Is Yet Slash Yaoi Original Fiction Novel Story

Amanda picked up the picture and her smile grew a little bitter. “Here, Jerry, Brian, me, Stevie and Epi.” She pointed to each child in turn. “Jerry is thirteen years older than Epi, Brain is ten, I’m six, Stevie was four.”

“Was?”

“When I was seventeen we took a vacation in the islands. Mom and Dad had a rule that we weren’t to go to the beach without asking, but Stevie and Epi went. Epi had this thing for seashells, used to beg us to take him to go hunting them. Stevie was trying to learn to surf, guess he figured if they got caught sneaking down to the water he could blame it on Epi.” She touched the faces on the photo again before replacing it back with the others.

“What happened?”

“Stevie went out, a riptide caught him. By the time Epi got a lifeguard he was gone. Don’t bring him up, okay? I don’t think Mom and Dad ever got over it.”

He nodded and agreed, but he knew he’d ask Epi. Maybe not right away but he was going to bring it up. It bothered him that the other man would have an entire brother he never spoke about.

Nick kept his mouth shut about Stevie during dinner. In fact, he kept his mouth shut pretty much about everything. Epi’s family did try to include him in the conversation but he could tell his quiet, simple life was as foreign and odd to them as their globe traveling, resort staying, wealthy one was to him. It wasn’t just him, he noticed as the well made food was shared along with stories of skiing and shopping from the day that Epi stayed almost as silent and the few sharp comments he added to the conversation were met with awkwardness.

The evening was spent the same with the family gathered together for a while to drink nice wine and catch up with each others lives. Before too long the teenagers slipped away under the excuse of playing pool downstairs, but Nick saw one of the girls slipping from the kitchen with what he was pretty sure were cans of beer in her arms. He was also equally sure other adults saw, so he kept his mouth shut. It was about the same time that Epi pushed himself to his feet and disappeared toward their room. When he came back he had several envelopes of photos in his hands and when he sat back down beside Nick he let them drop between them.

The next time there was a lull in the conversation Epi cleared his throat. “Because it’s the 600 pound gorilla in the room, I have pictures of the accident.” He slipped out the photos and started passing them around.

“You have photos?” Brian frowned as images of the mangled car made their way to him.

“Tori took them. When they told him they weren’t sure I’d survive, he wanted to document everything in case lawyers or insurance needed it, or in case you wanted to see. I think it gave him something to do.” Epi shrugged but Nick noticed he didn’t quite look at the photos of himself battered and swollen in the hospital bed. “Some of these are kind of gross, but he was worried they weren’t taking care of me.”

“Were they?” Nick asked softly.

“They were trying. Tori flipped out when I developed some bad bed sores that first week, he had me flown to a closer hospital to keep an eye on me.”

The photos had started working their way around to Nick and he let them pass through his hands. Images of twisted metal and broken glass changed into images of a form that might have been Epi or someone else with dark hair. They were a swollen, bruised mass of flesh, cuts and broken bones wrapped in casts and bandages. As the pictures slipped away the face became more noticeably Epi’s, the breathing tube disappeared, some of the wires and iv’s faded but it was a while before Nick saw a picture with Epi’s eyes open. Some of them had Epi’s family at his bedside while he was still unaware, but as the images showed his healing body, the only person caught on film was Tori or nurses. He only half listened as Epi lightly narrated with soft comments about his first steps or being moved to a new room or his bout with pneumonia. Nick watched the other man’s health wax and wane as months went by, but his favorite was a picture of Epi with his hair growing out and his body slimmed down from illness and effort. The man sat on the edge of a bed in shorts, his newly acquired leg glaringly obvious, but it was the fact that Epi was flipping the camera, and Tori, off that amused him. If he thought he could get away with it, he would have pocketed that picture.

Nick woke the next morning the same way he had the morning before, with Epi pressed to him. This time, though, instead of Nick being curled to the slender man’s back, it was Epi that was curled tight to him, which was a comforting if far too erotic situation. It was bad enough when his own subconscious had him creeping across the wide bed to snuggle close, but it was ten times worse when it was Epi that had sought him out in his sleep.

