To love is to burn. To be on fire.
~Jane Austen
Derrick:
Stalled Labor.
Breech birth.
Fetal distress.
Hence the C-section. This was decided four hours later after their arrival at the hospital. Reason? Derrick had no clue. You'd expect a high level of competence from the doctors handling The Anderson's and Williams' health issues...but no. Since Laura's gynaecologist was no where to be seen the rest of the staff were reluctant to do anything because Dario's old man refused to call the shots. The gynaecologist was apparently, out of the country to attend some seminar and shit.
For the medical institution, KRH was the best in town but it was an Anderson's facilities. The management was still under the old man Anderson because, apparently, the son didn't want to get involved his father's business. The father and son were beefing. Derrick had at some point in time asked Dario if KRH was their only option. KRH happened to not be their only option but their best option. Dario's dad, however, had proposed a deal which he was reluctant to take thus the reluctance from the staff.
To say he was scared was an understatement. He had seen the emotional distress miscarriage had brought to her mom three years ago. Any time Laura was pregnant, Derrick became a worried mess. Even with the twins, God knows how fucking scared he was. If anything had happened to the babies, then his mother would have completely shut down.
Right then, they were in a luxurious room, probably a VIP waiting room. Dario had seemingly accepted his old man's deal seeing that they were being treated well. Derrick looked around the room, the twins had fallen asleep. Dario was cuddling Shawn and Gabriel was taking care of Elise. Derrick has never been a fan of the two. To him they were irritatingly loud and clumsy and needy and cute and small...so many other things two and half years old babies were. Leigh on the other hand, adored the twins. She was always insisting on baby-sitting even on school-days, loved playing with them and all. However, right then, she was suspiciously pulling away. Not just from the twins but from everyone. She'd been quiet ever since he saw her that afternoon. She wasn't even flirting with Rex which was a first. She was obsessed with Rex. Maybe she was just as worried as him.
He let his gaze fall on the people at the far-most corner of the room. Rex and Shane were cuddling on the couch, taking up the whole space. Kayden sat unbothered next to them scrolling through his phone probably stalking random k-pop idols. Nathan, Hudson and Kyle were also sitted doing their own things. He was the only one standing thinking about every worse things that could happen. Thankfully, Dario was occupied, or he would be his accomplice in worry.
It was already thirty minutes since she was taken into the operating room. As the C-section end drew near, his worry heightened. He was fidgeting alot, something so odd on his always calm demeanor.
"You're doing it again." A familiar deep voice interrupted his trail of thoughts. He spared his intruder a mean glance before his whole bearing changed. A wide smile appeared on his ever-stoic face as he jumped on the older guy.
"Uncle Alex." Derrick whispered in relief.
Alexander Morgan. Alex was his parent's childhood best friend. He got even more involved in the Williams family affairs after the tragedy killed Ray Williams, always taking care of them as his own. Ask him who he loved the most and he would mention Alex; that is of course after his mother.
"Hey there buddy." Alex greated, chuckling gently. Derrick hugged him even more tighter, comfortably fixing his legs around Alex's waist. He seemed comfortable, with shoulders slumped in relief and face on the crook of the older man's neck. His uncle's presence was his mood serotonin.
Still, good things don't last long. His haven was interrupted with a creepy shrill. Derrick groaned, inwardly planning a murder in his head. Even their sibling bond would not stop him this time around.
"Move Derrick." Leigh demanded untangling his older brothers legs from Alex's waist. His grip tightened, not willing to let go. However, some little coercion from Alex with a promise to have him overnight and the next day did the magic and he finally gave his brooding sister a chance. Too bad, her chance ended sooner. Her shrill had evidently woken the twins who were now running towards them, reaching out their tiny little hands in attempt to grab him.
"They don't even know you that well." Derrick grumbled in annoyance. His uncle let out an amused chuckle before turning his attention to the twins. When the three including Leigh stated filling Alex on what he'd missed, Derrick tuned them out. He was not a fan of conversing with toddlers.
His eyes roamed the room in search of an empty sitting space. That's when he saw the additional guy in the room. If he could remember clearly, his name was Asher. Dario's best friend and Mohan Smith's older brother. He thought of saying hello but decided otherwise when he saw the two older friends secretly conversing.
