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Hello y'all, welcome to the latest chapter!

The teen angst coming of age drama continues once more, and with a substantial 6,000-word chapter, so that there should be enough for a nice, not too quick a read! As always, all feedback is appreciated and taken into consideration. I am very happy that so many have already decided to comment on this story series, but there is always room for more, and no bad comments exist.

Also remember that all votes, faves and watches will help others to find this story to enjoy as well!

Have a fun read!

*

Jeff tugged the wet heap of paper off his muzzle as he realized that he was suddenly faced not with the leering eyes of his brother congratulating him for being a clumsy little wimp, but instead, the big, bright eyes of his brother's very best friend, Jeff's idol, Brand.

The sight of the secret subject of his even more secret sexual fantasies and their little...contract...made Jeff's belly clench even harder than it did before, when he was feeling the odd twinges of regret over his earlier mistakes. His newly renewed presence was a reminder that he had fucked up terribly, and the fact that he felt flustered and weird by the pony's presence served to tell him that his worst fears were quite clearly coming true.

Things were weird between Jeff Jenner and Brand Rockford.

Jeff bunched up the kitchen towel in his hands and tried to look as respectable as it was possible when your pajamas were wet, your mane was wet, your head furs were wet, and your muzzle was a mess, and one of your eyes was still trying to close itself shut after being sprayed with acid from the orange.

Brand didn't move away from the open door, but simply stood there, watching the messy teen and not quite meeting his eyes. His tail kept swishing from side to side, over the butt cheeks Jeff thought all too much about, even now, as he watched the older male back and felt his cheeks heat up at the thought.

Jeff coughed to clear his throat and spoke, finally.

"Hi, Brand."

"Where's Adam?" the pony's eyes flickered over the stairs, as if expecting for his best friend to come down descending them into a grand entrance into the scene.

Jeff's ears flicked.

"He went to Archie's, he just left and uhh...said he wouldn't be too long," Jeff rubbed a palm over his hair to make it at least a little bit neater, but only got his sleeve even more wet than before in the process, and he nickered, softly ,and pushed his hand down again.

Brand harrumphed.

"Okay."

"He'll be back really soon, he only said he'd be out for twenty minutes tops" Jeff spoke, really not knowing what he was supposed to say in a situation like this.

It wouldn't have been a problem, usually, he'd just start pestering Brand about what he was planning to do with Adam, the usual, could he come with them, where were they going, was it going to be illegal, could Jeff join? Now he felt ill at ease and puzzled and...accused, somehow, by the almost averted gaze of those all too perceptive ears.

Brand snorted.

"What're you up to anyway, kiddo?" his eyes felt glaring over Jeff's messy clothes, and he young pony felt the need to sigh under that gaze.

At least that sounded a little bit normal, if just a little bit less...taunting than usual, not in the normal way, Jeff felt, and his cheeks got extra heat over them as he felt exposed and weird, not only because of the obviously ridiculous sight he made, but also...because.

"Uh...," Jeff's ears flicked. "Got some juice on my eye and had to wash it off."

Brand closed the door behind him.

"Can't you do anything normally, kiddo?" the pony snuffled.

He started to make his slow way over to the kitchen, walking in that familiar, very often observed strut that really showed off just how muscular he was in all the right place, at least if Jeff was concerned. Jeff's skin prickled a little as the older pony approached, and he felt awfully self-conscious once more, and hoped that he didn't look too awful like this...not that it mattered. Brand didn't look at him the way he looked at the elder male. He'd just be the slightly chubby kid for him, like always, at the very best, of course. Even that was better than the fucking pervert spy "gonna castrate you!" liar and a sneak, which was the other natural possibility for how the pony might see Jeff, after yesterday.

Jeff decided that being the messy kid was the less bad of two unhappy options, and quietly submitted to his role. He simply snuffled to the pony's earlier comment, and stood there, dumbly.