Worst of all, he couldn’t simply escape the bed when Epi was softly snoring against his shoulder. He had to lay there, still and unmoving, and wait for the other man to roll over in his sleep. It took far too long given how restlessly Epi tended to sleep normally, as if his sleeping soundly was in some way mocking Nick’s efforts to behave.

In the end, he did mutter a little in a hushed sleepy way and turn over onto his back. Now freed, Nick very carefully slipped from under the covers and across to their bathroom. He turned on the cold water in the fancy sink but nothing came out. He stared at it, still sleepy, and tried the hot water. Nothing came out there either and he frowned at it.

“Million dollar home and the water’s shut off.” He grumbled. After a quick check to make sure that he was fairly presentable, scruffy but presentable, he left the bathroom slightly less silently than he’d gone in and continued on to the rest of the house.

He wasn’t the only one awake, but no one wished him a Merry Christmas. Epi’s brothers were in sleeping clothes as well and they were fighting about who had made things worse. Their father was thumbing through the yellow pages and calling numbers, but it was their mother that sat looking upset.

“It’s ruined. The first holiday we’ve had together in years and it’s ruined! Why are you even trying to call someone? It’s Christmas day, no one is going to come out today. We’ll have to get a hotel, we’re just going to have to spend the holiday away from home.” Her voice was growing ever more shrill.

“Hush woman, I’m at least trying to fix the problem.”

Nick yawned. “What happened?”

It was Jerry that turned . “Pipe broke in the basement, or it was leaking until Brian decided to try to fix it.” He waved toward the kitchen sink. “It’s cracked clean through now.”

“I would have fixed it if I’d had the right tools!”

Nick ignored them and went to inspect the broken pipe. It was black plastic and not a metal pipe and he figured it would be pretty easy to fix given any sort of supplies. “You said there was a caretaker?”

The family stopped bickering and looked at him.

“He’s gone for the holidays.” Jerry explained again.

“Yes, but he’d have a work room or shed. Can I see what’s in it and where the broken pipe came from?”

“The only pipes out there are too long and they don’t fit. We tried.”

“Oh let the man have a look.” Tilda added. “Not like he can do any harm.”

It was with their grudging approval that Nick was finally shown both the spot the broken pipe was from and the caretakers work space. He didn’t ask or wait, just gathered up the supplies he needed and went back to the basement.

Jerry had been right, the pipes were too long, but Nick had found a hacksaw and after careful measurement he cut a new section of black pipe to fit. It was a bad spot to lose water, the simple black pipe was part of the main intake and with it gone the whole house was shut down. The pipe must have been dripping for a while because there was a water puddle on the concrete and he was willing to bet the carpet near the door to the finished areas was damp too.

The brothers had been right again that the new pipes wouldn’t fit even though the sizing numbers on them matched. What they didn’t know was how to make them fit. He slipped the ring clamps onto the pipe and fired up the propane torch. It didn’t take much to soften the end enough to make it ft over its valve. Nick shoved it in place and slipped one of the clamps in place before tightening it.

“You really think you can fix it?”

Nick glanced over his shoulder to find Epi’s father standing in the doorway.

“Half done already.”

“You don’t like us much.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know you well enough to have thought about it.”

“But you don’t.”

Nick lit the torch again and heated the second end of the new pipe.

“I just haven’t figured out yet if it’s a general disdain for money or if it’s us personally.”

He tightened the clamp with a little more force than he needed to. “He needed you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Epi, he needed his parents and you weren’t there.”

“Epi is highly independent. If he’d wanted us there for his recovery he knew all he’d have to do was ask.”

Nick shook his head and turned the house water on. It gurgled as it flowed back in and filled the man lines. “He needed you there without having to ask. Excuse me.” He nodded his head a little as he slipped by the older man and made his way back upstairs.

“Water’s fixed.” He announced but didn’t stick around to be congratulated. Epi was awake and sitting on the edge of the bed.

He smiled when Nick walked in and it looked real. “Hey, Merry Christmas.”

