Brie was silent. She turned her head away from Seth, her eyes trained on something in the water in front of them. Nikki's head was cocked to the side. She wanted to ask. Seth knew she did. The two of them were just processing the new information; Seth had just told them that he wanted to break up with the guys that were like little brothers to them. Seth wouldn't be surprised if they were to get up and leave at that moment.

Nikki placed a gentle hand on his back, and he felt his racing heart slow down. Her touch was calming, anchoring. It was like being yanked down and out of the cloud he'd been floating in. Even so, Seth still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt in his gut. Brie hadn't looked at him in a few minutes. Her hands were folded in her lap, effortlessly elegantly, and her face was unreadable. Seth felt the lump rising in his throat before she even stood up and walked in the general direction of the car. He didn't make an effort to wipe that tear away. He knew he shouldn't have told anybody...

A soft hand was wiping the falling tears away. Seth looked over at Nikki, who had a small smile on her face, despite his past revelation. Believe it or not, she was a bugger softie than Brie. She was a bit better at consoling people, while Brie was a bit more serious in any situation. They balanced one another out. Twenty years together'll do that for you, Seth mused.

"She's just upset," Nikki assured him. "You know how much she loves Roman. He's like another brother to her."

Seth nodded. If he remembered correctly, Roman had talked about how Nikki and Brie had taken it upon themselves to show Roman around during his first few days in high school. They'd become quick friends, which was no surprise. Roman was the people person to end them all. Brie was the first person Roman told abut having a possible interest in guys. He told her about his situation with John, which Seth and Dean had only just recently gotten full detail on. That, and Roman had defended Brie's boyfriend on more than a few occasions. Brie, in short, was very protective of Roman, and Roman was the same towards her.

"Why do you want to break up with them?" Nikki asked, catching Seth off guard. He looked up from his shoes, obviously surprised.

"Uh..." He trailed off, his eyes leaving Nikki once more. "It's stupid."

"I'm sure it isn't."

Seth sighed. What could it possibly hurt? "I'm leaving, Nic. I can't just stay with them until the day I leave. They'll drift away from me, drift closer together. It's best if I just call it off now instead of waiting for the inevitable."

"That's your reason?" Nikki asked, brows furrowed. "You're...you don't want to break up with them, so you're breaking up with them?"

"No," Seth groaned. "I just don't want to feel like I'm losing them. It's better not to have them at all than to lose them over time."

Nikki nodded slowly. Seth couldn't tell if she got it or not. He didn't plan on elaborating any more, though. He'd shared. He'd cried, he'd ran Brie off, he'd admitted that he's a coward who can't handle a long-distance relationship. Nikki didn't need to know anything else.

"Well..." She trailed off. "I'm gonna go check on Brie. Do you need a ride?"

Seth shook his head.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Seth nodded, staring straight ahead. He heard footsteps muffled by sand retreating. Part of him wanted to pull his phone out and invite Roman and Dean to meet up with him, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Keeping them close would only make things hurt more. Besides, they'd left him alone, for the most part. They didn't need him. He obviously wasn't missed, judging by the lack of visits and calls and texts. After a few days, they all stopped.

The end of July was fast approaching. He'd be moving on August 12th (his mom had managed to get an official date). Their house was already more than halfway packed up. Seth didn't want to leave, not at all, but he couldn't just stay. He'd tried that. He'd just have to go into his junior year alone. He'd miss Roman's graduation, guaranteed; his mom hated traveling, no matter how close or how far. But, upon further evaluation, Roman probably wouldn't want him there anyways. Maybe he'd finally gotten tired of Seth. The younger teen wouldn't blame him.

He couldn't leave the two of them thinking they could all still be together. He knew, he fucking knew that it wouldn't work. It was easier to call it off before he left than to wait for it to stop. Delaying the inevitable wouldn't make things better.

"Roman?"

The dark-haired teen looked up from the pamphlet he was reading, closing it when he saw his had leaning against a chair. His heart sped up a bit. He knew exactly what conversation was coming. His mom had told him the day before, right after Dean left, that she'd told his dad about his current situation. Something about him stalling and not telling his dad something important about his life, he'll find out sooner or later, whatever. He didn't tell his dad, true. Thing was, he couldn't.

