Chapter Two

        The gang was made up of around a hundred members scattered across the territory Ryker had claimed as his, only five of those currently residing in the "gang house." The ones that did were the couples' closest friends and those that got along best together; the ones that helped take care of everything. Of course, everyone still played a part in keeping the group together; they wouldn't be able to cope if someone decided to turn their back on them. It was an extremely tight-knit community that they had, and it was something many strived for after hearing about them. It was very hard to get to where they were now.

        Ryker pulled up to the house, parking his car in the driveway alongside all the other cars. It was essential that each member had a car of their own in case of emergencies, it didn't matter whether they would use it or not. The leader liked to take precautions at all times.

        Releasing a silent sigh, Ryker turned towards Joshua, his fingers still firmly entwined with the others'. The fact that his boyfriend was already staring at him caused a smile to creep onto his face, his eyes lighting up the longer he looked.

        Thinking back to his previous actions, he barely managed to hold in his grimace at how demanding he had sounded earlier, always trying to keep that side of himself away from Joshua. He wanted a normal relationship and despite trying so hard, there were times when he couldn't control himself. The idea of other members, or anyone else, really, seeing his boyfriend in such revealing clothes being one of them. That alone was enough to make him angry, and Joshua knew that by now – yet he always seemed to do it on purpose. He liked seeing Ryker's reactions over things despite the outcome.

        'Ready?' the older one asked, causing his boyfriend to grin. The way he said it made it seem as if they were about to walk into something dangerous and not simply going to hang out with their friends. Although, spending time with them could often be dangerous; this only added to the fun of it all.

        'Ready,' Joshua confirmed, tugging their joined fingers up to his lips to place a soft kiss on Ryker's hand before leaving the car, his boyfriends cheeks red with the action.

        They both eventually made it up to the front of the house, not even having to ring the doorbell before the door was bursting open and two guys came barrelling towards them, huge grins on their faces. They managed to tackle both Ryker and Joshua into a hug before screaming at the top of their lungs about how much they missed them.

        'God, get the fuck off me, Roman,' Ryker huffed, fighting for his voice to be heard over the screaming and struggling to get out of their grip. Roman had the majority of his weight on Ryker and despite being able to easily throw someone his size off; he didn't want to hurt the small member of his gang. He had a soft spot for everyone that lived in that house. 'And stop fucking screaming!'

        The two backed off giggling as if they were not the nineteen year old boys they were, toothy grins plastered on their faces as they continued to stare at the new arrivals. They loved it when Ryker and Joshua came to visit; it was like the small family they created was complete for a few hours.

        'We've been waiting for you two all day!' Roman exclaimed, his gaze darting between his twin, Lucien and the other two before him. The boy was always hyper no matter what, but it was clear to see the genuine excitement on his face over the situation. The couple couldn't help but grin back at him.

        Despite being twins, the two were only similar when it came to their personality. Both were over the top and completely lovable, acting like children rather than their actual age. They were the same small height of 5'3, Roman with brunette hair and Lucien with a sandy blonde colour. Their eyes were both of equal beauty although one was grey while the others' green, each having a part of their twins' colour surrounding the pupil. It often caused people to stop and stare at how magical their eyes looked, and their fellow gang members were no exception to that. 

        'What took you so long!? We've been stuck in this house all morning with Gabriel; do you even understand how many times I was this close to shooting myself?' Lucien asked dramatically, his fingers displaying just how close he was to doing as he said. The twins looked as if they had been physically tortured all morning and the expressions on their faces caused the couple to laugh hard despite trying to hold it in.

        'Gabriel  is right here, you know?' the voice from the doorway caught everyone's attention, 'and don't even get me started on what a pain in the ass these two are, my God,'  he exasperated, although the twitch of his lips gave him away. There was an amused glint in his deep brown eyes that couldn't be missed, his brunette hair falling into them as he leaned against the door-frame. 

        The twins looked just about ready to retort but Ryker beat them to it. 'Before I end up losing one of my beloved members, I just want to know – where are the other two?' he questioned, his gaze slipping between each person standing before him.

        They seemed to forget their playful fight altogether as Roman was the first to answer. 'They went out for a bit, they should be back soon,' he replied, a small pause between his words, 'anyway, I bought new underwear, Josh, come see!' he squealed before taking off into the house, his body barrelling past Gabriel as both Joshua and his twin followed.

       Ryker could only shake his head in amusement at the boys' excitement.

