An Unwanted Love

I don’t like this. I think to myself quietly as we arrive in front of the new house. If it could be called that; it looked more like a mansion. The property we now live on was, at one point several decades ago, a farm. We got twenty acres of land, five miles from town. The house was close to the front of the property, so that even with a fourth of a mile as a front yard we could still see the neighbor’s house the road across the flat land. The back yard was a different story; apparently it went on forever into a dense wooded area with no roads or houses for miles. It just ran right into some other person’s land. The neighbor’s, the ones across the street, if it could be called that, apparently lived on the other half of the original farm. Christ. Who needs 40 acres?

“Isn’t it just beautiful?” Alice asked. Hopefully she wasn’t expecting any answers. It was nice, pretty, but without a doubt old. It would take tons of work, sweat, money and probably blood before it was good for winter.

We get out and go straight to work unloading, Alice and Nate had agreed that it would be easier to unload and place the boxes in a large entry room then look around, assign rooms and just slide the boxes into the rooms we wanted them to go in. Turned out unloading was just as bad as loading, which was the hardest bitch I’ve ever had the displeasure of fucking. It went on. And on. And on. For three and a half mother fucking hours. For three and a hald goddamned hours we just unloaded the truck and put the boxes into one room, only to move them again later. And we still had furniture to do.

“Boys, how about you go find which rooms you want? You can even check out the basement rooms.” We were told after taking fifteen minutes to rest once we finished unloading the damn truck.

“Cool.” Nate headed upstairs with me following.

“Dude, this room is huuuuge, and it isn’t even the master bedroom! Or, I don’t think so, at least…” I heard him call, trailing off at the end.

“Then take it.” I replied, turning my head to help project my voice without having to raise the volume too much.

“Nah, man, I don’t need that much space. We’ll make it the music room.” He elaborated , voice going up in volume the closer he got to where I was standing. “That’s this?”

“Dunno. You go first,” I said as I stepped aside.

“Why?”

“If there’s something freaky going on I don’t wanna go up alone, let alone first. You go.” I explained to him, dead serious. He looked at the stairs we were in front of, which had been hidden behind a door. Creepy much? Yes.

“Ah, so you want a big strong man to come to your rescue?” He laughs.

“No. I want an idiot to trip so that any… things up there will eat him instead of me.” I replied, which earned a glare, though it was really weak and then turned into laughter. It was weird. He was moping before he got here, and Alice and I were prepared for fights and anger and all that once we did arrive… But he was all… Happy. “Dude, why the fuck are you so happy?”

“What?” He asked, attempting to give me an innocent look.

“You should be in a horrible, pissy, girl on her period mood. You aren’t. Why?” I asked, looking directly at him and raising an eyebrow.

“Maddie broke up with me last night when I called her.” He revealed, attempting- and failing- at sounding nonchalant about it.

“Sucks. She was a bitch anyway.” It was true. She was a fake, horny, slutty bimbo who hated me until I got popular and everyone found out that Nate and I were cousins. Then I was her ‘best gay friend. Like. Ever.’ It was pretty disgusting.

“It still hurt. But you were right. We can make this year even better than it was going to be.” He grinned. Way too optimistic. Creepy and weird. He should definitely be crying.

“Whatever. Let’s go up already.” It turned out the stairs went up, amazingly, to yet another door. We opened it to reveal a large, spacious room that was clearly the attic on the other side. Since the roof sloped the ceiling of the room did as well, but it was so large and the walls still went high enough, even in the shortest parts, it would be comfortable to at least sit in. It would be really good for decorating, the low and high spots from the sloped roof. There was a skylight in one section of the roof, and so many windows lighting the space that it was almost like being outside. The windows were places in amazing ways, so that they were high, in good places and secure, but wouldn’t be bad when it comes to privacy. There was even window seats built in from the previous owners, made into a little niche that would be the perfect spot for sitting and reading, or watching, or drawing, or anything. Upon closer inspection the windows proved to be well insulates, so drafts would be few and far in between, unless the windows or skylight were cracked open.

“I want it. If you do too we can work something out.” I said immediately. This room would be mine, one way or another.

“Nah, man, all yours. I want something closer to a bathroom.” He grinned, so I replied with a thin smile to show my gratitude.

“Thanks…”

“No problem. Let’s get your shit and haul it up here, then.” He responded, walking towards the door. I blanked at that. Although I didn’t have tons of crap, I had enough that it would be a bitch. Fuck.

“Wait, what about your room?” I asked as we exited the attic.

He flashed yet another smile. “Dude, already know what I want. Basement. Got a bathroom, secluded, perfect.” He told me with a wink.

“Cool. Who’s fuckton of shit goes first?”

“Yours, duh. You chose the attic so we should get the hard shit out of the way. Especially with all your books, easels, documents, instruments and that little bag you call your wardrobe.” I flush slightly at his list of crap. It had honestly grown since moving in with them a year ago. And the instruments weren’t even all mine, mostly the oboe, two of the guitars, the bass guitar, keyboard and cello. And a few amps, which don’t count as instruments. Everything else we shared and all of them besides the oboe, my favourite guitar and the keyboard would go into the music room. Besides that it was only three boxes of books, half a box of legal documents I can’t lose, a duffle bag of clothes and some art supplies.

