Collier had been staying with his mother since Friday, so five nights (well technically four since he spent one at Henry's) and that was still five nights too long.

Despite living in the same house as her, he barely saw her, not that he necessarily wanted to, it was just ironic that she forced him to come home and then was gone all the time. She was always either out with Ron, or shopping these days, and the few times she had talked with Cole had been to tell him that he needed to try to get along with the family better.

The family. He got along fine with Emerson, especially since the boy spent most of his time around Sarah, so when Cole was with him, he was also with his best friend. It was Ron who Cole had problems with.

The man was clearly trying to get on his good side, but Collier really didn't care. He would be moving out in a few months, and becoming friends with his mother's new boyfriend really wasn't that important to him at this time.

Which is why he was very, very annoyed to be sitting between Ron and Sarah on the couch Wednesday as he watched his mother put in a movie. 

When he had gotten home from school that afternoon with Emerson and Sarah, he should have gone straight up to his bedroom. It was what he wanted to do, having almost completed the painting he was working on, but he had lingered a bit to indulge Sarah and Emerson. They had at first been the ones who wanted him to stay down stairs, so he had agreed to stay with them for ten minutes before leaving.

Of course, within these ten minutes, his mother and Ron had returned home from shopping, which they seemed to do every day after Ron got out of work so Cole suspected it was just sex in Ron's office. The second his mom had seen him sitting on the couch next to Sarah, she had exclaimed "we're all together now!" And then declared that she would be putting in a movie, and made Collier stay despite his protests.

"What genre of movie do you like, Cole," Emerson's dad asked. For a second, Collier contemplated blowing him off, but decided against it since he'd be sitting next to this man for the next two hours.

"Horror".

"Sounds like someone we know," Emerson whispered to Sarah, though loud enough for Cole to hear and he glared at the two of them.

"Really?" Ron asked him and Cole nodded.

"Oh yes," His mother said, pressing play on the DVD player before joining them all on the thankfully spacious couch. Collier could remember just a week ago standing before their couch as his parents told him about the divorce. Oh how quickly things hand changed. "Cole has the strangest taste in films, and books. He only reads murder mysteries".

Cole wasn't really sure how this was strange. "At Henry's-" Cole began, turning to address Sarah and her eyebrows raised, "I watched a movie about a guy who skins people".

"Awe man," Emerson groaned. "He let you watch that?" Cole nodded. "He never lets me watch any of the gross ones. I can only watch like, things with low-key paranormal activity and cheesy 80s stuff".

"He doesn't want you to get scared," Collier teased and Emerson scoffed at him. "I don't get scared-"

"My room is right next to yours, Cole. I heard you up all last night," Emerson said and Sarah giggled and Cole's annoyed expression.

"Whatever".

"You were up all night, baby?" Cole's mother asked him, reaching around Ron to place her hand on his knee. The movie was just beginning, some romantic comedy that Cole knew he would hate, so he wasn't as bothered as he usually was when people talked during movies. "Are you feeling well?"

"I'm feeling fine". He really was.

The night before, at Henry's, they had finally exchanged numbers. Cole had never really expected to use it unless he was standing outside of Henry's house and wanted him to open the door without disturbing his parents, so he was extremely surprised to see the message at midnight from the other.

You can't sleep?

Immediately, Collier had asked how Henry had known, but he guessed now that Emerson had told him.

I just had a feeling, Henry's next message had read. Cole could almost picture it now, Henry smirking at his phone as he typed this.

They had spent most of the night texting, mostly about the worst horror movies they had ever seen, though this really didn't help with Collier's inability to sleep. It was nice to have someone to text besides Sarah and Ian, and Cole found he actually enjoyed talking to Henry.

While the boy's was a bit serious, he seemed to have more to say than Collier had ever expected him to.

"So," Sarah whispered into his ear once the movie had finally picked up.