The atmosphere in the room had completely changed. Dario was no longer lost in his thoughts, Leigh was smiling alot and his mates were conversing amongst themselves. He appreciated the peaceful noise. It kinda made him a little optimistic about the situation.
Few minutes later, the doctor came out of the operating room with good news lightening the atmosphere even more. His mother was fine. Just needed time to recover. The baby was surprisingly healthy. She would be in the neonatal intensive care unit for a few days. Yeah. A she. You wouldn't want to see the crestfallen look on Dario's face. The guy was obsessed with boys. Nonetheless, he adored the girls. Leigh and Elise were always the most loved.
Even after being told that Laura was still not conscious, Dario insisted on seeing his wife.
"He's like a smitten fool." Asher commented, taking the space beside Alex. He was standing suspiciously close to his uncle but Derrick didn't let his mind create inexistent scenarios. His uncle was (normal).
"What love makes us do." Alex playfully retorted. If Derrick didn't know better, he would have said Alex was teasing Asher. He stared at the shorter of the two, and he swore he was blushing. Apart from the confusing blush, he noticed another thing. There were some striking similarities between Asher and Kyle. Both were small in a cute way, a little pale with full pink lips and longer eyebrows. Hell! They also had the same darker shade of blue in their eyes.
"Another brunnet with a dyed hair..." Came a random comment from Alex. Derrick must have been staring at Kyle alot because the comment, even though was directed at Kyle, was said in playful tone with Alex's eyes on him. Embarrassed from being caught staring, Derrick looked down, hopefully wishing the warmness on his cheeks was not a blush.
"You can tell?" An excited Kyle asked. Aaargh! That smile. Kyle's smile was Derrick's wickness. He could swear no one was immune to that smile. Kyle knew this and used it to his advantage. When he got into problems with the tutors, he would just flush them perfect teeth and they would immediately fold. That smile,even not directed to him, got him cursing in frustration. His reaction earned him a raised eyebrows from Alex which he ignored.
"Not easily though. Mastered the techniques after years of observing someone else obsessed with dying their hair red, so I can tell." He mysteriously answered. It was when Derrick was sitted at the back-seat of Asher's car that he noticed that Asher was also a redhead. But...it couldn't have been Asher his uncle was referring to earlier right? Alex was sitted on the passenger seat and Kyle was at the back with him. Apparently, Asher and Kyle had hit it off and was asked to join. Derrick didn't even think much about this arrangement...them in Asher's car instead of Alex's car. His uncle was normal. He was the only one who was not normal.
~
"So Kyle...?" It came out as a question but a keen person could tell it was probing. They had been catching up on everything for the past hour until his uncle randomly brought Kyle as a topic. Alex had been trying to avoid the topic hoping to make their conversation as innocent as a conversation with a twelve year old could be. Still, the younger boy was making it hard for him by bringing him up in almost all their topics. Alex asked him about life at Seven Rings and Derrick found it was appropriate to mention that Kyle's room was directly opposite his. He was asked about studies, he mentioned Kyle's manipulative smile on tutors. A question on his closest friend, he mentioned Hudson and Kyle's friendship. It was like his life revolved around Kyle.
The boy in question was already asleep in one of the unoccupied rooms. Asher on the other hand, Derrick couldn't tell. The guy had mysteriously disappeared as soon as they arrived at his uncle's place.
"What?" Derrick inquired, unsuspectingly confused.
"You seem to like him a lot. Are you two friends?"
"No. Remember, I told you we don't even talk." Of course, in that past hour, he had let it slip that Kyle hadn't said a word to him ever since his first day at Seven Rings. This arrangement seemingly saddened him. It was one of the reasons behind his many insecurities.
"Why?" Derrick just shrugged trying to hide his disappointment. He really wanted to talk to his uncle about everything...how he spent unhealthy amount of time staring at Kyle, how his chest tightned when he and Hudson were together(which was all the time), how he really wanted to talk to Kyle but couldn't because he was scared of embarrassing himself in front of him...how everything Kyle did intrigued him...how the feelings scared him.
He was hoping his uncle could suggest some options for help. After all, this was not normal. He was not normal. However, he didn't dare say anything. Just shrugged anytime he was asked anything about the boy. In as much he wanted to talk about it, he was scared of his uncle's reaction. Scared of his uncle not wanting anything to do with him just because he was not normal.
