Family Bonds
by Gryvon

Family Bonds

by Gryvon

"Hey, Ashton, what's with the look?"

"Ashton, like the hair."

"Piercings? Turning rebel on us, Ashton?"

Skye Ashton stared around him in confusion. Did the school send out a memo that he was transferring schools today? All the students he saw as he passed through the gates to the school grounds greeted him as if they knew him, even calling him by name. People at his old high school were never this welcoming, quite the opposite in fact once they got to know his preferences. He guessed that maybe rich schools like this one could afford to be a bit more high-tech than the public school he had been going to.

"Damien."

A hand landed on Skye's shoulder, halting his steps with a sudden jerk. Skye turned, blinking, to face a tall brown haired young man who was frowning at him slightly.

"Did you suddenly turn deaf or something? I've been calling you for the past five minutes."

"Huh?" Skye could have sworn that no one had called his name. After all, he had no clue who this handsome guy was.

The brunette shook his head. "Never mind." He glanced around them as if looking for something. "Where's the car today? You decide to actually walk to school for a change today, Damien?"

Well, that explained some of what was going on. "I think you've made a mistake. I'm not Damien."

The man stared at him for a second and then burst into laughter. "Sure you aren't."

"No, really. My name's Skye."

The brunette clapped him on the back. "That's a good one, Damien. Almost had me fooled for a minute with that look too." He reached up to finger the three piercings in Skye's left ear. As he felt the metal backings, the brunette's smile faded slowly. "Wow, those are actually real, aren't they? I can't believe your father let you do that."

Skye's response was cut off as an expensive-looking car pulled up on the road in front of them. The brunette's mouth fell wide open as the car door opened. A young man about the same age as Skye stepped out and Skye felt his own eyes growing large with comprehension. Here was the source of the morning's confusion.

Looking at the boy was like looking in a mirror, almost. They both had the same facial structure and the same body type. While their hair was a different color currently, Skye recognized the other boy's hair color as exactly the same color as his own natural hair color. The differences started with the clothes. They both wore the same uniform but how they wore it was completely different. The blonde boy showed high-class breeding in every aspect of his appearance, from the crisp fold of his shirt collar to the wrinkle-free press of his pants. Even the way he stood reminded Skye of old movies he'd seen with aristocrats walking around making business deals and going out to tea.

Skye, on the other hand, was low-breed and proud of it. He wore jewelry over his uniform, a choker of white shells and a thin silver chain with a small tear-shaped jewel pendant that draped to the opening of his shirt. Two silver loops and a silver stud adorned his left lobe, one silver stud in his right lobe and an ornate cuff high on the crest of his right ear. Around his wrist was a set of black stone prayer-beads. His skin was moderately tanned from spending time in the sun. Currently, his hair was a platinum blonde tinted red with fully red ends. It was no wonder he'd gotten so many comments this morning if people were mistaking him for the obvious aristocrat in front of him.

"Wow." The brunette stared back and forth between the two blondes. At this point, the blonde man had noticed Skye and was walking purposely towards them. "You really weren't joking." With a warm smile, the brunette offered his hand. "I'm Zachery, or Zach for short. Sorry about the mix up."

Zach's hand gripped his own firmly and Skye could feel some of the man's strength in that touch. "Skye Ashton."

"Ashton? That's way too weird to be a coincidence."

"What did you just say?" Skye looked over as the blonde stopped in front of him, his stance full of confidence. Out of the corner of his eye, Skye saw students staring at the two of them as they walked past.

"Is something wrong?"

The blonde stared at him for a long moment, a dark frown on his face. "Wait." The word was a firm command. Storming off a few paces, the blonde pulled out a silver cell phone and dialed rapidly.

"That's Damien Ashton," Zach explained. "I'm sure you can guess what the fuss is about. With the name and the looks, it's just too much of a coincidence that you two aren't related."

