm just saying if you are ... just say so."

4. "You need to learn how to iron your shirts. Really. —Not that it's a bad thing that you don't! Again, just saying. Whatever, forget it. You know. Whatever."

5. "What do you mean we have a French test tomorrow?"

6. "Oh shit, I suck at French! Can I copy off you?" John said yes.

7. "You wanna smoke?"

1 thing John said that had his voice go up an embarrassing amount of octaves.

1. "What? Smoke? I— I don't know? You've never smoked before!"

3 Things Francis said to John about smoking.

1. "Uh, yeah I have. God, you're like a freshman in the body of a junior. You've been to parties with me where I've smoked in front of you. It's not any worse than drinking, and you've done that, right?" Francis raised an eyebrow.

"I mean. I guess. Yeah." John muttered. He first drank when he was in sixth grade, but it wasn't anything that would've made him drunk. Five sips of beer that he got from some 'popular kid'. How popular was 'popular' in middle school, anyway?

2. "I feel like you'd be one of those freaks that would get paranoid when you're high. Or get all freaky," Francis grinned. John made a face and grimaced.

3. "You have a lighter, Yeah?" Francis asked, not expecting the weird look he got from John.

"Why would I have a lighter if I said I've never smoked?"

Francis shrugged. "For fun. Temperature play."

"Stop."

2 Things Francis convinced John to do.

1. Smoke weed for the first time.

2. Have sex.