Love Conquers All
by Flaming Matt
Chapter 26
November 2015
"I know, but it still sucks a little bit." Ben then says, before grinning a little bit. "Maybe you should have changed Wesley, because Tobias and Lily just walked past the patio door." He then says, after seeing that his brother was home and with his girlfriend and then thinking about his friend was still in his briefs, which despite being black, were still wet and pretty revealing.
"My speedos are probably more revealing and I bet she will barely check any of us out, I've seen her with Tobias and she loves him, it's obvious." Wesley responds in a casual tone, while reaching down and adjusting himself and while he wasn't really that bothered if Lily saw him like this or not, he was wondering if she would mind and despite what he had just said, his briefs probably were a lot more revealing that his speedos right now.
"She really does and you can tell how happy Tobias is, I mean he's been happy since he's been here, especially thanks to you and Carter, but she makes him really happy and he's so much more confident with himself as well and he's even started to get the hint about being more assertive." Matt then says with a little smirk at his friend and while it was a little mean, he did enjoy making both Carter and him blush and get embarrassed about fooling around with his brother and he knew that they didn't mind that much and deserved it a little bit.
"Well here they come, so we will find out I guess." Ben then says, as he sees them walking out the patio door and towards them.
"Afternoon Lily and hey Tobias." Matt then calls out, as he sees them both walking over hand in hand and just thought his brother looked really happy.
"Hey Matt and hey guys." Lily responds in a confident tone, as he sees her boyfriends brothers and his friend smiling at her and quickly returns the smile, while also noticing that they must have been swimming and while her eyes lingered on Matt for a little longer than she thought she should, she quickly refocused and sat down next to her boyfriend and opposite his brothers.
"Hey everyone." Tobias then says with a big smile. "Wow, there's loads." He then says, as he looks down at the food and quickly starts to reach out and put some things on one of the paper plates for his girlfriend.
"Mum went a little overboard I think, but I'm sure we will manage." Matt responds in a slightly distracted tone, as he watches his brother filling up a plate and noticing how he hadn't even touched the tuna sandwiches and after glancing at his friend and his fiancé, he could tell that they were a little confused as well.
"That's just too cute." Ben then states in an amused tone, as he watches his brother finally finishing picking out some food and then passing the plate to his girlfriend, which quickly explained why he hadn't put any tuna sandwiches on the plate and he could tell that his friend and fiancé were thinking the same thing as he was.
"Huh?" Tobias quickly asks in a confused tone, as he looks at his brother and wonders what he did and then noticing his other brother and his friend giving him weird looks as well, he couldn't help but get a little paranoid.
"It's nothing Tobias, we were just wondering why you weren't putting any tuna sandwiches on your plate and then you gave it to Lily and it's really sweet of you and I love when Ben does that for me, especially when we go to a buffet restaurant and it's hard for me to go up with my cane when there are loads of people going up at the same time." Matt decides to explain with a sincere smile, which widens when he sees the look on his brothers face and knew that he now understood and the little squeeze on his thigh, let him know that his fiancé appreciated what he had said about him as well.
"He does this sort of thing all the time, he's always making sure I'm okay first." Lily then says in a slightly bashful tone, but also with a sweet smile, because she really did love how caring her boyfriend was and from how she had seen some boys treat girls she knew, she was more than aware that he was special, as were his brothers and friends, who she could tell were all good boys, even Jordan, who could be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but not in a horrible way.
"Ha! When I do that for Carter, he usually pouts at me and tells me that he can do it himself." Wesley then says with a grin, before seeing the look on Lily's face. "It's nothing like that Lily, he's just feisty and independent, so he likes to do things himself and sometimes forgets that I'm just doing it because I love him and not because I don't think he can do it himself." He then explains and from the smile on her face, he knew that she had misunderstood him before and was more than happy to explain himself more clearly.
"Yeah Lily, he's always been a bit like that, I mean he will accept help and be grateful, but he was picked on a lot when he was younger and always being treated a little different because he was a lot smaller than everyone else, so he's just got used to proving people wrong and showing that he can do the same as everyone else." Ben then decides to add to what his friend had just said, because he's known Carter almost their entire lives and he really loved how feisty his friend was and how he never let people keep him down.
"I really like Carter and well, I like you all, even Jordan is okay sometimes." Lily then says with a grin, after deciding to not let the fact that she was the only girl here, stop her from having a bit of fun and making some jokes and knew thanks to her boyfriend, that they would like her little remark about Jordan.
"I er... well er... never mind." Wesley then begins to ask, before losing his nerve and trailing off as he things about how desperate it would make him look.
"He was upset yesterday, but I think he was okay by the time he went home Wesley and he said he was going to call you, did he?" Lily then asks in a slightly hesitant tone, but after looking at her boyfriend and seeing him giving her a little nod, she plucked up the courage to respond to what he was obviously going to ask about.
"Well er... yeah and I think we're going to be okay, but I hurt him and need to make it up to him." Wesley responds with a small smile, as he remembers the phone call and his boyfriend telling him that he loved him still and how that had made him feel.
"How are you going to make it up to him?" Tobias then quickly asks in a curious tone, after trying to quickly think of how his friend could do it himself, although after spending time with Carter today, he didn't think it would take more then them seeing each other and kissing for a little while.
"I'm going to play him something special on my violin later today, I just have to get his parents permission and then get their help to make sure Carter goes straight to his room when he gets home." Wesley responds with a wider smile, as he thinks about how he was going to surprise his boyfriend and how happy he was going to make him feel for the rest of their lives.
"Ian and Michelle love you Wesley, so you won't have any problem with them." Matt then says with a genuine smile, as he thinks about how much happier they will be once they make up.
"Wait, you said make sure he goes to his room." Lily then says in a confused tone, as she thinks about her boyfriends friends words and struggles to see how that would work.
