waywarddone | This is the dawning of the rest of our lives

"Who said you'd invite me? I'd come late at night and lure you outside we could bang in one of those rusty cars. I could have just daydreamed about your room, would have looked like this in my mind too." And he could do a lot with a fantasy. It was easy, straight boys sort of led themselves to that and in Sam's case, he debunked a lot of that with his hidden bi-ness. All the fantasy plus some reality.

He kissed Sam again, wondering just how comfortable Sam was to make out with him in his old childhood bedroom. So far, he didn't seem to have a big issue with it. Harry put his arms around Sam's shoulders and playfully nipped at his neck.

"Hey Sammy?! Get your ass down here and say hello!" Matty's voice suddenly cut through their moment, booming up the stairs and towards Sam's room.

At first, Sam was very comfortable making out with Harry in his old childhood bedroom, just as he had always been happy to make out with him most anywhere else. Although he was slightly less fond of PDA than Harry, because he still had some common decency and Harry seemed to consider that a flaw.

However, then his brother's voice was suddenly in his ear and it took willpower to not push Harry off his lap. He did pull away from him though, immediately feeling caught out. "Shit, I didn't know he would... I'm so-- That's Matty."

He assumed that was kind of obvious from context and here he was blushing, as if he had been caught doing something bad. "Guess we gotta." Damn it. He'd rather hide under his bed.

"Huh." That was fascinating. Sam was all into making out and as soon as he heard his brother's voice, there was almost a wave of shame that came over him. Fear. Uncertainty. This was going to be one hell of a treat. Harry got himself up and off of Sam, holding a hand out to help him up and then letting go. "Chill. You're with me, aren't you? So who cares? Let him be a dick."

If that was what was going to happen, it was going to happen. No amount of playing straight would fix it.

"Besides, I like dicks. I am a dick. It'll give me something fun to do." He loved to poke homophobes. "Don't be so worried - you know I can hold my own."

"Yeah, no. I know you can." Sam wasn't sure how to put his feelings into words, that urge to be cool enough for Matty's standard. The fear of letting him down. Of being a disappointment after everything that Matty had done for him and sacrificed for him. He didn't wat to put any of those worries on Harry, so he simply got up, took Harry's hand and smiled as best he could. "I love you, yeah? No matter what."

Even if Matty would hate him for it. He walked over, still holding Harry's hand, and unlocked the door. Then he walked down the stairs with him and held his free hand up to greet his big brother once he'd spotted him. "Hey, Matty."

"Hey, Sammy. I picked up dinner from the diner. I didn't know what you wanted so I got that weird garden burger they put on recently. Got be the gayest thing--" The words sort of trailed off as Matty looked away from the bag he was unpacking to his brother and the weird little guy he was holding hands with. Jesus, that guy looked like such a douche.

Harry saw that look and he couldn't help it. He didn't feel shame or concern, he just smiled widely. Bobby was more intimidating to him that Matty. Matty he could understand and handle but not Bobby. "Hey, what's up, man?" He smiled at Matty and let go of Sam so he could come down the stairs and hold out his hand to Matty. "I'm Harry Osborn. Nice to meet you."

"Uh-huh." Matty took his hand but he was looking at Sam, not Harry.

Edited 2024-10-12 18:39 (UTC)

"Harry's my boyfriend. I told you about him." Kind of. Well, he had said he had a boyfriend and he hadn't exactly wanted to have any kind of conversation about it because he hadn't wanted to hear what Matty would have to say about it. "And that's Matty. My big brother."

"When you are done shaking hands like at a business meeting, set the table. Matty and Sam, not you." Bobby gestured at Harry. "You just sit down, you're a guest."

The boys had to show some manners here.

The way Matty squeezed Harry's hand was painful and the guy pulled his hand back, retreating a little as Bobby spoke to them. He watched Harry kiss Sam on the cheek and dreaded to think what dad would say about this. He failed Sam, he knew he did, but the idiot wanted to go to college. It was just a phase. A phase and then it was over.

Once Harry was sitting, Matty turned to Bobby and smirked. "We're setting a table? La dee da. I was just gonna eat out of the containers."

