Always (Boyxboy)

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Tyler

The look on Pierce's face when Kalen looked up from his cellphone to ask, "Can James come over if we're just going to be hanging out," made Tyler laugh. The displeased gaze slid over to regard him then, and Tyler just continued to grin at him, sitting up from his slightly reclined position against the arm of the couch to push his hand through Pierce's hair. It had dried since their shower, and had tangled in a way he found extremely attractive.

Sighing, Pierce allowed the touch to pull his head down against the top of the couch, his expression softening slightly as his grip on Tyler's lower thigh tightened enough that the fabric of his sweatpants would do nothing to prevent the little bruises he knew Pierce's fingers would leave behind. "Why can't today just be a family day?" Pierce asked Kalen, turning his head to look at his younger brother, who was sitting in the chair and watching them over the top of his cellphone with narrowed eyes.

He had looked at them like this multiple times over the last few hours, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing and his eyes were deceiving him. Tyler wondered what it must be like to see two people you thought you knew so well in a completely different light all of the sudden.

The moment didn't last long, and Kalen blinked himself out of it before it had a chance to get awkward, dragging his eyes back to his phone screen. "Tyler's here, and he's not family".

Pierce's eyebrows drew together in conflict and Tyler laughed again, dropping back down against the arm of the couch and shifting his legs in Pierce lap to get more comfortable. "I can leave," he offered, making no move to do so. "You know, for family time".

"Shut up," Pierce groaned, fingers tightening even more. The pressure made Tyler hiss through his teeth, not in a bad way, but Pierce, not realizing this, looked slightly alarmed as softened his grip. Displeased by this, Tyler frowned, and Pierce's eyebrows raised high. "Kalen, this is my apartment".

It was silent for a second and then Kalen sighed, setting his phone down in his thigh, screen hidden. "Alright, that fair," he agreed, though he seemed crestfallen. Sad Kalen was a horrible thing to see, so Tyler opened his mouth to protest Pierce's decision, only to have his worded immediately drowned out by a groan from Pierce.

"Jesus, fine. Your boyfriend can come over," he permitted, rolling his eyes when Kalen immediately smiled, clearly aware of his influence over his older brother. "It's like kicking a puppy, my god".

"You have got to teach me how to do that," Tyler insisted to Kalen.

Scoffing, Pierce tightened his hand on Tyler's leg again, getting his attention. The man's eyes were closed, and his head was tilted back against the couch towards the ceiling. "You don't want me to agree with you all the time. You would get bored".

Since the statement was potentially too true, Tyler just pressed his lips together and hummed.

"Since when have you two even liked each other?" Kalen asked, eyes focused intently on his phone as he typed something, most likely a message to James. "I'm sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, it just doesn't really make sense to me".

"It doesn't need to make sense to you, Kal," Pierce responded. "It needs to make sense to us".

"Why are you avoiding the question?" Kalen immediately asked, eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"Because Pierce has liked Tyler since forever and doesn't want to admit it," Garett answered, reappearing from his room for the first time in well over an hour. Pierce raised his head to glare at his older brother.

"I thought you were going to take a nap".

"I was. You guys were talking too much so I couldn't sleep," Garett accused, passionless.