Good Intentions Ch. 02

The day after was awkward, to say the least.

Quinten avoided Brian’s attempts at cordiality like it was an Olympic event, even going so far as to outright ignore him during breakfast when Brian asked him to pass the syrup. What made it worse was that their parents were right there to witness it, and when their mom asked him if he heard his brother, he ignored her, too. Their father’s glare had been nothing less than thunderous but Quinten held to his guns. Admirable, really. Foolish, but admirable.

Though he wished to, Brian didn’t know how to patch things up between them, on account that he didn’t know what his brother’s issue was. He could understand if he had told Quinten that he sucked (no pun intended) or that he was too young to be promiscuous, but he hadn’t. He just wanted his brother to be safe. Being concerned for his wellbeing didn’t warrant the silent treatment or the literal turning up of his nose. It bothered him, but if Quinten wanted to act like a spoiled immature brat, fine.

Brian had a solution for that.

Text Sent 5:31 p.m.

Can I trade Quin for ur sis?

Text Received 5:35 p.m.

Lol?

Text Sent 5:35 p.m.

I’ll even throw in $100bucks

Text Received 5:37 p.m.

Okay… whatd the little brat do this time?

Text Sent 5:37 p.m.

Exist.

The eyeroll emoji was Garret’s response to his petulant answer. Which… fair. It wasn’t like he could tell his best friend that he and his brother were fighting because he complained about the free blowjob he got from him, but at the same time he could stand to come up with a better plausible complaint.

Text Sent 5:39 p.m.

Hes being a know it all brat as usual

Text Received 5:41 p.m.

If thats the case then no

I’ll keep my nerdy sis over ur snobby brother

Text Sent 5:42 p.m.

U could at least humor me

Dick

Text Received 5:44 p.m.

Sounds like u could use a drink

Brian contemplated the suggestion. Hanging out with a friend and getting drunk together would be a great way to get his mind off of things… plus being cooped up in the house wasn’t doing him any wonders. Garret had a point. A drink (or five) sounded quite nice.

Text Sent 5:45 p.m.

I’m game

Text Received 5:48 p.m.

Sweet

Lets pregame at my place then hit up a bar

Text Sent 5:49 p.m.

K

I needa hop in the shower first

One hr?

Garret’s response was a thumbs up. For the first time all day, Brian could breathe a sigh of relief.

He went through his shower quickly and efficiently, his mind carefully blank so as to not bring down his own mood. Being on autopilot helped a ton, all the way up until he stood at the foot of his bed, staring blankly at the potential outfits he’d dragged out of his closet. While he doubted they would be going anywhere fancy, he didn’t want to look like a slob. Garret had been dressing to impress whenever they went out, a trend that caught on quickly with the rest of their friends. It made them look so much more mature and not at all like the college students that they were. The last time Brian had been out with the group, he had been severely underdressed and embarrassed. He felt like such an ugly duckling. But not tonight. Tonight he’d put in some effort.

He slipped on the one turtleneck he owned, the pale green color matching his eyes while the thick fabric sat warm and cozy against his skin. He used to hate the feel of the collar wrapped around his throat, but the severe cold weather made him quickly change his tune. Next, he decided on the new pair of jeans that he’d gotten as a birthday gift from his mom, the tags still on them. He’d been apathetic at receiving clothes on his twenty-first birthday and while he had thanked her, he’d never worn them. Now, like turtlenecks, he could appreciate them. The stretchy material made for a tighter fit around his butt and thighs and didn’t look half-bad despite the weight he’d been picking up. It would take some getting used to, but Brian was sure he had a new favorite. He threaded a belt through the loops purely for looks, then running a hand over his short shock of curls, looked up at the mirror hanging on the back of his bedroom door to gauge how well he’d done.

A grin broke out on his face. He needed a shave and trim, and the overall outfit was simple, but goddamn he thought he looked quite put together. Maybe now Garret wouldn’t hog all the womanly attention tonight. All that was left was a spritz of cologne, his boots, and a coat.

Brian turned away towards his dresser to grab his nearly depleted bottle of Clinique when his door quietly pushed itself open.

“Hot date tonight?”

Brian spun, surprise lighting up his face. His brother stood peering in at him from the shadows like a little creeper, but that didn’t faze Brian in the slightest. It’s the first words Quinten’s spoken to him all day. If it didn’t make him look like an idiot, he would’ve jumped with joy.

“Nah, just hanging out with Garret at the bar,” Brian answered in his best attempt at normalcy. “What’s up?”

