Tyler packed his clothes; it took a while- nearly more than an hour. He packed his clothes into the closet and placed his shoes at the foot of the bed.
Then he turned around when he heard footsteps and saw Angel enter his room, eyes bright. "Finally, you're almost done!"
Tyler raised his eyes. "Yeah, I just need a few minutes."
Tyler could tell the boy was really excited to have him here. It felt strange, he thought. Not many people liked him; to be more honest, they tolerated him because they had no choice.
His mother was a druggie; her eyes would always have dark circles, and it was very obvious.
Not only that, she could barely take care of herself.
Tyler remember those cold nights, where he slept in his room at night where strange man would enter the house, his mother would always have him hidden.
At the time when he was a child, he didn't know what was going on, but he couldn't hold back the curiosity, so he left his room and hid behind his mom's door, and saw a large man; the man's back was pale and naked and lying over his mother's body.
Then he remembered his mother's voice, hoarse and full of moans. It sounded strange in his ears.
In his panic, he escaped, but he tripped over his mother and the stranger's mothers causing him to fall on the ground, and the sound caused the two people on the bed to look up and see the child.
His mother shrieked and covered her body with her blankets. She shouted at her son, "You idiot, what are you doing out of your room?!"
Tyler panicked, his chest full of fear and dread. "Mom, I'm sorry."
The man frowned while covering his private parts. He asked the woman, "Is that your child?"
Tyler felt his heart tighten, then his mother said in a cold, furious voice, "Yes, I'm sorry to bother you with this. Give me a minute with my son, and I'll be right back to you."
The man rolled his eyes, pulled a cigarette out of a bag, while the woman hurried to get dressed and dragged her son out of the room by his ear.
Tyler felt the pain in his ear. He wanted to resist but he knew it would only anger his mother so he kept his mouth silent and tried to keep up with her long legs, while she stormed into his room with rage on her face.
She released his ear and turned around with a sharp voice, "What the hell are you doing out of your room?"
Tyler tried to step away from her; fear rose higher in his chest. He tried to open his mouth, but he couldn't stop himself from stuttering, "Mom, w-what were you and he doing? Who is he?"
His mother sneered sharply, "It's none of your business. Don't ask questions a child shouldn't ask."
Tyler nodded, and he heard his mother sigh in exhaustion. She knelt, the fury on her face still present, but she looked calmer now.
She placed her hands on Tyler's cheek, making him flinch from her. She smiled sadly, beautiful and broken in a way Tyler could tell.
She said in a calm voice, "No matter what happens at night, promise me you won't come out of your room."
Tyler nodded, and with a hesitant look on his face, he asked, "Are you having sex?"
His mother frowned. "Where did you learn that word?"
Tyler lowered his head. "I hear from my classmates; they talk about it."
She tilted her head. "What do they talk about?"
He said in a nervous voice, "They always talk about how fun it is and how it makes you a man."
She sighed, shaking her head. "Having sex doesn't make you an adult; sometimes it makes you do stupid things."
She said, "Sex is supposed to be between two people who are in love."
Tyler frowned, "Does that mean that man will be my daddy?"
She chuckled, "No, what I'm doing is something that people aren't supposed to do, but some people have to do things to survive."
She got up from the floor and walked out of the room; the door shut, and his room was dark and silent. Tyler went to bed and hid under the covers, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
Tyler shook his head from the memories. After packing his clothes, he stepped down the stairs and saw Angel sitting on the couch watching TV.
He turned his head when he saw Tyler and smiled widely, "Come on."
Tyler sat on the couch, keeping a little distance between them. He asked, "What are we watching?"
Angel watched him with a sweet smile. "Twilight. Do you like vampire movies?"
Tyler shrugged; he had never watched a movie with him. But Tyler nodded, "Sure."
Angel nodded with a smile and turned the TV up. "That's great."
Then, a couple of hours later, Tyler sat on the couch, tense; he couldn't get comfortable no matter what, but he turned his head and saw Angel watching him with an innocent expression.
Tyler arched his brow. "Why are you looking at me?"
Angel giggled, "I think you're very handsome."
Tyler smiled, "Really? No one called me handsome."
Angel moved closer to him. "Really, does that mean I'm the first?"
Tyler thought the conversation was strange, but he nodded. Angel then asked, "How old are you? " I'm fifteen."
Tyler replied calmly, "I'm seventeen."
Tyler asked, "So, are we going to watch the movie?"
Angel nodded and turned around to settle against the couch, but Angel moved closer to him.
Tyler felt uncomfortable but remained silent; he watched Angel from the corner of his eye. Angel had that innocent look in his eyes, similar to being unjaded, as if he had no experience in the world.
Was it because his father sheltered him? Tyler felt envious of the knowledge.
Angel laid against, Tyler could feel his warmth against his hands similar to heat burning across his flesh, so he moved away quietly hoping not to catch the boy's attention.
Angel tilted his head in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Tyler shook his head. "Nothing. Let's watch the movie."
Tyler turned to focus on the movie, ignoring the gaze on him; it was the scene where a girl was sitting in the front seat and a guy was literally sitting behind her watching the girl—Bella with an obsessed gaze.
Ironically, Tyler got absorbed in the movie. He didn't watch a lot of shows growing up, but he didn't notice the way Angel was watching him with a quiet, tense look in his eyes, the kind of eyes a normal youth shouldn't have.
Angel smiled, his eyes sweet and obsessive. "Welcome home, big brother."
Tyler turned to him and nodded with a faint smile. "Thanks, I'm glad to be here."
Then the movie ended, and Angel asked, "What do you want to do now?"
Tyler frowned, "Why don't you show me around the house? The place is huge; it would be nice to know where everything is."
Angel nodded with a childlike smile, "Of course, come with me!"
Angel got up from the couch and grabbed Tyler's hands. Tyler was pulled up and led to the stairs. "I'll show you my room first."
Tyler entered Angel's room, where everything was pink and bright like a girl's room.
Tyler couldn't help twitching his eyes; he asked in a voice he hoped Angel couldn't detect, "Umm, why is your room pink?"
Angel looked shy and jumped on one foot before jumping to another, "Well, it's my favorite color."
Tyler nodded like that made sense. "I see."
Angel had a sad look on his face. "What? Do you think it's too girly? Everyone in my school laughs at me because of that."
Tyler frowned. "How would they know what your room looks like?"
Angel smiled sadly, "I used to have a friend. I brought him over, but he made fun of me and said I was too girly and gay because of that."
Tyler sighed; he knew what it was like to be mocked because you're different from other kids.
Angel tugged his shirt, "Do you dislike me as well?"
Upon seeing the sad puppy look in his eyes, Tyler couldn't help the warmth flooding through his heart, and he patted Angel's hair. "It doesn't matter what I think. As long as you're being yourself, but if you really want to know what I think, it's a good color."
Well, he only lied at the end, but Angel didn't need to know that, and looking at Angel's happy face, it was worth it.
Tyler couldn't help playing with Angel's hair which was soft and funny like an actually bunny hair.
Angel snuggled closer, but Tyler stepped away; he wasn't used to contact with other people, so he asked, "So, where do you keep your stuff?"
Angel tilted his head, "What stuff?"
Tyler smirked, "You don't have any dirty secrets hidden in this room?"
Angel blushed bright red on his cheeks, "Why are you asking about that?"
Tyler arched his brow. "So, you are hiding something."
Angel replied, "Well, I can show you if you want to see that badly."