That broke Nick’s foul mood. He smiled back. “Same to you. I get first crack at the shower.”

“What’s happened?” The real smile fled.

“Nothing that couldn’t be fixed.” It wasn’t his place to explain and really he wasn’t sure why he was still angry. It hadn’t been his intention to chase away the rare real smile Epi had been wearing so he forced his own. “Want to join me?”

The worry melted and Epi smirked. “I think I can manage on my own shower, thank you.”

“Maybe I need the help?”

Epi laughed. “Go shower so I can get cleaned up.”

Nick would have been happier at home, alone on Christmas, instead of having to interact with Epi’s family or even his own. The only time he’d had any holiday without stress or pressure was when he’d lived thousands of miles from home and didn’t know anyone. At least this time no one would make any snide or thinly veiled bigoted comments about his sexuality and it was merely the cold distance that seemed part of the very fiber of Epi’s family.

He went through the motions during the day. The family retold Nick’s repair work to Epi as they ate a nice lunch and the family split apart in the afternoon. Epi’s brothers drifted to watch sports or play a few rounds of pool or cards in easy comfort while leaving Epi silently out. He wasn’t sure if it was done deliberately or if Epi had simply withdrawn so far from his family of his own choice that they were just used to him being alone. For the most part, the family slipped in and out of the kitchen, helping to prepare a holiday meal that was far fancier than what Nick was used to.

But the meal was good and Nick stayed nearly as silent during it as Epi was. The rest of the family was far warmer to each other. The food was good and the wine was poured liberally, but he was caught off guard when Epi’s parents handed out presents and Nick was included. He’d been pre-warned that the parents would have gifts for their children and that Epi’s parents still bought gifts for Epi and his siblings but it wasn’t their custom for the siblings to exchange gifts or for the children to give presents to their parents. He had been ready for that, but not for the pair of beautifully wrapped presents placed near him.

“I can’t accept this.” Nick finally managed to say after a few moments of feeling a little blindsided. When he’d been handed his surprise presents he’d expected a bottle of cologne in the small package and maybe a shirt in a box in the other. Instead he found himself holding a watch and a very high end laptop computer.