“Right. All of that. Thanks, man. I guess it makes up for all your exercise and sports equipment and those suitcases of clothes.” I said. He knew I was teasing, as the sarcasm was tangible, and he just laughed saying more shit about how I was warming up to him.

“Yeah, yeah, you wish. You so owe me for this.” He joked in reply, and I swore violently in response. I was only half joking with the curse, too. But he thought it was funny and started laughing, again. Seriously, what the fuck is so funny?

When we get close to the stairs, though, we hear voices coming up, which is confusing, to say the least. Who would be over? We They hadn’t socialized with people yet. Nate and I loudly descended the stairs, but the voices didn’t stop.

“-ey come. The slightly taller one is my nephew, he goes by Rave. The slightly shorter with the blond-ish tips in his hair one is my son, Nathan. They are both seventeen.” I heard my aunt say. She described our differences as much as possible- Nate and I could have been twins. We arrived in the front room thing where all the boxes were to find her talking to a tall, lean man with pale skin and gold hair, a woman of average height, and a willowy figure with tan skin and black hair and a tall, lean guy with pale blond hair and pale skin. He looked to be our age, around seventeen. “Boys, these are our neighbors, Jack, Melissa and Dacen Kesslar. They came by to see if we needed help. Have you guys decided which rooms you want?”

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you all,” Nate stepped forward and shook all of their hands with a smile, ever the polite, social and charming young man, “and yes, we did. I want the basement, Rave wants the attic.”

“Oh dear God. You two just have to choose the worst places, don’t you?” Alice asked, exasperated.

“What? No! But, also, we decided to make the second biggest room upstairs the music room. Or, y’know, Rave’s second room. Whichever.” Nate joked, smiling while Alice rolled her eyes and I scoffed.

“You and I have just as much stuff as he does in the music room.” She rebutted, defending me.

“Together, as in between two people, we have as much stuff as he does, as in one person.” Nathan reasoned, triumphantly finishing “so, in all reality, he has twice as much, and you know it.”

“Watch your ego or I’ll kick it down, amateur.” I said, smirking. The neighbors were just standing there and watching with mixed expressions. The man, Mr. Whatever, looked amused while his wife was curious and their son, Declan or something, was looking at me with a weird expression.

“So, you’re all musicians?” The man asked.

“Eh, mostly Rave. I mean, we all got our thing.” Nathan told him.

“Yes, we all do. Rave is very musically and artistically influenced, so he uses the music room much more than Nathan or I do, whereas Nathan prefers sports and physical things, so the workout room is utilized primarily by him. On the other hand, I work and love reading and writing, so the study and library are used by me the most. Really, we all use them; just some of us have more items or use one room more than the others.” Alice finished explaining for Nathan. “After hearing where they decided to put their crap- excuse me, stuff- are you sure you still wish to help?”

“Of course not! It would be our pleasure. Dacen-” so that was the kid’s name- “would you help with the stuff going up to the attic and your father with the stuff upstairs and I’ll assist with the basement room?” The wife, Marissa or something, proposed.

“Sounds good! Though, fair warning, Dacen: Rave isn’t very talkative. Or nice. And he does bite.” Nathan told him in the most serious tone, earning a laugh from everyone else. Don’t see why it’s so funny; it’s completely true.

“Nah, bro, last time I check you were the one into biting.” I said with a wink. He had minor shock showing through his eyes, but he went along seamlessly and glared. What I said was completely true, and he knew it, but he also knew I wouldn’t sell him out. Bros before hoes. “Besides, I like… Other things.”

“Hmm… Kinky. My kinda man,” He winked again, and Alice smacked both of us while the outsiders laughed. Fantastic. More people who laugh at everything.

I stalked over to the pile of boxes while everyone else is chatting and begin marking the boxes filled with my shit with a black sharpie, just a simple ‘x’ to distinguish all the boxes. No way in fuck I wanted to have to tell the kid which boxes were mine every single trip. Once I had finished with that I grabbed two boxes and started upstairs, vaguely hearing everyone else start to get to work.

After a few stairs I heard someone behind me, footsteps light, but loud enough to hear. Less than a second later his voice sounded. “What grade are you going into?”

It was a nice voice. Soft, but attention grabbing. Smooth, but sensual and deep, but not too deep. It was completely and utterly entrancing. It could hold someone’s mind and capture them. I wouldn’t have minded having that voice moan my name. Loudly.

“Twelfth.” I hoped that would end the discussion.

“Same, but dude, don’t expect shit from me. You can make your own way around campus.” I shrugged. Small town, small school, wouldn’t be that hard. “You really aren’t conversational. Why?” I shrugged again. That kid just didn’t take the fucking hint.