"Yeah, so?" Wesley asks in response, as he looks at his friends girlfriend in surprise and couldn't quite figure out what she was trying to say.
"How are you going to get into his room, without him knowing?" Lily asks in a curious tone, as she looks at her boyfriends friend and wonders if he had thought his plan out or not.
"Ah okay, well he won't be home when I go there, he always goes to the library to read some medicine books and that kind of stuff for a couple of hours at least twice a week and he usually goes today, so I will call his parents to make sure he is out of the house and well talk to them about my idea, then I will go around his and wait for him in his room and surprise him." Wesley then quickly explains, as he realises what she was asking and why she would be a little bit confused.
"Oh okay, that sounds really nice, but what are you going to play for him, something modern or an actual violin piece?" Lily then asks in an intrigued tone, as she wonders what he was going to perform and while she didn't know much about music, her uncle was a very good musician and her dad loved music as well, so she had grown up with it and wondered if she could get her boyfriends friend to play in front of her some time.
"I thought about something modern, I've done it a few times and it's quite fun, but I want to play him something special that he would recognise and I think I have the perfect one and it's really beautiful, it's called 'The Last Goodbye' and I think he will really like it." Wesley answers in a slightly bashful tone, as he sees his friends giving him slightly mocking looks and even though he knew they were just trying to tease him, he couldn't help but blush a little bit.
"I think I've heard that one, my uncle and dad love music and I think the violin sounds beautiful, so Carter should really like it Wesley." Lily then says with a genuine smile, as she thinks about the song in her head and tries to remember how it sounded and while she couldn't quite remember how it went and where it was from, she knew it was beautiful and she was sure Carter would love it.
"Are you going to be naked?" Tobias then asks in a casual tone, as he starts to fill his own plate up, after being a little distracted by the conversation they were having.
"No! Seriously Tobias, just no." Wesley quickly responds, as he gives his friends girlfriend a quick embarrassed glance, before half glaring at his friend for asking something like that in front of her.
"I was just asking." Tobias then states in a slightly defensive tone, as he looks at his friend in surprise and wasn't expecting him to react like that.
"We talked about this Tobias, it's okay to ask questions, but you have to be smart about it and think about where you are and who you are with." Matt then decides to say in a soft tone, as he gives his brother a caring smile, just to let him know that he wasn't in trouble, but at the same time, he had to think before he spoke sometimes.
"But we're all friends and it wasn't a rude question, I was just curious." Tobias quickly protests as he looks at his brother, because he still didn't see what he did wrong and was a little confused.
"Tobias, it's because I'm here and you shouldn't be talking about your friend getting naked in front of me, because it's embarrassing and not just for him, but for me as well, we don't all know each other that well yet and your brother is right, you shouldn't talk about that kind of thing with other people around." Lily then decides to say in a soft tone, while reaching out and holding her boyfriends hand, just to let him know that she was on his side and that she wasn't trying to make him feel bad.
"Oh okay, I guess I shouldn't have asked him that." Tobias concedes as he thinks about his girlfriends explanation and while he still thought they were being a little silly, he could see their point now and knew that he needed to think more about the questions he asks sometimes.
"Well it was a stupid question, but I guess I overreacted a little bit as well, I mean once I stand up, I'm pretty much naked anyway, so getting embarrassed over a question, is well, it's a little stupid." Wesley then says with a cheeky smile and while he was setting himself up for a few jokes, he didn't want the mood to drop and he was happy to try make them laugh.
"Don't worry, he's not actually naked Lily, he's just been wearing his briefs to swim in." Matt decides to say, as he looks at his brothers girlfriends expression and could tell that she wasn't quite sure how to take his friends revelation.
"Oh, okay, Tobias and Jordan have swam in their underwear in front of me and Ashleigh before and there isn't much difference between those and boys swimming trunks anyway." Lily quickly states in response, as she relaxes a little bit and while she wouldn't say anything if the boys did swim naked, she had to admit, that unless it was her boyfriend, she wouldn't have felt completely comfortable, especially with being the only girl there, even if she was sure the view would be quite nice.
"Can me and Lily go in the pool house and change later on please Matt?" Tobias then suddenly asks with a hopeful smile and while they could change in the house, he wasn't sure when his mum would be home and he didn't want her to walk in when he was getting changed with his girlfriend and knew that wouldn't happen in his brothers pool house.
"Sure, just don't go in our bedroom please, it's kind of messy and well er... just use the living room or the bathroom, they're big enough to get changed in anyway." Matt responds in a slightly surprised tone, as he takes in his brothers question and could tell his fiancé and friend were thinking the same thing about how he had pretty much implied that they would be changing together and wasn't sure if he should say something or not.
"See, I told you they wouldn't mind." Tobias then says with a big smile, before quickly giving his girlfriend a peck on the cheek and then reaching over and pouring them both a glass of apple juice.
"So er... anyway, how have you been Lily?" Ben then quickly asks, as he resists the urge to tease his brother and decides to find out a bit more about their brothers girlfriend.
"Yeah, Tobias talks about you all the time, but we haven't had that many chances to just talk, so what kind of films and stuff do you like?" Matt then adds, as he sees what his fiancé was doing and decided to try and make her feel a bit more comfortable and not like she was being interrogated or something like that and smiles as she begins to respond.
Five Hours Later
"Are you sure about this Alex?" Gordon asks in a slightly concerned tone, as he sits opposite his son at the table and sees how much the day had taken out of him.
"I just want to be alone Dad, I'm tired of questions and having to talk about things, it's all I've done today." Alex responds in a tired tone, as he gives his dad a small smile, just to let him know that he was okay and he didn't have to worry about him.
