by Noah Harris
Blake’s smile instantly fell, and he sighed. “I tried. Several times. But it took him a while to calm down enough to listen.”
“Tell me how it went.”
“Well, I chased him down after he stormed off, but he was still pretty fired up. I tried to reason with him, but it turned into a shouting match, and we both tried to intimidate each other. He couldn’t intimidate me, and he was too stubborn to be intimidated by me. He nearly hit me, or tried, but I caught his hand. He thought better of it after that.” A small, wicked smile curved his lips. “He can’t beat up on his little brother anymore.”
Dylan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Did you manage to talk to him?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but it wasn’t until Alex got involved that Ben listened to me. I explained as much about our meeting as I did to your mom and sister. He didn’t seem like he wanted to believe it, but Alex did. Ben’s pleasant enough when Alex is around, but he’s still angry with me. He keeps glaring at me when no one’s looking, shoving me when we pass, making snide comments, and trying to push his aura on me. I got tired of that, mixed up with all the wedding chaos, which is why I went to the park.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow. “Why is he still mad? He has no right to be mad.”
Blake’s lips quirked into a small smirk. “I think it’s because I refuse to apologize.”
Dylan frowned. “You have nothing to apologize for. We’re adults. We make our own decisions, which had nothing to do with him. And he hasn’t seen or talked to me in nearly a decade. He had no claim to me.”
“I know, but he thinks he does. He thinks I seduced you to spite him. And that you went to him for comfort when he hurt you by dating your cousin. He doesn’t want to accept the fact that you’ve changed, because then he’d have to be forced to realize that he hadn’t.” Blake sounded bitter. He shook his head. “Either way, I’m not going to apologize, and he’ll just have to suck it up.”
“Good. Don’t you dare apologize.” They laid in silence for a little while longer. Dylan’s resentment toward Ben faded as he soaked in the peace of the area and the moment. It occurred to him that he didn’t know what time it was. Time passed oddly when they were in the woods and away from civilization. It could have been hours, and it could only have been thirty minutes. He pushed himself up onto an elbow, one hand on Blake’s chest as he looked around. “Where are we, anyway?”
Blake smiled. “You don’t recognize this place?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Should I?”
Blake shrugged. “Only if you explored the area as much as I did, I suppose. That’s one of the streams that feeds into the swimming hole.” Everyone knew about the swimming hole. It was one of the most frequented areas by pack members of all ages, but mostly by children and teenagers. Dylan had been there plenty of times with his friends and Ben.
“We’re that far out?”
Blake nodded, his smile widening. “You lose track of distance when we run. Then again, you seemed a little distracted and very determined. You didn’t even notice when I started herding you.”
Dylan looked away, his lips pressed into a frown. He avoided eye contact. “Of course, I noticed. I just wanted to see where you would take me.”
“Mhmm, of course,” Blake said, obviously humoring him. He started to sit up, and Dylan shifted off of him so he could. He stood and stretched before putting his hand on his hips and looking around. He looked up at the sky, obviously trying to determine the time. “Come on. There’s something I want to show you.”
Without waiting for a reply, Blake went to all fours and shifted once again into his wolf form. Casting one last glance over his shoulder at Dylan, he took off into the trees, following the stream. Dylan hesitated for only a moment before following him. They took it easy with a relaxed pace, but it didn’t take them long to get there. Dylan stopped when Blake did, and they both shifted back to their human forms. They stood in front of a cluster of trees a little ways away from the stream. The trees were tightly packed and surrounded by bushes and fallen trees.
Blake took his hand, and they continued, carefully stepping over obstacles. Blake stopped in front of a large, thick tree. Its roots cascaded through the ground around the tree. It was an impressive tree and one that would be suitable for climbing if the lowest branches weren’t way above their heads.
Dylan looked the tree over before glancing at Blake. He was grinning up at the tree. “It’s still there.” He whispered, mostly to himself.
“What is?”
