Beauty and the Brute

"It's the way you look at each other." Elijah explained. We glanced at each other and Cameron's eyes softened as he looked at me. He pushed a stand of hair off my face.

"It's actually sickening." Spike said. Cameron sighed.

"Well I just won't look at him." He said.

"Yeah that won't be weird at all." I teased. Cameron sighed.

"Can you at least try to act like you're taking this seriously?"

"What, your impending murder at the hands of my brother?" Cameron grumbled and I squeezed his knee. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be on my best behaviour."

——

It was so hot we stripped down to our underwear when we got home. Cameron poured us each a beer and I sat on the kitchen bench, talking him through dinner. Every now and then he would pause and feed me a strawberry, letting me lap up the juices as they rolled down his arm. That was a new thing for me, and I've got no idea where the fuck it came from- I wasn't normally a submissive person. But as Cameron would say, if it works it works.

Naturally, because life's a bitch, he had one hand in my hair and one hand in my mouth and my legs were wrapped around his waist when the door flew open.

We froze and stared at Tui, before launching ourselves across the room in opposite directions. He looked at us and sighed.

"Got home early." He said. "This looks... fun."

"It's not what it looks like." Cameron said, because he's a moron.

"I... don't even know what it looks like." Tui said. He glanced at me and I wasn't even thinking about Cameron anymore. I just... Couldn't stop smiling. Fucking Tui.

I embraced him, holding him tight. He hadn't come to visit me since 2017 and I didn't realise I was going to fall apart when I saw him. He held me back and we proceeded to squeeze the life out of each other before I pulled him onto the couch.

"Aw fuck dude, I missed you." I said. He laughed.

"Missed you more, fuckhead."

We had everything and nothing to say to each other, and we sat talking on the couch until eventually Cameron sighed and cleared his throat. I glanced at him. He'd gotten dressed and was gesturing at the dinner table.

"Dinner?" He asked.

"Since when do you cook?" Tui eyed the table dubiously. Cameron glanced at me.

"Ari's been teaching me." He mumbled. I leapt up and said something about getting changed, and winced as I realised all my clothes were in Cameron's room. I sighed and went to Tui's room instead.

——Cam——

Tui frowned at me when Ari went to go and change, apparently only just them realising he was conducting an entire conversation in his underwear.

"Hey Cam?" He said calmly. He looked up at me.

"Yeah dude?"

"I feel like we might have had a communication issue, mate." I cleared my throat and tried to causally lean against the kitchen table.

"What's that?" I said.

"I thought I made it really clear I didn't want you to fuck my little brother." I could feel myself turning red.

"Yeah... " I said. "About that..." But I didn't get any further because Ari was in the room. Ari looked between us. He's a smart kid. He winced.

"Did you tell him about the technicality?" He muttered to me. I could feel my cheeks getting even hotter and Ari quickly pulled his brother to sit at the table.

"Look, first of all, he was trying really hard not to sleep with me. I didn't even think he was interested in men. And second, Tui, please. Its so much more than fucking. I can't speak for Cameron but I've never felt this way before. He likes Bongzilla!" I smiled to myself. Trust Ari's selling point of a relationship to be fucking Bongzilla.

I cleared my throat and glanced at Tui, who was... well. He was kinda smiling.

"Bongzilla?" He said to me .

"You really wouldn't be into it." I warned him.

--Tui--

I'm not a fucking idiot. I knew the second I saw them. Even if the second I saw them wasn't when they were... well honestly, I don't know what they were doing. I saw a mass of limbs and then suddenly they were on opposite sides of the room in their underwear. Yeah dudes, real fucking subtle.

I would have known anyway.

Honestly, from the fucking minute I left Wellington I knew. Ari and Cam were built the same. They were horny idiots who tried to pretend they had no emotions, and they both listened to the absolute worst of stoner metal. I told Cam not to, Jesus I fucking begged him not to- but the two of them are only human.

And I hate to say it. But I got it. I saw why they were into each other.

And I could have thrown a massive fucking fit, and I could have killed Cam- fuck I mean, really. I could have killed him.

Or I could just accept it.

Cam and Ari were happy.

With each other.

——

When I came home a month or so later, Ari was on my fucking computer again.

"Get your own damn Steam account!" I shoved him. He looked up at me and gestured at the page with a roll of his eyes. Not Steam. Trade Me. I glanced at it.

"What are you looking for?"

"A room, dumbass."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" He rolled his eyes. 25 and he behaves like a surly teenager. Honestly. I stared at him for a second.

And then I grabbed his arm and marched to Cam's room, throwing open the door.

"Hey!" Cam grunted. I ignored him and opened the closet. Yeah. Like I thought. His old suit from a school dance like 9 years ago that there was no way he would fit, and a couple of shirts for job interviews.

"Plenty of room." I gestured to Ari, who was hanging back in the doorway. He twisted his hair around his fingers and glanced at Cam, who rolled his eyes. "You're in here all the fucking time anyway. Cam, just tell him he can live with you and we can split rent." Cam grunted.

"Already told him." I glared at Ari.

"So?"

"So I thought maybe you didn't want to live next door to your lame little brother having sex!"

"Way too late for that!" I growled. "I invested in soundproof headphones like the day after I got back." Ari sighed.

He looked over at Cam. Cam glared at him and shrugged.

"You're a big boy Ar." He looked at me and shook his head. "If you want to move in with your fantastic boyfriend you're gonna have to say it, I'm not forcing you." Ari sighed, but he was smiling.

"Kay." He muttered.

"Fine." Cam said with a sigh.

"Finally." I rolled my eyes.

Fucking. Idiots.

I matched away and left the two of them to it.

"Sooo..." I heard Ari say. "Since the technicality really doesn't really matter anymore... " I slammed my headphones on.

I really didn't wanna know what that was about.