"I'm so sick of all the lies, Lucas!" My mom yelled at me.

"W-what lies?" I asked her, "I have no idea what you're on about!"

I was in the kitchen with my mom and Kai was standing around the corner, he didn't want to intrude on our conversation and my mom was yet to notice him.

We had gone straight to my house after school since I promised to help Kai study for a test, but I wasn't expecting my livid mother to blow up at me.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! I've done so much for you so why are you acting like this?" She was fuming, screaming at me but not telling me what it was that I did wrong.

"As I said, I don't know what you're talking about!"

She scoffed and folded her arms, "You don't know what I'm talking about? Then take a minute and think for yourself, what you might've done wrong. Think about it long and hard!"

I threw my hands in the air, "If you don't tell me how the fuck am I supposed to know!" I yelled back.

"Oh my god, Lucas!" She screamed, "Why can't you just take responsibility for your actions?!"

What the fuck was this woman on?

"I'll take responsibility but I can't do that unless I know what I did wrong! How many times do I have to say that, just tell me!" I was so confused.

"It's the lying, Lucas! The constantly sneaking out and not telling me where the hell you're going! Sometimes you don't even come home at all and I don't hear as much as a peep from you. All I want to know is that your safe, but here you are spending the entire night out doing god knows what!"

"But that's not all, no. I had to hear from Kalen of all people that you joined a fight club? Mad Dog at that. Do you know what kind of rumors have been going around about that place, that it was an illegal street fighting establishment that dealt with drug smuggling among other things? You are fighting against dangerous professionals and thugs and you didn't even bother to tell me!" Her hands were flying all over the place, her animated gestures expressing her frustration and anger.

"Mom! It's not like that, those are just rumors. And I promise it's not as dangerous as you think, I'm fighting with Kai so there's nothing to worry about," I sighed, "He's been a part of Mad Dog for a long time and can assure you that they really aren't involved in those kinds of things. All you had to do was ask me about what I was doing or where I was going, I would have told you," I rubbed my face, my anger dissipating. "I'm not doing anything bad I swear."

She clenched her jaw, "So then tell me, what is it exactly that's been keeping you out all night?"

I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed by having to have this conversation with her, "I was with Kai. Sometimes I stay at Kai's place, okay?"

Her jaw dropped and she froze, her eyebrows quickly unfurrowed as she began to realize that it was just a misunderstanding and her worry was misplaced, "Ohh... I see."

"I already know about your relationship with him," she walked toward me and harshly slapped my arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" I yelped.

"You should have just told me instead of sneaking around all the time," my mom huffed.

"I wasn't sneaking around!" I pouted, "It's not like you ever asked me where I was either."

"So basically what you're telling me is that I've been stressed out, constantly waiting all night for you to come home, all while you were busy having sex with your boyfriend?" She asked with a pointed look on her face.

I felt my face flush, heat rising to my cheeks, "Mom! Don't be so blunt about that."

"You," she pointed her finger at me, "You're using protection, right? You're making sure you're being safe?"

I groaned and rubbed my face, "Ugh, I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Oh come on, don't be shy, I'm your mother, I just need to make sure my son doesn't become a teen dad-" the second the words came out of her mouth we both froze.

I knew Kai heard that too which just makes it that much worse.

I raised my eyebrow at her, waiting for her attempt to continue that deplorable sentence.

Her face contorted into a tight-lipped smile, "Right... You're gay. Which means you and Kai are both guys."

"Mhmm..." I mumbled awkwardly, looking down at the ground.

She waved her hand in the air, dismissing her embarrassing comments, "Okay, okay. I'll give you a pass for that one, but shouldn't you be more considerate to Kai's parents?" She scolded me.

Of course, there's more.

I bit my tongue to keep me from saying anything, remembering how Kai didn't want to tell her about his family and lied about it last time he was here.