“Look.” Blake leaned in close and pointed high up in the tree. Dylan followed his gaze and, hidden amongst the higher, but still extremely thick, branches, was a wooden tree house.
Dylan gaped at it. “What the hell is that?”
Blake was still grinning. “My hide-out.”
“How the hell did you get it all the way up there?”
“Very carefully, and over the course of several months. I made it all by myself.” Blake sounded so proud of himself, and given the tree house’s location, Dylan didn’t blame him.
“How do we get up there?”
“This way.” Blake led him around to the other side of the tree and further back into the woods. There were other good climbing trees around the main one. He climbed one of these trees, then hoped to a second one where they were close enough that their branches intersected. Then he climbed out on a limb and climbed onto one of the thick main branches of his hideout tree. He scooted along this main branch until he reached the trunk of the main tree. He looked down at Dylan, grinning. “Come on up. It’s a little more difficult than when I was a kid and didn’t weigh anything, but the branches are sturdy.”
Dylan climbed the same way Blake had. He did so easily but was a little less graceful about it. When he scooted across the main branch toward Blake, he glared at the man’s amused grin. “Not a word.” He warned. He had no doubt that his big, hulking self looked hilarious as he struggled along tree branches naked. Blake had made it seem natural. He felt no such grace himself. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a monkey shifter.” He grumbled. “You got all the building supplies up here this way?”
“Some of it. After I had gotten up here, I rigged up a pulley system to get most of it up.”
“How’d you get the supplies?”
“Dad got it for me. I told him I wanted to build a fort in the woods. He said he would help, but I told him no. I wanted a place that I made that only I knew about. Full privacy, you know?”
“Well, you certainly got it up here.” Dylan said, glancing uneasily over the edge.”
“Come on. I’ll show you the inside.”
He turned and crawled through the tree branches. The tree house was a few feet above them, nestled in a wide open space between branches. The fort itself was a wooden box, roughly five and a half feet tall, six feet wide, eight feet deep, and roughly the size of a walk-in closet. Blake led him to the entrance, which was a hole cut out and covered by a thick hanging curtain. The curtain was made of some outdoor material that slicked water and dried quickly. It was dirty and worn and smelled bad as Blake moved the curtain aside and gestured Dylan through. Dylan had to duck through the doorway, and neither of them could stand straight while inside. He crouched and walked in far enough to give Blake room to come in behind him.
The tree house was old and dirty. Dust and debris covered the floor, despite the same weatherproof curtains that hung over the two cut out windows. The room itself had a folding lawn chair, an old dresser, and a small two-shelf bookcase. The bookcase had a few action figures and knick-knacks on it, but it was mostly empty. Dylan looked around, curious and wary of the place. He had been afraid the thing would fall through with their combined weight, but it was surprisingly sturdy.
He looked up at the ceiling, eyeing it curiously. “There isn’t a lot of water damage.” He said, touching the ceiling. “I’d expect there would be from the rain.”
Blake looked up at him. He was at the dresser and looking t
hrough its contents. He smirked. “It’s not a cardboard box, you know. But I suppose the shingles on the roof help with that.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow. “You even put shingles on it?”
He shrugged. “I wanted it to last, so I wanted it to be done right.”
“Well, it certainly did last.”
“Some of my comic books are still here.” He said, pulling out a comic book in question. He flipped through it. “I cleaned most of my stuff out when I moved, but I left some things here in case some kids ever found it. Then they’d have some treasures to look through.” His smile turned soft as he shuffled through the drawers. “When I left, I wanted this place to be someone else’s secret hide-out, to get away from the world and have a place of their own, as it was for me.”
Dylan couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. “That’s sweet.”
“Sweet enough to earn me a kiss?”
Dylan rolled his eyes. “Don’t push it.”
