Trees zipped past the windows in a green blur as the car sped along the highway. Sitting in the passenger seat, David squinted against the warm wind that whipped his face, filling his nostrils until it almost felt like he would suffocate. Beside him, Simon drove with ease, one hand on the wheel, and the other elbow on the window. His blond hair tousled by the wind, he wore tinted sunglasses that showed the impression of his eyes and an open collar shirt. After picking David up from work they had gotten something to eat and were now driving back in the evening. Dappled sunlight entering through the open sunroof cast them in moving shadows and light.

"A tattoo?" David asked, turning away from the air pressure of the window to look at his brother.

"Are you that surprised?" Simon asked with a light chuckle.

"No...yes."

Another laugh. "I've been meaning to get another, but my usual place shut down. I thought you might know someone."

"How many do you have?" David asked, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"Just three: two on my shoulder, and one on my calf."

"Can I see them?"

"Right now?"

"No, not right—"

"I don't mind. I'll pull over right here and strip."

David laughed, a low, quiet sound. "No thanks. I don't need to be caught in a car with a half-naked man—again."

"What?" Simon said loudly, swerving dangerously as he looked at his brother. "Tell me that was just a joke."

David shrugged, and that did not make it better.

"I don't want to know," Simon said. "Was it with the major?"

"You said you didn't want to know."

Glancing at David behind his sunglasses, then back to the road, Simon heaved a heavy, audible sigh. "This isn't good for my heart," he muttered. "And it's definitely not funny."

Turning back to the window, David hid a smile. "You're just like him," he said under his breath.

"What?" Simon asked. "Like who?"

David looked at him with meaning, and from behind his sunglasses, Simon got it. He looked back at the road. "Well," he said, "at least he's got that going for him. Or is it what I have going for me?"

"Who can say?" David hid another smile as he heard an audible, annoyed exhale. They really were alike. With that thought in his head, he took his phone out and sent a text to Jason: Taking Simon for a tattoo.

A few moments later he got a response: Against his will?

Simon glanced at his brother as David gave a low chuckle. Putting his head straight, he continued driving in silence as his grip on the wheel tightened.

No, David texted back. Silly. Jason sent an emoji of a ghost. David had no idea what that meant, so he ignored it and sent: I might get another piercing. Is that okay? The reply made him laugh. "Stupid," he murmured. Then texted the same thing. The reply was something that made him quickly turn his phone down and put it away, all the while trying—and failing—to suppress a smile.

Simon pushed down his annoyance and kept his silence throughout the exchange. When he saw the phone put away, he said, as casually as he could, "How are things with you and...him?"

"You don't have to ask," David said. "I know you don't like him."

"I'm interested," Simon said. He glanced at David. "If for purely selfish reasons. Graduation is getting close, isn't it?"

Dark eyes glanced up at him, and the smile faded from David's face. Things had been a little awkward between him and Jason—no, not awkward, more like tense. There were times when it felt normal again, like when they texted, but in person, it was hard to ignore the elephant in the room. David knew he could not put it off any longer. "I thought about what you asked me."

Simon sat up a little straighter, his heart beating a little faster as he licked dry lips. "And?" he asked. "Did you decide?"

"I did." A pause. "I'm sorry."

"Oh."

"I really am sorry."

"I get it," Simon said. "Just out of curiosity," he added, "if he hadn't been around, would you have...?"

"Probably," David said. "But that wouldn't have been a good idea."

"Why not?" Simon couldn't help but ask, a little more persistently than he should have. "What would have been so bad about us living together? It's not like we haven't done it before."

"I just think it would be too soon for us."

"But it wasn't too soon for you to move in with him," Simon said sharply.

"He's—Jason has nothing to do with this," David said, getting annoyed himself. "I decided. He doesn't even know yet."

"I don't understand," Simon said. "Give me one good reason—"

"This," David said. "Right here. You're in such a hurry to fix things between us, but it won't happen so easily. I'm not ready for it to happen so easily. You were gone for so long, Simon," David said, his voice almost breaking. "You're my brother, but I don't really know you."

"But that's why," Simon said, softening his voice. "We could get to know each other, be a part of other's day to day life. Like we used to."

"That's the problem, Simon," David said, so quietly Simon almost couldn't hear him. "We can't be like we used to—I don't want to be like we used to, because how we used to be was awful."