"You're always spending time at his house and sleeping over, which means that his parents have to feed you, give you shelter, provide a change of clothes, and let you rack up their water and electric bill. I thought I raised you to be considerate, but now you disregard my feelings as a parent, making Kai's family partially support you," she ran a hand through her dark brown hair and glared at me with her green eyes.

I was so frustrated with her logic, "Why do you keep trying to pick a fight!? I don't understand what I did that was so wrong."

"Look, Lucas. I know what it's like as a parent to support your children, and I don't want my kids mooching off of some other parents' hard-earned money."

I let out a huff of air and turned around, pushing my hands through, trying not to let my anger get the best of me, but ultimately failing miserably.

I turned around to face her, "I'm literally not burdening anyone! And who are you to tell me about a parent's hard work, huh? I got a fucking job when I was in middle school to help raise your kids! If it was so hard for you then why did you keep having kids you couldn't even support?" I scoffed, "Tallie called me dad until just a year ago because I was the one who was playing parent! I played the bills, I took care of your kids, and what, you're saying I'm the inconsiderate one?"

I saw the look on my mom's face the second the harsh words left my mouth. Hurt, but also regret and understanding.

I looked up toward the ceiling and took a deep breath, "I don't resent you for it. I know you were trying your best with what options you had..."

She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes looking glossy.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me as Kai emerged by my side.

I forgot he was even here for a second.

He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a tense smile, "Um, hi Ms. Beck."

My mom quickly wiped the shocked expression off her face and quickly ran her sleeve across her runny nose, "Oh, hello Kai. I didn't know you were here. Uhm, I'm sorry you had to see that," she gave him a small, clearly fake, smile.

"No, it's okay," He looked slightly uncomfortable and had a guilty expression on his face.

"I just wanted to tell you that it's actually my fault Lucas has been so busy lately, he probably didn't have a chance to tell you," he spoke softly.

My mom moved and grabbed Kai's hands, holding them both in her own. Looking up toward the tall boy, "No, you don't need to take the blame..."

"I'm serious, it is my fault though so please don't be too mad at him. He's only fighting at Mad Dog because I asked him too, I needed to participate because of some circumstances and Lucas agreed to be my partner. And he's always at my house because I keep asking him to help me with things. If anything I'm the one being inconsiderate," Kai was hesitant with his words, unsure if he was making things better for me or digging himself into a hole.

She let go of his hands and had a weary expression on her face, "Oh... I see. Um," my mom looked to me, "I'm sorry Lucas, I shouldn't have made those accusations without asking about it first."

"No, it's okay, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get mad," I told her.

Although I meant every word I said, I didn't regret helping my family out. Even though sometimes it was hard and annoying, I understood why I had to do it. And I never hated my mom because of it.

She cleared her throat, trying to compose herself, "But still, you should both think about how Kai's parents feel. I doubt they appreciate you staying at their house so often."

I looked at Kai, wondering what he was going to say. We made eye contact and he simply shrugged his shoulders.

He turned back to look at my mom, "Oh, that isn't an issue, I live alone at the moment."

The color drained from my mom's face, "Oh... so I really did get mad for nothing..." She sighed and placed a hand on top of my shoulder, massaging her temple with her other hand. "Sorry, I just jumped to conclusions when in reality all you were doing was helping your boyfriend..."

Kai flinched when she said, boyfriend. I guess that's understandable since we aren't together...

"Thank goodness, I thought Lucas had gone off the rails," she had a warm smile on her face until a sudden realization hit her. "Oh my, oh my!" She looked at Kai, "If you've been here the whole time does that mean you heard what I said about Lucas becoming a teen dad?"

Kai smiled and chucked, "Yea, I heard..."

"Hmm. Well then," She dropped her hand off of me, "if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a much-needed nap, I think it'd be best for all of us to pretend that this," she waved her hands around in a circle, "little conversation never happened."

My mom quickly walked out of the room and I only let out a breath once I heard her door close.

"I was not expecting that to happen... I wonder what's wrong with her, she's usually so composed," I sighed.