“You know,” He came up behind Dylan as he knelt in front of one of the windows. He had pushed the curtain back and was examining the view. It was an amazing one, and he could see the stream down below. He would see anyone coming by way of the stream before they saw him. Mostly because no one would look up this far. He knelt behind Dylan and wrapped his arms around his waist. He leaned in close, putting his chin on Dylan’s shoulder and tilting his head so he could speak into his ear. “You’re the first person I’ve ever brought here.” He cooed. “No one else knew about this place when I was here. I always thought I’d bring my first boyfriend here …”
Dylan automatically put one hand on Blake’s, which were intertwined and resting on his stomach. He knew the position was normal, but Dylan couldn’t help but remember that a baby might be growing beneath their hands. If there was, would they ever stand in a similar position, only when his stomach was round enough to be noticeable? It was a little terrifying to think about, so he tried to push it out of his mind.
“And did you?”
He felt Blake shrug. “No, I didn’t really date-date when I was here. I kinda did, but …” He trailed off. Dylan raised an eyebrow, waiting, but he didn’t continue.
“But?”
He shook his head. “You’ll think I was ridiculous.”
“I already do, so tell me.”
“Gee thanks …” He mumbled, then sighed. “I already told you I was hopelessly infatuated with you.”
Dylan nodded. “You never said hopelessly, but I assumed it was implied.”
“Thanks. Anyway, I was so infatuated with you that everyone else just seemed dull by comparison. All the other omegas in this town were boring. I dated a few of them, but it was never serious, and it was mostly to try to get you out of my head. They seemed to like me, so I went with it. They never lasted long.”
Dylan shook his head. He knew that Blake had had a crush on him when they were young, he had told him as much, but he hadn’t realized how bad it was. Dylan hadn’t really considered it. He had thought of it as a younger brother having a little crush on his brother’s boyfriend. Dylan hadn’t thought it was that serious. He didn’t know that Blake couldn’t forget him even when he was with another omega his age who was actually into him. “I don’t know what you saw in me that ruined you for other omegas. Hell, I don’t even like thinking back to who I used to be.” He had grown a lot since then, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and he cringed whenever he thought of his high school self.
“I saw a lot.” He whispered, nibbling on Dylan’s ear. Dylan tilted his head to the side to give him more room. His eyes fluttered closed. “You were kind and considerate and confident and passionate.” He trailed kisses down Dylan’s neck. “I used to hear you through the walls and imagined it was me making you make those sounds. I used to imagine what it’d be like to hold you like this. I used to dream of bringing you here and kissing you where no one else in the world would know where we were. In my eyes, you were the only one worthy enough to be shown my hide-out.” He gently nudged and half turned Dylan around to face him. “And you’re here now, so can I have a kiss, pretty please? Make my dreams come true.”
Dylan rolled his eyes and scoffed, trying to hide his embarrassment at the praise. “You’re an idiot.”
Blake grinned. “True, but you don’t seem to mind.”
They kissed, and it was slow and tender and sweet. The kind of innocent kiss they might share if they had indeed been young and Blake had brought him here. If Dylan hadn’t been dating Ben, and if they had been the same age.
“I almost showed you this place once …” He whispered against Dylan’s lips.
Dylan leaned back, surprised. He was still crouched in front of Blake, and he half turned around to face him. His hands were on Blake’s, wrapped around his waist. “You did?”
Blake smiled softly, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. “Yeah, it was about a month after you graduated, and I was still fourteen, almost fifteen. It was after you had slept in my bed at your graduation party, and after we had kissed, but you didn’t remember. I did, of course. I thought about it a lot.” He shook his head slightly. “Anyway, a lot of the high schoolers from the pack were at the swimming hole, and Ben was being an ass to me and pissing me off.”
The memory sounded familiar, and it started to take form in Dylan’s mind. It was vague and hazing, and he barely remembered. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to pull the memory out himself. “You stormed off, and Ben just laughed and said you’d be fine, but I followed you.”
