Ike was lying on his bed; face pressed against his pillow and tried to relax. The fact that Kyle had just gotten home and wanted to leave that early was just horrible for him. He terribly missed his brother when he was away and now that he knew that he was awaiting a kid he was afraid that Kyle would've even more less time for him. Just as he wanted to go to the bathroom, his cellphone rang. He picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"Yes," he said stressed into the speaker and looked at his watch. It was almost midnight; his parents would surely come home soon.

"Hi?" the voice on the other end asked unsure. Ike's mood immediately softened.

"Hi, Georgie. Sorry, I'm just a bit stressed out. Why're you calling?"

"Hey, it's no big deal; I just finished the puppet and have nothing to do. Why in such a foul mood? Did something happen?"

"Mhn, yes, I'll tell you a bit tomorrow, that is, if it's still on tomorrow?" Ike asked hopeful and looked out of the window. He could see the house of the Donovan's from his room window. Their lights were still on.

"'Course it's still on. Uh, what do you wanna do tomorrow anyway?"

"I dunno, I thought you already had something in mind!" Ike let out a laugh and let himself fall back on his bed. He heard George chuckle into the speaker.

"No, not really. But I'll think of something. Is 11 a.m. alright with you?" Ike smiled.

"Yeah, that sounds great. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, sleep well," with that George hung up.

Just as he returned his phone to his nightstand he heard voices downstairs. He walked towards his room door and opened it a bit.

"—at's wrong?"

"I-I think I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Kyle? You know you can tell us anything."

"Yeah, I… Well- I, uh… You're going to get a grandchild."

For a long while there was silence and Ike was slightly worried. It was a good thing that his Sheila wasn't around; she would've already screamed her lungs off. Just as he wanted to walk downstairs to check if everything was alright he heard Gerald speak up.

"What exactly to you mean by that?"

"Uhm. I-I'm- pregnant."

Again there was a pressuring silence.

"You mean you'll get the child?"

"…Yes."

Ike wondered what his mother would've done if she heard this. Gerald was more comfortable with Kyle's sexuality than Sheila and Kyle was really grateful that he had his father to support him a bit and talk to his mother so that she wouldn't freak out so much. What wondered Ike was why his father was home and his mother wasn't. Didn't they've gone together away? Where was she? Ike opened the door fully and stepped out to walk down the stairs to see his brother sit on the couch; Gerald in front of him, sitting on the coffee table that stood in front of the couch.

"Ike? What are you doing up so late?" Gerald asked his son surprised.

"I talked to Kyle a few minutes ago. I wanted to ask him something before I go to bed."

"Alright. But not too long, boys." With that Gerald stood up and walked in the kitchen.

As soon as he was out of the room, Ike ran in his brothers arms.

"I don't want you to go, I practically never see you and I want to spend time with my big brother before he goes away again," Ike said, pressing his face even more into Kyle's chest. The redhead was stunned but smiled and wrapped his arms around the Canadian. Maybe I can stay two weeks. I mean, what could happen?

"Alright, I'll stay." Ike smiled and let go of his brother. He wished his brother a good night and headed back upstairs to get ready for bed.

Meanwhile Kyle walked into the kitchen, seeing his father look out of the kitchen window.

"Dad, are you alright?" he asked carefully. Gerald sighed and turned around, looking into his son's face.

"Actually, no, I'm not alright."

"What do you mean? And where is mom? Didn't you two go together away?" Kyle asked confused. Gerald nodded.

"Yes, we went together away but as I told your mother you would stay two weeks she refused to go back again. She's staying in a hotel until you're away."

Kyle's mouth fell agape. He couldn't believe it.

"Why? I mean, she knew I was coming and she even asked me to take care of Ike, why doesn't she want to see me? I don't get it," he said, feeling tears coming up. It was hurting Gerald to see his son so unhappy but there was nothing he could do. Sheila was very complicated and once she made her point it was final.

"Please explain it to me," Gerald heard his son ask him. He opened his eyes and wondered when he even closed them.

"She agreed to you coming over only because she knew Ike missed you. But she thought you'd only stay for one day."

Kyle was like paralyzed and froze on the spot.

As Ike woke up the next day it was already 11:45 a.m. Fuck, I'm so late, so fucking late! He quickly got dressed and made his way to the bathroom. But as he wanted to get in, the door was locked and he accidently hit his head against the door. What- He madly knocked on the door as if his life deepened on it.

"Open up, open up, open up!" he yelled.

"What the fuck- Ike?" it came from the other side of the door. Kyle.