"I think that he is nice. A little reserved with strangers but friendly." Derrick just nodded. " Now that you two don't get along, where will you sleep? I don't want any of you to be uncomfortable."
"In my room." Derrick answered in the most are you seriously asking tone. Alex's house was like a second home to him...Seven Rings was his third home. So of course he had his own room there. Also, the house was a fucking Bangalore so there shouldn't have been a problem with Kyle's sleeping arrangement. However, that seemed to be the problem. His uncle expressed the same thing;
"Now that's the problem. I have been away for so long so the other rooms are not ready. I wasn't planning to come back until November but your mom went into premature labor. I had only two room because I guessed you would have wished to spend the night here. It's only your room and mine. Unless you want to sleep with me, you'll have to sleep with Kyle." Both options sounded so wrong to Derrick. It's not like he had never slept in his uncle's room. Not really. It's just lately he had been waking up with random boners which creeped him out and he didn't want Alex to know this. His room, on the other hand, for some uncertain reasons, was out of bound.
"I'll sleep on the couch." The couch was big and comfortable enough. He would be able to manage. He regretted his suggestion soon as he voiced it. Alex hated the idea of sleeping on the couch. His childhood had been traumatizing. After his parent's death, they were taken in by his aunt who didn't treat them well. From his childhood, he often explained, was the reason why he would never let anyone sleep on the couch. To him, sleeping on the couch meant being unwelcomed. So when he saw Alex wince after he suggested that, he took it back just as soon.
"Sorry. I didn't mean that. Maybe we can call a taxi to take me back." That was a reasonable suggestion but..
"Is it so bad of an idea to stay over? You always loved spending time here. What changed?" Alex was frowning and Derrick was beginning to feel guilty. He was making a big deal out of everything; he thought. Fuck boners and awkwardness. He was just going to sleep in his room with Kyle.
"Not really. Just didn't want to inconvenience anyone."
"So my little nephew is growing up huh." Alex teased lightly making Derrick flush. His uncle didn't need to know just how much growing he was doing.
~
Planning and execution are entirely different things. Derrick realized. He had planned to be indifferent that night. Fuck awkwardness... remember? However, as soon as he closed the door behind him and saw the smaller boy squirm in the bed, he tensed.
Kyle was a light sleeper. Even the lightest of the things woke him up.
"Hi." Hi? Derrick looked at him confused. Three years of Kyle treating him like he didn't exist didn't have to change just because they needed to share a room. Why did things have to change . He really wanted to voice this out loud but this was Kyle. If what Kayden said about his obsession with him was true, then he didn't want to be mean to him.
"Hey. Sorry I woke you up."
'Great job Derrick. You did great' He mentally applauded himself.
"No shit. It's my fault I'm a light sleeper." He smiled reassuringly at him.
That smile.
Derrick cursed that smile in his head. He was getting more tensed than he wished just being around Kyle. In his defence, he was only twelve and it was scientifically impossible for twelve years old to know how to act in such situations!
"But you don't have to worry about any other sleeping behavior, " Kyle continued, "I don't snore. Neither do I tose much in my sleep. I also don't talk in my sleep and I'm not a natural cuddler. So you are safe."
Derrick wondered if he was the only irrational one. Kyle was surprisingly handling this situation better than he expected. He was acting so mature. Thinking about this, he remembered Kyle was older than him. However, surprisingly he was the shortest in Seven Rings. Even Derrick was at 5'7. Sometimes his 5'3 height made him think he was just as younger.
Kyle was rational, mature and unvexingly honest. What he said about his sleeping behavior was true. He stuck to his end of the bed the whole night, not disturbing Derrick's sleep. Nonetheless, Derrick still woke up before time, hoping to hide any evidence of a boner that might have came up in his sleep. That night, his body didn't mess him up though. He slept close to Kyle without having his usual 'abnormal' reactions.
When Kyle said he was a light sleeper, he really meant it. He was waking up just as soon and with a bright smile, he let out a soft, "Good morning, Derry" and fuck.
That smile again and the sleepy voice!
If Derrick waa not spotting a boner before, then that immediately changed!