"They're your friends though and they just want to support you." Gordon then says in a slightly pushy tone. "Okay, okay, but at least they called you and wanted to be with you, you have some good friends Alex, just remember that." He then says with a slightly amused smile, after seeing his son half glaring and half pouting at him and quickly got the message.
"They're great and I'm going around theirs tomorrow, Ben wants me to do some training with him and apparently Matt's been struggling with his exercises and Carter said that I would be able to help him with that more than he could." Alex responds in a slightly more relaxed tone, after seeing that his dad had finally got his point and would hopefully stop trying to get him to either go to his friends or let them come over.
"When you say struggling, is it something that he should be..." Gordon then begins to ask, before finding himself quickly being interrupted and while he normally found it both annoying and rude, his son had been through so much and he wasn't going to pull him up on it this time.
"I did ask, but honestly Dad, Ben just told me that since Matt got poisoned, he's been a bit light headed and he just wanted me to show him some different things that he could do, that will be a little easier for him until he starts to recover a bit more." Alex states with a proud smile, before suddenly realising what he did. "Sorry for interrupting Dad, I wasn't thinking." He then quickly apologises, he knew how much his dad disliked being interrupted and knew he should know better.
"Thank you for apologising Alex, but it's okay, you've had a long day and we're both tired." Gordon responds with a look of pride as he looks at his son and he really did feel like he was growing up to be a very fine young man. "I know you just said Matthew was okay Alex, but I want you to check him over and you know what I mean by that and if you think he needs to get a check up, then I expect you to at least talk to him about it, his body has been through so much and given his age, it's important that he doesn't ignore anything, even if it turns out to be nothing, it's better to just make sure." He then decides to say, as he thinks about Matthew and even though his recovery has been very good, he would always have to be careful and look after himself.
"I will Dad, but he's not stupid and he asked for Carter's and then my help, so he already takes it seriously, but I will still make sure, just in case." Alex responds with a slight roll of the eyes, as his dad goes into doctor mode and while it was quite amusing, it was also a little annoying, but he knew his dad was just trying to help and he didn't really mind.
"I know you've been through a lot Alex, especially today, but before you head to the garage to work out, I do want to talk about your mum." Gordon then says in a tentative tone, as he looks at his son and instantly sees his face tighten up a little and knew he must be really fed up with questions and answering them, but this was important and he wanted to get it out of the way with.
"What about her?" Alex quickly asks in a surprised tone and while he wanted to get this whole talk over as quickly as possible, so that he could just go to the garage and let out all his frustration and emotions and get them out of his system, his dad had caught him by surprise, by bringing up his mum and he knew it must be important.
"She is being released on parole Alex and I know we've talked about it before and you gave a statement, but I found out while we were at the station, that she had been successful in her appeal." Gordon quickly states in a clear tone and while he knew he was putting him through a lot, it was important and he needed to know where he stood, before talking to his wife and in particular, what she said the last time they had spoken.
"She's coming home?" Alex then asks in a stunned tone, as he tries to process how he was feeling and what his mum being released meant for him and for their family.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Alex, I want to know if you want her to come back home." Gordon asks in response, as he gives his son a long and measured look, just to see if he could pick up on how he was feeling about the idea of his mum coming back home.
"What do you mean?" Alex quickly asks back, as he looks at his dad in confusion and tries to figure out what exactly he was asking him.
"I'm asking you for your opinion on whether your mum comes back to live with us or finds somewhere else to stay for a while Alex and I want you to be completely honest with me, because there is no right or wrong answer, so please just tell me the truth." Gordon quickly explains with a reassuring smile and reaches out across the table to take one of his sons hands into his own.
"And you won't be mad or disappointed?" Alex asks in a quiet tone, as he struggles to make up his mind about his mum and knew that it wasn't as simple as her being his mum and that sort of thing, there was so much to think about and he needed a few more moments to sort it out in his head.
"Like I said Alex, there is no right or wrong answer, this is about you and me and what's best for us, your mum is a strong and resourceful woman and I will help her find somewhere to stay, it might be a hotel or something like that, but it will be somewhere nice, so you don't have to worry about her not being safe or somewhere comfortable." Gordon answers honestly, as he does his best to be as clear as possible and also not make him feel like he was being pressured, he just wanted to know how he honestly felt and then he could work out what to do and how to go forward.
"And if I say no, does that mean she can never live with us again or er... can we like er... see how things go?" Alex then asks in a serious tone and while he still wanted to just go to the garage and workout, he also knew that this was important and he knew that his dad had brought it up now for a reason and he was determined to think it through and give his dad a real and honest answer.
"The decision we make, either way Alex, is not permanent, so if you say no and she doesn't come back, maybe in a months time or two or six, we could see things differently and the same goes for if she does come and live with us, if it doesn't work out, then we can make a decision if we need to, the most important thing right now, is for us to make the right choice for the both of us Alex and what we need right now." Gordon again answers as best and as clearly as he can, while trying to not put any pressure one way or the other on his son.
"Do you want Mum back?" Alex then decides to ask, as he gives himself even more time to come to his own answer, which he was pretty much sure of, but he wanted to know what his dad wanted as well and not be the only one to decide.
"Well I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that until you gave me your answer, but I would prefer your mum to stay at a hotel, at least for a little while at first Alex and go from there and see what happens, but I want you to be honest Alex, we're a family and your opinion is just as important as mine, so just tell me how you really feel please." Gordon answers honestly, after taking a few moments to consider what to say and while he didn't want to influence him, he knew not answering him, could do just that and he wanted to show him that it was okay to be honest.
