"…..*Lowers head in shame* I know, I know. Update ur multi-chapt-ers, but I don't want to! Just imagine that our boys stay for the winter and so does the rest of the Hamptons.…."

A Secret Snow Fall

Tucker Bryant stared at the falling snow from his seat on the back porch of his house. Since the Bryant household was surrounded by woods from both left and right, and to the south and extending to the west was the ocean, his eyes had many things to wander to. His eyes were currently fixed on the glassy ocean as light, thin snow fell on top of the thin layers of ice.

He had had a lot on his mind lately, and sitting on the porch stairs and just thinking was both nice and unpleasant. In one respect, he was finally alone and didn't have anyone pestering him, but on the other hand, his mind went into overdrive and he started thinking about things that made him cringe.

A light knock on the side of the railing brought Tucker's mind back down to earth. He turn his head around, reluctant at first, only to find Evan walking up to him with an envelope in his hands.

"Hey Tucker." he greeted as he plopped down to the left side of Tucker. He sat a few steps ahead of him, but he slouched so he could still make eye contact with him. He sat the envelope down, knowing that Tucker already knew what it was. Last week, Tucker had slipped on an icy patch on the exact stair case they were currently sitting on, and he had started bleeding. The envelope was a bill, and Evan doubted that Tucker needed that explained. Besides, he didn't want to throw the fact that he had to handle his family's finances thrown back in his face.

"So why did you come back?" Tucker asked. "I know that it wasn't just to drop off the bill; Hank said he was going to mail it."

Trying to avoid that conversation for a little while longer, Evan looked around him and took in the view. "You know, I thought the Hamptons were gorgeous before, but now that I've seen the Hamptons in the winter, I'm just…it's just…"

"Breath-taking; perfect, beautiful; exhilarating?" Tucker supplied. The young boy leaned to the right so he could rest his head against the railing and closed his eyes. "It's the first snow fall of the season-early this year. It's November, sure, but it's only the second. Usually doesn't hit until the end of the month."

"Yeah, it sure is beautiful." Evan admitted. "I love this time of year."

"Yeah, me too." Tucker agreed. He seemed to lose himself in a thought for a few seconds, and he let out a laugh before opening his eyes again.

"What is it?" Evan asked, curious.

"Libby always says that she loves the winter because of what it does to me. She thinks it makes me smile and laugh more. I suppose she's right, though."

"Yeah, well, she's not the only one who misses that smile. It seemed to have gone A-WOL for the longest time. I'm just glad that it's back." Evan didn't see the point in pressing on why the winter made him feel better; he knew that he would give him a half-hearted answer, anyways.

"So why did you come by?" Tucker asked again after a few minutes.

"I know that you probably talk to Libby a lot, but I know there's a lot of things that you don't talk to her about. You may think that you don't have to talk about those things, but you're wrong, and I just wanted you to know that you had someone else to talk to other than Libby." Evan replied, sounding both sincere and worried.

"So I take it Hank told you, huh?" Tucker asked, realizing just what Evan was talking about.

"In his defense, I found the prescription myself. He doesn't know that I know, so don't blame him, all right?"

"I wasn't worried about that." Tucker reassured. "I just wanted to know if we were talking about the same thing."

"If we're talking about my brother and a therapist diagnosing you with depression and prescribing happy pills to you, then yeah, we're on the same page." Evan said, offering a sincere smile.

"Yup, that would be the one." Tucker sighed. "And I'm sick of talking, Evan. I appreciate it, but I need to be alone for a while. If it….if it ever gets too bad, too much to handle, I'll call you-I promise."

"I just wanted you to know that I'm there for you." Evan nodded. "Because I've been there before, and I didn't tell anyone. I woke up everyday and plastered a fake smile on my face and thought, 'how I am going to get through the day?', and I don't want you to have to do that. It sucks, and you don't deserve it- no one does."

"You were….depressed?" Tucker asked, not sounding surprised, rather hopeful- hopeful that he had finally found someone who understood.

"Yeah, I was there before." Evan admitted. "It happened after my mom died; it's what lead me to throw myself into schooling and what lead me to be an accountant. I needed something to throw myself into, and numbers seemed to be the way to go."

"Yeah, well, I'm throwing myself into numbers, but I'm not doing it willingly." Tucker sighed. "I hate handling finances; I don't know how you can do it."

"When you grew up with straight A's in math and B's and C's in all your other classes, your choices for college classes become a little slim." Evan smirked. "It all worked out in the end though; I mean, just look at me now- in the Hamptons with my brother and running a successful concierge service where I get to help my brother and Divya help people. You're a lot smarter than I was, Tucker, and there's not a doubt in my mind that you're going to do a lot of good in your life." Tucker didn't respond, though. He just kept staring off into the snowy ocean. Evan's eyes were still fixed on Tucker, though. He was still a little on-edge about Tucker's emotional state, and he wasn't in any hurry to leave him alone after the conversation they had just had. "You're going to be okay, Tucker."

"Yeah, I know." Tucker whispered. His eyes locked with Evan's for a moment, and Evan could see the flicker of emotion cross his features before he could stop them. Evan scooted a little closer to Tucker and rested an arm on his shoulder. Tucker reveled a little in the reassuring gesture ; it was nice knowing that someone else knew what he was going through.

"Do you want to get out of here- your home, I mean?" Evan asked. He turned his body toward the younger boy so he could see his reaction.

"And go where?"

"How about over there, on that ice." Evan pointed to the glassy ocean with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Uh, don't you think that's a bit risky?" In truth, Tucker had been thinking about doing it since it first started snowing, but he was too afraid of hurting himself to actually do it.

"I won't let you fall, Tucker. I'll be right there beside you the whole time." Evan's voice sounded dead-serious, the type of tone you used when promising something extremely important, but not for trying to talk a hemophiliac into walking out on any icy ocean. Tucker understood the actual meaning of Evan's statement, though, because despite his age, he was most likely more mature than Evan was, and they both knew that.

"I trust you." Tucker said. He then swung around so he was no longer leaning on the railing and jumped to his feet- carefully, of course. Evan was right behind the hemophiliac the whole time as they walked off and away from the house and headed off toward the water. As they neared their destination, Tucker looked up at Evan, immediately grabbing the older man's attention.

"What is it?" Evan asked.

"Thank you."

With that, they both smiled, neither of them saying another word. Tucker and Evan had bonded, and they had come to realize just how alike they were. They both felt better that they had found someone who understood what it was like to be them, and that had been enough to close the gaps that would have torn them apart.

And, for the first time in what felt like forever, Tucker smiled.

"….I felt these two needed a bonding fic, so I wrote one : ) Thnx for reading!…"