It was about a woman dedicated to a jackass boyfriend who gets stuck in Minnesota due to a snowstorm, and ends up spending the holiday with her taxi drivers family. It was clear that by the end she would fall in love with him, but Collier was trying to pretend that this was a horror movie in disguise, and at the end everyone would die.

Thinking like this made the situation a little more bearable.

"Ian texted me and told me to find out what was going on between you and Jake Oliver," Sarah said, and when Cole looked over, both Sarah and Emerson were looking at him.

"You know," Emerson began quietly so not to disturb the adults moving watching, "if you two got married, his name could end up being Jacob Jacobson".

"Good thing we're not going to get married then," Collier responded, though he was a bit amused by Emerson's comment.

"So there's nothing between the two of you?" Sarah asked and Cole just shrugged, not even sure himself. They flirted a lot, but he kissed Henry a lot, and there was nothing between the two of them. As if she could sense what he was thinking about, Sarah asked, "what about Henry?"

"What about Henry?" Collier grumbled and Emerson snickered.

"What's going on with the two of you?" Sarah demanded. "You spend a lot of time together".

"Who else am I supposed to spend time with? You?" He asked, and for a second Sarah looked guilty. "It's nothing between us. He just lets me hang out at his house when I'm bored. He really doesn't seem to like me very much though".

"He likes you a lot more than he likes other people," Emerson assured him, causing Cole's eyes to snap to him in shock. Emerson was looking towards the television now, chewing his lip.

"How do-"

"I know because he's my best friend," Emerson claimed. "He also let you in his bedroom, and let you watch his most treasured horror films. If you were like everyone else, you wouldn't have even made it into his house".

"That's not true," Cole said and Emerson turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Henry didn't let me into his house. Xander did".

"Xander," Emerson repeated, and then he just made a soft noise of amusement. "Xander was at Henry's?"

"Uh, yeah," Cole said, because he was very sure that's who had answered the door the first time Cole had gone to Henry's.

"Henry definitely likes you more than he likes Xander". This was news to Cole, so he had to ask.

"Henry doesn't like Xander?"

Emerson sighed. "He doesn't dislike him, he's just annoyed with him because he made him stop coming to the apartment all the time".

"The apartment". Emerson seemed to have given up on watching the movie completely, though Sarah had not. Effortlessly, the boy lifted Sarah out of her spot, and the slid into it while dropping Sarah back where he had been seated. Unable to help himself, Cole glanced at his mother, who smiled at him. Happy to see him get along with the family.

"Yeah, so, Carter, Xander, and Ryan all moved in together since they're going to school together and it was cheaper than paying for a dorm room. They moved in only two weeks before school started for us, and I had already begun to date Sarah so Henry was lonely and he just went there all the time. I don't really know why, because out of the three of them, he's really only close to Carter, who literally spends all of his free time in his bedroom fucking himself as he talks to Jordan over the phone". Collier's eyebrows raised at this.

"All of his free time?" he asked Emerson who sighed.

"Well, maybe. I'm not really sure, I stopped going over there about a day after the moved in and we were all, minus Carter, sitting on the couch watching tv and it was interrupted with Carter screaming Daddy oh yes daddy from his bedroom," Emerson explained with a grimace and Cole couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Oh god, was he embarrassed?"

Emerson just shook his head with wide eyes. "Not really. We were all pretty familiar with their sex lives by that point since they couldn't keep their hands off each other".

"Ah". Emerson, probably forgetting about the original question, turned back to the television. "And why wouldn't Henry want Xander in his basement?"

Emerson's eyes widened. "Oh! Because Xander told Henry he had to stop coming over because College was expensive and they couldn't afford him eating all their food all the time, so Henry told Xander that he couldn't come to his house either".

"Who are you boys talking about?" Collier mother suddenly interrupted and Cole jumped.

"I didn't realize you were listening and not paying attention to the stupid as fuck movie you wanted to watch," Collier groaned and Ron looked at him in surprise at his vulgar language. "Sorry".

