After Lover for Pay: ONESHOTS

Scar Tissue Pt3

As Henry stood at the bottom of the stairs, he was eased when Daniel kissed the back of his shoulder. He still wasn't all too comfortable opening up to his brother about this, but if it would help get rid of some of the tension caked up inside him, he'd put his shakiness aside and deal with it. London was upstairs with the kids, back and forth from room to room putting clean laundry away. When Henry wavered another moment, he looked back over his shoulder. Daniel touched his hair kindly, nuzzling his nose into the other boy's shirt. Receiving a look of declaration, Henry then took the first step up the stairs, trekking up to the top.

Daniel went for the bedroom as Henry looked for London, nearly running into both Layla and Naomi when they came running out of their bedroom in matching Minnie Mouse outfits. The little girls looked excitedly up at their uncle and smiled with much glee. They were about to say something, but when Ozzy came scampering out after them with a Power Rangers mask over his face, the three of them continued on into the playroom down the wide corridor. Inside the bedroom, London was grabbing out small shirts and hung them up in Benjamin's closet. The little five-year-old was sitting on the floor putting a simple puzzle together, and when he saw his uncle first, he fixed his goggle-like glasses on his face, and said, "Hi, Uncle Henry, you been gone forever!"

London turned around then, the mere look in his eyes telling Henry right away the man wasn't happy with him. As he finished putting the last shirt away, London grabbed the empty basket from his hip, and headed for the door. "You know, I should be pissed off at you. I don't like when you're out too late, especially when it's already almost past midnight." He turned into the playroom area, stepping over toys so he wouldn't fall as Henry followed. There were still a couple of things to put away, but it seemed first he wanted to finish getting out his upset. "You're damn lucky Marbell was the one who caught you leaving, or else I would have hauled your butt back to your room."

"I'm sorry."

"Truthfully, I don't think you are, Henry," London countered fast. He wasn't yelling, but the tone in his voice gave away his frustration. Keeping an eye on the twins and Ozzy as they ran about the play area, he continued. "I get it, you're twenty-one, and by all means you probably should be able to do whatever the heck you want, but that's not always going to be the case when you live under my roof. The first night we moved in here, I gave you one rule, just one, I want you home at a reasonable time. I don't want you driving around, or out doing anything that might get you into trouble. And trust me, it's not always going to be your fault when shit hits the fan. I know I act like I'm your Old Man all the time, and I've done some crazy things in my younger years, but I kind of think I've earned the right to care about where and what my family is doing."

This is what Henry hadn't wanted coming in here. London wouldn't admit that he was angry, but he was, and it was all his fault for putting that worry on top of his older brother. "I'm sorry," he tried for a second time, "I just wanted to–."

"See Daniel, I know," London finally sat down, seemingly only to because Ozzy and the twins had as well to watch the cartoons on the television. "Marbell told me everything. I understand you're in love with the guy, and you want to be with him all day, every day. Plus, I probably think I shouldn't be complaining because I did and do the exact same thing with Marbell. So I'll just shut up and leave you alone about it already. Just no more midnights, okay? I can't help but need to know my family is safe...It's who I am."

"Then–," Henry tried, "Then you're not going to like what I have to tell you."

Just by the sound of Henry's low tone, London knew it was serious. It was a rare occasion when his little brother spoke gravely. "What happened?" he asked, because he knew something did.