		Is Yet Chapter Twenty Seven
		Amanda picked up the picture and her smile grew a little bitter. “Here, Jerry, Brian, me, Stevie and Epi.” She pointed to each child in turn. “Jerry is thirteen years older than Epi, Brain is ten, I’m six, Stevie was four.” “Was?” “When I was seventeen we took a vacation in the islands. Mom and Dad had a rule that we weren’t to go to the beach without asking, but Stevie and Epi went. Epi had this thing for seashells, used to beg us to take him to go hunting them. Stevie was trying to learn to surf, guess he figured if they got caught sneaking down to the water he could blame it on Epi.” She touched the faces on the photo again before replacing it back with the others. “What happened?” “Stevie went out, a riptide caught him. By the time Epi got a lifeguard he was gone. Don’t bring him up, okay? I don’t think Mom and Dad ever got over it.” He nodded and agreed, but he knew he’d ask Epi. Maybe not right away but he was going to bring it up. It bothered him that the other man would have an entire brother he never spoke about. Nick kept his mouth shut about Stevie during dinner. In fact, he kept his mouth shut pretty much about everything. Epi’s family did try to include him in the conversation but he could tell his quiet, simple life was as foreign and odd to them as their globe traveling, resort staying, wealthy one was to him. It wasn’t just him, he noticed as the well made food was shared along with stories of skiing and shopping from the day that Epi stayed almost as silent and the few sharp comments he added to the conversation were met with awkwardness. The evening was spent the same with the family gathered together for a while to drink nice wine and catch up with each others lives. Before too long the teenagers slipped away under the excuse of playing pool downstairs, but Nick saw one of the girls slipping from the kitchen with what he was pretty sure were cans of beer in her arms. He was also equally sure other adults saw, so he kept his mouth shut. It was about the same time that Epi pushed himself to his feet and disappeared toward their room. When he came back he had several envelopes of photos in his hands and when he sat back down beside Nick he let them drop between them. The next time there was a lull in the conversation Epi cleared his throat. “Because it’s the 600 pound gorilla in the room, I have pictures of the accident.” He slipped out the photos and started passing them around. “You have photos?” Brian frowned as images of the mangled car made their way to him. “Tori took them. When they told him they weren’t sure I’d survive, he wanted to document everything in case lawyers or insurance needed it, or in case you wanted to see. I think it gave him something to do.” Epi shrugged but Nick noticed he didn’t quite look at the photos of himself battered and swollen in the hospital bed. “Some of these are kind of gross, but he was worried they weren’t taking care of me.” “Were they?” Nick asked softly. “They were trying. Tori flipped out when I developed some bad bed sores that first week, he had me flown to a closer hospital to keep an eye on me.” The photos had started working their way around to Nick and he let them pass through his hands. Images of twisted metal and broken glass changed into images of a form that might have been Epi or someone else with dark hair. They were a swollen, bruised mass of flesh, cuts and broken bones wrapped in casts and bandages. As the pictures slipped away the face became more noticeably Epi’s, the breathing tube disappeared, some of the wires and iv’s faded but it was a while before Nick saw a picture with Epi’s eyes open. Some of them had Epi’s family at his bedside while he was still unaware, but as the images showed his healing body, the only person caught on film was Tori or nurses. He only half listened as Epi lightly narrated with soft comments about his first steps or being moved to a new room or his bout with pneumonia. Nick watched the other man’s health wax and wane as months went by, but his favorite was a picture of Epi with his hair growing out and his body slimmed down from illness and effort. The man sat on the edge of a bed in shorts, his newly acquired leg glaringly obvious, but it was the fact that Epi was flipping the camera, and Tori, off that amused him. If he thought he could get away with it, he would have pocketed that picture. Nick woke the next morning the same way he had the morning before, with Epi pressed to him. This time, though, instead of Nick being curled to the slender man’s back, it was Epi that was curled tight to him, which was a comforting if far too erotic situation. It was bad enough when his own subconscious had him creeping across the wide bed to snuggle close, but it was ten times worse when it was Epi that had sought him out in his sleep. Worst of all, he couldn’t simply escape the bed when Epi was softly snoring against his shoulder. He had to lay there, still and unmoving, and wait for the other man to roll over in his sleep. It took far too long given how restlessly Epi tended to sleep normally, as if his sleeping soundly was in some way mocking Nick’s efforts to behave. In the end, he did mutter a little in a hushed sleepy way and turn over onto his back. Now freed, Nick very carefully slipped from under the covers and across to their bathroom. He turned on the cold water in the fancy sink but nothing came out. He stared at it, still sleepy, and tried the hot water. Nothing came out there either and he frowned at it. “Million dollar home and the water’s shut off.” He grumbled. After a quick check to make sure that he was fairly presentable, scruffy but presentable, he left the bathroom slightly less silently than he’d gone in and continued on to the rest of the house. He wasn’t the only one awake, but no one wished him a Merry Christmas. Epi’s brothers were in sleeping clothes as well and they were fighting about who had made things worse. Their father was thumbing through the yellow