Skye frowned slightly. "My mother never told me about any siblings."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me something like that?" All eyes in the courtyard whipped around to where Damien stood screaming into the phone. Seeming unconcerned about appearances, Damien continued to rant. "Didn't you think that might be just a little important? Really, were you just planning on never telling me?"

"So, you just moved here?"

Skye had to force his eyes away from Damien, he was so enthralled in the heat of the boy's rant. "Pardon?" Damien was pacing as he talked, his free hand absently brushing back blonde hair from where it had fallen in his face and Skye could understand why the boy was so popular. Looks alone would have made him an idol with the girls at Skye's old high school.

"Your family just moved here, right?" Zach's smile seemed permanently plastered to his face, full of open friendliness.

"Oh. No, not really. We lived outside the city before. Well, my mom still does live there but I've got an apartment just off school grounds."

"You live with your father, then?"

Skye shook his head. "My parents divorced shortly after I was born so I've never met my father. I live by myself."

"Wow, that's even weirder coincidence. You and Damien almost could be brothers."

"We are."

Zach and Skye turned as one. "What?"

"I just spoke with our dear old dad." Damien's smile was a world apart from Zach's. His was twisted with cold sarcasm, only defined as a smile because of the slight upwards turn of his lips. "It seems that he never felt the need to inform me of the fact that I have an identical twin brother, as I'm assuming out mother never told you?"

Skye shook his head. "I didn't know."

"It was Skye, right?"

A nod this time because he couldn't seem to get any words out. Damien's presence was intimidating. The way he spoke carried an air of refinement and Skye could almost picture a very young Damien taking voice lessons on how to speak perfectly. His manner was almost overwhelming. He was just suddenly there and in charge of the conversation, speaking to the point and demanding instant responses. While his short and thin stature gave the first impression of someone meek and quiet, his attitude left no question about who was in charge. And this person is supposedly Skye's twin brother. The idea of having a brother, let alone a twin brother, was so mind-reeling that he wasn't sure what to think.

"Well, Father's flying in next weekend, or so he says, to meet with you and our mother at some point."

He'd get to meet his father? A flood of emotion stirred inside of him, a crowd of conflicting feelings vying for dominance. He'd always known that he had a father, somewhere, but the lack of the man's presence in his life had never really bothered him. When he was very young, he'd thought that he was born not needing a father because his mother was all the parent he'd ever needed. And when he'd gotten somewhat older, and been teased for not having one he simply smiled it away and brought his mom to both parent days because she fulfilled both roles for him. Later in life he started to understand what divorce meant and why people who were once in love separated. Then he'd just assumed that his father didn't think about him, so there was no need for Skye to think about his father and that had been the end. And now his father wanted to meet him and he wasn't quite sure how he should be taking it.

After a moment of silence, Skye realized Damien had been waiting for some type of confirmation while he'd been standing there like an idiot, getting lost in his own thoughts.

"That would be fine. I'd have to give Mom advance notice so that she can close the inn and arrange transportation up here."

Damien nodded sharply. "I'll contact you later with the details, as soon as I know myself." With that he turned on his heel and strode towards the main building of the campus.

Zach's arms settled companionably around Skye's shoulders. "Don't mind him, he's always this brusque. I've known him since we were kids and he's still a dick at times." He started following after Damien with an easy pace. "Come on, I'll show you where to go to get checked in and all that."

"Thanks."

* * * * *

The whispering started as soon as he walked into his first class. Apparently, his brother was something of a celebrity in the school, thus making Skye's sudden arrival a popular topic of conversation. By lunchtime, the entire school knew who he was. Not that he didn't stick out regardless. Surrounded by light-skinned boys and girls dressed primly in their uniforms, Skye's heavy tan and piercings made him fairly noticeable. The students were oddly accepting and friendly. Everything was so very different from his old high school. He had random people introducing themselves to him in the hallway between classes and when he sat down at lunch he was swarmed by people wanting to talk to him.