Rolling his eyes, he went into the kitchen to get plates. God, how he was supposed to not murder that idiot with the skinny jeans tonight? It was unfair, honestly.

Sam shot Bobby a look filled with anger and despair and Bobby simply shrugged, turning his attention to Harry. "You should check out the annex later. Never even used that word once in my life before my friend had one built. That's the most accessible part of the house, for me. Reckon it might be more your speed than their smelly old rooms."

And maybe he just wanted to give Harry something to talk about that wasn't related to the tension between the brothers. Sam walked into the kitchen behind Matty, opening a drawer noisily and getting out cutlery. They never really set the table much, but he did want to give Harry a good impression. Which was why he'd been hoping Matty wouldn't be around. "...thanks for getting food."

There. He was trying.

"Of course I got the food. I pick up shit for Bobby all the time. This ain't special." Matty highlighted, one step away from just outright saying 'I didn't leave' because he hadn't left. He finished collecting the plates and then tilted his head to the side, watching Harry and Bobby talk to each other from the living room.

"Unbelievable. You better not hold hands with him in town or you're gonna get your dumb ass into trouble." Matty pointed out in Spanish before he moved into the other room, preventing Sam from answering back. He started to set the plates down, eyeing up Bobby and Harry discussing fucking home design. Damn queers.

Sam had prepared so many retorts for that. He had known Matty would say something like that and he had practised it in his head endlessly. Yet when Matty actually said it, in Spanish no less, he felt as if he'd been kicked in the stomach. He had to blink because it felt as if tears might spring to his eyes and he tightened his hands so much that it hurt, fingernails leaving little imprints in his palm.

He was used to so much worse, him and Harry got it all the time. Just like racism too. Sometimes they provoked it on purpose. But it had never hurt him before because it had never been Matty. Matty so soon after yet another quip about him leaving.

It took him a few moments longer before he followed Matty out of the kitchen and then he simply focused on his task, setting the cutlery down next to the plates. He felt like there was a knot in his throat and he wanted to be anywhere but here. Bravely, he sat down next to Harry instead of bolting, and he reached for his hand under the table, even though he didn't look at him.

"Thanks, boys," Bobby said, seeing the usual fallout of the brothers being in a fight. Ah, family time. "If we are doing proper Christmas this year, someone's gonna have to go out and chop down a tree. I've got a feeling it ain't gonna be me. Or Harry here, either. We got better things to do."

"I'll handle it," Sam promised, glancing at Harry with an almost shy smile, "You always say I've got lumberjack style."

"It's the plaid and the muscles. I think you got that one, it's not really a job for me." Harry held onto Sam's hand, sensing that whatever was happening, he needed that moral support. Matty kept looking at him with such hate but Harry didn't care, he only cared that Sam cared. That Sam was getting hurt. "You guys always chop down a tree yourselves?"

"We usually don't have trees. Sam never wanted to celebrate before but this year, he's all about those fairy--" He took a pause while sipping his beer. "Lights."

Harry squeezed Sam's hand again. "They're pretty, I get it. I like when they're colourful. Monochrome just makes me think of the tree we had. It was not very festive."

"Just thought it'd be nice having new traditions. Like coming home and celebrating Christmas. They all talked about it at-- Where we were, so. I just thought." And he was not even mentioning the words 'uni', 'Stanford' or anything adjacent to those words. "Harry grew up in a weird place," Sam told Bobby, who nodded his head.

"You come from money, yeah? I always felt that rich folk have weird tastes. Big rooms and a lot of crap, huh?" He certainly felt that way about Aleister's place.

"Oh yeah, I have the bones of some kind of predatory animal in a glass case in my room. I don't know why. It's been there since I was a kid. And we have a lot of oddly shaped lamps, just to make people awkwardly fumble to get the light going. It's gonna be a treat when you come home to mine." Harry promised Sam, bracing him for a strange experience.

"So you're gonna introduce our Sammy to your parents?" Matty gave a look that showed how little he thought that would go down well. White, rich boy dating a queer Hispanic.