Quinten let himself into the room and continued staring at him, his eyes drifting deliberately up and down his body. It made Brian heat up all over with a blush. One minute his brother wanted absolutely nothing to do with him and in the next Quinten looked ready to devour him whole. What was Brian supposed to take from that?

“I wanted to talk to you, about last night,” Quinten said, finally making eye contact with him. “About my… about how I lost my cool with you.”

Brian sucked in a breath. Not what he expected. “Oh. I’m listening.”

“You have time to talk?”

Brian checked his watch. Circumstances depending, talking with Quinton might eat into the hour estimate they had talked about, but he was sure Garret would understand if he ran a little late.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Cool. So, like… I still think you’re a jerk, but I lashed out at you because I’ve been so stressed lately. I thought I did everything right, but you calling me reckless-”

“Because you were,” Brian couldn’t help but interrupt, which earned him a peeved glare. He opted to ignore it. “I’m not gonna stand here and pretend that I’m not proud of you, but I’m also not gonna stand here and tell you that it was a hundred percent okay. I told you not to push yourself-”

“I had to!”

“Why? Because your boyfriend is so selfish that he’d dump you if you didn’t let him fuck your throat?”

Quinten’s face reddened and he had the same look that he did last night: disbelieving and angry.

Brian sighed and ran a rough hand over his face; the stubble lining his jaw dragged like sandpaper over his skin. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh. “I’m not trying to fight with you, Quin. You’re my little brother. I want to make sure you’re safe, and the thought of someone using you just… it pisses me off. I’m sorry if I made you think that I think lowly of you, but I promise, that is not the case at all.”

Quinten looked away, his hands curled into fists. Brian watched him, unsure of what his response would be. To his relief, Quinten ended up nodding, his deep green eyes swiveling back over to him with sudden determination.

“I know. But you have to realize that it’s not all about you, or my boyfriend for that matter. I wanted to do it. I wanted to prove to myself that I could, and I did. And I’m not going to stop, either. I’m man enough to make my own decisions, and this is one of them. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can move on.”

Brian couldn’t help but smirk at his closing argument. He’d been wrong when he called Quinten immature. Bullheaded was more appropriate. With an attitude like that, he would make it far in life.

“Alright, I hear ya.”

Quinten’s posture visibly sagged with relief. “Okay, good. It feels good to get that off my chest. I also wanted to apologize for giving you the cold shoulder all day. I’m still sorting stuff out in my head.”

“I understand. No hard feelings.” Brian stepped forward with a cheery smile, his arms held out in an attempt to diffuse the tension. “Now c’mere and give your jerkwad of a brother a hug.”

Quinten cracked a smile back and met him halfway across the room. The hug they shared was nice. Cozy. While there was a slight height difference and Quinten was somewhat of a twig, Brian thought he fit nicely between his arms and against his chest. They should definitely hug more often. It gave Brian pleasant jitters at feeling his brother’s heartbeat bounce against his own, and it only intensified when Quinten squeezed him close and nuzzled his smooth cheek against his bearded one.

Brian had the wild urge to renegade on his plans. He and Garrett could go out for a drink another time, this was way more precious. That idea got unceremoniously nipped in the bud when Quinten pulled back and looked away, clearly embarrassed by the show of affection. Brian tried to not look too disappointed.

“So… uh… this is gonna sound stupid,” Quinten murmured, his cheeks dusted a rosy hue, “but… d’you think I can practice on you again?”

Brian stared at him, not sure if he heard that right. “You want to what?”

The tips of Quinten’s ears were bright pink but he met his brother’s eyes with quickfire confidence. “Practice makes perfect, and I need to do it a couple more times until I know I’ve got the gist of it.”

“I- I get that, but, why with me?”

“Because you know I can do it. And I trust you.”

Brian’s palms felt sweaty. If he had known what can of worms he’d been about to open he never would have offered himself up last night as the sacrificial lamb. This was insane.

“Please?” Quinten implored, doing his best puppy-eyed plea. “Think of it as another part of my apology for being a brat.”

“Oh o-okay,” Brian said before his brain could catch up with his mouth.

Quinten brightened up. “Great.”

With that, he set his hands on Brian’s shoulders and began walking him backward. Brian went along with it like a puppet, his mind a blur of conflicting emotion, but he didn’t protest any when Quinten pushed him down onto his bed and on top of his scattered clothes. As Quinten seamlessly got down onto his knees on the floor and shoved up the bottom of his sweater to reach for his belt, Brian hoped that Garret wouldn’t be too pissed when he didn’t show up at all.