"I miss her a lot, but she did some bad things Dad and maybe some of the stuff isn't so bad, because it was people I didn't know, but she hurt Matt and it wasn't just something little, he almost died and he will never fully recover from it and then she tried to lie about it as well Dad..." Alex then says in a sad and slightly strained tone, before pausing for a few moments and looking his dad in the eye. "I love her and she's my mum, but I don't want her to live her, not until... Dad, just not yet." He then manages to force himself to say, as he struggles to get the words out and while it was how genuinely felt, it didn't make it any easier to admit to.
"It's okay Alex, that's all I wanted to hear and I will talk to her tomorrow and explain what our decision is." Gordon responds with a reassuring and loving smile, as he gently squeezes his sons hand. "It's okay Alex, I've talk to your mum about this before and she understands that she has a lot to make up for and that she will need to earn our trust back." He then adds in a reassuring and comforting tone, as he quickly sees the look on his sons face and knew what he was thinking.
"Do you still love her Dad?" Alex then asks in a quiet and awkward tone, as he looks at his dad and couldn't help but wonder if they will ever be able to go back to how they were before.
"I think there is a part of me that will always love her Alex, but if you're asking me if we will ever be together again, then I have to be honest and say no, is that okay?" Gordon answers honestly, before looking at his son with a slightly worried expression and knew that it might not be the answer he wanted to hear.
"It's okay Dad, I mean I don't really understand everything, but I think I get it and it's okay." Alex then answers after almost a minutes silence, as he thinks about what his dads answer meant for them, especially them as a family and while there was a part of him that was a little disappointed and sad, but he knew what his mum was and while he would always love her, she wasn't the same person to him any more and that helped him understand what his dad was telling him now.
"Why don't you head to the garage and let off some steam Alex, while I make us something to eat for when you're done." Gordon then decides to suggest with a loving smile and while he could have carried on the conversation, he felt like his son had been through enough, more than enough already and he could see it in his eyes.
"Okay." Alex quickly responds in a surprised and slightly relieved tone, as he starts to stand up from the table. "I love you Dad." He then says in a sincere tone, after walking around the table and giving his dad a loving cuddle.
"I love you too Alex and I always will." Gordon responds in a warm tone, before giving his son a loving kiss on the top of the head and then letting go of him and watching him walking out of the room and towards the garage, before sitting back down and taking a few minutes to think over their conversation and what he was going to say to his wife or more specifically, soon to be ex wife.
"You two are staring again." Wesley teases as he sees his two friends staring at their brother and his girlfriend, who were cuddled up to each other and talking.
"We're just happy for him, he looks so happy and she really seems to like him just as much as he likes her." Ben responds with a smile, as he ignores his friends attempts to bait them and just admits to looking over at their brother.
"And if you want to talk about staring Wesley, we can talk about how you have barely stopped staring at our brothers butt for the past few hours." Matt then states with a big grin, after deciding to turn the tables on their friend and give him a taste of his own medicine.
"I haven't..." Wesley quickly begins to protest, before just as quickly trailing off with a slight blush. "Fine, but it's not like I'm going to jump him or anything and I know he's your brother, but he's hot and I don't think Carter and I will ever just see him as just a friend, he's special to us, even if we are just friends now." He then adds in an honest tone, before sighing and looking over to his friend and while it wasn't love, at least not anything like he felt for his boyfriend, there was a connection and he wasn't ashamed to admit it and knew his boyfriend felt the same way.
"As long as you guys have stopped doing that stuff, then I don't mind Wesley, but he's straight and I know kids our age experiment and stuff, but you have Carter and..." Matt then begins to say in a slightly awkward tone, as he tries to respond to his friends words, before looking at his fiancé as he interrupts him.
"What he's trying to say is, we know you three have some sort of connection Wesley, but let's talk about something else, because it's a bit weird and he's our brother." Ben states in a serious tone, before smiling at his friend and letting him know that they weren't having a go at him, but were a little uncomfortable about him talking about their brother like that, even if his fiancé was the one who started it.
"I get it and sorry, even if you guys did start it." Wesley quickly retorts with a shy grin, as he looks at his two friends, before then glancing over to his other friend and his girlfriend still cuddled up to each other.
"Seriously Wesley, you're even getting hard, so cut it out." Matt then quickly states in a half serious and half amused tone, as he sees where his friend was looking and noticing the slightly bigger than normal bulge in his briefs.
"Shit, sorry, but it's not my fault." Wesley quickly responds in an embarrassed tone, as he looks back at this two friends and adjusts himself a little bit to make it less obvious.
"Let's talk about Alex or something, because as funny as this is, it's just getting weird right now." Ben then suggest with a cheeky nod towards their friends groin, which despite him adjusting himself, was still pretty obvious that he was almost half hard.
"Can't we talk about something a little more er... well something that isn't depressing?" Wesley then decides to ask and while he didn't want to sound like he didn't care about their friend, they had talked about him a lot already and Peter as well and he would prefer to talk about something that didn't get them all down for a change.
"I guess so..." Ben responds in a slightly surprised tone, before trailing off and looking at his friend a little awkwardly and wasn't really sure what they could talk about, because there weren't that many positives right now, well nothing completely positive that he could think of.
"I'm going to take Ben's surname when we get married." Matt decides to say with a slightly shy smile, as he gives his fiancé a quick glance, before looking over to their friend and watching his reaction.
"Wait what?" Wesley quickly asks in response, as he stares at his friend in surprise and while it wasn't exactly what he had in mind, it was interesting and he definitely wanted to know more about this, because it was pretty big if he had heard him correctly.
"When people get married, people take each others surnames and change theirs, well I think girls are the ones who change their surnames to the boys surname, but well we're both boys and we didn't really get how it's meant to work and er... well we talked about it and I want to take his surname." Matt responds with a warm smile, as he does his best to explain it to their friend. Although as he finishes, he realises that his friend probably already knew that and was probably just surprised by what he said.