He saw Zach once more, later in the day, and he gave Skye a friendly smile and wave from down the hall.

Wherever Skye went, girls flocked around him. They swarmed him in the courtyard as soon as school let out. One shy-looking girl was pushed forward by her friends and he smiled at her, sympathizing with her nervousness. He remembered acting the same around people he liked in high school, only now he was the one who would have to turn someone down.

"Will... will you go out with me?"

"I'm sorry." Things were easier in his old schools. The girls there knew not to ask. "I'm flattered, but I'm not interested in girls."

As one, the girls around him gave him uncomprehending looks. The young girl in front of him looked like she was about to cry but she moved past the plain rejection and she visibly thought out the rest of his words. "Huh?"

Skye had always been of the opinion that it was better to state things clearly at the beginning than to leave people wondering. "I'm gay."

The looks of confusion morphed into abhorrence and disgust. The flock of girls dispersed in seconds and Skye was left standing alone, though their backward stares followed him as he slowly started for the entrance to the school. Skye sighed. Maybe things weren't so different from his old school.

* * * * *

The next day the whispers still followed Skye but the students didn't stop there. As he walked down the halls words were shouted at him, occasionally accompanied by balls of paper or other small objects. 'Faggot' came first, on his way to Chemistry. From there the comments got progressively worse. At lunch, he saw his brother sitting alone with Zach, and he approached tentatively. Before he even said a word, Damien's cold glare stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't assume that just because we share the same blood that you're free to associate with me."

Without responding, Skye turned and walked away. Memories of junior high came back to him, when friends he'd known for years turned away from him as rumors circled through his old school. Really, he could understand why Damien thought the way he did. While they were brothers by birth, there wasn't any real connection between them. It was unreasonable to expect Damien to side with him just because they were brothers.

Damien's shunning was like a signal to the rest of the school. Taunts came louder now, more brazen about what they said and did. Skye was walking down the stairs, almost to the bottom landing when heard a voice speaking from directly behind him.

"You should watch your step, faggot."

That was the only warning he had before he was shoved hard from behind. Students parted in front of him immediately and he fell, landing hard on the cement below. A crowd of feet moved around him uncaringly as he lay stunned on the floor. He heard laughter, both male and female but when he picked himself up all he saw were the blank faces of the student body as they pushed towards their classes.

***** "

Don't you think we should help him?"

Damien's eyes flickered from his food to where Skye was sitting on the edge of the open-air cafeteria, eating lunch alone. A bruise was visible below his sleeve as he moved his fork from plate to lips, covered once more as he lowered his arm. From what Zach had witnessed, the past week had been absolutely horrid for Skye.

"It's none of my concern." Damien turned back to his food without any change in expression.

Zach shot his friend a dirty look. "You don't feel the least bit sorry for him?"

Damien glared back coldly. "Why should I?"

"Because he's your brother, maybe? Because you could do something to stop all this without going far out of your way? Or maybe because it's simple human compassion to care when someone's hurt, but I forgot you don't have any of that at all." Grabbing his tray, Zach stormed off.

By that time, Skye had already left.

* * * * *

"Hey, faggot."

Skye sighed. He'd hoped the school bullies would have gotten it out of their systems by now, but this school seemed to have an abnormal amount of bullies. As he turned, he saw the faces of his harassers. This pair was familiar to him. James and Turner, two of the richer kids in the school, the sons of wealthy, highly conservative, businessmen. Skye was beginning to know all the kids in the school by who tormented him.

The taller of the two, James, stepped forward, drawing himself up as he approached. Skye's back hit a wall as he was shoved roughly, large hands fisting in his shirt and pinning him there.

"Haven't you figured out yet that you're not welcome here, cocksucker?"

Skye looked straight into the eyes of his attacker. "I'm not leaving." He'd worked hard to be able to go here and he wasn't about to loose it all.