Brand sat down on his usual side of the pentagon-shaped kitchen island and put his enviable rump down to the stool that made a slightly rude noise when a jean-clad butt made contact with the leather upholstery. His big hands fell over the table.

"Gimme a Coke, I'm thirsty."

The messy pony stood there, staring at the seated pony who was giving him some eyes back, too, strangely impassive, but definitely there, hovering about Jeff's wet pajamas that clung to his chest and arms, and the tousled blonde head furs that were now spiked to all directions from after being doused under the tap.

It really did sound like a command, and not one of those jokey ones that Jeff usually got from Brand, when he wanted to play mean with the kid.

"Sure," Jeff replied, meekly, and went over to the fridge to grab the can and then put it down over the counter in front of Brand.

The pony took the can without another word and opened it with a little hiss before taking a long, loud, slurping sip. Jeff felt frozen in place, a bit uneasy, not to mention, hungry, and his eyes lingered over the abandoned orange still lying on the kitchen island.

Whatever.

It couldn't get any more uneasy anyway.

Jeff sat down to his own comfy seat and had another go at his orange. This time he was skipped any further squeezing and simply pried on it with his thumbnail until the peel was broken, satisfactorily. He tried his best to concentrate on the effort of getting to eat that fruit and not to look at the pony sitting only a couple of feet away, that very same Brand who was haunting his thoughts day and night, now that things were the way they were. It still didn't help the fact that Brand looked as nice as ever, with all those broad shoulders and thick arms and well-groomed head furs and that manly, stubbly muzzle. And he wasn't even talking about the ass...

Jeff's ponyhood twitched a little, and he hurriedly made a decision to not to think of anything of the sort, not ,now, since having a Brand-boner while Brand was present was definitely not something that would go down well. The boy shook his head a little and popped a few pieces of the fruit into his muzzle.

"Why didn't you use a knife?"

Jeff almost jumped when he heard that cool, low voice, and his eyes popped up to meet Brand's. He instantly felt even more shy than before, and his ears drooped, just a little.

"Dunno," Jeff chuffed, sending out a puff of orange-smelling air out of his lungs that teasingly lingered over the knife stand sitting next to the gas range, almost within a hand's reach.

"Nothing new there."

Jeff wanted to open his muzzle and say something bratty about him being sixteen years old and not just a kid, but considering who he was talking with, it'd probably sound remarkably hypocritical. It didn't make Brand's meanness sound any less mean, though. He'd really need a proper towel, too, to get his hair dry, and a change of clothes, but he decided that leaving now all sudden might raise suspicions from Brand, and nothing but business as usual seemed to be the option here.

Nothing new.

"You going anywhere fun with Adam?" Jeff tried to sound as normal as possible as he made his usual question to the big pony.

"None of your business."

At least the answer was exactly what he had expected. Jeff snuffled and pouted a little.

"Can I come along?" he asked, just like he always did.

The can Brand had been holding in his hand slammed against the kitchen island with a loud bang, and just a little bit of frothy soda splashed out and over Brand's arm. Jeff could see his teeth, between the pony's pulled-back lips. It looked scary, not cool.

"Nope. Ponies who still wet their bed are not welcome."

Ha ha. Of course. The wet pajamas. It wasn't even wet down over his crotch! It didn't really make much of a difference, anyway, did it? It was a pretty good pun, it would've been fun if it wasn't subjected at Jeff, the kid, by Brand, the cool kid. Only the fact that it was Brand made it stand out a bit above the normal schoolyard taunt, and Jeff didn't feel like running up to his room to punch the pillow and maybe go emo for a while for being bullied. He still wanted to believe that Brand was a cool kid, if only because he was Brand. And maybe he did deserve it, after that fucking photo.

"Yeah," Jeff snuffled and pushed some more orange into his muzzle to get an excuse for not talking anything more.