His dad wasn't as accepting as his mom. His dad had an image of what kind of sone he wanted, as did any parent, and a kid that's dating two guys at once was not in the description. Couldn't this conversation wait a little? At least until he was in college, so his dad couldn't kick him out of the house. He wasn't asking for much.

Roman shifted in his chair, setting the college pamphlet down. His dad just looked down at him.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad," just disappointed. "I just don't know why you haven't told me yourself."

Roman's eyebrows shot up, his face falling into a confused expression as his dad pulled out a chair and sat down across him. "What?"

"Your mother told me how she'd known for weeks. Why have you not told me about this?"

"I kinda like living in this house..."

His dad let out a chuckled. "I guess I gave you that kind of message, huh?" Roman nodded. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I was overjoyed. It's strange to hear about your son dating two boys, at once at that."

Again, Roman nodded. "I expected that."

His dad sighed. "I won't berate you. This is your life, you can make your own decisions, and while I may not be extremely happy about them, you're seventeen. You have one year left in school. You're moving out in a year. You're an adult, Roman. I can't tell you what you can and cannot do."

"You can," Roman's mom walked around the corner from the stairs, standing behind his dad. "We just don't do it right now. You're old enough to differentiate between right and wrong. We shouldn't have to hold your hand through everything."

"So...?"

"So, do what you want. Be with them. We can't hold you back from what, evidently, makes you happy," his mom gave him a small smile.

Roman couldn't do anything but nod.

Everyone who knew Seth was aware of him moving. Sure, everyone had a hint of sadness in them, but nobody had taken it harder than Dean. Seth was special to him. Not just in a he's my boyfriend type of way, but in a he's just as much of a misfit toy as I am, and I really fucking care about him way. From the day Dean met seth, he was oddly attracted to the little twig boy. Of course, Roman had urged them to become friends. Fucking Roman. Meddling since the seventh grade.

Even so, Dean couldn't help but look at the lanky 13-year-old that he had somehow befriended. His voice took a little longer to deepen, and he'd squeal whenever he got mad. He had a collection of wrestling Pay-Per-Views on DVD (which he was all to excited to show off; Roman just watched with a smile), and got excited about Dean's equally as impressive collection (Roman took all of it in stride, and happened to watch just as much as they did). And that was his life until freshman year. The kid from Ohio who was oddly protective of the skinny kid from Iowa and the big linebacker that everyone looked up to, literally, watching every wrestling production seth could possibly get his hands on, because it made the kid happy. You couldn't say no to Seth's big brown eyes and gap-toothed smile.

Come high school, Dean and Seth practically had their own bodyguard. Roman must've expected people to pick on the noodle with partially-red hair and the twitchy kid from out of town. And that's all they were. Dean and Seth weren't Dean and Seth in that school. They were that kid and those guys. Roman was Roman, star linebacker and college prospect. Everyone knew Roman. Dean loved Roman, no doubt, but he could connect with Seth because, well, Seth was pretty damn similar to him. Kids from out of state who'd been picked on their entire lives. Kids who were perfect buddies for the most popular kid in school.

Seth leaving was like a part of Dean leaving. Seth withdrawing from them was like ripping that piece away slowly, just waiting for it to come off completely. Problem was, Dean didn't want to lose that piece of him.

"Dean, mom's concerned."

Dean rolled his eyes as Trevor invited himself into his room. He'd never actually improved at this big brother shit. Trevor had just recently turned 14. He was tall, like his dad. He was growing, but it was the awkward kind of growing when your legs are too skinny and you look like a bobble head with acne.

"Trev, let me let you in on a secret," Dean sat up and faced Trevor. "You do not walk into someone else's room without asking, alright?"

"I didn't come in here to be chastised," he shot back, sneering at Dean.

"Exactly. You came in here to be annoying," Dean stood up and put his hands on Trevor's shoulders, grateful for the growth spurt that he'd had over the summer. "Mission accomplished, kid." Dean patted him on the back and shoved him out the door. So much for his mom not being concerned.

WOO. CHAPTER. CONSISTENT WEEKLY UPDATES. SMALL VICTORIES ARE STILL VICTORIES PEOPLE.

(also, with the end of this story approaching, i have a new story in the works! thing is, I need pairings! tell me what pairings you may like to see in a fanfic!)