The Punchline to the Joke Is Asking

I bit my lip, starting to lean away, when Ryan suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
It was over as quickly as it began, and he looked away from me, blushing even darker than before.
“No! That doesn’t count!” Gabe whined, and Bill shouted an incoherent agreement.
“Kiss her right!” Brendon demanded, as Trey sat back and watched, silently disapproving any boy kissing me.
“Ryan, you really do have to do it right.” Pete interjected, snickering slightly as Joe scowled at us.
I’d just glanced at Trey out the corner of my eye, so I hadn’t seen Ryan when he suddenly leaned in and kissed me again, for real.
He was sweet and respectful, not forcing his tongue down my throat or anything gross, but he did pull me closer, his hands finding their way back to my hips again as I pressed closer against him, snaking my arms around his neck.
When we broke apart a good minute later, I became aware of the wolf whistles and catcalls, but just laughed them off, sliding off Ryan’s lap and back to my place between Trey and Brendon. Ryan blinked a little as Gabe laughed and congratulated him on kissing the hottest girl in the room, which would have been a red flag for me had I not been the only girl in the room.

A little while later, I was pulled onto the couch between Pete and Gerard for a private chat as Trey bonded with my friends.
“Well, you seemed to enjoy that little game.” Pete cocked an eyebrow at me, and I narrowed my eyes slightly, trying to decide if he was calling me a slut. Then I decided all my friends were, so I just shrugged.
“It’s just a game, but those boys are good kissers.” I grinned crookedly, my eyes wicked as Pete and Gerard’s expressions darkened, making me snicker.
“Trey definitely wasn’t happy when you kissed them, Ryan especially.” Gerard remarked, watching me out the corner of his eye as he pretended to watch Frankie and Mikey tackle Trey.
I sighed. “Yeah, he gets so overprotective, sometimes. He forgets I’m perfectly capable of looking out for myself.”
“You sure he’s just overprotective?” Pete hinted.
I grimaced. “Yeah, it’d be freakish if he was into me. He’s my brother.”
“You sure he feels the same about you?” Gerard asked gently, openly meeting my gaze.
My own eyes widened as they locked with his hazel ones. “Yeah.” I nodded, completely certain.
“Well, I think you’re a bit oblivious to the signs when a guy likes you, and we’ve been around for a while-” Pete began, but I cut him off.
“No, Trey’s my real, biological brother.”
Gerard and Pete stared at me for an instant, eyes wide and mouths open, until I waved my hand in front of their faces.
“I’m confused.” Pete shook his head slowly, almost ready to give up on untangling the mess of me.

“The Nazis, only one of them is my biological parent. My… dad married his Nazi girl when I was little. I was born in Oklahoma to semi-normal folks, but they were always fighting. I had two brothers, twins, they’re a year older than me. Thing is, my parents were always fighting, but they stuck together until I was four. Then my mom decided to take us kids and run.” I swallowed. “My dad hid me and said he’d take her to court to keep the boys, too, if she didn’t leave and never come back. So she packed up Trey and Jimmy and the three of them took off. I was stuck with the Nazi, and he almost immediately got married to his peroxide blonde.” I sighed. “I never heard from my mom, Jimmy, or Trey again, until a year after I hit New York. When I saw Trey in trouble, I couldn’t believe it, but I couldn’t walk away from him, either. When we realized we’d found each other, after all that time…” I had to swallow back the lump in my throat again. “He told me that our mom is really controlling, and treated him and Jimmy like clones, not two separate people. So he ran and wound up in the same place as me.” I was studying my hands, my fingers laced together as my hands dangled between my knees.
“Are you going to go back with him?” Pete finally asked, his voice forlorn.
I sighed, meeting his gaze. “Maybe.” I let my eyes close and leaned back on the couch, slumping limply against the cool leather. “I… I have a mom, two brothers, now. A family.” I said thoughtfully, then I scowled, forcing my eyes open to glare at the ceiling. “Family. Right.” I barked a short, bitter laugh. “If she’d’ve wanted me so badly, she would’ve taken me, regardless of the Nazi’s empty threats.” I met my friends’ gaze, resolute. “Trey and Jamie, they’re my family.” I said firmly. “I don’t need anybody else.”
“What about us?” Gerard asked quietly, and I realized for the first time that I’d hurt him- both of them.
“I love you guys, you know that.” I reminded him, hugging them both. “I’d just rather not show it.” I grinned crookedly, but it was rueful and apologetic.
“We know.” Pete assured me, finally starting to understand me.

“Look at this.” I grinned a few days later, dragging Trey over to where Pete and Gerard sat with Joe, Mikey, and Frankie.
I’d tied Trey down and washed all the dye out of his hair last night, and it was now the same shade of reddish-brown as mine.
“Look,” I repeated, grinning, as I shoved Trey’s hair off his face and held my own back, too. The two of us grinned at the five men, our eyes the exact same shade of blue in our equally pale skin, even our facial structure was similar, though mine was a bit more feminine.
“You two almost seem related.” Mikey tilted his head to the side, squinting at us as Gerard and Pete laughed.
“We are.” I explained happily, and Trey looped an arm around my waist, pulling me in so he could screw with my hair.
“My baby sis.” He grinned evilly as I squirmed out of his headlock.
“By one year.” I whined.
“And don’t you forget it.” Trey winked at me, then turned his attention to the guys. “Well, I’m leaving in two days, and Cyn’s coming back to Indy with me.”