It still hurt even more than he thought it would. He knew he'd have to come face to face with Brand sooner or later, and he'd known that it would be difficult, with or without Adam present, and this stilted conversation was proving it more than clearly that all his worst fears had come true. They weren't really friendly anymore, they weren't having the usual cute little bro - the cool older brother's best friend thing that they usually had going on, there was no sign of that here, in the sniped taunts and avoided looks.

Jeff felt like such a bastard.

Brand grunted and nickered under his breath.

"Just fucking quit that, Jeff, ok?"

Jeff's cheeks felt unnaturally hot and his ears flapped down as he felt a twinge of fear, shame and anger fill him, all simultaneously. He deserved to be shouted, of course he did. He still didn't know what Brand could do to keep the secret safe. And he still wouldn't accept being treated like that. He was sixteen years old. He could take care of himself, of course he could. There simply was no way that he could stand up to someone like Brand, who was not only older and bigger, but also so very much stronger. There was nothing he could do but take it like a pony.

Slowly, Jeff lifted his head so that he met Brand's eyes. The pony was scowling at him, darkly, and that made Jeff's tail swipe from side to side, disheartened.

"What?"

Brand whinnied loudly.

"This weird crap, man!" he chuffed. "What do you think Adam's gonna say if he sees us like this?"

His voice sounded strange to Jeff, a bit...lower than usually, not the sexy low, but something else. As if he was speaking in that way to make sure that nobody would hear.

"What do you mean?" Jeff asked.

"You really don't know anything," Brand shook his head as he leaned over the table, coming closer to Jeff, so that he could see even the smallest expressions over the older pony's face. "Do you really think Adam won't notice if you suddenly start going all weird around...me?"

Jeff sighed and rubbed the side of his muzzle.

"Sorry, Brand."

The bigger pony rumbled.

"I don't need a sorry, I just need to know that you fucking quit this weird shit before..." Brand fell silent, and it felt heavy for Jeff, too, who was watching the older pony shyly, cautiously.

"Before what?" Jeff croaked.

Brand gave him a look.

"Do you think he doesn't care about what you do, Jeff?" the pony stated, pointedly.

"Dunno, he's my brother," Jeff shrugged.

Brand let out an almost bark-like chuckle.

"That also happens to mean that he thinks about you a lot, and talks about you as well, Jeff," the pony continued on. "Do you think he won't soon start telling me about Jeff being weird if you keep that up? Maybe even ask me whether I could think why you're so weird? Maybe he even asks me if you TALKED to me about anything that was bugging you?"

Brand fell silent and took a swig from his soda. Jeff's cheeks seemed to burn even hotter as he tried to comprehend this little tirade. Guess it felt kinda cool that his brother would take care of him, even if they argued and fought a lot, and were often at each other's tails, but that's how brothers were supposed to be, Jeff thought. Or that he'd even talk about Brand about him...Brand being the cool pony Jeff looked up to...and then some. A lot some.

"So what?" Jeff snuffled.

Brand's ears flicked sharply in derision.

"Didn't I just tell you, kid? Didn't I just tell you that Adam might start to think that something happened!"

"Like what?"

Brand's teeth became more prominently displayed as he opened his muzzle to say something, but held it back. Then he sat up right again, and ran a quick hand over his hair, down to his neck, where he left it as a comforting presence, it seemed.

"That I bullied you or something, whatever he might come up with if he sees you going all fucking weird with me. Do you want that to happen?"

Of course Jeff knew that he didn't want it to happen. He'd already made things awful between himself and his idolized Brand, to destroy Brand's friendship with Adam would just be what he needed...eternal hate from his brother, AND the cool pony that was Brand.

Jeff's eyes burned when he snorted and hung his head down in shame.

"I know you hate me," he sighed. "Don't have to beat me up any more than you already did."

The following silence felt almost more painful than the snapped comments earlier, and Jeff was seriously considering just making a run for it and rush upstairs like a schoolgirl so that he could mope in peace without having to face the extra shame of going all gay in front of Brand.

"I don't hate you!" Brand's voice snapped through his ears.

