Chapter 26 The Rescue Game
The Rescue Game
Fletcher could tell his boyfriend was nervous on the drive over to his family’s house. He held Taylor’s hand tightly in the backseat of his neighbor’s car while he spoke to her and his younger brother sitting up front.
“So, I think we should just go in and grab what we need,” Jesse told him. “I’m sure you probably would want to grab a few things from the room too.”
“Yeah, but you’re more important right now. It’d be nice to have some of the things Dad gave me before he passed, but we need to make sure we get all your important documents for your registration.”
“Orientation’s July 31st. You sure you can make it?” Jesse asked.
“Of course, bud. And we’ll get you everything you need for your dorm and shit. Man, I wish I could’ve gone to college,” Taylor sighed.
“And you can’t forget the dog, kid.” Caroline reminded.
“Wait, what dog?” Taylor asked.
Jesse let out a nervous laugh. “I took in a stray before I ran away.”
“And then I took in two strays,” Caroline laughed.
“What kind of dog is it?” Fletcher asked.
Jesse reached into his pocket and handed Fletcher his new phone. His lock screen had a picture of a scrappy-looking poodle thing who sat in his lap. “His name is Rocco.” He looked at Fletcher and smiled.
Jesse looked a lot like Taylor. They both had kind of the same beautifully stoic face and angular features.
Taylor had more of a rugged, ethereal look to him while Jesse looked a lot younger and lively.
Taylor’s hair was wavy and on the shorter side, but Jesse had long, sleek black hair that fell well down his back.
Fletcher assumed he kept his hair long because of his and Taylor’s Indigenous heritage.
Taylor had told him one time that when his dad passed away, he and his brother both cut their hair short.
Apparently, Taylor’s hair was longer like Jesse’s when he was younger, but it became too much to manage with all his hockey and stuff.
“How the hell are we going to get a dog back to Seattle? And how the hell will we convince Gretchen to let us have a dog?” Taylor complained.
“What, she doesn’t like dogs?” Jesse asked.
“She doesn’t like doodles. She thinks they look too sentient,” Taylor groaned.
“I’ll just use some of my classic Piers charm to convince her,” he laughed.
“I’d say Mommy Gretch is the one person the Piers charm doesn’t work on,” Fletcher joked. “That woman has your brother whipped into shape, man. It’s hilarious.”
Jesse turned back and gave Fletcher a suggestive smirk. “And you don’t?”
“Turn your head around Jesse,” Taylor snapped. He reached over and flicked the back of his brother’s head. Fletcher tried to pretend it wasn’t hot hearing his boyfriend sound so…authoritative.
Caroline told them that they were five minutes away before turning up her true crime podcast on the car’s radio, subtly telling her passengers that she didn’t want to hear any more bickering.
Fletcher pulled out his phone and shamelessly sent Taylor a text.
Fletcher: Maybe I need to bend you over so I can whip you into shape
Taylor picked up his phone to read the message and smirked as he wrote out a reply.
Taylor: I can’t wait to bend you over tonight
Taylor: I made sure our room was on a completely different floor than my brother’s so we don’t have to worry about being quiet
Fletcher: What are you going to bend me over on?
Taylor: Maybe a few different places, but we could start with my knee
Fletcher: Have I been a bad boy?
Taylor: Yes you have
Taylor: Dropping to your knees on the plane like that was very naughty
Taylor: And unhygienic
Taylor: You should be ashamed of yourself
Fletcher: But it felt so good… Are you still thinking about it like I am?
Fletcher: You tasted so good in my mouth. I think I deserve a reward…
Taylor: What type of reward would you like, sweet boy?
Fletcher: I want to bend YOU over and fuck you
Fletcher: Give your boy what he wants…
“Should I park in the driveway?” Caroline asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Jake should still be at work until five, so we have an hour to get in and get everything,” Jesse answered. “Grandad’s still at the hospital.”
* * *
The house was a lot smaller than Fletcher had imagined.
It was a simple older-looking split-level with faded yellow siding.
Taylor had said that he and Jesse shared a room while their nephews occupied another.
Mandy and her husband occupied the master bedroom, and they had a separate bed and bath on the first level for their grandfather.
It had a two-car garage that looked like it needed to be pressure washed.
Fletcher’s parents’ neighborhood HOA would literally condemn this house.
“You can wait in the car with Caroline, if you don’t want to come in,” Taylor told him softly. Fletcher shook his head.
“Nice try, Piers. I’m not leaving your side.”
Fletcher was surprised when Taylor held his hand as they walked up the brick steps to go inside. They waited as Jesse fumbled with his key to try and unlock the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Fuck, do you think he might’ve changed the locks?” Jesse asked his brother.
“Shit,” Taylor cursed. “Probably. Fuck.”
Jesse held up a finger to them and told them to wait as he walked down the steps and walked over to the side of the house. “Is he going to sneak in through a window?” Fletcher asked.
Taylor nodded. “Our bedroom window doesn’t lock fully. I don’t think Jake or Mandy know about it. He’s probably going to climb up the tree and try to crawl in.”
Sure enough, Jesse unlocked the front door a few minutes later and let them in.
Fletcher noted a kitchen straight back and a living room to the right.
On the left there was a staircase that went up and down to the other levels.
The house was dated. Every house in this neighborhood seemed to be.
Taylor held Fletcher’s hand as he guided them up the steps.
There were family pictures on the walls.
Ones of Taylor and his siblings and the guy he assumed to be their dad.
He looked like a basic kind of white guy, so Fletcher assumed the brothers got their looks from their mother.