-

        Letting Joshua "see" Roman's new underwear turned out to be a very bad decision. Since the two were almost the same size, they decided to try everything on as well, no matter who was in the room. Luckily, it was only Ryker as he ordered Lucien to leave as soon as they started stripping, not being able to get Joshua to stop no matter how many times he asked. He didn't want a repeat of this morning and instead kept his mouth shut, his anger growing the more skin his boyfriend revealed to another male. It didn't matter if said male was someone he trusted and cared for – everyone was a danger when it came to Joshua. He just couldn't stop his reaction.

        'Damn, your ass looks so good in that,' Roman stated after gesturing for Joshua to turn, getting a full view of his exposed body. The only thing he was wearing at the moment were panties and the lace didn't leave anything to the imagination, something Roman seemed to take full advantage of. He released a low whistle, his eyes glued to Joshua's crotch, 'you're big, too. Who would've thought?' he complimented almost dreamily, as if he couldn't believe it.

        Ryker could only clench his jaw.

        Joshua managed a blush, bowing in order to hide his embarrassment. 'Why thank you,' he joked, the material tightening over his skin at the previous action, seeming to catch both boys' attention although he himself was oblivious to it. Only one set of those eyes were allowed to look, however, and the person they belonged to was finding it increasingly difficult not to hurt someone. It took everything in him not to.

        'Wait a second,' Roman halted before his strides took him closer to where Joshua was standing. He too was wearing only underwear although that wasn't the problem for Ryker; the increased proximity with his boyfriend was.

        As soon as Roman's hand reached for Joshua's crotch, Ryker blew up.

        'Don't you dare fucking touch him,' he warned lowly, his voice alone being enough to freeze everyone in their place. His demeanour managed to make everything worse with the dark look he held, his face holding a threat he didn't have to voice. He knew there was no way he would make it between the two before their skin touched and so settled for the next best thing; sounding like the leader he was – just in a more dangerous way that he knew would work.

        Roman's hand retreated and the scared look on his face calmed Ryker down just a little, although he was still on edge. 'Get changed,' he directed to Joshua, gesturing to the bathroom as he took in his expression. It appeared as if he didn't know how to feel; confusion, lust and anger all swirling in his eyes. It caused Ryker to tense slightly at the thought of him being angry at him, but it left just as fast as Joshua picked up his clothes and calmly walked into the bathroom, a certain look in his eye making him know that they were okay.

        Sparing a glance at Roman, he patiently waited for Joshua to finish as both boys got dressed, leaving to find Lucien and Gabriel as soon as he was done. Casting a look over his shoulder at the confused Roman, he smiled slightly, trying to diffuse the tension he had caused. 'Come join us,' he said gently, before disappearing from the room with his boyfriend in tow.

-

        The five men had spent the rest of the day doing nothing but eating, playing video games and watching movies together in order to catch up on the two weeks of not seeing Joshua. Of course, they had all spoken on the phone everyday but it wasn't the same thing as actually spending time with him. That was something they all had missed, and knew it would probably be like that again as the boy didn't like leaving his home. They had never questioned his actions, but it didn't mean they weren't upset with his decision.

        It had taken a few minutes for Roman to join all of them after the incident, but once he had, it was as if nothing had happened. At the end of the day, they always knew that situations like that were bound to occur as Ryker wasn't only their friend but their boss; their leader - someone they had to follow. Sometimes they forgot this and slipped up, as the young boy had done earlier, but the outburst was enough to make him remember his place and the situation he was in. There was no reason for him to hold a grudge against Ryker for the way he had spoken to him; he owed so much to that one man and couldn't even bring himself to be upset over it – he just chose to let it go. Everyone in the gang would have done the same thing.

        It was just nearing nine in the evening and Ryker had received a call from one of the other gang members alerting him that they were on their way home and would be there soon. Despite being so close to all of the boys living in that house, it was these two he was most worried about; they never seemed to know when to stop talking or what not to mention when in the presence of their boss, unless, of course, Ryker rose his voice. He almost wanted to leave as soon as he had heard they were coming but he stayed where he was, hoping his fear of them being around Joshua was silly and uncalled for. He hoped the turning in his stomach was from all the food he had consumed and not an indication of what was to come, choosing to ignore it instead.

        He really fucking hoped that they were able to get through one night with the boys without incident, a not-so-common occurrence these days.

        He just hadn't hoped hard enough.