Jeff took a few seconds before he lifted his muzzle to meet Brand's eyes, across the table, and he saw that they were as bright as they ever were, confident, too.

"Look, kid," his hand was again doing nervous rubs over the side of his neck as he spoke. "You may be fucking stupid, alright, but I don't want to hate you, Jeff."

Jeff shook his head and spoke through his tight throat.

"I know I'm stupid."

"Good." Brand grunted.

That didn't sound like progress to Jeff at all. They had been reduced to snapping things to one another, speaking in odd promises and veiled references to the things they'd done - Jeff's picture blackmail and Brand's gay jerking off - and pretending that things were fine even though they weren't. Jeff was terrified of facing Brand, he had known as much before he actually had to see it through, and here It was...the consequences of his teenaged hormone plan.

"Sorry."

Brand shook his head.

"Didn't I just tell you?"

Jeff gave a quick nod and felt even smaller than before.

"Yeah."

Great job, Jeff, just fantastic job taking care of this like a grownup.

Brand huffed.

"This is exactly what I was talking about."

"I know."

"Do you?"

Jeff sighed.

"I know enough to not to want it," he snorted. "It sucks."

The proud pony gave a sharp nod and then suddenly got up from his seat and landed on the floor tiles with a clicking sound, and then he was pacing back and forth, his body flexing in that well familiar manner Jeff liked to spy.

"Look, Jeff..." Brand began, before his words stopped.

Jeff followed the bigger male with his eyes, unwittingly admiring the way he moved, even if that was almost a bittersweet feeling now. The day before he had spent most of it fantasizing how it'd feel like to bury his muzzle under that arm to really smell some Brand musk there, straight at the source. He wanted to run hands over Brand's chest and touch him all over and make him bray and neigh at the pleasure he would be receiving from Jeff's touch. He had wanted to all that and so much more, but now even seeing him so near...it hurt a lot.

Brand still kept on walking, hands clasped together in front of him.

"I can't forget that you did that fucking stupid thing but I also don't want to do anything else about it, Jeff. There's nothing else for me to do, is there? We both agreed that we don't talk about it. It never happened, right?"

Jeff nodded, slowly.

"We don't need any shit like this, do we? Adam doesn't need any crap either. He's a great guy," Brand chuffed.

"I don't wanna argue," Jeff replied.

"So, we should make sure that everything remains as it was...is," Brand corrected himself...they were alright, after all, weren't they?

"Like how?"

"Like you -!" Brand stopped himself, held the moment, blinked, and relaxed again, and let his hands fall to his sides.

"Like you don't stop being an annoying and nosy kid, okay?" he almost smiled this time, and his tail flicked over his great butt.

Jeff snorted at the suggestion, but he knew it was true. That's how he always behaved around the bigger and older and more handsome pony, to try and get his attention, as if he was six years old, not sixteen years old. Acting all cool and civil would only be suspicious. Not that he liked the fact.

"I'm not annoying, and I'm not a kid," Jeff replied, deadpan, but the smile had a hard time keeping back from his lips, no matter how crap he felt in general.

Brand snorted.

"Very funny, Jeff."

Jeff adopted a sad look over his face, complete with the pout.

"I wasn't trying to."

Brand grunted.

"Fuck this is complicated," he clip-clopped along the tiled kitchen floor, arms swaying from side to side broadly.

"Yeah, I know," Jeff snorted as he deposited the last of his troublesome orange into his muzzle and chewed thoroughly, watching how the pony kept pacing,

"I...I didn't think it would be this weird," Brand grunted after a moment.

"I knew it would be like this," Jeff spoke his mind truthfully, because the teen pony was sure that further beating around the bus would only cause further confusion.

Brand stopped, and simply stood there, watching Jeff across the room. His ears flicked, nervously, it seemed.

"I...hoped it wouldn't. For Adam's sake."