“Is Mandy home?” Taylor whispered.
He guided Fletcher into his old room, which was small. He could clearly tell Taylor’s side was on the right. He had a huge poster of Pancek and…his dad.
“No fucking way, you actually have one?” Fletcher whispered, sounding disgusted.
“Shh.”
Jesse’s side was a lot neater with a bunch of pictures of his friends on the wall. Unlike his siblings, Jesse wasn’t a huge sports guy. He was pretty scrawny and dorky. Taller than Taylor though. Fletcher wondered how someone of his build could even possibly be stronger than Taylor was.
While the rest of his side was neat and tidy, just looking at his desk gave Fletcher a headache. Taylor said he was good with computers. He had a huge gaming setup on his desk with three monitors and what looked like a microphone.
“Oh my God, are you like some kind of video game streamer?” Taylor whispered maybe a little louder than he should’ve been. “How the hell were you even able to afford this?”
“Ask questions later,” Jesse bit out. It was kind of scary the way he sounded just like his brother.
But Fletcher thought it was also nice seeing Taylor with his brother.
Fletcher didn’t really have a close relationship with his younger sister.
She was always the favorite. He might as well have been an only child.
Or Lauren, he thought, considering his parents actually loved her.
They filled up two large suitcases full of clothes and trinkets before bringing them back downstairs. Right as they opened the front door to book it out of there, Jesse swore to himself and turned to run back up the stairs. “Did he forget something?” Fletcher asked.
Taylor shook his head and shrugged. “I have no idea. The kid’s a mystery these days.”
Taylor quickly leaned in and gave Fletcher a quick kiss. “You didn’t have to be here, you know.”
“I know, but I—”
“Jesse?” A voice called out. A woman’s voice.
“Shit. My sister’s here.”
He held Fletcher’s hand as they stood by the front door, unsure of what to do.
They couldn’t really hide because she knew Jesse was here.
“Jesse?” She called out again as she came up the stairs.
“Why aren’t you… what the hell are you doing here, Taylor?
” She sounded more surprised than upset. Maybe that was a good thing.
Mandy also looked a lot like Taylor. Same sharp features. Full lips. Her hair was also pretty long, but it was wavy like Taylor’s. Honestly, Fletcher thought she carried a stronger resemblance to Jesse, but her face was just so… tired. You could tell she’d been through a lot.
Taylor gulped. “Hey Mandy. I’m just stopping by with Jess to grab a few things,” he answered nervously.
“Who let you in? I’m pretty sure Jacob changed the locks.”
“Why would you let him lock Jesse out of his own home?” Taylor asked accusingly.
“Who’s this?” She nodded towards Fletcher, ignoring Taylor’s question.
“My boyfriend. Why are you locking our little brother out of his home?”
“Your boyfriend?” She bit out. “So, you’re gay now?”
“Who I choose to love doesn’t concern you. Why the hell did you let him lock our baby brother out of the house?”
Fletcher tried to pretend like this wasn’t the first time that he had heard that word come out of Taylor’s mouth when describing their relationship. Now wasn’t the time.
Mandy shrugged like it wasn’t that big of a deal. “He’ll be eighteen in two days. He ran away, so clearly, he doesn’t even want to be here.”
Taylor’s body tensed up as he took a step forward, but Fletcher still squeezed onto his hand. “Dad trusted you to look after him, Mandy. You made a promise to him at the funeral. I fucking heard you promise to him. I can’t believe you would let Jacob just—”
“Taylor, stop,” Jesse called out as he came down the steps with a big black shoe box. “Let’s just go. I don’t want to deal with her shit.”
“Fuck, Jesse. She’s never going to learn! When you leave, who do you think will be next? You just think Jacob is going to stop hitting people? If it’s not me then it’s you. And if it’s not you then it’ll be…”
Taylor let out a deep breath to try and calm himself. He turned to Mandy. “How would you feel if it was your kid? You think he’ll just stop? That Jess and I were the reason he did all that?”
“Get out. Both of you,” Mandy bit out. Tears started to fill her eyes.
Fletcher tugged on Taylor’s hand. “Hey, let’s leave,” he told Taylor softly.
Mandy looked towards Fletcher and Taylor and made a disgusted face.
“Jacob was right about you,” she scoffed grimly.
Fletcher was standing behind Taylor, so he couldn’t see the look on his face, but Fletcher knew that Taylor was seething.
He tried tugging on Taylor’s hand again, but it didn’t seem to help.
“Taylor,” Jesse warned again. He walked down the steps and grabbed onto Taylor’s arm. “Tay, let’s go, bud,” he told him calmly.
It looked like Taylor was weighing his options. He could snap at his sister and make this into a full-blown screaming match, or he could take a deep breath and walk away from her obvious attempt to rile him up. “Taylor, please,” Fletcher begged. “I want to go.”
Fletcher could see him clench his jaw but let out a sigh of relief when Taylor nodded and took a step back.
He turned around and gently cupped Fletcher’s cheek before pressing a kiss to his temple.
“I’m sorry, love. Let’s leave,” he told him before letting go of his hand to grab both suitcases.
Fletcher held the door open for him as he carried the two suitcases down the steps and over to the trunk of Caroline’s car.
“Do you need help?” Jesse asked. Taylor silently shook his head. Jesse reoccupied the front passenger seat as Taylor and Fletcher returned to the back seat.
“Everything okay, dear?” Caroline asked him, sounding concerned.
“He’s fine Carol,” Jesse quickly answered.