The hands in his shirt released him, let him drop back on his feet. He knew better than to think that was the end of it. Seconds later a blow to the stomach had him doubled over on the floor. It was almost funny how unoriginal bullies were.

"Why don't you fight back, fag? Oh wait, you can't."

Skye had a good view of James' foot as it reared back and them swung closer to kick him hard in the side. He whimpered involuntarily in pain, ashamed at himself for letting them know they were hurting him.

"Hey! Stop that!" The shout was accompanied by the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs of the vacant stairwell.

"Later, fag." The two bullies scattered before his savior reached the landing above him. Skye looked up, surprised as Zach rushed down the last remaining stairs. He glared after the two bullies but after a moment's pause he kneeled in front of Skye instead of pursuing.

"Are you alright? Can you stand up?" The concern in Zach's voice touched him. He was the first person to give a damn since he came to this school.

"Yeah, I'll be alright in a minute." He didn't really feel alright but he didn't have much choice. It was either pretend to be alright and get off the floor, or stay on the floor until it stopped hurting so much to breathe. Right now the floor was feeling very comfortable.

"Are you sure?" Strong hands partially lifted him, freezing suddenly when he cried out in pain. Carefully he slid Zach's hand down, away from the spot he'd just been kicked and then let Zach help him to his feet. Skye winced as he straightened, trying very hard not to move his chest too much while breathing. By tomorrow, he'd have some impressive looking bruises around his stomach. A bell rang, signaling they were both late for their classes.

"Come on, I'll take you to the nurse's office."

"No, that's alright. I'll be okay." Past experiences with school nurses told him he was better off on his own.

Zach's look showed exactly how unconvinced he was. "At the very least you can get some pain killers. At the most, she'll let you lie down for a while and write you an excuse for your classes."

"But..."

One sideways look and then Zach started moving, half-pulling Skye with him. "I'll give you a choice. You can either walk with me or I'll carry you. Which will it be?"

Skye paled at the thought of the latter. "I'll walk."

The halls were deserted as they trudged down one flight of stairs and around a few twisting corners. Without Zach's guidance he probably would have gotten lost on the way there. The only thing that differentiated the nurse's office from the rooms around it was a small sign set in the middle of an otherwise plain and unadorned door.

Zach forced him through, and on the other side he was confronted with starch white sheets and hanging curtains partitioning half the room. A woman in a plain business suit and a long white coat sat at a desk, silently working on some paperwork. As they entered, she looked up, casting a quick glance over her shoulder at them.

His first impression was that she was not a pretty woman. Behind delicate wire frames were average features. Chocolate brown eyes and light hazel hair, somewhat frizzy and worn back in a braid. But her smile was warm, almost familiar to him and it made him relax in spite of himself.

"Hi, Sis. I brought a patient for you." Skye landed a bed in surprise as his support was suddenly removed from under him. Now that Zach mentioned it he could see a familial resemblance between Zach and the nurse.

"This is the twin brother I've heard so much about, I take it?" The nurse's eyes roved over Skye in a way that would have felt dirty coming from any other woman. "What's the problem?"

An indignant squawk escaped from his lips as Zach pushed him flat on the bed and lifted Skye's shirt. "You haven't heard, Jess?"

The nurse's eyes rose as she approached. "Not that it was that bad." Their conversation seemed out of place with Skye struggling against Zach to pull his shirt back down. Dark bruises stood out in several spots against his tanned skin.

"Zach, stop that!" With a shrug, the other boy suddenly let him go and stepped aside. Skye sat up, righting his shirt as he did so. He winced at the pain in his stomach from the motion but he felt too exposed when he was lying down. Bleached bangs shadowed his face as he stared down at where his hands rested loosely in his lap.

The bed dipped as the nurse sat beside him, not touching him but still close to him. "Won't you let me help you?"

Her tone of voice made Skye feel intensely guilty and he sighed in defeat. She stood then and crossed the room, returning seconds later with a tray that she set on a small table next to the bed. A pill and a small plastic cup of water were handed to him. He took both without a word, downing the pill with a quick swig of water.