"So you're going to change your name to Matthew Walker?" Wesley then decides to ask in a surprised tone and couldn't help but wonder how his friends decided on who took whose name, because like he had just said, girls normally took the boys name, so it must have been hard for them to decide between each others surname.
"Well when we actually get married, he's not going to change it before then, not officially anyway." Ben answers with a smile, after deciding to not leave it all up to his fiancé to answer their friends questions and actually join in as well.
"What do you mean by not officially?" Wesley quickly asks in a confused tone, as he tries to make sense of just what his friend had told him and process the rest of the conversation as well, because this was a pretty big deal as far as he was concerned.
"I'm still Matthew Summers to everyone else Wesley, but for us, I'm Matthew Walker, it's something special and I'm his Wesley, I'm completely his and always will be." Matt answers from the heart, before turning to his fiancé and giving him a quick and loving kiss on the lips after turning his head towards his own.
"I'm yours too Matt, completely, especially after last night..." Ben then begins to respond from the heart, before quickly blushing and turning to their friend, who had quietly coughed and reminded him that he and his fiancé weren't alone right now, after getting caught in the moment and forgetting where they were.
"Sorry for interrupting, but you kind of just zoned out Ben and I know how private that stuff is and well, I just didn't want..." Wesley then starts to say in an apologetic tone, before looking at his friends in surprise as he is interrupted.
"It's okay Wesley and thanks." Ben states in an appreciative tone, as he realises how close he came to revealing a little too much of their private life to their friend, who although already knowing about what he and his fiancé had done, didn't need to know all the details and then there was his brother, who wasn't that far away and he definitely didn't want Lily to know what had happened.
"No problem, but seriously guys, how did you decide who would change their name and why er... well you know what I mean Matt, why don't you want Ben to have your surname, I mean, I like Summers, I think it's great." Wesley then asks in a slightly awkward tone, as he trips over his words slightly, which actually made him glance over to his other friend, who was still in some kind of deep conversation with his girlfriend and looked so comfortable together, which made him smile a little bit, he liked seeing his friend happy and it always made him smile.
"Seriously Wesley, quit staring at our brother, we get it, we really do, but just quit it you creep." Ben quickly states in an amused tone, as he grins at his friend, who had now turned an impressive shade of red and couldn't help but wonder if teasing his friend about this would ever get old.
"But anyway." Matt then states with a slight roll of the eyes to both his fiancé and friend. "I guess for me Wesley, to answer you question, I don't want to be a Summers, not when I'm older anyway, I don't want to be anything to do with my... I mean David and even though I loved who he might have been once, I just don't want to keep his name and I don't want our kids to have his name either, that's why I don't want Ben to have my surname Wesley." He then says in a serious tone, as he looks at his friend and tries to gauge his reaction, which was definitely one of surprise.
"Oh shit, I didn't even think about your dad... shit sorry, I mean David, but er... have you talked to your mum about this Matt? Because it's not her name either and if she knew how you felt, maybe you could both change it, I mean your mums name is James or something like that right? So you could both change to that or if you're going to change your name to Walker anyway, then maybe your mum would let you do that now." Wesley then says in a slightly overwhelmed tone, as he takes in his friends words and couldn't help but struggle to take it in and that wasn't even addressing the fact his friend had just mentioned having kids and he didn't even know where to start with that bit of information.
"I thought about it, but after Ben and I talked a bit, I just figured if my mum wanted to change names, then she would have already and I don't want to bring it up and upset her, I mean it's just a name and it's not like every time I hear it, I get angry or upset, I'm just thinking long term and about what I want to do when I'm old enough, but right now, I'm okay with keeping the name and apart from what I just said, I always liked my last name and I know Tobias does as well, he always liked my surname and well he's another reason Wesley, he's just changed his name and he's finally happy and has figured out who he is, so I don't want him to feel like I don't want the same last name as him or make him change his name again, because that's just not fair on him." Matt answers honestly and gives his friend another friendly smile, before looking over his shoulder and seeing just how happy his brother looked right now and he never wanted to do anything to hurt him in any way.
"Wow, I didn't even think about that or Tobias and yeah, I guess it would be confusing for him and I guess if you're happy with how things are now, then there's no point doing anything." Wesley responds in an impressed tone, as he realises just how much his two friends must have talked about this and he really did just love how close and in tune they seemed to be with each other.
"Yeah, we love each other Wesley and all that, but we also love our friends and family and especially Tobias, he lost his entire family and I still don't think he will ever get fully over that, so whatever comes in the future and what we do, Tobias will always be a part of it and so will all of you guys, we're family, all of us as far as I'm concerned." Ben then states from the heart and despite being a little soppy, he meant it and Tobias didn't have to be his real brother in blood, for him to love him like a real brother.
"It's so funny how we all love him and want to protect him, when he could kick all our butts." Wesley then says in a thoughtful tone. "What?" He then asks in a confused tone, as he sees both his friends staring at him and getting a little paranoid.
"He's tough and I've wrestled around with him a bit, I mean nothing serious, but we're about even Wesley, but come on, there is no way he could beat you and he will tell you that himself, you're like a machine Wesley and no one messes with you." Ben states in a serious tone, as he stares at his friend and wonders if he was just being modest or really did somehow think he couldn't beat Tobias.
"Well okay, maybe in a no holds barred fight, I would take him down easy, but while I know self defence and have done a few other things like that guys, I've also done a bit of sparring with him and seriously, he knows so many little throws and kicks and stuff, that I just can't compete with and we're a pretty even match in that kind of fight." Wesley then says in response and while he may have been exaggerating slightly, his friend and their brother could look after himself and he felt sorry for anyone who thought they could mess with him, because like his old friend Jarred had found out, Tobias was tougher than he looked, a lot tougher.
