Blackmail

Shout out to @WearyandMary if you want a shout out next time, comment down below your favorite season! I think mine is either winter or summer. I feel like winter wins though, because I just love a good sweater moment.

"What are you doing here... Sh-... Shane?" Liam glared daggers at the boy sitting comfortably in the booth as if he owed the whole restaurant.

"Shea." Shea corrected, already annoyed at Simon's clearly less than intelligent oaf of a brother. "Can't I just pay a friend a visit?"

"You can get out of my restaurant." Liam grumbled, glad it was late and empty, so now paying customers would see the scene he was about to make.

"It's not your restaurant, and I don't think your manager would appreciate you speaking to a customer in this manner."

"I'm the manager. And we reserve the right to refuse service to anybody acting antagonistically, so please leave." Liam raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Come on, man, can't we just have a conversation?" Shea asked.

"A conversation about how you don't know how to treat my brother?" Liam accused and Shea flinched, breaking his calm exterior.

"That's.. that was a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Liam scoffed. "Does that give you the right to talk to Simon like that. He might not realize that you're trouble, and that's why it's my job to protect him from people like you."

"A job you take way too seriously..." Shea whispered. "Besides, don't you think it should be up to Simon who he hangs out with? Have you considered at all his feelings? Or do you just sit there as a hypocrite and lie to him?" Shea tilted his head to the side. "It seems to me like the person hurting him most is you."

"How do you know that?"

"That you lied to Simon? He told me you weren't allowed to have a job, but here you are. Don't you think he has a right to know where his private school funds are coming from?" Shea shrugged.

"I have my reasons." Liam stated firmly.

"And I mine." Shea responded quickly. "Now I wanted to handle things like adults, but clearly you aren't smart enough to do that... So I have a proposition."

"What the hell do you want?" Liam felt like his eyes were going to implode from glaring too much, and Shea was lucky to be in the restaurant, because if they hadn't been in public he'd be a dead man.

"I want you to let me see Simon."

"There's no way." Liam crunched his hand into a fist, hoping to restrain himself.

"Oh I think there is a way. I think that you're going to tell Simon you've changed your mind about me, and that you don't care if he sees me anymore." Liam took a bold step forward, and suddenly Shea felt like maybe the booth wasn't as safe as he had thought it would be. "And I think that if you don't, I'll tell Simon about all your filthy little lies."

"You're shit, you know that?" Liam spat. "You would blackmail me like this? Knowing Simon's feelings are on the line. You are the absolute scum of the earth."

"Maybe... but I'm still better than you." Shea smiled. "Think about Simon, Liam. Think about how crushed he'll be if he finds out that the one person he thought he could always trust has been lying to him. Think about how he'll look at you afterwards..."

Liam could see it. He could see the pain on Simon's face. The two boys only had each other, it was just them against the world, and that was all they had. Simon couldn't lose someone else, the boy couldn't lose the last family had left. And Liam couldn't bear the disappointment that would color Simon's blue eyes.

"Do we have a deal?" Shea asked.

"Get the hell out." Liam closed his eyes, and bit at his lip. The only thing that would hurt Simon more than finding out he'd lied, would be finding out he'd killed Shea.

"Do we have a deal?" Shea's voice faltered, betraying his extreme state of fear.

"Yes." Liam wanted to die. He had never felt worse about himself for a day in his life. He felt like he was sacrificing Simon's safety for his own wishes. "Now GET THE HELL OUT." Liam yelled. His coworker poked her head out to see what was going on, then ducked back inside, not wanting to anger the manager. Liam was crushed, broken, and destroyed. He'd would never forgive himself, but he needed to figure out how to tell Simon as fast as possible, so that Shea could be out of both of their lives forever. He just didn't know how to do it.

....

"Liam's been gone a long time." Kit complained, a few moments after Liam left. Without Liam, he found watching children's movies way less fun.

"It's been like two minutes." Simon raised an eyebrow, but sighed and reached for the remote anyway. "We can turn off the movie now." Simon turned form the screen. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Everything, Kit. Everything." Simon ran a hand through is dirty blonde hair. "I kissed Shea again."

"You did what?" Kit groaned. "Simon... you need to just make up your mind."

"Shush." Simon's eyes widened. "And Liam caught me and lost his shit."

"Now way... Like the last time?"

"He chased him out of the house!" Simon nodded. "But we haven't talked about it since."

"With Shea or with Liam?"