"Take off your shirt and lie down. I can do something for the bruises so they don't bother you as much."

Skye spared a glance at Zach, who had commandeered the nurse's chair and was currently sitting backwards in it, his head resting on his crossed arms. He watched Skye, almost as if he was waiting for Skye to balk at the quiet orders. Skye had no doubts about what would happen if he did.

Without complaint he shrugged off his shirt, letting it fall near the top of the bed. He lay on his back and faced the wall, ignoring the fact that there was anyone else in the room and letting his mind zone. The nurse moved around on his right and he could hear a bottle being opened. Cool liquid touched his skin and he jumped in surprise. The room was silent as the nurse worked and slowly Skye started to feel better, the pain receding to a dull ache.

"You could report it you know."

He'd almost forgotten there were other people in the room. Slowly, Skye turned his head to look up at her and then dropped his gaze back to the wall, unable to stand the concern glowing in her eyes.

"If you want, I'll file a complaint for you."

"No!" Skye bolted upright, surprising both the nurse and Zach, who stood up half-way from his seat. Glancing between the two people, Skye quickly looked away. "I'd rather not." It was a pitiful attempt to cover himself and Skye knew he'd fooled no one.

"Why not?"

He debated not answering for a moment but he realized that was kind of silly. "I'll lose my scholarship."

"Over being bullied? You can't?"

Zach's outrage was slightly comforting. "You think so?" Skye had no doubts about just how blind a school's governing council could be.

"I know so!" Zach stood straight, his entire posture filled with confidence. "There's no way Mr. Ashton would let them."

Skye blinked. "My father?"

"No one told you?"

He wasn't quite sure what he should have been told so he shook his head. "What?"

"Damien's dad owns the school. All of it. They can't do a thing to you if he says otherwise."

"Considering Damien's behavior I doubt his father will be much better."

Zach smiled at him and waved a hand in a carefree manner. "Damien's just that way 'cause he's mad at his father. Trust me, Mr. Ashton is far more liberal than you might think." With a large grin Zach dropped down to the bed beside him and swung a carefree arm around his shoulder. "You have far more in common with your father than you might think."

Skye stared in confusion but Zach refused to elaborate. Instead he just left Skye with the cryptic words "You'll see."

* * * * *

"Umm..." Skye looked at the table where his brother was sitting with uncertainty but Zach pushed him down into a chair anyways.

"Damien, be nice." Those words were all it took to get Damien to look up, his gaze shifting from one boy to the other. With a noncommittal grunt he went back to his food. That seemed to be enough for Zach and he seated himself halfway between the two twins.

"Your dad's coming back this weekend, right, Damien?"

"Unfortunately." The word was accompanied by a sharp stab at his pasta. Damien looked up, glaring at Skye. "I'm not like you." And then he went back to his food as if nothing had happened.

"Ignore him, Skye, he's just moody." Zach sunny smile didn't match his tone.

"I heard that."

"Good, you were supposed to."

Damien glared. It seemed he glared a lot, at least whenever Skye was around.

He sighed. Skye doubted Damien would ever come to like him, no matter what Zach said contrary to that.

Another sharp jab caused Skye to jump and he stared across the table at his twin in surprise. The look Damien threw him was positively murderous.

"Don't do that."

Skye had no idea what he'd just done to offend his twin so much. Zach swatted Damien on the shoulder with a sour look. "I said, be nice."

Another glare and Damien went back to his food, seeming to ignore the two of them.

Zach rolled his eyes. Judging from the smiling boy's reaction, Skye guessed this was normal behavior for Damien.

"He wants to meet Skye and his mom, right?"

At first it seemed like Damien was ignoring him, but after a long pause he answered. "Saturday at 5pm. The café across the street from the school."

"We'll be there." Skye wasn't sure Damien even heard his response.

