Fragments of His Being | ✓

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The kitchen area of Quinn's home was quiet and filled the aromas of spices. Quinn was sitting by the kitchen island while his mother worked on preparing fish. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was pouring into the small kitchen/living room through the open window. Quinn's mother had opened it to try and get some of the fish smell out of the apartment.

Earlier in the day, Quinn had spent some time in Karl's apartment. The two boys had talked when Karl suddenly brought up Cody.

"So, how is he?" Karl had asked, making Quinn look up from his deck of cards. They were squashed behind the sofa, playing cards in secret so Karl's eleven-year-old brother wouldn't bug them and ask to join.

"Who, Cody?" Quinn had asked, and Karl had nodded. "Well, he's doing alright. We couldn't hang out today because he had a pile of homework to go through since he didn't go to school for a while," Quinn had said, and Karl had hummed, watching as Quinn played a move and made him pick some cards from the deck.

"That's good to hear, but I was asking about something else," Karl had muttered, making Quinn raise a brow at his friends.

"What's something else?" Quinn had asked, getting curious from how red his friend's face was turning.

Karl shrugged. "Well, I was wondering if it was weird with a boy. Like, what is Cody like when it comes to that stuff? All the kissing and touching must be weird if you know what I mean..." Karl had trailed, and Quinn's face had grown warm. "Also, sex. I think the sex would be kind of weird too," Karl had added.

"It's not weird. I like it a lot," Quinn had said. "But then again, I'm not sure if I'm the person you should ask this since I've never done anything with a girl," Quinn had added and Karl had nodded.

"You know. I should have realized something was off sooner, considering the hottest boy in our school hadn't kissed a girl ever at age eighteen," Karl had said, and Quinn had rolled his eyes, chuckling under his breath.

He stared at his friend, locking eyes with Karl. "We haven't done it though," he had said, looking down at his hands. "Gone all the way, that is," Quinn had said, nibbling on his bottom lip.

"I'm sure it'll be alright," Karl had said, and Quinn had looked up at his friend. It was strange. Karl had just called gay stuff weird, but he was also being nice about the two boys being together. It didn't matter, Quinn thought. His friend was doing his best.

The sound of a passing car brought Quinn out of his thoughts. Quinn groaned, raising his head from the counter. Quinn was bored out of his mind now. He kicked his leg, looking at the back of his mother's head. Cody's brother doesn't look like him at all—

"I hope you didn't probe him about it?" Quinn's mother said, cutting her son off. She really hoped he hadn't been that rude for no reason.

"I didn't really," Quinn said, wrapping his hands around the mug of hot chocolate that he'd gotten for himself. "It just made me kind of curious," Quinn said, looking down at the swirl of milk and cocoa.

"Good, don't be invasive. He might be your boyfriend, but there's a line, and you shouldn't cross it," Quinn's mother advised him. Raising up a finger to the roof. "Do you understand?"

Quinn sighed, "I understand."

"There's a likelihood that that's not his brother at all, or for the most part, just his half-brother. I told you about family issues. Problems are common in that kind of setting. Cody's lucky to have you. It can be damaging for a kid, but I'm sure he'll be leaving his home at the end of the school year, won't he?" Quinn's mother said. His mother had hit the nail right on the head. Charles was Cody's half-brother, and Cody had told him so.