"Parent. I only have a dad and probably not. I can only ever get his secretary." Harry didn't seem phased by the questioning, looking at Sam with a playful smile. "You can meet her, she's nice. If you want to meet my dad, it's a 8-12 week wait."

"I mean, his secretary does seem lovely. She always sends you nice presents in his name, anyway." That was always fun to come home to, the guessing game alone when coming home to a mysterious package wrapped in expensive black wrapping paper. Norman Osborn certainly had commitment to an aesthetic.

Looking at Matty, Sam tried a smile. Without seeming confrontational. "I'd be down to meet his dad. Now he's met Bobby, so." And Bobby was the closest thing he had to a dad and he wasn't a dick like their actual dad.

"Sorry I ain't got a secretary that sends presents," Bobby threw in, while reaching for his beer. "I got Rufus around sometimes. You can meet him, Harry, bet he'd love you."

Only Bobby wasn't their dad. Sam liked to play pretend but they had a dad and he sure as shit wouldn't want his boy running around town holding the hands of an uptown yuppie like this. Matty took a bite of his burger and wondered how the fuck he was supposed to handle this shit.

"I can't wait to meet him. It's fun, seeing the sort of folks you get around here."

"So we're a novelty?" Matty asked, confronting Harry, annoyed by everything about this punk. How he dressed, his accent, the way he hadn't touch any of the food. Too good for diner food. Prissy bastard.

"I don't know, I kind of think we're all novelties to one another. I've never been to scrapyard in south Dakota and I bet you've never be in Oscorp tower in New York. You ever been to New York?" Harry asked casually, not willing to get dragged down while Sam was sitting here.

"Yeah, I've been. What, you think I can't travel further than here?" Stuck up bastard. "I've been to every state in this great country. Sammy too. We went with our dad."

"Oh yeah. And we got to see all the sights. One shitty motel at a time." Sam spoke up, wanting to protect his boyfriend from the prickliness. He put some of his fries on Harry's plate, hoping that those would be easier for him to eat. Although he wasn't surprised if the atmosphere here put a dampener on his already weak appetite. "I don't remember anything from New York, whenever I was there. I look forward to going with Harry some time."

"I ain't ever been one for city living, but there's some upsides, gotta admit." Bobby was trying to keep the peace, such as it was. "Never really considered it for myself, though these days it'd make things easier. Not exactly accessible, living around here."

"I guess you'll have a better time seeing the states without your family. More freedom, eh? Don't want to be dragged down by us lot, Sammy." Matty tossed back at him, wounded that Sam talked about it like he did. Matty had some many fond memories, so much knowledge from so many states and he had experienced things no one else had. Sammy was ashamed of him and dad. He eyed up Harry, narrowing his eyes. "Don't like the burger?"

"I'm not hungry." Harry wished Sam didn't have to deal with this shit, his brother was being a complete asshole. He tried to ignore Matty, it didn't seem worth it. "I get what you mean though, Bobby. The accessibility is better in cities, most places have ramps around New York these days and I saw similar things in California. European isn't half bad for it either."

"Jesus." Matty exhaled in annoyance as he tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. Now Bobby wanted to leave too? Great.

"I never got to Europe. Been in Asia with the army, didn't look for accessibility back then though." Bobby took another sip of his beer. "Easy to take things for granted when you're young and fit."

Sam was glaring at Matty, who wasn't even looking at him. Fucking asshole. "Maybe Harry and I will go on holiday in Europe." Now he was just trying to provoke. "And him and I could travel to meet abuela too."

Anything but their shitty dad.

"You're just gonna go ahead and meet the whole family. Except dad. You disrespect your family, you ungrateful bastard. Run off to mom's family, you never even knew her. You knew dad. You owe dad." Matty snapped, annoyed at Sam for doing this. For being so damn ashamed of everything they had together. Now it was just all about his fucking boyfriend and his fancy now life at college. "Dad would be embarrassed by you."

Matty stood up and shoved his chair back, walking into the kitchen before he really lost his temper. He was on the verge of decking that ungrateful little punk.

Harry tried to hold onto Sam's arm so he didn't follow, it didn't seem like a wise move.

