Is Yet Slash Yaoi Original Fiction Novel Story

In one of the lodge style lounge chairs a teenage boy slumped, lost to his portable game system and he barely glanced up as they came in. Around the tree were two teenage girls, Nick guessed the oldest was maybe sixteen and the younger thirteen but girls at that age often looked older than they were. He did notice that their sweaters, jeans and shoes were well made designer and quietly trendy and worth more than he’d ever spent on an outfit. The boy had lighter hair than Epi, still a dark brown but no where close to Epi’s black but he had enough features in common that Nick figured he was his nephew. The girls had hair lighter still, brown with gold highlights but they had Epi’s eyes and there was no doubt they were related.

If the teens looked vaguely like Epi, his siblings looked a lot like Epi. There was no doubt in Nick’s mind which of the adults were in laws and which were his siblings. They all had dark brown hair, not Epi’s black, and similar dark brown eyes with his sister’s more hazel than brown. Unlike Jerry, Epi’s other brother had the larger build without the extra weight and while his sister had his more slender frame.

Which made sense when Nick spotted Epi’s parents. His father was built like Epi’s brothers, a tall, broad, powerful looking man with bright clever eyes and a mostly gray white hair. He’d put on weight around his middle but stained trim with a vital active look to him. Epi’s mother was maybe five feet four and looked like her husband could pick her up and snap her in two. She wasn’t just slender, she was fine boned and delicate and it was obvious that Epi and her daughter took far more after her. Her hair was styled into soft waves that tumbled around her shoulders but was dyed a light brown. They were elegant and graceful and rushed over when they came in.

“Epi!” His mother called out and hurried over. “Thought you’d never get here!” She tossed her arms out as if she meant to hug him but grew flustered at the crutches and pulled back. “You look exhausted.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Brian, help me get their shit in.” Jerry called out and the man Nick pegged as Epi’s other brother moved from where he hovered behind their father.

“Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Nick Kern. Nick, my mother Tilda, my dad Patrick. The guy helping Jerry is my second oldest brother Brian, this here is my sister Amanda. The girls are Brian’s daughters Jenny and Madison and Rebecca is Brain’s wife and Jim is Amanda’s husband and their son is Mike.” Epi introduced quickly.

There were warm smiles and hellos and Nick nodded back to them.

“Don’t worry.” Tolda smiled. “We won’t expect you to remember a single name tomorrow.”

That made Nick laugh a little. “Did I look so shell shocked?”

“A little.” She smiled. “Now both of you, get inside before you freeze to death in the draft.”

They were ushered a little into the house but there was an awkward moment when Brian brought Epi’s wheelchair in and unfolded it, leaving it to sit alone and empty by the door. Epi brushed it off and let his family guide them into the living room and before Nick knew it he was being seated at one of the comfortable sofas, a glass of wine pressed into his hands and swept away with small talk. Epi had waved the drink off but it wasn’t long, even without the alcohol, before the stories of work and quiet family life soon had him half dozing where he was slumped on the sofa.

Nick was used to Epi nodding off while they were watching tv. Some nights it seemed that Epi would struggle to stay awake just to avoid going to sleep and he preferred to drift off on the sofa than admit how tired he was. So when he nodded off, Nick didn’t really notice but his family all seemed to be trying very hard to pretend to not notice.

“He’s fine, you know.” Nick finally said when there came a break in the conversation. “He’s just tired.”

“He looks so…” His mother started but shook her head.

It was Epi’s sister that snorted a little. “He looks like hell. He’s lost so much weight.”

“He’s eating but rehab’s been hard on him.”

“We should have stopped in and seen him.” Epi’s sister in law Rebecca added with an I-told-you-so look to Brian. “We called but he asked us not to and he’s always been so private.”

“I can’t say what for about that.”

“Well, it was good of you to come with him. Just would have seemed odd not having him here. Even if he does look so poorly.” Tilda nodded.

“I can hear you mother.” Epi answered and finally lifted his head to rub at his eyes.

“Sleepy head is back among the living.” She chirped back and Nick was starting to see where Epi had learned to hide how he really felt. “Come along you two, both of you now, let’s get you settled in so you can get some sleep. They’ll be time to catch up tomorrow.”