Simon sat, stunned into silence. David's words had hit him harder than expected, mainly because they were unexpected. His memory of their childhood together wasn't perfect, but neither did he think it was that bad. Evidently the same could not be said for David. "I-I didn't realize," he said, "how bad it was for you. I'm sorry."

Bleached hair swayed as David shook his head and turned away towards the window. He said nothing, but Simon could see his chest moving with deeper breaths.

"I'm sorry," Simon said, more sincerely. "If that's your decision, I'll respect it. Just this is enough, getting to spend time with you." He glanced at his brother, worried that he had made things worse between them. "My offer still stands, though: wherever you decide to go to college, I'll help with whatever you need."

"Thank you," David said, knowing he would never take Simon up on his offer. "For that, and—" He turned his head, but didn't meet Simon's gaze. "And thank you...for coming back for me."

Blue eyes widened behind dark glasses. Without warning, the car swerved and pulled to an abrupt stop on the shoulder of the road. Simon unbuckled his seatbelt, reached over, and pulled a bewildered David into a hug.

"Sorry," Simon said, his voice muffled by David's shoulder and what sounded like tears being held back. "I know you hate being touched, but just let me do this."

David stiffened in surprise, eyes wide, then slowly he relaxed, and rose his hands to lightly pat the other man's back. They sat that way for many minutes, as outside the light slowly faded from the sky, plunging the trees on either side into darkness.

**

Jason had been dozing when he heard the front door open and shut. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was three minutes after midnight. He sat up just as the bedroom door opened. "Hey," he said sleepily to the slender figure that came in.

"Hey," David said, dropping his bag on the floor by the door. "Were you asleep?"

"In and out," Jason said. He eyed the young man, dressed in light wash jeans, a black t-shirt and a red plaid shirt tied around his waist. His hair, growing out of the bleach, was half up, and fringing at his nape. "You weren't wearing that when I saw you earlier."

"I changed after school. To meet Simon."

"If I had seen you, I wouldn't have let you leave the house in that outfit."

"Why?"

"You look too cute. Someone might run away with you."

David couldn't help but smile. "Go back to sleep."

Jason lay back on the bed as David began to take off his shoes. He heard padded footsteps, the rush of water from the bathroom, squeak of the faucet, then the creak of the closet door. Next moment he felt the bed depress around him and a weight settle on his waist. Without opening his eyes, and with a half-smile on his lips, he said, "Didn't you tell me to go back to sleep?"

"I did."

"This seems like its leading to something one should be awake for."

"I got my lip checked."

Finally opening his eyes, Jason looked up at David. The young man leaned over him, hair haloing his narrow face, his hands braced on the bed beside Jason.

"It's fully healed," David said, his gaze dropping to Jason's lips. "My piercing."

Putting a bored look on his face, Jason said, "So?"

"So this," David said. And he bent forward and kissed Jason, catching him off guard with a low sound of surprise. Raising his hand to cup the back of David's head, Jason tilted his chin up further, feeling the small ring against his lips, hard and cool, and then David's lips, soft and warm. His other hand slid up David's knee, pausing at a rip in the fabric and sliding under to caress bare flesh, before continuing up. Raising up slightly from his abdomen, he put one hand at David's back, the other behind his head, and rolled, never breaking their kiss as he brought David to the bed under him.

But just before things could get started, David pulled away. "I also bought something for you," he said, slightly breathless from the kiss.

"Oh?" Jason murmured. "You're full of surprises today. What is it?"

"It's in my bag."

Jason moved off him, and David went to his bag and took out a small paper bag, folded in half. After giving it to the other man, he lay on his stomach, face half buried in a pillow, and watched with some apprehension as Jason opened the bag. Turning it upside down, Jason let a small transparent plastic packet fall into his hand. Inside was a thin leather bracelet intertwined with ropes of silver, and a charm of a heart.

Jason gave a low whistle.

"Do you like it?" came the quiet question from his right.

"I do," Jason said. "It's just my style."

"You don't have to wear it."

"Of course, I'm going to wear it," Jason said, immediately strapping it on his wrist. Turning it this way and that, he admired it in the low light from the bedside lamp. Leaning over, he kissed David on the temple. "I love it," he said. "Just like I love you."

Raising and turning his head from the pillow, David allowed the other man to kiss him on the lips, softly and briefly. "I love you, too," he said. Looking up into the handsome face, he touched Jason's cheek. "I have something to tell you."

Green eyes met his. Jason sighed. "I have something to tell you, too."