pages and calling numbers, but it was their mother that sat looking upset. “It’s ruined. The first holiday we’ve had together in years and it’s ruined! Why are you even trying to call someone? It’s Christmas day, no one is going to come out today. We’ll have to get a hotel, we’re just going to have to spend the holiday away from home.” Her voice was growing ever more shrill. “Hush woman, I’m at least trying to fix the problem.” Nick yawned. “What happened?” It was Jerry that turned . “Pipe broke in the basement, or it was leaking until Brian decided to try to fix it.” He waved toward the kitchen sink. “It’s cracked clean through now.” “I would have fixed it if I’d had the right tools!” Nick ignored them and went to inspect the broken pipe. It was black plastic and not a metal pipe and he figured it would be pretty easy to fix given any sort of supplies. “You said there was a caretaker?” The family stopped bickering and looked at him. “He’s gone for the holidays.” Jerry explained again. “Yes, but he’d have a work room or shed. Can I see what’s in it and where the broken pipe came from?” “The only pipes out there are too long and they don’t fit. We tried.” “Oh let the man have a look.” Tilda added. “Not like he can do any harm.” It was with their grudging approval that Nick was finally shown both the spot the broken pipe was from and the caretakers work space. He didn’t ask or wait, just gathered up the supplies he needed and went back to the basement. Jerry had been right, the pipes were too long, but Nick had found a hacksaw and after careful measurement he cut a new section of black pipe to fit. It was a bad spot to lose water, the simple black pipe was part of the main intake and with it gone the whole house was shut down. The pipe must have been dripping for a while because there was a water puddle on the concrete and he was willing to bet the carpet near the door to the finished areas was damp too. The brothers had been right again that the new pipes wouldn’t fit even though the sizing numbers on them matched. What they didn’t know was how to make them fit. He slipped the ring clamps onto the pipe and fired up the propane torch. It didn’t take much to soften the end enough to make it ft over its valve. Nick shoved it in place and slipped one of the clamps in place before tightening it. “You really think you can fix it?” Nick glanced over his shoulder to find Epi’s father standing in the doorway. “Half done already.” “You don’t like us much.” He shrugged. “I don’t know you well enough to have thought about it.” “But you don’t.” Nick lit the torch again and heated the second end of the new pipe. “I just haven’t figured out yet if it’s a general disdain for money or if it’s us personally.” He tightened the clamp with a little more force than he needed to. “He needed you.” “Excuse me?” “Epi, he needed his parents and you weren’t there.” “Epi is highly independent. If he’d wanted us there for his recovery he knew all he’d have to do was ask.” Nick shook his head and turned the house water on. It gurgled as it flowed back in and filled the man lines. “He needed you there without having to ask. Excuse me.” He nodded his head a little as he slipped by the older man and made his way back upstairs. “Water’s fixed.” He announced but didn’t stick around to be congratulated. Epi was awake and sitting on the edge of the bed. He smiled when Nick walked in and it looked real. “Hey, Merry Christmas.” That broke Nick’s foul mood. He smiled back. “Same to you. I get first crack at the shower.” “What’s happened?” The real smile fled. “Nothing that couldn’t be fixed.” It wasn’t his place to explain and really he wasn’t sure why he was still angry. It hadn’t been his intention to chase away the rare real smile Epi had been wearing so he forced his own. “Want to join me?” The worry melted and Epi smirked. “I think I can manage on my own shower, thank you.” “Maybe I need the help?” Epi laughed. “Go shower so I can get cleaned up.” Nick would have been happier at home, alone on Christmas, instead of having to interact with Epi’s family or even his own. The only time he’d had any holiday without stress or pressure was when he’d lived thousands of miles from home and didn’t know anyone. At least this time no one would make any snide or thinly veiled bigoted comments about his sexuality and it was merely the cold distance that seemed part of the very fiber of Epi’s family. He went through the motions during the day. The family retold Nick’s repair work to Epi as they ate a nice lunch and the family split apart in the afternoon. Epi’s brothers drifted to watch sports or play a few rounds of pool or cards in easy comfort while leaving Epi silently out. He wasn’t sure if it was done deliberately or if Epi had simply withdrawn so far from his family of his own choice that they were just used to him being alone. For the most part, the family slipped in and out of the kitchen, helping to prepare a holiday meal that was far fancier than what Nick was used to. But the meal was good and Nick stayed nearly as silent during it as Epi was. The rest of the family was far warmer to each other. The food was good and the wine was poured liberally, but he was caught off guard when Epi’s parents handed out presents and Nick was included. He’d been pre-warned that the parents would have gifts for their children and that Epi’s parents still bought gifts for Epi and his siblings but it wasn’t their custom for the siblings to exchange gifts or for the children to give presents to their parents. He had been ready for that, but not for the pair of beautifully wrapped presents placed near him. “I can’t accept this.” Nick finally managed to say after a few moments of feeling a little blindsided. When he’d been handed his surprise presents he’d expected a bottle of cologne in the small package and maybe a shirt in a box in the other. Instead he found himself holding a watch and a very high end laptop computer.
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