"Both!" Simon rolled his eyes. "Liam hasn't brought it up again, and I can't bring it up, he'll get mad."

"I wouldn't either. You gotta just ride this one out." Kit suggested. "So what happened with Shea?"

"I was.. I think I was on the verge of a panic attack, and he just showed up... and he looked so good... and it just.. we just.. you know?"

"I've never thought Shea was all that good looking." Kit shrugged. "I mean he's got a mullet."

"Kit.." Simon rolled his eyes. "Anyways.... I'm so ashamed that I haven't even been able to talk to him."

"You ghosted him? That's awful!"

"I know! I feel just terrible. But I can't jeopardize things with Liam again. He's my brother. Family comes first." Simon inhaled deeply.

"That's true. I don't think I could afford to let someone come between me and Asher."

"Speaking of older brothers... did you see Liam today?" Simon asked.

"I know. He looked hot as hell." Kit stated nonchalantly.

"Ew, no." Simon groaned. "But no, he was blushing, and he totally wanted you to come over!"

"You think?"

"I know. Nobody knows him better than I do. He was.. he was weird." Simon insisted. "I know I said he wasn't gay.. but he was sure acting gay today."

"Wasn't he with that Mary girl?" Kit scrunched his face in disgust. "Straight people are gross."

"I don't know! You know they were never very affectionate. Maybe it's just a cover."

"Closeted people do that." Kit agreed. "You think?"

"Hell if I know." Simon raised his eyebrows. "He was just.. today.. you know? It was.. wow."

"And you'd be okay.. with that.. if it did happen." Kit asked quietly.

"With all the shit I've got going on with Asher, I really don't think I get to tell you what you can and can't do with my brother."

"That's true." Kit nodded.

"Speaking of Asher... how is he? What's going on with him?"

"Oh it's been rough." Kit said gravely. "He's out of the house. I think he's in a foster home right now, but then..."

"That's awful..." Simon nodded in sympathy. "What happened with the field?"

"He broke in at night." Kit's eyes widened. "Used a crowbar or something to smash the lock."

"Damn."

"I know." Kit agreed.

"And next year?"

"I think he's taking a gap year to work up some money, and then he's gonna try to go to college." Kit explained. "I'm so glad it's summer. He was a shell of a person for those last few months."

"I'm so sorry." Simon grimaced. "How are you taking all of this?"

"I'm... honestly I'm a mess. I'm trying to hold it together for so many people."

"You never have to hold it together for me." Simon assured. "I'm here for you if you want to cry, or scream, or do whatever. You don't need to put on a brave face or anything. Just let it out, if you need to." Simon paused. "Oh and Kit, call me whenever, day or night. Whenever you need something, you just call me, don't worry about it."

"Thank you.. that mean a lot." Kit stated truthfully. With Asher being such a mess, he had to be strong, but sometimes Kit didn't want to be strong. He wanted to be a weak little mess, like he was deep down inside.

"If things are bad at home, you can always always stay here." Simon gestured. "Besides, I'm sure Liam is alright with it whenever. Don't try and go through this alone, Kit. You've got people who care for you."

"Thank you." Kit nodded. "I'm.. I'd like to stay here tonight. My mom has been.. she's been on a bit of a rampage."

"Absolutely. Now, we have some movie masterpieces to watch." Simon stated firmly and turned back to the screen. "Let's do this thing."

"Yeah." Kit smiled in genuine relief. Simon and he were perfect friends, they always seemed to be able to make the other feel better, and he would be forever grateful for Simon's ability to make a bad situation seem even just a little bit more bearable. He needed someone, and Simon and Liam were both there, cheering him on from the wings.

"Hey." Liam gruff voice called from the kitchen, and Kit and Simon shared a look of confusion. "You're still here?" Liam made his way into the living room and raised his eyebrow.

"He's staying here tonight." Simon nodded.

"Oh.. that's.." Liam stopped to clear his throat. "That's cool. I'll be in my room. Goodnight."

"He is so hot." Kit laid his head on Simon's shoulder.

"Come on. Let's get you a toothbrush and stuff." Simon patted his friend's hair affectionately.

"Okay. It's been an eventful night."

"Yeah..." Simon sighed. "I feel like I was in a drama free period for the past couple of months. Things were better with Liam, and I wasn't so confused about my love life... But I also feel like that little bit of peace is over now."

"I don't wanna go back to the real world." Kit whined.

"Well we have to... but at least we have each other."