"It's because Kaleb was being an asshole earlier. Then mom caught him with a blunt and flipped her shit," I whipped my head around to see Kalen walk past us, grabbing an apple off of the counter.

He was wearing a pair of black sweats and a loose, dark teal tank top where arms holes had been cut off, leaving a large gap under his arm, showing the sides of his rib cage.

I only took notice because it looked exactly like the tank top I had cut the sleeves off of...

"Hey! That was the last apple, why the fuck do you get it!" Kaleb shoved past my shoulder and grabbed the apple out of Kalen's hand and took a bite, claiming it as his own.

His shove knocked me forward and Kai caught me before I face-planted into the table and broke my nose.

"Well at least I'm not dumb enough to smoke in the fucking living room," Kalen countered. "Oh and I hope that apple gives you salmonella you prick, no one washed it."

"You fucking bastard," Kaleb ran toward the trash can and spit out the piece in his mouth, then aggressively washed his mouth out in the sink.

Kai watched them curiously with an amused look on his face, I guess this was the first time he's seen Kaleb.

The only similarities the twins have is their faces and hair. We all have the same green eyes as my mom, but their hair is straight and dark brown, different from my wavy, chestnut-colored hair. But other than that, I don't think there is a single thing the two have in common.

Kalen is a snarky piece of shit and Kaleb is just a piece of shit in general.

Once Kaleb thoroughly scrubbed his mouth, he wiped his face and then glared at Kaleb. He then, being the little bitch that he is, turned to storm out of the kitchen.

He stopped once he saw me and then looked at Kai, a disgusted look making its way onto his face.

He raised an eyebrow, glancing at Kai and then back toward me, "So you really are a fucking f****t. I thought Kalen was pulling my leg."

He had this smirk that irked me, I lunged forward but Kai grabbed my shoulder, holding me back, "The fuck did you just call me?!"

Kaleb leaned forward and got really close to my face, "I called you a fucking f****t." He leaned away and Kai let go of me, "Who would have guessed the oh so mighty Lucas, #1 bad boy of Silverege High School, liked dick?"

"Shut the fuck up," I seethed through a clenched jaw.

"Oh wait, so you two," he painted back and forth between ma and Kai and started laughing, "you two fuck?"

He doubled over in a fit. Kalen's expression mirrored mine, we were both equally surprised and disturbed.

"So tell me, who takes it up the ass? Is it f****t #1," he pointed toward me, or "f****t #2?"

I was about ready to kill him, but then I looked over to Kai and he was completely calm, unaffected by my brother's insults. It was barely noticeable but the corners of Kai's mouth were twitching upward.

He was trying his best to stay composed, but it looked like he wanted to smile.

Kalen grabbed Kaleb's arm and harshly pulled him back, "Dude what the fuck are you on? Do you actually have a death wish??"

"What are you talking about, Lucas wouldn't lay a hand on me," he roughly shook Kalen's hand off of him.

Kalen's jaw ticked as he took several steps back, raising his hands in defeat, "Go ahead, keep talking then. Don't come back begging me for help later."

Kaleb looked at Kai with a devilish smirk on his face. I would love to smack it right out of him but I was curious as to what Kai would do.

"And you," Kaleb spoke to Kai. "Didn't take you for a filthy, cock sucking homo... you," he looked him up and down, "don't look the part."

Kai's facade was starting to fade and I could see his smile starting to poke through even more. He's really about to lose his shit.

"Y'know, I don't understand how mom accepted a f****t like you so easily," he gestured toward me. I clenched and unclenched my fist, trying to control my temper.

"But you," he looked back at Kai, "you're Korean right? I heard native Korean's are pretty conservative. And I just happened to overhear your conversation with my mom, you live alone, no?" Kaleb cocked his head to the side and spoke in a baby voice, "Did your mommy and daddy kick you out because they found out their son was a fucking f*g?"

A huge smile completely engulfed Kai's face. His eyes no longer looked like his own. They became hard and cold, even more intimidating than when he had talked to that security guard at Mad Dog.

