It was pouring down rain when Boots got off of the subway, and as he climbed the steps to the sidewalk, the water trickled through his tightly-curled hair and slid down his face. He didn't feel a thing as he blinked the raindrops out of his eyes, he just stared ahead and walked.

He was soaked by the time he reached Jack's apartment, his clothes sticking to his skin and dripping quietly on the hallway floor.

As Jack opened the door, he gasped. "Jesus Christ, Cornelius! What in the hell happened to you?"

Boots shrugged and stared down at his shoes. "Can I come in?"

Jack stared at his little brother, wide-eyed. He nodded and stepped aside, watching Boots as he walked in. "Are... are you okay?" He shut the door and leaned against it, just watching Boots look around the apartment. "How come you're all the way out here?"

Boots shrugged again. "Just thought I'd come out and visit, I guess." He looked up at Jack, and what could almost be mistaken for a half-smile was playing on his lips. "Wanted to see my big brother."

Jack rolled his eyes and walked into the living room. "You're lying to me, Boots."

"How do you know?"

Shaking his head, Jack began digging through the basket of laundry on the couch. "Please, kiddo. I am the king of bullshit, I know it when I see it."

"Queen," said a voice from the doorway. Boots turned around to see Jack's roommate, Spot, leaning against the door frame between the living room and the kitchen, smirking as he chewed a bite of sandwich.

"'Scuze me?" Jack said, straightening.

Spot swallowed and grinned. "You are the queen of bullshit."

"Shut up, Spot, you know you love the cock just as much as I do!" Jack threw a balled-up sock at Spot and Boots almost laughed.

Spot laughed and looked over at Boots, smiling. "Hiya, Boots, how's it rollin'?"

Lifting one shoulder, Boots shook his head. "Eh... I'm alive."

With his smile fading, Spot walked over and put a hand on Boots' shoulder. "Judging by the looks of you, I'd say that's debatable, pal." As he withdrew his hand, he looked over as Jack. "We got any dry clothes for this kid?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, Spot. Is this laundry clean?"

"Hell if I know," Spot said as he took another bite of his sandwich. "Dave does the laundry, ask him."

"DAVE!" Jack yelled, and there was a scrambling to be heard down the hallway before a door creaked open and David appeared, his eyes sleepy and his hair disheveled.

"What?" David rubbed his eyes, yawning. "Can't you ever let me sleep?"

"Is this laundry clean?" Jack pointed to the basket on the floor.

"Yes," David grumbled. "Is that seriously what you got me up for?"

"Well, we need some dry clothes for Boots. He apparently went swimming in a mud puddle or something on his way over here."

David looked over at Boots. "Oh, hey, I didn't even see you there." He yawned again and shook his head. "What are you doing here? Are you okay? Les called me last night and he was totally hysterical."

"I'm hangin' in there, I suppose," Boots said quietly, though the expression on his face completely betrayed his words.

"What's going on?" Jack pulled a tee-shirt and a pair of sweatpants out of the laundry basket and looked at Boots, his eyebrows knitted together in concern. "What happened? What's wrong with Les?"

"Jack, let him change first, and then you guys can talk. He's starting to shiver."

Jack tossed the clothes to Boots and pointed him in the direction of the bathroom, and Boots went in to change. When he emerged, feeling pleasantly warm in the dry clothing, Jack was standing outside the door. "Something happened between you and Les, didn't it? Did you guys get into a fight? Did you break up?"

"Not exactly," Boots mumbled, biting his lip. His eyes stung, and that confused him; it had been almost two days and he hadn't cried. He didn't cry often – very few things could make him. So why would this?

"So what happened?" Jack wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders and led him back to the living room. As Boots flopped onto the couch, he looked up at Jack with wide, sad eyes.

"Mom and Dad found out," he said at length, his voice wavering a little.

"What? How?" Jack sat down on the edge of the armchair, leaning forward onto his knees.

"Well, me and Les, we had this talk... about how we were tired of hiding, and how we'd like to be just like normal couples, you know? So we were heading out to the parking lot yesterday, and he just randomly kissed me... and then Snyder came up and saw us and called our parents." He scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed, keeping his face covered.

"So I take it Dad and Linda didn't react terribly well."

Boots shook his head into his hands. "They won't let me see him anymore," he said, though his voice was muffled. "And I tried calling him last night and this morning and his mom won't even pick up the phone. He picked up once, but I'm pretty sure she unplugged the phone."

"Wow," Jack said, shaking his head. He patted Boots' knee and then sat back. "I don't know what to tell you, Boots. This is pretty intense."