"Damien, stop sulking."

"I'm not sulking." Without realizing it Skye seemed to have set off an old argument between the two. The way they bantered had the sense of rote to it.

"You are too. You're too chicken-shit to admit that..."

"SHUT UP!" Damien's scream had the entire cafeteria staring at them. Silence fell around them, broken only by Damien's low growl. "Don't you dare finish that sentence."

Zach rolled his eyes and let the topic drop. The two men went back to their food as if the other never existed, leaving Skye staring confused between the two of them. Slowly the noise level of the cafeteria rose back to its normal high as the students realized nothing else interesting was going to happen.

Skye had never been gladder to hear the bell ring, signaling the end of the lunch period and his chance to escape the deadly silence.

* * * * *

At first when Skye and his mother arrived at the café, he didn't see Damien. But when he paused to look his mom kept walking right past him, heading directly to a table with two older men. He recognized Damien then, sitting next to the other two with his customary frown fixed firmly in face. The older of the pair stood, extending his arms in a hug which his mother stepped into.

"Danielle, it's good to see you again." Skye's mom smiled warmly as the two embraced and then turned to shake hands with the other man. "This is Kevin." The older of the two introduced the younger. Skye guessed this man was his father. From the looks it was hard to tell. This man had dark brown hair and a constantly smiling face. He was tall but neither muscular nor thin. Their facial features had obviously come from their mother, but Skye and Damien had definitely inherited their father's body type.

Skye's mom held a hand out towards him. "Parker, this is Skye."

With a smile, Skye's father shook his hand and then nodded towards his son. "And the sullen one's Damien. Don't mind him, he's always like that."

"Do I need to stay or can I go home now?"

"You can stay and be sociable for a bit. After all this is your first time meeting your mother."

Damien snorted. Parker waved Skye and his mother to seats. "Danielle it's great seeing you again. You're doing well?"

She nodded and a waitress came for them to order drinks. Their parents fell into light conversation while Damien and Skye stayed silent for the most part. Occasionally one parent would ask a question about the other's child and then they'd respond, or in Damien's case let his dad respond for him. It didn't seem like the two hadn't spoken in nearly eighteen years from the way they interacted. Whatever reason they parted for must have cooled because Skye couldn't sense any bitterness between them. He was still trying to figure out why the other man was here, though his mother seemed to be taking it in stride. Eventually a snide comment from Damien answered that question for him.

"Dad, did you really need to bring your boyfriend with you?"

Skye choked on his drink.

* * * * *

"That was mean! Why in the world didn't you tell me?"

Zach broke out laughing as the blonde stormed over to him in a lighter imitation of his twin's moodiness. "You found out?"

"You think?" Skye pouted indignantly. "I nearly had a heart attack when Damien mentioned it."

Ignoring the other two, Damien sat down across from them and started in on his food in silence.

"Bet it was funny to watch though. I told you, you have a lot more in common with your father than you thought."

"I didn't think I had that much in common!"

"Will you two shut up?" Damien glared coldly at both of them. With a shrug, Zach let the matter drop.

Since he'd started eating lunch with the two other boys, the bullying had all but dropped off. Skye still heard muttered comments aimed at him but nothing nearly as bad as before. It seemed like the bullies were afraid of doing too much in case Damien might suddenly take offense, though he still showed a complete lack of interest in what went on around him.

"Skye Ashton."

He turned as a teacher approached, somewhat out of place in the midst of the crowded cafeteria full of students.

"Yes, sir?"

"You have a visitor at the gate who refuses to leave until he talks to you."

That took Skye by surprise. He was filled with curiosity as he quickly walked down the halls to the school gates. As he walked out the main door, he could see a young boy in plain clothes waiting by the school gates. Skye quickened his pace, almost running over as soon as he recognized one of his best friends from his old school. Andrew fidgeted at the entrance, obviously upset over something. The minute he saw Skye approaching, he ran forward and threw his arms around Skye.