A burning sensation of jealousy spread along Jeff's spine as he listened to the big, cool pony talk about his brother once again. As if this wasn't HIS concern? Wasn't it Jeff who had tried to blackmail Brand? It had nothing to do with Adam, absolutely nothing, except for the bed bit, perhaps, or the jockstrap, but still, they had agreed that the big brother pony would never know about that, so why the hell was Brand only going on about Adam now? Was Adam really that special? Why was it all about Adam? Was Brand in love with Adam? Did they have something going on? Jeff was sure that there wasn't, but that still didn't mean that Brand couldn't like Adam...Jeff knew as much that it was all too possible to have a thing for a straight guy...his straight guy just happened to be Brand.

Jeff's throat seemed to tighten as he wondered about the possibilities, and the burn felt like it was getting worse, and it made his teeth clench together, tightly, an his breaths seemed to be faster, and more shallow. His skin itched, and it felt bad.

"Right," the words came out of his muzzle before he could stop them, nor the pained grumble. "All about Adam not hearing about YOU and what YOU did over there in HIS bed!"

Brand looked like Jeff had just kicked him in the head with a hoof. His eyes went wide and his nostrils flared, and a loud neigh rose from his throat, and his maw fell open to expose all his teeth...a classic scaring tactic face, now poised at Jeff. His hands clenched into fists over his sides.

"I told you -"

"Yeah, YOU told me!" Jeff was on his hooves and standing in front of the fellow pony before he really even knew what was happening. "You told me it's all about YOU and YOU and YOU not being TOLD to ADAM!"

Jeff's muzzle felt like it might be foaming as he yelled at the pony and waved his hand dramatically in front of Brand's face as he made his case in one, long breathless sentence.

"Jeff - "

"Don't talk to ME like a KID Brand you know I'm not THAT pathetic! I know I did FUCKING wrong but that's because you have NO idea how LONELY I am because I'm GAY and don't have anyone in this WORLD to TALK about that and then there we are you being GAY TOO and then DENYING it to me when we COULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS without Adam EVER knowing about YOU and then you come HERE and start talking like this is just all about YOU and nothing about ME being LONELY and not KNOWING WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON with YOU acting like - "

Brand's hand grabbed Jeff's chin and clamped his maw shut, and his words were cut right off as the big pony was only an inch away from his face, muzzle wide open and showing all his teeth and his wild eyes. His breaths burned over Jeff's face, a sensation all too familiar from yesterday, when he'd been pinned down and threatened by the very same pony who now stared at him and looked like he was going to explode.

"Shut...up."

Jeff tried to speak, but the pressing fingers over his chin made that impossible. His hands landed over Brand's chest, that wonderful chest he had wanted to touch so many times. Now his hands were trying to grab onto the front of his black jacket so that he could try to push Brand away and spare himself. His throat burned, both from the pain and from the shouting, and his eyes, those fucking eyes, were again feeling like they were already leaking tears.

Brand's agitated breaths stroked over Jeff's face as they clung to each other, both unmoving, both of them shaking with the effort of trying to stay calm as the stalemate situation continued. Jeff's heart felt like it might stop soon, he couldn't breathe properly, stand properly...he felt faint...he hated feeling this scared...

"Jeff...please...shut...up!"

Jeff made a whining sound and tugged on the front of Brand's jacket, without success, as he was still held by the jaw in that iron grip by the panting pony. Brand's eyes were wide and bewildered, as he stared down into the younger male's eyes, and he would not move. His sharp breaths sprayed saliva over Jeff's face, and brought over Brand's musk, as strong ever.

"I'm...go...ing...to...count...to...five...and...I...ex...pect...you...to...be...qui...et...o...k...?" the pony panted harshly.

Jeff stopped struggling.

"Five....four...three...two...one..."

Brand let go of Jeff's muzzle and smacked his arm across Jeff's to make him release his grip on his jacket. Jeff staggered backwards, almost blinded by pain and fear and anger as he tried to see through the haze of tears in his eyes, and to his horror, he stumbled on his hooves and fell. Jeff landed heavily on his ass, over the thick red carpet of the living room. A dull pain shot up his spine from the sudden impact, and he lost his breath, but it hardly mattered, he barely even noticed anymore.

