hate is a strong word (bxb)

6

When Monday comes around, Ben can't help but comment on the peculiar interaction that happened over the weekend. There were questions to be asked, or so he thought there were. He decides to question it as soon as they're both at the bus stop.

"Your sisters are cute," Ben started off with, "how on Earth are you guys related? I mean, they're adopted, right?"

Ben knew that they must've been related. With light blonde hair like that, there was no doubt about it, but he still thought that it was only right that he pokes a little fun at it.

"You think I'm not cute?" he pouted.

"No, I think you're an ass," Ben corrected him.

"But a cute one?"

"I'm not into asses."

"Should have figured," and with the look on his face, Benjamin knew that he wasn't going to like the sentence to follow, "I mean, you are a bottom, aren't you?"

Benjamin feels a bubble of air quickly fill his throat and he chokes on it, shocked from what he said, "I'm not—uh, I'm not..." Ben knew that it would be an obvious lie to attempt to convince the other boy that he wasn't a bottom, so he steered away from the subject, "I'm not.. that's not what we were talking about. So, uh, I—"

Braxton cuts Ben off, "so, you're not denying it, then?"

The smug look on Braxton's face pissed Ben off. He hated the way that he always got like this—so content with his actions, despite how disruptive and annoying they truly were.

"Braxton, shut up, we're not talking about my sex life."

"Or lack of?"

"Shut up," Ben repeated, far more firmly the second time, "anyways, I never thought that you would be the type to be good with kids."

"They're absolute sweethearts, how could I not be?" he's practically gushing as he speaks, and the love that he harbors for his family is evident on his face, "I like Allie and Emilie more than most of the people my own age."

"Would you look at that? Braxton has a sweet spot," Ben teased, "They're twins, right?"

"Yeah, identical."

As the bus comes to a loud stop in front of them, Ben thinks of another thing that had confused him about the entire situation. "Do you know another language or something? What was up with that?"

Getting onto the bus, Braxton answers, "yeah, it's Dutch."

"How do you know it?" he questioned, "I mean, clearly you're not from—uh, the Netherlands? And you don't look very Dutch. Braxton doesn't sound like it's Dutch."

"I'm only a small percent of Dutch, but it's there," Braxton answered, "my grandmother spoke Dutch while my mother was growing up. I think that she learned it from her mother, too. So, my mom just kind of knew it, and she passed it down to us. We all speak it at home, minus my brother."

"Oh, is he really young?" Ben figured.

"He's nineteen," Braxton answered, "and he's an ignorant asshole."

"More so than you?"

Braxton deadpans, "yeah."

"Whoa, wouldn't want to meet him, then."

"No, you really wouldn't," Braxton warned, "he never wanted to learn the language, and when he was younger he'd practically plug his ears whenever it was spoken so he wouldn't have to learn it. I could understand that, I guess. Dutch is an impractical language, but he's like that with everything. A raging bigot, if you will."

"Does he still live with you?"

"Unfortunately."

Ben thought that people were often products of their household environment, and perhaps Braxton wasn't an exception to this rule. It seemed like it would make sense, from what he was hearing. Ben didn't know anything about Braxton's situation regarding his parents, but he was sure that Braxton most certainly didn't get that much attention from a household with an asshole brother and two young twin sisters. Ben thought that maybe, just maybe, this was the reason that Braxton always seemed to be begging for attention.

Ben also came from a household where he didn't receive enough attention, but he felt as though this was different. It had been straight forward neglect from day one, whereas Braxton still seemed like he had a decent homelife overall. 

Ben envied Braxton's life. A chaotic household like that must've been fun to live in. Ben wouldn't consider himself to be abused, but he was well aware that he was overlooked and ignored. Mr. Adams always just did his own thing and ignored Benjamin until Ben became an inconvenience. The man spent most of his time at work, on the couch watching sports, or scolding Benjamin for something that couldn't be controlled. Their relationship surely wasn't the strongest, and Ben was almost positive that their ties would be cut after high school. Mr. Adams, for one, surely didn't seem to want to keep a relationship with his son, and the feeling was mutual. 

"Maybe I'll be seeing him around the neighborhood, then," Ben stated.

Ben couldn't imagine how bad Braxton's brother could have been to get Braxton to hate him so much. Braxton was many things, but hateful wasn't one of them. He seemed to like most people, despite being somewhat annoying about how he showed his affection towards people. 

"Pray that you don't," Braxton chuckled.