"Jake tried to kill himself." Skye froze, uncaring of the stares they received as Andrew started bawling on his shirt.

* * * * *

Somehow Skye found himself on a train, city buildings flashing past him but he couldn't see any of it. He'd walked out, simply left his bag and everything else behind. Andrew gave him directions and soon they were on their way to a hospital. The younger boy was quiet beside him, occasionally sniffling but his tears seemed to have run out for the moment. They hadn't spoken since the school gates, an eerie silence hanging heavy around them.

"What happened?" A

ndrew looked up, his eyes puffy and red, and then dropped his eyes back down to stare at his hands which were nervously worrying the handkerchief Skye had given him earlier.

"He was being bullied. At school. People calling him names and stuff. He always said it wasn't that bad and acted like he didn't care. I was with him so I thought everything was okay. I thought it was okay as long as we were together because we loved each other and that should have been enough. Right?" Andrew looked up at Skye, pleading, almost like he was begging Skye to say it wasn't his fault. After a moment's silence, Andrew continued, his worrying of the handkerchief growing worse with each word. "We were spending the night at his house and then he went to the bathroom while I was falling asleep and then he just didn't come out. I waited and waited and then I got worried 'cause he didn't answer when I called him. The door was unlocked so I thought it was okay but when I walked in there was so much blood and I didn't know what to do and..."

Skye pulled Andrew into his arms as the young boy started crying again. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

They stayed close together until the reached the hospital. Old friends and their families were scattered in the waiting area. Skye separated from the group, walked off by himself until he came to the room where Jake lay sleeping. Standing in the doorway of the room, Skye stared at the still form. Their situations had always been similar. That was what drew Skye to Jake in the first place, what had formed the basis of their friendship and then that had lead to something more. But in the end they had been too similar and that's where there failing relationship had ended, almost two years ago. And then Jake had found Andrew and Skye wished them the best of happiness. But if Jake had had so much happiness and still this was the result, then it made Skye start to think that maybe he had a breaking point as well.

He stood there, staring blankly into the dark for a long, long time while his mind wondered how far he had to go before he broke as well.

* * * * *

Skye found his book-bag in his locker the next day, didn't really care who had put it there as long as nothing was missing. The day drifted past like a dream. Almost as if they sensed something was wrong, no one taunted him in the halls. Or maybe he was just too out of it to hear anything, too far gone in his own mind to really care. No teachers called on him, no one asked about his absence until he got to lunch period and settled mindlessly at his usual table.

"You okay Skye?" Zach was next to him, a hand placed on his shoulder in concern. Skye simply stared blankly at his friend. It felt like he was underwater, separated from his surroundings by a wall of water, unable to feel anything or care about what was going on around him. Even Damien seemed concerned as he quietly sat down on the other side of the table, though it was hard to tell through his twin's normal icy demeanor.

"Hey, fag, don't think we'll let you bring all your faggy friends to school so you can start making out in the courtyard. I saw what you did yesterday."

Slowly, Skye turned in his seat to face James. The older boy stood behind him, brazenly defying the unspoken rule that no one was to cause any problems in from of Damien. Almost in a daze, Skye stood, stepped away from the table to stand face to face with the bully. Their eyes met and Skye realized that it was people like this who made life bad enough for his friend that Jake no longer wanted to live.

The wall separating Skye from his emotions shattered and he snapped. His fist flew first, before he was even fully aware of what he was doing and as James went down so did he. He was screaming, shouting accusations and wildly striking out at the target the filled his vision.

"You're why he did it! It's your fault. You made him do it, you bastard."

And then there were hands, pulling him off the older boy, who at this point was so shocked that he wasn't even fighting back. His walls were gone, melted away in fire and now that the fire was dying down it just left him cold and numb. The hold on him lessened as he stopped fighting, started feeling, and the emotions he'd held back from yesterday crashed down upon him in a wave of tears.