Epi didn’t protest, which was a measure of how tired he was but he had to scoot to the edge of the sofa and lean heavily on his crutches to get to his feet. Nick was used to seeing it. He didn’t know Epi any other way, but it surprised his family. They sat silently around, watching openly as he swayed a little before finding his balance. Nick noticed so he knew Epi noticed but they both pretended not to. He gathered up their smaller bags and Epi’s laptop, dropped them onto the wheelchair and followed behind Epi and his mother.

Thankfully, she didn’t lead them to one of the staircases but instead down a hallway. Nick wasn’t sure Epi could make it up stairs right now or that his pride could handle his mother knowing he couldn’t.

“I hope you boys don’t mind, it’s kind of away from the other rooms. It’s supposed to be a second master suite but it just seemed perfect for you.” Tilda explained more to Nick than to Epi.

“It’s fine, Mom, just glad it’s on this floor.”

“I wasn’t sure how you were doing, with stairs I mean. You never want to say.” She opened a door and flicked the light switch. “Well, you two know where the kitchen is if you get hungry. I can’t imagine we’ll be up too much longer, been a busy day! Though your brothers might stay up late shooting pool downstairs…”

Nick pushed a little past them to get the wheelchair lined up by the wall.

“Well, then, goodnight dear.” Tilda smiled and leaned over to awkwardly hug Epi, an action that seemed to pain them both. “It’s a such a pleasure to meet you, Nick. Both of you, sleep well.” With another of her forced smiles that she and her son both used to hide behind, she quickly retreated from the room.

It was only then that Nick glanced around and saw his luggage sitting next to Epi’s and worse, only one bed. “Um…Epi?”

“Hmm?” Epi muttered as he made his way toward the large glass doors toward an outside porch to peer out. “Oh thank God, they still have the little hot tub on this deck.”

“Epi?”

“What?”

“There’s only one bed and my luggage is here.”

“Huh?” He’d been so tired he hadn’t noticed. “Oh, well, house is big but there’s only so many bedrooms.” He shrugged. “Guess they just assumed. I just…if you want to sleep somewhere else you can you go out and tell them. I don’t think I can manage the walk, but the bed is huge. Won’t even have to worry about bumping into each other. I think even you can manage to control yourself for a few nights.”

“I’m not that bad.” He was going to stay, he knew he was going to stay because frankly he didn’t want to be somewhere else in the strange house.

“Please, like I didn’t see that fellow sneaking out to his car the other night and it wasn’t the same guy that was around a couple of nights before that.”

He was guilty as charged. “Okay but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to mind my manners.”

Epi just snorted as he unzipped his carry on bag. He’d been smart and put everything he’d need for the night in that bag. That meant no rummaging around in the larger suitcases to find stuff just so he could go to sleep. “You can stay up if you want, but I need to go to bed.”

“Me too, feels so much later than it is.”

“Time zone changes.”

Nick nodded and moved to partially unpack and get his own things together for the night. It surprised him though, how readily and easily Epi took off the braces and his leg with him in the room. Before it had a sense of defiance, now it was done out of habit with an air of almost acceptance. He moved the wheelchair closer to where Epi sat on the edge of the bed before slipping into the bathroom to brush his teeth and change his clothes.

The bathroom only reminded Nick that Epi’s background was vastly different than his own. The countertops felt like stone but he couldn’t swear if they were, the floor appeared to be slate. Under the long mirror were two deep sinks and plenty of counter space. There was a toilet and a bidet, a huge massive whirlpool soaking tub and a slate lined shower room big enough for three people. The towels laid out were thick and fluffy and a small basket was set between the sinks with a good supply of toiletries.

Out in the bedroom Epi had opened up what Nick thought to be a wardrobe but actually had concealed a decent sized television set. It kind of disappointed him that it wasn’t a flat screen since everything else was so posh and up to date, but he bit his tongue and didn’t comment.

“Need help getting about?” There were no hand or grab rails in the bathroom and the floor had the potential to be quite slippery.

“Kept the leg on, I’ll manage.” Epi proved his statement by forcing his tired body to stand and make his careful way into the bathroom.

