Six: KISSING BOYS

#Wren

He was quiet after I told him about my wife, and I felt a heavy weight in my chest for some unknown reason. He just stood there, my clothes looking ridiculous on him and yet oddly endearing. Because his posture was uncommonly soft, he appeared as if the clothes had swallowed him. There was something undoubtedly odd about this boy, or was there something wrong with me for feeling so drawn to him? I had no idea. All I knew was that I was beginning to seriously regret going after him and his brother!

"She is dead," I whispered, in spite of myself.

I did not want to tell him that, but I found myself doing so anyway.

"I am sorry," he said genuinely, but his face still betrayed his surprise.

We were silent for another awkward minute before he cleared his throat.

"You...are speaking to me. Why?"

I almost rolled my eyes, but he had a point. My voice was, in fact, slightly croaky from lack of use. But I had said more words to him in a day than I had in two years! As few as they were. I refused to say any more words though, so I did not answer him.

"I wanted to say thank you, for coming after us. Even after you had so rudely chased us out."

I raised a brow at him and the little bugger smirked at me! The nerve! That provoking wit of his would get him in trouble someday, and someday soon. My goodwill had a sensitive expiration date.

"Alright, your surly-ness," he rolled his peculiar eyes, "thank you for taking us in. And saving us from probable death in this storm," he finished off somewhat sincerely.

I did not like him calling me surly though, he had to learn his place here.

"We are not friends!" I hissed, making him widen his incredible pair of eyes.

"You are not stammering," he sounded intrigued.

That was true, but I stammered more when I was highly emotional. Now I was calm and the words somehow flowed better, as long as my sentences were short.

"You probably think me annoying, yes?"

I nodded at that, trying to hide the smile pushing its way to the surface. What was wrong with me!

"I just..." his voice trailed and he bit his lower, plump lip.

I waited for him to continue when I realized something seemed off about him. He appeared like a stubborn child trying so hard to stay awake, in spite of himself.

"Hector?"

He giggled," You said my name..." before dropping to the floor.

I cursed as I rushed to his side, immediately checking his temperature to see if his fever was returning. He felt fine, it was probably just too much excitement for his recovering body. Now it had all just rushed back with a vengeance. And this was my fault. I had chased them out in bad weather.

I sighed as I picked him up, he weighed next to nothing! Nothing strenuous anyway, he probably weighed less than my younger sister! And that was considering the fact that my sister watched what she ate desperately! This boy definitely needed to eat more, perhaps the hard work on the farm would build some muscle in him. Because this would just not do, no wonder he fainted like some damsel!

I placed him in the middle of my bed and drew the linen from under him to cover him. He did not even stir. I watched him for a minute, thinking I should probably inform the others that the boy would sleep in my room for the night. My eyes were drawn to his rolled trousers, my trousers, and I reached out to push it up even more. I cursed again at his stupidity, he should have said something!

His bandage was moist and had a huge blood stain on it, he had burst open his wound again. I wondered if he had not felt it all this while, because he had appeared to be alright to me. Now I had to babysit the boy, and I certainly did not want his wellbeing in my hands. I got off my bed anyway and retrieved a clean bandage from my medicine drawer. I kept a few ointments and some pain medication there, which was handy when you worked at a farm with animals. Even the tools we used were danger hazards sometimes, and I encouraged all the workers to keep a small kit for the little injuries in their quarters.

I mixed some water and disinfectant in a small bowl and was returning to the bed when someone knocked. I sighed, placing the small basin on a stool I had positioned next to the bed, before walking to the door.

My sister smiled at me when I opened the door, making me inwardly groan. She rolled her eyes at my attitude and held up a tray.

"I brought up dessert, is Hector still here?" She said, trying to peep into my room.

I stepped aside so she could enter, which she did a bit too enthusiastically. I narrowed my eyes at her as she looked around slowly, a look of awe on her face.

"Do you know I have not been in your room since I was only a child?"