"We used to be pretty even too, but he was always that little bit stronger and faster than I was, I guess everyone is like that compared to me now." Matt then says in a happy tone at first, before really thinking about his injuries and realising that he was probably the weakest out of everyone now and could never really defend himself any more.
"Don't even think about feeling sorry for yourself Matt, we talked about this before and you promised that you wouldn't." Ben quickly states in a firm tone, as he turns to his fiancé and takes a hold of his face with his hands. "Plus, thanks to me, you have that death stick to smack people over the head with, if someone is ever stupid enough to mess with you." He then adds in a softer tone and a smile to match it, as he sees his fiancés lips curl up into a small smile.
"You're such a dumb ass, but I love you." Matt then says with a warm smile, before giving his fiancé a quick peck on the lips for being so sweet and also for reminding him about not being so hard on himself.
"Wait! You said when you two have kids, what do you mean when you have kids?" Wesley then suddenly asks in a shocked and curious tone, as he remembers the other thing his friend had said earlier and couldn't believe that he had almost forgotten about it, because if the surname thing was big, this was bigger in his mind, even if it did confuse him more than just a little bit.
"Well one day, I mean we still need to talk about it and stuff when we're a lot older, but we sort of talked a little bit already and we both want to be dads." Matt responds with a slightly shy smile, as he thinks about what their friend must be thinking and couldn't really blame him, because it was more than a little bit strange to be admitting to, especially since they weren't even teenagers yet.
"And we're talking about adoption Wesley, well at the moment, because we're only twelve and we don't really know what else there is for gay people, so we're going to wait a few years and then talk to our parents and Mitch and just see what other things we can look into." Ben quickly decides to add, after seeing the look on their friends face and could tell that he wasn't sure how to react or what to say and wanted to try and help him out a little bit.
"Fucking hell, Carter and I talk about what we're going to do the next week or something like that, you know movies and going out for something to eat and you two are already preparing to get married and adopting kids, how the hell are you two only twelve?" Wesley responds in awe, as he looks at his to friends and realises just how advanced their relationship really was, because he loved his boyfriend and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, but apart from a few little half hearted and jokey conversations, they had never sat down and done what their two friends seemed to have done and he was actually a little jealous.
"I told them they should call him Jack if they get a boy." Tobias then says with a small grin, as he half sneaks up on his brothers and friends and couldn't help but giggle a little bit as they jump in surprise.
"That was mean." Lily then says with a smile, as she stands next to her boyfriend and looks at his brothers and friend blushing slightly.
"Wait, you know about them wanting a kid when they're older?" Wesley then quickly asks, as he gets over the surprise of his friend creeping up on them and realises what he had said and couldn't help but be a little surprised.
"He's our brother Wesley, of course he knows." Matt states in response, after deciding to answer for his brother, who he could see was a little unsure of how to answer their friends question.
"And we said we would think about the name Tobias, but it's years away and remember what we told you about only being able to name them if they were babies, we might adopt someone a little older who already has a name." Ben decides to say as he gives his brother a quick look over. "But we do like the name Jack, I don't think we know anyone in school called Jack either." He then adds with a smile, before actually thinking about it a little more and while there were probably more than a few in the school, he honestly couldn't think of any that he actually spoke to.
"I know, but it's still cool that you're going to adopt someone, being in an orphanage is horrible and I hated it, it's why I'm going to make a nice orphanage for kids and make it fun and friendly when I'm old enough." Tobias responds with a big smile, before pulling out a chair for his girlfriend to sit down in and then sits down himself next to her.
"Aren't boys meant to be all immature and just spend all their time building forts and play fighting?" Lily then decides to ask in a playful tone, as she looks around the table and thinks about how none of her boyfriends friends or brothers were that immature, at least not to the extent of other boys and what she'd been told boys were like and she couldn't help but find it interesting.
"We have our moments, but I guess we've just been through a lot and it kind of makes you grow up." Matt answers in a slightly downhearted tone, before noticing everyone's expressions. "Sorry, but it's true and none of us are even the same person we were this time last year, but it isn't all bad and I'm happier than I've ever been, I'm with the person I love more than anything in the entire universe and he loves me back, I have the best brother ever, who despite everything, is happy as well and he's with someone who makes him happier and well Wesley, I know you're down right now and things are pretty crap for you, but you will be okay and once you and Carter see each other again, you will both make each other happy." He then states from the heart, as he feels his hand being squeezed and gives his fiancé an appreciative and loving stare.
"He makes me happy too, I never really wanted a boyfriend and wasn't that interested in boys, not that much anyway, not like Ashleigh, she liked kissing boys and having a boyfriend, but no one really interested me, not until I met Tobias, even if he was really strange and weird." Lily then says, as she smiles at her boyfriends brother and thought what he had just said was really sweet and actually gave her a bit more insight into him and how he keeps going, although the look on her boyfriends face distracted her from those thoughts and she knew he was probably thinking about her choice of words and started feeling a little guilty.
"Oh come on Tobias, don't pout, you know you're a bit weird and she didn't know you properly back then." Wesley decides to say, as he sees his friend looking at his girlfriend and knew that he wasn't sure how to take what she had said and he thought it was best if someone helped him realise that it wasn't something for him to be upset over.
"I know." Tobias responds a little meekly. "You were the first girl to be nice to me here." He then says in a soft and slightly bashful tone, as he looks into his girlfriends eyes.
"And you were the first boy to ever make me feel special." Lily quickly responds with a happy smile, before feeling her head being gently held and then feeling her boyfriends lips against her own and quickly returns it.
"Is that yours Wesley?" Matt quickly asks in a slightly distracted tone, as he watches his brother kissing his girlfriend and finding it sweet, before hearing his friends phone ringing.