Boots lifted his head. "Well, didn't you go through the same thing? Didn't Mom and Dad freak out over you and David?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah, kinda, but... well, see, I didn't tell them about me and Dave until right before I moved out. And they found out from me, not from my principal... Dad just told me to get the fuck out and pray that God had mercy on my soul." He laughed a little, shaking his head. "It's kinda funny, now that I think about it."

"Yeah, but Jack... this is different."

"I know."

"Can't you see him at school?" Spot sat down beside Boots, his sandwich gone. "I mean, I know it isn't much, and you can't hang out a lot or do anything, but at least you can see him..."

"No," David said from the doorway. "My parents are actually talking about pulling Les out of school and home-schooling him. They're convinced it's the liberal public-school system that did this to him."

"What bullshit." Jack rolled his eyes. "There's gotta be some way you can see him, Boots."

Boots rubbed absently at his burning eyes, shaking his head. "Nope. Mom and Dad have me pretty much quarantined in my room, like I have leprosy or something."

"So how'd you get out?" Spot asked, smirking a little. "Did you have a master escape plan, like Prison Break or something?"

"Nah... Mom and Dad just went to the supermarket. I doubt they'll even notice I'm gone." He sighed. "Dad won't come back to my room or even talk to me, so they probably won't check."

"Dad still won't look me in the eye, and Linda looks like she has a bad taste in her mouth every time she sees me. Though... she's always looked at me like that." Jack smirked.

"They're treating me like I'm some sort of freak." Boots looked at his brother with the same wide-eyed, scared expression he had when he was eleven and just as confused about himself. "Am I a freak, Jack?"

Jack felt the urge to cradle Boots like a baby, but seeing as the boy was about twice his size now, he refrained. "No, Boots. You're not a freak. You just differ from the majority of the population because you happen to like other boys. But there are a ton of other people who do, too, people like us, so you're not alone in that."

"Not other boys," Boots said quietly as he toyed with a string dangling from his shirtsleeve, "just one other boy."

Jack smiled a little. "You're perfectly normal. Just the fact that you're gay scares some people, especially good, stand-up, Catholic citizens like Dad and Linda."

Boots sighed. "I don't know what to do, Jack."

David sat down on the arm of the sofa, putting his arm around Boots' shoulders. "Are you going home tonight?"

Before Boots could answer, Jack shook his head. "Not in that rain, and not when you're too retarded to bring a coat or an umbrella. We'll get you a pillow and some blankets and you can crash on the couch."

"Are you sure?" Boots couldn't help but feel relieved at the prospect of not having to face his parents for at least one night.

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna turn you away. You can stay here as long as you need to."

Boots cleared his throat, the lump that had been there the past two days finally dissolving. "Thanks, Jack."

The four of them stayed quiet for a while, before David broke the silence.

"Well, if we're going to have an extra person tonight, we'd better figure out what we're going to do for dinner," he said, standing up and heading for the kitchen.

---

It was ten o'clock and with his stomach full of generic ramen and grilled cheese, Boots settled onto the couch with a stack of blankets to watch Numbers with Jack and David. Just as the curly-haired Jewish guy got into giving the dad from Independence Day a long-winded explanation on how he could use math to most effectively mop his kitchen floor, there was a quiet knock on the door. The three boys looked at each other, and David rolled his eyes.

"Please, Jack, don't get up, I got it," he deadpanned as he rose to answer the door. Boots pulled his blanket up higher and strained to listen to David's conversation. "Well, we've already kind of got company," he heard him say, "but I'm sure we can make room for you."

"The inn is full," Jack called out, "but if you don't mind the smell, you can pop your kid out in the manger if you want!"

"Shut up, Jack," David called back, and reappeared in the doorway. "Boots, you're going to have a companion tonight, hope you don't mind."

"Long as I don't have to share the couch, I'm fine," Boots said, straining to see who was behind David.

The young man stepped through the doorway, his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets. He looked toward the couch, and his expression seemed to soften in the television light. "Boots? What are you doing here?"

Boots sat up, and, looking at that familiar face, felt as though a weight had been lifted off of his chest. "I could ask you the same question."

David let out a loud and obviously fake yawn, accompanied by an exaggerated stretch. "Man, I am beat. Aren't you tired, Jack?"

Jack didn't take his eyes off of the television screen. "No, not really," he said, shoving a handful of potato chips into his mouth.

"You look tired. Why don't we go to bed?"

"I said I'm not tired, Dave, now would you shut up? I'm trying to watch the show!"