There was a reason why she was not allowed in here, but I would not point that out.

Her eyes finally got to the bed as we walked in and she frowned as she turned to look at me again.

"When did he fall asleep?"

I shook my head and pointed to his injured leg. She gasped and pushed the tray into my hands, before rushing to his side. I sighed and considered taking a slice of the delicious looking cake, then I remembered my hands still had disinfectant on them.

"What happened to his leg? Did you give him something for the pain, is that why he is sleeping?" She threw a string of questions at me.

I put the tray on my work table and went back to sit next to the boy again. Michelle eyed me from the foot of the bed as I went for the bandage. I hesitated and grimaced while I extended my hand, failing to reach the bandage. It seemed so far away and my head swam as I tried to grab it.

"Oh come now, let me do it!" She said as she came closer.

I sighed in relief as I rushed out of the room to my washing room. I breathed in relief again as I washed my hands, counting twenty tines as I did so. A wonderful sense of calm and joy came over me, clean was good. Clean made me happy. Clean kept me alive.

Michelle had already replaced the bandage when I came back in and was just staring at the boy.

"His wound was not so bad, just a few compromised stiches. What happened to him? And where did they come from? I was not aware any new workers were coming in."

It appeared mother had not yet filled her in, and I almost rolled my eyes at that. Michelle had never been interested in the farm, but suddenly she wanted to be informed on my worker roster? Ha! That was hilarious! It did not take a genius to figure out she had taken a fancy to the boy, which was expected. My sister, bless her soul, was a shallow being. She had an expect eye on beautiful things. And my pocket had evidence of it! Anything shiny and pretty caught her eye easily until she saw the next pretty thing. And in this case, it was now an infatuation with the boy in my bed. I almost laughed, if anyone could put my young sibling in her place, it would be Hector.

"Look at his feet, they are almost as tiny as mine!" She said before giggling.

I shook my head and proceeded to cover him with the drawn blankets as I had intended. I wanted to tell her that the boy was not a doll! My sister sighed and looked up at me.

"Will he sleep here then?" She asked

I nodded.

"And where are you going to sleep?"

I pointed to the door that led to my joined chambers. Rooms that used to belong to my wife. My sister looked surprised at that, but I shook my head, indicating that she not talk about it any further. Thankfully, she got the message and pressed her lips in silence.

She stood and walked to take the tray, making me raise a brow at her.

"I know you will not eat it now, after being in the open and all."

I nodded and she did the same before walking to the door. She turned as I followed her.

"I will tell his brother that he will be in here, and we should probably get the physician to come up here in the morning to check his wound."

I nodded and she noticeably hesitated before looking up at me with her bright blue eyes, so like our mother's.

"I miss when you actually used to talk to me like a big brother should."

I sighed and leaned down to lightly kiss her forehead, making her smile faintly.

She nodded, "Alright then, have a good night."

I closed the door after her and banged my head against the door, why was life so difficult. I failed to make my family happy, and I somehow managed to convince myself that that was their problem! I walked back into my room and checked the boy one last time before looking for a key from the bottom of a long-forgotten drawer, at least one I had pretended to forget.

#Hazel

I woke to a pair of bright blue eyes in my face, and I screamed! I scurried away to the end of the bed as Donoghue burst into the room, looking alarmed.

"I did not mean to startle him, I was only..."

Her voice trailed as her elder brother glared at her, even I felt a chill in the room! That is when I noticed his hair was all over the place, he had still been asleep. That was not the only indicator that my scream had woken him up, his white shirt was open! It appeared he slept in his clothes from the night before, with the difference of the open shirt of course. That was a new and welcome sight! I felt my ears heat up as I took in his toned chest and stomach, he was indeed beautiful! Oddly enough, I had never thought there would be anything beautiful about a man's chest, but seeing this one made me giddy!

"Wren, I am sor-"

He held his hand up in anger to silence her, and she dropped her head immediately in silence. He walked back from whence he had appeared, slamming the door after himself.