"Yeah and er... well is it okay if I go in the pool house? It's Carter and er... well you know." Wesley asks in response, as he gives his friend a hopeful look, even though he knew he would say yes, he wanted to be polite and ask first.
"Sure, but don't go in the bedroom." Matt responds with a friendly smile, before looking back towards his brother, who was now just sitting with his girlfriends head resting on his shoulder and again, he couldn't help but think how sweet they looked together and while it was early days, he thought they really did seem to love each other.
"If you look in the draw under the sink in the bathroom Wesley, there's some sunscreen, can you bring it when you come back out please." Ben then decides to ask, as he watches his friend standing up and beginning to turn away from them.
"Sure, but I don't know how long I will be." Wesley quickly responds, before suddenly realising that his phone was still ringing and quickly answers it and walks towards the pool house.
"I can't believe Carter is calling him, I figured he would make Wesley sweat a little bit more." Ben then says in a surprised tone, as he settles back down and watches their friend walking away.
"Me too, well at least today anyway, I thought he made it pretty clear to Wesley that he didn't want to speak to or see him until tomorrow." Matt then says, as he turns his attention from their friend, to his fiancé and then his brother and has to stifle a giggle as he notices where he was looking and what he was looking at.
"Oh well, at least they're talking." Ben then says in a slightly distracted tone, as he follows his fiancé's eyes and sees him staring at their brother and then realising where their brother was looking or to be more precise, staring. "We should have another swim soon." He then decides to say, as he tries to think of something they could do, after falling into a bit of an awkward silence as neither he or his fiancé wanted to accidentally alert Lily to what their brother was doing.
"You three can, but I'm a little tired Ben and I can just watch." Matt quickly responds with a smile, before giving his fiancé a bit of a half glare, as he sees him beginning to look worried and knew what he was probably going to say, but decides to let it go for now and not say anything.
"You were swimming really well Matt, does it hurt at all?" Lily then decides to ask in a curious tone, as she thinks about her boyfriends brother and being a little surprised that he was too tired to play, especially as he seemed to have no problems in the pool earlier.
"A little bit, but only when I try to race and really try hard, but it's easier in the water, than it is walking or trying to run about out of it." Matt answers quickly, before blushing a little as he realises what he had just said and while it wasn't really anything embarrassing, especially compared to his other problems and issues, he hadn't quite been able to get past how restricted he was now, from stuff everyone else takes for granted, which were now a hundred times harder for him to do.
"But it will get easier as time goes on though? I mean Tobias has told me some things and you all have as well, but not er... well er... don't worry about it, it's none of my business." Lily then starts to ask in a hesitant tone, before losing her nerve and blushing in embarrassment, after seeing the look on her boyfriends brothers face and knew that she had made him feel uncomfortable and awkward, which was the last thing she had wanted to do.
"He's getting stronger all the time Lily, but he will always limp and need his walking stick, his foot and his hip were hurt really bad, but he can still do everything we can, it's just harder for him and takes a lot out of him." Ben then says in a slightly unsure tone, as he tries his best to answer her question, while doing his best to not make his fiancé feel embarrassed or humiliated, because he knew he was still not completely past how restricted he was physically now, although as the days, weeks and months passed, he knew he would get there eventually.
"He's like me Lily, he's a fighter and it doesn't matter if he limps or gets tired really quickly, because we all love him and if the people you love and trust love you, then that's all that matters, well that's what I think anyway." Tobias then decides to say from the heart, before looking to his brother and giving him a big and loving smile.
"Er... well what they said I guess Lily." Matt then says in a slightly bashful tone, as he listens to his fiancé and brother talking about him and he couldn't help but think they went a little over the top, even if he did find it amazing and made him feel loved at the same time.
"I er... well I know you limp and need your cane Matt, but well I hope this doesn't sound wrong, but well girls kind of talk about you in our school and er... well apart from a few girls, well you er... know the kind of girl versions of boys like Jarred and Ryan and stuff, but no one cares what they think, so er..." Lily then tries to say, before getting a little lost and confused, as she stumbles over her words and quickly trailed off shyly and just wishes she had never started talking in the first place.
"It's okay, you can say the rest." Tobias then says in a soft tone, as he holds his girlfriends hand again and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Can't she Matt, it's okay for her to finish, isn't it." He then states in a calm tone, while giving his brother a half pleading look and hoping that he would let his girlfriend finish, because he knew what she wanted to say and thought it would help his brothers confidence, especially with his limp, which he knew he still had issues accepting completely.
"It's okay Lily, I mean as long as it isn't embarrassing." Matt states in a slightly hesitant tone, before smiling as he sees his brothers face and realised that it was important for him and for his girlfriend, so even if it was a little embarrassing, he had already decided to smile and be appreciative, because it was obvious that she was going to say something that she thought would make him feel better about himself, so he didn't have to worry about getting upset or at least he hoped it wouldn't make him feel that way.
"Well it's a little silly I guess, but well people know a bit more about what happened to you, because of the papers and stuff and then kids hearing things from their parents and stuff and then talking about it to their friends, so some of the stuff I heard is actually kind of funny to hear, because it's ridiculous..." Lily then begins to say, before feeling her hand being squeezed gently by her boyfriend and realising that she was starting to ramble a little bit. "Well anyway, Matt the girls I've talked to or have overheard, actually barely even care about your limp or the fact that you use a walking stick and even when they do mention it or it comes up, it's never negative and some girls talk about how a cousin or an uncle or someone else they know uses one, so well er... I know you still get a little embarrassed by the way you walk and stuff, but you shouldn't because there's nothing to be embarrassed about and there are so many girls who just think you're hot and all they go on about is your eyes and cute smile and er... bum and er... well that kind of stuff." She then says in a genuine tone, before blushing as she goes off topic again and quickly stops talking and just waits for someone else to speak.