"Are you talking about a boy?" Collier's mom asked, excited, and he felt his golden eyes widen to the point that it hurt. He had yet to come out to either of his parents, not seeing the need to.

"Uh-"

"Don't look so scared, honey," his mom said softly, smiling at him. Even Ron looked cool with it, which made everything more weird. "It's really okay, Cole. I've known since you were young. I still love you".

"Uh-" he tried again, clearing his throat loudly. "That's fucking great. Thanks".

"Cole-" this was Sarah, leaning around Emerson to address him. Luckily, his phone rang then, cutting her off. Whatever she was about to say had to have been nice, but he was a bit overwhelmed at the moment, and wanted to be alone at the moment.

"Hello?" He asked into his cellphone, rising from the couch and jumping over Emerson's legs so he could leave the room quickly.

"Collier," his father treated, bringing a smile to his son's face.

"Hey," Cole said, his tone a lot lighter than it had been before as he jumped to take the stairs two at a time. "How are you? How's Europe?"

"Same as always," his dad claimed. "I'm thinking of taking you out here at some point".

"I'd love that". He would. Cole wanted to see all the continents before he died. "You'll have to find time though. Annie is saving money for me to go spend my summers out there with her".

"Oh really," Bradley said on the other line and Cole made a noise of agreement. It made him sad that his father and his aunt rarely spoke. "Well you'll like that".

"I will". Collier pushed open his bedroom door, stepping in and immediately kicking it shut behind him. He chewed on his lip for a moment, thinking. Might as well kill two birds with one stone. "Hey dad, you know I'm gay, right?"

He was just throwing it out there. Collier had always felt like he had done a good job of hiding his gayness, but apparently his mother had known before he did.

"Yeah," his dad said, sounding disinterested. Cole remained quiet, still chewing on his lip. "Was that actually supposed to be a secret?"

"Shut up," Cole grumbled and his dad laughed loudly. "I can't believe you and mom both knew this entire time. Why didn't you say anything to me about it?"

"Why would we?" His dad asked. "Do parents say things to their kids about being straight?"

"Fuck if I know," Cole grumbled, "I've never been straight". His dad laughed again.

"That wasn't my point, Cole. My point was there was no need to talk to you about it, because there's nothing to talk about. So you like boys? That's cool. So do I".

"You- what?" Collier demanded, dropping down onto his bed.

"I'm bisexual- did I never tell you that?"

"You did fucking not," Collier hissed and his father sighed.

"I would have thought your aunt did at some point. I guess not. We were very popular in highschool, you know. You aunt and I have dated three of the same people before," Bradley claimed and Collier's mouth dropped open.

"At the same time?"

There was a choking noise. "No. Of course not". It was quiet then. "One of those people was your mother".

"What?" Cole's head hurt. "Moms bisexual? Why have I never heard this part of the story?"

All Collier had known was that they were all friends growing up. Not once had it been mentioned that they dated amongst each other.

"Your mother is not bisexual. She was bi-curious I would say. Your aunt on the other hand likes both genders, much like myself".

"How did I not know this?" Collier demanded and his father sighed.

"It didn't really seem like a big deal," he claimed, though that was ridiculous because to Cole this was huge. "You know, your godfather and I used to date".

"Lawrence?"

"Maybe I should give him a call," his father said absently and Cole choked.

"Oh my god-"

A noise that greatly resembled a giggle left his father, and Collier groaned loudly. "Hey, I didn't call to give you a history lesson. I'll be home a week from tomorrow and I wanted to make sure that you still wanted to get that bed".

"If you're asking me if I still want to stay with you, even though you'll be bringing your many male conquests home, the answer is yes," Cole joked, though it was a bit flat due to his shock.

"Who do you think I am?" His father asked lightly and Cole just shook his head.

"I guess I'm going to find out soon," was his response. "Starting next Thursday to be exact. I'm expecting a full  description on every single person you've ever dated and a timeline of your relationship".

His father laughed. "There's not enough time in the world for that".