David gave an exasperated sigh. "Damn it, Jack, can't you take a hint? Let's go to bed!" He pulled Jack out of the chair and dragged him down the hallway.

Les and Boots could hear Jack grumbling as he went. "I'd better at least be getting sex out of this," he said before their bedroom door clicked shut.

"Those two are a couple of odd birds," Les said, shuffling his feet and staring at Boots.

"No kidding," Boots replied, moving his legs off of the couch. "You wanna sit down?"

Les nodded and plopped down beside Boots, sighing. "So... how are you holding up? Are you okay?"

"Would I be here if I was?"

Les nodded. "Yeah, me too." He looked over, and Boots saw in his face more sadness than he'd ever thought possible. "I miss you."

"Miss you too, Mini Mouth."

For the first time in two days, Les actually smiled. He wrapped his arm around Boots' shoulders, biting his lower lip. "I'm sorry about the whole phone thing. My mom sees your name on the caller ID and tells me she'll kill me if I dare to pick up the phone."

Boots shrugged. "It's okay... it's not like I can really get to the phone anyway, my mom took my cell away and unplugged all the phones in the house except for the one in her room." He sighed and leaned his head on Les' shoulder. "What are we going to do, Les?"

"I haven't got a clue." Les leaned his head against Boots', closing his eyes. "But I sure as hell hope we can figure it out soon, because I don't think I can handle this anymore."

"Me either." They fell silent for a few moments, before Boots lifted his head. "Are your parents really going to home-school you?"

Les groaned. "They threatened me with it, but they decided against it."

"Oh, good." Boots smiled weakly.

"Actually, not so good. They did decide that they're going to send me to the Jewish academy over on Forty-Ninth."

Boots' eyes widened. "You're shitting me."

"I shit you not," Les said with a sigh. "They're actually paying a full year's tuition and then some to get me in this late. They seem to think that they maybe can kosher the homosexuality out of me."

Boots almost laughed. "Well, my folks are considering pulling me out and sending me to Central Catholic for the rest of the year. Like if I'm exposed to enough preaching and commandments, I'll begin to realize the appeal of the vagina." Boots shuddered a little bit at the thought. "Or better yet, become a priest."

"No, then you'd still be gay."

The boys shared a laugh, but it faded quickly. "Boots, how are we going to handle going to separate schools?" Les asked. "I mean, we can barely deal with being in different classes."

"Well, we graduate soon. We only have seven months to go. And then we're both going to NYU and we can see each other all the time."

"That's assuming my parents even let me go to NYU after this. They've been looking for an excuse to ship me off to rabbinical school, and this is the perfect opportunity for them to do it."

Boots rolled his eyes. "Okay, first off, that would be a waste of time, considering you'd be the worst rabbi ever, and second, you'll be eighteen by the time we graduate and you've got your football scholarship, so it's not like they can really keep you from going."

Les nodded. "I guess. But I don't think I can go for seven months without seeing you. I need you around. You keep me sane, you keep me from killing everyone I come in contact with."

Boots chuckled. "I love you, too." He smiled and shook his head. "We'll figure out some way to see each other. We can always come here, or go to 'study groups' at the library or something. Besides, we'll be able to get out eventually. Our parents can't keep us under house arrest forever."

"Yeah, but... it won't be the same." Les sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "I really wish this whole thing hadn't happened and we normal old Boots and Les again."

"We're still normal, Les," Boots offered. "It's just going to be a little harder for us to be normal now." He shrugged and gave a small smile. "I think we can pull it off. We just have to be there for one another. You think we can do that?"

Les smiled back and brushed a hand along Boots' cheek. "Yeah, I think we can do that," he said, almost in a whisper.

Their lips met and both boys breathed a small sigh of relief at the contact. They spent probably half an hour just kissing, before the sudden, blaring music of the eleven o'clock news made them both jump.

"Jesus," Boots said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand while Les got up to turn off the television. As the room went dark, Les turned around.

"Hey, Boots."

"Yeah?"

Les bit his lip and took a deep breath. "I think... you and me... um, I think we should have sex."

Boots coughed. "What? You mean... tonight?"

Les sat back down beside Boots, putting a hand on his knee. "Well... yeah. I mean, we've talked about it a lot before, but we both said we wanted it to be really special the first time, you know, so we've been waiting until we found the right time for it." He cleared his throat, squeezing Boots' knee a little, though more out of a nervous reflex than actual affection. "And... I think tonight's the night, Boots."