"It's true Matt, I've been with Lily and Ashleigh at the park and stuff and there's been girls from their school nearby and I've heard them talk about you and well Ben, Carter and Wesley as well and I've talked with some of them, because they come and talk with Ashleigh and Lily and they always ask about you Matt and some times Ben, because lots of girls think he's cute as well and they think you two look like each other and make a cute couple, so she's not lying Matt." Tobias then decides to say, after seeing his brother thinking over his girlfriends words and could see a little doubt in his eyes and he wanted to let him know that she wasn't lying.
"Damn, well at least they know we're a couple, otherwise I would have to use that cane to keep them away from you Matt." Ben quickly decides to say in a teasing tone, as he tries to lighten the mood slightly as it was getting a bit too serious for his liking and a little awkward for his fiancé, who he could tell was definitely happy about what Lily had just said, but also embarrassed and wanted to try and save him a little bit.
"Oh please, you would probably pretend to be me and try and trick them into thinking you were hot like me." Matt quickly retorts with a big grin, after quickly picking up on what his fiancé was doing and deciding to at least use the next few moments to take in Lily's words and thank her properly, because it was a nice thing for her to say and it had actually helped him a lot, even if he still had a long way to go, before he could completely accept and get passed his issues.
"Such a dumb ass." Ben then states in response, before pulling his fiancé's head towards his own and kissing him for a few moments.
"Should we leave them alone?" Lily then quietly asks her boyfriend, after seeing them staring into each others eyes and wondering if they should be watching them, while also feeling a little disappointed that Matt didn't seem to really acknowledge what she had just said, even if he did seem a lot happier now.
"What's..." Tobias starts to respond in a surprised tone, before being even more surprised as he is interrupted by his brother and quickly looks over to him.
"Sorry Lily, I really liked what you said and it helps, but I can't really explain it, I know the people I love don't even really notice my limp and don't bring it up as an issue and I've overheard people talking about me at school and in other places and while there is some nasty things said, it's mostly positive and nice stuff and that's nice to hear and helps, but even with all that, sometimes I just can't help it and I see others being able to run around and play rough and stuff and I get jealous and then I think about how I can't do that or at least not for long and it sucks, it sucks a lot, but I'm okay and I'm getting better at dealing with it now." Matt states in a serious and honest tone, as he gives his brothers girlfriend an appreciative smile and while he may have said a lot more than he initially intended to, he was glad he did and could see that she understood what he had just said.
"You swam really well though and I didn't even realise you were tired, that's why I was surprised before, because you didn't show it and well er... well I think you're great, because what you've been through and what you're doing now, it's amazing, I know people who sprain their ankle or something little like that and use it as an excuse to not do things and really milk it, but you don't, you push yourself and Tobias told me about the physio stuff you do and he said that the doctors can't believe how much progress you've made, because they thought it would be like a year or something before you could do what you do, so I think you're pretty amazing and I'm not the only one." Lily then decides to say from the heart, while appreciating the supportive squeeze her boyfriend gives her hand and as she sees Matt wiping his eyes, she couldn't help but do the same and knew that what she had just said meant a lot to him.
"Ben, please?" Matt then says in an emotional tone, as he gives his fiancé a sad smile, as he struggled to compose himself after listening to his brothers girlfriend and while he had been told similar things before, it just got to him a little bit this time and despite the tears, he was really happy and felt proud of himself.
"It's okay Lily, he's really happy, but sometimes when people tell him things like that and really mean it, it gets to him and he really appreciates what you just said, we all do and we're both so happy that you're our friend now and really, really happy that you are our brothers girlfriend, because he deserves someone special and you're really special and really pretty as well Lily." Ben states from the heart as he gives his brothers girlfriend a warm and grateful smile, before pulling his fiancé into his body and puts his arm around his shoulder to hold him.
"Thank you." Lily responds in a shy and emotional tone, as she looks at her boyfriends brothers and just smiles, as she realises that she had been accepted by them and while they had always been nice and welcoming, this was the first time that she truly felt like she belonged there and that they were genuinely friends now and as she felt her boyfriends arm going around her shoulder, she let him pull her into his body and sighed in content, as they just sat in silence and just enjoyed the quietness.
Four Hours Later
"Wesley?" Carter says in a confused and surprised tone, as he walks into his bedroom and sees his boyfriend standing there. "Oh my god!" He then says, as he not only notices that his boyfriend was holding his violin, but also that his room was full of lit candles and rose petals.
"I know you didn't want to see me today Carter, but I need to show you not just how much I love you, but also just how sorry I am for what I did and even if you didn't call me earlier, I was going to do this anyway and it only made me want to do this even more." Wesley says in a soft and genuine tone, as he looks at his boyfriend with a loving and caring smile.
"I er... but er... how, I told my mum and dad not to let you in today and er... well they just went..." Carter then begins to say, before suddenly realising what had happened and that his parents must have known all about this and he was caught between being angry at them and being grateful.
"Yeah, I called them and asked if it was okay and well they weren't going to let me, but I told them what I was going to do and they eventually said okay and helped me with the candles and rose petals." Wesley then says with a smile, as he takes a step closer to his boyfriend and begins to bring his violin to his neck.
"But I er... you... you're going to play for me?" Carter quickly asks in a stunned and excited tone, as he realises what his boyfriend was going to do and despite being a little mad at him for ignoring his warning to stay away, he could already feel those thoughts being washed away and replaced by happy and excited thoughts.
"You mean everything to me Carter, I would give up anything for you and from this point on, I'm going to spend the rest of our lives, showing you just how much I love you, Beautiful." Wesley responds from the heart, before bringing the bow to his violin and begins to play 'The Last Goodbye' as he looks into his boyfriends eyes and smiles when they light up.
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