My Brother Has A Portal In His Bedroom

Thomas didn't know what to believe when his older brother told him he had opened a portal to an alternate reality. But then, Logan wasn't one to lie, especially Thomas. Their parents were out that night and Logan had screamed excitedly at ten in the evening.

The two were brothers, separated by a year, yet they looked nothing alike. Logan was tall and slender, his hair was raven black and his eyes were a piercing blue. He looked like a businessman and he was only eighteen. Thomas was seventeen and he was short and round-faced. His hair was a soft brown and his eyes were big and brown, like conkers. Even their fashion was severely juxtaposed. Logan dressed like a teacher and almost had a short-sleeved on, except on that evening.

On that evening, he wore a black, buttoned-up shirt and his favourite, blue, checkered tie. Over it, he had a blue and black sweater-vest and he wore black trousers. His glasses were, as usual, in place on that evening.

Thomas, on that evening, had been originally in his pyjamas until Logan ushered him into warmer clothes. So, Thomas had his favourite Steven Universe shirt, black pants and a brown, leather jacket. Unlike Logan, he didn't need glasses and actually had really good vision.

He remembered that evening.

Thomas had been drifting off to sleep after finally plugging his phone on charge. He had the bad habit of messaging his friend, Joan, until they were sleepy and Joan had just messaged him, saying they were going to bed. Thomas had been dozing off when he heard his brothers' scream and for a moment he was terrified. He heard pounding footsteps and his door was thrown open.

"Thomas?" Logan cried excitedly and he rolled over to look at his older brother.

Logan did not look ready for bed at all, in fact, he looked breathless, exhausted, messy and ecstatic.

"Lo? Dude, what the hell?"

"Thomas, get up, this is amazing!" Logan was beaming and it was getting Thomas excited as his brother tried to pull him out of bed. "I can't believe it, I can't believe it! I'm going to go down in history, Thomas! Me! Oh, I can see it! Logan Sanders, eighteen-years-old and he was the first one to do it!"

Thomas was completely confused as his brother yanked him from his warm bed. "Logan, it's, like, ten in the evening, we got school tomorrow, can't this wait?"

Logan froze, and locked Thomas in an enthusiastic stare. "Thomas..." He said slowly, forcing himself to sound calm. "I have just made a portal to another reality. This cannot wait."

Everything slowed except Thomas's' mind. That had not been what he was expecting. Sure, he had watched those TomSka skits about alternate dimensions and parallel universes, but he had taken them as jokes. Obviously. That's all they were. Jokes. Little fantasies you daydreamed about instead of focusing on real life. And Logan had always been so adamant about real life. If he was claiming he had managed to open a portal to god-knows-where, then he was either drunk, insane or serious. Logan looked serious. And he always had been.

Logan had been closing himself off, studying constantly for a 'personal project' and his grades had been failing because of it. Once, he had claimed he was texting a person who was, 'not of this world,' on a brick-sized heap of junk. Thomas had seen the texts and had assumed that it was a prank, that either Logan was the victim of or the one in control.

"Logan..." Thomas said slowly. "Are you serious?"

"Thomas, I swear," Logan replied, grabbing his little brother's' hands. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Thomas hesitated. "You did a lie of omission when I asked you where babies came from."

"I'm serious!" Logan snapped suddenly. He quickly calmed down. "Look, just, come to my room." He pulled Thomas out of his room and across the landing. He swung open his bedroom door and Thomas gaped.

It didn't look like those portals in Endgame or Big Hero Six. It was orange and looked to be built from a junk-covered doorway. It fizzled, opaque completely, and swirled away in its' container.

Thomas looked at it, wide-eyed. "Alright. I think I believe you. Do I have permission to sit on your bed?"

"You can drink some of my water if you need, too, Thomas," Assured Logan, taking notes about the portal. They sat in silence for five minutes when Logan piped up again. "Would you like to accompany me?"

"Huh?"

Logan shut the notebook, moving to his closet, where he pulled out a light grey, criss-cross scarf. "I'm going through the portal. I have to see what it's like."

Thomas shot up from the bed, the glass falling to the ground, chipping but not breaking. The water was spilt. "Are you crazy?!" He gasped. "What is it has no atmosphere? What if there aren't any humans? What if it's stuck in a permanent plague? What if everyone lives under Communist Russia-?!"

"Thomas!" Logan snapped loudly, making his brother shut up. "If people didn't take risks, where would we be? If people didn't dare speak out, would you and I be publically gay? Would Joan get to use their they/them pronouns? If people didn't stand up, we would never study Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr or even Albert Einstien! If we didn't take a chance, where would the human race be?" Logan grabbed Thomas's' hands desperately. "I've created a portal, yes! Do I know where it leads, no! I have to find out," His voice dropped with stubbornness. "And you don't have to come with me. I only asked."

Thomas stared at Logan, eyes searching his for... something. He sighed. "I'll come..." He gave in and began to walk towards the portal but Logan pushed him back. "Uh, Lo? I said-"

Logan held up a finger. "I know what you said, so you're going to change into something warmer. Oh, and you might need to pack a bag. Grab whatever you think you'll need, I'll pack medicine and essentials."

Thomas hesitated but nodded and backed out of his room to get changed.

And then he was back in Logan's' room, with a backpack on his shoulder. In his bag, there was his phone and charger, headphones, a book or two, his toothbrush and a new pack of paste, a few clothes and pairs of underwear, pyjamas and the Harry Potter books, 1-3. He had managed to stuff them in and even had to empty his draw-string PE bag to house sneakers and his clothes. On his feet, he wore his favourite pair of converse. Thomas was not going to leave these behind.

Logan hadn't packed similarly. He had stolen their fathers' belt he used at work since he was a builder. Logan had kept the hammer, but had taken out the nails and alike items, using the new space to hold money and anti-bacterial cream. In his bag was bandages, disinfectants, a pair of face-masks, some glasses wipes, clothes, underwear and pyjamas. He also had a water bottle tucked into an outside pocket and double-secured it to his bag with a clip. Logan could barely contain his excitement and Thomas was struggling to reign in his literal terror.

He was about to walk through a portal. Just... The first portal ever created, in his older brothers' bedroom, and he was going to walk through it. Needless to say, he was very scared.

Logan handed him a face-mask and Thomas put it on gratefully. He watched as Logan sent a message on his brick phone which Thomas genuinely believed may carry messages across universes. I mean, he had seen the portal, so why not?

Logan put on his own face-mask and gave Thomas a thumbs-up. Thomas nodded in reply and Logan took a hold of his wrist in one hand and held the hammer out cautiously with the other At least his brother hadn't fully lost his senses...

Thomas took a deep, wavery breath as they walked forwards. The tip of the hammer touched the glowing orange doorway and then, when nothing exploded, Logan inched closer until his fingertips were submerged. He turned to Thomas and nodded, then took one sudden step forwards, diving in. Thomas was yanked in after him and he expected a swirly, sensational feeling. There wasn't one. He was expecting to choke on a lack of atmosphere and hear people scream loudly. He didn't.

Thomas opened his eyes and his knees grew weak, and his mouth dropped open behind the face-mask.

Holy shit...