That left Nick alone. He moved to unpack and just didn’t have the desire. Instead he walked around the large bedroom. The wheelchair was going to be almost useless over the plush carpet unless Nick was pushing it, he just hoped Epi didn’t have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Tired as he was, he doubted the man could force the chair through the carpet. He would also have to put Epi’s medications somewhere. Nick was fairly sure Epi was past the desire to kill himself, but the holidays and being around family could often push a man further than he could take.

“If I wasn’t so tired, I’d beg you to uncover the hot tub for me.” Epi spoke as he half staggered back to the bed. “Now I’d just fall asleep in it and drown.”

Nick glanced back into the room from where he’d been peering out the glass doors. The deck was small and self contained but it had a small, three person triangular shaped hot tub tucked in the corner. Covered now and shut down but he had no doubt getting it heated back up and bubbling wouldn’t take much effort. “Tomorrow. This house is amazing.”

“Yeah, we Whitmores would expect nothing less.” Epi’s voice dripped with scorn. His hands quickly and easily removed his leg and stacked it with the rest of his braces and crutches next to the bed. “Mom loves the idea of this place, says it looks like Christmas, but we’ve never had the whole family here.”

“They seem nice.”

“They are nice.”

The words were what was proper to say, but Nick heard a tone of emptiness to them. It sounded too much like when he spoke of most of his own family. “Oh, these sheets…”

“Huh? Oh yeah, Mom has Maria put the good sheets on when we come by. Maria and Paul live in the caretaker’s house. They keep things in shape around here but they’re off visiting their own family for the holidays, won’t be back until almost the new year. Probably had her…” he had to pause to yawn. “Had her put on the 1000 thread count sheets. They are nice.”

Nick wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it. Literally, the moment Epi’s head settled on his pillow he was asleep. Apparently it surprised Epi too because his bedside light was on and his glasses rested on top of a book he’d obviously planned to read until he fell asleep. He just smiled softly and slipped out from under the incredible sheets to turn Epi’s light off for him. With a sigh of his own he turned out his own lamp and crawled into his side of the huge bed and almost, but not quite, fell asleep as quickly as Epi had.