Blake nodded, his smile widening as Dylan remembered. “You found me upstream. That stream, actually. I was on my way here to be alone. You stopped me and asked if I was alright, apologizing for Ben like you always did. You always stood up for me against him and the others.” His voice was soft, filled with tender awe as he reached up to stroke Dylan’s face. “That’s probably how I started to fall for you in the first place. I knew you were just treating me like a younger brother, but that didn’t stop me from developing feelings for you. That day you sat with me with our feet in the stream for a while, talking about random things. I don’t even remember about what, but I just remember it felt so natural and so nice and calm. I nearly told you about my hide-out. I almost dragged you back here. I probably would’ve tried to kiss you again. That kiss we had shared was haunting me. And you and Ben’s relationship was a little rocky at that point, so I guess I thought I could maybe steal you away from him. Or at least tell you how I felt.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He smiled sadly. “Because Ben called for you before I could. He was always coming after you. Keeping you by his side. I could never have you to myself. Except for that one night.” He sighed. His smile remained sad, but there was hindsight amusement in his eyes. “Besides, even if I had gotten you here and tried to kiss and confess to you, it wouldn’t have done anything besides embarrass myself. You would have pushed me away and avoided me from then on out.”
Dylan smiled apologetically. “I can’t say you’re wrong.”
“I know, we were young.” He squeezed Dylan. “But it worked out in the end. And now I can kiss you in this dirty old tree house as much as I want.” He kissed Dylan’s cheeks, his nose, his jaw, his neck, and his shoulders. Quick, playful pecks that tickled more than anything.
“Blake! Stop it!” Dylan said, chuckling as he tried to push the man away. They fell to the floor and Blake’s onslaught of quick kisses continued. He roamed all over Dylan’s body, despite his struggles. He tried to crawl away, but Blake grabbed him by the hips and dragged him backward, pressing his lips to Dylan’s butt cheeks, first the right, then the left. Their struggle continued until the tree house seemed to creak. They both froze, eyes wide as they looked around. “Maybe we should get out of here?” Dylan suggested.
Blake nodded, already moving toward the door. “This place was built for kids, and not so much for two adult men that are wrestling.” He cast one last sad look around his tree house before they c
limbed out and down the trees.
“Kinda sad to see it just wasting away, with no one to enjoy it,” Blake said when they reached the ground. He was looking back up at his hide-out, and he looked sad.
Dylan slipped his hand into Blake’s and squeezed. “Maybe you should tell some of the younger pack kids about it?”
Blake kept looking up, but his lips turned down into a frown. “There’s no fun in just telling them. It would be more fun for them if they found it.”
Dylan thought for a moment, then said, “What if we make a treasure map with riddles and shit and leave it for some kids to find? Would that satisfy your inner child?”
Blake looked at him then, his lips slowly curving into a wide smile. “Dylan, that’s a brilliant idea! That’s perfect! I can go to the store and get more random toys and comic books and things. I’ll clean it up and reinforce it first. Some new furniture would be nice. Maybe get a treasure chest looking box and fill it with candy or something. Some two liters of soda.” He turned suddenly and bent down, wrapping his arms around Dylan’s waist and lifting him off his feet. He spun him around, laughing. “This is brilliant, Dylan! It’ll be perfect!”
His laughter was infectious. He was so genuinely happy with the idea of creating a safe haven for some lonely kids that Dylan couldn’t help but smile. Blake set him down, draping an arm over his shoulders while his other hand went to his hip. He looked up at his old tree house with a new sense of purpose and excitement. Dylan put an arm around his waist, looking up at him.
“You’re going to make a good dad one day.” The words were out before he realized he was saying them. He was horrified, already scrambling for an excuse for why he would say such a thing. Blake was going to guess what had been bothering him earlier. He was going to know. All because of one slip up.
But Blake only laughed, squeezing Dylan’s shoulder. “I hope so, but that won’t be for quite a while. For now, I’ll settle for making someone else’s kids happy.”
Dylan breathed a sigh of relief but felt dread pooling in his gut.