It was a gaze that would freeze any man in place and instill no other feeling besides fear.

Kaleb's expression faltered.

From the other side of the room, Kalen was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, thoroughly enjoying the situation, "You're so dead," he laughed.

Kai jutted his arm so fast I could barely follow the movement out and grabbed the collar of Kaleb's shit, pushing him backward and slamming him against the fridge. Kaleb's head hit the cold surface hard.

Kai's face was unrecognizable to me, his other side had completely taken over.

He was grinning but his jaw was offset and the look in his eyes scared even me.

Kai leaned his head down so his mouth was next to Kaleb's ear, "If you weren't Lucas' brother you wouldn't be able to walk right now. I would have broken your legs the second you opened your fucking mouth."

Kaleb attempted to get out of Kai's hold, "Shut up, you're all just talk," but his efforts just made things worse.

Kai pulled him forward and then slammed him onto the ground, pinning his arms behind his back and pushing on the side of his head.

"If I hear one more insult come out of you're mouth I'm going to break your fucking jaw so you won't even be able to talk."

Kaleb struggled underneath Kai, unsurprisingly having no effect since Kaleb hadn't started his growth spurt and was only around 5'7 while Kai was 6'3.

"K-Kalen, help me out!" Kaleb could barely get the words out with the amount of pressure Kai was putting on his face.

"I told you not to beg me for help later... you're on your own down you homophobic dipshit," Kalen responded, unbothered by his twin's pain.

As his brother, I should have stopped Kai and helped him. But as a human being, Kaleb definitely deserved it.

Kalen was snickering in the corner, enjoying this way too much. He was always a little different... but at least he wasn't homophobic.

I put my hand on Kai's shoulder and he looked back to be, his killer gaze shifting as I pulled him off of my little brother, "Come on, let's go. He's not worth it."

Kai brushed himself off and huffed as I held onto his hand.

Kaleb slowly rose to his feet, "Like I said, all talk. There's nothing a f*g can do against me."

Kai turned to glare at Kaleb, causing my brother to freeze. I couldn't see the look in Kai's eyes, but I knew it was not a normal one. It shut my brother up in an instant, something forced him to look down. Averting his gaze from Kai, his eyes were shaking.

That's my man.

Is it weird that it turns me on when Kai shows his true, twisted self?

Kai turned back toward me and ruffled my hair, "Let's go, I really do need to study."

I smiled back at him, "Yea, let's go."

When we walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway we could overhear Kalen and Kaleb talking.

Kaleb began, "He wouldn't have done anything. I bet he was just bluffing."

Kalen started laughing, "I thought you were dumb for smoking in front of mom, but I was wrong. You arent just dumb, you're a fucking imbecile."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you not know who Kai is?" Kalen scoffed.

"Of course I do, he's that guy Lucas used to fight at school... right?" Kaleb asked.

"Damn, how are we even related? You know Mad Dog right?" Kalen asked his twin.

"Of course I do, everyone knows about it now," I heard my brother sigh, then his voice became giddy, "It's so dope, the fighters are literally insane. I watched one of the fights last week and I've never seen such an intense fight!"

Kai and I had both stopped in the middle of the walkway, listening in on their conversation. We were both on the verge of tears trying to hold in our laughter.

I could hear Kalen literally wheezing from the other room, "Oh my god Noooo, you did not just say that!" He was laughing so hard he threw himself into a coughing fit. "You know how right now they're in a Doubles tournament, right?"

"Yeah," Kaleb responded, I could hear the confusion in his voice.

"So then you know how they have One-On-One before Doubles, right?

"Yeah, Triple O. I know that, I told you I'm not dumb," Kaleb sounded angry at his brother's remarks.

"So tell me, what kind of person do you think the winner of Triple O would be?" Kalen asked him.

"Hmm, probably someone hella strong. I heard some people say that the guy who won Triple O this year is the strongest fighter in California," Kaleb told him. "He sounds so cool."