		Is Yet Chapter Twenty Five
		In one of the lodge style lounge chairs a teenage boy slumped, lost to his portable game system and he barely glanced up as they came in. Around the tree were two teenage girls, Nick guessed the oldest was maybe sixteen and the younger thirteen but girls at that age often looked older than they were. He did notice that their sweaters, jeans and shoes were well made designer and quietly trendy and worth more than he’d ever spent on an outfit. The boy had lighter hair than Epi, still a dark brown but no where close to Epi’s black but he had enough features in common that Nick figured he was his nephew. The girls had hair lighter still, brown with gold highlights but they had Epi’s eyes and there was no doubt they were related. If the teens looked vaguely like Epi, his siblings looked a lot like Epi. There was no doubt in Nick’s mind which of the adults were in laws and which were his siblings. They all had dark brown hair, not Epi’s black, and similar dark brown eyes with his sister’s more hazel than brown. Unlike Jerry, Epi’s other brother had the larger build without the extra weight and while his sister had his more slender frame. Which made sense when Nick spotted Epi’s parents. His father was built like Epi’s brothers, a tall, broad, powerful looking man with bright clever eyes and a mostly gray white hair. He’d put on weight around his middle but stained trim with a vital active look to him. Epi’s mother was maybe five feet four and looked like her husband could pick her up and snap her in two. She wasn’t just slender, she was fine boned and delicate and it was obvious that Epi and her daughter took far more after her. Her hair was styled into soft waves that tumbled around her shoulders but was dyed a light brown. They were elegant and graceful and rushed over when they came in. “Epi!” His mother called out and hurried over. “Thought you’d never get here!” She tossed her arms out as if she meant to hug him but grew flustered at the crutches and pulled back. “You look exhausted.” “Hi, Mom.” “Brian, help me get their shit in.” Jerry called out and the man Nick pegged as Epi’s other brother moved from where he hovered behind their father. “Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Nick Kern. Nick, my mother Tilda, my dad Patrick. The guy helping Jerry is my second oldest brother Brian, this here is my sister Amanda. The girls are Brian’s daughters Jenny and Madison and Rebecca is Brain’s wife and Jim is Amanda’s husband and their son is Mike.” Epi introduced quickly. There were warm smiles and hellos and Nick nodded back to them. “Don’t worry.” Tolda smiled. “We won’t expect you to remember a single name tomorrow.” That made Nick laugh a little. “Did I look so shell shocked?” “A little.” She smiled. “Now both of you, get inside before you freeze to death in the draft.” They were ushered a little into the house but there was an awkward moment when Brian brought Epi’s wheelchair in and unfolded it, leaving it to sit alone and empty by the door. Epi brushed it off and let his family guide them into the living room and before Nick knew it he was being seated at one of the comfortable sofas, a glass of wine pressed into his hands and swept away with small talk. Epi had waved the drink off but it wasn’t long, even without the alcohol, before the stories of work and quiet family life soon had him half dozing where he was slumped on the sofa. Nick was used to Epi nodding off while they were watching tv. Some nights it seemed that Epi would struggle to stay awake just to avoid going to sleep and he preferred to drift off on the sofa than admit how tired he was. So when he nodded off, Nick didn’t really notice but his family all seemed to be trying very hard to pretend to not notice. “He’s fine, you know.” Nick finally said when there came a break in the conversation. “He’s just tired.” “He looks so…” His mother started but shook her head. It was Epi’s sister that snorted a little. “He looks like hell. He’s lost so much weight.” “He’s eating but rehab’s been hard on him.” “We should have stopped in and seen him.” Epi’s sister in law Rebecca added with an I-told-you-so look to Brian. “We called but he asked us not to and he’s always been so private.” “I can’t say what for about that.” “Well, it was good of you to come with him. Just would have seemed odd not having him here. Even if he does look so poorly.” Tilda nodded. “I can hear you mother.” Epi answered and finally lifted his head to rub at his eyes. “Sleepy head is back among the living.” She chirped back and Nick was starting to see where Epi had learned to hide how he really felt. “Come along you two, both of you now, let’s get you settled in so you can get some sleep. They’ll be time to catch up tomorrow.” Epi didn’t protest, which was a measure of how tired he was but he had to scoot to the edge of the sofa and lean heavily on his crutches to get to his feet. Nick was used to seeing it. He didn’t know Epi any other way, but it surprised his family. They sat silently around, watching openly as he swayed a little before finding his balance. Nick noticed so he knew Epi noticed but they both pretended not to. He gathered up their smaller bags and Epi’s laptop, dropped them onto the wheelchair and followed behind Epi and his mother. Thankfully, she didn’t lead them to one of the staircases but instead down a hallway. Nick wasn’t sure Epi could make it up stairs right now or that his pride could handle his mother knowing he couldn’t. “I hope you boys don’t mind, it’s kind of away from the other rooms. It’s supposed to be a second master suite but it just seemed perfect for you.” Tilda explained more to Nick than to Epi. “It’s fine, Mom, just glad it’s on this floor.” “I wasn’t sure how you were doing, with stairs I mean. You never want to say.” She opened a door and flicked the light switch. “Well, you two know where the kitchen is if you get hungry. I can’t imagine we’ll be up too much longer, been a busy day! Though