"This summer is going to be ace." Matthew informed the other four boys while they waited for their food to arrive.
They were sat in a local diner that they always used to eat at. Cailen supposed they still ate here. It was only him that used to eat here before.
They sat in a booth with Matthew, William and Noah squished in on one side and Asher and Cailen sitting comfortably on the other. Cailen was looking around at the diner, seeing it really hadn't changed a bit.
It still had the old beat up chairs and tables, the red booths still had rips in them, if not more, but Cailen loved it all the same.
It was a piece of home and Cailen wouldn't change it even if he could.
"Yeah, we'll actually be able to score some beer without begging people to buy it for us." Noah said, grinning at Matthew. Matthew snorted.
"Who said you wouldn't have to beg? I want you on your knees, Oliver." Matthew replied. Noah cocked an eyebrow at him, a small smirk spreading across his lips.
"Didn't know you swung that way, Owens." Noah commented, looking quite smug.
The rest of the boys laughed, except for Cailen because although the joke was funny, he wasn't a snob and could appreciate a good gay joke. He just couldn't risk giving himself away and talking about stuff like that made him feel like he was in a spotlight with a sign hanging around his neck.
"Oh, piss off." Matthew grumbled, reaching over William to flick Noah on the forehead. It was Noah's turn to snort.
"And Cai's here, which makes it so much better." William said excitedly, grinning at Cailen. He smiled back, then turned his smile on the rest of the boys.
"I'm glad I came back. Uni's been killing me. It's good to get a break." Cailen explained.
"Is it really that bad? No breaks at all?" Noah asked.
"It's just- It's a lot of studying." Cailen shrugged.
He wasn't lying. It did involve a lot of studying but maybe not so much that you couldn't visit your family for two years.
"Really? My brother Ned says it's a lot of parties and hooking up with girls." Noah snorted. "But he's never been one for school... Just going to please Mom and Dad."
Cailen smiled nervously.
"Yeah, well... It also depends on what you're studying and how many classes you have." Cailen shrugged, wanting to change the subject before it go onto topics he didn't want to talk about. "What should we do to kick off the summer?" Cailen asked quickly, making the boys move on.
"We were gonna go down the beach tonight, take some beer and maybe go night swimming." William said. "You're going with us, right?"
"Yeah, sounds fun." Cailen agreed.
Their food came shortly after that and Cailen quickly learned that Noah could sure eat. He ate not only his own meal, but he finished off William's chips when he got full, stole half of Matthew's sandwich and ordered desert.
Maybe he should eat that much to be tall like him too.
Once they were all done, they agreed to meet up in an hour to head to the beach which was a half an hour drive, so by the time they get there, the sun would be setting and it would be just perfect to go night swimming.
Cailen and William walked home since it wasn't too far, assuring Asher that they could handle the ten minute walk and that he could pick them up to go to the beach if he really wanted.
"I'm glad you're here, Cai." William said on their short walk, bumping his shoulder with Cailen's. Cailen smiled but still couldn't help but feel bad.
"Was it really that bad without me?" Cailen teased but apparently, this wasn't a joke to William.
"It's just a lot funner and happy with you here. You make everyone laugh and everyone loves you." William complimented him but Cailen didn't do well with compliments. He didn't understand how someone could think that about him.
"I don't think 'funner' is a word." He said instead of replying to his compliments.
William rolled his eyes and shoved Cailen to the side, causing Cailen to stumble slightly but he quickly regained his balance.
"Seriously. The guys are happy too, even Noah's been saying he likes you and wants to hang out with you more." William said.
"Yeah? I like him too. He laughs at everything I say... even when I'm not trying to be funny." Cailen chuckled as they approached their home. William chuckled as well, slinging and arm over Cailen's shoulder.
"Yeah, that's Noah. Just wait till you see him with some kind of alcohol in him. The bloke doesn't shut up." William warned.
"He doesn't shut up now." Cailen frowned.
"Exactly... Just imagine him now, only times seven."
"Seven? That's a pretty specific number." Cailen stated. William ignored him.
"It's good though, he's a very friendly drunk. He likes to tell people how much he had fun meeting them, even if he doesn’t know them. It's a good ego booster." William chuckled as he held the door open for Cailen to walk in, shutting it behind them.
Inside was a mess.
It looked like the house had been broken into and someone was looking for something but Cailen knew Eden's been home all day so he highly doubted anyone broke in.
There were boxes piled along the side, clothes on the ground that had been pulled from a closet and thrown on the ground, a step ladder set up in front of the coat closet and a noise coming from inside of Dean's office.
"Mom?" William called out, his voice echoing Cailen's confusion.
"In here!" Eden called out, her voice coming from Dean's office.
William and Cailen exchanged a look of confusion before he shrugged and followed her voice into the office.
Inside the office, Dean's desk sat, all organized unlike the rest of the room that resembled the rest of the house.
Eden stood on a step stool, pulling on a box that was too high for her to reach easily. William hurried over, grabbing the box without even using the step stool and pulled it down for her. She smiled gratefully at him and took the box from him, setting it on the desk.
"What's going on?" Cailen questioned, eyeing the mess.
"Oh, well I was just looking for something and then I realized how much junk we have and decided to get rid of some of it." Eden explained, digging into the box.
There was something wrong with her voice, like she was trying to hide something from them. William and Cailen both exchanged a concerned look.
They both knew that when their mother was upset, she cleaned.
"Everything okay, mom?" William asked.
Eden nodded, still not looking up from the box.
"Everything's fine. Just can't find what I'm looking for." Eden explained.
"Can we help? What are you looking for?" Cailen asked, stepping more into the room and looking around even though he had no idea what she was looking for.
"Oh, no. It's fine, you go spend time with your friends. I've got to clean this all out anyway." She said, sparring a glance up at Cailen before returning to the box.
"Mom-"
"Boys, honestly, go have fun." She insisted.
They shared another look, knowing it was pointless to try and argue any further.
"Okay, well, Asher is picking us up in an hour... let us know if you need any help." William said as he backed away from her, heading for the door. Cailen followed.
"Thank you. I love you boys." She said, looking up at them again and looking them each in the eye.
"Love you too." They both replied immediately as they left.
There was something wrong.
There was definitely something wrong, Cailen could tell and he could tell William knew as well.
He just didn't know what.