"Yes, please open up, I'm already so late, I need to go in!" He looked at his wristwatch – 11:50 a.m. He heard Kyle snicker.

"What, you got a date?" Ike's face turned instantly red like a tomato.

"C'mon Kyle, please!" And finally – click – he heard the relieving sound of the door opening. As soon as Kyle walked out of the bathroom he stormed inside and locked it behind him. Then he did his hair, brushed his teeth and took a piss in high-speed before rushing out of the bathroom and sprinting downstairs, looking at his watch again – 11:58 a.m. Phew… Just then he heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it!" he yelled and went to open the door breathless.

"Hey, I– what's with you?" George greeted him and frowned. Ike's cheeks flushed a delicate pink. What should he tell him? He can't tell him he almost overslept, that would be too embarrassing.

"Uhm, I-I… y'know- I-" Ike began stuttering and George smiled. Ike could be really cute sometimes, George thought.

"It's alright. Are you coming?" the noirette asked and began walking out of the Broflovski driveway. The Canadian quickly went after him and secretly eyed George. He was wearing a pair of heavily ripped black skinny jeans and a simple dark red T-Shirt with a black scarf. Fuck, look at that ass! Ike widened his eyes. I- did I just really checked out his ass…? He shook his head to clear his mind and followed his friend.

George walked with Ike a little bit and it was quiet. The silence was awkward and Ike tried really hard to find something they could talk about. Unfortunately he couldn't think of something and stayed quiet.

"So… What happened yesterday that took you down?" George asked and turned his head to look at Ike.

"Uh, we have some family problems but nothing too serious," Ike said, trying to hide his uncomfortable situation behind a friendly grin. George saw this.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure everything will be okay. And if you want you can always talk to me," George said while he was getting out a cigarette and lighting it. Ike nodded and smiled.

"Thanks. I would like to talk about it but not here. Maybe somewhere where it's quieter and more private," he said almost shyly and held his gaze on the sidewalk.

"Alright."

They walked around the town a little while before George brought Ike to his secret relaxing place. It was deep in the forest, almost not noticeable, a little hut out of wood what seemed like no one had lived in there for years. The older teen opened the door and stepped aside so the Canadian could go inside first. Ike quietly giggled a bit and thanked his friend with a sweet and thankful smile for his charming manner and walked inside. George flushed a bit and also walked inside, closing the door behind him. The hut had just one room and a little bathroom on the opposite side of the entry. Ike was stunned. On the outside the hut seemed abandoned and lonely but on the inside it was quite comfortable. On the right side there was an old oven that was used for heating. In front of it there were a two-seated green couch and a, how it looked, handmade, also green rug. On the left side of the room there was a big wooden table with three chairs. They looked old and shabby. There were boards that had been attached on the walls so they could be used as shelves. On the shelves there were numerous books, candles, a few packs of cigarettes, wood tools and a few figures that Ike recognized as puppets and wood dolls. George walked to the oven und pulled a few pieces of wood out of the corner and threw them in to start the heating. Afterwards he mentioned for the younger teen to sit down. While Ike was now sitting and still starring around the room, George lighted a few candles. Then he sat down beside Ike on the couch.

"So this is where you always disappear to, when you say your mom is getting on your nerves," Ike said laughing and pulled his legs on the couch, sitting with his legs pressed against his torso and arms around them to hold them in place and leant back into the couch. George laughed quietly and also leant back.

For a while it was quiet and there was heard a clock, that Ike hasn't seen in the first place, ticking.

"You want to talk about it?" it came from the older raven and Ike nodded.

And then Ike began to talk. George didn't interrupt Ike once and for that Ike was thankful. As the Canadian finished talking, George noted that he looked somewhat relived and relaxed.

"Do you feel better now?" George asked as he pulled out a cigarette, lighted it and took a drag. Ike nodded.

"Yes. Thank you for listening," the younger boy said and gave his friend a sweet smile.

The two friends talked a bit about school until Ike remembered the question he wanted to ask for begin: "Did you make all of the dolls here?"

George could see admiration and interest in Ike's blue eyes and his stomach began to revolt.

"Y-Yes, it's kind of a hobby," he replied. He could feel the heat rise in his cheeks and his heart throbbed fast.

"Awesome! Hey! You think you can teach me?" Ike asked sweetly, looking with big, hopeful eyes to him. Aw, fuck, how can I say 'No' to such a face?

"Okay," the raven said, flicked his cigarette out and threw the rest into a trashcan that stood next to the couch. He stood up, got two pieces of wood from the corner next to the oven, a few tools from one of the shelves and went with Ike to the table.

"Alright, first of all you need to…"