your brothers might stay up late shooting pool downstairs…” Nick pushed a little past them to get the wheelchair lined up by the wall. “Well, then, goodnight dear.” Tilda smiled and leaned over to awkwardly hug Epi, an action that seemed to pain them both. “It’s a such a pleasure to meet you, Nick. Both of you, sleep well.” With another of her forced smiles that she and her son both used to hide behind, she quickly retreated from the room. It was only then that Nick glanced around and saw his luggage sitting next to Epi’s and worse, only one bed. “Um…Epi?” “Hmm?” Epi muttered as he made his way toward the large glass doors toward an outside porch to peer out. “Oh thank God, they still have the little hot tub on this deck.” “Epi?” “What?” “There’s only one bed and my luggage is here.” “Huh?” He’d been so tired he hadn’t noticed. “Oh, well, house is big but there’s only so many bedrooms.” He shrugged. “Guess they just assumed. I just…if you want to sleep somewhere else you can you go out and tell them. I don’t think I can manage the walk, but the bed is huge. Won’t even have to worry about bumping into each other. I think even you can manage to control yourself for a few nights.” “I’m not that bad.” He was going to stay, he knew he was going to stay because frankly he didn’t want to be somewhere else in the strange house. “Please, like I didn’t see that fellow sneaking out to his car the other night and it wasn’t the same guy that was around a couple of nights before that.” He was guilty as charged. “Okay but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to mind my manners.” Epi just snorted as he unzipped his carry on bag. He’d been smart and put everything he’d need for the night in that bag. That meant no rummaging around in the larger suitcases to find stuff just so he could go to sleep. “You can stay up if you want, but I need to go to bed.” “Me too, feels so much later than it is.” “Time zone changes.” Nick nodded and moved to partially unpack and get his own things together for the night. It surprised him though, how readily and easily Epi took off the braces and his leg with him in the room. Before it had a sense of defiance, now it was done out of habit with an air of almost acceptance. He moved the wheelchair closer to where Epi sat on the edge of the bed before slipping into the bathroom to brush his teeth and change his clothes. The bathroom only reminded Nick that Epi’s background was vastly different than his own. The countertops felt like stone but he couldn’t swear if they were, the floor appeared to be slate. Under the long mirror were two deep sinks and plenty of counter space. There was a toilet and a bidet, a huge massive whirlpool soaking tub and a slate lined shower room big enough for three people. The towels laid out were thick and fluffy and a small basket was set between the sinks with a good supply of toiletries. Out in the bedroom Epi had opened up what Nick thought to be a wardrobe but actually had concealed a decent sized television set. It kind of disappointed him that it wasn’t a flat screen since everything else was so posh and up to date, but he bit his tongue and didn’t comment. “Need help getting about?” There were no hand or grab rails in the bathroom and the floor had the potential to be quite slippery. “Kept the leg on, I’ll manage.” Epi proved his statement by forcing his tired body to stand and make his careful way into the bathroom. That left Nick alone. He moved to unpack and just didn’t have the desire. Instead he walked around the large bedroom. The wheelchair was going to be almost useless over the plush carpet unless Nick was pushing it, he just hoped Epi didn’t have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Tired as he was, he doubted the man could force the chair through the carpet. He would also have to put Epi’s medications somewhere. Nick was fairly sure Epi was past the desire to kill himself, but the holidays and being around family could often push a man further than he could take. “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d beg you to uncover the hot tub for me.” Epi spoke as he half staggered back to the bed. “Now I’d just fall asleep in it and drown.” Nick glanced back into the room from where he’d been peering out the glass doors. The deck was small and self contained but it had a small, three person triangular shaped hot tub tucked in the corner. Covered now and shut down but he had no doubt getting it heated back up and bubbling wouldn’t take much effort. “Tomorrow. This house is amazing.” “Yeah, we Whitmores would expect nothing less.” Epi’s voice dripped with scorn. His hands quickly and easily removed his leg and stacked it with the rest of his braces and crutches next to the bed. “Mom loves the idea of this place, says it looks like Christmas, but we’ve never had the whole family here.” “They seem nice.” “They are nice.” The words were what was proper to say, but Nick heard a tone of emptiness to them. It sounded too much like when he spoke of most of his own family. “Oh, these sheets…” “Huh? Oh yeah, Mom has Maria put the good sheets on when we come by. Maria and Paul live in the caretaker’s house. They keep things in shape around here but they’re off visiting their own family for the holidays, won’t be back until almost the new year. Probably had her…” he had to pause to yawn. “Had her put on the 1000 thread count sheets. They are nice.” Nick wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it. Literally, the moment Epi’s head settled on his pillow he was asleep. Apparently it surprised Epi too because his bedside light was on and his glasses rested on top of a book he’d obviously planned to read until he fell asleep. He just smiled softly and slipped out from under the incredible sheets to turn Epi’s light off for him. With a sigh of his own he turned out his own lamp and crawled into his side of the huge bed and almost, but not quite, fell asleep as quickly as Epi had.
		Next Chapter Story Home Home