Broken Toys

Chapter 17

"Hey, not fair!" Casey yelled as Billy and Zeke pelted him with snowballs. He shook a crutch at them in warning but Zeke just beaned him with another snowball.

"Oh, coldcoldcold." He wiggled, making the others laugh. "It went down my shirt."

"Yeah? Did it make you all cold?" Zeke came over slowly, moving seductively, licking his lips. "Want me to make you warm again?"

Casey could feel the heat already, even before Zeke was standing right in front of him, reaching for him.

"Hey!" Casey squirmed, trying to get away but Zeke already had him and was shoving a handful of snow down his shirt. He followed it with a searing kiss, his body pressed close until Casey barely felt the cold wet snow melting against his chest.

"Better?" Zeke asked, grinning.

"It will be in a second," Casey drawled, gripping Zeke's jacket tightly to keep him close. A second later Zeke was yelling and squirming while Billy shoved snow down his back.

"Oh, want me to kiss it and make it all better?" Billy teased, and Zeke found himself caught between the two boys, a willing prisoner.

"So," Billy asked cheerfully, did we have enough outside in the cold type fun yet? Can we go in now?"

"Not yet," Zeke told him, turning around fast and wrapping Billy in a tight embrace. "Case?"

He moved pretty fast for using crutches on snow and although Billy knew what to expect the handful of snow down his back still made him shiver.

"Now we can go in," Casey declared, and he led them back into the house.

*****

"Hot chocolate with marshmallows. Mmmm."

Casey set the last of the steaming mugs on the table and called the others, interrupting their spirited debate about Led Zeppelin.

"I don't like marshmallows," Billy said, frowning at the half-melted lump floating in his mug.

"How can you not like marshmallows? That's like not liking... I don't know... vanilla ice cream or something."

"I prefer fudge ripple."

"Well that has vanilla in it."

"You like marshmallows so much, here," Billy fished what was left of his marshmallow out with a spoon and dumped it into Casey's mug.

"Fine. More for me," Casey grinned and took a sip of the hot chocolate. "Mmmm."

Zeke just smiled into his mug and didn't say a word.

"You're not getting off that easy, Zeke," Billy said, poking Zeke with his spoon. "What's your stance on the whole marshmallow controversy."

"I'm a neutral party, Billy. You'll have to find someone else to support your cause."

"That could be your senior project, Billy," Casey suggested. "Marshmallows: good or evil." He laughed, "Just don't get Snuffy involved."

Billy tried to explain some of Snuffy's wilder conspiracy theories - especially Snuffy's idea that coat hangers were aliens - to Zeke with frequent interjections from Casey until the three of them were laughing helplessly.

They decided that Snuffy probably thought marshmallows were aliens. Billy was so amused that he didn't even protest when Casey poured him more hot chocolate and added two marshmallows.

*****

"That was the best prank ever. It was epic. I even saw the dean smiling, though he'd probably deny it."

"You really moved the whole office, all of the furniture, the books and everything in one night?"

"Yup, and put everything in exactly the right place, even small things like pens and the headmaster's tea cup."

Billy's smile faded the tiniest bit. "That was the last prank Joey and I pulled together. Right after that the terrorists came."

Zeke leaned over and wrestled Billy into a hug. They tussled for a few minutes while Casey lay on the couch and watched, cheering them on.

"So what's the dean's story, anyway?" Zeke asked when they had settled down again. "I mean, he's gone way past just doing his job this past week. And he's damn near psychic."

"Yeah," Casey added, "he reminds me of that guy from Sesame Street."

"The one in the trashcan?" Billy asked.

"No, that's Oscar the grouch. He's a muppet. You know... what's his name?" Casey looked at Zeke for help.

"Gordon," Zeke said quietly, a distant expression on his face.

"Yeah. He was always nice." Casey reached out and pulled Zeke over to lean against the sofa. "I used to wish he was my dad."

"Me too," Zeke admitted softly looking at Casey, sharing a bittersweet memory.

After a while Billy spoke up. "I wanted Mr. Rogers for my dad. I wanted to play with that train."

"Dork. That was a trolley, not a train." Casey tossed a pillow at Billy and they all laughed.

*****

"Billy?"

"Yeah, Casey."

"When we get back... how did you and Joey manage to...?" Casey struggled over the words but Billy understood what he was asking.

"How did we keep our relationship secret?"

Casey nodded and Zeke put down the book he was reading. It had been on both their minds.

"It was hard at first. We weren't too careful, and almost got caught kissing in the hallway." Billy shrugged. "So we made it a challenge, our biggest joke, to see if we could fool everybody. We were pretty good at it, and it made the times we were alone that much better."

"I guess we can do that, think of it like a challenge," Casey said slowly. "But it's going to be hard getting used to sleeping alone again."

"We'll think of something, Case. And it's only for a few months and then we'll graduate."

"And I'll still be at the school and you'll be living somewhere else."

"Unless we get our own place," Billy added. "An apartment or condo we could all share."

"I don't think I'll be able to afford an apartment. My job won't pay much because it includes room and board."

Zeke set his book aside and walked over to the sofa, squeezing in with Casey. "We'll work it out, Case. It'll be ok."

Casey, rested his head on Zeke's shoulder and let himself believe.

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