Brand dragged a palm over own face and snorted.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck," his jaws worked as if he was chewing something, but only fucks came off his lips.

Jeff forced himself up from the floor.

"FUCK YOU!"

He didn't see anything anymore, the only thing he heard was the rush of blood in his ears, and there was nothing stopping him from making the run for the stairs. Jeff almost fell again when his hoof collided with the edge of a step, but he stumbled and he got up and dragged himself along by the banister, whatever, he needed to go, and he did that now, and he did not stop before he slammed his bedroom door shut, locked it, rushed into the bathroom, locked the bathroom door, and then collapsed down over the small mat in front of the sink and pressed his back against the door.

Jeff held onto himself and cried and moaned helplessly. He pulled his knees up to his chest and let it all come out, there was no point in trying to hold it back, not now that everything was torn out in the open. He neighed and made all sorts of harsh voices, and he was sure that at any point he would first hear banging on his door and then Brand would crash through it, come over here and beat him up.

Jeff pressed his muzzle against his arm to muffle his hopeless weeping, but it only helped just. Tears fell over his cheeks in thick, heavy drops, and his body shook against the door, upon itself, he was collapsed into this huddling piece of a pony, it hurt to breath and it hurt to be him. He just couldn't stop messing things up, he was not the ruin of the whole family, when Adam would fall out with Brand and find new friends who would get him into trouble, and then they would all come out to point fingers at Jeff when Adam was shipped off to prison for something he did to impress his new best friend. Brand would never want to talk to Adam again nor Jeff. eff would be doomed for at least another two years of painful loneliness in high school before he just MIGHT get to go to college and the freedom it offered. Of course only if their family hadn't lost their home and his parent's hadn't gotten divorced because of Jeff turning out gay and Adam turning out to be a mobster. There seemed to be no end to the ways he could mess their family up, and it wall because of that stupid photo and that stupid idea and that stupid crush and that stupid PONY!

It was also Adam's fault. Brand obviously liked Adam better, they were best friends forever, that much was clear, loyal and kind to each other. Jeff didn't have anyone like that, he didn't have a Brand of his own to joke with and sit around shirtless and wrapped in towels and adjusting one's junk while making dirty comments. Adam and Brand had it all, and Jeff had very little.

But could it really be Adam's fault? Did his brother know that Brand perved over Adam's underwear? How would he react to the knowledge of his best friend being a tail lifter and a fag? Did he know that Brand was gay? Jeff was pretty sure that he didn't, because Brand seemed to be all too keen on pretending that he wasn't gay. Would Adam stop wanting to be friends with Brand if he knew? Was that what Brand feared? Did Brand have a crush on Adam and didn't to reveal that? Was he just afraid to be the gay jock? What the hell kind of a teenaged drama was this?

Jeff rocked himself slowly back and forth as he waited for the inevitable and wondered about this giant mess he had caused. Adam and Brand was probably going to be ruined for good, Jeff-Brand would be lost, whatever little there was, and Jeff and Adam...brothers would become enemies...and Jeff liked his brother, even if he was stupid. He didn't want to hurt his brother, he never wanted any of this, he only wanted.

Yeah, right.

He wanted to get a piece of Brand's ass at any costs, and even trying that was now costing much more than he could ever imagine. His whole world felt like it was crumbling down, simply because he was a stupid fucking fag lusting over his brother's best friend and making everything difficult because of that. That knowledge should've never come out in the open, it should've never mattered, he shouldn't have never acted on that ludicrous desire to be with Brand, now that he knew that against any odds and expectations, the big, cool pony was as gay as he was, and that meant that it would've been just perfect.