"With my brother and your brother and their roommate just down the hall and probably listening to everything that's going on our here." Boots let out a nervous laugh. "And you want to do it on their couch?"

"Well, no, I mean, we could do it on the floor," Les said earnestly.

Boots couldn't help but laugh. Les could be so cute sometimes, when he wasn't thinking. "So you want to lose our virginity in our brothers' apartment, in the middle of the night, while our parents are at home trying to figure out the quickest and quietest way to disown us."

"Yes. And your parents won't disown you... they spent too much money on adopting you."

"Touche." Boots rolled his eyes, though Les couldn't see it through the darkness. "Fine. Let's do it."

Les kissed him again, smiling. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Les."

---

Les and Boots awoke the next morning in a cozy tangle of limbs and blankets, and were reluctant to change it. They were forced to, however, when a loud pounding came through the apartment door.

"Francis Jack Connor Kelly Sullivan, you open this door this instant!" A woman's shrill, panicked voice accompanied the pounding, and Boots knew exactly who it belonged to.

"Les," he whispered, "I need to get up. My mom is here."

Les grumbled but rolled off of the couch, taking the blankets with him. Boots got up and tiptoed down the hallway to see Jack stumbling sleepily out of his bedroom.

"Go in there," Jack said, pointing to his room, "and shut up. I'll get rid of Linda. Don't wake Dave."

Boots slipped into Jack's room and leaned against the door, listening. Linda kept knocking and yelling. "Francis! I know you're in there! Open the door!"

Jack grumbled, and the door creaked open.

"Is Cornelius here? Have you seen him? Where is my son?"

"Hell if I know, Linda. I haven't heard from him."

Boots opened the bedroom door a crack and stared down the hallway, seeing his mother standing in the entryway, flustered. "He hasn't dropped by or called you or anything?"

Jack shrugged and leaned against the wall. "No. Like I said, haven't heard from him. I'll let you know if I do."

Linda looked around, biting her lip. "Why do I feel like you're lying to me? Why would you lie to me about this, Francis? My son is missing!"

Jack sighed. "Yeah, and he's not here."

Linda fisted her hands in her hair, looking thoroughly disturbed. "Oh, God. Oh, God, what if he got picked up by some random person on the street? What if he got picked up by someone on the street and he's somewhere in Hell's Kitchen, being forced to sell himself for food and shelter and heroin?" She looked at Jack, wide-eyed and panicked.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," Jack muttered.

"Francis, we have to find him! My son could be a male baby prostitute right now!"

Jack grabbed Linda by the shoulders and shook her a little. "Linda, you aren't making any sense. You've lost your fucking mind."

"Watch your mouth," she mumbled.

"Well, apparently it's not completely lost. But look. Boots probably just took off for the night and crashed at a friend's house. I'm sure he'll be home soon. Just go home and wait." Boots could see it was taking all of Jack's strength not to laugh at Linda's face. "That's about all you can do. I'll call you and Dad if I hear from Boots at all, okay?"

"Should I call the police?"

Jack shook his head. "No, it'll just be a waste of time. They've got better things to do, and it'll be a long time before they can even get around to looking for him. I'd just go home and wait, if I were you."

"What's goin' on, Jack?" Les shuffled into the hallway, blankets wrapped around him. "Hey, Linda."

Linda regarded him with cold eyes. "Lester," she said, setting her jaw.

"Oh, Linda's looking for Boots, apparently he took off last night. You heard from him?"

"Well, no, seeing as I'm not allowed to talk to him."

"And whose fault is that, Lester?" Linda quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Uh, yours, I'm pretty sure," Les shot back.

"Young man, you have no--"

"Okay!" Jack interrupted. "Les, go get a bowl of cereal or something. Linda, go home and wait for Boots, alright?" He spun Linda around and guided her out the door. "I'll talk to you later. Give my love to Dad. Bye." He shut the door and leaned back against it, exhaling. Peering up the hallway, he glared at Boots. "The things I do for you, kid."

Boots just gave him a sheepish look and crept out of Jack's room. "You love me," he said with a grin as he headed to the living room to join Les.

"Yeah, but sometimes I wonder why."

---

A/N: Yes, I realize it's been FOREVER since I updated. This is the advantage of being my friend on LJ... everything gets put up there first, or put only up there. So if you have a Livejournal, click the link in my profile and add me and have all your fiction needs fulfilled.

Also, school is keeping me busy so I just can't be the updating demon that I used to be, and I'm sorry about that, but it can't be helped. I still love all you guys, and remember... nothing makes me happier than a well-rounded review! -Layne