I winced at the noise," I suppose he is not a morning person?"

"He is not an anytime person!" Michelle laughed.

I cleared my throat to deepen my voice, "What are you doing in here?"

Most importantly, what was I doing here? I remembered talking to Donoghue before feeling this fatigue overwhelm me, then nothing.

"I came up to see if you were alright, you were ill last night."

"And it did not seem odd at all to you that it was early morning and we were still sleeping?" I frowned.

She shook her head, grinning. "Wren is usually up by this time, this is the first time in years he has woken up late."

I looked at the door he had disappeared behind, and she must have followed my quick check because she frowned at me.

"You hero-worship him?"

I frowned back, "What? No! Have you met your brother?!"

She laughed, "True. But he was rather kind to you yesterday, and he let you sleep in his bed! I surely have never met that side of him before."

"Is this a magical bed?" I rolled my eyes

"You do not know?" She seemed surprised.

"Know what?"

"Wren, he is-" she bit her lip as if trying to decide what to tell me exactly when she snapped her eyes to mine.

"Your eyes, I never noticed!"

I looked away uncomfortably, letting the hair fall into my eyes as I did so.

"They are beautiful," she said," and so are you. It is almost unsettling," she giggled.

"Michelle, I-" I wanted to do it then, confess everything. Because I could sense this becoming a problem.

"I have never seen anything like it," she said, drawing closer as if to look at me more closely.

I drew even further away as my back hit the wooden board of the bed. "A little distance please-"

She wrinkled her nose in confusion," You do not think I am pretty?"

I raised my hands to shield myself as I shook my head, "You are beautiful, but I am actually a-"

She grinned and crawled nearer.

"Michelle please listen-"

She giggled and came closer as I fell off the bed trying to get away. This was ridiculous, when did my life become such a jest! And there was something wrong with Donoghue's sister I cannot believe I was trying to defend my virtue from her! She stopped then and narrowed her eyes at me, before looking at the door her brother had gone through, then back at me.

"You are a very strange boy," she said.

I nodded vigorously," Yes, yes, you could say that."

She looked at her brother's door again, "You are not like those men I hear about, are you?"

"That would depend on what kind of men you are referring to, how would I know what you have heard?"

She rolled her eyes," Men who, you know..." she indicated with her hand for me to finish for myself.

I gave her my best I am darn confused look, and she sighed loudly.

"Men who like other ...men?" She said in an almost whisper.

I burst into laughter then, I supposed that was true in a way. I mean, I obviously liked the girl's brother. But I was a not a man, and I wanted to clear that up right now.

"I am afraid I have to explain a few things, but it is not what you think."

"Then prove it," she pursed her lips.

"Prove what?"

"That you do not like men, or should I say my brother in this case. I saw how you looked at him."

"And how am I supposedly to fix that?"

"Kiss me," she replied, matter of fact, making me laugh.

I clutched my stomach as I laughed hard. I only stopped when I realized she was serious, this girl was insane!

I shook my head.

"No, I will not be doing that. I do not have to prove anything to you."

I decided then not to give her the satisfaction, because she was a spoilt brat and wanted to get her own way. Not to mention, she was insane! She glared at me as she took a step forward, and another, until I realized I was backed against the wall. I had been unconsciously retreating as she walked toward me. I stared at her, daring her to do anything. We were just about the same height, but I knew I had to have more strength than her. Then why did this delicate looking girl scare me so?

I heard the door handle click, distracting me to look up for a second just as I felt moist lips against my own. I struggled to push the girl away as she held on, she was stronger than she looked!! She pushed me away then and slapped me, hard. I clutched my cheek and gasped in shock, just as the girl began sobbing. I was still confused as I looked up to see Donoghue's stone eyes piercingly glaring at me, his jaw ticking. I shook my head as I looked at his sobbing sister in disbelief.

And then the contents of my supper came pouring out of my molested mouth.