Fucking Brand, and not just in the ass sense, Jeff snorted wetly as he directed his anger in the older pony again. Why the fuck did he have to go on doing that right there in THEIR home? Why couldn't he go on doing his secret closeted gay business somewhere where there was no chance that foolish gay boys like Jeff might see them and get all the wrong ideas? Wasn't that what being in the closet was all about, keep the noise down, don't arouse the suspicion, take it like a man, that's what you have to do.

Then again, if Jeff hadn't been so curious and sneaked into his brother's room to see what was going on in the hopes that he might get something to use against Adam and gain advantages such as booze and illicit fun...

There was absolutely no fun going on, now that he sat in his own bathroom and cried his eyes out, and soon the door behind him would be bashed into half and Brand would probably try to drown him into the toilet seat. What an appropriate end to someone whose head was full of shit, Jeff decided, as he shuddered upon himself and wept.

Time seemed to stretch on, as the inevitable approached, but the expected crash and burn did not happen. Then Jeff's ears picked up the sound of the front door, first opening, then closing, followed by the car engine revving up and then disappearing into the distance. Had Brand just left and ran away instead? Jeff tried to listen, although it was hard since he still kept filling the bathroom with his own sobs and whinnies and harsh breaths, but for as long as he listened, he could not hear anything happening in the near vicinity, not inside the house or out on the street. Had the big pony seriously fled the scene?

The possibility grew ever the more probably as minutes passed and nothing else happened. Jeff sat sprawled by the door and tried to calm himself down, but it was hard work. His body was in fire, there was the dull ache on his ass and also over his chin, where Brand had grabbed him so hard, and his breaths were only agitated huffs and wheezes, not normal, steady breathing. He felt sweaty and hot, even though the wet pajamas clinging to his chest also felt cold. It felt like his body couldn't decide which way to feel, and that made it even more confusing.

*

Jeff wasn't quite sure how long he sat there before he finally wiped his face on his sleeve, got up and opened the door so that he could collapse on his bed instead. Adam had never showed up, so he had to presume that he had met with Brand and they had gone off doing something awesome together, while Adam expected the little brother to stay nicely put at home. Jeff wondered how he would've reacted to the sight of brother in such a messy state. His hair was spiked everywhere, his clothes were rumpled and his chin hurt, his nose was runny and Jeff was sure that his eyes were all reddish and swollen, at least they felt like they were.

He curled down on his bed and stopped even trying to make any sense out of it. Jeff felt like he had ran out of tears already, and all he could do was the occasional pained groan and sigh as he laid there. The young pony remained like that until he really had to take a piss, and after a hanky-panky free visit to the toilet bowl, he found himself standing in the middle of his room, feeling tired, scared, lonely and everything in between, and he couldn't see the point of going back to the bed anymore. It had done little good yet, and probably wouldn't do anything better in the future either.

Jeff slumped down on his desk chair instead, turned on the television and the computer and decided to be a normal teenager for just a little while.

*

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*

"Jeff! Jeff!"

"Yeah, mom?"

"We're back from aunt Norah's, are you alright?"

"Yeah, mom."

"Your cousins missed you a lot, you should've come with us!"

"Yeah, mom!"

"We've got an ultrasound picture of Norah's new baby, do you want to see it?"

"No thanks, mom!"

"Have you eaten anything today yet, Jeff?"

"Not much, mom!"

"Are you hungry, Jeff? I'm making some stew for me and your father before dinner. I'll make the roast once your brother comes back home."

"It's fine, mom."

"You sure, Jeff? Hope you haven't been just drinking soda and eating chocolate all day!"

"No, mom!"

"But there's a Hershey bar on the kitchen table, is that yours?"

"Yeah, I forgot it there!"

"Well I'll put it aside so that your father doesn't eat it! You know how much he likes chocolate."

"Yeah, thanks mom."

"I'll make enough stew for you too, I'll call when it's ready!"

"Thanks mom!"

*

There we go! What do you think? Worthwhile? All feedback is always most appreciated!

Cheerio!