"Good!" Sam wanted to say more. He wanted to say how he was embarrassed by his father and how Matty was embarrassing him right now. He wanted to throw so many well-worded arguments in Matty's face, but instead he simply sat there, mind blank.

"Fuck," he finally muttered, casting a look Harry's way and muttering an apology before getting to his feet and following after Matty into the kitchen.

"How am I gonna introduce him to dad when I don't fucking know where he is? I haven't heard from dad in... I don't even remember! I bet you have. I bet you've had talks about what shame I'm bringing on the family by wanting something different out of my life!" He glared at Matty and then added, quieter, "It's not my fault I never knew mom."

Bobby looked at Harry, reaching over to briefly touch his shoulder. "Got nothing to do with you, son. They're just... They're gonna be fine. Also, they gotta stop acting like I don't know Spanish."

"Dad knows you don't want to talk to him. You don't exactly make it a secret." Dad hadn't spoke to Matteo in a long time, he blamed Matty for Sam leaving and Matty knew why. He helped Sam, drove him there, let him study for the tests. He betrayed his dad for Sam and now Sam was here, different and -- happy. He hated it and he hated himself for hating it. He wanted Sam to regret college, he wanted him to come back and again, he hated himself for that to because he didn't. He wanted Sam to flourish.

"Well, you got something different. Gonna be a big city lawyer in New York, then you can experience the happiness for the first time with your boyfriend. Cause God knows, we ruined your whole damn life."

Harry listened to the two talking rapidly and swiftly in the other room and then turned to Bobby, shrugging. "I've had weirder dinners. I went to prep school." There was a business feud every lunch time. Still, he didn't feel great about this, he didn't want to see Sam so upset. "Sam really loves Matty but he's so scared of him."

Edited 2024-10-12 20:10 (UTC)

"You are putting words into my mouth. You always-- I never said that! I don't think you've ruined my life, I know I owe you. I know what you've done for me." He just wanted to be somewhere where he could be himself without the weight of all that guilt and the expectations he didn't want to fulfil heaped upon him.

"I've been happy with you." Damn, he just sounded like a petulant child. Sam wanted to be back up in his room with Harry in his arms. Or better, miles and miles away, in their place. Far away from everything here.

Bobby listened in on their conversation, trying to judge whether he needed to interfere. He looked at Harry though, giving a reluctant nod. "Matty was more of a dad for him in some ways. So it's messed up. Matty wants what's best for Sam, he just feels rejected. He ain't bad, he's just got a lot he wants to live up to."

"Whatever, I don't care. You just watch yourself. Walking around these parts with that stuck up snob? You're not gonna like the attention you get." Matty warned as he opened the fridge, got another beer and twisted the top off. He flicked the cap at Sam, trying to keep to his anger. Anger was better than sadness. He wanted to hug his brother, he wanted to tell him how much he missed him and how proud he was.

He just couldn't handle all of this. College was one thing but a fucking boyfriend too? "It's a phase." Matty said it in English, looking away from Sam as he walked to the other end of the kitchen. "He looks down on us. On you. You're making an idiot of yourself."

Well, that part Harry could hear, as the language had stopped. He raised an eyebrow and then looked at Bobby. "Should I pretend I don't know English like you do with Spanish ooooor..."

Edited 2024-10-12 20:23 (UTC)

"You think we don't get shit where we live? Sorry, being homophobic isn't just a countryside trait, doesn't go away any more than racism does." Sam defended himself and Harry right away, glaring at Matty. "He's not ashamed of me. Of us. Not like you are. So I think I'll stay in my "phase"."

Bobby rolled back a little, trying to decide whether he should move over to the kitchen. "Can you two stop behaving like idjits under my roof?! I'll send you to your rooms if I have to."

"Fine, fine. Whatever. I'm out." Matty held his hands up and then came in to show Bobby he was going to tap out. "I'll be at work tomorrow, I'm gonna go for a walk. Get a beer."

Matty didn't even say bye, he just went right for the door and slammed it petulantly on the way out. Like the dickhead he felt like being today.

"Huh... he seems nice." Harry looked at the door and then looked at Sam. Damn. The kicked puppy face. "You okay, Sam?"

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