* * * * *

"He's still here?"

Zach glanced over at Damien and nodded. Skye stayed where he was, huddled under the blankets of one of the beds in the nurse's office, unmoving except for the occasional shake of his shoulders as he started sobbing silently again.

"You could be nice you know."

"I could."

Zach sighed. "What's the word?"

"Dad's talking to the council. So is your sister and she's trumping up the whole abuse factor. All in all, Skye, you have nothing to worry about."

Skye didn't respond. He knew Damien wasn't expecting him to.

"They're going to be a while longer?"

"Yeah. You might as well go home. We can catch a ride with Dad whenever they're done. I think he wants us all to sit down as a family and have a talk."

There was a long silence and then a hand rubbed gently over his back through the thin blanket. "See you later, Skye. Feel better, okay?"

He heard Zach start to walk away, felt guilty about how he was acting. "Thank you."

Zach's footsteps stilled. "No problem." And then there was the sound of the door closing.

"Well, that answers whether you were asleep under there or not." Damien's voice held its normal sarcastic tone. It was oddly comforting how some things never changed. Skye felt the bed dip as weight settled next to him on the bed and he scooted towards the wall automatically to make room for Damien. As he did so, the blanket fell off of him to expose his tear-stained face.

"Crying?" Damien's eyes weren't nearly as cold as his voice, quite the opposite and they burned with intense fire as they stared down at Skye.

With a childish pout, Skye turned away. "Pardon me for being a bit upset."

"About what?"

For a moment Skye thought Damien was mocking him but his brother's face was blank as always. With a sigh, he gave in.

"One of my... friends from high school tried to kill himself. Because he was being bullied." He slipped slightly on the word, thought Damien hadn't caught it.

"Friend?"

Skye was surprised how perceptive his brother was. "Ex-boyfriend."

"Ah." And that was all Damien said for a long time. Skye really didn't feel like elaborating. He knew he'd have to soon. From what Damien said, their father wanted to talk and he'd probably called in Skye's mother as well and they'd want to know what had caused his outburst today. Which would then drag up the events of yesterday and even further past events that Skye didn't really want dragged out into the open but his mother had a way of working past all his defenses and she wouldn't let this one drop.

"It's nice to know you have a spine under all that softness."

Skye glared. "You're happy I attacked someone?"

Damien's smirk was triumphant. "Yes."

That had Skye sitting up in bed, facing his brother with heat in his eyes. "Well I'm not."

"You should be. It means they're not going to mess with you anymore, not when they know you can give back just as hard when pushed too far." Skye opened his mouth to say something but Damien had a hand over his mouth before he could utter a sound, pushing him back until he felt the wall hard behind him. Cold eyes stared straight through him, deadly serious. "I'm only going to tell you this once, so make sure you remember it. I am not gay. I don't give a shit if you are or anything like that. But I'm not gay, understand?"

Skye nodded. He had no idea where this sudden turn of events had come from but Damien released him a moment later.

And then something else was covering his mouth, pressing Skye back against the wall and he could only blink as his brother kissed him. His mouth came open in surprise and Damien used that, pressing in and taking over to leave Skye melted against the wall. Some part of Skye's mind told him that normal brothers didn't do this and it was wrong, but they'd never been normal brothers and there was a part of this that felt so right.

"We shouldn't be doing this." He felt the need to voice the words, make sure they were understood as he whispered them breathlessly between kisses. Damien's mouth dived in again, hands pinning him harder against the wall as Damien shifted stance on the bed to press against him completely.

"I don't care."

"Oh." And Skye left it at that, let Damien take control and just stopped thinking. Later he'd worry about what it meant that he was kissing his brother, that he liked kissing his brother. But somehow, it made sense and he thought back to when they first met and when he felt the first bit of attraction to his brother. And then the wall was exchanged for the bed and as he was pressed down into the soft cushions of the mattress he left his thoughts for another time.