“Are you one of those selective mute kids? No, I bet not. You said what grade you were in and earlier you were joking with Nathan in front of us.” While he continued to ponder aloud I took to ignoring him, seemed to work out best for the both of us. After that no more words were spoken and we finished the rest of the boxes up in silence.

“So, he talk?” Nathan asked, getting the last two boxes going down to his room as the kid and I arrived downstairs after our final trip to take my boxes up. I nodded just as he replied no, the fucker. “’Ey, I was talking to Dacen, thank you very much, Rave. But it’s good to know you’re as cold-hearted as ever.” Dacen and his parents, who appeared out of fucking no-where, seemed shocked to hear Nathan speak to me like that, but I just shrugged and leant against a wall and flicked him off.

“Are you two always so… Rough with each other?” The woman asked.

“You mean rude? Yeah, basically. We get along, I think, but as you can tell he doesn’t talk much. Mostly just to mom or when he’s insulting someone. We, or at least I, never mean them, it’s just how we show our affection and love for each other.” Nate told her, inching closer to me the entire time. I was getting ready to kick him in the balls.

“I don’t love you, dude. I live with you. Big difference.” I informed him, putting a piece of gum in my mouth. “Plus, we are not lovers.”

“What!? But… Then what was last night!? I thought I meant something to you!” He said , winking.

“Not in your wildest dreams, lover boy.” I scoffed, which earned laughs all around. Except from Jason, Dacen- whoever- who just looked at us.

“Mmm. Got that wrong, sexy. In my wildest dreams every night.” Nate told me, getting even closer. I ignored the invasion of my personal space and opted to give him a look instead. Well, at least until he kissed my cheek. At that I promptly take a swing at him, which he narrowly avoids, only to drop that and wipe his STD’s off my face. Once that had been successfully done I turned back to him. The idiot hadn’t moved, thinking I had decided to give up on hitting him. So, I smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to almost let out a few vulgar terms.

“No hitting Nate.” Alice said. She had fucking perfect ass timing for coming in whenever I was getting revenge on Nathan.

“He kissed me!” I protested.

“Nathan, dear, it’s not okay to go gay for your cousin. We aren’t in the first century. Go find a girl for the night.” Alice told him, joking.

“But I love him so, so much, ma. I can’t live without him!” Nate declares, completely over dramatically, throwing his hands in the air and everything. More laughs erupted, sadly.

“Then be happy you guys live under the same roof. Rave; lock your door at night.” Alice said, but quickly put us back to work. The four guys were charged with getting the baby grand piano upstairs to the designated music room. It suddenly seemed like an awful idea to have it up there, but no way in hell I’d admit that.

“How about we switch the study and the music room so we don’t have to haul this up?” Nathan proposed.

“No.” I vetoed immediately.

“Why not?”

“I’m the one who uses it at least an hour a day. No way in fuck I’m going up and down two flights of stairs each time I want to practice.” I said firmly.

“But.. The piano! And most of the instruments you practice daily are in your room anyway! AND you even have the keyboard! C’moooonnnnn.” Nathan attempted to reason.

“You came up with the idea.” I reminded him.

“Yeah, but you’re the smart one, not me, remember?” He tossed back in my face.

“Yeah, so I’m smart enough to know it’s best fr me to have it upstairs.” I told him carelessly.

“But… What about when Grandma and Grandpa come and the want to play? You know they can’t go up more than a few stairs and it would crush them not to be able to listen to you or play themselves.” He used, and fuck, it was something I couldn’t argue with.

“I hate you.” With that he knew he had won and that the music room was going to be a bitch for me to get to.

“Whoo!! Music room is down the mother fu- freaking stairs!!” he cheers, editing his vulgar language when he remembers that the man and his son were there, too. They were also grinning, obviously relieved. Well, fuck.

Without any more words from me we wrestle the piano into the room, and once everyone else lets go I start moving it around, adjusting it so that it will be in the perfect spot. Every time I decide I like a place I stop and play a bit to see how it sounds there, finally ending up liking it best in the middle of the room. I moved it around a bit more so that it was at an attractive angle and called it good. The other three had gotten some water, just watching as I worked, so I walked passed them and started moving the other instruments into the room.

“Can you play all of those?” Jake or whatever asked.

“Rave can play all of them. Mom and I can each play about half of them, but there a few only he plays.” Nathan boated.

“Wow, so, Rave, you must be something of a prodigy” Jack continued. I was pretty sure it was Jack.

“No.”

“Then how do you play all of the instruments?”

“Rave just showed up with all the knowledge. Not sure how or when he learned, just that he did.” Nathan jumped in, knowing I wouldn’t answer that question and that the man was annoying me. It wasn’t any of his fucking business, now was it?

“That’s great; it’s always good to have such knowledge. Are you going to continue on into college and become a professional? And which instrument is the one you play on the most?” Jack asked, placing a few boxes down. That marked the last of the junk to go in here.

“My principal instruments are oboe and guitar, piano being for composition. I might continue.” I replied, keeping it as short as possible without excluding anything before I turned on my heel and left.